Albany City Council covered a lot of territory, including adopting the new fiscal year budget and beginning applying for start-up funding for a new water treatment plant at its regular monthly meeting held Tuesday, June 3.
The meeting, with all council members present, lasted just under two hours.
Following approval of minutes, Councilwoman Renee York made a motion, seconded by Councilman Junior Gregory, to approve the 2025-26 fiscal year budget in the amount of $6,584,900. All members voted yes.
The budget is $1.3 million higher than the 2024-25 year total of $5,255,230.
The council then held a brief discussion on what to do with an old ‘69 model fire truck that is no longer operable, with Councilman Reed Sloan eventually making a motion to sell the vehicle as surplus. The motion passed unanimously.
City Attorney Jeff Hoover opened bids on surplus trucks the city had put up for bids, with bids on all five vehicles coming from Bobby Jones. Bids ranged from $150 to $450 per vehicle for a total of $1,100 for all combined.
Councilman Sloan made a motion to approve the bids from Jones, with all members voting yes.
The council then discussed the small amount of revenue the city was making from sewer provided to the industrial site on Hwy. 90 North, with Mayor James Bray saying the average revenue to the city was only $291 per month.
The mayor said the upkeep for the lift stations for three customers at the park was not sustainable and recommended the city relinquish responsibility and turn it over to the customers served in the park area.
City Attorney Hoover said there would have to be a written agreement made of some kind and he will look at the legal options that would allow the city to relinquish responsibility and liability of the lift station at the site.
The mayor also gave an update on the software updates for the water billing system, noting that an online billing option would be in place that remembers all customer information when people wish to pay water bills online. (For more information on the new billing system, contact the Albany Water Department or City Hall.)
City Clerk Ashley Tucker then gave the council some good news about insurance savings the city has seen over the past several months.
Tucker said the city’s insurance premiums had been reduced by about $23,500, from almost $56,000 to near $32,000 due to safety programs the city has implemented. Some of the decrease in rates were also attributed to a better audit report and new safety equipment the city has provided for employees.
Albany Police Chief Mark Bell then presented the police department’s monthly activity report for May.
Albany Fire Chief Robert Roeper then gave the fire department activity/run report for the past two months of April and May.
Jeff Conner then gave the monthly water treatment plant report, listing the total number of gallons of water treated by both Plant A and B for the past month.
The positive news was the treatment plant, which for a long period had been treating water at 100 percent capacity, was now down to 78 percent, more in range of what the state Division of Water would like to see.
The decrease in treatment capacity was contributed primarily to the number of water leaks detected over the past few months.
The council then had a discussion on the new water meters–both master meters and residential meters–that are being installed in the city and county that will further help detect leaks and measure the exact amount of water being used by each customer.
During the discussion, it was noted that when the new automated, state-of-the-art meters are installed, water bills could increase by as much as 40 percent for some users.
The mayor said, “This is not an increase anyone has voted on,” and said if anyone has questions or concerns to feel free to come and talk to him about it.
The new meters will detect the actual amount of water that goes through the system, which the older meters apparently did not detect or read.
Councilman Eric Smith noted that although the new meters and higher bills may be necessary, it would be hard to convince customers of an increase and suggested the city should make the reasons of higher bills more available to the public.
Commonwealth Engineer Toby Church then presented the engineer’s progress report,  which included a draft drawing of a new lift station at the intersection of Hospital and East Cumberland Streets.
Church also discussed the master and residential meter replacement project that is underway. He told the council, “We are not out of the woods,” but also said, “things are getting better.”
The engineer again stressed the need for a new water treatment plant to replace the over 50 years old Plant A, and discussed a new loan program that would get funding for such a project started. (A separate article on initial funding for the water treatment plant can be found beginning on page 1.)
The final item of business on the council meeting agenda was public comment, in which local resident Jim Pennycuff addressed the council about a water drainage problem.
Pennycuff said some recent changes on Tennessee Shortcut Road has caused some problems, primarily with a driveway blocking the flow of water, and causing the excess water to come across the street into his building.
He said recently a mobile home location was put in the area, but apparently there is no tile installed to allow excess water to drain.
The council agreed they would talk with the owner of the area on Tennessee Road where the mobile home site is located and try to get a solution worked out.
The next regular meeting of Albany City Council is scheduled for July 1, at 5 p.m. at City Hall.