Gray’s City Council members wasted no time denying a rezoning request that would allow townhouse apartments to be built between two churches on Highway 18 East at the December business meeting.
Mayor Ed Barbee called the Dec. 1 meeting to order and gave a brief mayor’s report. Barbee said the last four years had been good, and he looked forward to his next term, which begins in January.
The mayor also commented on the success of the Main Street Gray Christmas Market and the lighting of the city’s Christmas Tree. He said the city has applied for several grants for various projects, but the success of those applications is not known.
The first New Business item on the agenda was a Planning and Zoning hearing. The meeting was adjourned to begin the hearing, and Zoning Officer Tim Pritrowski read the request to rezone the area on Highway 18 East from C-1 neighborhood commercial to R-3 multi-family residential to allow 13 two-unit townhomes.
The property in question was the approximately three acres between the Gray Church of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The spokesperson for the property owner said the affordable housing is needed and would be less disruptive than a commercial use.
City Attorney John Newberry asked if the townhomes would be for sale or for rent. The answer was the townhomes would be rentals.
Several residents spoke in opposition to the rezoning, including Bill Boyd, Lonnie Ford, Don Johnson and Wesley Wells. Most of the concern was about traffic and the runoff possible if the trees in the pecan orchard were cut down.
Following the comments, the hearing was adjourned, and the meeting called back to order.
Barbee asked if there were questions from council members and asked if there was a motion.
Mayor Pro Tem James Collins made a motion to deny the rezoning request. He cited reasons of traffic and noted that the request was not consistent with the land use plan.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
City business
A first reading of a new ordinance was next. The ordinance is intended to put in protections for the city when it comes to timber harvesting. City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan explained the need for the ordinance at a recent committee meeting. It will require a bond from the timber harvesters as well as advanced notice of the location of the tract to be harvested and the routes used by log trucks.
The second reading and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for the Jan. 5 meeting.
Insurance broker Jason Briley was next on the agenda to talk about the renewal of health insurance for city employees. He said the increase from Anthem was higher than in the past, 10 percent.
Briley added that it was a good plan.
Collins stated that department heads were satisfied with the current plan and made the motion to approve the renewal. The vote to approve was unanimous.
Before taking his seat, Briley commented that the city looks great.
“It’s never looked better,” he said.
The next two agenda items were budget resolutions, the first for the fire department and the second for the Gray Downtown Development Authority. The resolutions were adjustments to the reconcile the city’s budget and were approved unanimously.
Council members approved Christmas bonuses for employees and then looked at a resolution for the reappointment of DDA members whose terms were expiring.
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Roberson, who also serves as the secretary to the DDA, explained that the terms of authority members Cecil Ethridge, Bert King and Vicki Ethridge would end Dec. 31. She said Cecil Ethridge and Vicki Ethridge agreed to serve another four-year term ending Dec. 31, 2029.
Roberson said Alex Smith was selected to serve in the position previously held by King.
Collins made the motion to approve the resolution, and the motion passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned to go into closed session to discuss real estate and reconvened to approve a resolution containing a lot purchase and sale agreement.
The resolution states the purchase is for exploration of additional sources of water for the city.
Councilman Terrell Fulford made the motion to approve the resolution, and it was unanimously adopted.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the City of Gray is the All Committees meeting scheduled at 6 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Gray/Jones County Business Development Center located at 102 E. Clinton St.
