Blackshear City Council discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session on Tuesday, June 2 and regular meeting held on Tuesday, June 9.
Final approval of 2026-2027 budget: The Blackshear City Council held its second and final reading of the ordinance approving the city’s budget for the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year. There was no public comment made during the allotted time prior to the budget being unanimously passed.
The city’s enterprise fund is budgeted for $2,635,500. The city’s special funds are budgeted for $7,045,750.
City cemetery camera ordinance: The agenda of the city’s June 2 work session was amended at the last minute to include a proposal for a new ordinance governing who can and cannot post cameras and other monitoring or recording devices in the city cemetery.
Following an incident about which not much has been made public, the city council found it in the best interest of the city and the public to officially outline a new policy regarding “the placement of unauthorized structures, equipment, cameras, signs and other personal property within municipal cemeteries which may interfere with cemetery operations, maintenance activities, public safety and the privacy of cemetery visitors.”
Effectively immediately upon the ordinance’s passing “no person shall place, erect, attach, install, maintain, conceal, or operate any camera, trail camera, video recording device, audio recording device, motion-activated camera, surveillance equipment, monitoring device, or similar electronic equipment within any municipal cemetery without the prior written authorization of the City of Blackshear.”
Any such devices discovered in any municipal cemetery under the city’s authority can be removed at any time without prior notice.
City selects firm for County Farm Rd. well: In a unanimous vote, the city appointed Hofstadter & Associates, Inc. of Macon to provide engineering services for a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant for the County Farm Road well project.
Mayor Keith Brooks said the council reviewed all bids for the project and graded each one based on a set of criteria to determine the best choice. The scoring was based upon the various firms’ ability to provide required disciplines, relevant project experience, knowledge of the community, staff expertise and experience with federally funded projects.
Hofstadter & Associates, Inc. received the highest overall ranking and was determined to be the most qualified to provide the required engineering services.
Purchase of new tractor loader postponed: The council unanimously voted to temporarily table a vote on the purchase of a new compact tractor loader.
Mayor Brooks said the council required more time to evaluate the available bid documents for the prospective purchase before making a final decision.
Department Reports Blackshear Police Dept. Report: BPD reported 14 vehicular accidents in the month of May, 4 with injuries. Five warnings, 115 citations and 2 ordinance violation were recorded.
There were only 7 arrests in May, all adults, which still is a 75% increase from May, 2025.
Blackshear Volunteer Fire Dept. Report: BFD responded to 30 different events in May. BFD workers and volunteers completed a total of 210 cumulative hours of activities and training.
Public Works Dept: Last month, the department conducted 30 water and sewer locates and 3 sewer main repairs. There were also 2 meter and meter box replacements and 3 meter lid and valve replacements. There were 60 leak checks, locating 45. There were also 25 read checks, 20 close outs, 38 service cut offs, 25 services cut back on and 20 new consumers connected in May. There was one incident of consumer tampering during the reporting period. Public works also performed routine grass maintenance, replaced damaged street signs, conducted routine cleaning of storm drains, repaired potholes and performed routine limb trimming and did routine grass maintenance at the cemetery.
Main Street Program: The Main Street/Better Hometown program had $18,758.53 dollars in operational expenses during May. Five events were held in the downtown area, but the primary event was Beats and Eats, featuring the Zac Brown tribute band 20 Ride. The total estimated attendance for all three events was approximately 1,200 and a total of 80 volunteer hours were estimated to have been used.
Two new businesses opened during the reporting period, Rouse Realty and Tranquil Pines.
Attendance: All members of the city council except Mitch Hall and City Attorney Adam Ferrell were present for the regular meeting.
Next meeting: The council will hold its next work session, meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 2 and its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 9.
