Today's Feature

Discussed the Utilities.

The Carthage City Council Budget/Ways and Means Committee met Monday evening in a regular session. Carthage Public Library Director Jennifer Seaton was in attendance of the meeting with attorney Mariann Morgan to speak with the committee about the Library operations.

Seaton told the committee that the addition to the library is scheduled to open around late January of 2007. When the new building is opened, the current library building will be closed for renovation. After the renovation is complete, the building will be reopened so that both buildings are in operation.

Seaton spoke to the committee about the possibility of using some of the funding from the Parks and Stormwater Tax to help finance the operation costs, primarily the utilities. According to Seaton, Library money is available to pay the utilities for the first two years. 2009 will be the third year and Seaton said there was no positive way to estimate what the utility bills will be.

The committee discussed the idea of using the parks and stormwater fund to help with the Library utilities, beginning in its third year.

Committee member Ronnie Wells recommended asking Carthage citizens by a vote if they wished the parks and stormwater fund to help with Library utilities. Committee chair Bill Johnson said he felt that the people knew upon approving the expansion that the cost of utilities would increase.

Johnson said that there would be no way to know how expensive the utilities would be until the expansion was complete. The committee decided to wait and watch until some of the figures are available for review.

Other items of discussion included the Peachtree Community Improvement District (CID). Mike Woody was in attendance of the meeting representing the CID. Woody spoke to the committee about the progress of the development.

The Community Improvement District allows the Peachtree development to add an additional 1 per cent sales tax inside its own property to be used for improvements to streets, sewers and electrical in that area.

The committee approved a motion to split with the development sales taxes generated by the development. Committee member Mike Harris recommended a 10 year review period for the agreement. Woody said it would help pay back the developer for the outlay of expense which will bring tax dollars to the City.

Stench Report:
Tuesday,
7/11/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage
Square

I was reading in an employment newsletter ‘bout how ta judge if you’re stayin’ in line for a career advancement. Basically it said, "don’t do anything that most rational folks would think is stupid."

Now the hitch of course is definin’ the word "rational." That leaves a pretty wide tolerance for error in judgement also. It also assumes that you are a rational person. Course, it’s easier identifyin’ stupid folks than findin’ rational examples of the species.

I’d have ta guess that the most value derived from practicin’ the advice is that it at least make’s ya stop and consider the consequences of any particular action. There’s nothin’ like a little reality check ever’ now and then.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

• Banish bad dreams with air freshener! One reader says that to give her kids a boost of nighttime confidence, she took the label off of a spray can of lavender air freshener. She gives the room a few puffs of "Monster Go-Away Spray," and the kids sleep better. The bonus is that lavender is known for being a sleep enhancer.

• "Set up a phone call between kids and grandparents a week or so before visiting. They can talk about what the kids might like to do. It gives the grandparents time to prepare, and it gives kids a chance to build excitement before the trip." -- G.R. in Ohio

• "I keep a spray bottle filled with vinegar diluted with some water handy for when I empty the diaper pail. I spray the pail inside and out and also the top before I put in the new bag. It really helps cut down on the smell until I can give it a good scrubbing." -- J.C., via e-mail

• "A quick and natural soother for sunburns is cucumber slices. This works well for small areas that got missed by the sunscreen. You can lay them on the skin for about 10 minutes for an instant cooler, then put them in the fridge for 10 minutes and re-apply." -- P.I. in California

• "Friday nights are Mom’s Night Off in our household. At the end of the week, we all gather together for a movie and takeout. We talk about the week, and it really helps us connect and plan the upcoming weekend together." -- F.S. in Arizona

• "Sometimes you have to be sneaky with fruits and veggies. I make little mini-cheesecake tarts. I only use a thin layer of crumb crust, a super-thin layer of cheesecake filling and a large amount of chopped fruit on top. The kids think it’s great, and they get about two servings of fresh fruit this way." -- R.C. in New York