The Lindsay City Council continued to look for ways to increase revenue and lower costs during their regular meeting Monday night.
Council members voted to continue collecting an $8 infrastructure fee that is collected on all city water and electric meters. An ordinance that would have removed the infrastructure fee was tabled during the council’s regular meeting in June. Interim City Manager Janice Cain explained the infrastructure fee is transferred monthly into a dedicated account which is set aside so funds are available when needed for infrastructure items such as replacing or repairing water lines or electrical lines. In a separate item, the
In a separate item, the council voted to authorize Cain to seek requests for proposals to explore whether there are any entities that might be interested in taking over operations of Lindsay’s nine-hole golf course. Cain will report any findings or recommendations to the council. The intention is for the city to retain ownership of the property, but lease or contract with another entity that would run and maintain the operations of the course.
“The purpose of doing this is to be cost efficient, we are subsidizing the golf course $150,000 this year, if not more. If you do some of the things that really need to be done to the greens out there, you’re looking at $200,000 that you could be subsidizing there,” Cain told council members. “That’s part of the reason it’s coming to the table.”
Council members also voted to declare a cityowned 377-acre plot of land, which formerly served as the Lindsay landfill site, as surplus and authorized Cain to seek options to sell the property. The council has discussed liquidating the property in recent meetings to provide a much-needed infusion of cash to city accounts.
Irregularities in the city’s utility billing was a topic that continued to come up throughout the meeting, both from citizens during the public comment portion and from council members later in the meeting.
One resident asked about the number of days in a billing cycle, indicating that his bill has regularly showed four additional days in each cycle for months. Council member Bev Barker also raised the issue of a resident she was aware of who had reportedly incurred a $40 infrastructure fee on her bill instead of the standard $8 fee.
Cain, who was hired at June’s regular meeting, acknowledged there have been some issues related to meters and incompatible software, and said staff are working diligently to ensure billing accuracy. She said some issues may need to be dealt with on an individual basis.
“If you’ll call and make an appointment with me, we’ll pull all your past billings, show you what we’re doing and explain some of the issues going on,” Cain said. “I encourage anybody who has a billing question to give us a call and the staff and I will try to figure that out.”
