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Joshua Windus

Cordele Dispatch

The Cordele City Commission met July 1. Maurice Hill, community advancement manager, reported that a request to screen in a front porch had been denied by the Historic Preservation Committee. The guidelines exclude having an enclosure around a front porch. Commissioner Isaac Owens suggested they review and update the guidelines.

Chairman Joshua Deriso stated that the Historic Preservation Committee needed a change. He asked the city attorney, Tommy Coleman, about procedure. “If we would like to make a change on the Board, what’s the process for that?”

Coleman replied; “I think they are appointed for a term. If they’re a term, you have to wait until the end of the term.”

Deriso asked about when their terms were up. “We need to make some changes on that Board based on what I’ve seen.”

The sales tax collection for the month of June was $434,502.94.

Fire Chief Todd Alligood shared in his report that the state wide burn ban was in place until October the first. Even when October comes, a burn permit is still required. Residents can find a link to burn permit forms available under the fire department’s section of the City’s webpage. Burn

permits are free. “What we ask is that you keep the piles small, that there’s a water source, that you’re with it at all times, that [you] put it out at night, once it gets dark you put it out.” Even with those requirements met, complaints from neighbors could still result in a visit. “We are still going to come out and kind of determine if we need to put it out or not.”

Commissioner Wesley Rainey asked about the policy for alerting residents to a water shut off. A water value had been turned off which left the subdivision of Highland Grange without water. While a notice was posted on Facebook, it left many caught off guard.

Chair Joshua Deriso stated that the procedure was to deliver letters and use the Cordele Dispatch to alert residents. “Facebook cannot be the only thing we use, because everyone is not on Facebook.” He stated the summer was an especially bad time, as many families had kids at home. Deriso apologized to those dealing with a lack of water. He also suggested robo-calls as a potential way to alert citizens of a water outage.