Council postpones action

The August meeting of the Swainsboro City Council was once again held at the Swainsboro Fire Department headquarters building. A “standing room only” crowd was present at the August 12, meeting. Following an invocation by Bishop Bertha Jones, city officials heard from five local citizens in public comment on various issues relating to the delayed renovation of the gymnasium on Gumlog Road, the selection of a new Fire Chief, and the process for providing council representation for District 5 in the city. No action was taken on any issue. Following council approval of minutes from the prior meeting, council considered the repair of bathrooms and completion of the air-conditioning at the Gumlog gymnasium. Discussion was then moved to later in the meeting. In new business, the annual financial audit report was presented to council for review. No discussion or questions were entertained. Item 2 under new business dealt with possibilities for renovation of the city hall building. Architect Kevin Palmer addressed council discussing a wide range of possible goals and the need to fix a scope and size of work. Following a period of questions, Palmer advised council of the need to provide more direction and instruction on exactly what council intended to include in any project plan. It was agreed that another “walk thru” planning session was required to provide a basis for any cost estimate necessary for any further progress to occur. A time for such meeting was discussed. Next on the agenda, Council voted to hire a full-time city clerk and advertise for a part-time clerk. Water and Sewer department improvements were considered as the next agenda item. A Community Development Block Grant that was originally awarded in 2021 was finally applied and bid openings for the project resulted in the selection of Shockley Plumbing as the project contractor with a low bid of $567,209. Council voted unanimously to accept the bid and move ahead with the long-delayed project. Repair of two lift stations was considered next with a price tag of $15.728.01. Council agreed to a motion to move ahead with those repairs. Reappropriation of funds provided to the city in 2021 as part of Covid relief (ARPA) was next considered by council members. The city must allocate and dedicate funding by the end of this year or lose those funds. The council voted 4-1 to designate remaining funds to various on-going projects. The hiring of a new Fire Chief was the final issue on the August meeting agenda. With a patiently waiting crowd still in attendance, the floor was opened by Mayor Bennett for motions to fill the position and name a new Chief. No motions were made by council members despite the mayor’s repeated call for a motion. At that point, council voted to amend the meeting’s agenda to allow for council to go into executive session. Following this suspension, council returned to regular session and Bennett announced that the council would once again conduct interviews with the three candidates previously considered for the Fire Chief position.

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