December 2008

By FRANK M. JOHNSON, Mayor, Town of Mt. Airy
As published Dec. 3, 2008

1. Keep Leaves Out of the Street

Our Streets and Roads staff check the condition of every street on a regular basis, usually once or twice a week. Recently, many residents have piled leaves in the street, often near the curb, requiring staff to clear the area. The town has regular leaf pickups by our waste collector, which requires citizens to put leaves in recyclable brown paper bags.

When leaves are put in piles on curbs in or near the streets, we run the risk of having street clearance problems unless we can call the staff out to correct the situation. If anyone has questions or concerns, please give town hall a call at 301-829-1424.

2. Budget Planning Continues

With the number of problems the economy is facing, it is no surprise that governments are all facing some level of budget challenges. Although Mt. Airy has a history of making conservative revenue predictions, and having a conservative expense budget as well, we do expect to have some reductions in expected revenue.

At this point, it appears that revenues for this year, FY 2009, may be about $50,000 less than expected in the general fund, and between two and three times that much for the next fiscal year, FY 2010. While this difference in revenue projections may not require dramatic changes in services, it will require some careful planning and individual reductions throughout the town’s budget.

Initial first drafts of the budget, including both revenues and expenses, are under review as consideration of budget levels for the next year have already begun.

3. Enjoy Shopping Downtown

After the fires of last year, we are all pleased to see so many of the businesses reopening in the newly constructed and reconstructed buildings. In addition, of course, the Watkins Building has also begun the rebuilding process. Gift certificates for downtown businesses are also still available for anyone interested, and we hope that everyone will shop throughout Mt. Airy during the holidays, including in the downtown area.

We do remind everyone that, as the signs indicate, parking on the street and some other areas are limited to two hours. We will be taking steps to enforce those limits.

Also note that the town parking lot between Center Street and Park Avenue, which was recently enlarged by nearly 20 spaces, does not have hourly limits and is a good place for persons to park who will be shopping for a longer period of time than two hours.

4. Thanks for the Flags

We again thank all of those who donated funds for the purchase of flags for the downtown area during certain holidays. The flags are put on telephone and electrical poles during Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and others as appropriate.

We also thank staff for putting them out, and Allegheny Electric and Verizon for approving our request to post them.

5. Town Survey Results

Many may remember that last year the town distributed a survey for all residents. The Growth and Development Task Force created the survey and managed both delivery and review after surveys were returned.

Since about 44% of surveys were returned – a larger sample than in most surveys – the review and calculation of the results has been a major task. Even since announcing the answers to questions, which was back in May of this year, the Task Force has been working on ways to provide specific information to commissions, staff and others, so that the citizen’s concerns that were expressed are put to good use.

Task Force members will be visiting commissions over the next few months with reports for each one, and hopefully this will help ensure that the citizen’s voices – expressed in answers and in more than 80 pages of comments – will be considered and, where possible, put into effect.



While some town commission vacancies have been filled, others remain available for anyone interested. Please contact me at frankmjohnson@verizon.net, or call town hall at (301) 829-1424 if you are interested in serving on one of the town’s commissions.