Monticello Council Approves Budget
The Monticello City Council voted Tuesday to approve the $9,169,545 budget for the fiscal year 2018. They also approved the millage rollback rate of 6.352, recommended by the City Manager, Doug White.
The council also approved a “Park to Park” grant bid award to the low bidder, Georgia Development Partners, in the amount of $471,236. The cost to the city of Monticello is $94,247 which will come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) monies, according to Mr. White. The bulk of the expense will be covered by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
The grant will extend sidewalks from Funderburg Park to West View Park and include an upper walking loop, a lower walking loop, concrete stairs and modified paved parking for the parks. Some of the streets affected by the upcoming construction include Magnolia, College, Funderburg, and West View.
Mayor Bryan Standifer noted that this project is slated to begin soon. Mr. White said that the DOT is urging the city to “get this money spent.” The remaining SPLOST for these improvements will be about $55,000.
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The council also voted to approve the low bidder for Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) work on city roads. Shepco paving was the low bid at $35,200. The roads scheduled to be repaired with this money are Southern Ave.—E. Washington St. to E. Greene St.; Five Points Street—Hillsboro St. to Bonner St.; Hillsboro St.—E. Greene St. to E. Washington St.; Tower St.—Persons St. to Webb St.; and Apple St.—MLK St. to Benton Dr. There was no start date noted during the meeting.
The council also voted to approve a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Monticello and the Monticello-Jasper County Chamber of Commerce. The agreement will be effective as of July 1, 2017 and will terminate on June 30, 2018, unless terminated earlier under the provisions of the memorandum.
The memorandum dictates the responsibilities of both entities and does not hold the city liable to the Chamber in detailed risks.
Wanda Cummings was appointed by the council to sit on the Downtown Development Board, and the council was happy to have her.
The council also voted to approve Linda M. Keller, Probate Judge, Election Superintendent for the city election through an intergovernmental agreement. It will cost the city $750 for the election paid to Judge Keller for services.
In citizen’s comments, the council heard from Bobby Sutton on the city employees and what hours they were to work. He inquired about policy and said that there had been two arriving at work after 8:30 a.m. recently. Mr. White noted that he had spoken with Mr. Sutton and that the issue was addressed with supervisors. Mayor Standifer said that they would look into it and report back.
There was also a budget amendment made for the current fiscal year to add $185,323 to revenue.
The council voted to approve the Get Ahead House contract for $53,534 to fund the program. The city will receive an audit from the organization. It was also noted that the GAH will pay some of the bills that came from their budget last year out of pocket for the upcoming fiscal year.
Prior to the meeting being adjourned, the council went into an executive session to discuss pending litigation.
