Vinson Village plan brings new units and safety improvements

The Dublin City Council has approved a plan to seek funding for the Dublin Housing Authority to replace units and to improve safety at Vinson Village. 

The council approved a resolution to authorize funding for the housing authority for a Rental Assistance Demonstration project in order to finalize the site plan and move closer to its construction.  

Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight said the Dublin Housing Authority has been working for a while to replace 150 units in the Vinson Village area.

“This is a major project and those are very old units that aren’t in great shape,” Kight said. “Through the use of what is called a Rental Assistance Demonstration project, the developers were able to get low income tax’s credits and work as partners with our housing authority to replace these old units with new units.”

When the project started, Kight said there were presentations made to city council, who believed this was an opportunity to improve safety at Vinson Village. For more than a year they have been working on this goal, including Dublin Police Chief Keith Moon in the discussions.

This area has had its share of shootings throughout the years including some recent incidents. 

“One of the issues now in the Vinson Village area is there are a lot of entrances and exits,” Kight said. “That makes it hard sometimes for police to establish security in there because there are a lot of ways for cars to move around in there. One of the things we looked at was how can we close off some of those streets and allow more patrol entry and know who is coming in and out of the neighborhood.”

Kight had a drawing of the plan shown on the screens in the council chambers.

“When we presented this information to the planners and developers, they went back to their architects and engineers and came up with a plan that really looks great,” Kight said. “It’s beautiful and it’s a great modernization with the whole area. It’s going to improve the looks of it and it’s going to be much safer.” 

The cost was going to be several million dollars. That is why the city is partnering with the housing authority and the developers, Sepia Transformation Partners, LLC, to pay for a portion of the infrastructure cost so the project can include the safety features.

“We believe there are going to be grant opportunities to fund this $2 million investment,” Kight said. “As we sit here tonight, we have not identified where that money is going to come from. They are at the point of this project where they need to know if we are going to commit to this project or not. The resolution that we have is to commit the city of Dublin to work at finding grant money or other funds to support the redesign of the Vinson Village area.”

The council also approved agreements with the Georgia Power Company with the relocation and conversion of a utility pole on Lawrence Street along with the installation of two decorative lamp post. This includes an agreement with Georgia Power and a quote from Moye Electric to convert two electrical meters served by that pole. 

“A little while back the staff looked at Lawrence Street, between Jackson and Madison, and noticed there were no green lamp posts like we have on the rest of the streets downtown,”  said Dublin City Manager Josh Powell. “We had a request from Miller Soul Food to install one along Lawrence Street.”

While looking, they thought about eliminating the only remaining wooden power pole on the street. The total cost is $59,852.59.

“That involves removing the existing pole and removing all of the utilities that are connected to that pole,” Powell said. “This is another beautification effort as well as eliminating some unsightly power lines along Lawrence Street.” 

Toward the end of the meeting, Bennie Jones announced that the 2027 Black History Banner honorees of Tim Chatman, Julie Driger, Gary Johnson and Mary Thomas. He said the committee will be contacting the honorees and their family members to plan their recognition and celebration on Oct. 1. The banners go up on Jan. 1 and stay up until the St. Patrick’s Festival begins.

In other meeting news, council:

– Approved the FY 2027 budget. The budget will have revenues and fund balance appropriated equal to $89,101,101 and expenditures equaling that amount. This budget will begin on July 1.

– Approved an agreement letter with Nichols, Cauley & Associates, LLC for the FY’26 audit. The cost will be $66,750.

“It is extremely important for us in the city of Dublin to make sure we have these audits and they are done timely,” Kight said. 

– Honored the following for their service to the city: Tanya Cranford, sanitation administrative assistant (40 years), Benjamin Cooper, sanitation superintendent and Adam Hobbs, lieutenant in the fire department (both 20 years), Steve Mullis, utilities system maintenance operator at wastewater treatment plant, Loretta Otten, meter reader and Josh Powell, city manager (10 years).

“I want to thank all of our employees for their work,” Kight said.

– Heard from Valerie Dixon, the Dublin-Laurens County Archway professional, in a special presentation highlighting the work they have done in the city and county. Later in the meeting, the council approved a memorandum of understanding with Laurens County, University of Georgia to continue the Dublin-Laurens County Archway partnership. 

– Approved a new ditch witch trencher with Houston Galvaston Area Council, which is a Regional Government Cooperative Contract for $76,459.36.

– Approved parts for a 2020 Peterbilt front loader garbage truck from Murphy Hoffman LLC in the amount of $18,010.62 and buy services to rebuild the engine from Prestige Fabrications for $10,850, for a total of $28,860.62.

– Approved camera and cabling installation for the city’s inventory warehouse, purchasing department, maintenance shop, gas pump and sanitation and water construction facilities for security purposes. The city will be able to spend up to $26,000. The cost will be allocated out to each department, Powell said.

– Approved a water meter replacement at YKK by Delta Municipal Supply in the amount of $23,800.

– Approved replacing an engine for a 2012 freightliner truck, that hauls sludge to the landfill for the water department, in the amount of $38,910 to Prestige Diesel Maintenance and Repair. 

– Approved emergency repair to electrical panel at the water departments’ surface water plant for a cost of $31,738 to Bridges Electric & Motor Service Inc.

– Heard a first reading of an ordinance to rezone an area off Woodlawn Drive to make it a multi-family residential zone with the intention of building 100 to 120 apartments.

– Approved Nutter and Associates to provide water quality monitoring on an annual basis to keep in compliance with the EPD wastewater permit. The total is $86,780.

– Approved a resolution to increase costs in the water fund operations.

“If you have a minimal bill with the city, it will go up by about $2 total,” Powell said. “A typical household who may use about 9,000 gallons of water will go up about $16 a month.” 

– Approved a contract for Dixie Lawn & Landscaping, Inc., for landscaping services for Northview Cemetery for $32,000 a year.

– Approved a contract for work detail services at Riverview Golf Course for $28,481.15. The agreement is for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.