Gordon County and the City of Calhoun have agreed to base the distribution on population. The population figures are based on the 2010 Census, and the proposed distribution formula is based on population as follows: Gordon County has 69.35 percent, City of Calhoun has 28.35 percent, City of Fairmount has 1.3 percent, and City of Resaca has 1.0 percent
Bryce Holcomb with Citigroup gave a presentation concerning the adoption of a Series 2012 Bond Resolution and Bond Purchase Agreement.
“The City of Calhoun and the City School Board are some of my best clients and commended the Council and School Board for their sound fiscal responsibility and leadership.” Holcomb said.
Holcomb said that the remaining General Obligation (GO) Bonds’ rate yield and pricing for the new City High/Middle School complex were now locked in. The bonds were sold in a very low rate environment.
The total original GO referendum was for 33 million, with bonds worth 21 million being sold last year under a federal program, which received a zero percent interest rate, according to Holcomb. The remaining 12 million were sold on August 13 at three and four percent rates with investors willing to pay a premium for the bonds.
This means that the schools will receive around 12.7 million for the 12 million par amount of the bonds.
Holcomb said the bonds are tax exempt, and also include a call option, which will allow the City to refinance into a cheaper interest rate in the future if the rates move lower.
Council member Al Edwards gave the monthly reports for the police department, municipal court and probation, fire department, fire inspection and the downtown development authority.
The police department made 675 cases with 8 DUI’s, issued 678 warnings, investigated 43 highway accidents, 29 private property accidents, provided 70 escorts, 1,673 incident reports, responded to 863 alarms, patrolled 56,008 miles and responded to 4,659 calls for service by E-911. They CPD also collected $67,340.40 fines by Municipal Court.
The Municipal Court and probation had 574 Court cases, $15,662 collected in probation payments, they dropped 111 cases, had 351 Bond forfeitures, 50 probation cases, 12 probation revocations, 65 failures to appear and transported 27 prisoners.
The Fire Department responded to 148 calls for service for the suppression division, 6 fire incidents for damages, they responded to 89 medical service calls, 19 hazardous conditions incidents, 18 false alarms or false calls, seven good intent, zero weather and natural disaster calls and five officers participated in an incident command class. Two firefighters completed a leadership and an instructor’s class. The department completed 481 man hours of training, and Trenching for underground power and grading for the retention pond at the training building site has been completed.
The Fire Inspection Department had 144 total reported activities/inspections which included 25 annual inspections, four new business inspections, 37 requested inspections, 24 follow-up or re-inspections and 50 consultations.
The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and Main Street Program office continues to work with Landmark Development and Calhoun Affordable Housing to obtain tax credit financing for the proposed Cherokee Mill Lofts. In July, the group was successful in obtaining a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant for this project and should have the decision of the DCA no later than mid October regarding the tax credits.
The DDA continues to work with the design and construction companies on Streetscape Phase III and the design of Phase IV. “We appreciate the patience of all business owners in the Downtown area and their customers and clients. We anticipate Phase III to be completed by the end of September,” Edwards said.
The Downtown Calhoun Facebook page has contests with free tickets to entertainment events at the Harris Arts Center and the GEM Theatre. They also sponsors of the performance of Stephen Freeman, a Tribute to Elvis Show on August 25. Tickets are available at the GEM box office. They have also begun a Shop of the Week for Downtown, which features one shop each week to help promote the downtown businesses on the Downtown Calhoun Facebook page.
The DDA and the Chamber of Commerce hosted the Keep it in the County – Summer Santa event at the BB&T City Park last Friday. A lot of local businesses contributed items to be given away to those presenting shopping receipts from area merchants. The free event featured a concert by Babe’s Bayou Band, Santa for the kids and great fun for everyone.
Council Member Matt Barton informed the community on the street department, cemetery department, rabies control, parks department, safety committee and recreation.
The street department completed 21 shop and 24 street department work orders, they placed eight new street signs, inspected and maintained approximately 98 miles of street and storm drainage, repaired utility cuts and several pot holes around town using 13 tons of asphalt, they Mulched around the trees and shrubs at the 58 acre park, and they dug up a large stump on Short Trammel Street, filled the hole with top soil and covered it with sod..
The cemetery department performed routine maintenance on Fain and Chandler Cemetery, and they supervised the opening and closing of 10 gravesites and sold seven new grave spaces.
