Eatonton City Council met twice this month, on Feb. 4 and this past Monday.
During the earlier meeting, the council unanimously approved a parade permit for the annual Dairy Festival Parade, presented by the Pilot Club of Eatonton and scheduled for June 7.
Eatonton Fire Department (EFD) Chief Jamey Williamson then presented to the council with suggestions on how to increase the city’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) score, which uses a 100-point scale (though scores up to 105.5 are achievable through extra credits).
Williamson suggested using the Eatonton-Putnam Water and Sewer Authority’s (EPWSA) water treatment facility on Church Street as an EFD training location. This would provide an in-town facility for practicing live fire burns and smoke training.
EFD training is conducted at the Putnam County Volunteer Fire Station at Flat Rock, located at the county's south end, nearly 10 miles from downtown Eatonton. After brief discussions with EPWSA Project Manager Brice Doolittle and others at the utility, Williamson reported that the response was favorable.
After a brief discussion, the council unanimously authorized Mayor John Reid to sign a letter requesting the city lease two acres of land from EPWSA at its Church Street location for use as an EFD training site.
Eatonton Police Department (EPD) Chief Howell Cardwell then addressed the council, requesting the purchase and equipping of two 2025 Ford Explorer All-Wheel-Drive Police Interceptors using SPLOST No. 9 funds. EPD initially received 10 new Explorer Interceptors at approximately $500,000; however, several of those vehicles are aging, Cardwell explained.
The council was told that $500,000 was allocated initially to EPD purchases, based on an original projected budget of $5.133 million; however, to date, the city has collected $8.1 million and has nearly $3 million of unbudgeted funds available from SPLOST No. 9. The request to purchase the new police vehicles was unanimously approved.
City Clerk Maria S. Jiménez was unanimously approved as election superintendent for the municipal general election on November 4. Reeshemah Ellison was unanimously approved as absentee ballot clerk for the same election.
On Feb. 17, the Eatonton City Council heard from City Administrator Gary Sanders about renewing its insurance policies for staff and employees through Anthem Insurance, which offers primary medical, dental, accidental death and dismemberment, basic life, and voluntary life insurance.
Sanders explained that Anthem had proposed a 15 percent premium increase but added that the city’s insurance broker had negotiated a six percent reduction to nine percent.
The revised insurance renewal received unanimous approval.
Next, Sanders reminded the council that it agreed in 2016 to limit single transactions on city-issued credit cards or p-cards (purchasing cards) to $600 and monthly limits of $1,200 each. He suggested that with inflation, especially regarding travel and lodging, those limits be increased to $1,000 and $2,000, respectively. The motion passed unanimously.
Finally, Sanders told the council that the city’s Public Works department needed approval to dispose of six capital assets: a 1996 Ford Ranger, a 2002 Ford E350 van, a trailer-mounted hot box (for asphalt), a Ford tractor and boom mower, and a Bobcat skid steer.
"All of which no longer serve useful purposes and are ready to surplus,” Sanders said.
After a brief discussion, Sanders explained that the preferred method to liquidate these capital assets is to sell them online through govdeals.com. The motion to liquidate was unanimously approved.
Eatonton City Council’s next scheduled meeting is at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 4, at the County Commission Building, 117 Putnam Dr., Eatonton.