MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie City Council discussed the progress of several projects during Tuesday night’s meeting.

The discussions were led by City Manager Pete Dillard during the meeting’s work session.

Councilman Daniel Dunn of District II, Post 5 asked about the renovations at Moultrie Fire Station Two.

Moultrie Fire Chief Chad Kilgore responded, “It’s going pretty good. The construction has picked up.”

The council previously approved the $1.3 million remodel project for MFD Fire Station 2 on West Boulevard Southwest during an August 2022 meeting. The project is funded with the 2019 SPLOST fund.

“We need to modify [the station] to handle two genders, and we need a second fire bay to handle a full-size fire truck,” Dillard said in a previous article.

The remodel will include a new bathroom, showers and restrooms to accommodate both male and female firefighters.

The council approved Doors of Arkansas Inc. of Moultrie’s bid for the project. Their bid was below the budgeted amount, Dillard said. The council hopes to use part of the remaining funding as a payment on a new burn building,

Firefighters use burn buildings to ignite controlled fires to practice extinguishing them for training purposes. Burn buildings are a key component in helping the city improve from a Class 3 rating with the Insurance Service Organization to a Class 2 rating.

During a June 2022 meeting, the council approved a $1,117,584 bid from Sutphen Corporation in Dublin, Ohio, for a 75-foot ladder truck for the Moultrie Fire Department. The new truck would replace the fire department’s current 20-year-old ladder truck.

The new truck would also help raise the MFD’s ISO fire rating, which could save residents money on their homeowners insurance, according to Kilgore in the article.

The Insurance Services Organization gives fire departments an ISO rating. The score rates how well a fire department is prepared for fires.

Kilgore expects to receive the truck in approximately October. The truck will be housed at Fire Station 3 on 815 Hwy. 133 South Southeast.

Roundabout on South Main at Fourth Avenue

Greg Monfort, the director of the Moultrie Engineering Department, explained that the “mini roundabout” project planned for the Fourth Avenue Southwest and South Main Street intersection is at a halt while the state Department of Transportation includes right-of-way plans during the roundabout installation.

Other actions

The council approved the following items during the regular session:

• A $64,970 bid for a trailer-mounted 50-kilowatt generator to Williams Electric Service and Generators of Thomasville. The bid will be funded by the Water and Sewer budget.
• A bid for Spence Field drainage box improvements to Zane Grace Construction of Leesburg, Ga., in the amount of $168,353. The Georgia DOT State Airport Aid program will fund 75% of the project and the SPLOST fund will cover the remaining 25%.
• The council approved a cost estimate in the amount of $2,000,000 to improve the drainage infrastructure to prevent flooding in Northeast Moultrie. The improvements will be included in the SPLOST and TSPLOST budgets.
• A $27,592.78 change order request for the Colquitt Theater Streetscape.
• The council adopted the Language Access Plan for the Colquitt County Food Bank’s Community Development Block Grant.
• The council approved two resolutions to the 2022-23 budget. Dillard said the adjustments are to cover the city’s portion of taxes on the Moultrie-Colquitt County Behavioral Health Center and to adjust the city manager and municipal court budgets.

The items were approved through a consent agenda with a vote of 4-0. Council members Lisa Clarke Hill and Wilma Hadley were absent from the vote.

The next scheduled city council meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m.