DECATUR — DECATUR - Mayor Bill Montgomery presented the results of the Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee’s 2008-2009 audit of the city and a private audit of the Water and Wastewater Departments at the Sept. 13 city council meeting.

“There were really no big issues, just a couple of management questions,” Montgomery said of the water and wastewater department audit, performed by Berry & Associates, P.A., of Little Rock.

Montgomery passed out the 14-page audit report to council members and explained that this is the first time the water and wastewater department audit has been presented to the council.

Auditors “wrote the city up” because the report hadn’t been presented in the past, he said.

“They want to make sure each one of you knows what’s going on,” he told the council.

Montgomery also discussed the Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee’s findings with the council. The audit did show two reoccurring problems, which were found for two consecutive years, so city officials were asked to appear before the Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee for a review, he said.

The audit report found the fixed asset list for the District Court was not properly maintained, and the 2009 General Fund certificates of deposit were not properly reconciled.

Montgomery said he traveled to Little Rock with city administrative assistant Kim Wilkins to appear before the committee. He said they were only in front of the committee for a few minutes and told the committee they planned to fix the issues. Forty-nine communities were invited to attend but most only sent a letter explaining their position, he said.

In other business

◊Ordinance 10-03, requiring all Decatur businesses to acquire an annual business license, was unanimously passed on the third and final reading.

◊The council voted to appoint Stacy Brooks to the Decatur Housing Authority board.

◊Water department manager Rocky Mills reported the department extended water lines west of town, laying over 10,000 feet of line in 18 days.

◊The council moved to allow Montgomery and public works director James Boston to pursue an offer for wastewater treatment pond cleanup. Boston reported there are several sewer ponds that need to be cleaned and a company specializing in the cleanup has offered to cut its prices in half from 5 cents per gallon to 2.5 cents per gallon.

News, Pages 12 on 09/22/2010