City of Waynesboro Hears Good Results of 2024-2025 Audit

The Waynesboro City Commission met in regular session on Monday, March 23, 2026, at City Hall in Waynesboro. All commissioners were in attendance: Mayor Lynn Warren, Vice Mayor Tony Creasy, Commissioner Jeff Davis, Commissioner Jeff Howell, and Commissioner Chris Bevis. City Manager John Hickman, City Attorney Josh Polk, and City Recorder Paige Sanders were also in attendance.

Following the invocation and approval of previous minutes, City Manager Hickman asked Mr. Mark Godwin, whose accounting company conducts the city’s annual audit, to address the commission with audit findings from the fiscal year 2024-2025 audit. Mr. Godwin stated that the city once again received an “unqualified opinion,” which is the highest opinion an auditor can make, and praised the city for being financially stable with healthy fund balances and low debt. He went on to compliment the city’s accounting and bookkeeping system and said that it made the process of the audit much easier for everyone. Both Mr. Godwin and City Manager Hickman gave city employees high praise for keeping excellent records and handling the city’s finances in a very precise and professional manner.

Mr. Godwin said the city’s net position had increased by approximately $2 million from the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which is very good. The net position, simply put, is figured by subtracting what the city owes in short- and long-term debt from the value of all city accounts, CDs, and other assets.

There was only one finding on the FY 2024-2025 audit, which is even lower than last year’s two findings, the lowest number in many years. The one finding and city management’s response are listed below.

1. INADEQUATE SEGREGATION OF DUTIES

The operating structure of the City does not provide adequate segregation of duties between persons with access to assets and those responsible for reconciling records and recording transactions. The cause of this finding was identified as a lack of accounting staff. Management’s response was that the board and management will review and document its review of the financial transactions incurred by the city.

Mr. Godwin reassured the commission as he has in the past that this is a very common finding in many cities, and that it is not a critical error on the audit.

Commissioner Howell asked how the City of Waynesboro compares with other cities of its size, and Mr. Godwin said he considered Waynesboro to be above average.

The commission then voted to retain the accounting services of Godwin and Associates for another year. The cost of the services will go up $2,000 this year to a total of $33,000. Mr. Godwin explained that it seemed the Comptroller’s Office was requiring new rules to be followed and new paperwork to be submitted every year, which makes the auditors’ jobs much harder.

Following Mr. Godwin’s presentation, the commission went on to discuss more old business. City Manager Hickman told the commission that there was currently $1,141,000 in the water and sewer account and asked if they would be interested in paying off the water treatment plant debt. The principal amount of that loan is now down to $1,665,824. The city was able to get a low interest rate of 2% on the USDA loan when it was first taken out, but the city is also earning an average of 4% interest on CDs holding water/sewer account funds. The commission made no decision on the proposition to pay a large amount on the water treatment plant loan at this time.

Department reports were next on the agenda. City Manager Hickman distributed monthly investment reports and cash collateral statements for the commissioners’ review. He noted that the city had passed the $15 million mark over the past month in total cash collateral. The commissioners agreed that they don’t want citizens to think they are just stockpiling money and assets and not using them, and Mr. Hickman pointed out that a great deal of the city’s money is being used for paving. The various paving projects completed over the last few years are evidence of this, and Commissioner Bevis said he felt that if people can see where the money is being spent, they will be okay with it.

City Manager Hickman took a moment to congratulate Commissioners Bevis, Creasy, and Howell for their automatic re-election as they ran unopposed in the 2026 Municipal Election.

Mr. Hickman next said he had spoken recently with Rogers Group, and they are slated to begin the next $600,000-$700,000 phase of paving city streets the third week of April. They estimate they will be in Waynesboro for about two weeks.

Next was a discussion about the new water tank on Clifton Turnpike. City Manager Hickman said the original bid for the whole water tank project was $1.57 million, with $859,000 of that being for the tank itself. The $700,000+ remaining was quoted for water line installation, site prep, fence construction, and foundation work, along with engineering costs for the project. The city told TDEC they could handle the water lines, site prep, and foundation themselves for much less than $700,000, and TDEC agreed to let them do those things. Mr. Hickman told the commission that all those parts and pieces of the whole project the city was taking care of would come in at an approximate cost of $87,743, which is a major savings of over $600,000 in TDEC grant money. Jeff Minatra of Collier Engineering said the project must be finished and online by August 31, but he expects it to be done by June 30. City Manager Hickman said that once online, the new water tank and existing water tank together will be able to provide water for the Wayne County Jail/Criminal Justice Center, the new Head Start facility, and all the Wayne Halfway House buildings on Andrew Jackson Drive for a period of five days.

