The Bellaire City Council approved a $26.5 million 2010 fiscal year budget, after agreeing to spend $10,000 to keep the therapy pool at Evergreen Pool open during December and January.
Several long-time pool users had urged the council to keep the heated therapy pool open during the winter, so that they could continue their exercise and rehabilitation programs.
The city’s general fund operating budget for the 2010 fiscal year will be $14.8 million, Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said
The budget, which freezes hiring for all employees except for public safety personnel, defers funding on the Bellaire Town Square project and a request for parks land acquisition from the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Satterwhite said.
The budget also postpones using any city funds on public art.
But, Satterwhite said the budget will include funding for a History Walk that was part of Bellaire’s Centennial celebration last year, as well as a pergola and meditation area in the recently completed Loftin Park.
“They were really voted on last year, and I can understand that,” Satterwhite said.
Satterwhite said the budget “philosophy” for the city’s capital improvements budget was to “budget for things funded by bonds, because those costs are spread out over time.”
The other priorities, he said, were “things we needed to do to protect asset values” like the some of the city’s 50-year old water equipment and “things that impact the health, safety and welfare” of Bellaire’s residents.
The City Council took no action on an agenda item that would have called a public hearing on a proposed comprehensive plan revision. The proposal will be rescheduled for a later council meeting.
The council also approved the Recycling Committee’s request to spend $3,300 from the 2010 budget on “Bellaire Recycles Day,” which will be held in the city on November 14. The council asked the committee to present them with a report after that event.
