Byron council pauses VC3 contract and holds closed session on pending litigation

The City of Byron Mayor and Council met in a special session Feb. 25, 2021, in the Municipal Complex auditorium. Mayor Michael Chidester said a planned VC3 contract contained additional items that gave the City Administrator pause, and he removed the contract from the agenda so staff could study it further before any action was taken.

Following that announcement, Council Member Alan Dorsey moved and Council Member Chris Hodges seconded a motion at 4:09 p.m. to enter a closed session "as allowed by O.C.G.A. 50-14-2" for the purpose of discussing pending litigation; the motion passed. The minutes record votes in favor by Council Members Michael Chumbley, Chris Hodges, Rusty Adams, James Richardson and Alan Dorsey; no members voted against the motion. The minutes list those attending the closed session as Council Members Alan Dorsey, Michael Chumbley, James Richardson, Rusty Adams and Chris Hodges, along with City Clerk Telina Allred, City Administrator Tiffany Sandefur and City Attorney Brian Causey.

The minutes record that the council returned to open session at 4:30 p.m. after a motion by Chris Hodges, seconded by Alan Dorsey, and that the motion passed "Unanimous." The record also states that Council Members Rusty Adams and James Richardson did not rejoin open session. The minutes then record an adjournment motion by Chris Hodges, seconded by Rusty Adams, to adjourn at 4:31 p.m.; the minutes record that motion as passed "Unanimous." The document contains a discrepancy in the attendance/voting record: it both says Adams did not rejoin open session and also records Adams as seconding the adjournment.

No formal votes on ordinances, contracts or budget items were taken in open session that day; the only formal actions recorded are the motions to enter closed session, to return to open session, and to adjourn. The minutes show no media or visitors in attendance. The minutes were attested by Telina Allred, Clerk of Council.