The city of Watonga held a public budget hearing Tuesday immediately prior to the regular meeting.
The members of the public who spoke could ask questions but the council members, city manager and Dacia Phillips, the representative from RS Meacham, who keeps the books for the city, were not allowed to respond.
Several members of the Friends of the Ferguson (see Editor’s Note below) spoke on behalf of the museum and how they would like to see the city, which owns the buildings, continue to support the museum and perhaps increase its funding of the restoration effort now underway.
Alvin Woodruff implored the council to enact the proposed water and sewer rate increases or institute a fee so that the loan the city has to improve the sewer system and filter drinking water is never in danger of default. He suggested an earmark of fees for the loan payment and that the fee or increase be implemented sooner rather than later.
“I don’t to pay bills anymore than anyone else,” he said. “But we have to keep up with that loan. Paying them (the OWRB, who issued the loan) and coming up with a loss isn’t going to work.”
Marcus Wray spoke to the need to improve and maintain the roads. He said he understands the water projects are important, but the roads still need attention.
“The potholes keep getting worse. There is sediment in the roads and it is going to cost a lot more later than if we had done a little all along,” he said. “I hope we can put more money into the roads.”
Both Doris Johnson and Todd Duncan gave their opinion on the trash service provided by Veteran’s Waste.
Johnson said her husband had worked for the city as a garbage collector for 28 years and the garbage was never spilled, or if it was, it was cleaned up. “Why can’t we get our own trash (service) back?” she queried. “That’s where we could save.”
Duncan pointed out he had heard the trash service doesn’t collect daily at the schools as contracted. “They don’t care,” he said. “They aren’t even veterans. We can pay a CDL driver $5 more an hour and get people.”
The council thanked the speakers for their input, but gave no indication whether the comments had made an impact.
Editor’s note – this reporter is heavily involved in the Friends of the Ferguson and therefore some of the information in this article may be biased in that organization’s favor.