Anna City Council meets April 18

The Anna City Council had a busy and wide-ranging agenda for its regular meeting on Tuesday evening, April 18. The meeting was at Anna City Hall.

A project update was shared by city administrator Steve Guined. In related business, the council approved a bid for one of the city’s improvement projects.

The city council approved a bid from E.T. Simonds Construction for paving work which will be done in conjunction with ongoing improvements in the South Main Street area in downtown Anna.

The bid for the work was $184,737.37. The city administrator informed council members that the bid came in 13.5 percent below the estimated cost for the project.

The city administrator also reported that work had started on a major improvement project at the Anna City Park.

The project includes construction of a new concession/restroom building at the park. The work is scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the 2017 Union County Fair in August.

In other business at last week’s meeting:

The council approved a Fiscal Year 2017-2018 annual operating budget ordinance. The council previously had given tentative approval to the balanced budget for the new fiscal year, which begins May 1.

The council also approved an ordinance covering utility rates for the new fiscal year.

The city’s natural gas rate will remain the same. 

The cost for water and trash pick-up service will remain the same. However, the rates for those services will be revisited in August. At that time, the city expects to receive rate updates from its water supplier (the Anna-Jonesboro Water Commission) and its trash pick-up service.

A 2.9 percent increase in sewer service is slated to go into effect May 1. The increase is related to the cost of improvements for the city’s treatment system.

The council approved a building permit for a project which is planned by Anna School District No. 37. The project is planned at Lincoln Elementary School. The district plans to release further details about the project soon.