The Quitman Development Corporation (QDC) board voted unanimously to send its budget proposal to the city council for approval at its Aug. 25 meeting.
The board held a budget workshop prior to Monday’s regular meeting, reviewed the proposal and agreed to send it to the council.
“This looks good to me. Let’s go ahead and do this tonight,” board member Brad Medlin said. “In my opinion it looks ready unless you find something to question.”
The $351,333 includes roughly $140,000 in property expenditures and special projects, around 120K in administration costs and over 90K in debt service.
The board decided QDC would not provide additional financial support at this time for the Memory Care Life Center.
“I was told they had three large donations and they are going forward with their plans,” Board President Kevan Burroughs said. “We just need to hold off on any more.”
No action was taken. QDC has already provided two financial gifts totaling $40,000.
The Memory Care Life Center is a proposed 54-room facility dedicated to treating dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of memory loss. It is also planned as a teaching facility associated with UT Health East Texas.
Burroughs presented the board with plans and a proposed policy concerning applications for sidewalk grants.
“I got this together. I want you to take it home and look at it, and we will discuss it at our next meeting. The process will have an exact policy on what is expected when making the grant request,” said Burroughs.
QDC Executive Director Allan Gilbert also gave the board an update. Gilbert reported the QDC Facebook page had more than 36,437 views, while the City of Quitman website had more than 83,000 views.
Gilbert also reported that the Bigfoot statue at the arboretum nature walk has drawn considerable interest. People are coming to Jim Hogg City Park to take pictures with Bigfoot and see the other wood-carving art at the park.