Fort Oglethorpe city manager Ron Goulart said the city’s personnel policy called for the council to set entry-level pay for full-time hourly employees.
In other council business the council authorized a $16,900 payment to its engineering firm Arcadis for work on a proposed canoe launch. The launch is part of the city’s multi-use trail funded by a $100,000 Georgia Recreational Trails Program grant.
The city previously received a federal transportation enhancement grant to extend its paved walking path 1.4 miles from its current end point near city hall to where the city plans to install the boat launch behind chain restaurants O’Charleys and Logan’s off Battlefield Parkway. The boat launch project primarily will be funded by a $33,000 grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation in Chattanooga, Tenn., Goulart previously said. Fort Oglethorpe will use city workers to clear the land and build the launch. The launch is supposed to be the put-in point for an 8-mile, 4-hour float trip downstream into neighboring East Ridge, Tenn. East Ridge received a $38,000 Lyndhurst grant for a launch at Camp Jordan.
The council also approved the Refresh Committee’s selected architect, the Jaeger Co. The contract with Jaeger is not to exceed $19,815, city officials said. In May 2011, Fort Oglethorpe formed the Refresh Committee to develop a plan to renovate the roughly one-mile section of LaFayette Road from the entrance to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park to Battlefield Parkway. The city had greed to match a $10,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant to fund a design for the LaFayette Road revitalization project.
The council struck two items from the April 23 agenda. Goulart said the city was not fully prepared to present these items.
Requesting council’s approval on a police canine unit would likely be placed on the next meeting agenda, he said.
The council also decided to forego voting on a resolution that would have authorized the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission to organize a non-profit corporation for the purpose of holding title to properties purchased under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The NSP was established to stabilize communities that suffered from foreclosures and abandonment, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website.
“Through the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed and abandoned homes and residential properties, the goal of the (NSP) program is being realized,” states hud.gov. NSP funds authorized under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 provides grants to states and local governments under a formula, according to hud.gov.
The council also listened as Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce president Martha Eaker reminded officials the annual Bike Road Across Georgia would start on June 2 in Fort Oglethorpe. Eaker said this the first time the race will begin its route in Catoosa County.
The ride has been held for 33 years, according to brag.org. This year’s route will end in Tiger, near Clayton, on June 9, the BRAG website states. The ride’s daily average distance will be 54 miles and the total distance will be 376 miles, according to brag.org.
Eaker urged residents and businesses to show BRAG participants sincere hospitality by welcoming the riders with banners and by volunteering for the event. She also suggested the city give BRAG participants a discount on pool admission.
“We need to give these guys a big send-off,” she said. Eaker expects 1,200 riders to come through the area.
The next Fort Oglethorpe city council meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 14.
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