Carrier Mills Village Board passes 'flat' budget
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Carrier Mills Village Board passed a flat annual budget at the regular meeting Tuesday.
The $422,600 budget is an increase of $850 over last year, according to an e-mail message from Mayor Louis Shaw. The budget does not include the outlay for the Water Department. The village Water Board will present that budget for approval to the full board, but it is not passed at the same time as the village budget.
Like most counties, cities and towns, the village has had difficulties with late payments from the state in the last couple of years.
Workers compensation, liability, health and unemployment insurance outlays make up over 17.5 percent of the budget.
The building at the intersection of Main Street and U.S. Route 45 owned by Fred Hutson still is a sore point for village officials. The building was in a dilapidated state; since winter, Hutson has taken some actions such as taking off the roof and knocking down walls, but not enough to satisfy Shaw and several board members, who say the building is a potential hazard. The board directed David Kyle to contact Hutson and his contractor, Roger Angelly, to find out when construction may begin, according to Shaw's e-mail message. A special board meeting may be called once the answer is determined, the message said.
During the meeting:
-- The junior firefighter program, discussed at prior meetings, was approved. The program allows people under the age of 18 to assist at fires in ways that don't involve contact with the actual fire, such as rolling up hoses or getting drinks. The department will be accepting applications from students at Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School whether they live in the village or not, Shaw said. Junior firefighters must be at least 16.
-- Board members voted to buy evidence lockers for the police department.
-- Members discussed a town-wide clean-up with Dumpsters uptown to be held September 15-17.
-- New Police Committee Chairman Greg Prince announced officers will be issuing tickets for trash accumulation, weeds, illegal burning and other ordinance violations.