No Budget Yet For Monticello

The Monticello City Council failed to adopt a budget Tuesday evening putting the organization close to a June 30 deadline which ends the fiscal year 2023 budget year.

Without a newly adopted 2024 budget for the coming fiscal year, the city cannot legally function financially.

Council members Larry Thurman, David Wease, Cynthia Miller, Jenny Murphy, Mayor DeAshley Thurman, and Mayor Pro Tem Doug Currie were presented with two budget proposals, one with an $8.6 million total and another with an $8.7 million total. Prior to discussions of the budget proposals, council members took some time to discuss them amongst themselves. Mrs. Murphy made a motion to accept the $8.6 million proposal which was seconded by Mr. Currie.

Mr. Wease said that he was not voting on a budget until it was straightened out. He said last year’s budget had issues as well, but he voted to accept it anyway and that he would not do that this year. When Mayor Thurman called for the vote on the budget motion, it failed with only Mayor Pro-tem Currie and Councilman Murphy voting for it. The others did not vote.

Council members established a Tuesday, June 20 special called meeting at 6 p.m. to review the 2023 budget again.

Without approval of a 2023 budget, other agenda items were affected by the non-action. Approval of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Get Ahead House had to be tabled until at such time a new budget was approved. The city government partially funds the organization each year. Voting on the Safe Built contract also had to be postponed.

Council did, however, approve a 3.940 rollback of the millage rate for taxpayers.

Council approved several other items but approval of a vape shop on the Square was not one of them. During a public hearing held during the meeting, no one spoke in favor of the application by Hassan Munir of Greensboro to open a vape shop on the Square. However, several residents spoke against it, as it was not recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Council members did approve a change to a text amendment zoning ordinance affecting an application to sell geckos. Ian Pulka explained that he uses the geckos to reach out to children in a learning experience. He said that the animals would be small in size and had brought one of his reptile friends for the council and audience to see. He noted that no breeding would be done at his home and that the biggest gecko he utilizes would reach 18 inches.

Wanda Cummings spoke for the text amendment noting that she thinks it’s a good thing for the kids. William Gibson said that the geckos were a part of nature and that the beauty of nature is great. No one spoke against text amendment change.

City Attorney Joe Reitman was present to review several documents with the council and provide his legal opinion. The attorney walked the council through changes to the Sands Park IGA with the county government which agreed to donate $31,000 to the city for upgrades to Sands Park. City attorney Joe Reitman reviewed the changes to the initial document and gave it a green light from a legal perspective. Council approved the IGA.

Attorney Reitman also reviewed the Accelecom pole attachment document of which he did not like the length of. He reviewed it and said some changes were made while noting that he did not like the time frame for which the city had to respond to problems but that timeframe was in line with the rest of the state. Council approved the agreement.

The attorney also gave the right of way ordinance approval for its first reading after reviewing it. He said the document was geared toward protecting the city’s right of ways and urged council to make any changes before approving the first reading.

Following the first reading no changes can be made prior to the second reading or the process will have to start over.

Agenda items approved included:

•Chamber of Commerce MOU

•Code enforcement intergovernmental agreement (IGA)

•Zoning application permit fee of $25

•Change of city hall hours to 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

•Suspension of the underground utilities project due to budget cuts

•Reappointment of Daniel Jefferies, Nanette Manning, and Kenia Lynwood to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Jennifer Stanley was not reappointed for a lack of a second to the motion.

Additional tabled agenda items included awarding the repointing bid and Mine Lake as a recreational venue. Mayor Thurman introduced the idea of using the city property for fishing for the public. With reference to that issue, Attorney Reitman noted that the city would need liability waivers signed by participants and reminded the council of the incident when two individuals drowned at the location.

Several citizens spoke during the citizen comment section.

James Belcher spoke thanking the city for their participation in the Juneteenth festivities. However, he brought up his concerns about the state of the playground at Funderburg Park. He said he disagreed with the state’s report that the playgrounds were safe and that he actually thought it was “less safe.”

Mr. Belcher then asked the city for an open records request for the report on the park.

Patricia Finger spoke in agreement to this, stating “we went from having one unsafe park to two unsafe parks.”

Jamie McRay spoke about the city and square being “trashy.” He mentions the increase in loitering and obscenity including public urination and drunkenness as factors in this. He mentioned that the Sheriff’s Office is doing nothing to prevent this from happening, and that at times he feels unsafe.

Juanita Norris then spoke looking to increase awareness on substance addiction. She wants to provide resources for the city and will look to do a presentation at the next scheduled meeting.

Reverend William Gibson then spoke thanking the council members for their hard work, providing a positive message.

City Manager LaThaydra Sands gave her city manager report. Mrs. Sands stated that bleachers have been ordered and surveillance systems are in place at Sands Drive. She also mentioned she received quotes from Sheppard Paving and Houston Asphalt and are awaiting additional quotes for paving Webb St, Hunter’s Ridge, and Spruce St.

Mrs. Sands also mentioned she received a complaint about heavy duty trucks entering residential areas, mentioning that code enforcement was looking into the matter.

A survey will be created by the end of the week to gather interest on what type of businesses citizens would like to see in the Central Business District. Several electric/gas building orders were updated.

The city manager also mentioned that the city is looking for volunteers to serve on the Revolving Loan Financial Committee. Individuals with professional banking experience in any way were encouraged to apply. She also mentioned a request from the DDA on several dates for movie night on the Square on three different dates.

Lastly, Mrs. Sands spoke regarding the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources evaluation on the parks in the city. Through these records, Mrs. Sands stated that they found the parks were safe and in fine condition.

Following this report, the meeting was voted to be adjourned at around 7:30 p.m.