Sheldon aldermen talk budget and trees

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Nevada Daily Mail

With the approaching holidays and start of the new year, the Sheldon Board of Aldermen discussed the 2015 budget at their meeting Thursday.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," Mayor Jerod Lamb said jokingly as they faced what he said is normally a long process of looking over the budget, item by item.

However the board made its' way through the budget with only a few changes and corrections along the way as the aldermen raised questions about any drastic changes they saw from previous budgets or sums they disagreed with, such as lowering the projected sales tax revenue while increasing other items like attorney fees as they consider new ordinances.

Board president Robert Moran explained the budget does not come about by "magic" but through a long period of work as they strive to be "prudent" with the funding.

"We look at these things pretty closely," Moran said.

The 2015 general fund budget projects an income of about $252,922 and expenditures totaling approximately $246,135.

During the meeting, Moran also gave the board an update on the city's new trees after receiving a $3000 gift from the Alice Donaldson trust. Twenty new trees have already been planted and the board continues to look for more.

The city will be responsible for maintenance of the trees and the aldermen discussed ways they could protect the trees from animals or vehicles by using stakes or other means. They also considered putting in a drip-line system that would keep the trees watered.

"I'm pleased that we've moved forward with that," Moran said of the progress. "The city will be more beautiful because of it."

The board also heard complaints from a former volunteer firefighter, one of the few remaining volunteers who live in the city of Sheldon, concerning alleged, unequal treatment from the department and the disappearance of a jacket worn by his father, also a firefighter, before his death.

Firefighter Josh Bean had kept the jacket with other fire equipment of the department, but it then disappeared. He, the mayor, fire chief and others even searched for it in the fire barn after the meeting adjourned but still could not find it.

Bean said he will likely call the police next as he continues his search.

Concerning his falling out with the department, Bean and a representative from the fire department agreed to meet with a mediator in the near future to discuss a compromise that would allow Bean to continue serving the city as a volunteer firefighter -- an occupation he is passionate about.

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