CITY COUNCIL
The discussion for Gray City Council members during their October meeting of City Committees included retirement options and repairs to city sidewalks.
The Oct. 17 meeting was called to order by Gray Mayor Ed Barbee, and Councilman Terrell Fulford, who serves as finance committee chairman, gave the first report.
Fulford said the city had collected 99.34 percent of 2021 property taxes, which leaves $6,600 remaining.
All city council members were present at the meeting with the exception of Councilman Benny Gray.
Main Street Director Ashley Roberson said she would like to purchase an outdoor Christmas tree. She said the tree is 14 feet tall with a metal base, and the price is $6,700. The tree can be delivered in 4-6 weeks in time for the Hometown Christmas Market, Nov. 26.
Mayor Pro Tem James Collins said he thought the tree looked nice.
“I’m excited; it will be a great centerpiece for Downtown Gray,” he said.
Fulford said he received an email from Tom McEachern with Dunwoody Insurance with a quote for the city’s workers compensation insurance renewal. He said the quote was a $14,000 reduction.
Fulford said the insurance cost $61,583 in 2022 and the new quote was $47,027. He said acceptance of the quote would be on the Nov. 7 agenda.
Water and Sewer
Councilman David Tufts spoke about the Water and Sewer Budget. He said the total was $2,432,950. City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan said the budget had a $200,000 increase over 2022 and that was due to an increase in depreciation.
Morgan said the city is waiting for two quotes for upcoming projects.
Plan
Collins said there are a lot of exciting events coming up, including the Hometown Christmas Market Nov. 26.
He said Early Voting started Oct. 17 will run through Nov. 4. Election day is Nov. 8 Roberson said 90 trunks were reserved for the October 22 Not So Scary Grayberry Spectacular.
Personnel
Collins said he would like for the updated department head evaluations to be put on November agenda for a vote.
Councilman Terry Favors brought up an issue of a parttime person in water department who is not paid for holidays.
Collins’ suggestion was to increase the employee’s pay rate to equal those days.
Barbee said part-time employees could be included in holiday payments.
City Attorney John Newberry said that employee consistently works five four-hour days, and drafting a holiday policy could be crazy. He agreed it may be easier to give her the salary increase.
Fulford noted that the police department also has part-time employees, and Collins said the city cannot write a policy for one person.
Chief Adam Lowe said parttime officers do not get holiday pay. He said their pay was increased to cover holidays.
Favors said he was fine with the hourly increase.
Lowe said he did a survey for retirement. He suggested council members consider a plan known as the 75 Rule. That means that an employee would be eligible for retirement after the age of 55 with 20 years of service.
The chief said 55 would be the minimum age to be eligible for the plan.
Employees over 55 could retire with the number years of service that would total 75, but it would require a minimum of 10 years of service.
“Most people are here for 10 years, and this retirement plan could help keep them from leaving,” Lowe said.
He said the retirement plan is through GMA, and the cost of the plan would be about $70,000 citywide.
The chief said he feels like the retirement plan would benefit all city employees.
“When the police department gets its certification, which we should have by the first of next year, our liability insurance should be reduced 25 percent,” he added. “We have the money to pay for it. It’s a good retention incentive.”
Collins said he looked at the plan and agreed it would be good idea to do citywide.
“Law enforcement officers are scarce and keeping the guys we have will be a benefit to the city,” he said.
Lowe said the request to join the retirement plan had to be back to GMA by December.
Collins asked for the plan be placed on November agenda.
Streets and Sanitation
Tufts said the city received two bids for its sanitation services.
Collins said the bid by Waste Management Service is for the same services the city currently receives. The price for curbside service would increase to $17 per month. The other bid would raise the price to $24.
The new rate will take effect in January.
The current charge for trash pickup for city residents is $10 a month.
Morgan said he had a sidewalk assessment done in September, and the inspection identified 251 pedestrian safety issues. The estimate to repair the sidewalks is $16,780.
The superintendent said he thinks the estimate it is extremely fair considering the cost of concrete. He said it can be paid out of ARPA funds.
“If we do this, we’ll be ahead of the game,” he said.
Fulford asked the reason for the estimate, and Morgan said it was something he had been thinking about for a long time.
The current condition of the city sidewalks does not meet Americans with Disabilities standards.
Tufts brought up the possibility of a sidewalk along Highway 129 to Gray Gardens. He said he is seeing more people walking.
Collins agreed. “It is an issue when seeing people pushing strollers along the side of the road,” he said.
The mayor pro tem said Commissioner John Wood had expressed concern, and it may be something that could be done with the county.
Roberson mentioned the condition of the railroad crossing at the city’s main intersection. Morgan said that repair would have to be coordinated with the railroad. Barbee said there is supposed to be some federal money coming for railroad crossings. The chief announced that GPD was not approved for the COPS grant because there is not enough crime.
Newberry talked about a new contract with Georgia Probation Management. The attorney said they are asking for an increase of $5 per probationer.
The next meeting of Gray’s City Council is scheduled Nov. 7.
