The City of Athens Electric Department is growing at an annual rate of 3 percent, said Mayor Dan Williams at Monday’s City Council meeting in which he read results of a 2006 audit of the department.

As of June 30, 2006, the department was serving 37,277 customers throughout the city and county.

Other findings of the audit include: 1,155 customers added in 2006; 28 miles of transmission and distribution lines; total sales from customers of $64.6 million—an $8.8 million increase over prior year; 83 percent or $53.5 million of total customer revenue was used to purchase power from TVA; remaining 17 percent of revenue was used to operate and maintain system; reinvested $1.4 million back into system in infrastructure and equipment; in last 3 years, line losses and unaccounted kilowatt hours have reduced by 18.2 percent; since fiscal 2004, the average residential price per kilowatt hour increased .5 cents

In other business, the council:

• Declined a request by Juliaett Himmelight to annex and rezone property

• Approved demolition of a structure at 1806 W. Hobbs Street by a vote of 3-to-1 with Councilman Jimmy Gill voting against the measure, saying he thought owner Eddie Watkins should be given a 30-day extension

• Amended a Sanitary Sewer Tapping Fees Ordinance to charge an additional $200 per tap that will cover the cost of two city inspections and a permanent cap of the cleanout PVC tap after property owners have installed landscaping. Wastewater Department Manager John Stockton said the increase would only cover labor and equipment.

• Authorized the mayor to enter a lease with the state of Alabama Conservation Department to install an archery range on city and Athens City Board of Education Property running parallel to the walking track. The state will maintain and replace damaged targets.

• Awarded contract for paving Paddock Court, Montclair Drive and Shannon Street south of W. Hobbs to Keenum Contracting at a cost not to exceed $21,000 to come out of District 4 Capital Improvement Funds.

• Awarded contract for paving Christine Street and Maryville Drive to Keenum Contracting at a cost not to exceed $26,000 to come out of District 2 Capital Funds.

• Approved hiring Civil Solutions to provide design services for turn lanes at Washington and Hine streets at a cost not to exceed $1,500 to come out of District 5 funds; and a drainage study covering an area from Barbara to Hine streets, at a cost not to exceed $7,500 to come out of District 4 funds.

• Approved a 10-year non-educational ad valorem tax abatement to total $18,700 for Julian and Linda Owens’ ROW Manufacturing to construct an addition and bring employment up from the present 17 to 23. The council instructed Limestone County Economic Development Association President Tom Hill to monitor the company to see that employment is brought up to that number. Previous tax abatements approved by the council in 2003 and 2004 on the strength of increased employment projections did not become a reality.

• Approved purchase of a natural-gas powered emergency generator for the Police Department from General Automotive in Huntsville for $5,000.

• Approved granting city employees a day-after-Thanksgiving holiday for 2006 only; the measure will be revisited in 2007.