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Sunman council proposes small fund reallocation to finish digital sign, eyes larger grant for park lights
Summary
Council discussed finishing a digital sign with a $5,000 local match and conserving larger grant cycles to apply for an estimated $80,000 park light replacement; a motion was proposed to split $5,000 from water and wastewater funds ($2,500 each) while pursuing grant funding for the park lights.
The Sunman Town Council discussed funding options to complete a town digital sign and to prioritize a larger grant application for decaying park light poles.
Clerk (speaker 1) reported that the Ripley County Community Foundation will not announce its large grant cycle until after June, which does not align with the sign schedule. The clerk said the town could either seek a small local match ($5,000 remaining) or save the large grant opportunity for a roughly $80,000 park light replacement project, which the clerk said would better fit the Foundation's cycle.
Council members agreed that the park lights are a safety concern — one pole has fallen and others are leaning — and that the estimated scope for replacing lights is about $80,000. To finish the sign sooner, Committee member (speaker 4) moved to take $2,500 from the water fund and $2,500 from the wastewater fund to cover the remaining $5,000 and to pursue a large grant for the park lights; the transcript records the motion but does not provide a recorded roll-call tally in the supplied segments.
Council asked staff to prepare an additional appropriation as needed and to coordinate grant applications so the town can apply for park-replacement funding while using internal reserves to complete the sign if necessary. The clerk said that if grant funding is not secured, the town would split the remaining cost between water and wastewater funds to finish the digital sign.
No firm decision on the appropriation was recorded in the provided transcript; staff were directed to prepare paperwork and return with specifics for the council to act on in a future meeting.
