The Danville City Commission passed the first reading of the 2022-2023 budget on Monday.

The budget for this year totals $96,315,310, which is up from last year’s $72,865,608 budget.

Some of what this year’s budget includes is roughly $20 million in the general fund for city operations, and somewhere between $11-15 million for the utility fund, depending on final expenses.

City Manager Earl Coffey spoke on adjusting the utility budget, saying: “Phase one of the waste water plant project wasn’t expected to be finished this year; however, the contractors will have it done by year’s end – which is why the additional funds were included in this year’s budget instead of next, so we can account for the expected completion of the project.”

Another adjustment in the budget was a $45,000 investment in the Litter Abatement program; and the re-establishment of city and county ownership of the Alum Springs composting center. 

The main reason for the increased overall budget is the carried-over capital from the communications agency.

Aquatics facility update

Although a final location of the aquatics facility project has not been decided, City Engineer Josh Morgan asked the commission to approve a study to explore the possibility of partnering with McDowell Wellness Center.

Morgan said they need to initiate the pursuit to avoid continued unnecessary spending in their current stage of the process.

Coffey cited other possible options for the project, such as building it at the fairgrounds, or making it a standalone building elsewhere.

Cost efficiency of the project was another issue of importance for Coffey, who said, “There was no prime location listed for the pool by [citizens] who took the [aquatics center] survey; so cost becomes the priority, and the wellness center is the obvious choice.”

He went on to explain how the pre-existing facility will cut project costs and allow them to focus more of the money on the pool.

Reduced tax burdens was another area of focus for the commission, which is why McDowell once again seemed like the right place to initially put the $20,000 in to investigate the details, Coffey explained.

If the fairgrounds are not used in this project, the plans would be to make it a multi-purpose field for the community.

Perryville elevated tank project

Perryville Road elevated tank and booster pump station project manager Rich Smith spoke provided project updates to the commission.

“For this project we have added three pumps capable of distributing 500 gallons of water per minute, demoed the Perryville Standpipe, as well as improved system reliability by adding storage for high demand periods of water usage,” Smith said.

The expected completion date for the project that began in January 2021 is set for September of this year.

An additional three months was added to the contract to accommodate change orders such as adding city logos to pumps, increasing build height, and installing pressure reducing valves to mitigate water main breaks, Smith expressed.

Smith added, “With supply chain problems, supply simply can’t meet demand for items we need.”

Some of these waitlisted items that have extended project length are system generators and motor control stations that are on backorder and leaving contractors at a standstill.

In other business, the commission:

• Renewed the Workers Comp Trust Agreement through KLC.

• Renewed the KLC General Insurance Trust Agreement.

• Renewed the Boyle County Health Department Contract – No service fee changes from 2021 and number of services remain the same.

• Approved the Alcohol Regulation Fee – Alcohol sales fee remains the same.

• A schedule is being made for the second Economic Development Symposium in August.

• Juneteenth celebration taking place June 17-18 in Stanford, food trucks and live music at event.