At their Tuesday, September 1, 2026, Glennville city council meeting, the city officials approved the purchase of a $270,000 used fire truck for the Glennville Fire Department, which replaces one that is no longer operable. City Manager Jeremy Anderson commented that the pumper has only 77 hours on it, and the truck itself has 7400 miles on it.

The truck is a 2013 Freightliner Turbo Diesel ICS-350 2000-gallon tanker-pumper fire truck and was purchased through Firetec from Ogden Iowa Fire Department. An additional $5300 was approved for transportation costs. The funds for the fire truck purchase and the transportation costs will come from the City's amended SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) budget.

Another purchase was approved for a 2027 F-250 4 x 4 Super Duty regular cab work truck for the Street/Water/Sewer Department from low bidder O.C. Welch Ford for $54,965. Other bidders were Enterprise for $57,450 and Paul Thigpen Ford for $58,000. This vehicle replaces a 1985 Diesel Dually Chevrolet that has been sold on Gov.deals. The funds for the purchase will be used from the amended SPLOST budget; an annual amount of $10,993 principal plus $1,348.64 interest (at 4.65%) will be taken out of the yearly SPLOST budget for five years.

In addition, the council approved $24,000 for the Recreation Department to resurface the basketball courts by bidder ECO Premier Coatings of Metter. These funds come from the amended SPLOST budget, and ECO is the same company that has resurfaced the pickleball and tennis courts at the rec park.

Also, another approval was $7500 to the Glennville Recreation Department for the purchase of playground equipment. Glennville Rec Director Henry Strickland commented that the fund-raising efforts are $7500 short of the $31,000 goal for the playground equipment, and this $7500 from the City will end their three phases of playground equipment replacement. These funds will come from the amended SPLOST budget.

Approval from the council was given for the hiring of a Code Enforcement Officer at an annual salary of $50,662, which is Pay Grade 18 Step F.

The council also approved the transfer of property from the Glennville Downtown Development Authority to the City of Glennville, with said property located in the City of Glennville tax map parcel ID G06 095 (.51 acres +/-). The purpose of the transfer was for the placement of two rapid charging Electric Vehicle (EV) stations at 105 Gross Street.

Chris Wall, representing Tindall Enterprises, the contractor that monitors the Waste Water Treatment Plant, reported on a spill at the plant that occurred on August 19, and measures have been taken to remedy this spill, with notification to the public through The Journal Sentinel. He reported that the cause of the elevated Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) was dying vegetation in the wetlands treatment due to ongoing vegetation maintenance.

Several appointments were made during the evening, which are as follows:

*Will Stanfield to the Planning Commission and Board of Appeals for the remainder of a one-year term to expire December 31, 2026, to replace Jeremy Anderson, who was hired as City Manager

*Reappointment of Glenn Durrence and Paul Grubbs to the Glennville Recreation Commission Board for a five-year term ending September 30, 2031.

Council approved the hiring of Paris Harrison as Street Maintenance technician effective August 6 and the hiring of Jennifer Turnbull as Customer Service Representative effective August 25.

Event permits approved were for a Dinner and Movie on Saturday, October 3, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., on downtown Barnard Street, at the Stage at Barnard, and a permit on the same day for vendors from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 204 W. Hencart Road.

Ward 2 resident JoAnn Anderson once addressed the council for five minutes, with public comments from citizens moved from the beginning of the council meetings to the end of meetings.

"The truth does not expire, and your political maneuvers have not changed. The issues will not disappear. We still have questions and concerns, and broken trust remains," said Anderson, referring to the April 28 video that caught Mayor Bernie Weaver and council members Marc Nobles, Greg Janeczek, and Tammy Waters making insulting and disparaging remarks to the point of one calling business owner Zuber Malek a terrorist. These comments were made in an illegal meeting after a regular council meeting on that date, which was on video.

She added that the video was a true window into the character of these individuals, adding that the citizens have had their confidence in their leadership shaken.

Anderson added that there has been no accountability from these individuals, and the public trust has not been restored. She stated that the citizens are continuing to watch them and are patient in their recourse, again questioning their character and integrity.

"It is time for new leadership," she added, in conclusion.