Lula approves SPLOST capital improvement budget

LULA - The Lula City Council voted Monday to approve a $341,000 capital improvement budget for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) collections.

The $335,500 amount proposed by Mayor Milton Turner was increased by about $5,500, at the request of Councilman Norm Harrop.

Even with the slight increase, the CIB came in at roughly $100,000 less than anticipated revenues, which allows for contingencies, Turner said.

Tentative projects and amounts included in the capital improvement budget include:

* $131,000 for StreetScape Phase 3 in the downtown area;

* $110,000 for the Pine Street Sewer Replacement Project;

* $5,000 for Main Street landscaping;

* $20,000 for roof stabilization on the Poole Building;

* $50,000 for street resurfacing. That amount will be augmented $29,000 with state LMIG funds;

* $25,000 for park improvements, with much of that amount budgeted for the resurfacing of the parking lot at Rafe Banks Park off Athens Street.

City Manager Dennis Bergin proposed using Permaflex to resurface the parking lot of Rafe Banks Park, which council members say must be repaired before it has to be totally reconstructed.

Harrop proposed the better paving, whose 15-year service expectancy is roughly double that of a less expensive alternative.