MINUTES WAYCROSS CITY COMMISSION PLANNING & INFORMATION SESSION TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, 3:00 P.M. WAYCROSS CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS (417 PENDLETON STREET, WAYCROSS, GA) I. CALL TO ORDER: The Waycross City Commission Meeting was called to order on Monday, Tuesday January 21, 2025, at 3 pm by Mayor James. The meeting was held in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Present were Commissioners Shawn Roberts, Alvin Nelson, Katrena Felder, and Sheinita Bennett. A. Invocation: City Manager Invocation was led by Reverand Ferrell Malone B. Pledge of Allegiance II. GUESTS: There were none III. TRAVEL/TRAINING SCHEDULE AND REQUESTS 1. GMA-Cities United Summit- Commissioner Felder, and the Mayor will be in attendance. IV. PLANNING & INFORMATION SESSION A. Bids: a. WAYX 25-03 Surplus of 12 Fire Hoses There was a consensus to place this on Tuesday agenda. b. Bid #FY25-04 Financing for Police Vehicles There was a consensus to place this on Tuesday agenda. C. Bid #FY25-05 Police Vehicle Equipment There was a consensus to place this on Tuesday agenda. Page 1 of3 B. Discussion Items: ***SEE DISCUSSION NOTES*** 1. Voting Precinct: Change Request 2. HB 581 Update 3. Hotel/Motel Tax 4. Waycross 101 5.. Community Improvement Event 6. Finance Update: a. Scanner contract b. Animal Shelter C. Sewer Pump d. Street Sweeper e. Backhoe f. Fuel Truck g. 40HP Tractor h. Per-diem update 7. Infrastructure: a. Parks & Streets b. Sweat Street C. GDOT update 8. Ethics Board Update 9. Handbook 10. City Manager Contract C. Privilege Licenses Renewals: 1. Two Guys Beverage and Tobacco, Y. Patel, 2100 Memorial Drive, Waycross GA.31501, Beer, Wine, and Liquor, Package Sales Only 2. Johnny's Food Store, M. Nadeem, 819 Glenmore Ave, Waycross Ga. 31501, Beer and Wine, Package Sales Only. 3. La Jalisiense LLC, A. Valdez, 508 Alice Street, Waycross Ga. 31501Beer Only, Consumption on premises. 4. Is Stop Foods, R. Patel, 709 Nichols Street, Waycross, Ga. 31501, Beer and Wine Package Sales Only 5. OM Food Mart, A. Patel, 935 Tebeau Street, Waycross, Ga. 31501, Beer and Wine Package Sales Only. D. Privilege Licenses: n/a E. Proposed Ordinances: n/a Page 2 of3 F. Proposed Resolutions: 1. A Resolution of the City of Waycross, Georgia To Approve Amendments to The 2018 Waycross Employee Handbook; To Provide Clarification and Updates to Multiple Sections in Order to Comply With The City Charter and State Law; and for Other Purposes. 2. A Resolution ofthe City ofWaycross, Georgia to Approve Loan Financing ofSix (6) Dodge Durango Pursuit Vehicles For The Waycross Police Department Through Leasing Specialist LLC of Peyton Colorado; and for Other Purposes 3. A Resolution of the City of Waycross, Georgia to Approve Purchase of Police Equipment for Six (6) Dodge Durango Pursuit Vehicles For The Waycross Police Department From Mobile Communications America ofWaycross, Georgia; and for Other Purposes. 4. A Resolution ofthe City ofv Waycross, Georgia, To Declare 12 Fire Hoses to be Surplused Property; To Provide For Sale On GOVDEALS.COM; and for Other Purposes. 5. A Resolution ofthe City of Waycross, Georgia, To Approve The Entry of An Employment Agreement For the City Manager Upon The Terms and Conditions Attached Hereto, The Same Setting Salary And All Other Terms Of Employment; and for Other Purposes. G. City Attorney Report: H. City Managers Report: I. Last Call J. Adjourn to Executive Session Motion to adjourn for the purpose of Personnel, was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Felder. All voted in favor and the motion passed at 5:48 pm. K. Adjournment CITY OF WAYCROSS BY: m muhacl-lngl MICHAEL-ANGELO JAMES, Mayor ATTEST: egnal - Sul JACQJALINE POWELL, City Clerk Page 3 of3 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MAMIE: The first one is for a request to surplus approximately 12 fire hoses. These fire hoses have not been able to pass the required testing for operations in the fire department, and because of that fail, we're asking that these are surplus. There are 11 one, one and three fourths inch fire hoses that are 50ft long each and one at 50ft long. That's three inches each. We're requesting surplus that we sO that we can sell them on gov deals. MAYOR: Very good. So at this time we're going to look to the commission and get consensus for this surplus of the 12 fire hoses. District one. Yes, sir. District two. Yes, sir. District three. Yes. District five. Yes, sir. We have consensus. MAMIE: Next item for the commission. We had a bid out for the police department recently purchased six police Durango's Dodge Durango pursuit units for the police department, and it was at the Commission's approval that we had the finance. So we put out a bid for financing. We received those bids. I do have a copy of those. The bid tab and the workbook for you. The lowest and the best bid came from leasing specialists in Colorado at 4.95%. For that will be $5,090 per month for all six vehicles. We are asking that the Commission approve this bid SO that we can finance with this company. MAYOR: Very good. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Commissioner, you've heard the request for the financing for the police vehicles. Well, I guess I need to get consent. I can't get a vote here. But this district one. Yes, sir. District two. Yes, sir. District three. Yes. And district five. Yes, sir. You have consent? MAMIIE: Last item for those six Dodge Durango's. There is police equipment that is needed for the interior of those vehicles, i.e. the light bars and the computer brackets and other items that are needed to fully equip that police vehicle sO that it can be used on the street and patrol. We put out a bid for that. We received two bids. The lowest and best bid came from Interceptor Public Safety at a total of $48,219, and that would be for the cost and installation of all six vehicles. MAYOR: Very good. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Commissioner, you Commission. You have heard the request for the police vehicle equipment. We need consent. I'll check with districts one. Yes, sir. District two. Yes, sir. District three. Yes. And district five. Yes, sir. We have consent. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Back to our City Manager. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We're moving to the information session now, starting with the first item, which will be. Let me start over. We're going to do something different moving forward. Um, for the meetings, just to make sure everybody stays in tune with what's going on with the city. So moving forward, - will restate the vision and the mission. Anybody can see that on the on the TV. Let me read that real fast. And once again is voted upon by the commission. Uh, about two years ago. Nyx is the city priorities. These are the things that we discussed infrastructure, services, quality oflife and city workforce. CITY MANAGER: Getting those beings are fallen items for service, delivery, communication, customer service. Efficiency proficiency. Business models and practices. Data driven infrastructure. Streets and roads. Buildings. Overpass. Bridges. Canals. Alleys. Ponds and stormwater. Quality of life. Housing. Job creation. Recreation programs. Outreach programs. Community engagement. Partnerships. Homelessness and Gangs and drugs and the city. Workforce development. Morale. Training. Promotion. And these were the priorities that we voted on upon my arrival. And we've been following these priorities since I've been here. Any questions on that, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR: None from me. Do you have any questions? No, sir. Okay. Page 1 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS CITY MANAGER: Next. Mr. mayor,, just to update the commission and the citizen where we are on our ten-year plan. You know, the first 1 or 2y years, we're about to end on year number two. We got a little behind for a few reasons, but we did pick back up at the end of the year. And as you all remember, um, outside of Commissioner Robertson, Commissioner Nelson, um, for our short-term plan for those first two, 1 or 2 years, we focused on programs and policies and procedures review, which we've done in some capacity, but we still have some work to do on that. Um, we defined workforce roles. We did make some changes in the workforce responsibilities to increase efficiency. Uh, we did implement update. We're currently doing that as far as IT systems. I think we're about three months away from that being completed with the new IT systems, um, with our branding and communication strategy. Um, Create a Facebook page. Social media presence. The app and other things. The budget. We try to identify the cost savings, sO we reach at 5% my first year coming on board, but I'm confident this next year we'll find that 5% savings within the budget and of course, deliver quality city services. So now we move into year two here in March. I want to restate some of these objectives in year two. Of course, we'll keep on updating the policies and procedures, improvement of our standards in the workforce and see their completion. Automation services continue to research creative ways to fix the infrastructure priorities as far as facilities, transportation, water and sewer, and develop a long-term financial strategy to once again cut some costs and hopefully generate some revenue and then maintain quality of our city services. And that's year 2 to 4 as well. Upon my arrival, I just want to update the commission mission and the citizens who might not know what we kind of stick to as far as our priorities, as far as our ten-year plan and our policy. Any questions on that, Mr. Mayor? Okay. MAYOR: Commissioner, do you have any questions? District one. No, sir. District two. No, sir. District three no and district five. No, I do not. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So next we'll move to discussion items, starting with the Voting precincts change request and will be presented by Mr. Carlos Nelson. CARLOS NELSON: Thank you. Mr. mayor, commissioners, um, I'm here to see if you would consider, um, a precinct change, voting precinct change for district one. Uh, about five years ago, um, I approached the commission, and we talked about district five and district Three. Um, and at that time we moved district five from, um, from the fire station to the auditorium, district three from the First Baptist Church downtown to the auditorium. And I'm asking for your consideration, um, to move district one to the city auditorium and give you a little background. Um, we five years ago, we made this, um, suggestion, um, because, um, when we have when we have city elections, it gets kind of confusing. And we just basically went through this again, um, for the runoff, you know, um, with the new system that we have. Um, I'm pleased to say that when we have a city in a, in a county election with the new pope and everything that we utilize, we can consolidate like we did for district one for the general election. Um, everything was at the county precinct in the past, about four, five, five years ago, when we had a city election and a county election, the city residents would have to go to the city precinct and then go to the county precinct to vote, all on the same day if they didn't vote early. And sO with the new: system that's consolidated. But what happened in November, since we had a city in the county election, the district one voters went to their city precinct. I mean, their county precinct, which is the seat auditorium. We had a runoff. So 30 days later, they had to go to the Board of Education on Bailey Street, and there was no way around it. You have to go to your when it's when it's a standalone city ofLakeland, you have to go to your city precinct. And sO we received quite a few calls. I even talked to the two candidates that was running. I'm Commissioner Roberts and it at that time it's a walker and reminded them and tried to stress to them the importance of, um, getting, getting to their voters, making sure they don't go to the auditorium, even though we received a lot of calls, you know, before the election. And, um, where to vote? Are we going to the auditorium? Where? And