Gravyville City Council Met Monday Night; Several Actions Taken

A Special Meeting by the Grayville City Council Monday night brought no members of the public, only the council and just one representative of the media.  Despite the current pandemic, work still has to be done.  Mayor Travis Thompson and his fellow officials passed important actions aimed at helping small business owners in the municipality.

Tammy Downs, purveyor of Downs Pizza, was awarded a $15,000 loan at 3% interest to be paid back over the next 5 years or less.  Mandy’s Restaurant was granted a loan as well with the same terms.  Additionally, Mandy’s was granted some TIF 2 Funds, up to 50% of $25,000 for qualified expenses.

The council needed to correct some language in the motion from last week’s meeting.  The March 9^th meeting motion regarding freeing up some money for the emergency gas project called for cashing in a CD.  To correct that, the council decided last night to rather borrow against a CD in the amount of up to $200,000 though officials don’t believe they’ll need the full amount.

Lastly, Finance Commissioner David Jordan outlined the Preliminary Budget for Grayville.  Of note, the General Fund is budgeted to run at a profit of just over $28,000 while Special Revenue funds are expected to lose just over $3,000.  Utilities are projected to be up over $28,000 for a total budget anticipating an operating profit of more than $53,000.  Jordan added…

The budget will be available for public viewing for a 30 day period and will then be taken up for public hearing and potential approval at the April 27^th meeting.  Jordan also reminded that the way things are going in the world, the country, and even locally, it’s a best guess on the council’s part, expressing that he and the mayor along with Treasurer Sharon Walden and City Clerk Jo Ellen Seil had spent hours studying the numbers they had from the past, plus trends and projections to try to come up with a budget that would keep everything functioning and provide workers, departments and citizens with what they need.