The Waynesboro City Commission met in regular session on Monday, October 24, 2022 at City Hall in Waynesboro. All commissioners were in attendance, including Mayor Jeff Davis, Vice Mayor Lynn Warren, Commissioner Chris Bevis, Commissioner Jeff Howell, and Commissioner Tony Creasy. Also in attendance were City Manager John Hickman, City Attorney Josh Polk, and City Recorder Paige Jackson.
Mayor Davis called the meeting to order, and Commissioner Howell offered the invocation.
First on the agenda was approval of the minutes from the previous commission meeting. Commissioner Howell made a motion to approve, and Commissioner Creasy seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved.
City Manager Hickman distributed cash collateral statements and monthly investment reports to the commissioners for their review. He reminded the commissioners of the Chamber of Commerce dinner coming up on November 3.
City Manager Hickman then distributed to the commissioners a breakdown of different options that the county will be voting on in November for ways to increase solid waste revenue. The examples were generated by CTAS based on a survey completed by RaeKar, county solid waste records, and the U.S. Census report.
The options include a household/business solid waste fee, a wheel tax solid waste fee, and a processing and handling fee to collection companies. The options generated by CTAS may be modified as decided by the County Commission. Although the county’s financial advisors recommend that the county does not remove any monies from the solid waste budget for at least three years until they see how much revenue the new fees will actually generate, the goal is to decrease or completely eliminate the amount of funds received from property tax dollars to fund solid waste. However, eliminating funding from property tax dollars will only help property owners; the new fees suggested will put the burden of the cost of solid waste completely on the taxpayers and waste collection companies. These options will be presented at the November meeting of the Wayne County Commission for consideration and voting.
The first item of new business on the agenda was the sale of the city’s property at 203 South High Street, the building currently occupied by Wayne Provision. Bids were solicited for the property, with only one bid being turned in by the deadline. Wayne Halfway House submitted a bid in the amount of $250,000.00. Commissioner Bevis made a motion to accept the bid, and Vice Mayor Warren seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
The other item of new business was a water tap request at 1591 Highway 64 East. City Manager Hickman confirmed that all the necessary fees had been paid. Commissioner Howell made a motion to approve, and Commissioner Bevis seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Under open items on the agenda, Commissioner Bevis asked if the city currently has any buildings up for rent or lease. City Manager Hickman said that all city-owned buildings are occupied at this time with the exception of the former Lincoln Brass building.
Mayor Davis noted that the street lights on Parkway Drive had still not been installed, and City Manager Hickman said that he was still talking to TVEC about that.
With no further business to come before the commission, Commissioner Creasy made a motion to adjourn. Vice Mayor Warren seconded, and the meeting was adjourned.