sO at that time, we recommended that they voted early and, uh, pleased to say that, you know, we had about 150 voters that voted early or by absentee ballots, and we only had 56 that voted on Election Day, which was a low turnout. But we received quite a few calls asking why? Why do we have to go Page 2 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS to the school board? You know, where in the school board, you know because it's in that building. It could be anywhere in that building. And at that time, the Board of Education gave us a little hallway. And in one of their sections now in November, coming up for the general municipal election. We don't know where it's going to be in that building ifit's going to be in that building. So it's just it's just it's just confusing, you know? Um, you know, this is not about disenfranchising any voters, actually. You know, this makes it much easier for the voters to understand where they're going to vote on Election Day. So that means all of the district two. The district three and district one voters, if this change is made, will go to the city auditorium for all elections. And it won't be no confusion about where to vote on this election or another election. And SO, um, I'm here to take questions. Comments. Um, I think this is, you know, this is a city election. It's up to you. Um, you know, to make a change. All we can do is make a recommendation, you know, and, uh, you know, ifyou if you decide not to do it, that's fine. But if you decide to do it, we need to need to know early spring, because that gives us time to make the change in the system. And that way every voter, every registered voter would get a new precinct card showing the change in their city precinct. MAYOR: So would you want to ask a couple of questions? One question I need to ask then is by having done this, this, this will move several things around, but it will make it one thing. We will all be in one place voting at all times. Will this be, say, for instance, if there is an election, say we have county and city again, will it be in the same locality? CARLOS NELSON: It'll be in the same locality, you know, district four and district five, you know, they are consolidated into the stadium. And then right now two and three is at the city auditorium. And district one is the only, um, you know, road, the only district that's outside of the auditorium, and it's going to be kind of confusing in November if it's not. I'll be honest with you, that's not me, because all the voters in one, two. I mean, two and three is going to say, okay, I go to the auditorium, but then district one, you know, I don't know how many people is going to go to the auditorium thinking, well, that's where I go. But then they're going to have to turn around and go to the school board. So but like I said, the pleasure is yours. You know, just wanted to bring this to your attention sO we can go ahead and look at it. If we're going to make this change, go ahead and get it in the system as soon as possible sO we can start educating the voters. MAYOR: Okay. So do you just need a consensus sO that you can make that change? CARLOS NELSON: Um, well, I would like a vote. Not. Not now. I mean, for your regular meeting. So we can go ahead and start the process with the secretary ofstate's office. Okay. MAYOR: What we'll do is first start with consent sO we can have it on our agenda for tonight. And then we can make sure that it's done if that's properly. HUEY SPEARMAN: We need to have a resolution to approve that change. Yes, sir. MAYOR: So I'll make sure by consent that we can make that resolution. HUEY SPEARMAN: Yes. MAYOR: Okay. District one. Yes, sir. District two. Yes. District three. Yes. And district five. Yes, sir. So we can get a resolution prepared, and then we'll vote upon it. And that will be done. Thank you for the presentation. CARLOS NELSON: Thank you. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Nelson. Next on the agenda, Mr. Mayor, we're going to move into HB five A1 update. And I'm going to move to the meat of the briefing. Uh, the commission has Page 3 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS been gracious to brief us a few times on this. And we're to the point now where we have to make a vote to opt in or opt out and let the commissioner say a few words on recommendations, and then we'll go from there. Thank you. ROGER COLLINS: Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Commissioners. Mr. mayor. I guess I'm here to talk about I-81. All right. Okay. As the city manager was saying, it's a very time restrictive deal. If you're going to opt out or if you're going to stay in. Um, right now, the current deadline is March Ist of opting out and recording that with Secretary ofState's office. Um, my recommendation is to opt out because that the bill was passed for the welfare of the taxpayers. But the city frees the county. The county frees and the school frees supersedes 8581 by far and away is better. Our homestead is better than anything the state has put in, and by not opting out, we're causing our assessors to have to keep track of a fourth. They have to keep track of fair market values, sO they have to keep track of the real fair market value of the house. And if they sign up for homestead and them. The county freeze went into effect in 2002. So they got to keep track of their fair market value, what they had in 2002. The school and the city's freeze went into effect in 2008. So they have to keep track of that fair market value. So they're already keeping track of three fair market values. And if you opt in or if you stay in, they're going to have to keep track of four For numbers four, and that causes more work on them. And seeing as now it's law that they have to revalue every property, I'm sorry, every property in the in the county every three years. So they're constantly going to be out there doing that. They're going to and my record, from what I remember when I was on the board of assessor, where it was done, is we revalued the county in thirds, a third a year. That way we cover every three years. So that's the way that they're going to do it. Since our county is SO big, we got over, we got 22,000 parcels and that's going to stay busy doing that. And it's just causing more work, unnecessary work to have to track another House bill. House Bill 581 fair market value with a percentage increase every year. And they run the risk of getting anything wrong. And the city can be sued, the school can be sued, and the county can be sued if something is messed up. And there's no reason for that. The freezes that we have in place is by far and away better for the taxpayers than anything the state has to offer. And I won't say I received the email and had there was somebody who was had gotten confused the personal property bill, House Bill 808 that was voted on also and that was passed, raised the exemption from 7500 to 20,000. But it was it was it was House Bill 808. But article 581 and they get those misconstrued. The personal property exemption is $20,000, $20,000. And that that's going forward it's going to be $20,000. So that's not to be misconstrued on that. SPEAKER 5: Okay. MAYOR: I can open up for conversation and questions. Did you have any questions of our commissioner? No, sir. Not at this time. District two. Yes, sir. District three. No. And district five. I'm good. Okay. So what? What we need here is you want to note not only just educate our community, but also to find out. What do we as a commission, do you want us to do? ROGER COLLINS: Right? So, um, like I said, my professional recommendation is to opt out and you have to have three hearings that we advertised and have three hearings, and the ads have to be a minimum of 30in?. It's like a tax increase ad, but they had to have to have done. If you had a tax increase and you got three public hearings, and then it has to be voted on. Ifit's approved, you send it to the Secretary of States and have it have it reported by March Ist. MAYOR: So what is the ask of this commission today? Do you need us to do anything specific that I do understand that the hearings would have to take place, and that those ads have specific qualifiers for them to be legal? Is itjust educational for today or what? ROGER COLLINS: No, I was asked to come. I was asked to come and speak to you guys. Um, but my recommendation is you need it time consuming. It's. You got to advertise for a week before you can have. You can have the first hearing. And we're rapidly approaching March 1st. So, um, I would Page 4 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS just basically where do you all stand? What are you all y'all going to do? Because the school is opting out and the county is opting out. MAYOR: Thank you. So I'm noticing that you made mention that the county did a freeze in 2002. The city and school did 2008. ROGER COLLINS: Yes. Well, but that was that was the representatives. That was Representative Boggs. Now, Judge Boggs, when he when he left, he had that the county resolution and the freeze pass up in the state legislature. And then Representative Hatfield done his in 2007. That went in effect 2008. So our homesteads are by far and away better than anything because their base year, they're going to use 2024. And in 2025 that's not going to go up. But 2026, it's going to there's a CPI index that the state is going to use and it's the CPI you index. And that can be as high as three as it can be 5%. They don't know that's a that's a variable based on inflation rate and all that. MAYOR: So what I would do then SO that we can go ahead and get everything started, being that we are behind the eight ball in the sense as far as time is concerned, I will go ahead and see what the Commission feels regarding your recommendation of opting out. Okay. District one. MAYOR: Whether or not we opt out, is that what you're asking, sir? Am I sure? Yes, sir. opt out. MAYOR: District two Yes, sir. District three. Yes. And district five. Yes, sir. I'lI move forward.. BENNETT: Mr. Mayor MAYOR: So you have heard that response. But Commissioner Bennett has a question or comment? BENNETT: Yes, I just sO you said we need to have three public hearings, SO we need to do one at least. How do we do that once a week? CITY MANAGER: Look. Now we're going to put one in the paper for the 29th. And then and then the hearings can be the same day. Correct. ROGER COLLINS: The hearings can be the same day. Now, I will say that for all of them to be in one day is not very taxpayer friendly. But one is required to be between the hours of six and 7 p.m. CITY MANAGER: Yes. Just that was just a mention, but we're going to do the in the paper on the 29th. We have meetings on the third and the fourth. So we'll do hearings then. And then the last hearing will be the on the second meeting of the month for us. And that'll give us those three meetings. And I want to say the last meeting is, will be the 17th. So it'll be the third or fourth in the 17th, but it'll go in the paper on the 29th. MAYOR: So it's third, fourth and 17th will be those days. CITY MANAGER: Third, fourth and 17th. All right. MAYOR: Commissioners are there any questions for our City Manager? BENNETT: No, sir. Thank you. CITY MANAGER: Thank you. Sir. Uh, next, Mr. mayor, we're moving to the hotel. Motel tax increase. Uh, as you remember, we brought it to the board once before about raising the, um, the motel tax to a 1% increase. Um, at that time, it was not voted. Was voted down. So I'm bringing it to the commission again. This is one of those situations about the charter change. Change that would Page 5 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS need a full commission to vote to implement. I did sit on the previous, uh, tourism board, and I believe, uh, Miss Simmons could come out. As Irecall, they were all in favor ofit. They did talk to all the hotels about it. Uh, as you know, this would not affect any Waycross citizens. About 95% of the people using the hotels do not reside here. Um, SO, um, that money would go on tours and other things, but we do see it value added. Just making sure that we voted yes on that it. Yes. Everybody on the tourist board agreed with it. Um, any new money coming