After months of work, the City of Adrian has finally brought its reconciliations current. Mayor Wynola Smith went on record during Adrian City Council’s October 11 meeting and informed the group of such.
According to the minutes provided to The Chronicle, this particular financial matter was completed by Southern Software.
The Chronicle first attended an Adrian City Council meeting in January and at that time, the reconciliations were in the beginning stages of being addressed. Although small progress has been reported in the months since then, no reconciliations report indicated finalization until the latest report from Mayor Smith.
With the reconciliations now done, Adrian’s clerk, Felicia Owen, will soon go through a training session. This is a matter the city has paused until the financials recorded by a previous clerk could be sorted.
Council also addressed a number of unfinished business items.
First and foremost, Mayor Smith gave an update on a grant being pursued by the City of Adrian through the Environmental Protection Agency. Previously, the mayor believed the grant funds for the city to be capped at $300,000. In her latest report, however, she stated that the potential amount of monies had increased to $500,000. She also indicated that the application process is moving along appropriately.
Mayor Smith then read two bids for the roof of the bank building: one from RoofUS in the amount of $22,750 and another from Peebles Roofing for $43,000 for shingles or $47,000 for metal. The mayor continued, saying she would obtain a quote on the price to simply repair the leak in the meantime and investigate the possibility of a grant to replace the roof.
Mayor Smith then brought council up to speed on the Knapp Building project. Specifically, she stated she had spoken about the building with Eric McDaniel, who stated there was a possibility the top half of the building would be able to stay up as well because of the support from a neighboring building.
Suzanne Hutchinson then delivered a report on a safety grant being pursued by the Adrian; that grant, she said, was almost complete and should be turned in within the next week.
Lastly under Unfinished Business, council unanimously voted to purchase a wireless microphone set. This authorization came with a $2,684 price tag and should fulfill the requests of citizens, who have been asking for the last several months for council to use microphones during meetings.
The New Business part of the October meeting had many items as well.
Mayor Smith began this part of the agenda with a discussion and an eventual unanimous vote to adopt the Emanuel County Hazard Mitigation Plan. This is an annual agreement entered into by the city and the council.
Next, Mayor Smith spoke about the millage rate, informing council what the rollback rate would be for the year. Hearing this, council opted to stay with the rollback. This rate would be advertised in the legal organ with a meeting to follow on Wednesday, October 20.
The mayor then mentioned that the District 9 meeting would be held in Hazlehurst on October 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Reaching the halfway mark under New Business, Mayor Smith announced that a new program had been created for law enforcement and first responders throughout Georgia. Once the program is able to accept applications, she will apply for those in the city who qualify.
Next, mayor and council discussed hiring someone to clean city hall. Hutchinson made the motion to do so, and Michelle Love followed with the second. However, Julie Griffin wouldn’t vote to complete the motion as council could not agree on a price to pay the proposed cleaner and the other potential voter, Jesse Yawn, was absent. Consequently, Mayor Smith postponed the matter.
The mayor then gave the latest in regard to the welcome sign located on Highway 15 coming from Soperton. This signage had received damage and needed to be replaced. The insurance company of the responsible driver would pay for the repairs, according to Mayor Smith. No action was necessary.
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