The Town of Newborn
Council Meeting
Minutes
September 10, 2012
Present: Mayor Sheridan, MPT Krieger, CP Downs, CP Vandervoet, CP Ellwanger, Clerk Elisa Rowe,
Deputy Town Clerk Heather Jackson, Attorney Joe Reitman
Approximately 4 citizens were present
Deputy S. Johnson and Sheriff Ezell Brown
I.
CALL TO ORDER: The Meeting was called to order at 7pm by Mayor Sheridan
II.
INVOCATION: CP Downs
III.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Lead by Mayor Sheridan
IV.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
August 20th work session: CP Ellwanger made a motion to approve the minutes from the August
20th work session.
Motion: CP Ellwanger
Second: CP Downs
Approved: 5-0-0
Mayor Sheridan recognized Deputy S. Johnson and asked him to update everyone. Deputy
Johnson stated that there has been no activity to report, but he did want to stop in to see if anyone
had any concerns that he could address and pass onto the Sheriff. Deputy Johnson added that the car is
being moved around, and if anyone has other places that it can be parked, just let him know. CP
Vandervoet stated that he has rental property on South Johnson, and if he would like, he could pull it
down there. Deputy Johnson told CP Vandervoet to just give him something in writing to that effect and
once he has in writing that he has permission, then he can move the car there. Mayor, Council and
citizens did not have any concerns for Deputy Johnson to take back to the Sheriff. Mayor Sheridan
thanked Deputy Johnson for stopping in.
V.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Property at 4030 Hwy 142 / Calvin Knox: Attorney Joe Reitman stated that his recollection of
where this was left off is the asbestos issue, and in lieu of testing, they have proposed to tear off the roof
and dispose of the roof by some legal means where we wouldn't have an issue with burning it. Joe asked
if any progress has been done. Mayor Sheridan stated that no one has called here in regards to having the
roof removed. MPT Krieger stated that you have to get on the schedule with the fire department, which
he hears, takes forever; so why would you want to tear the roof off and let it sit for another year. Joe
stated that he does not know the answer to that, and he will refer to whatever the fire department needs,
but there is not much more he can do at this stage. Joe added that he (Knox) has agreed to it. Mayor
Sheridan stated that the fire department will not touch the house unless it is cleared of asbestos, and it
must be proved that there is none. Joe stated it is kind of hard to prove. Mayor Sheridan stated that they
(fire department) said they would not touch it for a fire unless it was cleared; so that is where we sit. Joe
stated that they (Knox and his attorney) have agreed to everything, it is just a matter of getting the fire
department to go with the program. Mayor Sheridan stated that we will check again tomorrow; as long
as they have agreed to everything. CP Downs stated that something also needs to be done about the
grass; it is 6 feet tall and he is sick of looking at it. Attorney Reitman stated that can be addressed, he
will just tell them they need to do it and we can go to court over the grass; it is still a live case pending
before the Newton County Superior Court, so we have leverage. CP Downs stated he does not want us to
spend a lot of money on lawyer fees.
B. Springdale Court: Attorney Joe Reitman stated that the Mayor has told him that the owners are
attempting to clean up after a lawsuit was presented to them. Mayor Sheridan stated that they are
working on it. Mayor Sheridan added that he talked with the owners this morning, and their power
mower broke down yesterday, but she is bringing her brother in to cut the grass
C. Rose Acres: Attorney Joe Reitman stated that he understands that it has been boarded up, so
technically they are in compliance with the ordinances, and at this point he does not know if anything
further can be done. Mayor Sheridan stated that we are still trying to find out who owns it. The Railroad
doesn't own it, but they are checking. Joe stated that he does not know of anything that can be done
legally, since it has been boarded up and is no longer a nuisance. Mayor Sheridan stated that Robert
Williams (who is their real estate man) is going to get back with us as soon as they find out something.
Mayor Sheridan asked Joe about the Fertilizer Plant. Joe stated that he has made a few calls, but no
response yet, so he is going to start writing some letters. Joe went on to state that the issue is, from what
he understands, is that machine shop equipment is going in with no communication with the City of the
intent. Mayor Sheridan stated none whatsoever. MPT Krieger stated that they did come in and get an
application awhile back. Clerk Elisa Rowe stated she did not remember that. MPT Krieger stated again
that they did come in. Dr. Bean asked isn't there something from the past that the building would have to
be made safe, because if there is, that building is not safe. Attorney Reitman stated that it would have to
be brought up to code if it has not been in use for awhile. Mayor Sheridan stated that it has been at least
4-5 years. Attorney Reitman stated that in the Planning and Zoning chart, it does list Machine Shop, but
it is a CU, which would require going before Planning and Zoning and the Mayor and Council for a
conditional use permit, and would require a public hearing.
