The summer program is underway in Brundidge with growing number of participants in the younger age group.

City Manager Britt Thomas told the city council Tuesday the num of participants is currently at 98 with a number of other children potentially registering in the next few days.

Twenty-two children, ages 3-4 have registered with the OCAP program and 76 with the Pike County Board of Education program.

“That leaves a gap in the 5-year-olds that needs to be filled,” Thomas said. “We expect about 20 children in that age group to register once we get that age group going.”

The Council heard a presentation from Jennifer Amalong, children’s librarian at the Tucker Lightfoot Memorial Library. Amalong said that registration for the library summer program has closed at 103 children.

All programs will be centered around the theme “Dig into Reading”

“We will be digging in gardens, digging up trouble with trolls and digging up treasures,” Amalong said, noting that the library will host Thursday programs open to all children, whether or not they are registered for the summer reading program.

The Thursday programs will be meet at Brundidge Station and have guests including the Montgomery Zoo’s birds of prey program, a magician and a singer who sings stories. On splash day, there will be a huge water slide provided.

Richard Chapman, library board member, added that in keeping with times and technology, the board is considering an eReader program that would bring the library into the age of electronic books.

Chapman said, “The trend is to electronic books and right now we don’t have the capacity for that at our library.”

In financial news, Thomas shared that the City of Brundidge, in recent months, has issued construction permits for a total of $7 million. If the Pike County High School project were added, the total would be $8 million.

“Those are sizable investments in Brundidge, and that is good news,” Thomas said.

Thomas also shared the city in on track and in good shape regarding it’s budget at this time.

At the Tuesday meeting, the council voted to resurface the parking lot of the Doctor’s Building and East Central Mental Health at a cost of $24,500. The city owns the parking lots at both the facilities.

In a final note, Thomas said the city will begin spraying for mosquitoes at dusk and is asking all residents to help with the mosquito problem by eliminating any sources of standing water on their property.