Mayor and Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Evening. Good evening. Thank you all for being here for the very first meeting of 2026. We're going to start off our meeting with prayer to be held by Pastor Tolen Morgan of the Fellowship Bible Baptist Church. And we will have a pledge of allegiance by Officer Ian Topal with the Wana Robbins Police Department. If everyone would please stand so that Pastor Morgan can start us off in prayer.

Shall we pray? Lord, it is of your mercies that we are not consumed because your compassions do not fail. The morning by morning new mercies we see and we declare that great is your faithfulness to us. Our presence here today is another testament to your faithfulness to us. Even when we have not been so good, you've been better than good. And you've allowed us to see a pivot in time and a pivot in destiny, a pivot in the plight and progress of this city. Thank you for allowing us to share this time and space, this momentous occasion of continued progress in the city of Warner Robbins. Thank you for this body of city leadership. We pray for each individual of our city council, for our mayor, that you will unite them as never before, that you will bless them as never before, that you will galvanize them and mobilize them around a unified goal to continue to move our city forward

for your glory and for our good. Thank you for every person who's present. Thank you for all of our city employees. Thank you for all of the citizens of this city. And we thank you that in your own way, you continue to raise up this city to be a beacon light for you. Bless every resource. Bless every necessity needed to do all that you need to do in our city. And we place this city, this leadership in your hand and in your care in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you everyone. Please join me for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. You may be seated. Council, we we take our photos. Pastor Morgan and Officer Topical, if you'll join us for photos one at a time. We're on each side of the tea.

Got the good camera. Are y'all ready? Nice big smile towards me. Look at this camera. One, two, three. One more. Hold on. One, two, three. All right. Got it. Thank you. Thank you, pastor. Appreciate you so much. Have a great day. God bless you, pastor. His voice is just Thank you. Thank you.

All right, everyone. Look right here. One, two, three. One more in case someone. One, two, three. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you, officer. Appreciate your service. Thank you, sir,

sir. I officially call today's meeting to order. The first up on our agenda is a swearing in of elected officials which will be conducted by the honorable superior court judge Katherine K. Lumsden. Let's give a round of applause for Judge Lumsden for being here with us today. All right. So, in order of us getting sworn in, we know we have three council members who were on the ballot who all successfully were reelected and even without opposition. So, that is a huge accomplishment for the city of Warner Robbins. So, first up, we have post one, Councilman Derek Mack. All right. It's

um it's long, so I'm going to read it and let you say I do at the end. Okay.

If you will raise right hand, you put the other one. I, Derek Mack, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully perform the duties of council member of the city of Warner Robbins and that I will support and defend the charter thereof as well as the constitution and the laws of the state of Georgia and the United States of America. You further swear that you are not the holder of any unaccounted for public money do this state or any political subdivision or authority thereof. You also swear that you are not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, any foreign state, which I by the laws of the state of Georgia, or you by the laws of the state of Georgia would be prohibited from holding. You are otherwise qualified to hold set office according to the constitution and the laws of Georgia. You further swear that you have been a resident of the city of Warner Robbins for the time required by the constitution and the laws of this state and by the municipal charter. You swear that you will perform the duties of your office in the best interest of the city of Warner Robbins to the best of your ability without fear, favor, affection, reward, or expectation thereof. You may

I do. All right. Now, man, now may I kiss the bride? You bet. Might as well.

She going to flame you up there and everything. All right, come here. We got to sign. Yeah. Okay. Six miles. One, two, three. One more. Got it. Yeah, please. All right, it's Jerry

in the middle. In the middle. Are you ready?

On three. One, two, three. One more. One, two, three. All right. Next up, we have post three, Councilman Keith Lawrenson. How are you?

Thank you so much. All right, we're going to do the same thing. You raise your right hand. Okay.

I, Keith Larson, I'm sorry, Keith. do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully perform the duties of council member of the city of Warner Robbins and that I will support and defend the charter thereof as well as the Constitution and the laws of the state of Georgia and of the United States of America. I further swear I am not the holder of any unaccounted for public money do this state or any political subdivision or authority thereof. I further swear I'm not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, or any foreign state which I, by the laws of the state of Georgia, am prohibited from holding. I am otherwise qualified to hold set office according to the constitution and the laws of Georgia. I have been a resident of the city of Warner Robbins for the time required by the constitution and the laws of this state and by the municipal charter. I further swear I will perform the duties of my office in the best interest of the city of Warner Robbins to the best of my ability without fear, favor, affection, reward, or expectation thereof.

I do solemnly swear. Congratulations. Let's come on this side.

Okay. Look at our YouTube. I almost knocked the microphone.

All right. One, two, three. Big smile. One more. One, two, three. All right.

