Austell Mayor Jerkins Delivers "State of the City" Address

Austell City Mayor Joe Jerkins delivered the 2011 State of the City address to about 40 people today at the Austell Business Association meeting held at the city’s Threadmill government complex.

Flood Update

Jerkins noted that 23 of the more than 700 homes that flooded in 2009 were being bought by the city and FEMA. So far, the city has bought eight of the 23 homes.

After conducting a study of the flood zone on its own, the city found that 61 additional homes could be eligible for the city to purchase. That notice of approval from FEMA, which would reimburse the city 75 percent of the cost, may not come until next year, however. GEMA would reimburse the city 15 percent for the purchased homes if approved.

Stormwater Management Fee Increase

Residents in Austell will see an increase in their stormwater management fees, Jerkins said. The new amount has increased since it was imposed in March 1998 from $1 to $3 a month on residents’ monthly water bills. Jerkins said the fee will soon rise to $5 a month.

Leasing of city-owned store

The city-owned Austell Food Mart in downtown Austell was leased on Jan. 17 by a company that makes pies and sells them to local companies. The company, Blue Frog, will have six employees and pay the city $1,500 a month for the first five years of its occupancy.

SPLOST

Jerkins also urged residents in Cobb to support the upcoming SPLOST, a special one-cent sales tax, which will last for four years, which Cobb residents will vote upon in March.

“It’s something we’re supporting,” he said. “I hope you’ll support it...It’s really important to get that through. A million dollars a year is a lot to us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily get to do.”

Jerkins cited a new fire truck and road paving as examples of how the city would benefit from the renewal of SPLOST.

Decreased Property Values

Because of the city’s decreased property values, even on homes that were not flooded in 2009, Jerkins said about $200,000 has been cut from the budget to help the city operate with the smaller amount of revenue generated by the lower property taxes.

Jerkins pointed out that although city workers may not have received raises, the city has been able to operate without having to cut any jobs to save money.

Residents Receive Help

The address ended on a positive note, as Jerkins discussed a gas-bill donation program, which allows residents to donate $1, $5, $10 when paying their gas bills each month to help others in the community.

Jerkins said his thinking when first initiating the program was “if we can get everyone to give a dollar a month, that’d be $50,000, wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

The program brought in $20,300 and the gas company matched it and the more than $40,000 is being donated to the Sweetwater Valley Community Action Mission Program, Inc., which is the largest distributing food pantry in the state of Georgia.

“We really appreciate what you’ve done,” Jerkins told CAMP Executive Director Darlene Duke.