Adairville mayor Jim Wilkerson reported at Monday’s monthly council meeting that the city made a donation to the Adairville Baptist Church in honor of former mayor Wilford Arnold.

The Arnold family had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the church.

“We did it on behalf of the city council, city employees and the fire department,” Wilkerson said.

Arnold was a past mayor of the south Logan County city and was also instrumental in the formation of the Logan Todd Regional Water Commission.

“He is really going to be missed,” said councilman Danny Finch, who served as a pallbearer at the funeral last week. “There’s no telling just how much he did for Adairville.”

Arnold was also one of the people responsible for getting Adairville’s ambulance service up and running.

“He was an outstanding gentleman,” councilman Tracy Gunderson said. “He did a lot for this city. He was a mentor to me and a very dear friend.”

Also at Monday’s meeting, the council approved the second reading of the ordinance which will raise the city’s water rates by 44 cents per 1,000 gallons.

The Logan Todd Regional Water Commission, which supplies Adairville and all of Logan County with water, will be raising the rates for the same amount beginning next month.

Adairville was one of the first municipalities to tackle the tough decision about what to do about the increase.

“I want to commend to council for adding just what we are going to be charged,” Wilkerson said.

The passed vote passed by a unanimous 4-0 decision with Finch, Gunderson, Marla Sircy and Judy Tanner taking part. Tony Nichols and Patty Costellow were not at Monday’s meeting for the vote.

In other action:

• The city council voted to close the street in front of the hardware story on the square on Saturday, May 22, for the Relay for Life team’s Womanless Beauty Pageant.

• The council discussed the upcoming census and the importance of everyone filling out the required forms so that an accurate count can be taken.

“We need to encourage everyone to fill that survey out,” Sircy said. “We’re going to be working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Fish and Game Club and the churches to help get the word out and let everyone know that we need those forms filled out.”

• The council had a lengthy discussion about what to do about council members who were constantly missing meetings. There are currently no guidelines for council members who do not regularly attend meetings. No action was taken on the subject, however.