Yes. Next up, we have post five, Councilman Clifford Holmes. I, Clifford Holmes, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully perform the duties council member of the city of Warner Robbins and that I will support and defend the charter thereof as well as the constitution and laws of the state of Georgia and of the United States of America. I further swear I am not the holder of any unaccounted for public money do this state or political subdivision or authority thereof. I further swear I am not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, any foreign state which I by the laws of the state of Georgia would be prohibited from holding. I swear I am otherwise qualified to hold set office according to the constitution and the laws of Georgia. I swear I have been a resident of the city of Warner Robbins for the time required by the constitution and laws of this state and by the municipal charter. I will perform the duties of my

office in the best interest of the city of Warner Robbins to the best of my ability without fear, favor, affection, reward, or expectation thereof. I do solemnly swear. All right. Congratulations.

Why don't you take the pictures first and then we'll sign. One more.

One, two, three. Did you sign All right, you're official.

Thank you so much. One more. One more. One, two, three. You got two. One more. All right. And then next up is me, Londa Patrick. I'm on my line this time.

Bright green tape. still not stand for you.

That's what you do most of the time.

All right, you ready? I see. At least I got I'm on the tape. You got the wrong hand. We're all turned around. All right. Right hands. There we go. That's easier. All right. I, Londa Patrick, do you solemnly swear or affirm that I will faithfully perform the duties of mayor of the city of Warner Robbins, and that I will support and defend the charter thereof, as well as the Constitution and laws of the state of Georgia, and of the United States of America. I further swear I am not the holder of any unaccounted for public money. do this state or any political subdivision or authority thereof. I am not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any other state, or any foreign state which I above the laws of the state of Georgia and prohibited from holding. I further swear I am otherwise qualified to hold set office according to the Constitution and laws of Georgia. I've been a resident of the city of Warner Robbins for the time required by the constitution and laws of this state and by the municipal charter. I further swear I will perform the duties of my office in the best interest of the city of Warner Robbins to the best of my ability without fear, favor, affection, reward, or expectation thereof.

I do solemnly swear.

All right. Congratulations. Good job. Congratulations. Big smile. One, two, three.

One more. Big smile. One, two, three. Are you ready? Big smile. One, two, three. Let's get one more. Two more. Two. And one, two, three.

Thank you. position 80%. All right. All right. Thank you again to Judge Lumsden for doing the swearing in for us this evening. We appreciate you always coming every time we ask. Next up is the adoption of the agenda. If I could have a motion. Mayor, I move to adopt to adopt the agenda as written today.

I'll second that, Mayor. Motion by Councilman Lawson, seconded by Councilman Bib. All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand. I. Motion carries. At this moment, it's time for announcements. And I will take the liberty of allowing the individuals who were successful on this year's ballot to make some short comments to the crowd if they so wish. Starting with Councilman Mack.

Thank you. First of all, I say good evening, mayor, fellow uh council members, city staff, family member, friends, and my fellow citizens of Warner Robbins. Thank you for having the confidence confidence in me and allowing me to serve um on city council. This is it's such a joy to represent the city and do the business of the city and be a part of this legislative body collect collectively and collaboratively. I commit myself to continue to serve with each and every one of you to the best of my ability. With that being said, I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Now, Councilman Lawren,

thank you, Mayor. Yes, I would very much like to thank everyone uh for supporting me all these years uh beginning a fourth term. Um and I wasn't really sure that that I'd still be here, but I'm really glad I am and I'm really proud of the work we've done. Uh mayor, thank you for serving alongside us and all my federal count councilmen. Thank you so much for supporting me as I always support you and and we've got a lot of work to do. So, I'm looking forward to that. But also want to thank my wife. um she's been very tolerant of this for quite some time now. She doesn't really like this this kind of attention and um sometimes you get your name on Facebook every now and then or maybe maybe in the paper and it's not so good, but but she's been a very supportive wife. I know she you probably thought she was my daughter, but it's really my wife. Um yep. Uh but she has been a really blessing for me to be I couldn't do it without her. um because you know we've grown my kids are grown now but they they when I started this whole thing they weren't and um she's always been right there supporting me doing what had to be done on the home front and um and just encouraging me and and I just really love her and appreciate her. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Now, Councilman Holmes.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. And thank you to all of you that's present today and those that's looking at us through the media. Thank you for allowing me to serve the fifth my fifth term in office. Uh I trust you and you the majority of you have trusted me. Most than anything I thank my wife of 57 years who stood by me. She she's she like uh Miss Lawren, Amy Lawren, she's not all hyped up about me being in this. Uh but she supports me even when she says I don't. She do, you know, uh as far as the citizens are concerned, you know, you have allowed us all of us to come back to serve you. We have a united We are a united front here. And if you don't believe it, try us. We are united. We going to continue to work. We're going to continue to support our mayor and each other. Now, we don't get along. We like brothers and sisters. We fuss and fight. But when we come out front, we're together. And I thank you for that. And we're going to continue to do that. And I'm going to continue to work for you, the citizens and constituents of the fifth district. and the city of Wana Robin. Thank you very much.