City Manager Hickman next informed the commission that the city had been awarded a Three-Star Economic Development Grant that will pay for a new roof to be installed on the former Lincoln Brass (now city-owned) building. The total cost of the project will be $274,000, with the city to pay a $34,000 match and the grant to fund the remaining $240,000. There has been some information indicating that the Industrial Development Board will help the city with the $34,000 match.

The city manager then told the commission that Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) representatives would be in town on March 30 to review the city’s request for FEMA reimbursement funds for costs related to the January ice storm. He said FEMA would determine the exact dollar amount they would reimburse, but he expected it to be between $30,000 and $40,000.

The first item of new business on the agenda was an engagement agreement with Fox PE, LLC, a small engineering company. City Manager Hickman said Collier Engineering put him in touch with Mr. Dudney Fox for smaller projects, and he gave two as examples. First was a part for a chemical mixer needed at the water plant. Collier said they would have to charge $25,000 to put their stamp of approval on the part, while Fox could do it for $5,000. As with the chemical mixer at the water plant, drawing up Standard Operating Procedures before extending water lines would cost $25,000 if done by Collier and $5,000 if done by Fox. Mr. Minatra said Mr. Fox had helped Collier with a lot of smaller projects, and he was highly recommended. Commissioner Davis made a motion, seconded by Vice Mayor Creasy, to sign the contract with Fox PE, LLC. The motion carried unanimously.

The next item of new business on the agenda was an emergency services agreement with Safe Industries, the company that provided generators for the city’s water plant and well during the ice storm. City Manager Hickman explained that this would be a no-cost agreement, and the city will be automatically on the list to get generators during any future natural disasters. Of course, the city will have to pay for the use of generators provided by Safe Industries, but there is no cost to enter into the agreement. Commissioner Warren asked how long the agreement was for, and Hickman said it would be a twelve-month initial agreement that could be extended or could be canceled by either party. The commission voted unanimously in favor of the agreement.

Next on the agenda was the 2026 CDBG Paving Grant Resolution. The resolution approves the city to apply for a grant that will provide funds for more paving projects in the city this fall. TDEC grant guidelines state that the city may apply for up to $570,471 in CDBG grant funding. The Paving Grant Resolution was unanimously approved.

The final item of new business on the agenda was an ARP water tank engineer change order request. Mr. Minatra explained that earlier on in the new water tank project, $52,000 was added via change order to the original contracted amount of $70,000 for engineering services, due to the fact that two new thousand-foot water lines had to be installed from the pump house to the water tank. He explained that another change order was now requested in the amount of $54,800 to cover the many different and somewhat difficult things TDEC had required for the project along the way. Mr. Minatra went on to say that this would be the last change order of the project. The commission unanimously approved the change order.

Under open items on the agenda, Commissioner Bevis asked about the poor condition of Walker Road, which is a city street. City Manager Hickman said Walker Road would be paved if and when the TDEC grant is awarded for this fall’s paving project. The commission agreed to take another look at the possibility of Walker Road becoming one-way after it is re-paved.

Commissioner Bevis went on to say he had spoken with a city resident regarding their concerns about a trashed property next to theirs, but the trashed property is outside city limits. The commission confirmed nothing could be done by the city in that situation.

Commissioner Creasy said he received a complaint about a tree down and some bushes still piled up from the ice storm on someone’s city property. City Manager Hickman said the city would be glad to haul off the bushes but cannot do anything about the tree.

Commissioner Howell asked how the Sportsplex is looking for ball season. City Manager Hickman said it had been cleaned up, and the cost was turned in to FEMA for reimbursement. Commissioner Howell also mentioned some cracks in the walking trail, and Mayor Warren said perhaps some foam void filler could be used to repair the cracks. Commissioner Howell next asked about the sidewalk project. City Manager Hickman said they would pick up next with a segment of sidewalk from the School Board to Lloyd Street, but would wait until school is out to start the project back up.

Lastly, Commissioner Howell asked about the musical performer for the Independence Day Celebration. City Manager Hickman said $40,000 was already committed to the headliner along with a local opening act. He said they had been looking at headliners that would be available for that price.

Mayor Warren said he had heard complaints about trash piled up at properties on Hassell Street.

Commissioner Davis said that in his opinion the city should start replacing its oldest water lines. City Manager Hickman said they had been replacing hundreds of water meters every month, and water loss had gone down from over 41% two years ago to 17% now. He said water meters are only supposed to have a ten-year lifespan, and some in Waynesboro have been in use for 25 years or longer.

Mayor Warren complimented those who cleaned up the fallen trees at the Waynesboro Golf Course after the ice storm. He said there are still broken limbs hung pretty high up in the trees left standing that need to be removed somehow before they fall and injure someone. Commissioner Davis said this was true at City Park as well.

Commissioner Howell asked if the golf course was looking good for the season, and Mayor Warren said for the most part, yes.

With no further business to come before the commission, the meeting was adjourned.