Council discusses missed payments

The regular meeting of the Swainsboro City Council and Mayor took place Monday, April 1, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the Swainsboro Fire Department Headquarters. Following an invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, the minutes of the March 4, 2024, meeting and minutes of the special meeting of March 11, 2024, were both approved. There was no agenda item under old business. Under new business, the Council discussed past due payments that the City has failed to make to the Swainsboro/Emanuel Arts Council. It was disclosed in the meeting that the payments had not been made for some time and the amount due to the organization had now reached $116,000. The City of Swainsboro has traditionally supported the Arts Council since the early 1990s. The organization was forced to suspend operations following the loss in funding. After discussion, council agreed to make the past-due payments. An agenda item involving drainage at Chapman Funeral Home was not discussed. Next, council included six items in a motion for approval under a “consent agenda”. The issues addressed included: road closures for a downtown festival, a proposal for operations at the Inert Collection Site, a Jaycee July 4th celebration, an application for advertisement of alcohol license at 202 East Main Street, hiring personnel at the Police Department, and allocation of funding for street paving and maintenance. No details or explanatory information was provided for these considerations. A vote for approval of the six items was approved. At this point council entered into Executive session. According to city officials, no action was taken in that setting.

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