The Mayor's Minute for October

Greetings from city hall. Fall is here and with it the celebration of the Autumn Street Fair, which was magnificent this year with a record turn-out. Thousands of people attended on Saturday, October 2, 2010. A record number of 217 vendors took part in this year’s event. The weather was perfect. I heard many compliments from both local citizens and visitors on the attractiveness of the downtown area and what McMinnville has to offer. This is the type of occasion which highlights our community and brings in visitors. We need to do more of this type of advertising to showcase our beautiful city.

City News for October

The Board has finally adopted a budget for the next fiscal year, July 2010 to June 2011. Sales tax revenue is still lagging behind. The city lost additional funding from the state this year to help the state make-up their budget shortfalls. Local property tax did increase by nineteen cents (19) along with significant reduction of services to minimize the overall effect of the sluggish local economy. Federal stimulus funds for fire and police have been sought to minimize any further reduction of staff. Continuing monitoring of expenditures will occur and where necessary cuts or reductions will be made.

The Board will meet in regular session on Thursday, October 14 at 7:00 pm. The meeting is held at City Hall, 101 E. Main Street on the second floor. The big items for action are the acceptance of the bids for Phase II downtown and the review of the bids for North Chancery widening. The Board will meet again on October 26 at 7:00 pm. If there are any other committee meetings scheduled they will be announced and posted on the front door of city hall.

Please let us know what you think about our using the city website to help keep citizens apprised of upcoming events and the latest news. Contact the Board members at: cityhall@mcminnvilletenn.com with your questions or comments. We want to help keep you informed.