What made it in the budget.

Friday, November 10, 2000

What made it in the budget

– $14,000 to replace the brick on the downtown mall with exposed aggregate. The other $14,000 will be assessed to surrounding property owners.

– $33,000 for additional staffing in the dispatch office at the Law Enforcement Center.

– $25,000 for two new police officers. This represents one-fourth of their salaries; the city will apply for a federal grant to cover the other 75 percent.

– $55,210 in increased benefits for the city’s part-time firefighters. This already was included in the budget, but council members confirmed its inclusion Thursday.

– $53,539 for the 11th firefighter’s position. Should dismissed firefighter Dana Miller’s suit fail, the council would then have to decide whether it’s going to hire someone else for that position or use the money elsewhere.

– A second allocation of $8,500 for the Mower County Senior Center, bringing the city’s funding for the senior center to $30,000 from $13,000.

– $7,500 for the Development Corp. of Austin, bringing the city’s total funding for the DCA to $75,000 from $67,500. The extra funds will go toward increases in wages for the DCA director and the part-time secretary.

– $25,000 for the Welcome Center. When Councilman Dick Chaffee argued that Austin already had a welcome center on Main Street North – the county Human Services Department – his comments met with indignation from Poppe and Rietz, who argued that the Welcome Center would provide direction and services for all new residents of Austin, and that it wasn’t just another "layer of government." Funding for the Welcome Center had been included in the budget, but was pulled out for review at Chaffee’s request.

– $2,000 for the SPAMTOWN USA Festival, bringing the city’s contribution to a total of $6,000 annually.

What didn’t make the cut

– Almost $6,000 for a part-time intern at the J.C. Hormel Nature Center, a position that was cut when nature center assistant Julie Champlin started working full time.

– A total of $50,000 requested by the Park and Recreation Department for play equipment at Wildwood Park, North Todd Park and a new southwest Austin Park. Council members said it would be OK if the department pursued gambling revenues from area civic organizations to pay for the extra playground equipment.

– A $36,500 request for funding to add another dog and car to the Austin Police Department.

– A request for $30,832 for new windows in the Interpretive Building at the Nature Center. The city has requested funds from the Hormel Foundation to pay for the new windows.

To come from the contingency fund

– $3,000 for a brochure by the Austin Bike Committee

– Up to $25,000 for mosquito spraying in case Austin has another wet summer season