DAPHNE, Ala. — The Daphne City Council at Monday’s council work session questioned Mayor Fred Small as to why the building inspection department has a site inspector position.

The site containment inspector position appeared on the 2010-2011 budget, and the council wanted to know if there was a need for the position.

“Do we have enough development for a site containment inspector?” Councilman Ron Scott asked.

“The site containment inspector does a lot for erosion control,” Small said. “There’s a lot more going on in construction than what you might think.”

The mayor said two to three new homes were starting to be built per week in the city, and the site containment inspector is one of five positions in the building inspection division. The others are: technician, building official, site containment officer and building inspector.

The council discussed next fiscal year’s budget at the meeting.

The general fund budget was set at just more than $19.8 million last year, City Finance Director Kim Briley said.

The council appropriated an additional $800,000 throughout the year on various projects, so the total amount of expenses from the general fund was at approximately $20.6 million.

The estimated revenue for 2011 is $20.2 million, according to Briley; it equals an estimated $400,000 deficit. The council also is required by ordinance to take $500,000 from general revenue incurred throughout the year and place it into a reserve fund for capitol road projects.

“We have to make that up,” Councilman Derek Boulware said. “We’ve got a 4 percent problem, and it’s only going to grow next year.”

Small said the budget couldn’t be trimmed in many places.

“This is cut pretty thin,” he said. “There’s not much room for cutting. We’re in a very tight time.”

The next regularly scheduled council business meeting will be Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.