In a rather long meeting, Monday, December 6, 2010, the Jasper City Council spent the majority discussing semantics of Stella Brewer’s “Drugs Don’t Work Policy” to ensure supervisors and city manager’s are protected in the process of helping city employees in drug and alcohol abuse related situations.

After much discourse, the policy was approved and now, the city will be eligible for a 7.5% discount on worker’s compensation insurance.At this time, the city does not have the ability to provide counseling to county employees’ drug and alcohol if a problem arises. However, there is a resource list located next to all city time sheets. Tacie Williams indicated that the city will look into the possibility of assisting employees with such problems during open enrollment in March of next year.

Williams also gave a presentation of the 2010 Budget Amendment. The city remained “in the black” at the year’s end due to the slowing down of city funded projects toward the end of the year and also some forfeiture of contingency funds. This forfeiture was a result of a slightly lower property tax collection rate—85 percent—compared to the traditional 90 or 95 percent collection rate.

Mayor John Weaver reported during Williams’ 2011 budget presentation that the city will only finance labor intensive projects during the first few months of 2011 and save projects with large expenditures for the middle to end of the year with the contention that all city revenues are coming in as projected.

The council has now been presented the proposed 2011 budget and will hold a public hearing for discussion Thursday, December 9, 2010. The budget will be formally adopted in a called meeting the following Thursday, December 16, 2010.

In other city business, Allan Wigington was sworn in as Japer’s Municipal Court Judge.

Allan Wigington and Lee Mullins both got their property, behind the Ingles at the intersection of GA Hwy 515 and GA Hwy 53, unanimously approved to be annexed into the city of Jasper. Wigington will re-zone his property for commercial use in the attempt to make it more marketable. Mullins wants to re-zone his property for commercial use, and add a retention pond.

All alcohol license requests for renewal were granted by the council including the new Rocco’s pub, located off GA Hwy 515 below Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, which will sell beer, wine, and liquor in 2011.

R.L. Jennings will conduct the required 2010 city audit for a fee of $18.5K this coming February. This will be the company’s third year conducting such an audit for the City of Jasper.