Macon-Bibb blight issues sent to full County Commission
Two blight resolutions will go before the Macon-Bibb County Commission on Sept. 1.
On Tuesday, two committees sent proposals to the full commission: One would allow a regional organization to submit a list of blight projects, and the other would set aside $450,000 for demolishing blighted structures.
Commissioners could decide next week if they’ll let the Middle Georgia Regional Commission use data and models to identify various blighted properties that could be redeveloped in the county. The resolution was recommended Tuesday by the commission’s Economic and Community Development Committee.
The resolution says the Regional Commission would incorporate a blight plan into an updated Urban Redevelopment Plan that would be adopted by commissioners.
“It’s a natural fit to include not just strategies but also specific properties,” said Laura Mathis, deputy director of the Regional Commission.
Mathis estimated it would take six months to complete the list of projects.
Commissioners would adopt the Urban Redevelopment Plan and have a choice on what projects they move forward with, Mayor Robert Reichert said.
“What I’m hoping to get is illustrations and examples of what (commissioners) might want to do,” he said.
The debate in Macon-Bibb over how to use $10 million in blight funds has been ongoing for months. The commission voted in July to give the nine commissioners $1 million apiece for blight projects. It rejected Reichert’s proposal of spending the money on four specific projects.
The remaining $1 million will be spent on waste disposal and community engagement.
The commission’s Operations and Finance Committee on Tuesday also approved a resolution that would allow each commissioner to provide $50,000 of their $1 million in blight money to use on projects in their district.
Commissioners would follow the same process, including using city crews, as it did last fiscal year when 125 abandoned houses were knocked down.
FIRE AND POLICE PENSION
A proposal to provide an additional $100 a month to some members of the Macon Fire and Police Pension Retirement System failed to get out of a committee Tuesday.
A 2-2 vote by the commission’s Operations and Finance Committee nixed the ordinance that would have increased monthly supplemental benefits from $100 to $200 for 301 members of the retirement system.
Committee members Elaine Lucas and Virgil Watkins voted in favor of the resolution moving to full commission, while Commissioners Gary Bechtel and Scotty Shepherd voted no. Commissioner Larry Schlesinger, who also serves on the committee, did not attend Tuesday’s meetings.
Reichert urged commissioners to delay approving the bump in benefits until determining if the county could afford the $458,000 in annual costs.
If commissioners decided to approve a change, then they should do the same for the county’s two other pension plans, he said.
“I don’t think fair and equitable ought to be based on current market conditions,” Reichert said. “It’s not fair to look at dips and rises. What you do for one group, you ought to do for another group.”
Commissioner Mallory Jones, who sponsored the ordinance, said he would favor examining other pension plans. But the county should take a first step by providing more benefits to the Macon fire and police pension plan, he said.
The additional benefits would have gone to employees who were hired prior to July 1, 1985, and who have at least 25 years of service.
To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or follow him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb blight issues sent to full County Commission ."