I Hate To Say I Told You So

At the regular meeting of the Lyons City Council held on September 3, 2019, I, along with all the other members, voted to amend the budget and increase the millage rate in Lyons from last year’s 2.89 to 3.89 mills. While still significantly below the statewide average city millage rate of 5.0 mills, it is…

Lyons’ Sewage System Update Finally Approved

A Long Road Just over a year ago I posted a blog on the continuing challenge to replace our two 30-year old wastewater treatment facilities. In my last update on this issue (posted on February 6, 2018), I reported that when we opened the bids at our February 6, 2018 meeting, the low bid was…

Small Towns Mean Big Business!

Small town America is beginning to attract residents back as they flee from the fast pace, heavy traffic and high crime of the big city. Telecommuting has also contributed to the trend as the Internet has removed the requirement that workers be physically close to the the bigger cities. The charm of small town living,…

Saturday Night Ride With Lyons’ Finest

To help me prepare for meaningful service on both the Public Safety Committee and the Policy Committee, I asked Lyons Police Chief Wesley Walker if I could ride along with one of his police officers while they were on patrol. I reasoned that I would be in a better position to properly review budget requests,…

City Council Meeting 02-06-2018

Here are the highlights from the  February 6, 2018 meeting of the Lyons City Council: We reviewed the financial statements for the calendar year just ended. Director Michele Johnson updated us on the activities of the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. The Council rejected all bids on repairing and expanding the NE Wastewater Treatment Plant and…

City Seeks GMA Counsel on Sewage Issue

On December 14, 2017, the City of Lyons opened the bids to refurbish both our NE and SE Sewage Treatment Facilities and increase the capacity of our NE facility. Our engineering consultant, Hofstadter and Associates, had predicted the cost to be around $14 million. The city was hoping for a minimum bid of around $12…

City Council Meeting – 01/04/18

At this evening’s meeting, the first order of business was to swear in the three councilmen that had been elected on November 7, 2017 to serve four year terms, beginning January 1, 2018. John Moore, Jr. and I were being sworn in for the first time, and Ben Mitchell was sworn in for another term,…