The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, set March 13th as the date for a public hearing on the City’s proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget.

Atlantic City Administrator Doug Harris (Ric Hanson – photo)

City Administrator Doug Harris said there were some changes to the budget since the Council held a work session to try and hash out the numbers. The changes overall reflect a slight decrease in the budget, but it won’t affect the projected rate of $17.68 per thousand dollars taxable valuation, which is an increase of 44-cents. The majority of the increase in the tax rate is due to a 38-cent increase in the Debt Service levy.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council approved a resolution awarding a contract to KWS, Inc., for the 7th Street Traffic Signal Improvement Project, for $139,900. They tabled however, the awarding of a contract for the Sunnyside Tennis Court Re-Construction project until March 20th, based on the recommendation of Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring and the engineer for the project. Only two bids were received, but officials were hoping for more, because crews with the City Street Department worked to remove the asphalt court surface, which saved a good chunk of money. It’s the second time the project had gone out for bidding.

Dostel’s Construction in Nebraska bid $259,000, while Midwest Tennis and Track bid $278,000. Dostel’s bid was unchanged from last July, when bids were first requested and later rejected. Both the engineer and Herring felt the lowest bid of $259,000 was still too high. They requested the awarding of the contract be tabled for up to 30-days, because they still hope to come up with financing options necessary to help pay for the project.  Herring said right now though, they don’t have the means come up with another $20-to 30,000 to cover the gap between the engineer’s estimate of cost and the lowest bid. Councilman Steve Livengood asked Herring how they plan to come up with the extra money, since Herring said they don’t have those extra funds in the Parks and Rec Budget. Herring said they will look at all options, including receiving private donations

The Council also approved the second reading, and suspended the rules to pass on the third reading, an amendment to the City’s Zoning Ordinance that allows some lots in the Southern Heights 2nd addition to be reclassified from R-2 (Single family) to R-4 (Multi-family) housing. Developer Don Sonntag said he would likely be coming before the Council at a later date with an application for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help make the housing project financially viable.