The Milledgeville City Council met Tuesday to conduct a public hearing regarding a duplex apartment and discuss multiple resolutions.
A resident came before council to ask to rezone property to a multifamily zone located at 230 N. Warren St. for a duplex apartment. Public Works Director and owner of Otis Thomas Construction Timothy Thomas is the architect hired to do the job. He and his son presented the site plan to council and stated that the Planning and Zoning Committee unanimously approved the plan. While no community members spoke for or against the ordinance, council member Denese Shinholster expressed concerns of traffic and on-street parking near the location. The council had a thorough discussion about the concerns before the ordinance was passed 5-1, with Shinholster voting against the ordinance.
“The city of Milledgeville council will have to do our part to enact an ordinance to control whatever is occurring,” said Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan, concluding the public hearing.
Moving into new business, an ordinance to rezone property located at 1012 Fernwood Drive was passed to the planning and zoning committee after its first reading.
City Manager Hank Griffeth then presented two ordinances regarding the Service Line Inventory project. The first ordinance authorized a tentative contract for the project to Utility & Water Services, Inc., as required for Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) funding. The second ordinance authorized the actual contract for the project to Utility & Water Services, Inc.
“They may look as if they are the same ordinance. Though they are similar, they are not the same. To receive the GEFA funding, they wanted us to send them a contract saying we would tentatively offer the contract to Utility & Water Services Inc.,” said City Manager Hank Griffeth. “While we were waiting for this meeting the actual contract came in and so we will be able to provide both.”
According to Griffeth, the initial inventory for this project has been completed and when the final number is determined, those people will be contacted to be informed they potentially have lead in their service lines. Then the city, based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements, would discuss how to resolve the issue.
“We feel really good about where we are right now. We have met the initial deadline of having our inventory in. We have reported about 6,000 suspected lines in the initial inventory, but we think we may dwindle it down to 4,000,” said Griffeth.
These ordinances were unanimously approved.
The council unanimously approved a resolution to authorize a First Amendment to Water Tower Lease Agreement with Verizon Wireless of the East LP to modify the terms and conditions for the placement of equipment and rent on the water tank located at 139 Roberson Mill Road.
The meeting concluded with a 5-1 approval, with Shinholster voting no, for a resolution authorizing the City of Milledgeville to participate in the Georgia Municipal Association’s Georgia Municipal Employee Benefit System Life and Health Program for the 2025 calendar year.
“I am not voting against the process but the plan,” Shinholster clarified upon voting against the resolution.
The next council meeting will be Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m.