Operating on a balanced budget, completing municipal improvement projects, and maintaining citizens’ respect are Pell City’s top priorities for the coming years, according to City Manager Patrick Draper.

“Municipal government is a wide array of services, from public utilities to safety to the library,” he said Tuesday to members of the Pell City Rotary Club.  “A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen.”

Draper acknowledged that “it can be frustrating for a member of the general public who’s waiting to see some of the things we’ve needed to do come about, but in 2014 you’re going to start seeting some of dirt moving around on these projects.  Of course, when you talk about capital improvements, you have to have the capital to make the improvements.”

Planned improvements include water and sewer pipe upgrades and maintenance to current municipal buildings and facilities.    The city’s bond rating is now AA-, Draper said, “which is a very good rating.  Our interest rates will also be lower than we had originally thought.”

Pell City’s general fund buget is “in good health,” the city manager added, predicitng a surplus of $60,000 at the end of the fiscal year.

“If you take that over five years, it comes to over $200,000.  Our problem has been that our utility fund has needed about a million from the general fund every year.”

That situation prompted the city’s utility rate increase last fall.  Draper said that even with the increase, Pell City’s utility rates are comparable to other cities of the same size.

“What business could stay in business if it lost money every year?  We stil feel the need to do some more rate studies, which we’ll probably do later in the year.  It’s very important to the city council that we get this in line so that the general fund will no longer have to subsidize the utility fund.”

Draper told Rotarians that at least three new franchise businesses — Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, and Little Caesars Pizza — are expected to open in Pell City this year.

“There are also some other good things like that which are in the works that are sure to be hot topics, but we can’t give out any details about those yet,” he said.