The City of Hoboken council discussed/voted on the following agenda items during the Tuesday, October 7 meeting.
• Public participation: Hoboken Baptist Church building committee members Jenny Boland and Adam Harper updated council members with the church building on the east side of the current facility facing Hwy. 82.
“There will be a need to go under the road (Church Street) with two two-inch pipes, one for water and one for infrastructure wires,” said Boland. “We’re asking for your approval for that blessing to be able to do that.”
Boland said construction will not begin until the Spring of 2026.
“We’re building up the site now and soil infrastructure,” said Harper. “We are going to have to put in some drain tile.”
Boland believes the addition of the new building will be a nice addition to the community.
• Coastal Incentive Grant program: Shai Duncan, DNR (Department of Natural Resources) grant specialist, and Program Manager Jane McKinnon met with the governing body to discuss the Coastal Incentive Grant.
“This grant does service the 11 coastal counties - the six ocean facing and facing and five second tier or counties,” explained Duncan. “The goal of the program is to support the Coastal Management program’s mission, and our mission at CRD, to balance economic development in Georgia’s coastal area.
“It is to preserve the natural, environmental, historical, archeological and recreational resources to benefit Georgia’s present and future generations. Projects do need to fit under approved themes.”
Duncan told the council this year’s themes are sustainable communities, oceans and wetlands, public access and land conservation, disaster resiliency and coastal hazards and nature based solutions.
“These projects can receive up to $80,000 in funding,” she said. “They are two-year projects you can apply for. So that’s $160,000 available and $60,000 available for one project.
“We do require a one to one match which can be derived from cash income contributions of land, material and or volunteer services.”
According to Duncan, a Request for Proposal (RFP) went out September 24. Pre-applications are due December 5, with projects starting October 1 of 2026.
“I noticed the City of Hoboken has not received this funding before nor applied for the grant in doing my research,” said Duncan. “We’re here to help you.”
McKinnon said a lot of design work is done and plans are created on what the community is in need of.
“We find a lot of the smaller communities have a hard time just to match, so we can be creative when it comes to your proposal,” said McKinnon.
• Approval of 2024 audit report: Councilman James Ray made a motion to approve the 2024 audit report with Mayor pro-tem Robin Helmuth seconding the motion. It passed unanimously.
• Set proposed millage rate for 2025 property tax/2026 budget: Mayor Joey Crews informed the council the City of Hoboken has not received figures for setting the millage rate allowing for a budget to be formulated.
The items were tabled until the November meeting.
• 2025 employee Christmas Party: The City of Hoboken Christmas party will be held Friday, December 5 at the Hoboken Commuity Center.
• 2025 Christmas parade/ appoint parade committee: The council approved moving the annual Hoboken Christmas parade up one week to Saturday, December 6 at 6 p.m., following the City of Nahunta Christmas parade at 2 p.m.
• Hoboken PD re-
port: Police Chief Sammy Hendrix reported the police department made 170 traffic stops during the month of September with 77 citations being issued and 93 warnings being given.
HPD officers wrote 51 tickets for speeding and six for driving without a license. Officers responded to 69 public calls and made 35 business and residence security checks.
“We’ve also been concentrating on the Hwy. 121 request from Varns,” said Hendrix.
The chief presented the council with a list of roads for approval to run radar. A motion and second was given for the approval which passed unanimously.
• Hoboken VFD report: The Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department responded to 14 calls during the month of September.
There was on wreck with injuries, five medical calls, two brush fires, two smoke showing, two structure fires, and a vehicle fire.
The fire department responded to a fire in the Calvary district and one in Nahunta.
• Street/Water Department: Mayor Crews said the city has been mowing the right-of-ways and doing cleanup.
• Mobile Home Park: The mayor said letters had been sent to several residents concerning the mowing of the yards.
• Office administration: Mayor Crews informed the council the City of Hoboken will soon begin working on the comprehensive plan and service strategy delivery plan in the next few weeks and months.
He also mentioned The Brantley Beacon had presented its request to serve as the legal organ for the city government.
