Council approves single amendment to parade policy; staff to return with formal revision

The Newnan City Council on a voice vote approved a motion to accept a single amendment to the city’s parade policy and instructed staff to return at a future date with a formal policy revision to add the parade to the rotation of approved events.

The amendment was proposed during a discussion about scheduling flexibility for annual parades. A Councilmember (unnamed) said staff should have leeway to set dates and noted that some events, such as those tied to holidays, may move to the nearest weekend. After a motion and second to approve the amendment, the council took a voice vote. “Motion carried,” the Councilmember said, and then added, “I would instruct staff to come back, in a future date with, a policy revision so that we can add this into that rotation of the approved parades.”

Why it matters: the revision would codify the parade into the set of events the city treats as approved and would give staff explicit authority to set dates where the holiday or other scheduling conflicts make a fixed calendar date impractical. Council discussion referenced flexibility for holiday-adjacent events such as Juneteenth and July celebrations.

Details and limits: the council discussion said the current approval was tied to an agenda item rather than a standalone written policy, and that a specific motion is required to amend the formal policy. No additional details about the proposed policy language or an implementation timeline were provided during the work session.

Next steps: staff were directed to prepare a formal policy revision and return to the council for further consideration and final action.