Gray’s City Council went into closed session last week, citing possible legal litigation, and returned with an announcement that a rezoning issue that had gone on for five months was concluded.
Mayor Ed Barbee called the Sept. 9 meeting to order and proclaimed the month of September as Library Card Sign-up Month as the first item of business. The mayor presented the proclamation to Jones County Library Branch Manager Julie King after the reading.
The closed session was next on the agenda, and following a vote by council, the room was cleared for the 20-minute meeting.
The mayor, Mayor Pro Tem James Collins and Councilmen David Tufts and Terrell Fulford were in attendance. Councilman Terry Favors, who attended a 5 p.m. meeting to discuss department head reviews, left before the business meeting began.
Favors’ absence and the continuing absence of Councilman Benny Gray, who now resides in a nursing facility, puts the council in the position of needing unanimous votes on each issue to constitute the legal minimum of three votes in favor.
The matter appeared to end without a vote from council and simply an explanation by City Attorney John Newberry. He referenced O.C.G.A. 36-66-4 that states, after a rezoning request has been defeated, it may not be considered again for six months.
Newberry stated the petition was considered concluded as of June 3.
That code had been discussed before and was the basis for the continued arguments by The Pines Homeowners Association President Don Johnson, who is opposed to the rezoning.
The item was first before council March 4 and was unanimously denied. Developer Scott Jackson asked for the rezoning to be reconsidered, and it was back on the agenda for council’s June 3 meeting.
Favors was absent for that meeting. Tufts made a motion to approve the request, and the vote was 2-1, which meant it failed without a third vote to make it legal.
Newberry said his opinion about the June 3 vote had evolved from being a failed vote on the approval of the rezoning to failing to overturn the denial of the rezoning, which put the six months rule into effect.
Favors has been playing the no-show game since the June 3 meeting. He showed up in July, only to walk out of the meeting when the rezoning came to a vote.
The Pines HOA hired an attorney, and he and Johnson have taken turns reading zoning ordinances and procedures to councilman with threats of litigation. Their efforts, however, paled in comparison to the effect of Favors vanishing each time there was a vote.
After all that, it seemed anti-climactic when the matter was concluded without a vote and a simple explanation from the city attorney.
Jackson said he is not sure of his next steps. He owns the property that includes the city’s test water well that City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan has stated is needed. The developer thought he had an agreement with the city and has spent money developing plans for what he considers the best use of his property.
Jackson has wasted five months waiting for a decision from a city council that could not come together to hold a legal vote, only to receive the resolution of a legal opinion of an action that took place three months ago.
Business meeting
The first item of new business was presentation of the City of Gray’s FY2025 budget in the amount of $2,043,704 and the proposed millage rate of 9.5 mills that includes a 4.95 mill rollback.
The city’s tax rate has remained the same since it was reduced from 9.75 to 9.5 in 2009.
Council members voted to have a public hearing for the FY2025 budget and 2024 millage rate at 6 p.m. Sept. 16.
Their next action was to schedule the adoption of the FY2025 budget and 2024 millage rate at their Oct. 7 Council Meeting.
Newberry presented council members with a resolution to purchase five acres from Paige Batchelor for the purpose of a digging a test well for the city. The purchase price of the property is $50,000.
He said the drilling of the test well would take place after approval from the EPD. The motion to approve the resolution was unanimous.
Council members unanimously approved the addition of investment sweep services for the city’s General Fund account at Cadence Bank and approved the public consumption of alcohol at the Sept. 21 Downtown Fall Festival.
Comments
At the conclusion of the meeting, Collins talked about the situation with the Jones County Board of Assessors and problems with the sales ratios for county properties. He said he attended the board’s Sept. 5 meeting.
“I agree with the commissioners that we have an issue. I saw a group of clearly overwhelmed and incompetent people,” the mayor pro tem stated.
Collins asked council’s consent to let the Board of Commissioners know that the city council agrees and stands with them when it comes to the Board of Assessors. “I saw a complete failure of that board. There is a problem. We need a new Board of Assessors and a new chief appraiser,” he said. “There have been two years of issues with no end in sight.”
Council members agreed by consensus to Collins relaying their support to the county.
