This is an informal rundown of what happened at the February 4, 2025 Statesboro city council meeting.
Call to Order by Mayor Jonathan McCollar
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance by Mayor Pro Tem Shari Barr
Recognitions/Public Presentations
A) Presentation of a Proclamation recognizing February 21, 2025 as Arbor Day in the City of Statesboro and recognition
of the City’s participation in the Tree City USA program
Public Comments (Agenda Item)
No one was present to speak on agenda items.
Consideration of a Motion to approve the Consent Agenda
A) Approval of Minutes
a) 01-28-2025 Work Session Minutes
b) 01-28-2025 Council Minutes
c) 01-28-2025 Executive Session Minutes
Approved unanimously
Hearing to consider a motion to revoke a massage parlor license for Lisa’s Therapeutic Massage located at 609 Brannen Street on the grounds that illegal activity has occurred at the business location. This hearing is being conducted pursuant to City of Statesboro Ordinances 18-141 and 18-143.
On November 14, 2024 Statesboro Police Department conducted an undercover operation at subject business. Chunying Hou and Jiaxiang Li were both arrested on prostitution related charges. The staff recommendation was to revoke the license.
Riggs again moved to suspend the license for two weeks, pending the gathering of additional information. Barr seconded the motion. The motion was approved in a vote of 3-2 with Chavers and Johnson voting against. Johnson said she would suspend until the court process plays out.
Read the full article detailing the discussion here.
Consideration of a motion to approve Resolution 2025-04: A Resolution to abandon the 17′ wide +/- alley from North Walnut Street to North Main Street which runs through Simmons Shopping Center.
In September 2024 the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority (DSDA) purchased the Simmons Shopping Center property, located between North Walnut Street and North Main Street. Located within the center of this property is a private parking lot and the subject City alley. The DSDA seeks to close and redevelop the Simmons Shopping Center property and its parking lot, negating the need for this alley, and is requesting the City to abandon and dispose of this alley.
Pursuant to OCGA 32-7-2, when it is determined that a section of the municipal street system has for any reason ceased to be used by the public to the extent no substantial public purpose is service by it or that its removal from the municipal street system is otherwise in the best public interest, the municipality may declare that section of the street system abandoned. As was noted in previous right of way abandonment processes, the city attorney has advised that Georgia case law provides the Mayor and City Council with broad discretion in determining what is in the public interest in consideration of abandonment. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the Mayor and City Council consider formally abandoning and closing this alley and convey the property to the adjacent property owners, along its centerline, with the caveat that utility easements, where deemed necessary by City staff, be dedicated to the City for the maintenance and operation of its infrastructure.
Staff recommends approval of a Resolution for abandonment of the 17’ +/- wide alley from North Walnut Street to North Main Street which runs through the Simmons Shopping Center.
Approved unanimously.
Consideration of a motion to award a contract in the amount of $106,000.00 to Fred Foley Construction, Inc. for the construction of a restroom facility for the Streets Division and a restroom facility for the Sanitation Division at Public Works. Funding will be provided by Solid Waste Collection Fund Income and 2019 SPLOST.
These two facility improvements are at Public Works, located at 5 Braswell Street. The Street Division restroom would complement the existing offices currently in use that does not have a restroom. The Sanitation Division currently has a single restroom and it does not adequately serve the diverse workforce of the Division. Additionally, the Sanitation facility is often used for training and emergency response staffing by outside groups.
CIP# STS-126 is budgeted at $75,000.00 in FY2025. CIP# SWC-30 has a budget of $70,000.00 and is a carryover due to initial bids being over-budget. These two projects were bid together in order to obtain the lowest, most competitive possible bid due to an economy of scale factor for both these projects.
Approved unanimously.
Consideration of a motion to approve a sole source purchase of Opti brand Continuous Monitoring and Adaptive Control Hardware in the amount of $49,355.00 from Opti by Aliaxis (Opti) as part of the Stormwater STM-36 project. This contract is for the hardware for the continuous monitoring and adaptive control system (CMAC) specifications to be installed as part of the Lake Sal project, as recommended by the project engineer GMC. This project is funded from 2013 SPLOST.
STM-36 is an active CIP to eliminate the ongoing flooding at the inlet of Lake Sal and around the emergency overflow. This project is in the design and construction of the conceptual solution from task order #6, approved by Council on October 4th 2022. Several design challenges have occurred so the decision was made to separate the project into two phases. The installation of the CMAC was separated from the original project to expedite the start of construction, since the other components of the plan still have to be permitted by EPD and the Corps of Engineers.
This contract will be in conjunction with a proposal to install the CMAC at the Lake Sal structure which will be presented to Council in a few weeks. Opti recommended the City approves the hardware contract in order to start the lead-time for parts to be delivered. By approving the hardware contract, the installer can mobilize sooner.
The amount for hardware contract, by Opti, of $49,355.00 is included in the project budget amount of $1,000,000.00 for design and construction. The project is to be paid for through 2013 SPLOST funds under STM-36 Lake Sal Drainage Improvement CIP.
Approved unanimously.
Other Business from City Council
There was no further discussion from council members.