Taylor Towery Honored as Sweet Onion Citizen

A young man from Vidalia who has been an inspiration for so many was honored as a “Sweet Onion Citizen” at the Vidalia City Council’s July 12 meeting. Mayor Doug Roper, who was told about Taylor Towery by Towery’s aunt, Lisa Chesser, used this information to give the public an understanding of why Towery deserves this award.

Towery is the 25-yearold son of Tommy and Michelle Towery. A Toombs County native, Towery completed pre-K classes in Toombs County before continuing his education at, and ultimately graduating from, the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon in 2018. Through this education and his home life, Towery gained many skills to become as independent as possible. Currently, Towery is employed part-time at Vidalia Small Engine, where he works on the assembly of every piece of equipment the shop sells.

Mayor Roper noted that Towery used the work ethic he was taught as a child and never relied on his physical challenges as an excuse. “You’re an inspiration to me, and one of the reasons we are giving this award to individuals in the community is in hopes they will inspire others to do likewise,” Roper explained. “What I love most about what your Aunt Lisa shared with me was that the word ‘disability’ was never included.” He went on to praise Towery for his independent and able lifestyle before presenting the award.

City Annex Project, Airport Rehabilitation The Council also approved a contract with architect James D. Cone for renovation of the City Annex. The construction project will bring all city administrative functions under the same roof. The contract with the architect involves 5% of the total construction project cost. The project’s total cost has not been fully determined yet and will be shared in the future; however, the City has set aside $750,000 of SPLOST to fund this effort.

City Manager Nick Overstreet stated the architect’s fee is reasonable considering the amount of work that comes along with it. The contract includes working drawings, supervision during the bid process and construction, and engineering.

The engineering services will come from Tom Driggers of Albany, who was involved in the annex project when that site was first purchased and renovated.

Plans for the current City Hall are undecided, but the City has no intention of utilizing it for anything other than municipal purposes, administrators said. This building was constructed in 1935, later renovated in 1975, and expanded in 1996. It is a historic structure will continue to evolve as the City does. The exact timeline of this changeover in locations is currently unknown but after the architect completes his plans, more precise dates will be shared. Overstreet advised the Council of the need to repair the roof of the Ladson Genealogical Library in downtown Vidalia. The library will soon change locations as it is incorporated into the new Dr. Mark and Tonya Spivey Public Library on Jackson Street, but until the relocation occurs, the leak could endanger artifacts and other objects housed there. Overstreet suggested amending the library’s current contract with McLendon Enterprises to allow Hollis Construction Group to begin roof repairs immediately, which the Council unanimously approved.

The City of Vidalia Airport Committee, City Finance Director/City Clerk Amy Murray, Overstreet, and Vidalia Airport Manager Billy Ragan met with a representative of McLendon Enterprises on July 1 for an update on McLendon’s progress on an apron project at the airport. Overstreet reported that on June 24 he received a letter from McLendon explaining the need to stop the project temporarily (until May 10, 2022) because of an issue with the concrete design mix being used for the apron work. The Georgia Department of Transportation accepted and approved the request, and the Council voted unanimously to halt the project until May 2022.

Upcoming Events

The City will hold a public forum regarding an ongoing water issue in the form of a “town hall” meeting on August 12. This meeting will address the public concern of discolored water which many citizens are experiencing. The public will be able to voice their concerns and city officials will provide information on the process to remedy the problem. Late Mayor Ronnie Dixon’s life will be celebrated at the Vidalia City Park on August 19. This event will serve as a public memorial for the longtime local government official that passed away in 2020. Overstreet also expressed his excitement regarding the Georgia Municipal Association’s interest in holding training for municipalities in Vidalia. Normally, these events require officials to travel to larger areas, such as Athens. He explained to the Association the need to have a closer training option for the areas that are near those larger locations. This project is ongoing, but Overstreet has already contacted and confirmed 19 participants from several surrounding areas.

Department Reports DVA Tonya Parker from the Downtown Vidalia Association shared that this year’s annual memorial ceremony on 9/11 will be much larger than in the past. The anniversary falls on a Saturday in 2021, so the Association plans to have a significant event for the public at the Vidalia City Park on that date. Development on this event is ongoing and will continue as the date nears.

Recreation Department

Recreation Director Scott Strickland said the last day the pool will be open for public use is August 5; after this date, the pool will be available to rent in time slots for Saturday and Sunday parties throughout the month of August. There are four time slots for Saturday parties and three time slots for Sunday parties. Many of these slots have already been booked, so those interested should contact the Vidalia Aquatic Center immediately.

The opening day for recreation football will be played at Buck Cravey Field at Vidalia High School. Football and soccer registration will begin August 2 and will run until August 13. Unique this year is that the Recreation Department will offer not only skills and drills events to help train children in the game of soccer but will also offer a three-week “spring season type” preseason program to help educate kids and parents on the game. “We recognize that soccer is a growing sport for us, and we need adults educated in the sport as well,” Strickland explained. Justin Russell and Mike Davis will head this program, which will play once a week until the final jamboree, ultimately leading into the draft.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Brian Sikes reported 19 fire calls, 3 courtesy inspections, 6 car seat checks, and 3 car seat installations in the month of June. This brings the total of fire calls for 2021 to 129, which is two more than by this month in 2020. Chief Sikes also informed the Council that Safe Kids, an international commission to educate children on safety measures, had used Yumion for one of their latest videos, which can be found online worldwide. Overstreet commended Chief Sikes and the rest of the Vidalia Fire Department on their work to put out a fire at a local family’s home. The house was completely engulfed by fire when the department arrived and firefighters were at the scene for six hours. The home was a total loss, but the department was able to work with the family to save a few irreplaceable items, such as photographs and drawings from their children. Chief Sikes said that any public donations of clothes for the family would be happily accepted in the provided space in the parking lot near Planet Fitness on U.S. Highway 280.

