Cemetery business is anything but dead

By
MARY ANN ANDERSON
No bones about it. Cemetery business was anything but dead at last Thursday’s regular meeting of the Hazlehurst City Council.
City Clerk Vernice Thompson explained that the map for the city cemetery on Lumber City Highway is deteriorating badly, with Ward 3 Councilman Chris Jones joking that it looks like a mummy with all the tape and pieces of paper hanging from it.
When Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis County Joint Development Director Oakley Perry borrowed the map for a tourism project, he said he would work with H2O Creative Group of Brunswick to create a new printed map, along with a user-friendly online version and index to make locating specific graves easier.
The project will cost $1,500 to $1,750, Thompson said, with funding provided by the city, Board of Tourism and hotel-motel marketing funds. Mayor John Ramay called it “an outstanding opportunity” for the city, with the discussion also turning to updating outdated cemetery ordinances. The motion to approve the project passed unanimously.
After a local citizen spoke during the Citizens’ Comments portion of the meeting about flowers being removed from her granddaughter’s and father’s graves at Hazlehurst Memorial Cemetery on Lumber City Highway, Ramay explained that items from those and many other graves had mistakenly been removed by a prison work detail.
“It was a great tragedy that it happened this way,” Ramay said, adding that the Public Works Department retrieved many of the items and that they can be picked up at its office.
“I can’t apologize enough for the mistakes that were made,” the mayor added. “The only thing I can tell you is that the City is not responsible for that particular situation.”
Perry, who attended the meeting by telephone while at a conference, said the Board of Tourism is planning historical tours Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 at Hazlehurst City Cemetery on South Williams Street. The tours, he said, will include several architecturally unique sites and the graves of early Hazlehurst residents who helped shape the city’s politics and culture.
Perry emphasized that the project is not a so-called ghost tour and will be “very respectful” and focused on history. The council approved the tours with the contingency that attempts be made to contact family members for permission to visit the graves included as stops.
Perry also addressed another hot topic that has rumors swirling around Hazlehurst and Jeff Davis County: whether a data center will be located here. A data center is a facility that houses computer servers and other equipment used to store, process and manage large amounts of digital information. Such facilities can require significant amounts of electricity and water, and concerns have also been raised about noise.
“We do not want to bring in something that is going to bring in problems down the road,” he said. “We want to do our due diligence, so to speak, on anything coming into Jeff Davis County.”
Perry added that several months ago, the Jeff Davis County Board of Commissioners passed a 12-month moratorium on data centers to allow more time to study their potential impact on the community. He said a committee also will be formed to examine the issue further.
Ramay said the city will not take a stance on data centers.
“We will not say that we are for or against,” he said. “That is not for us to do. The final decision on this comes from the county.”
Jones suggested that citizens should have a vote and that the issue should be placed on the ballot when the time comes. He also proposed that Ward 2 Councilwoman Elizabeth Oliver and two city residents be appointed to the committee, a motion that passed unanimously.
“I do understand that the purpose of the committee is for the city to remain completely neutral in this and to educate citizens on what other cities and areas have learned and experienced through their development of data centers,” Oliver said. “That is of the utmost importance to me, and I understand that I’m acting in complete neutrality for the city.”
In other action, the council:
…. after hearing from Jeff Davis County Tax Commissioner Susie Kersey, voted to raise the millage rate from 6 mills to 7. Kersey explained that the amount of money one mill will produce increased from approximately $121 million in 2025 to $140 million in 2026. Thompson noted that a called meeting will be scheduled to amend the budget.
…. accepted the recommendations of the Downtown Development Authority to appoint Casey Williams as chair, Matthew Rentz as co-chair and Nikki Moore as secretary. During Citizens’ Comments, former Ward 2 Councilman Tommy Purser said that while he was on the council, the city budgeted $10,000 to support the DDA. The next year, former Mayor Bayne Stone removed the money from the budget and to his knowledge, the DDA has never received funding from the city since. He suggested the excess taxes levied by the council be used to support the DDA.
… approved the route for the 2026 Jeff Davis High School Homecoming Parade, to be held Oct. 8 beginning at 7 p.m.; changed the date of the SMA Awareness Run from Aug. 29 to Oct. 29; approved the 3rd Annual Stop the Gun Violence event for Oct. 10 at Mary McLean Frazier Park; and accepted July’s water and sewer adjustments, departmental reports and check register.
…. after a lengthy discussion led by Thompson, passed a motion reducing the minimum number of bids required for purchases from three to two.
…. during Citizens’ Comments, heard resident Debbie Hartley ask the city for help getting unsightly yards near her home cleaned up. Ramay told her that ordinances will be enforced and that he will “get it addressed immediately.”
…. gave an update on the timeline for reopening the Hazlehurst Animal Shelter, which was recently closed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture because of needed structural and drainage repairs. “We’ll have just about a new facility when we’re through, and it will be the best that we’ve ever had,” Ramay said.
…. heard from another resident who described a “very traumatic experience” at the roundabout on Pat Dixon Road that resulted in damage to her car. Thompson said she would work with the city’s insurance provider to assist the resident.
…. heard from a Ward 4 resident who said she and her neighbors have experienced drainage problems and sewer backups inside their homes for years. She said she eventually stopped calling the city “because no one will listen.” Ramay promised an investigation, while Thompson said that with sufficient documentation and a paper trail from the resident and her neighbors, the city could potentially seek a Community Development Block Grant to help fund repairs.