Demorest council approves playground grant, redevelopment resolution, invoice and payroll contract

The Demorest City Council on March 4 unanimously approved a package of routine and contractual items, including a playground-surface grant, a resolution to move forward with redevelopment powers, payment of an invoice to a local partnership and a payroll-services contract.

Mayor Jerry Harkness called for the items during the Regular Session at the Demorest Municipal Conference Center. Councilman Donnie Bennett moved to approve the playground-surface grant; Councilman Jimmy Davis seconded and the motion passed 4-0. The council recorded similar unanimous votes to proceed with a redevelopment-powers resolution (moved by Councilman Andrew Ferguson, seconded by Bennett), to pay the Habersham Partnership for Growth $5,000 (moved by Councilman Shawn Allen, seconded by Ferguson) and to approve a Tyler Technologies payroll contract for $13,260 (moved by Allen, seconded by Ferguson).

Clerk Megan Chastain also requested adding minutes from three January meetings to the agenda; the council later approved the January 13, January 22 and January 27 minutes along with the February 7 and February 11 minutes by a 4-0 vote.

The payroll contract and partnership payment are budget items reflected in the city’s routine financial review; the council heard the items as part of consent/administrative business and took no further substantive debate on the measures.

What happens next: the contracts and payments approved at the meeting will be processed by city staff. The redevelopment-powers resolution was moved forward for formal consideration; no ordinance number or statute was cited in the meeting record.