And to make my comments short because I have a lot I could say, but I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you who was there from before day one, before I ever came here four years ago and took my first oath of office. Thank you for believing in this girl and this woman. Uh, thank you for believing that I could do this job and I am so excited to have a second chance to continue serving you all as your mayor. I do not take this job lightly. Uh, I came in here with a vision and a goal and I gained and I gained six brothers and uh, we came together as one and we pushed on everything that we said we were going to do. So, as I stated in my second campaign, promises made,

promises kept, and I promise to continue doing just that this second term. To my family, thank you for loving me, raising me to be the woman I am today. Uh, my family's from Thomasville, Georgia. My mom's dad's from My mom's dad is from Moltry, Georgia. and they would never have thought that an heir uh from the way that my family was raised would be able to do the things that God has blessed me to be able to do in this role. So, I stand on their shoulders. My my grandma, my grandma Ruth, she always said I would be a judge one day cuz she loves Judge Judy. But, uh I I didn't make it to be a judge grandma, but I did make it here. And I know she's smiling down with my grandfather right now. Um I have my grandma Jack. She's here. She's 86 years young and she's so proud. And of course, you saw my parents and my my little man and the new love in my life, um, Mr. Daniel Seismore. So, thank you to everyone. Uh, cuz I'm telling you right now, if you didn't believe in me, I never would have made it. And the days that I don't believe in myself, I remember the people that believed in me before I ever knew I could do this. So, thank you. I praise God for this opportunity. And um I just can't thank you because I couldn't do anything I've done if you didn't believe in me. So, I can't stress that enough. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And forever more, thank you to my four more years.

All right. So, we have a very short council meeting that we're about to do. You guys sit right there in your seats. It's going to go really fast. faster than this is already gone. Trust me, we'll have some uh ceremonial cake cutting and little refreshments right after if you hang in there with us. And there'll be plenty of opportunities to take pictures with all of my brothers um and all of us together or individually. So, we look forward to being able to hug your necks and shake your hands after this portion is complete. So, we're going to move forward with our agenda. Current uh item number one, work session item is a discussion of our current agenda for January the 5th, 2026. Councilman, do we have any items you wish to discuss?

Mayor and council, would you like me to have Mr. Curtis come forward to speak on the two public hearing items? Okay, Mr. Curtis.

Oh, he missed his queue. Didn't hear it coming. He's way in the back. All right. We have um I'll just begin with uh number four, which is an annexation uh request from NSD Housing Solutions. Uh it's regarding a 1acre parcel of land located at uh 1093 Booth Road. Uh this request is to annex the the property at its current zoning in Hston County's jurisdiction uh from from Hston County to the city of Warner Robbins at the zoning of R4. Um the intent to request annexation is to tap into city sanitary sewer uh which would then facilitate the owner to construct a small multif family community on that site. Um and while formal plans have not yet been submitted, we have received a conceptual plan depicting uh I believe 16 um apartment units. Uh those are situated uh within two independent buildings. Uh they are two twostory buildings um totaling 16 units on that site. Uh the next is a um it's a resoning request. Um this is for a vacant parcel of land. Um it's located right at uh where the uh Oregon Trail, it dead ends into this

vacant piece of property. Uh this is west of the intersection of Oregon Trail and John's Road. Um the current zoning of the property is R2. The requested zoning is R3. And uh this property is uh is made up in part of of a low wet area that is essentially non-buildable. And so the request to increase the density allowed on that property uh is in order to construct a single family residential uh development that is um approximately equivalent to that of uh of the current zoning of R2. So, in other words, um those those number of houses would just be um they they would encompass the the area of the land that is buildable and it' be a higher density if approved.

Um Mr. Curtis, what would be the access point to this property? Is it through Madrid or will be on Oregon?

Uh Oregon. there is a uh a vacant undeveloped parcel of land um to the west of this site. Um and so there may be an opportunity to connect to the west. Um although we've not been in contact with the property owner there, but should that property ever develop, there could be an opportunity uh for interconnectivity um further west. Um however, that's not been There's no there's not been plans for that submitted.

Thank you, Mr. Curtis.

