Lynchburg Finances Looking Better

I'am happy to report that the Lynchburg Village Government is up to date on paying it's long term and short term debt. At the first of the month the first half of the years long term debt payment, for capital improvements on past water and sewer projects was payed totaling more than $80,000. After all operations and monthly invoices were payed, the fund balances were still in the black. They were very close, and money is still very tight, however it is looking like things are getting better. On the current course, I sincerely believe that monthly utility invoices on the local wastewater, sewer, should decrease drastically in the next 5 years.

The Council and myself discussed the EPA,s request to guarantee the upcoming long term debt for the phase one and two of the current capital improvements at the wastewater treatment facility. The Council did decide to start a process to assess certain properties affected by the upgrades. Many scenarios were looked at, for instances, not doing anything, adding the amount to the current monthly utilities invoice, pay off the debt,add an income tax, assessment to certain properties.

Burgess and Niple was chosen as the Engineering firm for phase two of the sewer plant project. This project is being fast tracked, due to the fact that Lynchburg will be receiving stimulus and other grant monies

The project plans for phase one and two are at the Municipal Building, along with the contracts, for anyone's review.

The Council passed the first comprehensive plan in the history of Lynchburg. This plan has been more than a year in the making. It is also available for review.

To Better Inform and Communicate

I have found it hard to find the right tool to flow information easily to the community. There are many devices which I use and many of you may be familiar with those. I send regular articles to the local media, write a newsletter article once a month, send out information by way of email. Still it seems that the daily activities are not logged easily to keep people up to date and informed or at least not as much as I would like for the bar I have rasied. Part of this is due to the fact that the amount of information is overwhelming to me at times, as you may know I do not have a staff in my office, after all it is a small town. Part of it is I try to tackle what is important at the time, and what I can handle, so things are prioritized and put on hold. I came to the realization I can not do everything, even though I would like to, there is not enough time. Lastly, I do not always know what is going on with different parts of the organization all the time. Each department is carrying out a different mission, and they work under their own set of rules and regulations. I may have influence over the departments as Mayor, however when things run smooth, I usually do not hear anything. The Departments of the Village Government are as follows, Wastewater, Water, Law Enforcement (Police), Fiscal Officer, Utilities Clerk, Mayors Court. Currently there is not a street department, however the Village Council does contract maintenance foe streets. The legislature is the Council which is made up of six elected officials, which are broken down into working commitees. At this time the Village government only has 8 employees that are paid for their time or service. Three of which are appointed, which are the Fiscal Officer, Mayors Court Clerk, Magistrate. The other employees are the Utilities Clerk, two Police Officers, Water and Wastwater Supervisors. The Village operates it's Utilities and Service with very minimal staff. This is due largely to budget constraints, however there is an efficiency created by having a small and quality workforce.
I will attempt to use this blog to send information on thoughts and progress of activities as I know about them. Please bear with me, I may not post everyday.