Get a permit, or pay up

By
MARY ANN ANDERSON
Get a permit or pay up. That was the message of the Hazlehurst City Council in a discussion directed to local funeral homes that aren’t getting the required permits to hold proper burials.
During last Thursday night’s regular April session, City Clerk Vernice Thompson told the council the cemetery ordinance, which regulates local funeral homes, needs to be updated.
“Funeral homes are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said. “Someone needs to take hold of enforcing the procedures that need to be done.”
She and other council members cited several examples in which the decedents were buried in the wrong plots because the funeral homes didn’t consult with City Hall, with her also noting that several years ago a body had to be disinterred and moved because the person had been buried in the incorrect location.
Ward 1 Councilman Steve Land, once Hazlehurst’s chief of police, said for years a city employee had to be onsite and document the selection of gravesites, but Thompson remarked that’s no longer the case. She further said that now-retired employees Conrad Swain and Jeff Jones were the primary contacts and knew the city cemeteries well but no one else since their retirements had been trained for cemetery management. She also suggested to hire an outside cemetery consulting company to, as she said, “tell us what we can do.”
Christopher Jones, Ward 3’s councilman, said to his knowledge King Brothers Funeral Home is “the only one doing the right thing,” adding if funeral homes don’t follow rules or ordinances, they should “have to pay, and pay a whole lot, up to $10-15,000 in fines.”
But Thompson reminded him that citations for not following ordinances are to be not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, plus jail time.
City Attorney Ken W. Smith said the city should start “cracking the whip” by sending warning letters to all local funeral homes to adhere to the ordinances, with Ramay adding in Mayor and Council’s Comments to have, as Thompson suggested, consultants plot the cemeteries.
“That’s the best way to handle that to make sure they’re no accidental problems,” Ramay said. “This is something we’re going to be looking into pretty quickly.”
Another hot topic was brought to the forefront by Land, and that is the control of big trucks – transfer trucks, 18-wheelers, semis and tractor-trailers – traveling the one-way streets of Cromartie and Tallahassee through Hazlehurst.
“They’re tearing up our infrastructure,” he noted. “There is more and more and more destruction on Cromartie because of big trucks.”
Land said he met with members of the Georgia Department of Transportation, who told him the city needs to send a resolution requesting signage for trucks to use Hazlehurst Bypass – known as Larry Contos Boulevard, U.S. 19 and S.R. 23 – instead of Cromartie and Tallahassee streets, stating the original intent of building the bypass and railroad overpass was to keep the trucks off of downtown streets.
With Land also noting the absence of a left turn signal from the bypass on U.S. 341 North and that turning on U.S. 341 South is a “dangerous right turn,” Ramay asked that both issues are turned over to Smith as city attorney to get things rolling, a measure the council unanimously passed.
In other action during last Monday night’s workshop with all members present and Thursday’s regular session with Ward 1’s Dywane Johnson absent because of a family member’s illness and Ward 4’s Landon Chavis attending by telephone, the council, after hearing the invocation on both nights given by Dustin Hutto ….
…. after approving a motion in Monday’s meeting to amend the ordinance relating to blighted and nuisance properties, specifically to provide for the identification of the property and to increase ad valorem taxes to the property owners – measures the council is taking as an incentive to encourage the owners to clean up their property – then listened on Thursday as Smith gave the first reading of the updated ordinance. Ramay also stated a public hearing will be held on the ordinance so citizens can voice their opinions.
…. approved last month’s water and sewer adjustments, departmental reports and check register.
…. heard a lengthy presentation by Clay Kirkley, an employee benefits consultant of Capstone Benefits Consulting in Statesboro, with input by Barry Bloom, administrator of Jeff Davis Hospital, about Jeff Davis Direct, a program that can save money in health care costs. Kirkley asked for the council to sign a letter of declaration for Capstone to be its broker of record and “partner in healthcare,” but no motion was put in place at the time.
…. with Ramay in the lead, briefly discussed the need to have an audit to separate the current administration with him as mayor and the last administration with R. Bayne Stone as mayor, with Ramay adding while the present auditor, who is local, does a “good job,” hiring an outside company would take the “good buddy system” from the city. Johnson added the audit should go back for at least three years.
…. listened as Smith gave the first reading of an ordinance and adoption agreement to amend and restate the Georgia Municipal Employee Benefit System defined retirement benefit plan to allow elected officials and retired employees who return to work to draw their retirement, with the measure to be retroactive to March 1, 2024, after its second reading and adoption.
…. approved the Georgia Municipal Association’s nominations for District 9 president and first, second and third vice-president.
…. said yes to a proclamation designating May 5-11 as Professional Municipal Clerk’s Week, with the council giving shout-outs and compliments to Thompson for her work as city clerk.
…. okayed travel and training for Thompson to attend Georgia Municipal Clerk’s Association training April 28-30 in Gainesville.
…. in Mayor and Council’s Comments, Land thanked the city for installing signage for the historic Hazlehurst Antioch Cemetery.
…. also in this section Jones updated the council on local activities for Georgia Municipal Association’s Georgia Cities Week April 21-27, with Monday designated for a citywide day of prayer in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer, Tuesday for customer appreciation day at City Hall, Wednesday for employee appreciation day, Thursday for a display of city equipment, trucks and fire and police vehicles on Johnson Street, and Friday for a coloring contest for children from pre-k through fifth grade.
…. and in this comments section, Ramay noted the city is still in the process of naming a permanent chief of police. With the resignation of Ken Williams in 2023, Captain James Mock became interim chief since. Ramay said he is “waiting for the committee” that took applications to advise him further.