Mayor and Council, the remainder of the items on tonight's agenda are fairly standard. Uh most of them are uh purchasing items uh related to u maintenance of our AS400 system, our annual membership uh with the Georgia Municipal Association, um repair of a section of roadway on Woodlands Boulevard that uh was constructed in 2019 as part of the development. Um it's ours now. Uh so we get to fix it. Um uh some water meter purchases. um and uh uh purchase of annual storage for uh body worn and incar uh video for our police department. Um outside of that uh we have uh submission of or consideration of an IGA uh between Hston County and the cities uh to do bulk purchasing uh uh and bulk bidding for uh paving projects related to the local maintenance and improvement grant. That's the state funds that we leverage every year. Um, and by coming together with our sister cities in the county, uh, we can get, uh, better pricing. Uh, typically the more projects, uh, the better pricing we can get. Uh, each entity would contract individually, uh, with the selected vendor. This just gives us the opportunity to get better better pricing. And then, uh, the other item is uh, the appointment of two uh, citizens to our planning and zoning commission. uh those were selected from names that were submitted as part of uh the call for volunteers uh from citizens interested in serving and we have two outstanding individuals uh that are with us tonight to be appointed and sworn in. If there are are any questions I'll be happy to respond to those.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Drinker. If there are no other questions regarding today's agenda, then we can move forward to the next action item and close out the work session. All right, closing out work session. Now we're at to item two of our agenda, which is for you all. Uh this pertains to anyone in our audience who has a comment, question, or concern about one of the numbered agenda items only. If you have something to say about items number three through seven, then you have an opportunity to approach the podium. Please be sure to state your name and address for the record. And also note that neither council nor I may respond to you, but we are listening. You will have three minutes on the clock at the top of the retunda. The door is now open for those individuals who want to make a specific comment about one of the numbered agenda items only. Going once. Going twice. Yep. You can approach the agenda. Approach the podium

and please and please be sure to state your name and address for the record. All right. My name is Helen White. My address is 213 Coington Cole, Byron, Georgia 310008. He spoke of a 16 building. What number was that? 16 units. 16 units. Is it like 16 units but going up or 16 units out? W. So, it's twotory building. Okay. Eight units per building. Okay. Just clarification. Thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you, Miss White. Will there be any others? Going once. Going twice. The door is now closed. On to item number three, which is the consent agenda to be discussed by Councilman Lashley. Thank you, Madame Mayor. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Um, letter A is our December 15th meeting minutes, which I'm sure we've all had time to review. Um, item B, which is a 2026 planning and zoning commission meeting dates. Item C is a resolution with North American Fire Equipment Company Incorporated. Uh, D is a resolution for new water meters. E are involves purchasing items for the city clerk's office GMA or Georgia municipal association dues of 26,33263. Uh general administration associated systems incorporated 14,28375. Um item three is building and inspections house uh house and asphalt paving 58,860. Item number four is utilities, utility solutions and automation LLC, $318,927.50. And item five, police department, Insight Public Sector Incorporated at 37,18164. And I make a motion to approve this consent agenda.

I second. Motion by Councilman Lashley, seconded by Councilman Curtis. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand. I

motion carries unanimously. Item number four is an ordinance for annexation to be discussed by Councilman Lawrenson. Thank you, mayor. I motion to approve an ordinance for annexation requested by NSD Housing Solutions LLC tolling 1 acre located at 1093 Booth Road, also known as Tax Parcel 00122A and one 0000. And this property is already R4. So we're just requesting annexation. And I would like to wave the second reading. I'll second that. Mayor

motion by Councilman Lawrenson waving the second reading. Seconded by Councilman Bib. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand. I.

Motion carries unanimously. Item number five is a motion for resoning petition to be discussed by Councilman Mack. Thank you, Madame Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve resoning petition from Harkco Constructions Incorporated of property totaling 3.4 acres located at the dead end of Oregon Trail west of John's Road, also known as tax parcel 0W19 C001900 0 from R2 Single Family Residential District to R3 General Residential District. I'll second that. Mayor

motion by Councilman Mack, seconded by Councilman Bib. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Item number six is a resolution for planning and zoning commission appointments to be discussed by Councilman Bib.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I make a motion to approve the resolution that the mayor and the council on the city of Warner Robbins acting pursuant to chapter 19 article 2 section 19-27 of the code of the city of Warner Robbins Georgia appointed the following two candidates and individuals to the Warner Robbins Plan and Zoning Commission. First one Ashley W. Horton with the term to expire January 1st, 2030 and Courtney L. Jones with the term to expire January 1st, 2029. And I second that, mayor.

Motion by Councilman Bib, seconded by Councilman Mack. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand. I. Motion carries unanimously.

Do we have the two candidates for oath of office here with us today? If so, please come forward to take your oath. How are you? Now, which is which coffee? Here's yours. All right. Okay. So, today we're taking our oath of office so that you can officially be a part of the Wner Robbins Government family and be a part of the planning and zoning commission. So, in front of you is your oath of office. Uh you'll be repeating after me and um you can hold it in your hand if you'd like or or read it below or just listen and follow along as I speak. on the very first part. Oh, sorry. You guys are you guys don't have to say your name. You say your you don't have to say your name. So, forget that part.

