Blackshear City Council discussed and/or voted on the following during their monthly work session July 1 and regular meeting held July 8.
Housing Authority appointment: Tony Batten and Vanessa James were both recently re-appointed to the Blackshear Housing Authority by a unanimous vote of the city council. Mayor Keith Brooks said that they had just recently been notified of the expiration of Batten’s term in 2024 and had moved to rectify the gap in coverage as quickly as possible.
Mitigation grant: A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mitigation grant has was awarded by the federal government to help prevent future storm damage in the Lakeview area such as occurred during Hurricane Debby. A grant of $531,000 has been allotted to reinforce the truss pipe that goes around the lake there. The city will pay for the work up front and be reimbursed by the grant program after invoices are submitted. The quoted turnaround time on reimbursement was “usually” six months.
Surplus equipment sales: From July 2024 to June 2025, Blackshear has sold 11 different listings of surplus vehicles and equipment on www.govdeals. com. The listings were mostly aged police vehicles, a forklift and a listing for spare parts that began with starting bids totaling $1,960 and recouped a total of $27, 485 for the city. Mayor Brooks said, “Sometimes it is pretty amazing what some people will pay for worn out stuff.”
Department Reports Blackshear Police Dept. Report: BPD reported 16 vehicular accidents in the month of June, one with injuries. Twelve warnings, 85 citations and six ordinance violations were recorded. There were also 11 arrests in June, which is a 175% increase over June 2024.
Blackshear Volunteer Fire Dept. Report: BFD responded to 31 different events in June, 28 of which were dispatched calls, one involving a “malicious false alarm” on W. Carter Ave. and another on Main St. that required “removal of victim(s) from stalled elevator”. BFD workers and volunteers completed 192 cumulative total hours of activities and training.
Public Works Dept: Last month, the department conducted six water service repairs, five sewer service repairs, four water and sewage locates and 75 leak checks, locating 57. There were also 20 read checks, 21 close outs, 45 cut offs, 35 cut back on and 20 new customers connected in June. The department replaced three meters, meter boxes and lids and one valve. Four incidents of consumer tampering occurred during the reporting period. Public works also performed weekly solid waste removal and disbursement at the landfill, replaced damaged street signs, conducted routine cleaning of storm drains, repaired potholes, performed routine grass maintenance at the cemetery and sold one 10x10 burial plot.
Main Street Program: There was no Better Hometown report at the July meetings due to Better Hometown Blackshear Manager Bethany Strickland being out-oftown. Normal reports will resume at the August meeting.
Senior Center: Center volunteer Karen Herndon could not attend the recent meeting due to illness, but events at the senior center were reported to be otherwise in good standing.
A July 30 field trip to the Strikezone in Brunswick is planned for center members. Bowling will be followed by a meal at Old Times, a favorite stop among area seniors.
Attendance: Mayor Keith Brooks, city attorney Adam Ferrell, Chuck Ward, Corey Lesseig and Mat Boatright were all in attendance at the regular session. Council member Mackey was unable to attend due to illness, but there was a quorum sufficient to vote on matters.
Next meeting: The council will hold its next work session, meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 5 and its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 12.
