Vacancy on City Council to be Filled at Tonight's Meeting; Five Budgets on Agenda for Approval
By Chris Johnson on March 24, 2025
By the time tonight's meeting is over, Bridgeport City Council will be back to full strength.
A vacancy on the governing board was created when Jon Griffith resigned on March 5. Read more on Griffith’s decision HERE
Remaining Council members will name a replacement who will fill Griffith’s spot for the rest of an unexpired term that ends on June 30. It is one of three Council spots that will be on the municipal election on June 10.
Council will also look to approve the general fund budget, coal severance budget, excess levy budget, sales and use tax budget (The Bridge) and the cemetery budget for the 2025-25 fiscal year./council.JPG)
“For any city manager coming into a new position, the budget is always going to be a challenge,” said Bridgeport City Manager Patrick Ford. “The nuances are the same in any city, what is unique for each municipality are the priorities and how you budget for those priorities.
“That was what was on my mind foremost when I took the position with the timing (Ford was named City Manager in October of 2024). But it’s probably been the most exciting and comfortable and seamless part of the job and what has made this so seamless and so exciting is our city council has always been focused on goals.”
Ford said the input from Council’s goals along with in-person feedback he received from businesses and residents in the community as well as the surveys conducted by the city in an effort to gather information for the city’s master plan were all vital in budgeting for the next fiscal year.
“The strategic goals mirrored what the residents and the businesses want,” Ford said. “Most discussions from the surveys to my individual interactions with people in the community and the goals of council all center around fitness.
“We are a community of opportunity and that’s on our brand but what runs heck and neck with that is, we are a community of fitness.”
Enhancements to the city’s trail system will be part of the new budgets as will be connectively in downtown between businesses and parking, improved amenities around Benedum Civic Center, amenities to the pool, tennis courts, inclusive playground and the overall master plan.
“There will be a number of improvements in the budget that feed into that desire to be the community of fitness we have evolved to,” Ford said.
Another budget item Ford is excited about ties into the library.
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“The budget will include a professional service assessment to further quantify the need for the evolving landscape of public libraries and what our community wants and then develop a master plan to expand our library.”
Additional staff hirings for the library, Fire Department and Parks and Recreation are in the new budgets. There are also items in place to help with the continued growth of the development services department.
Ford said the biggest challenge with the budget was the escalating prices of insurance with PEIA which has increased by 16 percent.
Also, on the new business portion of the agenda, Council will consider and act on a resolution accepting the charitable donation of approximately 1.76 acres in the Woodside Heights subdivision to the city be identified as Parcel No. 145, on Harrison County Assessor’s Tax Map 2401 for the Bridgeport-Simpson District.
Ford said an individual reached out to the city and wanted to donate the land to the city and the city just happens to have a trail that ends in the general area of his property.
“The timing is perfect as we are looking to expand our trails,” Ford said.
A pair of reappointments, Robin Urquhart and Jim Christie, to the Bridgeport Development Authority are also on tonight's agenda.
A proclamation for Litter Awareness Month will also be read tonight.
The regular meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall and will be proceeded by a work session where advanced construction planning will be the topic and will be conducted in executive session.
