TIFTON — The City of Tifton ratified the Tift County Board of Commissioners’ agreement to contract planning and zoning functions with the South Georgia Regional Development Center in a called meeting following its workshop session Monday night.

The city and county consolidated its code enforcement and planning and zoning departments several years ago. With the recent developments, particularly those residential developments in the area of Carpenter and Davis roads, city manager Mike Vollmer said contracting the SGRDC services would be beneficial to all concerned.

The city voted at its November meeting to delay decisions on two zoning and annexation requests from developers in the area until February to give the council time to consider transportation and other issues the developments would affect. Monday, Vollmer said that the SGRDC can now “spearhead zoning” and move the process along quicker.

“The SGRDC staff will make recommendations at workshops and council members can interact with them,” Vollmer said. “I think our developers will see an immediate change in the application and review process.”

In other discussions during workshop session, councilman Dave Hetzel gave other council members a suggestion on how to deal with the city’s trash, particularly “bad loads” that include furniture, appliances and other items left on the streets.

The city currently charges $25 to pick up such loads, Hetzel said, and it cost the city $35 per trip. Hetzel said he and members of the committee who have been meeting to try to establish a better system, suggested the city buy an additional truck that would drive the same route on the same day of the week with the regular sanitation truck.

“That truck can pick up what doesn’t fit in the green trash cans,” Hetzel said.

Hetzel said the cost of the additional service to all of the current city sanitation customers would be approximately $24 per year, or $2 per month, which would be added to all customers’ bills except for senior citizens.

“Citizens will save $1 if they use the service one time per year,” Hetzel said. “The city will save $11 per year.”

Hetzel said that the major landlords in the city are in favor of the suggestion. The plan suggests that where there is rental property that includes water meters for individual renters, the individuals be billed the additional $2 fee for the pickups and landlords be billed where property includes a master water meter and based on 90 percent occupancy. If council approves the plan, it would take effect March 1.

Council also heard from Tifton Police Chief Jim Smith and representatives from Management Data Systems (MDS) concerning the proposed purchase of software, laptops and servers for individual patrol cars. Smith said the purchase was approved in the last Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum and would allow more efficient record keeping for his department.

Laptops in each patrol car and the system’s software would allow officers to run their own tag inquiries, produce tickets and print them out on the system and generate monthly reports that are required by the state. The time clerks in the department have to spend manually typing each ticket would also be reduced, Smith said. The system Smith is requested is currently being used by 135 law enforcement agencies in Georgia, according to MDS representatives, including Ocilla, Fitzgerald, Douglas, Adel and Nashville.

Smith said the department has talked with several companies who offer the systems and was confident with MDS. Smith said the decision to ask to purchase the system from MDS was that of a committee of officers and clerks from his department and not just his decision.



To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.