Rabies Control housed 28 dogs and 11 cats. They issued one warnings, and answered 41 customer calls.
The parks department ground crew picked up litter, hauled garbage to the dump, books from the library and maintained records at the records room. They mowed and weedeated approximately 19 miles of sidewalks, 29 islands and 42 other designated places in the city. The building and maintenance crew performed routine maintenance and designed city buildings and all fountains, and repaired and painted the fence at City Hall.
The safety committee did inspection on the Electric Department. They had zero vehicle accident, and zero workers comp reports.
Youth Baseball and Softball and Adult Softball was during the week of July 10 – 14. Calhoun Recreation Department had 5 teams that participated in the GRPA State tournaments. 7-8 Flea Girls won the GRPA State tournament held in Cordele bringing the State Championship Trophy to Calhoun for the second year in a row for the 7-8 Girls. The 7-8 Flea Boys participated in the GRPA State tournament as the Fifth District Runner-up in Moultrie. The 11-12 Major Boys participated in the GRPA State tournament as the Fifth District Runner-up in Bainbridge.
The agency hosted the GRPA 11-12 Traditional Boys Baseball State Tournament with 10 teams from across the state participating, along with the 9-10 Mite Girls Live Arm GRPA State tournament with 7 teams participating. The estimated economic impact for Calhoun and Gordon County for these two GRPA events is $85,313.00, according to Barton.
The Calhoun Blue Barracudas and Calhoun Recreation Department hosted the GRPA Fifth District Swim Meet on July 7. There were 290 swimmers that participated in the meet. There were 34 Blue Barracudas that advanced to the GRPA State Swim Meet held in Tifton on July 20 -21. At the GRPA State Meet we had five Barracudas that won state championships in their events. The Barracudas finished eight in the GRPA state swim meet.
The Ratner Pavilion and open space area were the location for the Boys and Girls Club Old Navy Sponsored Funnovation Day on Saturday, July 21. There were an estimated 2,000 people in attendance for the event.
Council member George Crowley reported on water, sewer, engineering and building inspection. The water, sewer and engineering department has finished the construction of the filter structures, and the forming the walls for the pipe gallery is underway. Maintenance crews are approximately 50 percent complete with the upgrades to the Coosawattee intake. The water system flushing program is in progress again. The largest portion of the system has been completed. Water and Sewer relocation for the Union Grove Interchange has begun and is approximately 25 percent complete. The Harris Beamer water main design and permitting is complete and construction is scheduled to begin this month. Six water treatment staff members attended an eight hour training class based on advanced procedures for laboratory and water testing methods.
The water distribution completed 12 Water connections, 43 water service leaks repaired, 24 water main leaks repaired, 12 water services changed from old water main to new main, five change out of meters, 70 utility locates called in for work orders, 410 utility locates responded to, and 128 miscellaneous calls. They also completed changing of services from old main to new main along Elm Street, and completed replacing water service lines under new sidewalk south of Courthouse.
The building inspection department issued 25 permits for an estimated cost of $581,569.00. This included two new residential, two residential remodeling, two residential electrical, three commercial HVAC, one new industrial HVAC, one industrial electrical and four sign permits
Councilman Hammond gave the report on the electric department, telecommunications, geographic information systems (GIS), the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission (NWGRC) and the airport.
The electric department’s major construction projects include: Calhoun High School, Streetscape phase III, Engineered Floors Phase III expansions, Mohawk Rug and Textile expansion. The electric system supplied 41,952,637 kwh in July making this the best July every for power sales, according to Hammond.
The telecommunications departments completed city network switch replacement. They installed two new Internet connections, replaced three hard drives on meter reading server to increase storage space, ordered and installed five new computers. Opened 57 and closed 46 work orders.
GIS assisted the electric department with pole audit data maintenance, created plot management application for Cemetery, update pre-fire plans for Fire Department added water service laterals to GIS map, updated changes between physical addressing and billing account information and continue to assist engineering with wastewater inflow/infiltration project, water valve identification tagging, and water hydrant and hydrant valve inventory.
The NWGRC is starting to accept applications for an Executive Director. The current Director is retiring. The Commission’s Aging and Work Force Development program will be moving into the Governor’s office.
Councilman Hammond said that Tom B. David Airport is continuing with planning and engineering for the new taxiway.
For more information on the City Council meeting please visit www.cityofcalhoun-ga.com.
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