Midway Mayor Dr. Clemontine Washington had to cast two tie-breaking votes at the Midway City Council’s March meeting, one of which approved a list of six 2011 goals for Midway.
Councilman Terry Doyle disagreed with the proposed goal of continuing the reviewing, revising and updating of all the city’s documents, including the charter. He said the goal still needed to be accomplished — in fact he drafted that goal himself — but that it had been 15 months since the same target was set as a goal for 2010 and he was not satisfied with the progress.
"I oppose these continuing extensions," he said. As adopted in the 3-2 vote, the goal sets a July deadline for a comprehensive document-review plan covering both paper and electronic records. August target dates are set for maintenance, filing, availability and for compliance with the Georgia Municipal Records and Retention Guidelines.
Elements of the 2011 goals are continuations of work the city started last year, or deal with ongoing projects such as planning continuous infrastructure maintenance.
Looming in the background is Midway’s need for its own city hall. It is now housed in the county-owned building, which is part of the former Liberty Elementary School complex. Before that, the Highway 84 site was the home of Liberty County High School.
The county allows Midway to temporarily use the former school cafetorium and some offices and has not set a move-out date, but it has its own plans for the complex.
Keep Liberty Beautiful already is housed at the Midway site and the building has been used for early voting in recent elections.
Eventually, a branch library, swimming pool, picnic area, walking trail and playground are planned for Midway and there has been talk of a satellite government center for paying taxes, registering to vote and other operations.
Discussion of a city hall is No. 1 on Midway’s list of goals, which includes a study of street lighting, an employee classification and compensation plan and tourism promotion.
A brochure, signage and landscaping of intersections are part of the tourism plan. Preliminary work has been done on "Welcome to Midway" signs and a draft tourism brochure has been developed.
The council scheduled a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. Monday, at which time the members hope to hire an additional police officer. The police slot is funded in Midway’s current budget, and Chief Kelli Morningstar said it would reduce overtime and provide better protection for the city.
Washington’s second tie-breaker was a no vote for a proposal for Midway to buy an ad in the Benchmark publication, which is distributed to Fort Stewart soldiers, civilians, contractors and family members.
The Midway City Council is composed of four members elected at large and the mayor cannot vote except in the case of a tie.
Councilman Levern Clancy, Midway Day chairman, announced a Miss Midway contest to raise funds for cancer research. A pageant will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at city hall. The Midway Day festival will be from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Cay Creek Interpretive near Islands Highway.