Monticello Council Has Busy Meeting Tuesday

The Monticello City Council voted to join the Municipal Gas Authority’s (MGA) On-Bill Financing program that will enable homeowners to finance installation of natural gas appliances using the MGA’s funds to provide a no interest loan to homeowners for such services.

This program was presented as an opportunity to make gas its own, stand-alone business. The focus is to broaden services and market them to those homeowners in Jones County where there are several neighborhoods with access to city of Monticello gas lines that may not even be aware of the availability.

The council heard from Steve Edwards, a representative from MGA, when he gave some examples of the program. He said, “if homeowners want to change over from one fuel to the other – not to switch from electric – but to natural gas, they are eligible for loans up to $5,000 interest free. These loans can be used for furnaces, dryers, gas logs, lights, and even vehicles,” according to Mr. Edwards.

The homeowners make the decision as to the amount that they want to have loaned and the terms of repayment. He provided the following examples, if you get a loan for $1,000 over 12 months, that’s $83.33 per month plus a $3 administration fee per month totaling, $86.33.

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He also said that there can be several loans for appliances, etc. that equal up to the allotted $5,000 per homeowner that you can have $3,000 for one appliance and an additional $2,000 to spend on other gas appliance. He noted that with the program, one owner of rental properties can have up to $5,000 in loans per each property. Mr. Edwards stated that the loans include the cost of the appliance and the installation. “This is turn-key and the verification will go through me as a checks and balances of what the loan is being used for,” said Mr. Edwards.

Council members questioned what the city obligation and cost would be and they learned that only administration duties from the office would be needed initially. The council also was told that this would be advertised in the local newspaper as well as the Eatonton newspaper. There will also be an insert that goes in with the monthly bill as well as a display in City Hall for information on the program.

Mayor Bryan Standifer said, “this is an opportunity to expand our gas usage with little to no, no cost really, to the city of Monticello. And to get the news out to those Jones County users as to the availability of those services.”

The council members voted 3-0, with Councilman Larry Thurman, Councilman David Wease, and Councilwoman Jenny Murphy all for joining this program. Mayor pro tem Stone Workman and Councilwoman Cynthia Miller were not present for Tuesday’s meeting.

Those same three council members voted to approve the abandonment of a city easement that runs behind the property of Heartland Chiropractic. Lyndsey Holman requested the abandonment as she would like to add an exercise pool to the rear of her property.

After little discussion and commentary that the city has no use for that property, the council voted to approve the abandonment if Ms. Holman agreed to pay the costs incurred for any legal fees associated with the abandonment.

Council members heard from Tim Young, City Manager on several items during his portion of the meeting.

Mr. Young informed the council that he along with the help of Robert Jordan applied for the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Grant based on the work that Mr. Jordan presented to the council regarding Mine Lake. The grant was submitted on October 31 with the pre-application requesting $750,000 of the grant to “support parks and trails and protect and acquire lands critical to wildlife, clean water and outdoor recreation across the state of Georgia.”

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Mr. Young stated that it was commented that Robert Jordan is the premier trails guy in the state of Georgia and that he had done a tremendous job helping Mr. Young pull everything together for the grant. The city is expected to hear if they move on to the next application in a few months.

Mr. Young continued about Mine Lake and the Pond Management update. He said that there was a company that came out and reported that there are a tremendous amount of bass and crappie in the lake and a few feeder fish. He said that the report stated the lake is unhealthy because of the weeds in the pond and the fish were undersized and underfed.

He gave the council several recommendations to start for the pond management and they voted to add carp to the 50 acre lake so that they could eat the grass, with the purchase of the fish not to exceed $2,500.

The 2018 audit findings were presented and approved by the council Tuesday. Mr. Young said that the main finding was that the city was out of compliance with the state of Georgia and all federal agencies due to the timeline of getting this audit done. He noted that there were four lines that needed moving, but that the monies did not change. He also informed the council that there were no significant findings in this audit.

When asked about the 2019 audit, the council was informed that the city was on track for 2019. Mr. Young said that they had already shared a ton of information and that Carnethia Pennamon has been on top of getting these items together and has done a great job.

Other city manager items included:

•Informing the council that the GIS Zoning Map was now available online. He credited Lynn Bentley and the tax assessor’s office with the work to get this completed.

