The Grovetown City Council approved entering into an intergovernmental agreement with Columbia County regarding Harlem-Grovetown Road.
City Administrator Elaine Matthews told council members the IGA is for ownership, control, care and maintenance of Harlem-Grovetown Road.
“This is an IGA, intergovernmental agreement…that defines and designates the ownership of certain portions of Harlem-Grovetown Road in the city limits of Grovetown and the unincorporated area of Columbia County, which basically defines what we own on Harlem-Grovetown Road,” Matthews said. “…then it determines who is responsible for the maintenance and operations of those areas.”
Matthews added that with this IGA, as the city limits expand out Harlem-Grovetown Road, that will become the city’s automatically without a new agreement.
Council members also discussed adding Good Friday as an additional holiday starting Jan. 1, 2024. Mayor Gary Jones proposed adding it to the 12 holidays the city already has. Council member Dr. Deborah Fisher proposed giving employees a half day on Good Friday and off Easter Monday.
“I know that we traditionally give our city employees a half day off on Fridays before a holiday,” Fisher said. “Being that Easter Monday is not a holiday, but the kids are all out of school and normally a lot of festivities take place on Easter Monday, I was thinking having a half day off for Friday and a whole day off for Monday might be a good thing to do.”
The item will be brought before council at the August meeting.
Council members approved second reading and adoption of ordinance 2022-05-01B to adopt the amended annual balanced budget. Finance Director/Assistant City Administrator Bradley Smith said there were no changes between the first budget that was presented in June.
“This is our second reading for this,” Smith said. “This is the amended budget. If you recall, we presented this to you in June prior to the fiscal year, there are no changes from the first reading to the second. But these amendments are going to allow us to make sure we do not exceed the expenditures by department, which is what the legal of control is according to Georgia state law. This is to just make sure that we’re in compliance with all of our budget requirements and the second reading thereof.”
Council members also approved resolution 2023-07-01 authorizing sending the City of Grovetown comprehensive plan amendment (2021-2026) to the Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission, resolution 2023-07-02 to amend and restate the city code, chapter 7, section 7-1 and resolution 2023-07-03 to adoption the promotional item policy.
Smith announced to council members that the three millage hearings would be Wednesday, July 19 at 6 p.m., Wednesday, July 26 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. A called meeting would be held following the 6 p.m. meeting on July 26 for council to vote on the millage rate. All will take place in the council chambers at city hall.
Jordan Johnson, the public information officer for the city, told council members the city is holding a fan drive to collect new and lightly used fans that can be given to those in need. The fans can be brought up to Grovetown City Hall, 103 Old Wrightsboro Road. He added that Liberty Park Community Center is also open as a cooling center during its hours of operation for people who need a place to go and get out of the heat.
The full meeting can be viewed on the City of Grovetown Facebook page.
Stephanie Hill is a staff writer covering Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
