During last week’s meeting of the Thomaston City Council, council members passed a resolution of support for the State Senate office in reference to the possibility of the State of Georgia facing sequestration. Thomaston Mayor Hays Arnold explained that if sequestration were to occur, the state would be facing across the board cuts of almost $500 million to the military budget in the coming decade. Sequestration is a legal term for the automatic budget cuts that will go into effect on January 1, 2013, if the President and the Congress do not agree on a new budget. For the Department of Defense and Georgia, it could mean thousands of workers at military bases around the state being laid off.
Arnold stated it is alarming how much money would be cut and that it Georgia could face losing 28,000 jobs from the Department of Defense if it were to occur. The resolution signed by the City Council also states that it would impact other agencies such as the Department Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State and Transportation.
The resolution asks Congress to aggressively work to ensure that sequestration is averted and that fiscal austerity is achieved by other means that do not endanger our national security; that the Federal Government should live within their means, while at the same time ensuring our nation’s military has the means to do the job they are asked to do; and finally states that the signed believe any delay in addressing sequestration will lead to damaging impacts at the national and local level that may be impossible to reverse.
“We did not feel that Georgia can afford to have any more of these job losses,” said Arnold. “Therefore, we support the resolution.”
In other business, the council approved a contract with Coggins Construction for the installation catch basins at the bottom of Griffin Avenue. The contract is for three catch basins for the amount of $26,000 but not to exceed $30,000. City Manager Patrick Comiskey explained that the catch basins will help to slow down the flow of water on the road and will redirect it into a drainage ditch. After the basins are put in place, paving will be done on both Griffin Avenue and Barnes Drive.
Also during the meeting, Council member Patsy Perdue commended Jennifer Greathouse, Laurie Holmes and Sallie Barker for making Santa on the Square and the Christmas Lights parade a success.
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