>> CITY WATER CRISIS
What could have turned into a distraction if not disagreement among council members was averted this past Tuesday evening with the withdrawal of a proposed resolution.
Council member Walter Reynolds, several weeks ago, offered a resolution for the Milledgeville City Council to consider for adoption that would have directed City Manager Hank Griffeth to do specific tasks directly related to the recent water crisis that led to some water outages, systemwide low pressure, and a water boil advisory.
In comments, shortly before the meeting was adjourned, Reynolds first expressed his appreciation to Griffeth.
“While I realize that there is still a great deal of work for us to do in regards to our city water system, and there are a lot of options for us to consider, I would like express my appreciation for the city manager’s initiative in addressing the concerns that were originally part of my resolution.”
Chambers stated his reasons for withdrawing the resolution were due to Griffeth’s initiative towards the issue.
“Specifically to give some clarification as to why I am willing to withdraw this resolution, to items 1, 3, 4 and 5, the city manager has already provided that timeline and the details and accounts of the recent system water failure, the information regarding that failure, and additional failures occurring since 2016, and cost estimates for replacing the existing infrastructure. All that information was made public at the recent Eggs and Issues Breakfast and in a council work session held Thursday, May 18,” explained Reynolds.
Reynolds stated item 2 was satisfied by Turnipseed Engineering’s presentation regarding the upgrades to the city’s water plant and a path to improving the reliability of the water system. As to item 6, he said the city manager provided information regarding various funding sources over the past two weeks. The presentation by Turnipseed’s Kenny Green highlighted the need for water and sewer rate increases and noted that other efforts are ongoing to recognize other funding mechanisms.
“So, with all that being said, I would like to withdraw my resolution formally at this point and thank you all for your consideration and especially thank the city manager for the work he has put in on this so far.”
The resolution was never put on an agenda for discussion, and the city council nor the mayor commented on the proposal publicly.