WINONA – The board of aldermen voted to increase monthly garbage fees to $20.30 per month, an increase of $3.79 per month or $48 per year per household.
Currently, garbage customers are paying $16.51 per month for two pickups weekly. However, because the board did not increase garbage rates the last time the cost of services increase, the cost to dispose of garbage in two roll-away bins available for public use at the Winona City Barn is not being covered by the current fees.
The new pickup fee will cover an increase in the cost of pickup, new garbage trucks, equipment, and carts and two pickups each week. It also includes the disposal of yard waste and bulky waste that requires special pickup.
Waste Management, the city’s current provider, was awarded the bid for the next five years.
In other city business:
• The board heard from a resident on Railroad Avenue who is having problems with flooding on his property. He asserts the water is coming from the street due to a lack of drainage. Mayor Jerry Flowers said Alan Scott, the city’s engineer, visited the property, and it appeared that to correct the problem, French drains would be required. However, city attorney Adam Kirk informed the board that the city cannot do work on private property, but if the problem did arise from the street, the city would need to correct the problem.
Flowers said he and Scott would return and reassess the situation.
• The board approved Entergy to give a quote on the cost to convert all light fixtures and light bulbs in city-owned buildings to energy-efficient LED.
• Stafford Wells Road is currently closed so the city can complete the matte and seal on the road.
• The board reinstated Devaris Branch at the Winona Street Department.
• The board approved City Clerk June Williams request to apply for FEMA and MEMA grants under the CARES Act. The board also approved an application by the Winona Fire Department to FEMA under the CARES Act.
• The board voted to amend the application for funding from the Appalachian Regional Authority for the amount of $76,458.81, an increase of $15,200, due to costs of the partial paving of the frontage road in front of Stribling/Empire Trucks at the Highway 82/Interstate 55 corridor.
• The board voted to proceed with the construction of the clock tower in downtown Winona. The project has received $400,000 in funding by the state and through grants.
