Monday’s Bremen City Council meeting was described by Mayor Sharon Sewell as “somewhat of a historic event.”

After 14 years, the council and City Attorney Sam Price updated the city’s charter and inserted it into the city’s municipal code for the first time since April 8, 1996.

“Sam Price has been waiting for approval from the state legislature for two years,” Mayor Sewell said. “Tonight City Clerk Amy Ridley will call the meeting to order and the mayor and city council have to be sworn in again.”

Probate Judge Eddie Hulsey swore in the mayor and council members prior to the evening’s business.

The council also unanimously approved the appointment of Councilman Sonny Parrish as Mayor Pro Tem.

Next, the council unanimously repealed the 1996 municipal code and inserted the new charter as part of the municipal code under Price’s direction.

In other news, Mayor Sewell read a proclamation honoring the Bremen High School summer baseball team, as the team members are Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) state champions. She proclaimed the month of July “Baseball Month” in honor of the team’s victory.

The council then approved an official city map, which has been displayed in the council chambers as an accurate depiction of the boundaries of the city and as the new official map of the municipality. Following the map’s adoption, the council immediately amended it by annexing the property of Brian Wheeler, located at 207 Treetop Dr., after receiving the recommendation of the zoning board who also approved the annexation unanimously.

City Manager Perry Hicks informed the council that the city had received four proposals for resurfacing McPherson Street.

“The funding source is Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) IV, and that is old SPLOST monies,” he said. “The current balance is at $180,000, so the two lower bids would fit that criteria.”

These bids – one by C.W. Matthews Paving Company and the other from Jackson Paving Company – were the lowest and second lowest respectively, but Hicks recommended that the council choose Jackson Paving Company for the contract, because the bid was a one-sheet proposal that had come with a verbal agreement with the company to include all streets and driveways. C.W. Matthews had stipulated that their proposal should be approved by the city last Thursday and that if the company had not finished the project by Aug. 31 the cost of the work could increase at the company’s discretion.

The council approved the contract with Jackson Paving on the condition that a written contract would be drafted for all roads and driveways.

Councilman Parrish called attention to the fact that a portion of the road between the railroad tracks and Highway 27 would be skipped. According to Operations Manager Mike Thompson, that section would be too time consuming. Mayor Sewell informed Parrish that the section of road should be covered by the Safe Routes to School Grant the city recently received and will be paved later.

Councilman Kyle Sheppard asked whether the water and sewer lines on McPherson Street would cause any problems with the construction. Thompson told him that beyond one water main, the section is in relatively good shape.