Gray City Council members had two public hearings about their 2025 budget and 2024 tax rate last week with no questions from the public about either.
The public hearings were held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sept. 16. No one from the public attended the morning meeting, and the few citizens at the 6 p.m. meeting appeared to be there for other reasons.
The budget and millage rate will be voted on by council at their Oct. 7 meeting. The amount of Gray’s budget for 2025 was listed as $2,952,442, and it is proposed that the 2024 tax rate will remain at 9.5 mills.
A called meeting was held immediately after the 6 p.m. hearing for the purpose of approving the addition of LED lights at 100 Bill Conn Parkway to improve safety at the intersection.
The lights were approved in a resolution that was unanimously approved by council members. All council members were present at the Sept. 16 called meeting, and stayed for the vote, with the exception of Councilman Benny Gray.
Gray’s Meeting of All Committees took place at the conclusion of the called meeting. The first report was by Finance Committee Chairman Councilman Terrell Fulford, who stated there was no change in the balance for tax collections.
Gray Police Chief Adam Lowe spoke to council about the need to increase his budget. He said after he submitted his budget, he realized the need to increase the salaries of officers.
“Our officers do an outstanding job,” he said.
Lowe said Gray is at the low end of salaries for surrounding departments and is at risk of losing officers. He said mandate training has increased to six months, which makes it even more expensive to train new officers.
“It would be better if we can keep the experienced officers we have,” he said.
The chief listed several other departments that had increased salaries and noted that the pool for those interested in a career in law enforcement is smaller than ever.
He requested what would amount to approximately a $2 an hour raise for officers.
Lowe also asked for a six percent increase for officers who get certified in law enforcement-related areas, such as crime scene investigation. He said Gray has 16 officer positions when fully staffed and now has 15.
“I would like for our own people to be able to do our crime scene investigations, and we have the people who can do it,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem James Collins said he feels it’s important for the city to grant the increase.
“The costs of everything has gone up,” he said.
The chief said all the city’s officers are experienced, and one is considering retirement. He estimated the requested increase would add $50,000 to the budget.
Fulford agreed the city has good officers and needs to stay in the ballpark for salaries.
At the conclusion of the discussion, all council members agreed to put the increase in the budget for a vote at the next meeting.
City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan gave the report for the Water and Sewer Committee. He said the future wellsite for the city on Highway 18 East had been inspected, and he expects a letter from the EPD with an OK to drill.
“We should be able to start drilling in two weeks,” he said.
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Roberson talked about upcoming events, which included a visit to Gray from the Georgia Downtown Association Sept. 17 and the Downtown Fall Festival Sept. 21.
Collins said he was excited about both events and the Touch-a-Truck that was also scheduled Saturday.
Roberson spoke to council about the possibility of a Junior City Council program.
“It’s a way to get students involved in government,” she said.
The director said she had spoken with a government teacher at JCHS and he was interested. She said a student had reached out about an internship and said they would be interested and thought their friends would as well.
Collins said he would like to be involved.
The mayor pro tem suggested Roberson be provided a vehicle, perhaps a used patrol car to use to save wear and tear on her personal vehicle. Fulford said previous managers had a gas allowance.
Lowe said he believed the department would have a vehicle available.
Streets
Councilman David Tufts asked Morgan to report on the recent bid opening.
The superintendent said the low bid was from McLeRoy in the amount of $290,000 for the city’s LMIG projects that includes the repaving of a portion of West Clinton Street.
Morgan later explained the funds to complete the project would be a combination of LMIG funds received from the Georgia Department of Transportation, the city’s street patching line item, a $70,000 grant the city was awarded earlier this year and $81,000 that remains in the city’s SPLOST account.
He said the city had a $17,000 shortfall even with all of that.
Lowe asked if the loops for the traffic lights were included in the bid. Morgan said he did not remember seeing it on the bid but would check to be sure before the bid was awarded.
The superintendent said the city’s 2025 LMIG projects would be due by the end of the year. He suggested continuing to work on the repaving of East and West Clinton streets.
“We need to watch the truck traffic. If we can get the heavy traffic off the road, it will increase its life expectancy,” he said. “We need to hope the Transportation SPLOST passes.”
After the Gray Bypass was opened in December of 2016, the GDOT notified the city that the bypass would be considered the state highway. That meant the state would no longer maintain West Clinton Street, including all the streetlights, putting the cost of the maintenance on the city.
Lowe had stated in previous meetings that the GDOT had promised to maintain the road for a time to help with the transition but had not followed through.
Councilman Terry Favors said there was an issue with a stop sign on the road leading from the rear parking lot of Dairy Queen. He asked the stop sign be moved to the entry to the road from the restaurant for traffic safety.
Favors also stated that signs are popping back up on telephone poles for yard sales and such and need to be taken down.
Lowe agreed. “Nothing is supposed to be on those poles,” he said.
Under Public Safety, Gray Fire Chief Keith Eisele said the department went through its ISO inspection last week and is waiting for a few documents to complete it. He said the inspection went well.
“We expect to remain a four, but we are getting closer to a three,” he said.
Favors also spoke during the miscellaneous portion of the agenda. He said one of the internet companies had pledged to remove the old wires and equipment when the new services were installed. He said that has not happened and what has been left is a mess.
The councilman asked City Attorney John Newberry to contact the company.
Favors also asked council to consider an increase in salaries for council members. He said the process is time sensitive, and he missed the deadline in the past two elections.
Favors said the increase would not take effect until the new council starts its term in 2026.
Collins said he was totally opposed to the increase.
Favors asked his fellow council members to put his request on the October agenda.
“All I’m asking is for it to go to an up or down vote,” he said.
The irony of councilman’s request was not lost on this reporter. It was Favors who did all he could, including walking out of meetings for the past three months, to prevent Developer Scott Jackson from getting an up or down vote on his rezoning request on Allan Green Road.
Barbee spoke to the councilmen about a grant project of the Middle Georgia Clean Air Coalition for the installation of electric vehicle chargers at key community facilities or points of interest.
He said the Middle Georgia Regional Commission is working with the coalition and it would be an opportunity if the city needed more charging stations. After a brief discussion about the current location for chargers, it was determined the city did not need more at this time.
The next meeting of the Gray City Council is scheduled Oct. 7.
