Tyrone council okays franchise agreement with Georgia Power

While no major issues were discussed at the last Tyrone Town Council meeting, council members made it plain that no expense is too small to escape scrutiny.

The council voted unanimously to enter into a franchise agreement with Georgia Power that Town Attorney Bill McNally said could add $10,000 to $12,000 annually to the town's coffers. Astonished at the amount of money Tyrone has been missing out on, the council asked town staff to look into franchise agreements with other utilities that serve Tyrone, specifically Coweta-Fayette EMC. Town Manager Chris Venice said she knew the town has an agreement with Atlanta Gas Light, and she would check on other utilities.

In exchange for free Internet service, the council agreed to continue a lease agreement with Newnan Utilities on a month by month basis. Newnan Utilities is being bought out by UTI Broadband Holdings, and McNally said the contract would be renegotiated when that deal is complete.

Currently, Newnan Utilities leases a small building from the town for $10 a month, and in exchange provides internet services to municipal offices, a value of about $4,800 a year.

Re-keying the administration building was delayed after Councilwoman Grace Caldwell requested that a list of who has keys to what building. An error when the new library's lock system was installed means that all library employees have access to Town Hall as well as to the library. Ms. Caldwell said she simply wanted the situation clarified before voting to spend more than $700 on rekeying.

Ms. Caldwell also wanted to make sure the town got the most value for its money in a mold removal contract. The council voted to contract with Atlanta Mold for $1,025 to eliminate mold at the police department, but Ms. Caldwell pointed out that the council spent money last year with the same company at the same location. "I'm concerned with what's causing the mold," she said. "I want them to review their analysis from last year and report on their opinion and identify the cause."

The motion with her provision passed unanimously.

Also at the meeting, Police Chief Brandon Perkins briefed the council on a new program he has installed on the police departments' computers to automatically back up data. He explained that the town needed to be ready if a disaster, such as a tornado, took out its buildings and computer system. After exploring several options, Perkins said he chose ElephantDrive.com and had been pleased with the service, including how the company resolved a security issue. The council gave him the go-ahead to install it on all the town's computers. The police department has the money to pay the first year's cost of $499, Perkins said.