in? Part of that would go to promote the city. A few items they want to do to help the city for businesses here. So that will go a long way for us. So I'm bringing it to the commission today. Um, but based on us not having one of the commissioners here, I'm not sure if we can even take a vote on this because the state needed a complete vote. HUEY SPEARMAN: Yeah. Unanimous. CITY MANAGER: So can we. Can this be unanimous that we can't do it that way? Because she's Missing. HUEY SPEARMAN: It has to be changed by the state. That's right. CITY MANAGER: Yes. HUEY SPEARMAN: They want to put in, what is the time frame for this one? CITY MANAGER: So we head to the 20th, get, um, get to our state legislators. I was going to. But if Commissioner Hopkins comes tomorrow, we can vote on tomorrow if y'all decide to put on the agenda. MAYOR: Um, okay, SO today is the day of the vote, because, you know, we have two meetings. CITY MANAGER: Well, she might come, um, at the meeting tonight. MAYOR: Tonight. CITY MANAGER: But we need the full commission vote by 1% again. Again. Because I did reach back out, like I said, to all ofthe tourism board members and some of the hotel owners. So, you know, we have a couple of hotels coming in now. And like I said, 95% of the population. Um, the use of the hotel is not from Waycross, SO we're not affecting our citizens in any way. But by doing this increase, we would add to our ability to promote Waycross broader and better across Georgia. And I pause there for your consideration, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR: Commissioner, do you have any questions of our city manager? one No, sir. two no sir. three no sir and district five Thank you. No, sir. Okay. Thank you. Okay. CITY MANAGER: Can we get consent to put it on the vote just in case? Mr. mayor. MAYOR: We can check to see if district one. Would you be in agreement? Yes, sir. District two? Yes, sir. District three. And district five. Yes, sir. Okay, thanks. And. CITY MANAGER: Uh, next, Mr. Mayor, we'll move on to the Waycross one on one course that's coming up in February. And I want to do a quick reminder for our listeners who might be watching right now or unaware of the program. And also, as you know, the program is structured around five strategic commitments. Of course, the first one will be Red Cross Charter introduction. We'll go over the charter with all those citizens and a few other things about how cities are run. The next one, we budget 101. We'll cover the entire budget for those citizens to include auditing purposes. The next day Page 6 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS will be workforce roles and responsibility, and that will the entire workforce. Who does what, why, when and where. And then the director's panel question and answer. I'm going to add to that panel. We're going to reach out to our key stakeholders in the community because iti is one team. So we're all going to reach out to the county, the school We bought all our Downtown Development Authority. CITY MANAGER: And a few other organizations. Hospital people like that in nature to kind of sit down and show how we're all connected in that conversation and take questions. And the last would be, of course, yourself and the commission to answer and question and answer session. So right now, we have 24 signed up. Um, I think the target was I want to say it was 40 was the target. So hopefully we get 40. If not, that's fine. Um, regardless, the number that we get is more, um, citizens that have the total understanding of what's going on here versus what they might get from somebody who does not know. Um, which is, you know, what we're going to do right now. So that way when people are critical of us, they'll have the right understanding. So Ijust want to do a quick update on the Waycross Citizens one on one course for yourself and everybody. Thank you. CITY MANAGER: Uh, next, Mr. mayor, we're going to have a presentation. Uh, community improvement event is going to going to be presented by the mayor and Mrs. Medlock. And I don't think we have slides at this time. We don't have slides, but she's going to present to you an idea she has about improving the community. Perfect. Thank. SPEAKER 7: You. MRS. MEDLOCK/CK/CITIZEN: Thank you. Um, the mayor of the City of Waycross and Waycross. Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity. City manager. Um, our conversation comes to you today from al briefing that we had with the police chief with the city of Waycross. And in that briefing, um, he advised us about the current concern among at risk youth here in the city of Waycross, particularly ages 13 to 17, as we're seeing an increase of violence among this particular age group. Everything from murders to aggravated assaults, shootings, and drive byes. And what was really alarming was the sophisticated weaponry that they are using. AK drum magazines that carry a high amount of capacity 50 to 100 rounds is what we are told are breaking into cars and stealing these guns. And how these guns are getting into the community. What we're seeing across this age group is that their influence is coming in from some of them being bullied, some for money, of course, and then And then people that they look up to, of course, influencing their behavior. Um, we've seen a murder just a few days ago. And then also someone was shot. So the shootings, according to the police department, are on the rise. And the automatic weapon with high capacity is on the rise. We come to you from with over nearly 40 years of experience in working in the communities and at-risk youth from cities like the city of Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Um, and through our efforts in the nonprofit sector, we have been able to effect change in these cities with getting children off of the streets, providing them with programs, and redirecting their attention and their focus. Um, and we'd like to offer a, some solutions for the Of the community and the city of Waycross as well under the not for profit that we. Chair Could Help Ministries, Inc. It's a non-for-profit organization that's dedicated to serving at risk youth and underprivileged communities throughout through the lens of and the framework of modern culture. Our mission is to educate and empower using culture as a catalyst for social change and community well-being. We bring nearly 40 years of over 40 years of collective experience launching national social cause initiatives with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, like Snoop Dogg and his Youth Football League and City of Chicago, and tour Jim Brown's American and His Gun amnesty. Hip hop, wellness and PTSD and more could help locally serves at risk youth and their families with mentoring and Mentoring and life skills. Home essentials clothing, giveaways. Health and wellness programs to help reduce anxiety, depression, poverty, food disparity and violence, and more. On February Ist or February 8th, 2025, we are proposing a collaboration on an event with the City of Waycross, with a special emphasis on this particular group of at-risk males age 13 to 17. We're proposing in a one day setting a gun amnesty day here in the city of Waycross, what's called hip hop detox and the martial arts training day at the City Page 7 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS Auditorium. Our aim is intervention and prevention of gang activity among this age group. We have been successful with gun amnesty days, particularly when hip hop icon T.I. of Atlanta was arrested in 2007 for allegedly trying to purchase these high, high-capacity firearms. We teamed with T.I. on his way to prison to send a message to young people that this was not the way, and SO we have done this in numerous occasions across the city, the cities like Chicago and New York, to use hip hop as a catalyst for social change, as we see that they are the main influencers of this particular group of demographics. They are the primary influencers. So here's how the day would progress. It would be put down the guns. The gun amnesty day is basically bringing any firearm, no question asked. We normally in a city like Chicago and New York. When we partnered with T.I., we also partnered with faith-based organizations and local churches, as that was to be the neutral grounds by which they can bring their gun in without any penalty and then without the threat of possibly being in trouble. Okay. So we would do that here as well. Um, is the aim, of course, is to get the guns out of the hands of the minors, as the police has told us, the type ofv weaponry they are using on each other and other citizens. All citizens can bring any firearm without any penalty. Penalty messaging will be reinforced by local and national hip hop celebrity through our efforts here locally, to give back to the city of Waycross and help with poverty. We know there's a great link between poverty and crime. Um, and SO we've been on a concerted effort to help, to give back to the communities, to help ease some of that burden. We did get the recognition from international hip hop icon Snoop Dogg, who recently, or Calvin Broadus, who recently expressed his support live on Instagram and the desire to come to Waycross to assist us with the work that we're doing here. We also inside of that day, sO in the mornings they can bring back their gunner all throughout the day. We will also have defended with your hands. We know that threats are real. So we want to teach them a way to for self-defense without using weapons. And sO with that all males martial Arts training day workshop where young males learn self-defense techniques, respect for themselves and authority. Discipline, leadership skills. The training will be hosted by the School of Survival out of Chicago. With over 30 years ofexperience with working with inner city youth. We also would like, because of the hip hop, the messaging in hip hop music and culture, we do believe there is a need for a detox and the healing to happen, and we can do that through music. Um, Hip-Hop detox is actually a non-for-profit organization. It's actually a public health organization out of the city of Chicago, and it's based in Chicago. But they do travel around the country as well as internationally. They specialize in the use of media and popular culture to teach urban youth critical thinking skills that inform them of their cultural heritage initiative, initiate positive and social development. This approach also helps to cancel out any negative images consistently fed to urban youth at home, through their televisions and in public spaces, through aggressive marketing campaigns. As we see the strength and influence of pop culture on youth today in today's society is undeniable. The Hip Hop Detox will focus in on improving family and community's healthy lifestyle choices, promoting healthy, healthier behavior, providing leadership training, violence prevention, edutainment, and providing both preventive and interventive services as well as trauma informed services. They are licensed for trauma induced form. There is also one other item action item here we were awaiting. We didn't have it on here. We were awaiting the final word because there was a conflict in schedule. But we like to like to also introduce for the younger, younger children because we know the link between by the fourth grade, ifthey have not performed well with reading, they are headed into the area where these young people are and the ages of 13 and 17. So with that, we thought we would engage them as well with a Stem education initiative with hip hop mogul Damon Dash. The Dash family, as you all may know, uh, Damon Dash is, uh, the CEO and founder of Roc-A-Fella records with Jay-Z. And he and his family, his wife and his small child, age four, um, are on a Stem. Stem education initiative with books that promote Stem education to young, at-risk youth and to give them another vehicle by which they can move their attention to. They have agreed and have, um, have reached out to us just a little while ago to say they are available for those or both of those days to accompany us and to help with that. Their presence will also bring in about almost 500 books for students here in the city of Waycross