by Kathy Foster
Meeting in a special session Thursday afternoon, members of the Chipley City Council approved the Execution and Submittal of the USDA Rural Development Application for Wastewater System Improvements.
Council members were told the project being designed by an engineering firm approved by USDA is “on track”.
The application is being submitted for around $11 million and city officials said they expect to know something within 30 days. Payback for the funding would be made over a 40 year period.
Clsoing out the special meeting, council members moved into their August Council Workshop and opened that session with reports from the following departments:
- Police Department – Chief Scott Thompson reported the department had handled 82 criminal cases in July – making it a “busy month”.
Thompson also cautioned city residents, as well as anyone parking their vehicles around town, to be sure the vehicles are locked, and not to leave any valuable items in plain sight inside their vehicles.
- Code Enforcement – City Administrator Dan Miner reported that the City is interviewing applicants for the job and he hoped to have a report at next week’s August Council meeting.
- Fire Department – Chief Floyd Aycock described July as a “pretty good month”. Councilmembers Tracy Andrews and Kevin Russell thanked the Fire Department for what they do for the community, besides handling fire calls.
- City Administrator – Dan Miner reported on the following issues: – The Washington County Planning Commission and the Washington County Board of County Commissioners have both approved the new sprayfield. – The City is receiving insurance funds for Hurricane Michael recovery. – The SCOP project to resurface a portion of 7th Street is being funded. – No work has been started on the Mongoven Building, but the engineer is still making his evaluation on what was termed “a big endeavor”.
Councilmembers also discussed developing some plans to revamp the entire downtown area of Chipley. They noted it would be long-range planning, but action they feel will be beneficial to the community and attract new businesses.