Gray City Council members had a brief April meeting due to the absence of a second council member and the City Attorney.
Mayor Ed Barbee called the April 1 meeting to order. The council members in attendance were Mayor Pro Tem James Collins and councilmen Terrell Fulford and Terry Favors. Councilman David Tufts was not there along with Councilman Benny Gray, who is currently a resident of a nursing facility.
The first item of new business was a request for a rehearing of a denied rezoning request. With only three members present at the meeting and the absence of the city attorney, it was decided to postpone the rehearing.
Problems resulting from only having three voting members present was apparent with the next agenda item, the request for a preliminary plat extension for Piedmont Lakes Phase 2. The motion received two votes in favor of the extension and one opposed.
Although the motion received a majority 2-1 vote, three votes are required for it to be a legal vote. The mayor can only vote to break a tie, which means the item will have to be brought back up at a later date.
Council members did approve the list submitted by City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan for Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax projects for the city.
Collins made the motion to approve the list, and the vote was unanimous, 3-0.
An intergovernmental agreement between Jones County and Gray to go forward with the placement of the TSPLOST on the Nov. 5 ballot for approval by voters was also postponed.
Collins said the reason for the postponement was not all the required paperwork had been received.
He added council could have a called meeting to approve the agreement if needed.
Council members voted unanimously to allow the consumption of alcohol at the upcoming Hometown Spring Festival April 13 and to approve a beer, wine and alcohol pouring license for 106 Bill Conn Parkway.
Favors noted that the license was due to a name change and made the motion to approve, which was also unanimous.
The final agenda item was approval for the mayor to sign the Department of Transportation additional local road assistance funds application. Morgan had explained at the March 18 city committees meeting that the GDOT had announced a new source of money for road repairs, and the city’s allocation was $71,131.
Favors made the motion to approve the authorization, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
With no more business, Barbee asked for comments. The question was asked if citizens could file for the rezoning of a property they did not own. The answer to the question was no. Rezoning requests can be filed by the owner of the property or can be initiated by government entities.
The next meeting of City Council is the All Committees meeting April 15.
