MOULTRIE, Ga. — Moultrie City Council members said more than once Tuesday that they hate to de-annex property from the city, but they voted unanimously to do it anyway.

Three adjacent properties on Circle Road asked to be removed from the city because they couldn’t get city utilities. Taken together, the properties were the only land inside the city limits on Circle Road.

Two of the properties are residences and the other, which is zoned for agriculture, is vacant. Its owner, Randy Knight, has tried to develop the land over the years, city staff said, but has been stymied by needing city water and sewer services.

City Manager Pete Dillard estimated at an earlier meeting that it would cost a million dollars to run the services that far from their current locations, a cost that’s prohibitive to both the city and any developer, who would have to pay part of it.

In other action Tuesday, the council:

• Approved a lease agreement for the old Southern Tire building at Spence Field to Tom Stallings, who Dillard said plans to store cottonseed there.

• Set the city’s tax rate at 9.850 mills for 2018, down from 9.935 last year.

• Approved a $50.8 million budget for 2018, which is down from $51.2 million last year.

• Named Big Oak of Thomasville as broker for the city’s health insurance plan.

• Approved a donation for Leadership Georgia, which held an event in Moultrie last weekend. The money is coming from the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund and Council Contingency Fund.

• Heard a presentation from Rich Gallagher, director of the Moultrie YMCA, who updated the council on the Y’s ongoing renovations and its opening of a downtown facility.