MINUTES

MAYOR AND COUNCIL CALLED MEETING

February 17, 2011

The Mayor and Council of the City of Franklin, Georgia, met for a called meeting Thursday, February 17, 2011 at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Chapman presiding.

Mayor Chapman called the meeting to order. Councilman Hamil gave the invocation followed by Councilman Almond leading in the pledge.

Mayor Chapman said this meeting was called to discuss the transportation projects. She turned the discussion over to Councilman Adams. Councilman Adams told the council he had met with Alan Holcomb, Chief Hannah and Darold Wiggins to help compile a list of projects for the City of Franklin. The list includes

1.	Eight street lights Highway 27 to Highway 34 ramp

2.	Intersection at Fire station on Highway 34, install traffic light

3.	Widen Franklin Parkway on west side to install sidewalk from Mary Johnson Drive to Heard High School with cross over bridge over Franklin Parkway

4.	Glover Road, widen & pave

5.	Highway 34 and Highway 100 intersection. One suggestion was to close a portion of Mary Johnson Drive and install a new entrance from Highway 34 to Franklin Aluminum due to the high volume of truck traffic and the narrow road.

This led to a general discussion by the Council and Mr. Wiggins. Some of the points raised were:

•	The criteria for projects are very strict. All of these projects will be submitted to try and get something.

•	Mr. Wiggins will use a model software from ARC to help with cost estimates. The D.O.T. has set the cost estimates on the high side because they have often been too low in the past.

•	Some officials have voiced opposition to this bill. Many cities and counties are concerned they will be paying in far more than they will be receiving. They are also concerned the bigger counties and cities in the region will be receiving the most benefit from this. Heard County tax dollars could conceivably be used to pave roads in other counties with Heard County receiving little or no benefit.

•	If the bill passes in the region and not in the county, the county will have to pay a much higher percentage for any work done by the D.O.T.

The Council also discussed the projects.

1.	Councilman Manders said he would like to see lights at all intersections coming into the city. Most of these intersections are dark and need to be lighted for the general safety of the public.

2.	Councilman Almond expressed concern about closing part of Mary Johnson Drive. He said this would only create a bottleneck somewhere else. Councilman Manders suggested a separate corridor for trucks and leave Mary Johnson for residential traffic only.

Mr. Wiggins told the council the projects are currently a wish list. This will be submitted on March 30, 2011 to a roundtable of ten, composed of two members from each county, to determine which projects best meets the criteria of regional significance. A condensed list will be presented to a committee of five who will present a final list to the state in July. The state will set aside money for projects they approve. Once projects are accepted, they will be placed on a referendum to be voted on in 2012 by the voters in each county. Mr. Wiggins said he thinks the D.O.T. will be in charge of administering the funds. Councilman Adams thanked Mr. Wiggins on the behalf of the council for his help.

There was no further business to discuss and Councilman Rogers made a motion, seconded by Councilman Hamil, to adjourn. The vote was unanimous.

_____________________________________

Teresa Chapman, Mayor

Members Present:	Clerks Present:

Myra C. Braswell

Shane Manders, Post # 1

Willie Almond, Post #2

Joel Rogers, Post #3

Johnny Adams, Post #4

Jimmy Hamil, Post #5