City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'm your vice mayor, MJ Hall, and I'll be presiding over the meeting this evening along with Mr. Cromer and Mr. Franks. We do have a quarrel. Miss Julie and Josh are out on family business at this time. At this time, I would like to call the meeting to order, and we're going to have a prayer and a pledge from Mr. Lester.

By our heads, Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to serve this community. Grant us wisdom, unity, and integrity as we make decisions for the good of our city. Help us lead with compassion, listen with respect, and work together to strengthen our neighborhoods and support our citizens. Bless our community, our leaders, and all who call this city home. In your name we pray. Amen.

Okay, if I can you guys have the agenda in front of you if we can get a motion to approve of the agenda would approve second. Call for the vote. Okay, and we do have 2 sets of minutes in our packets. We should have got those before time can we get a motion to approve of the minutes.

Most approved so.

I'm just going to have any public comments. All right, nobody sign up for public comments will move right into presentations cannot call up for anyone for this year for the proclamation for foster care and foster family recognition.

We've got one come on down to the point.

All right, I have a proclamation here for foster care, foster family recognition month. Whereas families are the primary source of love, identity, self-esteem, and support for children and youth, and they are the foundation of our communities. And whereas foster parents play an important role in supporting biological parents and helping them enhance their relationship with their children to achieve family stability and maintain family connections and support of family reunification and Whereas, there are over 423,000 youth in foster care across the nation and foster families open their homes to provide a stable, nurturing environment for our youth to thrive in. Whereas, currently Tiff County has approximately 104 in foster care and nearly 15 families are certified to provide caring, safe and nurturing homes for those in foster care. Whereas, we have a responsibility as individuals, neighbors, community members, and residents to recognize that all children need love, support, and security and a place to call home. And whereas, during National Foster Care Month, we celebrate all those who have invited a child into their hearts and homes and express our profound appreciation for those who make foster care possible. And now, therefore, I proclaim that I, Vice Mayor MJ Hall, on behalf of the city of Tifton, hereby proclaim May 2026 as Foster Care and Family Recognition Month and urge all city residents and volunteers their time and talents on behalf of children. in foster care and to celebrate all the commitment of foster families, community volunteers, of CASA, non-profits, and professional staff who work to ensure these children experience a fulfilling life. It is signed and sealed from myself and Jessica White from the City of Tipton Seal. And Ms. Jill Taylor is here with us today. She's with CASA. Would you like to give us a little information about CASA and what they do?

Sure. At CASA, we train volunteers to work with foster children when a child is taken into foster care. We try to provide a CASA that is their voice. They're not the voice for the parents. They're not the voice for the foster parents. They're for that child. And when they go to court, that CASA goes in and tells the judge what they think is best for the child. So if you know of anybody who would like to volunteer, We are having a new class in September, so come on and learn how to be a CASA, and we greatly appreciate it. And also, we have about, like I said, 104 in foster care, and there's probably about 40 or 50 that do not have a CASA. And when you talk to the judge and you talk to the lawyers, they say they can always tell which kids have ACASA because that kid has that individual attention. DFACS workers have about 60 or 70 cases where ACASA has that one child, and they're there for that child. So if you know of anybody that would like to volunteer, just call our office. Thank you so much.

all righty next on our in our presentations we have yates healthcare consulting talking about a health expo they're actually on their way they're on their way they're actually on their way they should be here shortly We can, if that's fine, if she's going to be here. Okay. Next, we have Ms. Caroline Abbott. She's going to let us know about our Memorial Day tribute events.

honoring Memorial Day the first opportunity we have is a Memorial Day flag placement and cemeteries around Tifton on the graves of veterans so that will start at 9 a.m. at Oak Ridge Cemetery and they will travel around to different cemeteries and we just wanted to share that with the public and invite all to attend. And then we have a Memorial Day tribute ceremony on that Monday of Memorial Day. It's at 11 a.m. at Jackstone Veterans Memorial Park. All are welcome to attend. We'll have local musicians, contributions from our TIFT Theater, our TIFT and Fire Department. So please come and join us. And again, that's at 11 a.m. on Monday at Memorial Park.

So yeah, right. Thank you. And you guys be sure to check into those both of those events. Those are both great events that we have every year. And so please check out for Memorial Day. All right. We have a consent agenda. We can take all those together, gentlemen, or we can take them separately. What are you guys?

I move that we take them all together.

Okay. We got a motion that we take the consent agenda together. I'll say that second. All right. Call for the vote. All in favor. All right. All right. All right. Moving on to new business for the fiscal 2027 proposed budget. We have those large packets here. I will call on Mr. Larry Lawrence to give us detail on detail on that.

