Michael Chidester

The council discussed several administrative and infrastructure items, including a citizen complaint regarding property boundaries and a potential ordinance on light pollution. The council approved an audit engagement letter with Mauldin & Jenkins for the 2025 fiscal audit and authorized a Rural Mural Grant application for the Byron Skatepark. They also approved resolutions for a risk resiliency assessment, emergency response plan update, and a stormwater connection fee study, as well as a design-build agreement for the skatepark. Several personnel policies were updated regarding attendance, timekeeping, employee conduct, and drug/alcohol use. Furthermore, the council approved naming a municipal street as James Barbour Way and authorized additional engineering costs for the Benjamin Hawkins Well Project.

The Council discussed and approved the Senior Center Architectural Agreement. They also authorized the Mayor to sign an engagement letter for legal representation regarding the Crawford County Annexation matter. Additionally, a resolution was passed establishing a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and approval of new applications for zoning, permitting, and construction related to data centers within the city, effective until July 31, 2026.

The primary discussion item involved the need to extend the temporary moratorium on land development to allow sufficient time for the review and revision of the city's land development ordinance. The Council unanimously approved the extension of this temporary moratorium until March 9, 2026.

The meeting involved the first reading of an Ordinance (#2025-16) authorizing the annexation of a property parcel into the city limits. A Rezoning Request was tabled until January. The Council approved the minutes of the Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting held on December 4, 2025. Key actions included the unanimous approval of resolutions adopting the operating budgets for Fiscal Year 2026 for the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, Debt Service Fund, and Enterprise Funds. Furthermore, the Council re-appointed and appointed several members to the Byron Redevelopment Authority Board and the Byron Downtown Development Authority/CVB Board of Directors. Appointments for the Middle Georgia Regional Commission Council were confirmed, and the TSPLOST list of roads for FY2026 was approved. Resolutions were adopted concerning the Peach County Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 Update, and authorizing the Mayor to execute agreements with Paulk Landscaping, Stephanie T. Ward, the Byron Convention and Visitors Bureau Authority, Government Tax Solutions, and Energy Generation Solutions, Inc. regarding maintenance.

The council discussed the FY2026 Budget, a new bank account for system development sewer charges, and fire department needs. A resolution was approved for a maintenance agreement with Energy Generation Solutions, Inc. regarding the Fire Department generators. The council approved the 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Architectural Services Recommendation of Carter & Sloope and the recommendation of award from Georgia Water Environmental Services (GWES) being Pyles Plumbing for the Hwy 247 Lift Station Upgrade. Further resolutions were approved for agreements with BP Cleaning Company, Judicial Alternatives of Georgia for probation services, 365 Degree Total Marketing regarding website hosting, Citibot, Inc for website chatbox customer service, Byron Warehouse Group, and Al-anon, as well as a license agreement with Mule Creek.