Schellong kept on as mayor

The Crescent City Council voted unanimously Monday to keep Kelly Schellong as its mayor until next year’s November general election.

Schellong is in her first term on the City Council and as mayor has attempted to herald in a new era for the municipality after several years of high turnover in important positions, such as city manager and finance director, that led to financial disarray and disorganized leadership.

Within the past year, Schellong has pushed to get an accurate accounting of Crescent City’s coffers, held a well-attended town hall meeting for community goal-setting and worked with city staff to get three new council members acclimated to their first terms in public office.

“This has been a process for all of us,” Schellong said.

Her colleagues, including Council member Donna Westfall — who attempted earlier in the year to recall Schellong — said they were pleased with the job she has done as mayor and cited a need to keep her in her position to maintain positive momentum in the coming year.

“Once you get it down, I think it almost requires a second year before you realize your full potential,” said Council member Dennis Burns, who has previously served as mayor.

In other council news, it was announced that Crescent City can extend the term on its $43 million loan from the state to revamp its wastewater treatment plant from 20 years to 30 years.

This will likely result in savings for ratepayers who have already seen their monthly bills increase to help pay for the construction of the new plant.

Currently, the monthly single-family residential sewer fee is $56.70 for city residents and $47.95 for those in the county services area. Under a city ordinance, these rates were set to increase over the next year to $69.70 and $60.95, respectively.

But with the new loan terms, City Manager Rod Butler said there’s a possibility the amount of the upcoming fees hikes could be reduced to $3 instead of the proposed $13.

“We’ll come back to the council with some proposals and some options,” Butler said, “because this will give us more flexibility.”