Blackshear City Council discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session December 3 and regular meeting held December 10.
New City Clerk: As previously reported in last week’s edition of The Times, the city council unanimously approved to appoint Angel Robson as the new city clerk due to current clerk Jenny Grant moving to part-time status in anticipation of eventually retiring. Mayor Keith Brooks and members of the council expressed their confidence that Robson was up to the task.
Hurricane clean up: Public works superintendent Wallace Tomlinson reported his department was “75% complete on the pick up” of debris related to Hurricane Helene. Chris Wright commented that a final cut off date would be set by year’s end. The federal 100% reimbursement period, including for grinding up the debris ends Dec. 22.
Hurricane-related budget amendment: The council unanimously approved a $130,000 budget amendment due to expenses connected with the fiscal year 2023’s hurricane season. Brooks said of the bookkeeping adjustment, “Don’t panic, it isn’t on this year’s budget.”
Wright said that, in light of Hurricane Helene, “We’ll have another at the end of this (fiscal) year, I can guarantee.”
New Alcohol License: The city council unanimously approved granting a new alcohol license to Jalapeños, which will be moving from its current location in the trailer by Rose’s Express. Jalapeños will be moving into the Reaal BBQ building.
Surplus Vehicle: A surplus Crown Victoria police vehicle will be posted for sale on the Gov-Deals.com website after it was determined it is no longer worth the city’s investment to repair it.
Department Reports Blackshear Police Dept. Report: BPD reported 23 vehicular accidents in the month of November, 2 with injuries. Twenty warnings, 106 citations and 2 ordinance violation were recorded. There were also 9 arrests in November, 5 adults and 4 juveniles.
Blackshear Volunteer Fire Dept. Report: BFD responded to 39 dispatched calls in November, including one animal rescue call and a carbon monoxide incident that required ventilation. BFD workers and volunteers completed 172 cumulative total hours of activities and training.
Public Works Dept: Last month, Public Works performed 3 sewer service repairs and conducted 18 leak checks, locating 15. There were also 17 new customers, 17 close outs and 10 read checks in November. The department replaced six meters, two meter boxes and one meter box lid. Public works also performed weekly solid waste removal and disbursement at the landfill, replaced damaged street signs, conducted routine tree limb trimming, cleaning of storm drains and repaired potholes. They also cleaned and performed routine grass maintenance at 2 cemeteries.
Main Street Program: The Better Hometown (BHT) report recorded operational expenses of $10,455 and another $700 in expenses and 40 volunteer hours used for the month of November. There were 3 events last month: the Veterans Day program, the Pecan Festival, and the grand reopening of Zach and Isabella’s. One commercial property sale during the reporting period was the purchase of the old Zach and Isabella’s location by none other than Zach Lee.
Senior Center: Center volunteer Karen Herndon delivered a brief report on the recent bingo event co-sponsored by Satilla Hospice and the Rec Dept. Herndon also mentioned there were still seniors in need of gifts for the adopt-a-senior Christmas program. Finally, Herndon showed off the recently arrived boxed set of Pierceopoly, giving the council a sneak peak of the then just arrived games.
Council member comments: None.
Attendance: Mayor Brooks and city council members Chuck Ward, Theodore Mackey, Jerry Boatright, Corey Lesseig and Mat Boatright were in attendance for the work session. City Attorney Adam Ferrell and councilman J. Boatright were absent from the regular meeting, but Mayor Brooks noted they had “enough for a quorum”.
Next meeting: The council will hold its next work session, meeting 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 7, 2025 and its next regular meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
