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The Cordele City Commission met on Tuesday June 6, 2023 at 9am at the Cordele City Hall Courtroom with Chairman Joshua Deriso, Commissioner Vest Beal Shepard, Commissioner Isaac H. Owens, Commissioner Royce Reeves, Sr., Commissioner Wesley Rainey and City attorney, Tommy Coleman in attendance. Downtown Director, Monica Rentfrow gave her quarterly report on Downtown Cordele, including new businesses, Shalom Furniture and Jamaican Jerk. She encourages people to check out a show that Empire puts on. She spoke about the Autism Stroll back in April, it was a success. She thanks Lisa Odum from the Police Department with her help setting up. New event in May and June , Yoga in the park in Perlis Park with a good turn out. She thanks Angela and Vesta for reading at the Juneteenth at the library. She goes through the visitors $525,000 economic impact since they opened the doors. Sam Shortline had a great turn out for Thomas with 7,300 people, next murder mystery is in September.

There was one guest speaker appearance, a Mr. Milton Holly in regards to impurities in potable water, process of purging system and being charged for water. He speaks about tenants complaining about the water, that it is full of impurities. He had another gentleman bring in an example of what the filters look like after a few days. There is a lot of calcium and Lyme in the water. Debbie from UC&T clarifies that this is normal, the water is naturally hard water and when you heat it in a kettle, hot water heater it causes the Lyme to precipitate out. This can cause lyme and calcium built up in pipes and faucet. She also explains that due to the location, the water line is a dead end and there are many places next to this location that don’t use the water which can cause it to go stagnate. Holly would like something to happen to rectify this problem. It has been suggested to put in a water softener

We then heard from the department heads, starting with the finance director, who spoke about the TSPLOST numbers in the report. We then heard from Cordele Fire Chief, Todd Alligood with reporting period of June 27^th through July 26^th. There was a total of 53 calls for service, 2 structure, 6 other (vehicle, grass, etc), 21 medical assistance, and 5 motor vehicle accidents. In department news, they are looking forward to the delivery of the new ladder truck on Thursday. They will be having a Pushing Ceremony August 21^st at 9:00am at Station 1. Frank Bullington has been promoted to Deputy Chief. They participated in the Back to School Bash, where a total of 750 book bags and supplies were given out to children in the community. All maintenance has been done except for painting the outside of station 1, which they will do in the fall. They also participated in the joint mass casualty shooter training that was valuable. They are inspecting local hotels for safety of smoke detectors, exit signs and sprinklers. They purchased and EV fire blanket, that can be used to put out fires with electric vehicles, caused by the lithium battery. Engine numbers have changed from 5 and 9 to 1 and 2. We then heard from the Housing and Urban Development Director, Irene Cantrell with updates on loan applications, programs, and projects currently under way. Planning and Zoning commission will be having a meeting on August 17^th at 10am, and another meeting at 11am will follow from zoning appeals. We heard from the Chief of Codes official, did not have a lot to add to ongoing jobs, with some projects close to completion and some that haven’t been started yet. There is a house being built on Fleming Road, they are waiting for the contractor. We then heard from municipal court, Jackie Walker foe the month of July they had 327 cases, 292 traffic, 35 criminal, 18 bench warrants issued, 71 license suspensions issued, and a total of $37,783 brought in through bonds, deposits from probations, pretrial, restitution paid into the city. They had 0 incarcerations and 0 jail days. We then heard from Cordele Police Chief, Jalon Heard, Cordele Police Department Commission Report for period of June 28, 2023 – July 25, 2023. Part 1 crimes there was a total of 28 incidents reported. These incidents included 1 robbery (armed/by force/strong arm) at Mitchell’s bait/tackle. 19 Larceny, with 1 being entering an auto, 8 shoplifting with 5 arrests and 1 warrant issues and 10 other thefts. There was 4 burglaries with 2 residential, 1 mini storage and 1 business. Part 2 crimes there was 59. Incidents reports 13, Community contacts 77, Citations Issued 32, Warnings Issued 25, Total calls for service from dispatch 1,104. Department News, the Cordele Police Department along side the Cordele Fire Department is working on the planning of the 2nd Annual Cordele Summerfest that will be held August 26th from 10am to 2pm at the Cordele Community Clubhouse. They are currently welcoming vendors and food trucks to participate. If interested in reserving a spot call Christy 229-276-2921. Chief Heard attended the GACP Summer Conference in Savannah. There is currently two cadets in the police academy and 1 certified female candidate in the hiring process. We then heard from public works director, Steve who spoke about they opened proposals for commercial and solid waster disposal, they have had 5 businesses submit proposals which they will be analyzing in the coming weeks. We finally heard from UC&T Director, Debbie who mentioned that they had some breakdowns at the plant but those have been fixed and are back up. She also addressed what Milton Holly said in regards to the impurities in the water, which was mentioned above.

Agenda item number one was to consider and approve the second reading of an ordinance establishing an entertainment district in the City of Cordele; Providing for specialty cups for the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the entertainment district; regulating the consumption of alcohol off premises in the entertainment district; repealing all ordinances in conflict herewith; and for other purposes.

This item was properly moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

Agenda item number two was to consider and approve a memorandum of agreement between Georgia City Solutions and the City of Cordele. Georgia for a Municipal Development Strategy Development and job Recruitment Consulting project.

Background information: The City of Cordele received an invitation to participate in GMA/Georgia Cities Solution Municipal Workforce Needs Assessment. Participating cities will receive technical assistance in conducting a workforce needs assessment, leading to the development of a strategy that identifies action items to be implemented to strengthen the city’s workforce development efforts. Once the assessment is complete, participating cities will receive assistance in developing a talent recruitment communication strategy using a recruitment tool developed by GMA. There is no cost to the city except staff time and meals for the 2 to 3 onsite meetings during the needs assessment phase. David Wade, HR Director has been designated as the primary liaison to work with GMA/GCS on this project.

This item was properly moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

Agenda item number three was to consider and approve the Professional Service Agreement with Safebuilt Georgia, LLC to provide code enforcement services.

Background Information: During budget meetings, approval was granted to hire Code Enforcement Officers. Safebuilt Georgia, LLC can provide this service. Safebuilt Georgia, LLC will provide a code enforcement officer to work twenty (20) hours a week to supplement current staff. Additionally, Safebuilt Georgia, LLC will provide the vehicle and uniform for the code enforcement officer.

This item was properly moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

We then heard City Managers Report from Angela Redding who spoke about the annual rebate check from Home Depot Government program, RFP were received for solid waste disposal, and she mentioned the pushing ceremony coming up with the new ladder truck. Redding also mentions the new businesses in town including, Shalom Furniture, 2 Girls 1 Dream, Oliver boys Cleaning Service, and Multimedia graphic design business. She also mentions that she saw a post on World Atlas that Cordele was listed as an adorable Georgia Small Town.

We then heard from City Attorney, Tommy Coleman who gave an update in regards to the Georgia Peanut property.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:41am.