All right. So, we're gonna go ahead and get started with your oath of office. If you will please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear or affirm I do solemnly swear affirm that I will faithfully and impartially perform I will faithfully and the duties of member of the planning and zoning commission the duties of member of planning and zoning commission of Warner Robbins Warner Robbins and that I will support and defend the charter that I will support and defend the charter of the city of Warner Robbins of the city of Warner Robbins as well as the constitution as well as the constitution and the laws of the state of Georgia and the laws of the state of Georgia and of the United States of America

and of the United States of America. I will not knowingly receive I will not knowingly receive directly or indirectly directly or indirectly any money or other valuable thing any money other valuable thing for the performance or non-performance for the performance or non-performance of any act or duty of any act or duty pertaining to my office pertaining to my office other than the compensation other than the compensation allowed by law allowed by law I further swear or affirm I further swear that I will faithfully discharge my duties. I will faithfully discharge my duties as a member of the planning and zoning commission as a member of the planning and zoning commission

of Wner Robbins to the best of my ability of Robins to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Since you're officially a part of the family Don't watch the highlights.

All right, you're going to turn around. I'm going to take a photo. One, two, three. One more. One, two, three. Gentlemen,

Ashley,

you don't get to keep on break. Thank you. All right, we have one item remaining and that is item number seven which is a resolution for the 2026 LIG to be discussed by Councilman Holmes. Thank you, Madame Mayor. I present to you a motion to approve resolution to authorize Mayor Loranda W. Patrick to execute the attached local maintenance and improvement grant LMIG memorandum of agreement with the board of commissions of Hston County, the city of Centerville, the city of Perry, and the city of Byron to secure the best price for road improvement projects within the afford jurisdiction. Again, I move to adopt.

I'll second. Motion by Councilman Holmes, seconded by Councilman Lashley. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state I and raise your hand.

Motion carries unanimously. This completes our agenda items for today's meeting. The first one of 2026. It's going to be an amazing year. We're all so excited. Uh so now we're opening the floor for citizen comments. If you have any comment you'd like to make in general, you'll have an opportunity to approach the podium. Please be sure to state your name and address for the record. Also note that council and I may not respond to you, but we are listening. The door is now open. Good evening, Madame Mayor, council. Um, just uh I don't have a complaint. I don't have anything, you know, a real um need at this time. My name is Mike Hatcher. I've uh been recently elected as the uh HOA president for Cobblestone Crossing at 104 Greystone Court in uh in part of the annexed portion of Warner Robbins. Uh we've, as you know, we've got a lot of development going on out there. Um and uh we've been had a lot of questions about some things that are going on. I just want to come up and say that we appreciate Mr. Curtis and his staff uh meeting with us and explaining a lot of things and ecoming a lot of fears for some of our residents out there and also uh the stormwater folks for explaining how the the drainage is going to go out there so it doesn't affect a lot of things on our property. Um looking forward to 2026 and as things continue to develop out there, we're looking forward to working with the city and the and the folks uh here that can give us the help. Thank you much. Congratulations on your re-elections.

Thank you, Mr. Hatcher. Good evening to Mayor and council. My name is Barbara Harris and I would just like to thank you all of you who had anything to do with the fixing of Elberta Road. It is great and thank you so much for doing it. It took two years But God knows it's worth it. The traffic light and everything, we can get in and out. The highway looks like a nice highway out of the city. So, thank you so very much for doing that and and finally getting it finished. God bless you. Okay.

Thank you, Miss Harris.

Hi. Um, good evening, mayor, city council members, and members of the Warner Robbins community. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak and congratulations on your reelection. Um, so my name is Abigail Brown and I'm here on behalf of the Warner Robbins Little Theater, which has proudly served this community for more than 60 years. I'd like to invite you to an upcoming production, The Constant Wife, directed and produced by me, running February 7th through February 22nd of 2026. Written by W. Srset Mom, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. This smart comedy feels surprisingly modern. At its heart, the play acts as a compelling question. Is transparency the same thing as honesty? In the world of the constant wife, people believe they're being transparent while quietly avoiding the truth. The story follows Constance Milton, a woman who recognizes that honesty isn't about exposure. It's about intention, boundaries, and self-respect. This play resonates across generations and is especially meaningful for the audiences who enjoy intelligent comedy with something to say. We invite you and I invite you to join us at the Warner Robbins Little Theater. Tickets and showtimes are available at wittletheater.com and performances run through February 7th uh to February 22nd. Thank you for supporting the arts in the WR Robbins community and we hope to see you there.

Thank you, Miss Brown. Will there be any others? Going once. Going twice. The door is now closed. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for the comments that you uh presented to council and I. We appreciate hearing from you always. Now, it's time for council comments. We're starting a new year, so we're going to start off with post one and go down to post six. And of course, each each meeting we have a different um post that will start. So, Councilman Mack, you're up first.

