About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2022)
Issue 6 Thursday, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 The Voice of Crawford County Since 1921 also serving Byron and Peach County 1 Section 10 Pages, 2 Inserts One Dollar City discusses loan for sewer lines BY KRISTI WATKINS The Georgia Post The City of Roberta discussed projects they are in need in the city with Tom Sloope from Carter and Sloope Consulting Engineers for a possible CDBG grant or a SRF loan. After discussing the needs of the city, mayor and council thought it was best suited for a SRF loan for a clean water revolving fund for sewer lines running down Seagler to the water plant. The lines are original and have several openings where rain water infiltrates the lines causing more water running to the plant. Jeff Harrison stated since the work done on High Point cut most of the infiltration in the sewer lines, there is still a small problem with Seagler. He also stated that the swamp area will also be a problem getting to the line. The 12-inch line could possibly have a slip line installed. Harrison stated they are approximately looking at half a mile (2,600 sf). At this time, the amount for this project is un known, but the SRF loan is a low interest loan at 2% where the city can pay off or have up to 20 years to pay. Harrison stated the Zenith Mill loan from 2004 will be paid off in 2024. Sloope added the project needs to be applied for soon due to the deadline. Sloope also added they do not have to wait to be funded to start; just follow GEFA guidelines. He stated there is also no penalty for early payoff. The city will be getting an estimate from Carter and Sloope after council voted for the application submission for the SFR project. Mayor Jay Andrews also brought before council the current bum ordinance to update the ordinance. The current ordinance has nothing stated about a small firepit for social gatherings. Currently, it is against the ordinance to have any burning within the city and that even includes having a small firepit to have those tasty smores or hot dogs people love. Mayor Andrews compared the smoke from these small firepits would not create any more smoke than a fireplace inside a home. He stated they will be going over other city ordinances from around the area to compare their ordinances and will bring back before council. The city will keep the” no burning trash” in the city ordinance. Another ordinance brought before council for review is the golf cart ordinance. Mayor Andrews stated the golf carts needs to be inspected in a timely manner. He stated owners pay for a permit one time and there needs to be an inspection on those carts on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Chief Ty Matthews, who handles the permits, recommended for a yearly inspection. Inspections would be to make sure the carts are legal according to the ordinance. Council approved $25 for the permit and $10 a year for inspections. All were in favor except Josh Patterson who voted against the change. Council also was updated on the new phone sys tem. Also council was updated on the approved golf cart purchase for a $500 security deposit. The city is now able to order one since orders were not allowed for the last several months. Council also discussed members participating in the other county meetings and members chose to attend those meetings. Other items brought before council was a software package called Unicode for ordinances to be open to the public online. The cost would be between $8,000 to $10,000. This includes the attorney with Unicode would go through all ordinances to see what needs to be updated or deleted. This would take from one year to 18 months to complete the process. Rocco selected for Governor’s Honors Rocco Moore, a 10th grader at Crawford County High School, has been selected as a semifinalist for the Governor’s Honors Pro gram. Rocco was nominat ed in the area of Physics by his teacher, Jody Barfield. He will travel to Berry College on February 26th for the state interviews/ auditions. This is a very competitive program that would provide Rocco with a four week summer expe rience this year. New and improved clock The City clock downtown in David Bailey Park has been totally refurbished, thanks to a $6000 grant from Flint Energies. The chimes and everything were fixed and ev erything is now digitalized. Thank you Flint Energies for all you do for our community. Dev. Auth. has full board BY KATELYN JENNINGS The Georgia Post The Development Authority Board discussed banking, since they now have a full board. Signatures from all board members are needed to have the account closed at GCB in Roberta. All banking is now done through BB&T in Fort Valley. 254 Wright Ave, the vacant unit next to Care Connect will be getting an electri cal panel installed. It was mentioned a new power pole will need to be installed as well. The Board voted and approved this motion. The business center project was awarded to Choice Roof ing for the new roof instal lation, and at this time they are waiting on the TPO roof material to come in. The es timated time for the material to be in is the end of Febru ary. Choice has requested a down payment from the Board, with the amount being at the Board’s discre tion. Martha McAfee made a motion to pay $10,000 to Choice Roofing, and this was seconded. However, the motion did not pass. Thomas Collins expressed concerns with paying that large of a down payment and made a new motion to pay $7,500. This motion was approved by the Board. Tisa Horton was selected to the Middle Georgia Regional Leadership Champions pro gram. The tuition is $1,000, and board voted to pay that cost. Hill Bentley notified the Board, and the Commission ers in attendance, that he will not be looking for reap pointment when his term is up in March. Board went into a closed executive session to discuss personnel and litigation. Whitaker Road residents express road safety concern BY KATELYN JENNINGS The Georgia Post Citizens of Whitaker Road made an appear ance in front of Crawford County Commission ers last week to discuss their concerns regarding the quality of the road. David Reeves expressed safety concerns with the numerous potholes. He stated the patchwork that has been completed over the years is not enough. Commissioners assured Reeves the citizens had their support and the road will get repaved for 2022-2023. During his announcements County Manager, Fabian Hollis, advised two employees have tested to run the inert landfill and transfer station, and if both pass then they will have four people qualified to run it. The water project for Carl Sutton Road to Jasmine Way is now out for bid. It was also mentioned Flint Energies is donating a truck to the fire department for $1.00. Lastly, the new Transfer Station on Jack- son Road is almost complete and the projected opening is the third week in February. A project for the 2022 CDBG Grant will need to be selected. Hollis stated since the county shop is moving to Jackson Road, a multi-pur pose youth center should be built where the current shop is located. The Board has until April to decide which project they would like to submit for approval. LMIG paving recommendations for 2022 are still being discussed. Rumph Road is still at the top of the list, and several others have been mentioned by the board. Hollis recommended West Lawson Merritt get milling applied. At this time, Hollis will get the population of each road mentioned, then the list will get narrowed down. A motion was approved by the Board to proceed. The county’s conference center has gotten a lot of use since opening in 2019. $7,000 was made in 2019, $4,275 in 2020, and $11,300 in 2021. The amount the center has made totals $22,575. It was mentioned it costs $75 per hour to lease, and there has been two grants applied for to renovate the bathrooms and the ceiling. A budget amendment was completed for the fire department since there have been two firetrucks purchased. The amendment was for $70,000, and the new total budget is $215,405. The Board voted and approved this motion. Two applications were submitted for the vacancy on the Development Authority Board, Thomas Collins and Adriane Romeo. After a brief executive session, the Board voted and ap proved to appoint Thomas Collins to the Board. CCHS wrestlers bring home medals Here are the medalists from this past weekend at the Traditional Area Tournament at Pacelli in Columbus, GA. Pictured from left: Mason Underwood-126lbs 3rd place, Aundra Smith- 145lbs 3rd place, Gavin Barefield-132lbs 2nd place, Braelyn Cain-152lbs 1st place, Jordan Andrews-160lbs 1st place, Logan Garretson-138lbs 4th place. Two wrestlers won the Area Championship in their weight class. Cain and Andrews are state qualifiers. Austin Money (not pictured) Austin Money-170lbs was an alternate but was called up to wrestle at sectionals. As a result we have seven wrestlers competing at the GHSA State Sectional Tournament. The team has had an exceptional year.
