ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Adjustments to the 2011 Budget was the main topic of discussion at the Robertsdale City Council meeting Monday night. Chief Financial Officer Ann Simpson presented the summary with an overall surplus of $1,272,996 in revenues and expenses.

Broken down, General Government had a deficit of $1,237,934 with revenues at $4,205, 280 and expenses at $5,443, 214. An Electrical surplus of $1,938,946 with revenues of $8,151,000 and expenses of $6,212, 054, Water surplus of $623, 607 with revenues of $1,135,000 and Expenses of $511,393, and Sewer surplus of $14,397 with $834,050 in Revenues and $819, 653 in Expenses.

Total debt expenses including $124,780 in short term loans and $1,090,308 in bond payments come out to $1, 215, 088 leaving a net surplus of $57,908, Simpson said.

Some balances remaining on the 2009 Bond Issue include $430, 000 (General Obligation Warrant) going toward proposed projects on PZK Civic Center upgrade ($300,000), Sidewalk project ($100,000 ), Safe Routes to School ($30,000). The URW (Utility; Revenue Warrant) is $500,000 with proposed projects in Water (Kendrick Rd.) $100,000 and Electric upgrade of $260,000. These loans will be repaid using utility revenue.

“We originally thought we would have a surplus of $106,831 when we proposed the budget but because of having to upgrade some things and completing the sewer project ($100,000) it was less than what we planned. But the important thing is we are projecting to have a small excess of funds and are able to meet all our obligations for the city,” Simpson said.

Increasing gas and oil prices and the sluggish economy contributed to the gas deficit and a trend in declining business license purchases and people just not spending as much money also contributed to the deficit, Simpson said.

In other business, the council passed motions to:

- Reschedule the July 4 meeting to July 5

- Approve a $150 sign request purchase for the Robertsdale High School Volleyball team

- Approve a $500 ad request for the Robertsdale High School Football team

- No action was taken on an ad request for Big Beautiful Baldwin ($507.20) because of no motion to approve the request

-Approve giving $5,000 to the Robertsdale Public Library for their Summer Reading Program. Director Cynthia Nall said they have around 150 signed up and the program runs on Tuesday-Thursday for the month of June.

Public Works Director Scott Gilbert informed the council the baseball fields were in pretty bad shape from overuse (200 games) and proposed shutting them down after the tournaments in July to be able to repair the grass and the field. “If we don’t do something now, we won’t have grass next year.” He also said the smoke tests for the sewer system have revealed 109 leaks from homeowners and seven from city sites mainly from broken cleanouts and lines. “It’s working really well and we are pleased with the results.”

Police Chief brad Kendrick said they had a quiet Memorial Day weekend and are having lots of great success with the E-Citation system. “We want to be able to develop some Wi-Fi hot spots in town so the officers will have certain places they can connect to the system in Montgomery when processing tickets. It will cost about $5,000 but we have the money in the budget to do it.”

New fencing around the police department has been added to the back and an electronic gate is in the process of being finished as well, Kendrick said.

Summer camps are in full swing, Mayor Charles Murphy said, and the kids are really enjoying themselves. “They started last week and everything is going really well.”