City Council Discusses Water Concerns
Water concerns were the focus of much of the Monticello City Council business Tuesday evening during its monthly business meeting.
As 90 degree plus daily temperatures continue to soar, council members Scott Sauls, Bryan Standifer, and Jackie Smith took unanimous action to enact a ban of outside watering in the city for the next month barring significant rains.
City manager Hugh King reported that the city’s reservoir was currently down to five feet and that daily water consumption for the past three months had remained in the .40-.65 range. He also said that Lowery Branch has an adequate supply presently but that the source was partially being use for operation of the water treatment plant.
The city manager expressed water concerns for August and the need to protect the reservoir. Watering on the Square and Funderburg Park would be eliminated beginning today until the issue is revisited, he said.
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Relative to the city’s water reserve, council approved a $27,000 contract from Water Wheels, Inc. for services associated with the treatment plant, distribution system, and sewer system. Operator Donnie Cowan has provided those services to the city for the past three years while also performing monthly tests.
Mr. King informed council that the proposal on the Cedar Creek Well project, presented on behalf of the Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority last month, was being reviewed for possible action by council in the next few months.
The city manager also revisited the topic of increased water and sewer taps fees. At the advice of the city attorney, Mr. King said that council needed to establish a resolution and conduct a public hearing in September on the matter. Council was provided with water tap rates from Rutledge, Porterdale, Mansfield, and Newborn.
With regard to the new high school water and sewer project, council members voted to acquire the lift station property for the project after conducting a brief executive session for the purpose of discussing land acquisition and personnel.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Water-related issues flowed into Mr. King’s monthly report as he provided council with a review of the water and sewer bond project. Initial field work at the treatment plant was in progress for the project awarded to Carter & Sloope in April.
Topographic surveying and hydraulic designing for the project should begin next week with the goal of having the plans and specifications complete by September so that they can be reviewed and approved by the Environmental Protection Division.
Mr. King also informed council that three water main breaks had occurred in the city—two on Hwy. 11 near Honeysuckle Road and one at the ice machine on Forsyth Street. A ductile iron elbow had also broken at Lowery Branch and a treatment plant motor had failed, he said.
All the incidents had been resolved by city crews under the direction of Monte Roper, according to the city manager. In light of the recent emergency situations Mr. King said that the city would provide cellular phones for all department heads at a monthly cost of $31.99 per unit.
The city audit for 2005 is still in progress with city clerk Belinda Whirley and Trinity Advisor Reggie White working on the belabored task.
Mayor Susan Holmes said that as far as she was concerned completing the audit was the city’s most important task at present. When she questioned as to when the audit might be complete, Mr. King said that his office was unsure but hopefully by next month.
It was reported that the tree trimming project was progressing with work on Hwy. 83 North complete and College Street underway. Pitt Electric will begin the 12kV upgrade this month.
Dept. of Transportation (DOT) representative Floyd Potter recently met with residents of Bonner and Smith Streets in an effort to widen that intersection, said Mr. King.
The city manager informed council that he would be attending classes at Athens Tech through the Georgia Academy for Economic Development.
Council members approved two memorandum of agreements—one with the Development Authority of Jasper County (DAJC) and another with the Chamber of Commerce/Better Hometown. The DAJC agreement was a renewal to provide Better Hometown services for $20,000 in 2007. The COC agreement provides for the hotel/motel tax proceeds to the COC and Better Hometown.
A special exception was approved for Tim Slaughter to open an auto repair shop at 245 Southern Avenue while John Seely was denied permission to reduce lot sizes 166 Honeysuckle Road from .85 acre to .44 acre.
Council members reaffirmed their decision to sell the old sewing room plant to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) for $169,000. Approval was granted to proceed with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) grant request for funds to purchase two police cars and action was tabled on adopting the comprehensive plan.
A council vote to maintain the city’s current millage rate of 6.596 failed 2-1. Mrs. Smith cast the dissenting vote and voiced that she was not in favor of rolling back taxes again. Instead she advocated for increased taxes in an effort that utility rates could be lowered. Mrs. Smith questioned as to why council had to rush the issue since the information was received by them just last week. She noted that the county is late consistently in setting the millage rate.
Mayor Holmes, who was in favor of the rollback and against increased property taxes, could not vote on the issue that needed a majority vote of three to pass.
Council will set a called meeting to discuss the millage rate when Glenn Newsome is able to attend.
During citizen’s input, William Gibson presented Mrs. Smith with a token of appreciation for her work on Funderburg Park.
During council comments Mr. Standifer reported on the recent public safety committee meeting and Mrs. Smith said that she had spoken with the DOT about getting the speed limit lowered from 35 to 25 on Funderburg Drive.