City department heads share 'wish lists'
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on February 14, 2010 1:50 AM
Departments share their wish-lists with city council
Most of those who addressed the Goldsboro City Council at its annual retreat did not ask for millions in funding for various projects over the next 10 years.
But those things they did request during their particular department reports were critical items nonetheless, they said.
For Human Resources Director Faye Reeves, it was a simple software upgrade -- one that would only cost roughly $40,000, yet still provide much-needed services to local residents and city staff alike.
The program, she said, would allow potential employees to submit applications online and would give her staff the ability to track employee benefits and more.
"I would really, really like for us to have it," she said. "I don't think it's just a want. It truly is a need."
Assistant City Manager Tasha Logan expressed the Information Technology Department's own $40,000 need: Two items requested for 2010-11 she said would change the face of the city's Web site.
The project would include increasing the city's Internet bandwidth from 3Mbps to 6Mbps, a move that would allow residents, among other things, to watch archived City Council meetings from their computers and pay bills online.
Paramount Theatre director Sherry Archibald had another idea about how to better serve the public -- a $6,500 awning for the theater's loading door.
"Right now, if it's raining ... whoever is loading ... is getting wet," she said.
And other department heads also spoke about relatively low-budget needs they say would benefit their staff -- and local residents -- over the next decade, from City Engineer Marty Anderson's request for $85,000 to improve street storm drainage along North Virginia Street next year, to former Parks and Recreation director Neil Bartlett, acting as a stand-in for the department, telling the council that certain basketball and tennis courts would soon need resurfacing.
And while no formal decisions were made by the council members, they seemed interested, for the most part, in completing those projects requested if enough money was available -- applauding the staff for their presentations and hard work.
But each of those board members knew what Finance Director Kaye Scott would report later in the session: That not every item, no matter how much one might benefit the city, would be fundable.