Thursday’s Hinesville City Council meeting included only three action items and five information items on the agenda.
One information item that created discussion, however, was a proposal by City Manager Billy Edwards to hire an advertising management firm to advertise on Liberty Transit buses and shelters.
“What we’re proposing to here is hire a marketing firm to sell more ads,” Edwards said. “We had a meeting earlier this week with some companies interested in doing this. Once we receive a bid proposal, we’ll bring that proposal contract back to you for approval.”
Councilman David Anderson and Mayor Pro Tem Charles Frasier asked about the value of ads on buses and shelters. They wanted to know if ad sales would offset some costs of running the city’s transit system.
Councilman Keith Jenkins wanted to know if the city could place ads on the buses to inform the public about civic events or projects.
Edwards and Mayor Jim Thomas said ad sales might be enough to significantly defray some of the system’s costs. Thomas said they had not considered using bus ads for public-service announcements, but that might be something for the council to consider.
“What we’re trying to do is maximize ad space on our buses,” Thomas said. “We don’t have the expertise to do that, so we’re looking for someone who can do that.”
The council and mayor questioned Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Ryon when she presented the January 2014 budget to actual financial reports. Although some of the questions were about Georgia Power’s rates, most related to comparing total revenue with total expenditures.
Edwards revisited an action item from the previous meeting in response to questions by council members that called for a cost analysis of the new ultraviolet system being purchased for the Hinesville-Fort Stewart wastewater-treatment plant. Paul Simonton, owner of P.C. Simonton and Associates engineering firm, told the council the old system was installed in the early 1990s. The new system, he said, should have a life of 12-15 years.
Earlier, Simonton briefed the council about updates to the city’s standard specification for roads and infrastructure. He gave council members a copy of the new specifications and said he hoped to get the new standard on the city’s website for the public and potential contractors to see. He said copies of the new standards would be given to public-works contractor OMI and the Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission.
There was a brief public hearing regarding an application by M & L Taxi Service for a business license that would allow the company to move from its current location on South Main Street to 760 E.G. Miles Parkway. No one spoke against approval of the license, so the public hearing was closed and the application was approved.
The council also approved the community-development department’s request to submit an application for the Urbanized Area Grant for fiscal year 2015.
Gabriele Hartage, LCPC planner, presented a two-part proposal on behalf of Dryden Enterprises Inc. for approval of the preliminary plat for Griffin Park, phase VII, which will consist of 109 lots. The request was approved pending a request to annex 4.17 acres of land into Hinesville. Hartage said there should be a vote on the annexation April 3. The council approved the preliminary plat, contingent upon approval of the annexation.