The Leitchfield City Council Monday (May 16) got its first look at the new city budget, one that promises a start on a new fire station north of the railroad tracks.

In his budget message to the council, Mayor William H. Thomason said the new station, at the corner of Brandenburg Road and Holly Hill Lane, will have three bays and some office space.

He said $50,000 will be budgeted to get the work started in the 2005-06 fiscal year, then the rest, estimated $150,000 in the following year.

Also in the new budget is a land purchase to develop more parking and future expansion, if needed, for the Centre on Main.

The council agreed to go 50-50 with the Industrial Commission on the $340,000 lot that stretches from South Main to South Clinton and includes the old Sonic Restaurant building.

The council agreed Monday to pay the city's half -- $170,000 -- in the current fiscal year. No immediate decision was made on the use of the Sonic structure nor a rental residence on the South Clinton side of the lot.

Thomason had good news and bad news on the current year's budget. He cited the Sunbeam Road sidewalk as good news, plus said there would be no increase in occupational taxes, insurance premium tax or the rate of ad valorem taxes.

The bad news was the permanent closure of Bosch Tool Company, which he said hurt the city's revenue picture, but said taxes are remaining level because other factories are taking up the Bosch slack.

And the city is promising to get tough on unkempt lots and yards in the city. The new policy comes as a result of several complaints about high grass, including one from Rita Sanders, 103 Kegley Drive, who said she represented several neighbors on the street.

She said grass at 101 Kegley Drive "is as high as the chainlink fence around the yard, and it's a snakepit!"

Councilman Steve Dennison said about eight yards on South Clinton Street have grass "as high as this council desk, with little or no upkeep on houses and no visible electrical power."

Public Works Director Darrell Harrell said the city's policy is to give owners 10 days notice before the city moves in and mows and weedeats the lots, "and the owner will get the bill, which won't be a small one."

Unpaid bills, he said, would bring a lien against the property or the structures on it. He said a warning phone call would be followed by a letter to the owners.