City budget changes with new year
On the eight day of the new year, the Dripping Springs City Council approved an ordinance amending the 2019 Fiscal Year Budget at their City Hall meeting. Five changes were determined, which shifted and revised allotted funds around to provide for certain pressing expenditures in the community.
Three of these changes resulted after considering an appeal from Dripping Springs Ranch Park Manager Lynne Dickinson for money in the budget to restore the park’s horse stall floors. Funds were already budgeted for a new Panel Storage Project on the DS Ranch Park property, so the amendment rearranged money in budget pigeonholes by:
1.) A DS Ranch Park movement of $45,000 from the Panel Storage Project became a $49,918 expenditure for paving horse stall floors. (The additional $4,918 was taken from part of the money put aside for park equipment.)
2.) A transfer of $10,000 from General Fund to the Improvement Line for Dripping Springs Ranch Park Improvements;
3.) DS Ranch Park funding for construction of an Enclosed Storage at the park, utilizing the $10,000 moved over from General Fund.
The City Budget amendment made provisions to meet the cost of completely paving over the deteriorated stall floors with asphalt. City Maintenance Director Craig Rice said, “The deterioration of stall floors is too big to handle in-house as originally speculated.”
The lowest bid came from Lone Star Paving at $49,918. The park basically sacrificed the addition of a previously budgeted new tractor lawn mower to help achieve this goal, and also by downsizing a new storage unit, which will be on hold until paving is complete.
The necessity of a storage construction project is because the City Council directed that the contents of the Stephenson Building be cleaned out for future use. It now stores items from the Farmers Market, Christmas on Mercer, Founders Day, and Road & Street, and other miscellaneous items. At present the city does not have another facility to store it all. So now, the plan is to build a new storage enclosure inside the DSRP facility directly connected to the tool room, costing much less than the originally planned Panel Storage Project. Construction Bids have come in just under $10,000.
The approved amendment also includes changes in two more items:
4.) A transfer of $10,000 from the Personnel Budget (salaries) to Professional Services for a Human Resource Consultant.
5.) An addition of $23,095 into Transportation Improvement Projects used for traffic calming on Hays Street (estimated cost of speed cushions, signs, and associated expenses).
At the DS City Council meeting, a long discussion transpired over solutions to the traffic issues in this earmarked neighborhood where Council Member Taline Manassian resides.
First Baptist Church of Dripping Springs representative Ozzie Wilson addressed the council during the DS City Hall hearing about Sunday morning concerns over parishioners getting hurt while crossing the street. (The church is located in the heart of town on a block between Hwy 290 and Hays Street.) “We are super excited about the City plan,” he said, “Get it done!”
Mayor Pro Temp Bill Foulds asked, “Has the church considered a traffic director?” Apparently not to Wilson’s knowledge. However, the church does have ideas about speed bump locations, which another church member outlined for the council at the hearing.
Mayor Purcell asked Wilson if the church members could also be prompted to use the crosswalks. Wilson acknowledged the city’s concern over taxed expenses. “But speed bumps would be huge,” he said.
“Traffic is cutting through the neighborhood and speeding over to RR12 to go south,” Manassian said as she ended the discussion, “It’s a problem all of the time, not just on Sundays.”
A motion was made by Council Member John Kroll to approve all five amendment items with, “the condition that the city staff be encouraged to minimize tax expense on all budget items.”