A situation created by the changing of North Madison Street to one way was a topic of discussion by several in the affected neighborhood.

Al Bridges brought up the problem at Monday’s City Council meeting, stating that a tree behind the church obstructs the line of sight of oncoming traffic on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

City superintendent Decius Aaron said the tree belongs to church and the city needs permission to cut it. He said another tree is obstructing the view in another location on MLK.

A resident in the neighborhood said, when the street was made one-way, traffic increased on Jefferson Street. She said motorists drive too fast.

“We were wondering if you could slow it down with no thru traffic signs and speed bumps. We have such an increase in traffic, and First Baptist has the daycare. People are driving entirely too fast,” she said.

The resident added that the cars accelerate to highway speeds on the street.

“It’s not the people who live there. It’s the through traffic,” she said.

Councilman David Tufts said the city solved one problem with the one-way street and created another. He said Jefferson Street is not designed for handling traffic, and residents have no problem with speed breakers.

Gray Police Chief Adam Lowe said officers can enforce speed limits in residential neighborhoods up to one mile over speed limit, and Tufts recommended at least putting in two speed breakers on Jefferson Street.

Tufts made a motion for speed breakers and no thru traffic signs on Jefferson Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard, and it passed unanimously.

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Jonathan Pitts, vice president of the Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce, suggested a partnership between Gray, Jones County, and the Chamber of Commerce. Pitts explained that the chamber wants to send out the brochure in tax bills. He said the brochure highlights how money spent in Jones County helps reduce taxes.

“We want to inform citizens that they play an important role,” Pitts said.

He said the project will cost $1,725, which is $575 each for the three partners. Tax bills are sent to 16,000 people. Council members voted unanimously to join the partnership.

Aaron reported that the city water department is finishing the major project to loop the water lines out Gray Highway to make sure water is not cut off to the entire city every time there is a problem in the line.

He also said the water department may need to change the way bills are mailed from post cards to envelopes because of identity theft. Harris said the recommendation is from the GMA to look at the billing process.