toward this initiative or more, if we're able to help with that. We do know firsthand we are parents of young African American males, two of them who came out of this community, and we were able to successfully, with my husband, send them on to Division one schools, Chicago State and Georgia Tech, as well as DePaul University as Page 8 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS well as Miami, the University of Miami and out ofChicago. Our son who started, we started him out with the youth football league that we brought into the city of Chicago after a 15-year-old Derrion Albert was killed in a high school after high school, walking home during a fight. That fight made national news. We stepped in and began to work with those children who were left behind after CNN had left our communities, and we were able to bring in Snoop's Football League to the city, which resulted into 35 teams across the city of Chicago taking young African American boys and all children who were at risk off of the streets. And as a part of that, we also teamed with the Midwest orthopedic surgeon to teach young, young African American children that they may not, though they have hoop dreams and dreams to play ball, it's not a real reality for everyone. And SO we partnered with the sports industry to teach or to give them a internship with the sports medicine team there with the Chicago Bulls. ET cetera. My son was a part of that. And today we're proud to say that he is a medical student today in the city ofChicago. So we do have real, um, real measurables when it comes to what we offer for the city of Waycross. And we would like for your consideration to partner with us on this event. MAYOR: Thank you for your presentation, Miss Miller. You're welcome. This is very encouraging. We need to hear this kind of stories and anecdotes and realities that have come, because we know we're seeing an uptick in these kinds of kinds of things, not just amongst the age groups that we mentioned 13 through 17, which, of course, you even went back a little further to say we can start a little bit earlier. That's right. Especially with the reading portion ofit, because we find that illiteracy is one of the major problems that we have. And it also is like a pipeline to prison. So our goal is to cut the pipeline off. And make certain that our students and our young people don't get involved in that. And one of the things we have to do is learn how to deal with our own personal emotional intelligence. And I think that's one of those kinds of things that this program sounds like it would do. What is your ask ofthe city of Waycross? MRS. MEDLOCK/CITIZEN: Yes, we. Are asking for. We can handle logistics for helping to get organizing because we've done it across cities, but we are asking for assistance with the budget to get everybody in and to pay for the for the services I've been coming through. MAYOR: So this will be a part like the budgeting portion ofit? Yes, sir. Yes. MAYOR: I'm going to open the floor up for questions from the commission, and they will possibly be able to. Steer some conversations around this as well in the community. And I know many oft them are having well, I'm grateful for seeing in these next few days even more. Town halls and these will be awesome to have these conversations amongst those persons who are in those sessions. Any questions? District one. Thank you. ROBERTS: Ma'am. But you know what kind ofbudget we're looking at? MRS. MEDLOCKICKICITIZEN: Yes, sir. We're approximately 20,000 for everything that we presented. ROBERTS: 20,000? MRS. MEDLOCK/CK/CITIZEN: Yes, sir. SPEAKER 7: Thank you. MAYOR: And district two. BENNETT: Thank you. Ma'am. Thank During. The dedication, Mr. Roberts asked one question. Okay, sO you said that you all would be here for the hip hop detox. Page 9 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MIRS. MEDLOCK/CITIZEN: Hip hop detox. Hip hop detox. It would be a one-day event. And through that, through that day, there would be the gun amnesty SO they could bring back their guns. There's also martial arts training and then there's hip hop detox. And then also Mr. Dame Dash and his wife. Okay. BENNETT: What date? MRS. MEDLOCK/CK/CITIZEN: February Ist or February 8th are the dates that everybody's available that we mentioned already. Okay, so those both are Saturdays. And we thought that would be the best. BENNETT: Okay. Thank you. MAYOR: District three. Any questions? FELDER: Yes, mayor. Thank you, Miss Medlock, for your presentation. Um, and my question. Is question is directed to the city manager. If we as a commission were to support the Hood Health Ministry's initiative, where would this funding come from? Out of the city's budget? And is the is the funding available to support this initiative? CITY MANAGER: Not that. Not $20,000, not the whole 20,000. Chief Cox has the money he has from Caesars they could put to it. And that's the money we're looking at right now. But we couldn't support the whole 20,000. MAYOR: Soi is the is the question or the ask for the entire amount or it's just aj portion of the amount. CITY MANAGER: Well, um, what I would like to do, we have a chance to get a fuil talk on this. There are other organizations who can donate to. So we're going to try to get with them as well. Um, uh, of course, Downtown Development Authority, uh, some other non-profits here and just have time to put it together SO everybody can put in. We can kind of go from there. MAYOR: So we have a little short span of time for the first and the eighth. So we need to do something very quickly if we're going to do that. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. District five questions. NELSON: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for a great presentation. There's a need. There's a bad need. Um, I would like to know from the city manager. City attorney? Could the tourism part handle some ofthat with the hotel motel tax, $0.01 addition that we normally have in place? CITY MANAGER: Well, the tourists walking out with donate. Donate to other events to one of the boys were going to talk to you about donating as well. NELSON: Okay. Okay. Okay. MAYOR: And interestingly, we don't control the tourism board, SO. Great. Yeah. And that would be something that the tourism board would have to come to an agreement on in that regard. But yeah, those are those are our questions. But this is a phenomenal start. I'm thankful that for this conversation we needed this. And we need this to be honest with you. I had it that I pray for myself, but I don't have it right now. Thank you. Jesus. MRS. MEDLOCK/CK/CITIZEN: Thank you. Page 10 of 25 **+DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS CITY MANAGER: Thank you Mrs. Medlock So, Mr. Mayor, just a quick update on the weather. So the snow has reached the far west side of Georgia. So it's about 3 to 4in in Columbus and Albany. So it is headed this way unless it starts to turn north. Sojust let everybody know that stands right now. So it's a little bit more snow than was predicted. It's coming down right now. MAYOR: More SO than predicted. CITY MANAGER: Yes. So okay. MAYOR: And we know power lines will be challenged by this kind of event. CITY MANAGER: Well we got we got teams out again with Georgia Power to deal with the power lines. Um, as far as they can as far as knocking ice off. Um, hopefully it won't get to that point, but I just want everybody to know that it was here that way. Headed this way. Okay. Next we're going to move into the final update. And we did add a change here. I'm going to move the per diem update to the top, and then I'1l go down to the other items, and the per diem of this is going to be handled by the finance director. GREG: Mr. mayor, commissioners. I, I put a revised travel expense voucher at your desk. And the bottom right, I highlighted in yellow the revised date of it, which is which is tomorrow. When we recently started looking at this, I was thinking I needed a consensus or a resolution to change this as we do annually. But after talking with the city attorney, we put something in place a few years ago where I could automatically, as finance director, change this every year. The mileage rate is what the IRS uses, and they use the use the calendar year, and then the per diem is from the federal government. The GSA, I believe, is the abbreviation for what they do. And SO I've updated, uh, this this travel voucher. Travel expense voucher. Uh, they added a couple of cities, Athens, and Augusta, to the list. And then, uh, there's a per diem rate for other cities in Georgia that are not specifically listed here. Uh, the upper right on line two on the right last column, you see that the IRS has changed their mileage rate to $0.70 per mile. And looking at the middle of the page, it has the per mile and the per day per diem from the federal government. And they would, uh, you know, a little bit on each, on each ofthese, each of these rates. And like I said, the I put tomorrow is the effective date. That way if anybody turned in any travel today to purchasing or to purchasing and or accounts payable, you know it wouldn't affect them. Does anybody have any questions or comments? MAYOR: I'lI open the floor to the Commission. Commissioner district one. Did you have any questions concerning the voucher of our director? No, sir. Okay. District two, No, sir. And district three. I do have a comment Mr. Mayor. Okay. Thank you finance director for, um, acknowledging this request. Thank you. GREG: You're welcome. SPEAKER 7: Thank you. MAYOR: Thank you. And district five. NELSON: I will talk to him later, that okay. Thank you. MAYOR: I appreciate. CITY MANAGER: Uh, Mr. Mayor, enjoy the weather. We're going to go ahead and get the last group out of here. This is not tied to us. So we're going to jump to the ethics board update, and then we'll go back to the regular meeting, if that's okay with you, Mr. Mayor. Page 11 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MAYOR: Sounds good. CITY MANAGER: City Attorney. HUEY SPEARMAN: All right. Mr. Mayor and commissioners, um, the first item for consideration by the board is the complaint that was filed by Glenn Martin against the city of Waycross. Case number 2024 003. The Board of Ethics met on, uh, last Wednesday, January the 15th, to consider this complaint. Um, and after consideration of the complaint, the board met in executive session and made a decision regarding this complaint. And at this at this time I'm going to call upon the chairperson, Reverend Farrell Malone, to come and present the board's decision and order. MR. MALONE: Honorable mayor and honorable city commissioners. The Board of Ethics. The city of Waycross. Glenn Martin, great complainant versus the city of Waycross, Georgia. Respondent case number 2020 4-003. The order of the Board of Ethics dismissing complaint before the Board of Ethics. The board is to be considered in future communications. Is a complaint filed by Glenn Martin Gray against the city of Waycross, Georgia, alleging lack of oversight and accountability in city issued credit card spending, allegedly in violation of the Code of Code of Ethics of the City of Waycross, Georgia. The board met on January 15th, 2024. And aj public meeting to consider 2025. SPEAKER 2: 2025. SPEAKER 9: 2025. HUEY SPEARMAN: Yes, 2025. MR. MALONE: 2025 and a public meeting to consider the allegations set forth in the complaint. After an executive session and during a public vote, the board decided to dismiss the complaint for the reasons stated below. The complainant, Glenn Martin Gray, filed an ethics complaint against the city of Waycross, Georgia on December 5th, 2024. The Board of Ethics for this complaint was formed on December 17th, 2024. At the time of the filing the complaint, the complainant was a member of another Board of Ethics investigating another complaint involving similar allegations against the city commissioner and alleged lack of oversight by the City of Waycross. In case number 2020 4-001, the complainant summarized his concerns as follows. During the course of testimony in multiple hearings related to the Ethics Board case 2020 4-001, it was revealed that the City of Waycross government has failed to implement adequate