Prior to the beginning of the Glennville City Council meeting of January 2, 2024, City Attorney Hugh McCullough administered the oaths of office to incumbent Mayor Bernie Weaver and Ward II Council Member Marc Nobles (incumbent) and newly elected Ward 2 Council Member Cynthia Miller.
According to the city charter, appointment of Mayor Pro Tem and City Administration officials for 2024 followed: Tammy Waters, Mayor Pro Tem; Stan Dansby, City Manager; Emily Mixon, City Clerk; Wes Kicklighter, Police Chief; Dale Barnard, Fire Chief; Rob Fravel, Public Works Director; Hugh McCullough, City Attorney; and B. Daniel Dubberly III, Municipal Court Judge.
Other appointments included the reappointments of Planning Commission and Board of Appeals members for one-year terms: Jeremy Anderson, David W. White, Joe Skeens, Carlene Porter, and Lillian Taylor.
In reference to the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Joe Skeens was reappointed and Suzannah Williamson was appointed, both for six-year terms. Reba Feliciano resigned from the IDA at the end of her term on September 30, 2023.
The council members voted to discontinue the Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) Grant for the Hencart Road Sidewalk Project. When the project began in 2019, the project cost was estimated to be $2.7 million. A roundabout at the intersection of Barnard Street and Hencart Road had been added to the scope of the project. With the addition, the new projected budget for the project is $6.2 million. The grant funds are only approved for the original budget, and there is no promise of future grant funding, according to City Manager Stan Dansby. If the project were to continue, this will potentially place the City of Glennville one hundred percent responsible for all project costs exceeding the $2.7 million.
After Dansby delivered the above comments to the council, he added that Phases 1-7 had been completed on the project. The Journal Sentinel reporter Pam Waters asked if she could ask a question, and Mayor Weaver replied, "Can you hold that until the end of the meeting, and then we will cover it."
The purpose of the question was to ascertain what funds, in reference to the TAP Grant, from the various entities involved, including the City of Glennville, had been expended during those first seven phases of the project. Waters asked again to be allowed to ask a question as the meeting was ending, but she was ignored. After the meeting, she met with City Manager Stan Dansby who reviewed with her the accomplishments of the various phases and funds involved.
The council also voted to revoke the awarded bid of $1,143,297 that was approved on October 3, 2023, which was from Insituform Technologies, LLC, for FY 2022 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Sewerage System Improvements Project, due to the questioning by the federal entity of distant relatives of the mayor's wife owning property in the area of the project. The vote on the same low bid of Insituform Technologies, LLC, was taken again and approved, with Mayor Pro Tem Tammy Waters presiding and Mayor Weaver not participating in the motion. City Attorney Hugh McCullough was previously aware of the situation but did not see an issue in the original vote in October 2023.
Cost of living allowance (COLA) for city employees was approved at a three percent increase.
The Glennville council approved a resolution for the Joint Tattnall County Solid Waste Management Plan, which the other cities in the county have done and is customary to be updated every ten years.
Glennville Fire Chief Dale Barnard reported that the department had answered 11 calls during December, nine inside the city limits and two outside the city limits, but only one involved a structure fire.
