The Eatonton City Council met Aug. 5 at the county administration building for its first of two regularly scheduled meetings each month.
Speaking before the council was city resident and business owner Robert Johnson, owner of the Sunset Bar & Grill at 205 E. Marion St., in downtown Eatonton.
Beginning early in May, the road directly in front of Johnson’s business has undergone extensive repairs and renovations this summer, including excavations to repair and replace sewer pipes, curbing, and other associated road repairs. It remains an active construction site.
“I’m here tonight as both a resident and business owner deeply concerned about the ongoing impact of extended road construction on my establishment for almost three months now,” Johnson began. “Road work has severely limited access to my business, affecting customer parking and visibility. While I recognize the importance of the infrastructure improvement, the duration and lack of alternative accommodations have significantly disrupted my operations.
“As a result, we’ve experienced a notable decline in customer traffic and revenue, which threatens the stability of a locally owned business that contributes to our community economically. Additionally, regular waste collection service at my location has ceased for nearly the same amount of time, and I have personally had to transport business waste to the local dump, which creates an undue burden that should not fall on the business owner.”
Johnson asked the council to establish a clear timeline for the project’s completion.
“I understand about how hot it was, I understand about the rain, but it’s still taking too long for me to try to get things going,” he said. “I’ve been there 13 years, and even COVID wasn’t as bad as this, so I’m just asking, where do we go from here? What can be done? Please help out.”
No action was immediately taken.
In other items, the council unanimously approved several downtown road closures from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 20 for the annual Swamp Stomp 5K road race that begins and ends at Gatewood Schools.
Next, City Administrator Gary Sanders told the council that AT&T applied to pull 359 feet of cable through existing underground conduit near East Marion Street and North Jefferson Avenue and would require lane closures during the project. However, he added, the only timeframe provided by AT&T was between Aug. 14 and Oct. 9. Regardless, the motion was unanimously approved.
Next, related to the city’s recently completed purchase of the now abandoned Putnam County Elementary School on South Washington Avenue, Sanders asked the council to consider a motion to ask the Middle Georgia Regional Commission to help find qualified help to repurpose the school.
“We’d like to put out an RFQ (request for qualification) for an architectural planning design service corporate company to be able to provide some professional assistance for the best use and configuration and draw some plans for the occupancy of the space when we’re able to move in,” Sanders said.
Council unanimously approved the motion after Councilmember Janie Reid clarified that the council was asking only for design firm recommendations from MGRC and not direct suggestions on how to proceed.
Sanders next put before the council a request to dispose of five surplus Eatonton Police Department vehicles, including four Ford Crown Vic police sedans (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008) and a 1985 Chevy Blazer, all destined for scrap, with two of the cars already wrecked.
Council unanimously approved of the cars’ disposal.
Next, in a second reading after previously being discussed in a work session, the council unanimously adopted the GMebs Defined Benefit Retirement Plan offered to local governments by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). It will provide a pre-determined, fixed monthly benefit to city employees upon retirement.
Sanders also told the council that Judge Michael Gailey recently confirmed to him that Stephen Morris had resigned from his legal work with the city to take a position as Morgan County’s new assistant district attorney
The council and Sanders also discussed testing the city’s tornado warning siren atop the police station. Several councilmembers wondered aloud about how far its reach might be and if it might need to be moved to a more advantageous location.
The next scheduled meeting for the Eatonton City Council is Monday, Aug. 18, again at the county complex alongside Hwy. 441 north of downtown.