Blackshear City Council discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session March 4 and regular meeting held March 11.
Cryptocurrency Ordinance: The council held their second reading of the new ordinance governing cryptocurrency and data mining operations within city limits. The ordinance passed with a unanimous vote and any future data mining operations in Blackshear will be effectively limited to the industrial park.
Insurance Renewal/ Update: The city is updating its approach to insuring its workers. While Lighthouse Benefit Advisors of SSI are still the broker of record, city insurance plans will be handled through a third party that manages accounts for them. The new system assigns premiums based on an employee’s age and then gives them an allowance for their preferred plan chosen from the online marketplace. The council unanimously approved this modification to city employee benefits. (See related story.)
Department Reports Blackshear Police Dept. Report: BPD reported 16 vehicular accidents in the month of February, three with injuries. Fourteen warnings, 154 citations and three ordinance violations were recorded. There were also 18 arrests in February, 16 adults and 2 juveniles, which is a 260% increase over February 2024.
Blackshear Volunteer Fire Dept. Report: BFD responded to 25 dispatched calls in February. BFD workers and volunteers completed 291 cumulative total hours of activities and training. BFD also finished their update of preplanning for local businesses, adding six new buildings to their fire response pre-plan records.
Public Works Dept: Last month, the department conducted six water service repairs and two water main repairs, four sewer service repairs and one sewer main repair, five water and sewage locates and conducted 15 leak checks, locating 14. There were also 25 read checks, 21 close outs, 24 cut offs, 25 cut back on and 18 new customers connected in February. The department replaced two meters, one meter box and three valves. One incident of consumer tampering occurred during the reporting period. Public works also performed weekly solid waste removal and disbursement at the landfill, replaced damaged street signs, conducted routine cleaning of storm drains, repaired potholes, performed routine grass maintenance at the cemetery and sold one 10x10 burial plot.
Main Street Program: The Better Hometown (BHT) report recorded $9,077 in operational expenses for the month of February. A total of $6,726 of program funds and 50 volunteer hours were used for multiple events, including Dueling Pianos, Business After Hours and Chamber of Commerce ribbon cuttings. The newly installed median on Main Street, intended to prevent illegal u-turns, was listed under the public improvements section of the report.
BHT Manager Bethany Strickland also attended Certified Downtown Professional training on Tybee Island during this reporting period.
Senior Center: Center volunteer Karen Herndon gave a brief report of recent goings on at the center, including the Pierce Senior Center being featured in the recent newsletter for the Southern Georgia Regional Council Area Agency on Aging. Herndon also reported that they currently have 13 seniors on the waiting list to join the local center. “So, ya’ll just ante up and we’ll get them in there!” Herdon said with a chuckle.
Attendance: Mayor Keith Brooks, city attorney Adam Ferrell and the entire city council were in attendance.
Next meeting: The council will hold its next work session, meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1 and its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8.
