COVINGTON, Ga. – Members of the Covington city council deliberated over a number of topics during the board comment portion of their latest meeting.

During the Jan. 2 meeting, West Post 2 representative Charika Davis initiated the conversation by expressing some concerns she had over an array of topics.

Davis first shared concerns on properties being built in the West with work permits, citing the West Street Community Church, in particular. She asked what the process is in enforcing work done on properties.

“When I walked by, I noticed that they were working with no permit and they had like a light dangling from the ceiling, and I didn’t see anything showing that they had any type of permit,” Davis said. “I really just wanted to know, how are we monitoring this besides people calling to tell us that they’re working with no permit?”

City manager Tres Thomas stated that a stop work order was put in place for the specific apartment complex that Davis mentioned, while also providing some insight on the enforcement process.

“Anytime we learn of illegal activity, code enforcement will go out to the site, investigate and, if need be, we’ll [the city] do the same,” Thomas said. “[We will] issue a stop work order until all of the items have been resolved.”

Planning and development director Judy Johnson also clarified that code enforcement officers do regular inspections and that several builders have been issued stop work orders as a result of those inspections.

Davis also took issue with the city’s lack of movement on grant applications, asking where the city stood on applying for grants such as the Community Home Investment Program (CHIP), the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant and the youth homelessness grant. 

After consulting with various parties, Thomas said that it was in the best interest of the city to hold off on applying for the grants, as the submission process requires a considerable amount of work.

“A lot of these grants, believe it or not, take a lot of work upfront,” Thomas said. “You have to have a plan in place. It’s more than submitting a few pages of information or a questionnaire, and then if you’re fortunate enough to get the grant, you have to be able to implement it and make sure that you have the staff and manpower to do that.”

Thomas went on to say that the city will likely reapply for the CHIP grant in 2025, after they were denied in 2022 and 2023. This came directly from the grant coordinator, Pashion Wilson’s recommendation as well as guidance from the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission (NEGRC).

This, however, did not seem like an acceptable answer for Davis. She questioned what the grant coordinator was doing for the city and that the city was neglecting those in need by taking no action.

“What is the grant person working on right now? Because I just feel like I’m getting a lot of excuses as to why we’re not applying for grants,” Davis said. “I feel like if we’re pushing it down to 2025, that’s letting me know that the city does not care anything about poor people.”

Deputy city manager John King said the city would not meet the necessary criteria for the youth homelessness grant, citing the need for a youth advisory board.

Thomas mentioned that Wilson is currently attending a number of training courses and seminars and “looking for opportunities and educating herself on these issues.”

Davis then also asked to see if a decision was made on street lights at Stone Mountain Street. The confusion stemmed from an email consensus that was reportedly used to make a decision on the topic. 

Mayor Fleeta Baggett said since there is plenty of lighting on Stone Mountain St., and that the property in question was private, the consensus was made to not light the area in question.

“The streetlights on Stone Mountain St. and the whole area there are better than most other areas,” Baggett said. “The area that doesn’t have the lights is the trail, the area right there at the trail and behind the gas station.”

Baggett said that lighting the area will invite people to walk the trails at night, which is not allowed.

“I don’t think that we want to light shortcuts,” Baggett said. “People need to be on the sidewalk and the street and they’re not supposed to be on the trail at night. I don’t see why we should encourage people to be where they’re not supposed to be by lighting it. So no, we don't have to vote on that.”

West Post 3 representative Anthony Henderson asked for clarification from city attorney Frank Turner Jr. on if voting via email was allowed. Turner said that this was not allowed, and only official votes can be registered during an open session. The city attorney did say, however, that a consensus can be formed for urgent issues that may be pressing for the city, but that it does not technically count as official action until it is voted on in an open session.

Henderson then asked why the aforementioned street light was removed, to which Baggett replied that the church did not want to continue paying for the light to be there. The councilman said that despite this, additional lighting is needed in the area.

“I’ve been vocal about it in previous meetings; you can do anything back there with no lighting, so regardless if it’s there or not, it’s something that’s gonna get done,” Henderson said. “I think if you have more light and bring more attention to the area, maybe it can prevent some of this stuff.”

Baggett reiterated that the goal is to not encourage people to use the trails at night and that lighting the area would go against the goal. The mayor then said if further discussion is warranted that council could take a vote on it. Davis then promptly requested a vote be taken on the matter.

Henderson said that he does not want this issue to become a personal one. 

“I don’t want this to become personal, because I feel like that’s what this has become,” Henderson said. 

Baggett said that this was not a personal issue, but rather the “legal and right thing.”

Once again, Davis said that the matter should be voted on and that the email communication is not the best way to go about things, stating that everyone operates differently.

“Everybody does not operate by email, so if we’re not responding to 'em’ maybe try calling us,” Davis said. “I mean the emails you send out Tres, they’re like a book. I read all day… Only thing I’m saying is everybody don’t operate by email, everybody don’t operate by text, everybody don’t operate by phone, so if we could be more flexible, that would be nice, too.

“Everyone has different forms of communication. What works for you may not work for me.”

East Post 3 representative Jared Rutberg had a different tone, commending the utility department over the lighting situation at Stone Mountain St. 

“I went to drive out there to look at the light situation and I did see that it was more lit up than other streets,” Rutberg said. “I think I drove about four miles of city streets and I only saw one light that was out, so that’s a big improvement over where it was a couple of years ago.”

Baggett concluded the board comments by sharing her optimism with the new council lineup and that staying prepared and maintaining communication will be the key to working the most efficiently.

“I look forward to working with everybody up here,” Baggett said. “A lot of times things are just the way they are. They’re not personal, I promise. But we have to be able to communicate and figure out how to get the business done at hand quickly and efficiently because the citizens of Covington deserve that.”