Fremont in good financial shape
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 21, 2015 1:46 PM
FREMONT -- The Fremont Board of Aldermen Tuesday night received a clean bill of health regarding the town's financial statements from 2014.
Andrew Harris, auditor for the town of Fremont for the previous six years, said the books were the cleanest they have ever been during his tenure.
"This is the best the books have ever looked, very much improved," Harris said.
The town saw an increase of more than $80,000 in unrestricted cash -- from $124,761 to $204,124 -- over the course of 2014 -- an increase town officials credited to more vigilant monitoring of its water and sewage.
"It's mostly due to finding problems -- billing issues-- and installing new meters to capture new costs, and careful monitoring of billing statements," town administrator Barbara Aycock said.
Mayor Darron Flowers called the clean financial audit a "major turnaround."
"It is all thanks to quality of leadership," Flowers said.
Also, the town's new garbage truck has arrived and is in service. It operated for the first time Tuesday, and although it was nearly filled by the end of its route, there were no issues to speak of.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Keith Spivey, speaking strictly as a resident and not as chairman of the STEP Grant, addressed the board concerning a complaint.
Several times over the last few months, Spivey and several of his neighbors have come home from work or from out of town to find their mailboxes vandalized or destroyed.
Fremont Police Chief Paul Moats fielded the complaint, saying nothing of the sort has been reported to his office, but now that he is aware of the issue he will address it with his officers.
"I will send out a memo to the officers and increase patrols in those areas," he told Spivey. "And believe me, I guarantee if we catch 'em, you're going to have a nice pretty mailbox up there before long."
In other business, the board voted unanimously to approve a measure moving temporary town employee Matthew Drummond to a permanent position. And it voted unanimously to approve a budget amendment shifting a total of $15,000 without losing a dime between the general fund, the fire department fund and the utility and water funds.
A special award was also presented during the meeting.
Fremont police officer Luke Siemin was given a Life Saving Award for actions taken on Dec. 10, 2014.
Siemin was dispatched that day to 502 Hillandale Drive to check on an elderly female, as family from out of town had not been able to contact Celestine Hardy for a period of time and had grown concerned.
After several attempts to get Mrs. Hardy to come to the door, and after checking with friends and neighbors who also said they'd not heard from her, Siemin went back to the front door a third time and listened quietly.
Hearing faint moans from inside the residence, Siemin forced the door open and found Mrs. Hardy on her bedroom floor having a medical emergency.
Moats said that although Mrs. Hardy succumbed several days later, Siemin's actions allowed her family to get to her and spend time with her before she passed.
Siemin was awarded a plaque and a pin, and received the gratitude of both the town and town board.