If you’ve been wanting to see Stockbridge’s elected leaders face to face during an actual City Council meeting, you will finally get your chance.

The City Council voted at its April 11 regular meeting to resume in-person council meetings effective April 26 “contingent upon the science and CDC guidelines,” according to officials. The monthly workshop meeting is scheduled for that date.
The vote came late in the meeting, but during the public comment portion earlier in the evening the council heard from Bruce Smith, Sr., who noted that recent events at the city’s amphitheater were mask-optional and wondered why the council was still meeting virtually. Mayor Anthony Ford then pointed out that the matter would be considered on that night’s agenda.

After the initial lockdowns and other measures during the pandemic in 2020, Stockbridge was the last municipality in the county to reopen City Hall to citizens and to meet in person. City Hall was then closed again for a portion of 2021 until reopening November 15.

A quick scroll down the city’s Facebook page shows that every council meeting going back at least as far as last October was a Zoom meeting. A number of virtual town hall meetings and other such events are also displayed, along with a few events that actually have photos or videos of people interacting with each other in the same room.

In other business at the April 11 meeting, a variance with conditions was approved for a residential lot at 727 Bethpage Drive in the Eagle’s Landing community. The request was for a setback reduction from 75 feet for a golf course-abutting lot to 50 feet to allow the construction of a new single-family home.

A change order in the amount of $292,181.85 was approved regarding the East Atlanta Road/Lee Street roadway improvement project, specifically the modification of the traffic signals and street print crosswalks. This project is being funded by the city’s portion of the county’s SPLOST.

Renewal of the annual contract with Site Engineering, Inc. for on-call water and sewer emergency and operational repair/ maintenance and construction services initially failed to pass. The contract was recommended at $255,000 as approved in the current stormwater budget. A first vote to approve the measure was 2-1 with two abstentions. A subsequent motion to approve the deal for $159,390 passed with a 3-0-2 vote.

A wrecker services policy was approved, as well as an annual contract awarded to Supreme Trio LLC, which does business locally as Swanson Towing and Recovery.

At its March 29 workshop meeting the council approved a $407,000 bid for renovations at the Ted Strickland Community Center, which will provide for offices for the Economic Development Department and Main Street along with a new welcome center. The project includes the addition of more than 1,000 square feet of spaces in the form of four separate offices and a large conference room.

Also approved at that meeting was a one-year contract for $1.3 million regarding trash pickup in the city. The agreement with GFL Environmental LLC, formerly known as Waste Industries South Atlanta LLC, is the second of five one-year renewals provided for after the initial contract and is good through April 11, 2023.