Russellville syncs local elections with state, fed

RUSSELLVILLE -- As it looks forward to a year of hopeful progress in 2019, the Russellville Town Council made productive order with its regular business Monday evening.

In particular, town officials adopted a new ordinance that will sync up its local elections with general statewide and nationwide elections. The council serving as the Russellville Water Board also heard input on its plans to update its water utility services.

The council passed Ordinance 2018-2, which stipulates that by 2022, four-year terms for the council and clerk-treasurer positions will be regularly established. Drafted by Town Attorney Stu Weliever, it also provides that elections will be staggered until then to prevent a complete turnover.

According to the ordinance, The clerk-treasurer’s office, currently held by Martha Mandleco, will be up for reelection in 2019, after which he or she will serve for one year. Cary McGaughey’s council seat will be up in 2020, and the council seats held by Cathy Jones and Jim Davis will be reelected in 2022.

The council previously stated that a major reason for lining up with general elections is so that town officials would alleviate the cost of holding their own special elections.

Town officials also heard from former Bainbridge Clerk-Treasurer Jason Hartman on the town’s prospects to improve its water utilities. Hartman said it would be wise for the council to consider seeking these improvements through the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). Hartman related that the town would qualify for a $550,000 grant which would cover needed work on the its water tower and water plant.

Hartman said that the matching grant would require the town to invest 20 percent of that amount, or $110,000. He also provided that it would be wise for town officials to apply for a planning grant, which he said would set up the town for future development despite a longer approval timeline.

Hartman, who is due to become a certified grant administrator through the state, said he would be eager to help apply for and obtain those types of grants. Hartman said that his experience as clerk-treasurer at Bainbridge gave him insight into the town’s needs.

Mandleco said that the town was in the clear to apply for a new grant through OCRA, given that a town must wait for a five to six-year period before pursuing new funding.

In other business, the council passed a salary ordinance that established a higher income for the town’s reserve deputy. The officer will earn $2,000 more based on an increase in work hours. Mandleco said that all other salaries earned through the town will remain the same in 2019.

The council also briefly revisited the drainage issue at First and Fordice Streets, saying that a drain had been installed to help the flow of water from the street, and that concrete would be poured soon to seal it. The issue is one that goes back to August of this year when a resident complained about pooling on the roadway.

Council members also briefly touched on the issue of metered rates for local water utilities. Mandleco said that she had sent a letter to Neal Cash of Cash Concrete regarding the company’s water usage and how much the company has paid for the town’s water. While Cash has not recently contacted her, Mandleco provided that Cash Concrete’s usage had gone down by 25,000 gallons from November to December. Council members acknowledged that a leak could be the cause of Cash’s heavy usage, and Mandleco said that she would get in contact with Cash soon.

In relation to that issue, Mandleco informed the board that 50,000 gallons were pumped more than was billed in November.

Finally, the council made a change to its calender of regular meetings for 2019. Instead of meeting the third Monday of every month, town officials will now meet the third Tuesday.

As such, the next regular meeting of the Russellville Town Council and the Russellville Water Board is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Russellville Town Hall on Harrison Street.