The Stockbridge City Council voted June 29 to approve an amended version of the city’s ordinance regarding small-box discount stores, also commonly known as dollar stores.

A small-box discount store is defined by the city as having a floor area under 12,000 square feet, primarily offering a variety of convenience and consumer shopping goods, with the majority of items priced under $10. This does not apply to drug stores or convenience stores attached to gas stations.

The ordinance also stipulates that a store in this category must be at least five miles from any other similar store within or outside the city limits.

In other business, the council approved approximately $350,000 in expenditures related to the new amphitheater. A $142,269 change order is for the addition of perimeter fencing and landscape buffering, and a $40,671 change order covers the addition of three flagpoles with lighting. Both of those items will be paid from fund balance. A $210,661 change order, funded by the bond account, is intended to reconcile the $200,000 allowance set up for the second phase of landscaping and irrigation which was not yet designed when originally budgeted.

The city’s personnel policy was amended regarding employees appointed and confirmed by the mayor and council. This applies to the city clerk, city treasurer, city manager, city attorney, and executive assistant to mayor and council. These staff members will now receive their annual performance and salary reviews during the final three months of the calendar year, just prior to their reappointment in January.

The vote to approve was 5-0. Mayor Anthony Ford, who did not vote, stated that he was not in favor of changing the current process of performance evaluations at the anniversary of each employee’s hire date.

More than $400,000 in water system improvements were approved by the council. The work includes a $124,900 project to rehab two lift stations, $62,700 for the replacement of about 210 water service lines, $85,800 to install 6,500 feet of water mains, and $176,900 to rehab 10,300 feet of existing sewer mains and manholes in the Northbridge subdivision.

In other water system news, the city announced July 6 that it will resume water disconnections for non-payment effective July 26. All past due accounts must be paid before that date.