Aragon hires Allen as new clerk, new playground equipment purchased
The Aragon Council is back in action with a full staff thanks to Kim Allen taking over as the city clerk. After the resignation of Christie Langston earlier in March, Allen was sworn in and made responsible for the various duties of the position.
This includes prepping the necessary materials for meetings such as financial documents and the agenda — which featured a discussion on fence repairs and other recreational purchases.
The city previously held an open hall where locals were invited to come and share their opinions on what the extra SPLOST funds should be spent on, and recreation proved to be the most requested expenditure from those who showed up.
In accordance with that town hall, the council approved a new half court basketball court behind the ball field on New Prospect Road and various new playground equipment to be placed around Aragon. This includes a slide, a seesaw, a frog rider, and a whale rider.
It’s important to note that each item is being funded through the Recreational SPLOST, so the $16,308 in playground equipment and the $12,740 gazebo won’t intrude on the council’s spending ability when it comes to nonrecreational items.
Even after the purchases approved during the April 18 meeting, Mayor Garry Baldwin reported that they would still have a large sum of excess funds left for future projects. There was even potential talk of another public meeting for more recommendations.
“We have $82,000 that can’t be used for anything else,” Baldwin explained.
Also approved during the meeting were various fence improvements at Pittman Field and Veterans Park. Company Triple-A Fence, the approved vendor, will redo the wiring, parts of the railing, and much more for a combined total of $1602.33.
Baldwin cited safety as the main purpose for the purchase, and with the annual Aragon BBQ coming up this summer, there is the potential for liability issues should anyone be injured due to the degraded fences or free hanging wires.
“If we don’t do something quick, we’re in liability,” Baldwin mentioned. “The fence needs fixing. We’ve got some pipes sticking out, we’ve got gates that don’t close.”
Now approved, it’s only a matter of time until the repairs and replacements are made. The group had little other items, and with no council reports, the council quickly adjourned.