VIDALIA, La. &045; Customers who get their electricity from the Town of Vidalia will receive rebates on their January electric bills &045; but how much those rebates will be remains to be seen.

On Tuesday night, Vidalia aldermen voted to set up a checking account to receive royalties from the Louisiana Hydroelectric station to pay the rebates.

Now that the Mississippi River is up, bringing up the hydro plant’s revenues and bringing in royalties to the town, &uot;we finally have the money to do this,&uot; said Town Manager Kenneth Davis.

The amount of each rebate will be based on the customer’s power usage, and figures on what the average rebate will be were not available as of Tuesday night.

With regards to the Vidalia Landing riverfront development, the council voted to hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday to open bids for the next phase of the project.

They also voted to apply for $48,000 in Recreational Trails Program grants funds that could be used to create more trails along the riverfront.

However, the town would have to match that grant with $12,000 of its own funds, and Davis admitted that getting the money &uot;is a long shot. Š But this is something we apply for every year.&uot;

The council introduced an ordinance to annex the new Gas Lane service station being built next to the Sonic restaurant on Carter Street.

&uot;We thought it was already inside the city,&uot; said Mayor Hyram Copeland. The ordinance is expected to be adopted at the board’s January meeting.

The board also approved beer and liquor licenses and authorized advertising for bids for a flatbed truck for the town’s Street Department.