A last minute proposal by Councilman Mike Ford to purchase 38.5 acres of land on HWY 13 for $900,000-- for future recreational use (added onto the proposed 2010 budget), shocked the rest of the Council Monday night.
Ford: "The title insurance and deed are already being prepared . . . the closing's this Thursday. The Mayor and I had the authority to do it . . . so we did it . . . we need to pay these people."
Councilman Stankoski: " . . . maybe I missed the boat . . . but we . . . only approved you and the Mayor . . . contact them . . . negotiate . . . come back with some numbers . . . first I heard the numbers . . . when you. . . just spoke them."
Councilman Mixon: " . . . close to the vest is good . . . but when you don't let anybody at all know about it . . . all of a sudden . . . come up and want $900K . . . not good way to do business . . . its why we formed the FAC (Financial Advisory Committee) . . . its a mistake to suddenly add $900K to the new budget . . . without any planning."
Ford: " I laid it all out for you in executive session . . . thats my story and im stickin to it . . . our job to make decisions . . . not some committee . . . too much red tape . . . like the Federal Government . . . we provide recreation for the whole school district . . . Weeks Bay to Mobile Bay to beyond (HWY) 104 . . ."
Treasurer Nancy Wilson said the Recreation Board was proposing funding to come from the cigarette and beer fund ($200K); whats left of a 2005 Recreation Bond ($200K); and the remaining $500K to be borrowed from banks (5 year term).
Councilman Ford made a motion to go ahead with the purchase but it died, lacking a second.
Mixon: " . . . take it to the committee (FAC) . . . let them look at it . . make a recommendation to the Council . . . in about 2 weeks."
Council President Quinn: "(We) have to look forward . . . hard to find property . . . close to schools . . . can it wait? . . . can you (Ford) go back and talk to them?"
Ford: "I'll make an effort . . . if anything goes wrong . . . not on me . . . think we're hiding behind committees . . . our job to make decisions."
Mixon: "I think this (deal) . . . was hidden pretty well, Mike."
Publishers Note: The Financial Advisory Committee--comprised of retired/active financial planners/CPAs, etc--was formed earlier this year to help the Council with long range budget planning--among other things.
A last minute proposal by Councilman Mike Ford to purchase 38.5 acres of land on HWY 13 for $900,000-- for future recreational use (added onto the proposed 2010 budget), shocked the rest of the Council Monday night.
Ford: "The title insurance and deed are already being prepared . . . the closing's this Thursday. The Mayor and I had the authority to do it . . . so we did it . . . we need to pay these people."
Councilman Stankoski: " . . . maybe I missed the boat . . . but we . . . only approved you and the Mayor . . . contact them . . . negotiate . . . come back with some numbers . . . first I heard the numbers . . . when you. . . just spoke them."
Councilman Mixon: " . . . close to the vest is good . . . but when you don't let anybody at all know about it . . . all of a sudden . . . come up and want $900K . . . not good way to do business . . . its why we formed the FAC (Financial Advisory Committee) . . . its a mistake to suddenly add $900K to the new budget . . . without any planning."
Ford: " I laid it all out for you in executive session . . . thats my story and im stickin to it . . . our job to make decisions . . . not some committee . . . too much red tape . . . like the Federal Government . . . we provide recreation for the whole school district . . . Weeks Bay to Mobile Bay to beyond (HWY) 104 . . ."
Treasurer Nancy Wilson said the Recreation Board was proposing funding to come from the cigarette and beer fund ($200K); whats left of a 2005 Recreation Bond ($200K); and the remaining $500K to be borrowed from banks (5 year term).
Councilman Ford made a motion to go ahead with the purchase but it died, lacking a second.
Mixon: " . . . take it to the committee (FAC) . . . let them look at it . . make a recommendation to the Council . . . in about 2 weeks."
Council President Quinn: "(We) have to look forward . . . hard to find property . . . close to schools . . . can it wait? . . . can you (Ford) go back and talk to them?"
Ford: "I'll make an effort . . . if anything goes wrong . . . not on me . . . think we're hiding behind committees . . . our job to make decisions."
Mixon: "I think this (deal) . . . was hidden pretty well, Mike."
Publishers Note: The Financial Advisory Committee--comprised of retired/active financial planners/CPAs, etc--was formed earlier this year to help the Council with long range budget planning--among other things.
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