City council meets

By
MARY ANN ANDERSON
The Hazlehurst City Council met Thursday with only three of five members present. Ward 1 Councilman Dwayne Johnson and Ward 3 Councilman Chris Jones attended, with Mayor John Ramay presiding. Ward 2 Councilwoman Elizabeth Oliver was absent, and the Ward 4 seat is vacant after Landon Chavis resigned to take a job in another town. Voters will choose his successor in the Nov. 3 general election from three qualified candidates: John Bloodworth, Eric Carelock and Yashiaca K. Brown. The winner will be sworn in in January.
The closed animal shelter and a stalled insurance claim dominated citizens’ comments, as residents pressed officials for answers and city leaders said their hands were tied.
[See story elsewhere]
The council heard the first reading of an ordinance setting the 2026 property tax rate at 7.00 mills, up from the current 6 mills. The reading prompted a lengthy discussion of whether the increase is necessary. A second reading and public hearings are required before a vote.
Jones said the city rolled its rate back from 8 mills to 6 after Hurricane Helene in September 2024, with the understanding that it would return to the original rate within four to five years. A new tax digest showed an extra $140,444 the city would need to balance its budget at 7 mills, he said, but “we had extra funds that came in unexpected.” He noted the state’s suggested rate was 5.37 mills. “If we decide for the best interest of the citizens is to leave as is, what kind of red tape do we have to do?” he asked.
City Attorney Wood Smith said the charter requires the millage rate to be set by ordinance, so the council could avoid an increase by not passing it. “But I’d have to see what the repercussions are from the higher ups,” he said.
The clerk cautioned that delays push back tax bills. Last year’s did not go out until January, she said, whereas they previously went out by November. She also warned that the $140,444 is only a projection: “If everyone does not pay their taxes, guess what? You ain’t going to get it.”
Jones replied that a delay is one “the citizens would thoroughly enjoy,” adding, “Sometimes you have to take a stand for something.”
Ramay urged caution. “We’re stirring a wasp’s nest on that one,” he said, adding that such decisions have “a triple effect” on the city’s economy. Johnson said that when he proposed the rollback, “we don’t want to put pressure on people just to go up and put money back,” but added, “We want to do what’s right for the people.”
The clerk also said the city’s past practice of voting on the rate without adopting an ordinance did not match the charter, a problem she and the attorney found last year. “You voted on it, but you didn’t approve an ordinance,” she told the council.
Also during citizens’ comments, Brown asked whether the council had a quorum to vote with one seat vacant and one member absent. She said the charter and bylaws call for three members and that she saw only two hands raised.
Smith said the mayor acts as a member of the council and typically abstains except to break a tie. With five seats, he said, three members present make a quorum, and the two votes in favor already formed a majority. Ramay added that a presiding officer may technically vote to break a tie or to create one that defeats a motion.
Brown said the explanation gave her the clarity she wanted and that she was not suggesting the council acted illegally. She asked for a copy of the charter’s quorum provisions and the city’s ethics ordinance. The clerk asked her to file an open records request and said she hoped to have the documents by early the following week. She also explained that the charter governs the elected body, while ordinances, such as those on ethics and the millage rate, must be read twice at regular meetings.
Jones said he dislikes the mayor also serving as a council member. “But that’s the ordinance and that’s the charter,” he said.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: See elsewhere on this page the portion of the City Charter addressing “Quorum; voting.”]
The council voted 2-0 [3-0] to table the selection of members for a proposed data centers committee until its November meeting, after the Nov. 3 election and once the Ward 4 seat is filled. Jones, who made the motion, said he was not comfortable choosing members while the committee’s chair was absent and the seat was vacant.
Ramay, who said he supports the idea of research, said the city should not appear to take a side. “I want no misinterpretation of that whatsoever,” he said. “The city is not to take a stand or draw a line in the sand.”
Oakley Perry of the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis County Chamber of Commerce and Joint Development Authority said during citizens’ comments that he understood the council’s reasoning, but noted that the Jeff Davis County Board of Commissioners has imposed a 12-month moratorium on data centers. The committee hopes to file a report with the county and the city before it expires, he said. Because of the holidays, scheduling for the committee’s first meeting must begin now, so the city’s appointee will not have a say in the date. That person can still attend, he said, and if appointed in November would miss at most one meeting. The committee operates under the development authority, and its meetings are open to the public, though only appointed members will officially serve.
Johnson asked how many meetings an appointee might miss. Ramay closed the discussion by saying that in his experience, smaller committees work better than larger ones.
The council voted 2-0 [3-0] to award the 2026 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) contract for resurfacing and widening Bell Telephone Road, beginning at South Cromartie Street, to East Coast Asphalt LLC for $278,255.90. The vote followed a recommendation from project engineer Hofstadter and Associates. Jones made the motion. Work is expected to take about 60 days once it begins, with completion likely within two to three months. LMIG is a Georgia Department of Transportation program that gives state funds to cities and counties for road resurfacing and other improvements.
The council voted 2-0 [3-0] to approve lease-purchase agreements with Caterpillar Financial Services for a 308 excavator and a 420 backhoe loader, combining two agenda items into one vote. The clerk said the equipment will be paid for with SPLOST funds rather than the general fund, under five-year leases. The excavator, priced at $146,046 at a fixed rate of 4.92 percent, will go to public works and also serve the street, water and stormwater operations. The backhoe loader, priced at $152,794 at a fixed rate of 4.915 percent, will go to the water department. The clerk said she will contact department heads before the final payment comes due to decide what to do with the equipment. Both machines are arriving sooner than expected, with one due as early as this week.
The council voted 2-0 [3-0] to adopt the Jeff Davis Joint Comprehensive Plan, titled “Steamboats to Semis: Rooted in Heritage, Driven for Development.” The plan was developed with Jeff Davis County, the City of Denton and the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission under the Georgia Planning Act of 1989, and it replaces the city’s 2021 plan. The clerk said the plan had to be formally adopted so she could send it to the regional commission.
Johnson urged residents to get a copy and read it, saying the plans show “what your leaders want you to be looking like.” Jones said the plan passed through the county and Denton before reaching the city, and that residents and officials with concerns should speak up now so changes can be considered in future updates.
At the request of Perry, the council voted 2-0 [3-0] to hold this year’s Christmas parade on Monday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m., along the same route as last year, beginning and ending at Hazlehurst Church of God. The Southeastern Conference championship game falls on the weekend when the parade would normally be held. “A lot of people are saying that they actually preferred it being on that week night,” Perry said. For safety reasons, candy will not be thrown into the street. Instead, adults will walk the route to hand it out.
Nellie Estevan of Good Shepherd Catholic Church asked the council to confirm the route and a 9 a.m. start on Dec. 12 for the church’s Our Lady of Guadalupe parade. The council approved the shorter route used last year, from the church to the Jeff Davis Farmers Market and Jeff Davis Library and back. It denied her request to hold a special Mass and blessing at Hazlehurst Memorial Cemetery over parking and grave-walking concerns, consistent with a prior denial of a similar event for another group.
The council approved August’s water and sewer adjustments and the check register of August bills paid. Members also received monthly reports from Fire-Rescue, Police, Public Works, Municipal Court and Inframark, the company that oversees the Water Department.
In mayor and council comments, Jones suggested the city publish a coloring book to teach schoolchildren about city departments, including public works and the water department. “We can hand them out to kids so they can understand and see some of the things that we are doing,” he said. Jones will work with the schools on a plan that would not cost the city to print them.
At the request of Johnson, the meeting adjourned.