By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Marion will be hiring a full-time cemetery employee, mayor David Mayfield said last week during a lunch at Marion Senior Center.

“People from out of town come and they want to see where a grave is,” he said. “They don’t know where to go or what to do. If you have a part-time person, they’re not going to know either.”

The council decided at its most recent city meeting to hire a full-time parks employee as well. Doing so will improve the delegation of responsibilities, Mayfield said.

“We had that when I was city administrator and never had any issues with anybody, concerns about the cemetery or parks,” he said. “We’re going to try to get back to that, because then we can hold that specific person responsible for all that.”

Restoring the city’s street department funds is a necessity, Mayfield said. Money was moved out of the fund to help pay for last year’s Main St. renovations.

“It was a necessary evil at the time, but we’re past that,” he said. “Now we can concentrate on moving some of those funds back into the street department.”

Funds need to be replenished so Marion can focus on improving streets. The street department needs to target two or three blocks a year for repairs, Mayfield said.

“If we can do that, we’re going to show some progress,” he said. “We’re going to target those streets that are in really bad shape. I’m concerned we’re going to end up with some gravel streets in this town if we don’t do something.”

The senior center will now be charged wholesale rates on utility bills, saving the center $1,000 a year.

“That’s trash, electricity, water, and sewer,” Mayfield said. “That’s going to save you a pretty good chunk of change.”

Mayfield will be available to meet with residents by appointment from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays when there are not city meetings.