Thank you again, Mayor. Um once again, I would like to thank everyone, but I would sincerely like to thank my wife who rocks with me with everything that I do. I bounce everything off of her and she serves this community in her own right with her own personal ministry, the Lending Hand, Inc. Um so, I'm I'm Thank you for helping me. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for, you know, giving me an opportunity to bounce things off and talk reasoning into me. So, thank you, Tony, for what you do. And my mom as well over there, Miss Jarvis, thank you again for um helping me and raising me to be a person of servitude. Um I watched my mom and my aunts and her sisters and brothers serve their communities all their lives. So, that's where I get it from. And it takes a spirit of servitude, you know, in your life to do this job because it's not for the faint at heart. and um and we take this very seriously and um I'm just it's just an honor to serve with these these gentlemen and our mayor. She's done a wonderful job as um our vision is an extension of her and we support her completely. And I just want to say once again, thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Mack. Councilman Bib. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh look forward to going to Rob Little Theater. see that play. Just want to say that me and my wife pop in there quite a bit from time to time. We love some of the plays that are put on there. Do always do a great job. I bet you didn't know that about me. Here we go. Miss Barbara Harris, you still here?

Did you still? Look, I went out of my way yesterday to ride down that road, too. Just going to be honest with you. From the north side of town, and that's a long time coming for that road. The project took a long time, but thank God it's finally done. And it is absolutely beautiful and it was a dream to drive down yesterday. That is for sure. It was a dream and so that we look forward to continuing to doing projects like that throughout our city and our community. And that's what all of us up here from doing the mayor to the council on down is to make 85,000 citizens lives a lot better. Look forward to the project on Pleasant Hill and the sidewalks going all the way down there. rode down that road today and seen all the work that was taking place down that road and was very excited about what's going on moving the utilities for sidewalks to be put down a wellwalked Pleasant Hill Road and that is for sure. I want to say congratulations to all the council members on your reelection. I only hope the next two years that none of us actually get opposed either. Um it's only a dream. Um, so look for all y'all's support when that comes to happen to keep this team going. Um, mayor, you've done a great job. I say that all the time. Great leadership. Um, and you really did bring this council together. That is a lot is not said about that. Walking into a place where there was a a lot of turmoil and within a year she um within a year she brought um us all in one line. a lot of conversations, a lot of talks, a lot of knowing each other's hearts. And that's what it took is to know each other's hearts and where we stood personally. And I want to say something else and not listen to all the chatter what people say about people and how they gossip about people and how they talk about people even when they don't know that person.

And so I appreciate you not listening to that chatter. Amen. And I appreciate you getting to know me and I appreciate our conversations and I look forward to serving with you, mayor, and I mean that. And counsel and that goes for you, Larry. We start off on a rocky road, but I'm telling you, I've come to love you. You're my brother and I appreciate you, Mr. Holmes. Uh Kevin, um Keith, and to my man Derek Mack over here. I look forward to serving with you. Love you.

So, I'm going to leave off with this. I'm here to make a commitment to the citizens of of Warner Robbins. As this councilman in this way, as we enter into 2026, I make a commitment to you to pursue God more than I ever have in my life.

I am going to run after him and seek him more than I ever have. Uh there's a church that is doing Second Baptist Church is doing a fast over the next 21 days that I my my uh me and my wife have joined in to do. And I want to seek the Lord more than ever. I want to repent of the things that I need to repent of. And I want to make sure that my heart's pure. And I want God to seek my heart and see if there's any wicked way in me. And I want to get rid of it. I want to restore to restore what God has given and what the devil tries to steal. And the third thing is I want to remember and I want to repeat what God is doing, what he's doing in our community, what is he doing in the city of Warner Robbins and what he's doing around all of our churches

and I hope revival takes place. And I'm going to leave you with these scriptures. The Bible says in Ephesians 4 verse one, "Therefore I, a prisoner of serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling." All right, pastor for you to have been called by God. Amen. Always be humble. Be gentle. Be patient with each other. And I love this one. making an allowance for each other's faults because of our love.

Making every effort to keep ourselves united in spirit, binding ourselves together with peace. And for there is one body, one spirit, one God, one Jesus, one Holy Spirit. And we are, no matter where we come from, where we born, where we're at, we are all part of that one body. Just as you have been called to one gracious hope for the future. And I ask you, if you know the Lord and you know him personally, if you will pray for me and you will pray for my family

and you will pray that I will seek him like I never have before in my life. as I pray for our mayor and all the councilmen and all the people that work for the city of Warner Robbins and all the citizens that we would truly have revival in Warner Robbins. Thank you for letting me serve. Thank you, Councilman. Now, Councilman Lawson.

