After three hours of listening and debate, Athlone Town Council was still able to find an additional €40,000 from the town’s budget at the annual meeting on Tuesday for a number of worthy causes around the town.
Meals on Wheels, the Little Theatre, the windows and doors fund, footpaths, and the Christmas lights fund were all beneficiaries after a number of councillors pleaded their case to the executive earlier this week.
Cllr Alan Shaw was the first to plead for extra funds when he noted there was only €11,500 set aside for the service support costs of local roads, and asked for an additional €25,000 for the repair of estate footpaths around the town. He also sought a small grant of €1,000 for the Little Theatre as a gesture for its 75th anniversary this year.
A number of councillors wished to extend the council’s windows and doors initiative, for the weatherproofing and improvement of such in local authority housing, and asked for an additional €10,000.
Cllr Aengus O’Rourke appealed for a €1,500 grant for Athlone Meals on Wheels because this worthwhile organisation had recently to make a €3,000 investment in refrigeration equipment.
“They’ve done Trojan work in the cold weather recently, getting meals out to the vulnerable of Athlone,” said Cllr O’Rourke.
Cllr Gabrielle McFadden then sought an extension on the €35,000 already allocated by the council for the annual Christmas lighting, so that Connacht Street and Irishtown might benefit in the future, but was told that in the town engineer’s opinion this would be “problematic” because of low wires and elderly plaster on the walls of the buildings in both these areas.
After some to-ing and fro-ing, it was agreed to allocate €2,500 “feasibility money” to allow the town council explore in more depth the possibility of extending the range of the town’s Christmas lighting.
As this €40,000 was above that which the draft budget had planned for, Cllr Mark Cooney suggested the council adjourn for 10 minutes to negotiate where these funds might be culled from, but town clerk John Walsh and his administrative assistant had already identified two sources.
He suggested €20,000 be imposed on the derelict sites levy, which had up until then not been set or agreed upon, and he also suggested another €20,000 be taken from the townpark fund of €200,000, and both these measures were agreed upon.
A number of similar requests for additional funds were made for the improvement of heating systems and ranges in council housing, for the extension of the grant to the TriAthlone committee, and for €4,000 for a football pitch in Brawney, but these were turned down or told that allocations were already provided for within the budget.
