Future of developer’s request to build townhomes unclear
The City of Gray’s July council meeting ended with the same lack of resolution as did the previous month and for the same reason.
Councilman Terry Favors did show up for the July 1 meeting, but when the first vote was not going his way, the councilman appeared to take the advice of an audience member and left.
Favors’ absence made the vote 2-1 in favor of the rezoning but short of the three votes required for a legal vote. That was the same situation that took place at the June 3 meeting due to Favors not showing up for that meeting.
The issue at hand was the rezoning of a property on Allen Green Road from single family residential to R-3 for the purpose of building townhomes. Neighbors across the highway from the proposed development have objected to the rezoning from its first time in front of council, claiming the 30-35 proposed townhome units would cause traffic congestion.
The Pines HOA hired an attorney, Ben Vaughn, who after a short discussion was allowed to speak. The attorney did not add any new information to the question of the rezoning The first time the item was on the city’s agenda was at the council’s March 3 meeting, and the request was unanimously denied. Developer Scott Jackson requested a rehearing of the request, and council members voted at their May 6 meeting to grant the rehearing.
At the conclusion of the July 1 meeting, Fulford stated that the city now had an $11 million wastewater treatment plant to pay for and needed new customers. The councilman said without new customers, the rates for the city’s existing customers would have to be increased. He also said the city needs water.
Mayor Pro Tem James Collins, who was the only no vote for the request at the June 3 and July 1 meetings, said he also voted against the new wastewater treatment plant.
City Attorney John Newberry asked for time to consider the next step after Favors’ unexpected departure Monday. Zoning Officer Tim Pitrowski was in attendance at the meeting and also had no answers to what should happen next.
A few minutes later, Newberry said because there was nothing in the city code to address the situation, he would need time to research state law.
Fulford attempted to table the item to the next meeting, but Collins voted against that, too, resulting in the same 2-1 failed vote.
City business
Mayor Ed Barbee called the July 1 meeting to order as usual, and following the issues with the Old Business items, turned to New Business with the remaining council members.
The first item was approval of the public consumption of alcoholic beverages during the July 19 Fridays on Main event. Collins made a motion to approve, and the vote to approve was a unanimous 3-0 vote.
The next two items were resolutions. The first was to approve the $25,000 for marketing services for a joint branding project with the Jones County Board of Commissioners, Jones County Development Authority, Gray Downtown Development Authority, Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Gray. Collins made that motion, and it was unanimously approved.
The second resolution was to authorize the sale of city surplus equipment. Fulford made that motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Absent council members
It is important to note that residents of the city’s District 2 have been without representation since this term began in January of 2022 with the continued absence of Councilman Benny Gray.
The councilman has attended one meeting, which was via Zoom, since his re-election. He is currently a resident of a local nursing facility.
It is Gray’s absence, that sets up the failed 2-1 votes in each instance. With the City of Gray’s form of government, the mayor can only vote in the case of a tie. Three votes are required for a legal vote. Without Gray, that leaves four city council members. When another council member is absent, all items must have a unanimous 3-0 vote for the city’s business to continue.
