Gray’s City Council had its meeting of all committees Aug. 19, which mostly consisted of updates and bid openings.
Mayor Ed Barbee called the meeting to order. Councilmen in attendance were Terrell Fulford, Terry Favors and Mayor Pro Tem James Collins.
The first report was from Fulford, chairman of the Finance Committee.
Fulford reported that $1,051,324 or 90.47 percent of the 2023 property taxes had been collected with $5,812 outstanding.
City Clerk Cindy Yancey said she did not have all the 2025 budget requests and information from department heads, and the budget would not be complete until she did.
Fulford introduced Wesley Casteel, branch manager of Cadence Bank in Gray. Casteel in turn introduced Andy Hurwich, who spoke to council members about a review of the city’s accounts.
Hurwich said he is the bank’s Treasury Management Officer, and he had some suggestions to enhance the city’s accounts service. He said the City of Gray accounts are earning credits due to their balances, and those credits offset any account fees.
He went on to talk about investment sweeps service that could earn the city interest on a portion of its account balance.
Collins suggested putting the possibility of utilizing those services on the September agenda.
City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan presented for the Water and Sewer Committee. He said they are in the process of working the end-of-project punch list for the new water treatment plant, and a meeting was set up with GEMA.
Main Street Gray Manager Ashley Robinson gave a report for the agency. She said the kickoff session for the combined community branding session by Marketing 360 was scheduled Sept. 5 from 5-7 p.m. at Butler Hall. She said the next Main Street event was the fall festival scheduled Sept. 21 from 2-7 p.m. and would include hayrides and a corn maze.
The manager said the Terrace on Madison was having a concert that evening. She also noted that the annual Toucha- Truck event at the Jones County Sheriff’s Office would take place that morning.
Collins reported for the Plan Committee. He said the August Fridays on Main was a great event, and the new ice cream shop, Cone Crazy, was busy.
“Downtown is looking great. Thank you, Cheyenne and Ashley,” he said.
Morgan said the credit should go to Public Works Manager Chris Neal.
The superintendent opened bids for the city’s LMIG resurfacing projects for Dolly Street and East and West Clinton Streets. He also opened bids that were received for the purchase of surplus items.
Morgan said he would go through the LMIG bids and have them ready to council to vote on at the September meeting. He added the people who won the bids for the surplus items would be notified.
Collins reminded council members it was time for employee performance reviews. He suggested meeting an hour prior to the September meeting.
With no more business, the meeting was adjourned.
The next council meeting is scheduled Sept. 9, a week later than normal due to the Labor Day Holiday.
