Advance aldermen approve library anniversary funding

MADELINEDEJOURNETTadvancensc@sbcglobal.net The Advance Board of Aldermen will not meet in June, 2014. Their next meeting will be on Monday, July 21, 2014 at 6 p.m. in City Hall on Gabriel Street.

The Advance Board of Aldermen met in regular session on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. in Advance City Hall. All aldermen and Mayor Carl "Pete" Ritter were present to hear a request from Advance Community Library President Cara Mayberry and Treasurer Karen Tropf to spend the necessary funds from the library's budget to provide a 10th anniversary "block party" for the community.

Alderman Carol Blanton made the motion to approve the expenditure, and Alderman Randy Schrader seconded it.

All library expenses over $300.00 must be approved by the board of aldermen.

The anniversary party will take place in the big field beside the library on Saturday, June 21, 2014 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be games, food, prizes, and special guests, reading books to the children.

In department reports, Mayor Ritter indicated that the required water reports from the Department of Natural Resources (DNA) have come back good.

The mayor also reported that he has received many compliments on the newly-remodeled restroom facilities in Westfield Park. The improvements are a credit to the community and should greatly improve the experience of visitors to the park. The ladies' restroom has a handicap stall and a changing table for babies.

In the maintenance report, Mayor Ritter told the aldermen that the city will keep the Hustler mower, since they can't get a trade-in on it. The mower has been taken for repair on the hydraulics.

In old business, the mayor reported that eight city streets had been paved, at a cost of $102,000.

The board also approved a request from James Burnett for a 10-year lease of the farm land at the new lagoon. The extended lease will allow Burnett to improve the poor soil at that location. The approved lease cannot be sold or extended to anyone else but the original leaser.

The lease required a special ordinance, labeled Bill #2-2014, Ordinance #400.2014.

Board members Carol Blanton, Tom Schmidt, Wayne Page, and Randy Schrader were in attendance at the meeting, as were library representatives, Cara Mayberry and Karen Tropf. Officer Jerry Hampton was also in attendance, as was Accounting Clerk Tina Bailey.

The Advance Board of Aldermen will not meet in June. The next meeting will be on July 21, 2014.