Town of Marion officials on Tuesday reflected on the town’s accomplishments on the first anniversary of the mayoral and aldermen elections.

Mayor Larry Gill, who was elected June 7, 2021 to be the youngest serving mayor in the state, thanked the town’s aldermen for their service to the town since taking office July 1.

“I appreciate all of you for continuing to serve the citizens of the great town of Marion and all that you do to make this thing work,” he said. “We’ve had a productive 11 months, and truly, truly believe that.”

Since the new town administration came into office, Gill said they’d been able to raise pay for town employees, unveiled an new housing development in the Pleasant Acres subdivision, started live streaming meetings and improved communication and transparency with residents and more.

Gill said the town has also been able to bid out the town’s garbage contract, which saved the town a significant amount of money, formed an economic development committee to brainstorm ideas to grow the town and had been awarded a $3.4 million grant to build a new wastewater treatment facility that will set Marion up for future growth.

“We’re going to start construction on the water well and treatment plan,” he said.

A lot has happened during the administration’s first 11 months in office, Gill said, and even more is planned for the future. He said he was grateful to the aldermen and the residents for sharing their ideas and concerns and looked forward to future efforts to move the Town of Marion forward.

“I’m excited about what’s going to happen over the next three years,” he said.