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By Dawn Burleigh

WEST ORANGE — One hundred fifty cubic feet of waste was collected during the two-day West Orange Spring Clean-Up held over the weekend. The city opted to move forward with the event during the public health emergency.

“Thank you, guys, for taking care of that,” West Orange Mayor Roy McDonald said.

Councilman Randy Branch said he heard from one resident that no one on the citizen’s block was aware of the clean-up dates.

McDonald confirmed the information was on the city’s website as well as it’s Facebook page.

“It was in the news as well,” McDonald said.

Council agreed to set the residential tax exemptions for tax year 2020 to be the same as the current fiscal year.

“I had some one ask if they qualified for all three, could they take all three exemptions,” McDonald said. “The answer is no. You can only take one of the three exemptions.”

This is one of the first steps towards working on a budget for the 2020/2021 fiscal year.

The city is also seeking a grant through the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program. First step was to approve the resolution.

The grant, if received, will cover expenses incurred by the city related to the virus.

“It will cover PPE, overtime, sanitizers…” West Orange Police Chief Mike Stelly said. “Things the city would not normally have spent.”

Council also extended the Disaster Declaration for 30 days.

“We are mirroring the state declaration,” McDonald said.