Mayor, I have to go after that. No, I'm just kidding. No, it's a pleasure to go after that cuz I agree with him 100%. We're brothers in Christ and uh he said so many like basically everything I agree with. Uh but I do want to take some time for some personal notes and then thank yous. Um I missed you guys last time. I I've had a somewhat of a serious personal illness situation and it's nothing like being laying flat of your back to appreciate being able to come down here and serve. And I want to thank each and every one of you for praying for me, for reaching out to me, and uh reaching out to my wife. And uh it was it was a valuable experience regardless of what happens in the future or whether I make a full recovery or or whatever. It's it's been a great experience and I've learned a lot about those people that really care and love you. And thank y'all for for holding me up and uh I really really do appreciate it. On the same note, I've been praying for Tim Thomas. He had a a health scare as well. And I know he's probably not here tonight. I saw his mom, but we're praying for you, Tim. And praying you'll make a full recovery as well, my brother. Also, thank you again. Been a really eventful month. Lost my mom a week ago, a little over a week ago. So, thank y'all so much again for reaching out and ministering to me and my family. The flowers that you guys, the city sent for the funeral Friday were just absolutely beautiful. And I want to personally thank you. I wasn't expecting it, but I was greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. Um, again, a lot lot of thank yous to to say. One thing I'm thankful for is the opportunity to serve. It's been a real pleasure to serve you over the last 12 years, and I look forward to the next four. Just just like Charlie, he he's got two more for sure. Hopefully, he'll get four more after that. So, six. Same thing for Kevin and and Larry if they so

choose and desire. We're behind you 100%. Uh we look forward to the great things that we're going to be able to accomplish uh with this mayor um and all that we have, all the resources that we have. Our city city administrator, all the people that work in the city of Warner Robbins, we are so blessed, folks. That's one thing I've learned this month. We are the most blessed people that I know. And uh we need to be grateful for that and thankful for that each and every day of our lives. And so um thank you guys so much for being a part of that. Um, you know, we were talking about, you know, projects and things and stuff that take time. You know, patience is a virtue, is it not? I've learned, if I've learned anything over the last 12 years, is to be patient. When I first came on council, I wanted it done right then. I thought we're going to go in there and we're going to make it happen next week. And it just doesn't work that way in government sometimes. Sometimes it moves quicker, sometimes it doesn't. But I've learned that the greatest things that we have as a city are a result of our patience and planning and hard work. Um whether it's a new recreation department, Alberta road uh improvements, sidewalk improvements, whatever it it's it's always turned out far better than we ever imagined, hasn't it? And we are so grateful and thankful to have been a part of that process. So I'm really appreciative and I've learned I've learned how to be patient. I've learned how to be patient and I need to learn more patience. Um, but I'm grateful because I know

I know I have confidence I know I have confidence in the people around us that are going to do the very best job they possibly can do. So, I'm just going to trust every person that's in their particular role that they're going to do exactly what they're supposed to do and we're going to support them and we're going to continue to do great things for the city. Mayor, I can't thank you enough. I know Charlie already said a whole bunch of stuff. I I agree with 100% of it. You brought us together. I appreciate you. Thank you for your continued support. It means a lot. And uh and and again, a pleasure to serve with you and all my brothers up here. God bless y'all. Happy New Year. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Lashley.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um it was a pleasure to not have to run this past year. So, I enjoyed that. I got to sit back and watch y'all strategies for how you handle things and kind of put some stuff in the notebook for later. Uh, but I can't tell you how excited I was to find out when I ran that I was going to be unopposed. That was very exciting. And not only exciting, but the trust that my post and the citizens of War Robbins have placed in me to be the councilman for my post. It's I love every square inch of this city that we live in. I've lived in about every corner of this city you could live in. Um, my grandmother, her house was on Madrid. I still ride past where it was. is it's not there anymore. But I still go over there to check out that. A lot of skimp knees, a lot of playing on bikes over in those neighborhoods. My grandparents grew up on Brier Cliff and well the lower Brier Cliff down by the park. I grew up in that park and then uh now I'm fortunate enough that my wife and my daughters and I we live out on the uh western hemisphere of our great city. Um, but I was looking at some numbers that because it we did the GMA thing tonight that y'all heard about and they charge us by population and I was just kind of going through some figures and looking at what our estimates are and what we're looking at and what the job is in store for us. Uh, which currently you look at it, they had us at 86,199 citizens in our community. Uh, that's a lot more than was here when I was born. I promise you it's a lot more than when my granddaddy came here in 46. Um but the average rate of growth that we have is 029%. annual which is roughly 2500 new people we get to be neighbors with every year in this community. If we stay on that trajectory we will definitely be one of the top seven biggest cities in the state of Georgia which a lot of people don't

realize a little bitty old one Robbins but we are I don't count making bib says they're but they're not a city anymore. combined. That's right. We are a city. So, uh, but it wouldn't happen if we didn't have leadership like we have.

This mayor, these gentlemen that I have the pleasure of serving with, the staff, every single employee of this city, and every citizen in it makes it what it is. It's all of us. And we do it together, and we do it with pride. And we don't always agree. Mr. Holmes summed it up the best. You know, we we are like brothers and sisters. We do have our moments, but we don't do it in front of y'all. We keep it where it needs to be. We hash everything out. We work it out and then we bring it out here and we settle it like grown adults settle business. So, I'm excited for these next four years. I've got two left in my term and I promise you I'm going to be around. So, uh I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to get great things done. Thank y'all. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Holmes.

