2008 quiet year for Folsom, 2009 likely to follow suit

Compared to the year before, 2008 was a calm and quiet year for Folsom, exactly how Mayor Marshell Brumfield likes it.

Last year was the first full year Folsom’s aldermen served on the board since the chaotic recall election in 2007, which resulted in the ouster of all three previous board members.

One ousted alderman, Ronald Holiday, won his seat back along with two newcomers, Phillip Bickham and Charles Wilt.

Since then, Brumfield feels his new board has worked well together, making several changes to village ordinances, like placing a moratorium on prefabricated modular homes because of damage to village roads and utilities.

The board also secured the vacated Capital One Bank building at 82378 June St. as the village’s new town hall. The move came after spending 40 years in the thin-walled trailer on Railroad Avenue that frequently left attendees standing in cramped quarters during village meetings. The small structure was also being shared with the village police department.

The new site gives aldermen and village employees more space to work with, Brumfield said. It also contains a large meeting room where a year’s worth of meetings have already been held with success.

The village also went virtual in 2008 and became more accessible to residents and outsiders thanks to the new Web site at www.villageoffolsom.com. The site is nearly complete, Brumfield said.

Overall, the mayor called last year a quiet year and said this year may follow suit because spending is down in the tiny village, which means sales revenue is low, very low.

“Because of the lack of revenue, we’ve had to suspend some projects for now,” Brumfield said. Projects like street repairs and renovations to the town hall will likely stay on hold for most of 2009, Brumfield said, unless spending picks up.

Brumfield would also like to see the village’s first comprehensive land-use plan kick into high gear this year.