Police Department

Vidalia Police Captain James Jermon presented the Council with the police report due to Commissioner Brian Scott’s absence. Captain Jermon explained that calls for service, family violence, burglaries, and rapes are down for the 2021 compared to 2020. VPD answered 2,656 calls for service, including a DUI, 2 aggravated assaults, 6 burglaries, 16 family violence calls, 17 criminal trespass offenses, 33 assault and battery charges, 28 car accidents, and 101 alarm calls. Notable changes in the community between 2020 and 2021 are the decrease in burglaries, accidents, and arrests. Burglaries have decreased 22% in comparison to May 2020. Captain Jermon explained his theory behind this drastic change. “People are home more and even working from home, which discourages burglars from attempting.” Accidents are also down 22% from last year, Jermon said, crediting the increased number of officers patrolling the area as a deterrent. He explained that officers are writing more citations and warnings, so the public is abiding by the law more due to this increase in activity. “All we ask for is compliance to the law,” he said.

The decrease in the number of arrests in the area is notable not because of success regarding law enforcement, but because of the strain which COVID has placed on the criminal justice system. The department only reported 54 adult arrests and no juvenile arrests for the months of June, which is a large decrease from the 315 adult arrests in May 2020. Captain Jermon emphasized the cause of this decrease is due to the maximum capacity of the jail during COVID restrictions. He stated that the jail often would deny booking for individuals because of these restrictions and that these circumstances complicate the police’s work. “All we can do in some situations is let that individual go and hope we catch him/her later,” he disclosed.

ESG

ESG Director Tony Hall reported that the service had to clear a sewage spill caused by a grease blockage and an unrelated pressure drop within two days in the month of June. The pressure drop was an unusual situation but was corrected by bringing the water into a separate water tank then pumping it back into the well. Bacterial sampling was conducted; the sample came back clean with no issues, but more sampling will be completed to ensure safety.

Vidalia Airport

Planning for the 2022 Vidalia Onion Festival Airshow has begun and is well underway according to Airport Manager Billy Ragan. Ragan also reported that the recent film that was shot in the Toombs County area used the West Chapman hanger at Vidalia Airport for one of its scenes. Ragan shared his enthusiasm for this event: “I’ll be excited to see how our airport was utilized and depicted when the movie comes out.” Ragan attended a meeting hosted by the Georgia Department of Transportation in Perry on July 22 where he received a regional airport update and heard about what is ahead for airports financially.

City Marshal

City Marshal Shaun Oliver said that planning for the Vidalia Christmas Parade had also begun. In addition to this, the City has issued six permits during the month of June, which brought in $454,134. No new structure permits were reported. The City reported several ordinance violations, including: 4 cases of illegal dumping, 24 cases of accumulation of trash and junk, 86 cases of overgrown grass and landscaping, a case of an inoperable vehicle, 3 cases of tractor-trailer parking in residential districts, and 5 cases of unsafe structures. A total of 96 cases were closed out.

VCVB

Alexa Britton from the Vidalia Convention and Visitors Bureau stated that there has been a 5% increase in visitors at the museum.

City Clerk

City Clerk Amy W. Murray gave a breakdown of the percentages of revenues and expenditures, which near the halfway mark of the budget. General Fund Revenues are at 55.99% of budget, and General Fund Expenditures are at 51.98% of budget. Recreation Revenues are at 58.49% of budget while Recreation Expenditures are at 48.45% of budget.

Purchases, Contracts, Permits

The Council also approved the purchase of a zero-turn lawnmower for the street and sanitation services of Vidalia, which will be paid for using SPLOST funds. Overstreet presented the Council with three bids on three different lawnmowers and suppliers, but ultimately the bid from Vidalia Small Engine was accepted. This bid was for a 60’ Hustler X-One for $8,100. The previous cancellation of a $86,474.98 contract with Sweet City Landscapes, which maintained City grounds, necessitated that the Council consider other options. City Manager Overstreet proposed a $75,000 three-month contract with another landscaping agency to ensure that the grounds will be maintained. The contract is being lowered to $75,000 to comply with Georgia law, but once another bid is printed, that amount could change.

At a called meeting on July 21, the City Council rescinded the prior contract approval to award the landscaping contract for six months to the Montfort Group. This contract allots this company $25,000 for each month hired; this agreement is effective July through September of 2021 and April through June of 2022. During the meeting, the Council also approved an event permit for the “Sharing Is Caring” event, which was submitted by Bernard Hill of Project Care, Inc./ Harvest Time Faith Church. At the event, held on July 17, supplies and cooked food were distributed to those in need. Overstreet spoke to the Council regarding a scheduling conflict between next month’s regular council meeting and the Georgia Municipal Association Conference. Because of this, the Council approved to move the August 9 meeting to the following Monday, August 16.