Ava City Council: Square Project Complete, Growers Market Returns Saturday

On Tuesday, April 27th, the Ava Board of Aldermen convened for a business session at 5 p.m.

City Finances

City Treasurer Peggy Porter said she was working on the rough draft of next year’s budget, mainly waiting on departmental supervisors to submit capital projects for the year.

Fire Department Grant

The city is moving forward with trying to procure a USDA grant to purchase eight air packs for the city fire department. The grant would pay for 75%, or $63,124 of the cost. The city would pay the remaining 25%, or $15,781. Fire Chief Scotty Upchurch said funds from a recent Fire Department fundraiser would still be valuable in completing the purchase.

Well #6 Repair ($47,208.50)

Ava Mayor Burrely Loftin reported about the “shocker” cost of repairing the #6 well on Graveyard Hill south of town. Loftin said he had called around to price-check the quote and found in many cases the costs would be higher than the $47,208 the city paid. Loftin said the pump was nine years old and during peak usage pumps 8-10 million gallons of water per month. Loftin said the damage was possibly caused by lightning, and the city was going to see about possible reimbursement through insurance.

Senate Bill #508

Loftin said he and Alderman Stan Lovan had traveled to testify before the Missouri Senate regarding Bill 508, which concerns the Grainyard Express project in Missouri. Loftin said the city was in favor of the bill, which would possibly bring revenues of over a quarter million dollars per year to Ava. Loftin said of the 30-some cities affected by the bill, Ava was the only one who showed up to testify.

South Jefferson Project

Mayor Loftin said the water line replacement project on South Jefferson was nearly complete, with just two more taps to work on.

FFA – Food For America

Loftin said he was invited to the FFA Food for America event and was impressed. by the 871 students who toured through 15 stations, learning how farmers grow food.

Growers Market

Mayor Loftin said the Ava Square project was complete, and he had given the green-light for the Growers Market to return to the Square this week.

Gazebo Improvements

Loftin said with the square done he wasn’t happy with how the gazebo looked. He reported bringing in workers to add some stonework and other visual improvements to the structure to “freshen it up.”

Scott Stark

Mayor Loftin wanted to recognize Scott Stark for his 12 years of service to the city on the Planning and Zoning Board. Stark recently had to resign from the board due to scheduling conflicts with his job.

Attendance

Councilmen present were Billy Stewart, Keith Jones, and Stan Lovan. Noel Dye was absent.

Video

Video from the Ava Board of Aldermen meeting will be posted to the Douglas County Herald’s website at douglascountyherald.com.

Next Meeting

City officials and aldermen will reconvene on May 11th at 5 p.m. at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public.