MARBLE HILL: PETITION-PROMPTED AUDIT OF CITY IS NOW UNDER WAY

MARBLE HILL -- State auditors have begun an audit of the city of Marble Hill, which was prompted by citizen concerns over how money from a trust fund was being spent.

Marble Hill residents submitted a petition earlier this year requesting a state audit of the city's finances. The petition contained signatures of 124 registered voters, well above the 103 needed.

State Auditor Margaret Kelly said late last week that auditors have begun the information-gathering phase.

"I would like to encourage anyone with information that might be relevant to our audit to contact my office," Kelly said. "All information will be kept confidential."

When the audit is completed, Kelly said, she will present the findings and recommendations at a public meeting in Marble Hill.

Under the law, the city is required to pay for the petitioned audit. It's estimated the audit could cost between $4,000 and $12,000.

The issue centers around a trust fund that was set up in 1988 for construction of a municipal pool.

Last year the Board of Aldermen voted to use the trust fund money to construct the pool and an adjacent complex of city offices, including a police station. The plan calls for the city to rent the offices, with the rental money going into the pool fund as a way to pay back the fund.

The trust fund money more than half a million dollars was donated by the late Larma Wisely. In her will, drawn up in 1976, she left half of her estate to the city and the other half to relatives and the American Cancer Society.

Wisely's brother, Frank Pellegrino, owned a factory in Marble Hill. The pool complex is planned for an annexed portion of Pellegrino Park.

Some city residents, including Mayor Adrian Shell, have contended the money, endowed for construction of a pool, is being misused because the money is also being spent on building a complex housing city offices.

Critics of the project say the city is spending trust fund money on projects not allowed under the terms of the trust.

Town officials, including the city attorney, have argued that the use of the trust fund money is legal and the audit won't hold up construction work on the project.