DAHLONEGA, Ga.- The City Council approved a pay adjustment for the employees of the City of Dahlonega at their meeting on Apr. 4.

The council also approved three budgets for three projects. They delayed voting on the ServLine Leak Protection plan until more information was made available to them to the plan.

City Manager Bill Schmid brought the council the request for a pay adjustment at the work session. The reason for the adjustment is due to the higher cost of living since the last adjustment. Since the council adjusted in 2019 there has been a 10.4% increase in consumer pricing, since Oct. that has been 9.9%.

Schmid requested that the adjustment is between 3 to a total of 7%. At the full 7%, the increase would be $150,974.63. The council voted to approve a 4% to a total of 7% pay adjustment for the employees.

“I think this means an awful lot to our employees who work very very hard,” commented Mayor JoAnne Taylor.

The council also approved three budgets for three projects. Those projects are a rehabilitation project at the Barlow Lift Station, storm drain repair on Mechanicsville Road, and the parking lot overlay for City Hall.

The rehabilitation project is to replace old equipment that is on the verge of failing at the largest lift station in the city. The budget for the project was $590,000. The only bidder is W.L. Griffin Company, LLC. Their bid came in at $872,897.92.

This high bid is due to the increased cost of labor and materials. To have the funds to meet the bid Water/Wastewater Treatment Director John Jarrard asked the council to approve using $320,000 in ARPA funds.

These are the COVID relief funds that are allocated to capital projects. To learn more about ARPA funds and how they work visit https://opb.georgia.gov/covid-response/american-rescue-plan#:~:text=It%20includes%20fiscal%20relief%20funding,local%20governments%20and%20individual%20assistance.

“If I’m going to spend a million dollars of the taxpayer’s money, I want you to take me out there, and I want to understand how we are going to spend a million dollars,” explained Councilmember Johnny Ariemma when he voted no for the project.

The next project is the storm drain repair. The budget for this project is $138,000. The lowest bid is with Townley Construction for $141,612.00. Capital Projects Manager Vince Hunsinger requested that the council move $25,000 from stormwater projects to be determined funds.

The last project is the parking lot overlay. The budget for this project is $45,000. The lowest eligible bid has come in at $53,350. Hunsinger requested an additional 8,350.00 from the Facilities and Property fund.

Finance Director Allison Martin brought the ServLine Leak Protection plan to the council at the Mar. 21 work session. To review the discussion they had go to https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/03/22/council-discusses-employee-pay-adjustments/. The council has not received enough information on the plan to move forward with it at this time, so they delayed it until they had more time to understand it.

The council also made two joint proclamations with Lumpkin County. The first was to make the month of Apr. Child Abuse Prevention Month. The second was to recognize the Lady Indians Basketball team for their State Championship. This proclamation will be delivered at a special assembly at the school and there will also be a parade to honor the girls on Apr. 15 at 12:30 p.m.