Mayor Sheridan recognized Sheriff Ezell Brown. Sheriff Brown stated that he just wanted to come by
and make sure the car is still being used and useful. Mayor Sheridan thanked him and said that it is.
Sheriff Brown went on to state that there really hasn't been any issues in the area, other than a vehicle
that was reported stolen, but it ended up being one of those he said / she said situations and turned out it
had been loaned out. Sheriff Brown added that if there is anything anyone needs help with or anything
that we can aid you with, call us and let us know. Mayor Sheridan stated that we appreciate that, and
thanked Sheriff Brown for coming down.
D. Review of SPLOST: Mayor Sheridan stated that on the SPLOST, we have spent $65,745.73 on the
park, and that includes everything that is out there. MPT Krieger has done a great job on it, much better
than we had ever hoped for. Mayor Sheridan went on to say that as of now we have spent just about all
that we can on it for now, and we are looking at some other things. Mayor Sheridan stated that one of
those other things is the paving of Nelson and Field Street and we have received two (2) bids. Mayor
Sheridan opened the bid from ShepCo Paving. The bid for Field Street is in the amount of $18,436.50,
and the bid for Nelson Street is $21,547.50 for a total of $39,984.00. Mayor Sheridan then opened the
second bid which was from Suburban Construction. The bid for Field Street is in the amount of
$14,600.00. The bid for Nelson Street is in the amount of $13,960.00 for a total of $28,560.00. Mayor
Sheridan stated that is a difference of $11,424.00. MPT Krieger asked what we have spent on roads.
Mayor Sheridan stated the cost is minor; small items. Mayor Sheridan stated that we need a motion on
which one to accept. CP Ellwanger made a motion to accept the bid from Suburban Construction in the
amount of $28,560.00 for the paving of Nelson and Field Street.
Motion: CP Ellwnager
Second: CP Downs
Approved: 4-0-1
(MPT Krieger against)
CP Ellwnager stated she would like to know what the objection is, if she may. MPT Krieger stated that
he just thinks since we have five years left of roads, this is going to eat up 1/3 of our budget. Mayor
Sheridan stated that this is the last of the unpaved roads in Town. MPT Krieger stated that he
understands that. CP Downs stated that we have to start sometimes and you don't want to wait four
years. MPT Krieger stated he knows, but he just hopes nothing happens. Mayor Sheridan stated that we
have spent $65,000.00 on the park right off the bat. MPT Krieger stated that he does not see huge
maintenance, like roads, on the park. Mayor Sheridan stated that he does not see maintenance on the
roads. MPT Krieger stated that we are just maintaining the roads. Mayor Sheridan stated that we are
paving them. MPT Krieger asked if Nelson wasn't already paved. Mayor Sheridan stated that we are
resurfacing Nelson. MPT Krieger stated that is correct, we are maintaining the road. Mayor Sheridan
stated that we have had a vote and the vote is to accept the bid, so we will go ahead.
Mayor Sheridan stated that the post office has sent letters to all postal users in Newborn and who use
the Newborn post office. They have asked for a meeting on the 10th of October at 12:00 at Mansfield,
and at 4:00 at Newborn. The letter included a questionnaire that asked which type of postal service you
wanted. Whether it would be 4 hours a day, abolish the post offices and use Covington entirely, or have
the rural carriers handle all of the mail distribution. Mayor Sheridan stated that he thinks one of the
solutions would be a joint post office for Newborn and Mansfield instead of having to go all the way into
Covington. That meeting is coming up, so anyone that wants to attend those two meetings, keep it in
mind because the more people we have there, the better chance we have of getting something
straightened out for the post office.
Mayor Sheridan stated that he talked to the engineers today, and they are going to give us, in the next
day or two, the speed bumps for Johnson Street which we will put in.
VI.
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Possible Grants: Mayor Sheridan stated that we are talking to Home Depot. They have submitted
our application to their head office and they will get back to us on what they will or will not do. We are
hoping that they will build the two fences for us, and if they do that will save us some money.
