The City of Lebanon announces the first budget report for the 2022 fiscal year, the disposition of old government documents, a potential park restoration plan, and more In the February City Council Meetings.
Mayor Sherry Capello began the February City Council Meeting by giving the first update for the 2022 budget year.
Mayor Capello said we are 8% into this fiscal year, and the city has collected 4.67% of its revenues and has spent 4.77% of what it expects for its yearly expenses.
Mayor Capello said that no one should be worried about the differential between revenues and expenses because the city has not yet collected its yearly property tax, which accounts for the most significant portion of city revenue.
The City Council reviewed Res. No. 6, which will give Lebanon City Government officials the authorization to apply for a grant with the Commonwealth Financing Authority. This grant would allow the City to renovate the tennis courts at the Southwest Park.
Leading up to the introduction of this resolution, the City of Lebanon has entered into a partnership with the Lebanon Tennis Association to provide more spaces for youth in the city to learn how to play tennis.
The mayor said that the grant would be broken into two distinct phases.
Phase one of the grant is for the sum of $117,252, which is specifically for the renovation of the tennis courts including general facade repair, repaving of the tennis courts, the addition of a bubble building around the tennis court to give full-year access, the development of addition parking spaces, etc.
Phase two of the grant would be to renovate the basketball courts at the park, which is estimated to cost $35,000.
Mayor Capello presented a ground layout plan to Council, showing them what the park would look like once the renovations have been completed.
The City Council also reviewed resolutions three, four, and five, all pertaining to the disposal of various documents from the current Lebanon Municipal Building. The three separate
resolutions refer to the disposal of documents from three different departments – the Community and Economic Development Office, the Department of Administration, and the Department of Public works.
The documents range from previous grant applications, accident reports, dumpster permits, sidewalk permits, audit reports, etc., with some records dating back to the 1940s.
Mayor Capello said that part of the reason this is happening now is because of the transition that will begin to take place shortly between the current municipal building and the new City Hall located in the HACC building.
Mellissa Quinones, the Lebanon Community Development Administrator, said that in total, the city is disposing of approximately 30, 70-gallon trash bags of shredded documents.
Mayor Capello also made a communication informing the City Council of the appointment of Vincent Garcia to the Design Review Board. Garcia will fill the unexpired term of the former Mainstreet Manager Amy Kopecky.
Mayor Capello said that the Design and Review Board is a committee that reviews applications for all proposed murals and street art. She said that the City of Lebanon has various ordinances that pertain to murals, and the Design and Review Board review all of those items.
The board comprises seven people who will be reviewing a new mural application in the coming weeks.
The last official item on the February Agenda was the final reading of Bill No. 1, an ordinance that will allow the City of Lebanon to officially insert all new ordinances and amendments into the official book of codified ordinances.
In concluding, Council Vice-Chair Richard Wertz announced that street sweeping will begin again on March 14th.
Author: Alisher Aminov
