Greg Wood presenting the road closure request to the city council.

TIFTON — Representatives from the Tift Regional Medical Center presented a request for road closures, relocations and variance waver requests to the Tifton City Council at the May 7 workshop meeting

Greg Wood presented the requests, which are all related to new construction expanding the emergency care portion of the hospital.

The request asks for closure of 18th St. from Old Ocilla Road to John Orr Dr. to create a new EMS entrance and fire lane along the new patient tower that the hospital is planning. The plans call for taking away one part of the intersection to create this dedicated lane and would provide better parking and access to the ER for EMS and law enforcement.

The tower, a $150 million, four-story tower that will house in-patient units and a new emergency center, was approved by the Tift County Hospital Authority Board in February.

Current plans will move the emergency room from the 20th Street side of the hospital around to the 18th Street side to allow for expansion of the department to meet increasing use.

The new location provides more efficient access for patients since it will have a larger drop-off area with better traffic flow. There will be a new heli-pad so that emergency helicopters can have direct access to the ER and that landing the helicopter will no longer block access to the main entrance to the hospital.

The plans also call for shifting John Orr Drive  to the east so it would line up with the new front entrance of the hospital. Wood did say that shifting the road would not infringe on any other property owners around the area.

TRMC would fix the potholes and resurface Lee Avenue from Old Ocilla Road up to where Georgia Sports Medicine is located.

Wood presented a variance request for road width on John Orr Drive, Lee Avenue and 18th Street from 30 feet to 24 feet. He said that all the roads would be curbed, guttered and have landscaping which could be maintained by TRMC. He said the reduced width would give a “more uniform campus appearance,” reduce traffic speed and eliminate any on street parking to increase pedestrian safety.

Financial director Wayne Putnal presented proposals for banking services for the city.

Putnal said that staff recommends keeping city bank accounts at Synovus, savings accounts at BB&T and will start using a purchase card program at BB&T.

This service will cut back the number of checks the city cuts to pay department expenses and will give the city a bigger rebate.

Putnal also presented the council with information about the landfill closure.

Pyrzenski said that the Environmental Protection Department sent the city a letter saying they are “far off the mark for post closure.”

Putnel said that the city has set aside $9 million for closing the landfill and post-closure expenses.  

There was no public comment at the public hearing about rezoning property located at 101 South Tift Avenue.

The proposed plan is to renovate the existing building for apartments and an event center at the location.

Downtown Development Association director Lequrica Gaskins presented the council with a Memorandum of Understanding with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to confirm services provided by the city. She also informed the council that the Tifton-Tift County Main Street Program received accreditation as a Georgia Exceptional Mainstreet Program.

Jeff West, project manager with ESG, presented a request to change the water system’s disinfection from liquid chlorine to chlorine gas.

The cost to switch all the city’s wells over would cost approximately $82,700.

City manager Pete Pyrzenski said that the system would be completely automated and would be better for the water system as a whole.

West also presented the council with a request for repairing a drainage pipe located at 26th Street and Ridge Avenue.

West said that this is the best way to repair the pipe without having to dig up yards and roads, and the work is guaranteed for 30 years.

The council also heard a proposal to allow Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to manage the Tift Theatre.

Fran Kinchen, who has been involved with the theatre for years, and Pyrzenski said that retaining qualified personnel has been an issue. The city would maintain the building and provide the funding and the school would run the theatre and bring in more shows. Regular events and rentals would still be allowed under the new management.

Fire Chief Bobby Bennett presented a resolution authorizing the Tifton Fire Department to form a mutual aid resource pact with members of the Georgia Mutual Aid Group.

Bennett said that this pact would allow Tifton to call in resources from other members to assist with large-scale natural or man-made disasters. There would be no cost and the city would be called upon to assist in turn, but are not required to do so.  

The council heard two requests for alcohol licenses, one from Sunny Swifty, located at 1355 South Main St. and one from Shell Travel Center, located at 603 Old Omega Road.