River Bend Town Council Budget Workshop Minutes May 7, 2024 River Bend Town Hall 4:00 P.M. Mayor John Kirkland Brian Leonard Barbara Maurer Buddy Sheffield Jeff Weaver Lisa Benton Delane Jackson Brandon Mills Mandy Gilbert 0  Present Council Members:  Town Manager: Public Works Director: Finance Director Members of the Public Present:  The Mayor called the meeting back to order at 4:00 p.m. and recognized the Town Manager. The Manager began discussions by presenting the Council with the agreed upon changes for additional funding for police training, as was discussed during the previous workshop. The Manager also stated that the Public Works Director Brandon Mills was present to answer any questions related to water or sewer operations. The Manager then discussed the proposed budgets for the enterprise funds. The Manager followed the advertised agenda and presented details related to water and sewer funds cash levels, all water and sewer fund departments, water and sewer capital improvement plans, the utility rate model and revenues for the water and sewer funds. The new wastewater treatment plant and water plant projects were also discussed, with Councilman Leonard asking what is Plan B fori funding if the grants are not enough. The Manager stated that as of now, the only option he was aware of would be al loan. He stated that he was currently seeking additional grants in expectation of increased costs, but The Manager presented slides from the water and sewer rate model and stated that his proposal contained no changes to the rates. He showed what impact the future projections had on the water and sewer cash reserves and said those reserves needed to be monitored closely over the next few years for the need for possible rate hikes. He pointed out that only 2 rates increases had occurred since 2016. Councilman Leonard stated that he would prefer to adopt small rate increases over time rather than waiting and adopting a large increase. Councilman Sheffield suggested changing the start time for the next budget workshop since most of the major budget items had already been agreed upon. With no further questions, Councilman Sheffield motioned to recess the meeting until May 9, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. as part of the Council Work Session. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting recessed at  there was no guarantee that more grant funding would be approved.  5:20 p.m.  Dda Delane Jackson, Town  Seb