From Bob Schwartz, City Manager
→ Flags at Half-Staff – We lowered the flags to half-staff on Wednesday, May 15, in response
to an executive order of the Governor honoring Peace Officers Memorial Day.
→ Officer Eric Almond – Chief Harvey conducted, and I have approved, the six month evaluation
of Officer Eric Almond. He started with the Oxford Police Department on November 2, 2012 so
his six month probationary period ended on May 2. To quote from Chief Harvey’s evaluation: “In
the six months that Officer Almond has been a patrolman with the Oxford Police Department, I
have been very pleased in his work performance, his professionalism, his appearance, and his
good attitude.” We could hardly ask for anything more!
→ ECG organizational changes– We received the enclosed memo from the Electric Cities of
Georgia Board of Directors Tuesday evening. Keith Bass is no longer President of ECG(see it here).
→ Planning Commission – The Planning Commission met Tuesday. They approved two requests
from Oxford College: 1 – a new temporary office “portable” to be located next to the existing
office portable behind Allen Memorial and 2 – five signs in the right-of-way that had been installed
some time ago. The Planning Commission now has the authority to approve signs in the right-of-way
based on the ordinance adopted by Council April 1st.
→ 2050 Plan – The Planning Commission also heard from Kay B. Lee from the Newton County Center
for Community Preservation and Planning. Kay presented a briefing on the 2050 Plan. She explained
the 12 year effort that resulted in the plan and the current effort to develop enabling legislation to begin
to make the plan a reality. The Center is working to develop a zoning ordinance to back up the plan
and hopes to have the ordinance (or group of ordinances) done in about a year. Kay gave the planning
commission a copy of the current schedule. See attached “The Center zoning project”(see it here).
→ Trucks– Sometimes it looks like we have more trucks than we do. We use the same truck to work
both the leaf machine and the chipper. So, you will see the same truck on the same street at least twice
a week, but it is usually hauling a different machine.
→ LMIG Paving Project – Here’s a picture of Key Paving starting work on the LMIG paving project.
The total cost for making 22 patches on seven streets is $21,920. The State DOT has already
reimbursed the city for its share of $15,064.65.
→ Thank You – We received this email from Bob Thomson, city manager in Porterdale: “A big thank you
to the city of Oxford for allowing their public works and utilities crews to erect the “Welcome Tandem
Biker” banner over Main Street.”
→ Tree Board Activities– Connie Head, our arborist, reports: “We had a great work day last Thursday,
May 9, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at George Street Park. In attendance were: LaTrelle Oliver, Hoyt Oliver,
Kevin Cruikshank (from Covington), Anderson Wright, David Dennis (City Crew), Mike Ready, and
Connie Head. We mulched and pruned the trees and got about 1/3 of the park cleaned up. We have
scheduled another work day for Tuesday, June 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. to continue the mulching and
pruning. We hope to see you all there, and please bring a friend along with a wheelbarrow, shovel,
rake, and gloves!”