oversight and accountability mechanisms regarding spending on city issued credit cards. The lack of diligence raises serious ethical concerns and poses significant risks to the integrity of the city's financial management practices. The complainant did not set forth any specific examples of lack of oversight and accountability in the city issued credit card spending, nor did the complaint allege specific facts regarding certain city officials, either by name or position, whose conduct could be construed as being in violation of the City of Code. City code of ethics. At best, the complaint filed on December 5th, 2024, only referred to an ongoing ethics board case number 2020 4-001, which was not decided with findings of fact and conclusions of law until December 13th, 2024. The legal standards. The City of Waycross Code of Ethics provides in part, that upon receipt of a complaint in proper form, the board shall review the complaint to determine whether the complaint is unjustified, frivolous, patent, patently unfounded, or fails to state facts sufficient to invoke disciplinary jurisdiction. Section 2-167C1. MR. MALONE: The discussion in applying the above legal standards of the allegations of the complaint. The board concluded that upon receipt of the complaint, the complaint did not allege specific facts regarding certain city officials, either by name or position, whose conduct could be construed as being in violation of the city code of ethics. In other words, the complaint had lacked. The complaint lacked specificity and identifying examples of lack of oversight and accountability in city issued credit card spending, and further identifying the individual or individuals who were Page 12 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS responsible for the alleged lack of oversight. Upon receipt of the complaint on December 5th, 2024, the burden rested upon the Upon the complainant to point out specific examples of unethical misconduct by named individuals in support of his allegations in the complaint. At the time of the filing, which he did not do, the board also noticed that the relief requested in the complaint, including a comprehensive financial review of city issued credit card spending and referral to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI is already a part of the relief requested in the Board of Ethics case number 2020 4-001. The order of the Board of Ethics. For all of the above and foregoing reasons, the board hereby dismiss the complaint in its entirety. The complaint filed to allege facts' sufficient to invoke disciplinary jurisdiction. Section 2-167 C1 pursuant to the city of Waycross. Code of ethics A rejection shall prevent refiling of a complaint regarding the same subject and alleged perpetrator for the same offense within six months of the original complaint filing. Section 2-167C2. Ordered on this day 2025. MR. MALONE: Amen. On the 15th. June. January 15th. Excuse me. 2025. The Board of Ethics in the City of Waycross. Reverend Farrell Malone, senior board chair. Board members. OSI Andrews, doctor. Earl Martin, Tim Peacock, and Doctor Johnnie Walker. Amen. HUEY SPEARMAN: And, Mr. Mayor and commissioners, now that the order has been presented to the board, the either party has ten days in order to request an appeal with the with the city manager should they decide to do SO. But today was just to present the order of the board to the Commission. So after this presentation of they still have ten days before any decision can be made here or. Yes. Okay. Understood. They have ten days within which to file an appeal. And this board has to give them their ten days before you can make any decisions. What date would that be for this board? Uh, that would be, uh, let's see thel board, actually. HUEY SPEARMAN: What's the date of the decision? It would be ten days from today's date. Uh, sO this is the 21st. So it'll be the 31st. It'll be the third person. MAYOR: Thank you. Commissioner. Nelson has a question. NELSON: So in that ten days, he could come back and have to appeal it to whom? The board or this board? HUEY SPEARMAN: To the city commission. HUEY SPEARMAN: Okay. HUEY SPEARMAN: Right. If he doesn't appeal it, then it's over, because the order was a dismissal of the complaint, and there wouldn't be anything for you to do unless he appealed it. Okay. With that thought, no additional paperwork or anything like that can be done. Like, for instance, where it said there was no specificity and it was considered frivolous because of that, then there would be no open door for any specific paperwork to be filed with that. Itjust had to be refiled as it was presented prior to within a period of six months or not before six months, I should put it that way. I see. pricing, because the initial complaint should have had some specifics in order to support the complaint, and the board determined that it didn't. So if there is nothing else added to it, then the recommendation probably would be the same thing. So you understand. Right. Thank you. And there's one other, uh, ethics board matter. And that is the matter of the Sanders complaint. Uh, the order ofthe board in the Sanders complaint was presented to the commission on January the 17th, I believe. Uh, no, it was presented. It's dated January the 3rd, and it was presented on the last meeting. On the seventh. January the 7th. Uh, that complainant had ten days to file an appeal. The complainant did not. So at this point, the recommendation of the Board of Ethics is before this commission. And that recommendation was, um, just to read it, order of the board. For all of the above and foregoing reasons, the board hereby dismisses the complaint in its entirety. The board does not, uh, the complaint does not allege a Page 13 of 25 **+DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS violation of the City of Waycross Code of Ethics. However, the board finds that the probing question of city staff regarding free use of the city auditorium to honor a hometown hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for her country was insensitive. Recommendation to commission. Having found that the questioning of city staff regarding the free use of the city auditorium to honor Sergeant Kennedy as Sanders was insensitive. The board recommends that the Mayor and Commission of the City of Waycross issue a formal letter of apology to Sergeant Kennedy L Sanders. So ordered January 3rd, 2015. So that is what is before this board is the recommendation that was made by the Board of Ethics. MAYOR: Okay. So the recommendation would be unique from the board today. You just need a consent, or you need a vote. HUEY SPEARMAN: Well, the board has to decide whether you would accept that recommendation and issue a letter of apology to the Sanders family or whether you do not want to do that. Okay. And since the complaint was dismissed, you don't have those other options that you would normally have, such as affirming the decision of the board, reversing the decision of the board, referring it for prosecution or remanding it. Those don't apply because the complaint was dismissed. This is simply a recommendation following dismissal that the board has made to this commission for your consideration. Okay. What? You've heard the recommendation to consider a letter to the Kennedy Lyndon Sanders family. MAYOR: What do you desire to do? And I'll go to district one. Yes, sir. I believe the apology should be made, sir. District two? Absolutely. Yes, sir. District three. pass And district five. Yes, sir. We have three to recommend or to consider or to go ahead and do. And then one pass or abstain. HUEY SPEARMAN: And a majority of the commission is what carries the day. Okay. For purposes of this appeal or this recommendation, I should say. So we'll move forward with the letter ofapology. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We're going to jump back to the finance update, and we'll move on to the rest of the line items. So Mr. Mayor will present to you now with the finance update. And these are some of the items that we had in the offer from, from previous meeting. These are estimates on these costs. And what we're doing now is present them to the board. We'll go back and get the bids. I want to let the board know what's going to go on as far as these monies. So on the scanner contract, it's estimated 20 K and it's much needed. As you know, the whole basement is full of paperwork that we need to get scanned to the system sO we can better coordinate with outside agencies need to be done for done for many years now. So this is very important to get this done. Now on the animal shelter additional 50 K towards that. As you know we did put some money in that initially from the offer maybe last year. However, the shelter needs some more upgrades to it. We're trying to figure out how to get some more capacity right now. Ijust know that it stays full pretty much 100% throughout the year. So we're trying to get a couple more a few more cages in there, and then a couple more upgrades to make it a better house for the animals that stay there and the workforce that works there. Uh, next with the sewer pump and the sewer pump is actually a combination of three pumps. Uh, down at the, uh, at the water sewer plant. They've refused a few times before about needing these pumps. Uh, we had put that in the offer because it's it's imperative to go ahead and buy these pumps. Of course, they've all failed already. We're on backup pumps at this time. Um, SO we want to get these done as quick as possible. The street sweeper. Uh, as you know, our street sweeper is, um, is decades old as well. Um, sO it's kind of served its purpose. Um, this is not the court for a new sweet, sweet sweeper. Street sweeper? Um, I think it's, uh, Miss Jackson to verify that when she does the bidding process, but Ithink it's, uh, a few years old. We can't afford a brand-new sweet sleep, but we need one better than we have right now. So that's the money put towards that. Uh, the back court, as you all know. Um, as far as public works, additional fuel truck, um, we're short two fuel trucks as is. And then the tractor. Um, sO all these monies will come out of the opera. Um, as I stated earlier, and right now, I'm not I'm just asking for concession on this and put it on the agenda, and then Page 14 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS we'll go and get these things bid sO we can get these to our public works department as soon as possible. And P'll pause there for any questions. MAYOR: Open the floor to the commission for questions. You may have district one. No, sir. District two. No, sir. District three, no, and district five. no, sir. Okay. HUEY SPEARMAN: And Mr. Chair. What do you. The need a resolution or we can pass on that because we're resolution. We actually purchased the items because the money cost individually and making sure. HUEY SPEARMAN: You don't beat around. CITY MANAGER: All right. Next, we'll move into the infrastructure update and we'll start with the parks and streets. Um, Sweat Street and then agenda update. Um, SO y'all got the daily update today. Um, basically all of our paving had to stop because of the weather. Um, it stopped actually last week when the cold front came in. Uh, I know ifyou ride around, you see a lot of open, uh, open drainage ways. So the first part of the streets was to fix some of the drainage. That's why you see a lot of those pipes exposed right now. Um, we're trying to cover that right now because of the storm coming in. Um, sO that was the goal last week, and pretty much right now up to this point. Um, we might not make it. Um, with the dirt roads. They're doing the same thing. They're getting some of the drainage done. So there's been any movement on Moving on though, because of the weather. As soon as the weather gets back right, they'll start repaving all the roads. So? So really, right now, all we got done was over there street as far as complete. And the rest of the roads are kind of wait on the weather right now, and I pause for any questions on those comments. As far as the streets. MAYOR: Commissioner, if you have any questions, just let me know and I'll let the city manager. Hearing none. Okay. CITY MANAGER: Uh, also