County Mayor Shelvy Linville presented two checks totaling nearly $162,000 to the board of directors of the Macon County Senior Citizens Center on Friday, May 11.
$158,309 of the total amount will go into the Center's Building Fund.
Addressing the seniors and assembled dignitaries, Linville explained that state auditors had not approved the release of more than half the funds until Friday, April 25.
“I didn't want the auditors coming back in a year and telling us the county had to give the money back,” said the county mayor.
Senior Citizens Center board president Dennis Wolford complimented the mayor on making sure “all the ‘i's' were dotted and the ‘tee's' were crossed,” and thanked the mayor, county commission and Nestle Waters for the generous contribution to the Seniors Building Fund.
Nestles Waters RBS Plant Manager Mark Smidebush accepted the gratitude of the Seniors on behalf of the company.
The funds were from state infrastructure grants awarded when Nestle located in Macon County, but went un-used when Nestle paid 100 percent of the county's match for the grants.
Senior Center board of directors president Dennis Wolford also recognized Polly Donoho of the Upper Cumberland Development District for having arranged for the first $20,000 in “seed money” that was obtained for a future Macon County Senior Citizens Center in 1997.
A total of more than $178,000 is now in the Seniors' Building Fund. Mayor Linville had noted that commissioners designated $3,500 of the infrastructure grant funds to go toward a deficit in the Senior Citizens Center operating fund when the legislators first acted on the donation of the monies to the seniors in August 2006.
“That's why we are presentingo checks, but the two checks total $161,809,” explained the county mayor.
See photo page 3A
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