All right, yeah, you have before you the fiscal year budget for 2027, which comprised of 16 different funds. The total budget is $71,853,000, which is a $2.3 million reduction from last year's budget. And in that is the main operating general fund budget, which is $19,204,000, which is also an $82,000 reduction from last year. uh this budget uh is for you to review and also it'll be available to the public starting tomorrow morning on our website tiftonga.gov and also in the city clerk's office from 8 30 to 5. uh and we'll have a public hearing june the 8th at 5 30 and we'll go into the budget in more detail then okay all right any any more questions for mr lawrence while he's there about the budget for 2027

All right, we have our packets, and if we need any more information, we'll contact Mr. Lawrence. All right, moving on to Shorten Park Renaissance Project update with Ms. Caroline.

I'm back again. So last Wednesday, the Short and Palt Committee received the phase one report back from UGA's Carl Vincent Institute of Government, we'll call them CDIOG, it's a mouthful, their team. We are excited to present an overview of this report. So UGA's report included a summary of the responses received from the community survey and public visioning session, and also four potential concept drawings created by the UGA students, which you'll see in your packet. Based on the community input and surveys, participants overall envisioned the area to include park and green space, family-friendly activities and social community spaces, and mixed-use retail and restaurant options. An overview of this report and the students' concept drawings have been included in your packet and are also available on our website for the public to review. At this time, UGA is seeking feedback from the steering committee and local officials on what items should be carried forward to the next phase and are economical, achievable, and sustainable for the future success of the site. Please take some time to review these documents and send me your suggestions and comments for including in our follow-up to UGA.

Thank you. We do have those in our packets. I'm pretty sure they're very, very detailed so we have time to check it out on our own and we can report back Okay, did anybody walk? I didn't know if we had the Yates come in yet for the health fair. Okay, well, can we move back to one of the presentations that our number two Yates Healthcare Consulting Group to let us know about your health fair?

My apologies. We was at the, um, another location. It's okay. Um, first of all, good evening and thank you. Um, I forget who I spoke with on the phone. Amy Jessica. the person that put me on the agenda. Thank you for that. Maybe Jessica. Oh, okay. Thank you. Just a little background about myself. My name is Patricia Yates Rand, and I'm a native of Peace County, Fort Valley. We did a similar event three years ago in Peach County where we had Morehouse School of Medicine med students come to town. We had 30 other vendors. We did a whole day of health fair and with the current climate with a lot of hospital closing in the rural areas, we see the need to see it there. So, I answered to that problem is to bring the services to the people. free services when it comes to health. Especially with cancer, the thing is being proactive, getting screening, and taking advantage of any health screenings that's available to the community at large. Actually, we've been planning this event for the last two and a half years, so it's good for it to come to permission. We'll be bringing in more high school and medicine students. And I currently serve on the Community Advisory Board for Morehouse School of Medicine's research clinical department. I'm the newly elected president. So we'll be bringing a lot of stuff from Morehouse School of Medicine to Tifton County. We don't want this to be a one-off. um so we want this to be an annual thing for the community at large and everything that i bring to the communities is always no charge to them okay the only thing that we do ask well i take the baby as a charge your time to come and take advantage of these free services and on the june 27th Through my travels, I was fortunate to meet this global medical staff. They was itching to come down south, and I said, I got you. They'll be doing prostate screening, which is big for the men. A lot of people, when they get diagnosed, it's usually in the third and fourth stages. We want to catch them early. That service is free. The myth about the old way how you got checked, you're just a fingerprint today. So no bending over. Unless they find something in your results. And also we'll be doing colon cancer screening. There is a cost to that, but it's gonna be billed to your health insurance and your Medicaid and Medicare. Those are two biggest cancers that really go unchecked in any population. Okay, we wanna really focus on that. And also we will have the... The tiny house, I said, what's a tiny house? It's actually a tiny house, but on the inside, it's a hearing clinic. So we'll be screening all ages for that. And we're waiting to hear back for the pediatrician to come so we can have, that's why it's called, it's a family affair. We want to service and screen the entire family, okay? Also, we had the opportunity to, which is kind of, It's going to cost individuals travel time. If you're familiar with the biometric screening, it's a four to six blood panel. It screens for everything. And because of the health initiative, you know a test would normally cost you up to $2,000 in your doctor's office. But because of the health initiative, you're able to get people registered for free. But the nearest Quest lab is in Albany. I think that's what, 30 miles that way? We're going to see, can we get churches involved to provide transportation? We get everybody scheduled for one day, they'll cut down on somebody that don't have transportation. Because again, we want to bring the services to the people in the county. Like I said, it's the 406 blood panel. It's giving all counselors, It will tell you everything you need to know about yourself, but it won't tell you you're crazy, because your family will tell you that. We definitely want people to take advantage of that. Again, my name is Patricia Yates, and I started my healthcare consulting because I saw the need. I've got several hats and some of those hats sometimes give organizations and churches funds to host health events. So that's another thing that I'm bringing to Tift County. I can't give you a million dollars but you know I can give you something to help you out and that is across the board. The only requirement that I have, well, my organization have, the Yates Healthcare Consultant, the only requirement is you having a need and a desire to help the next man. That's the only requirement. Okay? Can't beat that, can you?

