HOBOKEN — Tree removal on Church Street, salary increases for city council members and the naming of the 2025 legal organ were three main items of discussion for members of the Hoboken City Council’s December meeting.
The tree removal dates back to the September 27 passage of Hurricane Helene when a tree along Church Street along the city right away when part of the tree fractured and fell onto private property.
Council members adopted a resolution to increase the mayor and the council salary by $75 per month. Mayor Joey Crews will take action to have the charter amended by the Georgia Legislature.
The Brantley Beacon was named the legal organ for the City of Hoboken for the year 2025 with a 4-1 vote. The vote against was from Jimmy Ray.
The most concerning business for the council was that of the tree service.
“The owners have had a time with the insurance company,” said Crews to council members during the December 3 monthly meeting. “The insurance company is not going to pay any thing. They’ve asked us to help make it safe.”
The mayor added there was another tree Church Street needing attention to make it safe. Crews said he had received two quotes to remove the tree from the private property. The first was a $2,500 verbal quote and the seconds was $1,500 from B.B. Lawn & Tree Service in Waycross.
Mayor Crews said a little bit more could be added to the $1,500 bid for the second tree.
Councilman James Ray made a motion to accept the $1,500 bid with a second from Mayor Pro tem Robin Helmuth. It was pulled after the discussion period and recast by Ray adding to take care of the tree in the city right of way including cleanup.
During the discussion, Councilwoman Skeeter Stone asked about the location of the (oak) tree and being on private property.
“Part of it is on their property and part of it is own the city right of way,” responded the mayor. “We can’t get none of it because we don’t have the equipment needed.”
Street and Water Department Supervisor Davis Stone informed the council it would cost the city a lot of money in the long run.
“It’s not really our responsibility,” he said.
The mayor asked City Attorney Adam Ferrell for advice on the situation.
“I know some other cities have received some help through emergency declaration funds from the state,” said Ferrell. “I don’t know if that’s something that would be available, as far as being reimbursed for cost to the city. That would be something you might look into.
“Like he’s (Stone) saying, typically, we wouldn’t go on private property. If it’s something in our right of way that is affecting motorist or whatever we might need to deal with that. But, I don’t know that insurance would cover it unless it caused damage to somebody’s property.”
The mayor said it’s just a safety hazard in the property owner’s yard and is actually on private property.
Crews said the one actually needing to be cut down was behind the church (Hoboken Baptist).
“It’s needed cutting down six months or longer,” the mayor said.
Once the discussion was done, attorney Ferrell said the motion on the table needed to be more specific.
“If there are portions of the tree on the right away, or if there’s portions on the private property, and if there’s more than one, we may need to more specific,” Ferrell said.
Crews explained it was a forked tree which broke off from the right of way in the city ditch.
“It is going to fall, it’s just a matter of time, because it broke it off and fell in their yard,” said Mayor Crews. “I think that’s legally their problem when it goes in their yard. I think that’s how insurance companies look at that.”
When a question was asked about the tree in the right of way being taken down, Stone said he could get the root up, but nothing could be done to the tree because it’s hung up in another tree.
“It’s a bad situation,” said Stone. “What we do for one we’re going to have to do for everybody,” Helmuth said.
City Clerk Linda Henderson said a response from the City of Hoboken insurance carrier read, “there’s no coverage for tree removal because of a tree impacted property fence belonging to a third party. The reason for the following tree was due to Hurricane Helene. The property owners should contact their homeowners and file a claim for damages.”
Mayor Crews said he doesn’t know if FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has visited the damaged site.
“I think if it’s in the city right away and it falls into a yard, we probably need to try to get it out,” Ferrell said. “I do think there may be some, some opportunities to get reimbursed with some of the cost incurred by the city to do that.
“I think we have to hire somebody to go into personal property. They need to get permission from the landowner. We also need to keep up with the costs of expenses with receipts. The city could be reimbursed with emergency declaration funds.
“But, we don’t want to start doing stuff just on private property.”
Other agenda items discussed voted on by council members were:
• Hoboken Police Department: Police Chief Jonathan McMillan said his department was addressing recent dog complaints. He added there had been a few accidents and fires in the city.
• Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department: Mayor Crews gave the November monthly report with Chief Ricky Floyd unable to attend.
HVFD worked two accidents with injuries, had two medical calls, one fire alarm and one Code Red (an emergency code used to indicate a fire or smoke in a building).
• New information system: Henderson told council members she didn’t believe the City of Hoboken needed to purchase a new city-wide system to inform residents of water issues or other items because of the cost.
• CSRA Probation Services contract: The City of Hoboken unanimously approved the renewal of a contract with CSRA Probation Services for 2025.
