Council rejects all golf course bids

BY
MARY ANN ANDERSON
The Hazlehurst City Council in last week’s joint workshop and regular session for March rejected all bids for the city-owned golf course and civic center.
The complex was placed in February for bids for lease or purchase, and by the March deadline received only three bids, all to buy the property. After City Attorney Ken W. Smith opened and read aloud the sealed bids — $673,802 by Olin Wooten, $650,000 from Sarah Boatright and $375,000 from Larry W. Martin Jr. — the council went into closed session to further discuss the matter.
As a matter of record, public governments such as the Hazlehurst City Council can meet in closed session to discuss real estate transactions.
When the council returned to regular session, Ward 3 Councilman Chris Jones made the motion to reject the bids with Ward 1’s Dywane Johnson seconding. Ward 2’s Steve Land also said yes, with Ward 4 Councilman Landon Chavis the lone nay in the 3-1 vote. Neither Mayor John Ramay nor any council member stated a clear reason why the bids were rejected.
Efforts to sell or lease the money-draining complex have been ongoing for two to three years dating to the last administration, and last Monday’s vote was the second time it has been placed for bid with all offers rejected.
The March workshop, held last Monday, and the regular session, scheduled for last Thursday, were combined into one meeting, as most of the council were required to attend mandatory training in Tifton from Wednesday through Friday. In other action during the meeting, with all motions passing unanimously ….
…. watched as Interim Police Chief James Mock highly commended four officers — Sylvester Brown, Jeremy Nelms, Richard Taylor and Branon Wyatt — for their response to a car theft and kidnapping at a local restaurant, with Ramay also thanking them, in his words, “publicly for what they did, their response, their professionalism, how they handled it and the outcome,” before adding, “We have some of the best officers in the state of Georgia anywhere, and you just proved it.” For the full story, see the March 20 edition of the Jeff Davis Ledger.
…. after a presentation by Layton Jones, strategic account manager and new machines sales representative with Yancey Brothers and Caterpillar, accepted a bid for a five-year lease for a 2024 excavator and trencher at a final cost of $105,106, with funding from SPLOST and not the general fund.
…. after hearing from Hazlehurst Municipal Airport Manager Cody White, agreed to a three-year contract with DBT Transportation Services of $15,656 for quarterly maintenance of the automated weather observation system.
…. accepted yet another proposal for watershed assessment monitoring on the Satilla River at a cost of $15,605.
…. with Chavis taking the reins, discussed but made no formal motion on updating the ordinance for blighted and nuisance properties around the city.
…. after listening to a presentation by Carl Hofstadter of Hofstadter and Associates, one of the city’s engineering firms headquartered in Macon, on Local Maintenance and Improvement Grants (LMIG) and Transportation Investment Act (TIA) funding for street improvements, authorized him to begin the bid process and to assist in selecting the roads that will benefit from the programs. Among the roads considered are Latimer Street, Burketts Ferry Road, Hatton Still Road and North and South Miller Street.
…. with Fire and Rescue Chief Charles Wasdin stating that the airport has grown “by leaps and bounds,” agreed for him and White to move forward to apply for congressional funding for a new building at the airport to house a fire truck and related equipment.
…. approved February’s water and sewer adjustments, check register and departmental reports.
…. in Citizens’ Comments, heard City Clerk Vernice Thompson explain that Moments with Mincey LLC, a local events planning business, had requested a permit to hold a pet parade on April 11 at Weatherly Park. The council said no to the request, with the explanation that according to city ordinances, permits had to be turned in 30 days before an event can be held. The request was received on March 18. Smith stated that legally no exceptions can be made, with Ramay adding that the city had to follow rules and regulations and that Moments with Mincey had failed to meet the requirements for the event.
…. in a relatively quiet Mayor and Council Comments, Jones and Thompson updated the council on Georgia Municipal Association’s Georgia Cities Week April 21-27, saying that planned events include a coloring contest, citywide day of prayer, employee appreciation day and customer appreciation day. Also in this section, after hearing Chavis state that downtown merchants and the Chamber of Commerce requested to set the date for this year’s Christmas parade, voted to officially hold the festivities the first weekend of December and to continue to hold it on the first December weekend annually.