HISID Manager Lawrence Blood said they are entering budget season, and this month there will be a bump in revenue as assessments come in. Nevertheless, he predicted annual revenue might end up slightly below budgeted expectations at the end of the year as the district faced $300,000 in unexpected and unbudgeted capital improvements in 2018.
He’s waiting for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency so they can extend the riprap wall along Stateline Drive, and water lines continue to get repaired. Blood said he expects water/waste water revenue to exceed projections for the year.
He also said the call volume for the fire department continues to increase every year, and by the end of September, calls had exceeded the total for all of 2017.
The golf cart pathway repaving was completed, and they got an extra 700 feet of paving beyond what they expected. Blood said folks are coming from all around the area to the golf course, and word is getting out about the campground as well.
Personal damage claim
Blood explained someone parking in the marina parking lot ran over a concrete block. He said normally the district would not be responsible, but he noted there was a piece of rebar sticking up out of the concrete block, and it caught on the bumper of the vehicle and ripped it off. The vehicle owner requested $1492 to cover damages, and Blood said, “I feel somewhat responsible.”
Commissioner Linda Graves moved to pay for the damages, and commissioners approved.
Public Works report
Road Department Supervisor Kenny DeHart told commissioners it takes focus and diligence on their part to stay within budget. For example, he said, “I expect tire prices to increase because of the tariff stuff, but we’ll handle it.”
He added it was hard to hire staff with what they can afford to pay. Kees contended they should look at the budget differently and ask what would it take to pay competitive wages, and DeHart mentioned his crew would prefer small increases in salary to hiring another worker to help carry the workload. Blood said they should conduct a wage survey to find out where they stand even if they could not afford to implement it.
“We can’t just not do things because we can’t afford them,” Kees said. “We have to maintain the infrastructure.” He said the hourly wage predicament might be taken care of if Issue #5 on the ballot regarding increases in the minimum wage passes. He also urged the board to put together a long-range plan for replacing the four-in. water line to see the effect on water loss. He said they need to know the cost because they could take out a bond and get everything fixed.
Graves agreed they need to get an engineer’s estimate so they can plan.
Next regularly scheduled meeting will be Monday, Nov. 19, at 9 a.m., at the HISID office.