Hinesville’s city council meeting seemed subdued Thursday, following Tuesday’s primary elections in which the T-SPLOST referendum failed.
Three information items were heard by the council, Mayor Jim Thomas and City Manager Billy Edwards, and eight action items were considered and approved. One hour after it began, the meeting adjourned to an executive session for a real estate and personnel matter.
No direct comments were made by any of the city’s leaders regarding the election results.
Action items were presented successively with few comments and questions from council members, the mayor or the city manager and were voted on by the council.
The first information item heard by the council was a reminder that the moratorium on Internet gaming is due to expire by mid-September and should be voted on at the next council meeting. Those in attendance agreed at their next meeting to extend the moratorium until the state legislature takes up the issue in its 2013 session.
Other information items included fire and police department reports and the quarterly alcohol and food sales reports.
The first action item considered was a request by attorney James Osteen for final plat approval for the Preserve at Cinder Hill, phase 1. Abe Nadji, director of engineering, said his office recommended approval, pending standard and special conditions.
Special conditions include all primary improvements to the new subdivision installed and pass inspections and all required bonds submitted prior to presentation to the mayor and city council. The request was approved, pending those special conditions being met.
Marcus Sack, project engineer with P.C. Simonton & Associates, presented the next action item, a bid for Bryant Commons’ pond additions. He told council members the bid came as a result of a previous meeting about what to do with leftover funds from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loan.
The council previously decided to eliminate the additional pump station, extend the rock roads and fence common property lines. Sack reported that one property owner had decided she didn’t want the proposed vinyl fencing and would only accept sound-suppressing fencing.
He recommended awarding the contract to the lowest bidder, Palm Coast Utilities, LLC, which bid $219,562. Edwards augmented Sack’s recommendation by suggesting an additional $2,900 for the fencing. The council approved their recommendation.
The council quickly approved revisions to the city’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise policy and the revised digital sign ordinance. They also agreed to appoint Marjorie Wright to serve on the Hinesville Housing Authority Board as a resident member and Deleith Wright to the Hinesville Historic Preservation Commission.
The council’s final action items were approval for a peddler’s license to Valter Aro and Timo Rohula to solicit sales of educational books. A peddler’s license also was approved for Lynnel Landry with Total Roofing Concepts, LLC, allowing their representatives to go door to door offering roof- and gutter-repair services.
In his report, Thomas said the 3rd Infantry Division will conduct a colors closing ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday Aug. 8, and Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss plans to visit Fort Stewart on Aug. 20.
In his report, Edwards talked about South Main Street study proposed during their recent annual planning workshop. He noted the city doesn’t have the $30,000 for the study and recommended forwarding the study proposal to the Hinesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
It’s the closest any of the leaders came to directly mentioning the failed T-SPLOST referendum.
“Right now, we don’t have funds for the study or the roads,” Thomas said. “HAMPO may have the funds for the study.”