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I wanted to reach out to the community regarding the Albemarle City Council meeting that was held on Nov. 21.

The vote that took place that evening, for funding of the radios for the City of Albemarle police and fire departments, may appear to send an inaccurate message to those individuals who work in these respective departments and the citizens of the City of Albemarle.

As I have stated and shared in several of the council meetings, when we have discussed the ARPA funds, this is money from the federal government that we will most likely never receive again. We should be looking at big ticket items or capital projects that we would not be able to provide funding by any other means.

Regarding the purchase of radios for the Albemarle police and fire departments, it is something I support 100%. The issue is how we pay for those radios. We purchased the current radios in 2015 and based on the fact we have to buy new in the next 12 months, this appears to be a reoccurring expense. Items like this should be budgeted yearly so that funds are available when time to purchase.

Again, I support the purchase of the radios for the Albemarle police and fire and wanted to clarify this with the citizens of Albemarle.

Martha Hughes,
former City Council member