•Council approved a $3,987 quote for Bates Roofing Repair to repair the leak on the city government building

•Updating the council that a $30,000 check was received from the Blockstream venture

•Council approval of $35 employee gift cards for Thanksgiving

•Council approved ALTEC Inspection & Repair to repair the cables and to get the bucket truck back in service. The estimate for the repairs was $8,000 and would be taken from that budget

•Voted to document MEAG – Municipal Competitive Trust off system sales to be credited to our bills and to keep a trust fund from which the city draws interest on funds

• Heard from the Mayor a Election Declaration of Results – welcoming Gail Harrel new Mayor pro tem

• Read a Proclamation for Reva Brinkley Standifer and her celebration of her 102nd Birthday

In opening the meeting the council heard from Mayor pro tem elect Gail Harrell when she said, “I am very proud to be able to serve with you all in the coming years. I am excited, and I know that I have a lot to learn, as you all did and I’m asking for your patience with me as I am looking forward to working cohesively with you all.”

Mayor Standifer congratulated her as being the next Mayor pro tem of the City of Monticello.

The council also heard from Adam McGinnis as a representative of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) regarding what they are doing as an authority to better the central business district of Monticello.

Mr. McGinnis stated that the DDA is made up of a great group of people who are excited to serve. He said that the members are talking to people that are putting in the restaurants and those people who are interested in coming here to the city and what they are looking for. He said, “we have to take care of what’s here now and what’s been here.”

Mr. McGinnis reviewed his recent meeting with the Georgia Dept. of Transportation (GDOT) saying that the DDA came up with a list of things that were wanted. That list included: parking ordinance/limits, parking sings/limits, stops added off the Square, a truck bypass, striping, and ADA parking in front of the Courthouse.

Kyle Collins, Communications Specialist for GDOT, met with Mr. McGinnis and made a statement via their Facebook page that said some of the following regarding the Monticello Square meeting where GDOT leaders met to informally discuss city traffic and safety”

Vehicle entrance speed and pedestrian safety were apparent throughout the post. Also, commercial trucks going through the Square was a concern. There was a reference made to their being a FY2023 DOT roadway connecting GA 83 to GA 16 NW of the city. The main concern of the GDOT was that we cannot restrict Georgia highway usage forcing commercial traffic around the downtown area.

The council also heard from Mandi Tanner, Chamber of Commerce Director, thanking them for a successful Haunticello and Deer Festival. She complimented the city workers saying how helpful they were in getting the Square ready after the torrential downpour of rain just prior to the event.

Ms. Tanner also said that Monticello hosted a very successful Deer Festival and Deer Dash. She said that this was the festival with the largest number of vendors to date, at 137 and the biggest complaint was that we did not have a blooming onion vendor. She then commended the city workers again for a great job in helping setting up and making the day go smoothly.

Ms. Tanner also informed the council to get ready for the Smithsonian that is coming to the COC as it will be delivered Dec. 7, and reminded council that the parade will take place on Dec. 14.

Council members heard from two concerned citizens about the traffic and the litter on Tanyard Street. One of the citizens requested that it be looked into being turned into a one-way street. The complaint was that there is a lot of traffic going from Highway 83 to Hwy. 11.

It was noted that the end of the street near College street is narrow, cars have to pull out while they are awaiting to get on the street, there is an issue with a man hole cover that will bust your tires if you don’t know how to come onto the street.

One of the other issues on Tanyard Street was that of the speed of drivers down that street as well as the large amounts of trash in that neighborhood It was suggested that the city put up a camera start ticketing these people that litter. The suggestion was made that the litter would decrease as well as the fines generate revenue for the city.

Adam McGinnis spoke again during the meeting to request a special exception for 474 Kelly Lane. He told the council that with his business, Southern Edge Realty, the most phone calls that he takes are requesting rental properties for which the city has few.

Mr. McGinnis was requesting an exception to be able to add additional duplexes on that address as it’s zoned residential, mulit-family. Currently the property has an stipulation stating that only one duplex could reside on that property that was put in place in 1908 according to his research.

The council told Mr. McGinnis that he would have to go to the Planning and Zoning board prior to this coming back before council for the final decision.