last week, as far as the parks, um, the city engineering firm met with the park designers, had their initial meeting. I could not make that meeting. Um, but we did make sure that we asked the question that we talked about, uh, as far as the water parks have access, have the motors have access for our department able to fix that ifi it breaks again and a few other things work on that, it's kind of got behind to because of the weather. Um, but I'm right now they're telling me we should start sometime next month, but it's also depending on weather. It looks like as long as the rain is remains cold, they won't be doing anything. So that could push us as far as March as far as getting those parks started. I know it's unfortunate for everybody, but unfortunately, they can't do a lot of work ini the cold with the materials. And I pause. Any questions for the parks? MAYOR: Any questions concerning the parks? CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, next, Mr. Mayor will move into the sweat street rehab. And I'm going to read this to y'all. Y'all familiar with this? Uh, we had a sinkhole form on Sweat Street near the intersection of Pendergrass Street. Uh, the sinkhole caused failure of the clay sewer line that runs under Sweat Street. Uh, we contracted the southeast pipe to clean and video the section of Sweat Street North corridor. Based on that video they provided, there were several other areas. There's allowing groundwater and sediment to enter our sewer collection systems. As such, there's like areas like this on that one line that has surface that have not been revealed yet. Um, meaning Being that that one fight and it does run underneath corridor Z, it's probably exposed in other locations as well. We've got other breaking points. Um, SO we need to really dig it up and replace the whole thing. This will allow us to kind of, if we did that face, the whole piping. Uh, initially I think we said we're going to replace half of the piping and the estimate was $250,000. We could do that. Um, but once we do that, we're probably going to make it worse, because other spots on that pipe are going to, you know, keep expanding. So I did ask them to go out there and do another estimate if we Page 15 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS replace the whole pipe. And right now, it's about $750,000. Um, I know it's expensive, but this is probably the future for all our all our pipes. And I've said this many times before. Uh, this this is our future. Um, with these pipes. And this is probably a low-cost estimate right now. Uh, I did speak to GDOT about this particular line because it does run underneath, uh, corridor Z. So they're going to do some internal testing first. And ift they can support us. They support us. If not, then they won't support us. So hopefully they're able to help us in some kind of way financially with this. But if not, this is going to be the cost. And just strongly recommend to the commission. And this will come out of our water and sewer fund. But this is one oft those things that's going to keep happening in the future if we don't make those adjustments that we've been missing for two years or a year now. Um, I think that our citizens recognize the problem now as well. Um, we've had we have citizens to some of the locations. Let them see the condition of the pipe, what it is to play the guitar, all those things. So I think citizens are really getting it now, and they understand that we've got to we've got to start really investing in this stuff and not it's going to be really, really expensive every time it busts. So this is an update. Um, we're commission today is we want to go with the $200,000 repair and that will be the, the the entry point of the sinkhole. Um, in about 50ft of 50ft of that right or left, or they want to replace the whole line. That's about $750,000. When I say replace the whole line, that's just the that's just a street on the side of the corridor, not underneath corridor Z. So it's actually probably more than that. If we did the whole line underneath corridor Z. MAYOR: So I'll open the floor for questions and discussion. Districts, if you have any questions of our district of our city manager, please feel free to Commissioner Nelson. NELSON: What's your recommendation on that? CITY MANAGER: Well, Commissioner, like I said, this is going to be our new pretty much every time we go on the ground. It's going to be this way. Um, we have been preparing our approach has always been the $200,000 approach cost as well. But we always end up paying much, much more anyway because it breaks not even 2 or 3 months later. And then we're forced to do that a year later. But it's still in that fiscal year. I want to pay the whole $700,000. I did ask that our engineer firm kind of look at other grants. Um, they'll help us out with that. So they're doing that right now. He could not come down because of the storm. Um, but Thursday we have a phone call if he can find some other ways. You know, that would be helpful. If not, um, we have to eat this egg because it's getting to that point. NELSON: Yeah. That's it Mr. Mayor. Thank you. MAYOR: District one. Any questions or comments? ROBERTS: Ijust want to. So you said we don't have the money or the money for this. Uh, we. CITY MANAGER: We have the money. Um, this is going to be quite expensive, and, uh, and it'll deplete us quite a bit. If something else was to happen, we would probably be in a little bit of trouble. Not saying we couldn't finance the situation, but just like I said, this is our new, new, our new normal. If we don't do other things to prevent it from happening. So hopefully, um, our engineering firm can figure out some other ways to pay for this and help us pay for this. Um, we can always finance it. I got to get with the finance finances working on that. Uh, that might be a course of action we financed over fiveyears. Um, but we started doing that. We'd be looking down our way to failure at some point as well. Uh, and like I said, I spoke with you guys. Hopefully they can give us some, some other ways, because that sewer line does run in their street as well. MAYOR: And district two. Page 16 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS BENNETT: Once again, thank you mayor. Once again, um, you don't need to continue doing patch work. So if we could go ahead and get it done, let's get it done. And that's just for the safety of the entire Waycross. So. Yes, sir. Thank you. MAYOR: And district three. FELDER: Yes, I have a question. Um, what is the current balance in the water? Sewer funds? If we were to vote on using approximately $750,000, what would that bring that balance to? CITY MANAGER: Would that be. Great? CITY MANAGER: What Would it be? GREG: Should it be negative? CITY MANAGER: Negative? CITY MANAGER: It would be close to zero. GREG: So we'd rather finance it or get help elsewhere. FELDER: So it would bring that balance to a negative equals zero. GREG: Yeah, it'll make the budget negative. So we would prefer paying overtime or and or get help from other sources. FELDER: Thank you. MAYOR: Having heard this discussion, any further questions, or comments to our city mayor? And your recommendation is that we do all of this. But at the same time, you were saying that GDOT could participate. Our engineers could participate in possibly finding some other revenue. CITY MANAGER: Yes. Mr. Mayor, I would like to go ahead and decide, because then I can kind of really go hard on what we're going to do. If we say said, we're going to patch it, then we'll patch it. We'll just do what we got to do. But if we're going to fix the whole pipe, the whole line, they had to reach out more to other revenue sources or like the Financial Review said, we probably will end up financing it. But the first goal is can we, you know, get help with it first from some other source. And then if we can't do that, then we definitely have to finance it. But we cannot just not do it, you know? And I think it would be financially irresponsible if we just we wasted 250,000 if we don't fix the whole thing because like I said, it's going on. We fixed that one part and then the other part breaks, which is the whole pipe is bad. In a couple of months, we'll be coming in again in emergency breaks. So. MAYOR: So with the recommendation of going ahead and completing the entire project with the idea that there would be other ways to gather the funding for it. We'll look to the commission to give their thoughts. CITY MANAGER: And, Mr. Mayor, ifI can afford it, we will come back with the result once they decide right now. Then I'll come back at the next meeting and tell you how we financed it. So make sure we make that clear. MAYOR: All right. So with that being said, I'll start with. Page 17 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS CITY MANAGER: Yes. MAYOR: The districts. We'll start with district one. SPEAKER 2: And we're looking at his recommendation of 750 K or more, with the understanding that there will be other funding coming from elsewhere. district one Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We have gone from I do believe that we should prepare the whole body. Okay. And district two. Yes, sir. District three. FELDER: I have a. Question. MAYOR: Yes, ma'am FELDER: Um. How soon will we know where this other funding is coming from? CITY MANAGER: Once Y'all give me direction and say we'll do the same. 50. I'll get on tomorrow, as you know, because it's kind of based on what y'all decide tonight. Ifi it's 250, I'll have to reach out to anybody. We can make that work. But ifit's more than that, we definitely got to get with everybody else. I should have answered by next meeting. MAYOR: So our next meeting will be the third the 3rd of February. Yes. Any further questions? Mr. So are you agreeing with that? Yes. Okay. We have three right now. And five. Yes, sir. We have four. Agreed. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, next we're going to move into the GDOT update and I met with, GDOT team District Engineer district five, uh, last week, week before last, actually. And we sit down, and we did a host of conversations and some things we're going to talk about here that we discussed have been decided after the studies. Some studies are Studies are ongoing and this is a proposal that he made. He would like the commission to kind of think about moving forward. So before you as a letter that came from the team here about things we discussed that have already been kind of decided because they've done the safety study and I can read it to the public, but basically, um, we gave them a support letter, um, a while back and it really outlined 520 corridor Z Memorial Drive, uh, Bronze Avenue to a certain degree, uh, Haines Avenue and a band Avenue. And it basically was putting those mediums in place to allow citizens not to have to stand in the middle of the road. Uh, also, as many of you know, during your travels, most cities are going this way for their downtown areas. Uh, with those meetings as well, I'm going to go to the maps a little bit SO you actually can see it. But, um, basically those meetings will start right there in front of Walmart and work their way all the way up. uh, to I think it's Heinz Street, uh, going up into district two. That study has been that study was ongoing for about eight months. So, um, that's what it came with. Also in that study, they would provide us with those speed radar detectors for our police department. So that would really help out our police department, you know, the laser effects to let you know how fast you're going when you come in. Um, also, they're going to do the upgrades on our crossings sO they would go from yellow to red. Uh, that's across the board. Um, but we still got to move some of the crosswalks. And that's the further discussion we got to have where we move the crosswalks, too. Um, but that's the course of that meeting. Um, and also, they did mention, um, the traffic light down there on Brunswick Avenue, uh, in front of the coffee shop there. So they're going to that traffic light is getting updated. And we discussed the other traffic light down by the stadium getting the same update. So that's in the works too. So that was the gist