By Patrick Yost
Editor

The City of Bostwick is projecting a $10,000 loss in its 2009 water fund budget, a revised budget revealed Monday.
   

According to Bostwick Mayor John Bostwick, the city’s water budget has been revised to reflect a rising use of chlorine to treat filtered water at the city’s new water filtration site. Bostwick said the cost of added chlorine was an unexpected addition after the city recently placed its new filtration system on-line.
   

The city is projecting water revenues for the year at $67,000 versus expenses of $77,000. The revised budget comes one month after city council members reviewed the city’s water and general fund budget at its July meeting.
   

The council in July accepted the city’s tax rate of .97 mills, a continuation of last year’s rate.
   

That rate is expected to raise $10,000 from city property owners and is part of a projected operating fund of $87,000 for the city’s general fund.
   

In related water system developments, city council members voted unanimously to raise the city’s reconnection fee from $10 to $35. The move, marshaled by city council members Damon Malcom and Angie Howard, was prefaced by concerns that the current reconnection fee had no impact on water customers who were chronically late paying the city water bills. Malcom said average water bills for the city were approximately $20 and the reconnection fee was not a deterrent to delinquent customers.
   

In other Bostwick City Council news the council:
   

• Accepted a $77,471 bid from Southeastern Grading to complete the construction of a sidewalk on Fairplay Street. The sidewalk will run the length of Fairplay Street from Bostwick Highway to Rocky Hill Road. Bostwick said the bid was lower than the $97,000 grant the city had received to complete the work. The added revenue may be used to construct crosswalks on the street. The project is part of the city’s long-term streetscape improvement project.
   

• Approved the expenditure of $4,200 for the construction of three traffic–calming devices. Two of the devices will be constructed on Fairplay Street and another device will be built on Malcom Road.