The City of Gray’s meeting of all committees turned out to be more of a scheduling session preceding a closed session to discuss personnel issues.
Mayor Ed Barbee called the June 27 meeting to order that had been moved from its usual third Monday date due to the Juneteenth holiday. Council members present at the meeting were Councilman Terrell Fulford, Councilman David Tufts and Mayor Pro Tem James Collins.
Fulford, who serves as chairman of the Finance Committee, announced that the City of Gray received a letter from the Jones County Board of Commissioners to begin negotiations for the one-cent Local Option Sales Tax that is shared by the city and county.
The county also sent a letter to the Georgia Department of Revenue announcing that the negotiations had begun, as required by law. After the negotiations begin, the council and board of commissioners have 60 days to come up with an agreement.
The City of Gray currently receives 19 percent of the tax funds as was negotiated between the government entities in 2012. The sales tax negotiations are triggered every 10 years by the U.S. Census.
Fulford said the city would begin getting its numbers together.
City Clerk Cindy Yancey said the City of Gray audit review was scheduled July 13 at 3 p.m.
Tufts spoke for the Water and Sewer Committee in the absence of its chairman, Councilman Benny Gray. He said a construction update was held June 19 for the new wastewater treatment plant and everything was on schedule.
Assistant City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan said work had started on the excavation for the installation of a temporary bar screen. He also reported that the Mueller Company is supposed to come July 22 to change out the city’s radio-read meters that are not working correctly.
For the Streets and Sanitation Committee, Tufts said there had been no sanitation complaints. He said work on the city’s portion of Stone Gables had been completed, and Morgan noted that the striping had been completed.
Barbee stated that there was a striping issue on Pinewood Drive that needed to be fixed.
Morgan said there were some road issues at railroad crossings that need to be fixed. He said representatives from Norfolk Southern were to come out and look at the crossings to assess the problem.
The meeting was adjourned to go into closed session. The next meeting of the city council is July 11.