of that part of the meeting. Um, and then we talked about the study is still ongoing right now. And that's from Columbus Street and Crawford Street, also on corridor Z. And it's basically the same thing they're looking at coming into the city from corridor Z. We'll have that. We're going to have the speed radar sign up. That's going to be already done. They want to move the crosswalks again from their current location because we we kind of put those out there in a hurry when we put them out there. They'll get the upgraded lights SO the lights will go from yellow to red, Page 18 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS which is very important as far as traffic stopping. And then they're going to propose and raise mediums on parts of corridor Z as well. So that'll be basically starting from district two, going through district three of corridor Z. That's still being completed. They got there in the final phase of that study. I should know something next month. But right now, it looks like all that to be justified. Um, and the good thing about it is they're paying for everything. So that's the good thing about that. So that's a good thing at this point. I think this would meet Me most of the concers and questions outside of bridges and actual stoplights, um, that citizens have. I know one of the focal points was down in Haynes Street from Concerned Citizens. So that crosswalk will be moved a little bit forward, and they will have a red light there for the crosswalk will be a red light almost. So, um, it's a good thing about that, but I was talking about City Boulevard and Ninth Avenue in 524 that the signal upgrade. Um, the next part, which is pre-decisional right now. And I want to make sure when I say this to the public, it's just pre-decisional. But it did want me to mention to the commission, um, just for food for thought and to think about the future. Um, no decision had been made. Although I must remind everybody that Dot maintains their own highways. So I'll put that first. So one of the proposals was, um, that, uh, Ozzy Davis did the overpass from Ossie Davis all the way to Plant Avenue. They want to make that from. Currently, it's two lanes. Make it one lane with a center turning lane. I want to envision that before I move on. Now. They've already done the study for this. Traffic will not slow down. The key thing about this, ifthey ift they took that approach because we have the overpass, but then they would fix all of the plumbing, the drainage there, which once again will be costly to us. So, um, I know everybody can't see it right now in their heads, but, um, I did go look at who has done this to as well. You can make this similar to almost like Auburn Avenue, but you have a center turning lane versus the two lanes side by side. Um, and for people listening right now, you know, ifyou're running behind somebody right now, they can turn from anywhere and they stop the turn. You're going to stop and wait. Um, that center lane will be out there. And initially, uh, Ossie Davis is too small. I think we all recognize that the right of ways or not in regulation when they were done. So they want to kind of fix that too. Um, but it's all paid by them. Uh, once again, they'll fix all the plumbing, and they will tie into the drainage. Um, which will be beneficial to the city. I don't have cost estimates, but I do know, um, two of the projects that we are supposed to us can't do right now because there's too much money, about $10 million apiece. And that's why, um, this is where it is right now as far as some of those bumps. So, pre-decisional he won't bring to your attention. Uh, I'm going to get with our engineering team and just kind of discuss it a little bit more. Uh, I think it works. Um, like I said, it saves us money. It fixes the street. Um, because they will do the pavement and the drainage. Um, normally they don't do that. And this will all be a part of that overpass that they'll start doing here shortly. So once again, um, Pre-decisional just want to bring to your attention. So those are some of the things we had at the meeting. There are a few other topics we talked about. Um, as far as, um, The canals when they maintain the canals. But that's I'll have that conversation when I update y'all with the court engineer's briefing. I apologize for any questions, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR: Now, this meeting that that's going to be soon is. CITY MANAGER: Yes. MAYOR: P'lI open the floor to commissioners. Any questions of our city manager? District one, no sir. District two. no sir. District three no and district five No, sir. MAYOR: All right. Thank you. SPEAKER 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor CITY MANAGER: And like I said, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to send a support letter. Um, for those changes recommended already, the revised lights, the raised mediums and some of the crosswalk movements. And then once we come back and I get the raw data for the pre-decisional stuff, I'll come back to the body and present that as well. Page 19 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MAYOR: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. CITY MANAGER: Uh, I'm going to go through these real fast sO everybody can see them, kind of get an idea of what we're kind of discussing. We'll put these maps on our website SO you can see it as well it doesn't understand. Um, I know everybody here raised me, and they think they won't be able to cross over, but we have multiple entry points on the highway. So, um, actually, right now, you already have them. It's just that nobody follows them. It's just yellow lines right now. But you have ways to get across already. I think it's for, um, war Memorial. I think it's actually going to be three. Wants to get on court. So they'll still be there. It'sj just in the future they'll be erased. Meaning that we can'tjust cross over anywhere. It should not it should not slow down traffic. It should make it very safe. Um, for those citizens that cross over, um, to get to the stores, storefronts, these other locations on Memorial. And like I said, I put this online. Y'all should email a copy of this. If not, you, you get today, um, they will do a lot of things. Upgrade some of the striping. Um, upgrade the crosswalks. And then all our arrows get repainted and redone. All those two highways in particular, that's going back up to even talk about that. CITY MANAGER: And like I said, all these have been verified by the safety studies. And, um, the one good thing about this as well. So, um, there were questions about the ongoing safety study once they start construction on the overpasses. I'm going to restart the safety study because then we'll get the true data. Um, right now, we might not have the amount of cars coming through like they want. But once that bridge starts getting done, we'll have the amount of cars coming through that one. That should trigger a light at that point in time. So we're probably going to redo that study again. I know I probably don't want to hear that, but that's the best thing we can do. And once you get those hard-core numbers, then those lights we talked about probably could be inserted as well. CITY MANAGER: And last thing before I move on to the employee handbook, Mr. Mayor, I did an update. I did speak with the railroad um, engineer last week as well. So, um, just to clear for the public, there's not an additional railroad being made. Um, it's the same line. It's going to be two tracks. It's the same track. What they're doing is they're going to replace at each crossing new tracks. So they'll put the new tracks together on the side, on the side of the other railroad track, if you like two tracks, but there's new tracks. So, um, and once they get done, get the new tracks together, they'll pull the old tracks, pull the old tracks, put the new tracks down, and then resurface the whole thing. Uh, they plan to resurface all of the crossings is all the way down Memorial, all the way to the rice yard. And then they started on Davis as well. So with that, there are rocks, loose rocks, where they took out the cement holding the rails. Um, SO if you speed over there, you're going to you're going to hit those rocks. They're going to fly up everywhere. If you drive the speed limit or slow down crossing the railroad, you should not be affected. So, um, yeah. So just encourage everybody to just take their time. Um, once again, it's going to be a lot of construction because they, they've they're supposed to start today, but I'm pretty sure they didn't start because of the weather. So once again they'll probably start next week. We have our rules on going the pass eventually. So there'll be a lot of stuff going on in the community while all that's going on, they have got to slow down. We've had I think we had seven accidents this weekend. Um, but one, one fatality. So, um, if citizens speak to the commission now, please slow down. Uh, that's the only way to prevent, you know, harm to your vehicle and to somebody else. Um, all the studies show if you drive the speed limit, you won't have any problems. Anything over the speed limit? Ten miles per hour. You're going to damage your car and cause damage. Any question on infrastructure? MAYOR: Okay, I'll open the floor to the commission. District one, no sir. District two. No, sir. District three no and district five. no, sir. Thank you. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And let's move into the employee handbook. Um, we didn't change anything from the last meeting. I have a question to vote this time to get the handbook Page 20 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS up. It's been updated with all the regulation changes that we had to be had to do to be in line with, um, state regulation and some other laws. So I think last time we couldn't get a vote. So the question of I don't want to spend a lot of time here if you want to leave, um, and try to put this in there, it is confusing. Um, like I said, but moving forward, we have to find the only executive is the person who has authority for the city, which is the mayor and the city manager. So that would mean when you say executive, that's what you're talking about. Legislation would be the commission body. So we can leave it in there or take it out. But I want to go ahead and get this updated, sO we don't keep operating on something that's not been signed last couple of years. MAYOR: So the recommendation is to receive the employee handbook with the change of terminology for executive and contract. CITY MANAGER: And they had emailed a copy at least about two weeks ago. So you saw all the changes in there in accordance with state law and some other recommendations. I think it was two other situations that just were changed. The main thing was being in state compliance. And then this contract comment, this was confusing. Okay. MAYOR: So did you want the city attorney to say anything regarding this before we bring it up? SPEAKER 3: I don't think it. Needs to. MAYOR: is there Going to be a resolution or any sort ofthing that has to be done for us to to do this, or will itjust take place after we vote? HUEY SPEARMAN: There is a resolution incorporating the changes, and we didn't put all of the changes in the resolution. We. just referred to exhibit A, which is that document that you received with all of those changes. That's going to be exhibit A, and then the handbook itself will incorporate those changes when it's redone. But yeah, there is a resolution that's before you tonight. So that's good for clarity. That's good. Yes. For consensual for consent I guess I would just go down district one yes. District two. Yes, sir. District three is this open For the board discussion. MAYOR: You can ask questions. FELDER: Yes, I'll open it up for questions. FELDER: You mentioned that executive is the mayor and city manager, and legislation is the commission. If you notice in the handbook where it says executive and contract employees, that's in bold. So I'm pretty sure it's in bold for a reason. So where did this change come about that now the mayor and city manager is referred to as executive and the commission is referred to as legislative. CITY