BAY MINETTE — The Bay Minette City Council held its first quarterly budget review during a work session immediately preceding the regular meeting Monday night.

Finance Director Joe Landenwhich said the city has collected 22.49 percent, or $1,781,580.17 of its $7,920,877 projected revenue for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

"All the department heads are looking at their budgets and preparing for 2.5 percent budget cuts later this year if needed," Landenwhich said.

He said the preparations were merely precautionary, and in line with the city's "proactive" approach to budgeting.

"They can start (cutting) at any time, but it's not needed right now," he said.

District 2 Councilman Mike Phillips expressed concern at the lagging revenues, but Landenwhich said lower numbers are typical at the end of the year, but will pick up.

"We usually have a surge in January and February in business license purchases," Landenwhich said. He said the city is not any slower in revenue collections than the county.

"I do not have the hard numbers, but I heard the county was on the same line as us (in sales tax)," Landenwhich said.

Bay Minette Mayor Jamie Tillery said the city is looking at other economic options, including re-examining bonds held by the city.

"We're looking at possible refinancing or getting a lower interest rate," she said. "The county has lead the way on that and they have showed a lot of savings. It's very proactive, and we're making plans for the future."

Phillips said until the city's revenue picked up, he felt more frequent reviews of the budget were warranted.

"I think we need to start doing this on a monthly basis," he said.

Tillery stressed the importance of shopping at home.

"This city runs on sales tax dollars only," she told residents in attendance. "Every cent you spend helps the city. When you take money out of the city, you hurt the city."

Live Oak Landing

With money woes on the table, the mayor was happy to announce a project that would greatly benefit the public without costing the city.

The Federal Conservation Agency has a plan to requisition the approximately 1,100-acre Live Oak Landing property in Stockton along the Tensaw River.

"Conservation of the Live Oak Landing property will provide significant public access for fishermen, hunters, boaters, birders, paddlers and other outdoor enthusiasts wishing to visit the upper Mobile-Tensaw Delta," Tillery said. "It could also help prevent the potentially harmful impact from development to water quality in the watershed."

Tillery said the purchase would be made by federal funds, and would "not use city, county or state tax-payer dollars."

Additionally, by making it a federal conservation agency property, the land and its inhabitants would be protected.

The council passed a resolution supporting the effort and presented a copy to the office of U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner, R-Alabama, and Tillery encouraged residents to support the effort as well.

"The more support the federal government gets on this, the more chance it has of happening," she said. "Citizens can do this in the form of individual letters.

"We have the opportunity to ensure that this property is put in public hands and ensure that all of us today and in the future will have access to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta forever."

BCHS discussed

The future remained on Tillery's agenda as she recommended a resolution giving support to Baldwin County High School as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) testing dates approach.

"Baldwin County High School had a successful year in 2009 with the AYP," Tillery said. "We also had the highest Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing scores of all high schools in the county."

While the test scores reflect the hard work and diligence of BCHS students, the need for a good start to the day with a nutritious breakfast was not overlooked.

"As we are aware from the past performance and data, a good breakfast is imperative to high performance. This is an area where we can definitely assist," she said.

Tillery proposed a motion that would donate up to $300 from each of the five council members and her own contingency funds to help pay the $1,710.79 it will cost to provide food and juice to 2,571 students on test day.

AYP is the Alabama Department of Education's assessment of a school's progress in meeting state teaching requirements. Yearly tests, attendance and socio-economic factors are calculated and each school is given a grade.

Teachers recognized

Schools were the big topic at the council meeting, as representatives from the North Baldwin Coalition on Excellence in Education recognized the teachers of the year from each of the nine North Baldwin feeder pattern schools.

Honored during the meeting were Betty Clemmons, BCHS; Lisa Dickson, BMMS; Shannon Garrett, BMIS; Cindy Robertson, BMES; Wendy Cox and Jerry Cain, Perdido; Lori Matus, Stapleton; Jennifer Fetters, Delta; Lynn Corley, NBCT; and Kathy Hayles, Pine Grove.  

The Coalition presented each teacher with a goody bag, school supplies from Faulkner State Community College, personalized candy jars from NBCEE board members Mary Louise Reynolds and Tiz Day, coffee travel mugs, guest passes to the North Baldwin Infirmary Wellness Center, notebooks from North Baldwin Infirmary and assorted items from the Bay Minette Public Library.