By Eve Copeland

eve.copeland@gaflnews.com

TIFTON — The Tifton City Council held a retreat while attending the Georgia Municipal Association conference in Savannah from June 22-25.

The retreat took place on June 24 at the Andaz Savannah, located in the historic district of Savannah.

During the retreat, there were no votes taken and the session was not recorded, according to City Clerk Jessica White, who provided the minutes of the meeting.

According to the minutes, the council heard a report from the solid waste committee concerning continued issues with garbage pickup.

Committee member and council member Frank Sayles reminded the council that the city sent a letter detailing the issues to Golden Environmental in November of 2017. Sayles said that the issues, which included bulk pickup, curbside yard debris pickup and the company not following up on customer complaints, are ongoing. The council agreed that the number one complaint they receive from residents is about garbage pickup, according to the minutes.

The minutes state that city attorney Rob Wilmot will review the garbage pickup agreement and determine what options the city has to resolve complaints.

The council discussed the newly adopted Economic Development Department, which was created to “grow and market development outside of the Main Street and Industrial Park areas,” according to the minutes.

Mayor Julie Smith suggested that city manager Pete Pyrzenski see how other communities structure similar departments, and added that the planned Matt Wilson redevelopment project could be under this department’s purview.

Pyrzenski said that the Main Street Program had “greatly improved the downtown area and we need someone to fulfill the need in Tifton for continuing development in the business district outside of downtown.”

Pyrzenski also suggested having the first service delivery meeting with the county in July, and also suggested monthly updates on service delivery be added to the city council agenda.

The council asked Pyrzenski to meet with county manager Jim Carter to develop a timeline and plan for discussing the remaining issues, according to the release.

Pyrzenski informed the council that, because of recent changes in the updated service delivery agreement, the county’s special tax district should increase. The council discussed tax equity and making sure city residents are not overpaying for services.

Mosquito control was also a topic of discussion by the council.

The city will implement its own mosquito control process, and the council recommended city residents be informed about the city’s plans for that process and distributing tablets to kill mosquitoes in waterways throughout the city.

Pyrzenski also told the council that the Ridge Avenue building and island improvements are underway and that, as soon as that project is complete, they will begin working on constructing a walking track in the park.

During the mayor and council’s comments:

• Smith suggested the council set up a round table discussion at the workshop and add a section for council comments to the meeting agenda.

• Vice Mayor Wes Ehlers suggested the city move the enterprise and opportunity zones to include the Matt Wilson redevelopment area, should that be needed. He also suggested reviewing the internal controls policy since the city is looking to make changes in banking services.

• Sayles suggested updating and changing the color of the signs in the historic district as well as updating the local option sales tax since there have been changes made to service delivery.

• Council member Johnny Terrell requested additional police presence in his district since this time of the year has an uptick in thefts and problems in alleys. He requested police take a community policing approach to get familiar with residents.

• Council member Jack Folk asked the city manager to research police calls to Peterson Apartments after dark. Additionally, he said the council “needs to do something about kids driving golf carts on the city streets before an accident occurs.” Folk also requested a list of current board members and their term limits as well as for a review of the Tax Commissioner contract to see how funding for collecting the city’s taxes are distributed.