No.

So we wanted to present to, well, by way of Miss Melissa, is she here today? Miss Melissa Hughes?

No, no, no.

Her and Lester...

Lester's right here.

Hey, Lester.

How you doing?

I'm going to be your new best friend.

Well, I think you might be relative. It's your last name.

Curtis and them, we'll partner with them. Like I said, when you come in someone's house, city, you need to connect with the gatekeepers and the moves and shakers. And that's what tonight is all about, connecting with the moves and shakers like yourself. And get your support. We're not asking. This is the thing. Funny thing. I don't ask for money, but I give people money. So I want a picture, right? No, it's not. But I want to ask is to support this effort for the community. Be here to help promoting showing up, getting definitely going to have screenings, you know, even with the doctor on that Monday. So you want to take your blood pressure every day, right? You take your sugar every day. Right. So, you know, so you have to give them another excuse not to come, but, um, we want you guys to support, um, this event. And like I said, it's called family affair, um, bringing people in. I think I heard that this is the first time more high school of medicine has been down this south. So we definitely want to take advantage of the young doctors, the future doctors, um, you know, um, then the questions.

No, no question.

So it was clear as mud? Yes. And I expect to see you guys at the event?

Yeah. I'll definitely be there.

It's in your district. You got to be there, man.

Well, my cousin is involved with it, so I have no choice.

So you've been volatile. I will leave my card with my contact information in case you have any questions later or you think of somebody that could be a part of this. Like I said, there's no fee and we would love to see everyone there. Thank you so much. I do have flyers. We're going to have a QR code placed on this so people can register so we get a head count because we are feeding. We don't want to run out of food. That's a bad thing to do, especially down south.

All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Yates. We will be sure to help. Ms. Caroline will help probably put this on our website and some of our social media to get it shared for you. We thank you so much for providing these services down here down south. Thank you so much.

all righty moving on to other business mr lawrence we've got to take the financial report at this time uh yes just to give you an update through april uh we're 10 months into this fiscal year uh looking at the general fund uh total revenue 16 million 502 403 total expenditures 15 million 726 163 with net revenues over expenditures of 776 240 So we are in the black. Expenditures are running about $345,000 under budget. So that's helped us out on the bottom line there. So that's good news there. And most of our revenues are running on schedule of what we had budgeted. General funds looking good. On the enterprise funds, the water fund, total revenues 3,943,969. Total expenditures 2,903,995 with net revenues over expenditures 1,039,973. Sewer fund also looking good. Total revenues 4,834,079. Total expenditures 3,793,405. with net revenues over expenditures 1,040,674. Gas fund, total revenues 5,291,463. Total expenditures 4,376,172 with net revenues over expenditures 915,291. And then solid waste total revenues 3,844,846. Total expenditures, $3,259,229. Net revenues over expenditures, $585,617. The solid waste fund is running a little tight, but hopefully we can get the tipping fee up next month in cooperation with the county, with the city and the county approving that increase. So that'll help shore up the solid waste fund, and it'll look better in the future. All right. Thank you. Any questions y'all have a detail there. So I have any questions.

Yeah, we got a detail in our package guys So if we got any questions, we can burn back. Mr. Lawrence as always my doors always open So if you have any questions, thank you, sir All right City Manager report Adam met with G dot and Reeves and

They're supposed to start paving 11th and 12th intersection Wednesday, which I know everybody is excited to hear about that. Scrubs has already paved Rainwater and they're on Davis Road now. We've been working on several sidewalks around town, fixing busted and raised up pieces that's been a tripping hazard. So we'll be working all over town, finding those and taking care of those. And the waterline projects should start in the approximately two weeks.

Okay. That's all. All right. Well, thank you. All right. Now we'll move into mayor and council comments. We have any comments to this evening. All right. Well, I would like to say, um, be sure to look out for your, our Memorial day programs that we have and, uh, that are, that are there. Everybody have a safe, you know Memorial weekend and See you next and I will adjourn this meeting All right