Mullins’ request for sunshine obscured by clouds

Daniel McDonald
The Union-Recorder

August 26, 2008 10:45 pm

— As the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay blanketed the city of Milledgeville for much of Tuesday evening, District 5 Councilman Richard “Boo” Mullins made a futile plea to let the sun shine in City Hall’s executive chambers.
During a City Council vote to authorize Mayor Richard Bentley to enter into a contract with AT&T that would allow the cellular service provider to place transmitters on two city water towers, Mullins petitioned the rest of council to push the vote outside the confines of the called work session and onto the city’s television screens for a vote in regular session.
Mullins, who was all for contracting with AT&T, said that he feels the deal’s revenue potential made it something that should be voted on in front of the entire city.
“I think the public should be aware about all money matters, where the money is coming from and where it is going,” he said.
But Mullins’ sudden cloudburst fell on deaf ears as District 1 Councilman Ken Morgan had already motioned to make the vote in the work session and would not withdraw the motion to move the resolution to the regular meeting.
The unanimous vote to allow the mayor to contract with AT&T could bring in as much as $30,000 for city coffers once the telecommunications firm positions transmitters on the city’s Roberson Mill Road and Washington Street towers.
Before Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Scott Wood said that the financial negotiations with AT&T had not been completed and no definite numbers were available for publication.
Also during the work session, council went into a closed executive session to discuss a legal matter.
In the regular meeting, council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance to amend numerous line items in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget to reflect unanticipated circumstances that had occurred during the budget year ending June 30.
The budget items amended by council included unexpended funds that will be transferred into a reserve fund, funds that will go into the FY2009 operating budget and the difference between what council predicted would happen in the FY2008 budgeting process and what actually happened in during the fiscal year.