MANAGER: So ifyou look at all bodies of government, starting with the present down to the present, the responsibilities you got, the House and the Senate, you'll be considered the House and the Senate. Same thing with the state level. It's the same concept. I'm a contractor, sO that's why I brought it up. The contractor. So executive contractor means mayor and city manager. We also have authority executive. Somebody we signed for the city. Nobody in the commission can sign for the city. And I got with me on that. But, Commissioner, I'm fine. How y'all want to do it? Because that's neither here nor there for me. I want to get it done sO that the city employees' kind of know what their standards are, because it's becoming confusing, and we keep on dragging this along. So. MAYOR: Any further questions, Commissioner? FELDER: I'd just like to see it in writing from GMA Page 21 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MAYOR: Okay. Thank you. And district five. We'll move forward. Okay. MAYOR: SO we have three. Okay. CITY MANAGER: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And next, Mr. Mayor. Finally is my contract. I presented my letter ofrenegotiation in December, uh, to the commission. Um, you should have copied that letter on your desk. Because we have an open form, Mr. Mackey, to read with my, um. My question was, I asked if my turn be moved from 1 to 3 years, and I can explain that if need be. Um, this is my observation. My observation being here with this commission. Uh, anybody coming here, um, behind me or me following Commissioner? Commission City Manager Miller, you're going to be really confused a little bit because it's not me throwing stones, but just being honest with you. Back to the charter conversation. And you're trying to figure out stuff, how stuff was done. And we didn't keep a lot of recommendations. We didn't keep a lot of stuff. Um, we didn't record a lot of stuff. So I'm trying my best now to better my foxhole. So in the event I am terminated or I do leave, the next city manager won't come in here and be trying to fix all these things that's been used for years. So that being said, she, he or she is going to need at least three years to do all that. Um, even now, if I'm unsuccessful with some of the things we got going on the next person, you know, because I did bring some things to light. Ijust added more stuff to the to the pile that needs to be worked through. Um, I think it's only fair, um, also that he or she ability to work through different commissions Just because there's elections involved in there and they can manage that. So when things change after an election, they're not just blindsided all the time. I did call around and look at other city manager, city manager's contract and county managers. Um, everybody does it differently. So, um, but I think also just being here that does get a city manager position, uh, give city managers the confidence that they will be allowed to figure some things out, because right now and this is being transparent and honest, you know, you know, you got a lot of fixing the thing that's been broken for 50 years. I understand how you can fix it in one year or two years or five years or ten years. So I just, you know, for me personally, I want to start something because even ifI stay here 20 years, it won't get the thing fixed back the way it should be. So people coming in behind me need to have that ability to do the same thing. Um, and I'm hoping that it'll be a three-year commitment versus a one year. Um, and also say that because and I go on to the next thing, um, we talked about, uh, being terminated without cause. It's hard to operate. We don't have any tangible stuff, um, when certain commissioners don't think stuff is being done. And, um, and just when it's being done, it's hard to figure out what you got to do. And, um, I say this out loud. When I was looked at being released last year in November, uh, it was nothing I could understand, tangible. You know, I knew it was a personality thing, and that might be good, but, um, that's the problem here. It's a little too much personality, and I just want to fix things. Stuff needs to be fixed here. I mean, we all know that. I mean, and that should be the goal is to. And the city wants it fixed. I mean, the whole city, not an individual district or anybody special, just the whole city. And that's a complex, complex problem right now because we have a lot we have a lot going on. It's going to take some time and some teamwork. Um, from the commission itself. And then whoever was the city manager. And then I talked about my automobile. I showed you all the stats. I am the, you know, the lowest paid city manager, you know, per capita and size wise and vehicle allowance. I did ask to raise it to $500 because I go through gas and I've already damaged my truck a couple oft times. Um,j just going on check things. Definitely in storms. And I can't use the city cars and stuff like that. So, um, I'm putting some extra strings on my car, um, to cover that as a as a work vehicle. Um, but that's quite expensive as well. So those are my, um, negotiations. I didn't ask for a pay raise or anything like that. Uh, I enjoy my. job, you know, although we have some friction here last 8 or 10 months. I do think we're going in the right direction. Um, and I go back to when I first got here and I briefed on the commission what I would do. I stuck to this, and I think we've been effective. Nothing has been dropped. I think all projects are moving forward. I think the communication is definitely better. I think our branding is definitely better. Um, the cost savings is not there right now. Like I said, I didn't realize how much how much stuff would cost to fix like I do now. So I definitely got to go back and look at that. Um, for this next cycle, we're going to figure out some different things because stuff is just breaking too fast to keep up with it. But, um, these are my Page 22 of 25 ***I DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS tangible items that I've been sticking to. Um, as well as the charter. Uh, trying to stay aligned with the charter SO we don't keep going on about who did something back 25 years ago. So I like to renegotiate my contract to start in February. I think February 7th is on the On the resolution with these terms, with these three changes in section one, section six and section 11. And then I'll kind of move on from there. And I pause there for any questions on that. Mr. mayor. MAYOR: Yeah I look to the commission for any questions they may have. District one. All right? ROBERTS: Yes, sir. I think you're doing a good job. I just have a question. This is just for you, right? CITY MANAGER: Just for. ROBERTS: Me? Yes, sir. This is your contract. Oh, this is my contract. I mean, in this case, we do get another city manager. This isn't for them, right? CITY MANAGER: Well, y'all can change it. Yes. Correct. ROBERTS: Yeah. That's fine. MAYOR: Thank you. Commissioner. District two. BENNETT: No questions. But thank you for a wonderful job. MAYOR: Thank you. Commissioner. District three. FELDER: Yes, mayor. I have a comment. MAYOR: Yes. FELDER: Point of clarification. You stated that, um, last November that you will look that being released, um, as the city manager from the city of Waycross. CITY MANAGER: Correct. FELDER: Um, I recall that you submitted in an email a letter of resignation stating that you wanted to resign, not that the commission was looking at releasing you. CITY MANAGER: No, I sent that email. I was thinking about it once I got wind of the commission, though not all the commission, but the three that was calling those meetings to fire me. And we can have that open discussion right now if we want to. I mean, like I say, even at that time I felt like I was doing my. job as best I could. Um, but I guess it got personal, SO I was still personal, which is fine. I would like to move on from all that because the city needs us all be joined together right now, because we've got too much going on for this back and forth that we always keep doing. So, uh, I'm going to throw it out there one more time, Commissioner, just in front of everybody. I apologize ifI offended you anyway. I've tried to work with your district as best as I can, uh, with everybody's district. But it's getting real. You know, like I said, it's getting. It's getting real difficult on the work force if we keep doing this back and forth, SO I apologize. Ijust want to start fresh. So what can we do to kind of go fresh? Because it's not helping anybody else if we keep staying where we stand right now. So and I don't understand November. I really don't. The reason I brought that up, because, you know, if somebody came and told me what's going on, I want to know, you know, somebody had the fortitude later on. I won't say a name here to tell me what was going on, and I appreciate him for telling me that. I know he's not here anymore. So thank you,. Page 23 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS FELDER: Mayor. MAYOR: Commissioner. FELDER: I appreciate your extension of your olive branch. But for the record, I have extended multiple olive branches to you, Mr. City Manager, and public and private. And when I ask questions, I'm asking for clarification and accuracy and truth. And there have been times that you've said things about me. Statements that you made, testimony that you made against me that were not true. But I agree, let's move forward. CITY MANAGER: No response. I'm past all that you want to do. We can. FELDER: Do. I am as well. Thank you. Mayor. MAYOR: And district five. NELSON: Yes, sir. MAYOR: Okay, SO what we're looking at now is the agreement and we can go forward with it seems that we have all we needed. We have three. So we can document districts one, two, three, the same olive branch out and we start fresh. And five is saying yes as well. So the contract for the I believe this goes to the attorney for this purpose. HUEY SPEARMAN: There is a resolution before you tonight incorporating the changes that the city manager. just spoke of. Very good. We have that in hand. All right. Sounds like we're ready to go. CITY MANAGER: Thank you Mr. Mayor Uh, next, we're moving to the previous license renewals, and we have five original license renewals. We have no privilege licenses. We have no proposed ordinances. We have five proposed resolutions. Am I correct? HUEY SPEARMAN: That is correct. CITY MANAGER: Okay. And the city attorney can touch on those resolutions if need be. Mr. mayor. HUEY SPEARMAN: Thank you, sir. Uh, the first resolution is to approve amendments to the 2019 is a misprint here. It says 2018, but 2019 Waycross Employee Handbook that the manager just spoke about. Uh, to provide for clarification, updates to multiple sections in order to comply with the city charter and state law. Uh, the second resolution is to approve the loan financing for the six Dodge Durango pursuit vehicles that the purchasing director spoke about tonight. Uh, with the four points, uh, whatever that interest rate was, it was really low. Um, the third resolution is the resolution to approve the purchase ofthe police equipment for those same six pursuit vehicles, uh, at a cost of some $40,000, I believe. The fourth resolution is the Resolution is a resolution for the city of Waycross to declare 12 fire hoses to be surplus property, because they no longer meet the standards for the City of Waycross Fire Department. And the resolution is to approve the entry of an employment agreement with the City Manager upon the terms and conditions that are attached to that, uh, to the resolution and to the to the contract. And those are the resolutions. Mr. mayor, i. MAYOR: is there a city attorney report? HUEY SPEARMAN: No. Page 24 of 25 ***DISCUSSION NOTES*** 01/21/2025 WS MAYOR: Okay. And is there a city manager's report? CITY MANAGER: Uh, no, but we do have, uh, executive session, um, for personnel. It won't take long. Okay. All right. MAYOR: With that being said, we'll just open for a motion. And that will take us into executive session for personnel approval. You have a motion and a second. The motion was given by our Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Felder. Page 25 of 25