B. LARP: Mayor Sheridan stated that LARP is where the state, in the past, took care of Field Street and
Davis Street. The state supervises, the state goes to bid, they check the material and everything, but that
has changed. As of now, any LARP that we do, or can expect from the state, the Town has to go to bid,
the Town has to supervise it, the Town has to run the test on the materials and submit the test and until
all the test are approved by DOT, they will not reimburse anything. Mayor Sheridan stated that his
feelings are we should go ahead and use our SPLOST and not fiddle with the LARP, because we
couldn't handle it. We would have to hire an engineering firm, we would have to have supervision out
there, we would have to run tests and send them to the lab and submit reports to the DOT and what has
and hasn't been done, and the Mayor just feels that would be too much for the Town and too expensive
to do. CP Downs agreed and said after we spend all that money, they could even turn it down. Mayor
Sheridan stated if the tests don't pass, they can turn it down and say "fellows it is all yours".
C. Local Excise Tax on Energy Used in Manufacturing: Mayor Sheridan stated that there is a
meeting tomorrow at 2pm at the county office and he needs to be prepared to tell them yes or no and
asked Attorney Reitman to explain exactly what this is. Attorney Reitman stated it is essentially a tax on
energy that is used in industrial manufacturing process. Joe added that what it is in his mind, and he is
just being pragmatic now, not from a legal perspective, he looks at it as being a disincentive for industry
to locate in a community. Joe added that he was asked to confer down in Sparta with the City Attorney
(Joe is the County attorney for Hancock), for them to collaborate and make a recommendation jointly to
the city and county, and their joint recommendation was do not impose this tax because it will be a
disincentive and we want good, clean industries, manufacturing, etc. to come to the County. Joe went on
to say that he thinks the folks at the County, and the Industrial Developmental Authority Park, he
doubts they would want to see such a thing as an energy tax either because it would keep good industry
from coming in. That is kind of the Chamber of Commerce line that you are probably going to hear and
Joe added that he understands that is how the Governor feels, but he doesn't have a lot of detail on that,
but ultimately we are not really "driving the train" anyway, it will be the County and Covington who
will be "driving that train" to impose an energy tax; we are kind of along as an innocent bystander.
Mayor Sheridan stated that he is personally against it. CP Downs and CP Ellwanger agreed. Mayor
Sheridan asked if this is the consensus of the group that we say no. CP Ellwanger stated it is and all
members agreed to vote no on the excise tax on energy.
D.. Invoice 850.6765 for Lambert, Reitman & Abney in the amount of $982.50: CP Downs made a
motion to approve the invoice for Lambert, Reitman & Abney in the amount of $982.50.
Motion: CP Downs
Second: CP Ellwanger
Approved: 5-0-0
VII.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Wanda Cummings: Asked how many services does Newborn have to have to maintain our Town
status. Mayor Sheridan stated three (3). Wanda asked if the post office was considered one of those
services. Attorney Reitman stated that is not our service, it is the US Government. Joe stated that the
Town has recreation, planning, law enforcement, firefighting, and water.
Dr. Bean: Dr. Bean asked, in regards to the fertilizer property, can that not be included in the lawsuit
with 4030 Hwy 142. Attorney Reitman stated that is a separate party, and we would have to do a
separate deal with that. Dr. Bean then asked if the property at 4030 Hwy 142, and the deal with the
asbestos, testing and the roof, could that not be put back into that lawsuit. Attorney Reitman stated that
we have all kinds of options because it is a pending lawsuit, and they have agreed to pretty much do
what the City needs done as long as it doesn't expend significant funds out of their pocket, because
they don't have anything, apparently. Calvin Knox is in ill health, from what Joe understands, and the
money he has put into this property over the years, now he is having to agree to have it burned or torn
down. There is not really any good answers, he is afraid, because he doesn't have any money.
CP Downs: Stated that in front of Dollar General, the reservoir that is full of water, has a million
mosquitoes there and he cannot even walk out in his yard without getting eat up and they need to spray
at the reservoir. Dr. Bean asked if the Dollar General still owns the lot next to the store. Mayor Sheridan
stated yes. Dr. Bean stated that someone needs to write them a letter and tell them to cut the grass.
Mayor Sheridan asked Attorney Reitman if he would write a letter to the Dollar General in regards to the
reservoir and the grass. Attorney Reitman stated that he would.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT: Mayor Sheridan adjourned the meeting at 7:25PM
Motion: CP Downs
Second: CP Vandervoet
Approved: 5-0-0