Oh, real quick item is did have the pleasure of having my two daughters baptized this past week at church. Yes, sir. Great day. Great day. There were a total of I think there was uh eight people baptized that day and four of them were young kids from the youth program over there. Yeah, God is good. All right, Councilman Holmes.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. And once again, I'd like to say good good evening to you, all of you in the audience, and those of you that's viewing through media. Thank you for allowing me to begin my 17th year on this council. Thank you. Thank you. It's been a long journey, long hall work with many people. But I don't mind getting in trouble and telling the truth. I'm working with one of the best staff I've have ever worked with out of those 60 past 16 years. Good people, good councilman. You had you've had good representation all of the time and you have great representation here around this counter today. We do get along. We do fuss, but we fuss for the benefit of you, the citizens.

That's right. It's not a personal thing. And if any if you come up here and you bring your personal agenda, you're not going to be successful.

But we don't have that. We don't worry about that. We work with our surrounding communities. And I want to recognize, you always get in trouble, you start recognizing people, but I'm going to get in trouble again. Mayor J. Michael Evans Centerville, who will be sworn in tomorrow, came up this evening. I saw him earlier. I don't know if he's gone. I saw Miss Wanita Bryant who just reelected the Fort Valley City Council lady stuck her head around the corner earlier. I don't know if she's still here, but I want to recognize those individuals that took the time to come to Warner Robbins to uh celebrate and fellowship with us. Uh I made one or two notes there, so I want to be sure I don't leave those notes off. I want to thank my church church fellow members that came out this evening to be with my wife and I. Uh my son and his daughter in my daughter in love. Uh she she as sweet as she can be. I just got to know her. I was talking about the other day. Say the word. Say the word. Say the word. I love it. And I got a a row of sisters uh on the on the row with my wife, Miss Theodoro Springer. I thought Miss trying to hide from me.

We have to hold this mic down to come out and reject is Darth Sanford. And uh I see I see uh Mr. Eddie Sanford Jr. Mr. Darthy Sanford.

Senior. Senior. He's he's the senior. That's right. He's the senior. And and and uh there are others. Again, you you you you mess up when you're saying these things. But I'm going to not prolong the meeting. I I do want to again thank you. Um I had pres pre pleasure of meeting the chairman of the Monford Marine. And if you've I'm sure you've heard of that group, the outstanding group of citizens that's come together that continually work for the city of Warner Robbins. And in closing again, uh this is my beginning the first day of my 17th year on council and I thank you for having enough confidence and trust in me. But uh somebody said, "Miss Barbara Har, you mentioned Alberta Harris, you mentioned Alberta Road. We're not through Alberta Road. We coming on the on we coming on on coming toward toward my way toward 247. You know, we we we're not through with a lot of projects, but we got a mayor that's determined that we're going to get things done and she present them in a way that the council supports her. We have Mr. James Drink here. uh that's been outstanding city administrator with us and as well as all of our department heads and again I thank you for allowing me to serve and represent you one more time.

Thank you, Councilman Councilman Curtis.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh I just want to say happy New Year's to everyone. It's so great to see each and every one of you. It really feels good to uh set my eyes on you. Uh Keith, I'm I'm glad you're doing well. So happy. I'm asking everyone to keep my buddy Tim Thomas uplifted in prayer. I know if it wasn't from Tim and uh Darren Lee, also Miss Louise McBride with the support of Keith and Clifford, I would not be sitting in the seat. So, thank you very much. And I ask that y'all continue to keep him lift up in prayers. Uh, Madame Mayor, what's uh known doesn't need to be said. Um, thank you for everything that you do. And uh, I just want to say happy birthday to my son, Karan. He turned 14 today.

Y'all pray for me.

Thank you, Councilman. And, uh, I'll just say quick a quick few things. Um, number one, uh, for all those individuals who helped me in my campaign, you were knocking on doors, uh, making phone calls, holding up signs. If you could just please just stand up for me so I could give you a round of applause. Everybody who helps me, who is currently present on my campaign, please stand. Thank you all so much for what you did self selflessly and helping me win my re-election for the second time. Um, and I do want to say uh this and this is going to close out our meeting. Uh, leadership takes service and service takes a servant's heart. And I have all of those. I have a servant's heart. Um, always had a servant's heart. And I'm thankful that you allow me to lead here in the 11th largest city in our state. And I hope that uh you're pleased with at least some of the things that I've done. And hopefully for some I also make you proud. Um, and again, thank you to my brothers because uh we when you hear of Warner Robbins doing the things we're doing across the state, you hear of us across the state about the things we're doing. Uh, we are one. So, as council and I, it's our city staff, it's our city constituents, it's all our residents, we are Warner Robbins and I am but a vessel. So, thank you. Have a wonderful evening and a splendid start

to your 2026. May God exceed your expectations and I wish you all the things that you want to accomplish this year. And with that, our meeting is adjourned. Thank you.