Cave Spring day care ‘getting better’
Termite treatments and a bright paint job are next on the list for the 40-year-old city facility.
The Cave Spring City Council signed off on termite treatments and interior painting at the struggling city-owned day care center.
It’s the latest in a series of actions to make the facility more attractive and financially viable.
“We’re slowly getting better,” Council member Nancy Fricks said during a work session discussion with Brittany Kaisor, the center’s director.
During the past nine months the center took in $118,030 in revenue and racked up $125,490 in expenses, ending the month of March with a deficit of $7,460.
But it’s an improvement over the $14,801 worth of red ink recorded at the end of the city’s fiscal year in June 2017.
“We’re not out of the hole yet, but we’re better than we’ve ever been,” Mayor Dennis Shoaf agreed.
A survey conducted last fall by consulting firm Different.ly showed that residents didn’t want to close the 40-year-old institution.
The firm drew up a management and marketing plan to revitalize the center and, while the Council hasn’t been able to implement changes as quickly as envisioned, they’ve been open to making improvements.
Enrollment was up in March and revenue that month was about $3,600 over expenses.
“That’s a good sign,” Shoaf said.
Kaisor said Tuesday an inspection turned up four large and active colonies of termites on the property next to City Hall.
“It’s unusual to see them this time of year — they’re underground laying eggs — so there are probably a lot,” she told the board.
Council members approved a contract with Arrow Exterminators with a base price of $1,800 for immediate treatment and a Sentricon system, and $550 a year after that.
They also approved Kaisor’s plan to have a Floyd County Prison inmate crew paint the interior of the center, including the doors, trim and bathrooms.
“No matter how many posters you put on the wall, it still looks like an institution,” she said. “We want some bright colors to make the daycare look more like a daycare.”
Destiny by Grace
The city’s buildings are on the 150-year-old former campus of the Georgia School for the Deaf. Fannin Hall, housing City Hall, got a $2.3 million makeover via the 2013 special purpose, local option sales tax.
Some of the other structures are still in disrepair or remain vacant, but a proposal to remodel and reuse the old laundry building behind City Hall sparked the council’s interest Tuesday. Renea Attaway is seeking to base her two operations in the facility. She runs the nonprofit Destiny by Grace, which delivers meals to disabled veterans and the elderly. She also has a forprofit company, Psalm 103, which
sells weight-loss meals to clients.
“There is a huge population in Floyd and Polk counties of disabled veterans — not the ones who are getting a full pension, the ones who need food,” Attaway said.
She estimated it would cost about $20,000 to put a commercial kitchen in the building. She’s asking the council to donate it to her nonprofit, which would then lease space to her business. City Attorney Frank Beacham said governments may make donations to entities “that serve the public interest,” but it’s not immediately clear how a for-profit business would affect the legality. Shoaf appointed a committee to study the proposal.
“We’re favorable toward this but we want to know more,” he said.