Ft. Oglethorpe appoints members to Historic Preservation Commission
After more than three years, the city of Fort Oglethorpe has reformed its Historic Preservation Commission board.
During the March 9 City Council meeting, Mayor Earl Gray explained that the city began accepting applications for the board late last year.
“Back before the first of the year, we started taking applications to reinstate this board,” Gray said. “Most of the past members have moved away, and some are deceased.”
The goal of the board will be to maintain the city’s history and heritage by advocating for preservation of architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, sites, or objects from demolition or degradation.
“At this time, we will vote on the following five people as a whole: Chris Mckeever, Paula Muina, Jane Champlin, Stephanie Dorris,
and Cheryl Giddens,” Gray said. “If approved, these five will start holding their meetings as they see fit, and these five people will elect a chairperson for the committee.”
Gray said it will be up to the board to decide how often they meet, but that the group will be able to bring issues to the council whenever needed.
“Any time they want to come before the council and report to the council, we certainly will put them on the agenda,” Gray said. “Historic preservation has been without this committee now for
I guess three or three and a half years. We started the application process and these are the ones that applied.”
The council unanimously approved the appointment of the board 5-0.
“We again have a historic preservation society,” Gray said.
Memorandum of understanding
In other business during the March 9 meeting, the council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the police department and the Sexual
Assault Victim’s Advocacy Center (SAVAC).
According to Police Chief and current Interim City Manager Mike Helton, the agreement between to two agencies is for the good of victims in the community.
“This is a yearly Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that we’ve undertaken with the sexual assault center,” Helton said. “Our police department utilizes this center on a regular basis unfortunately. They do provide a service for victims of crimes within our community in the four counties (Catoosa, Walker, Dade, and Chattooga).”
Helton added that the agreement will last for the remainder of the year and will not cost either side any money.
“Nothing has changed from past MOUS,” Helton said. “This one will go from the term of Jan. 1, 2020 until Dec.31 — the end of the year. There is no budget adjustment or requirements with this; it’s just regular operating procedures.”