The Cave Spring City Council regular meeting was held Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. The following are my thoughts and notes from the meeting. If you have any questions, please email me at reedforcavespring@gmail.com. To receive email notifications whenever I post, join the Cave Spring City Council Post 3 Updates Group.
The next meeting will be a called meeting on March 12, 2026, at 5 p.m.
DDA Report
The Downtown Development Authority report included the following updates:
- The first Galentine’s Tea on Feb. 15 attracted more than 30 participants.
- Planning for several upcoming events, including the St. Patrick’s-themed murder mystery event, is underway.
- The DDA has received more than 100 vendor applications so far for the BaconFest.
- A group recently visited to develop filming concepts centered around the cave.
- The city is now featured on the City of Rome’s “Stranger Things” tour. The cave will be included in their promotional materials and tour programming.
Court Report
Total fines levied for the month of February were $110 and total fines collected were also $110.
Police Report
The Cave Spring Police Department reported the following call activity for February 2026:
- 4 burglary alarms
- 4 suspicious persons
- 1 suspicious vehicle
- 5 domestic/fight calls
- 3 assist fire/EMS
- 7 incident reports
- 3 vehicle accidents
- 4 traffic stops (2 BOLO/911)
- 7 miscellaneous
- 2 special details (court)
- 11 returned phone calls
- 22 dispatched 911 calls
- 332 calls not dispatched
- 280 keep checks (0 requested, 280 officer generated)
Fire Report
The Cave Spring Fire Department reported the following activity for the month of February:
- 5 rescue calls
- 6 fire calls
- 49 total man hours (73% county/27% city)
Financial Report
Interim city manager Gary Burkhalter reported general government revenue of $1,044,195.53 received through March 8, 2026 and water/sewer revenue of $1,043,641.65 received through March 8, 2026.
Adjustments
Council voted to waive a $115.86 charge for sewer and debt. There was no water charge involved.
Committee Reports
Public Safety
During last month’s meeting, the committee reviewed numerous public safety and operational issues. Members received updates on fire department grant applications and recognition efforts, and discussed equipment and long-term planning needs for the department. The committee also discussed administrative matters related to police operations, including records management, reporting procedures, and evaluation of technology currently in use. In addition, members discussed potential updates to local ordinances and infrastructure concerns related to parking, sidewalks, and traffic safety. Department officials are continuing to research several items and will bring additional information back for further consideration.
Finance
Our trash service provider raised rates by 4.3% on February 1, 2026. The finance committee is exploring options to keep rates stable for seniors and military members.
Water Sewer
The committee is meeting with water project engineers soon. The committee reported there are still items on the sewer project punch list that have not been completed.
Oversight
The oversight committee monitors progress on council-approved initiatives, reviews city policies for effectiveness and compliance, and may recommend improvements to strengthen governance and fiscal responsibility. Recent activities include drafting a new key policy and revising the travel policy.
Travel Policy
Council unanimously approved a revised travel policy which ties reimbursements to IRS and GSA standards to eliminate the need to routinely update amounts listed in the policy.
Fireworks Tax Grant – Fire Department
The Cave Spring Fire Department has submitted an application for a grant to fund the purchase of Thermal Imaging Cameras. If awarded, the city would pay $1,579 with the rest of the $15,786 amount funded through the grant. The CSFD expects to be notified by mid-year if they are awarded the grant.
Former City Manager’s Truck Payments
The former city manager’s truck payments were being made out of the water/sewer budget instead of the police budget. The truck is equipped as a police vehicle and is currently being used by the police department. The payments will be made out of the police budget going forward.
BRACE Grant
The city has been awarded a Building Responsibility and Community Engagement (BRACE) grant. The grant will partially fund the community clean-up day including the rental of 10 dumpsters, purchase of a commercial waste receptacle, and pay for public information material related to community clean-up, city ordinances and property beautification. The total proposed cost for the project is $8,038. The grant will cover $5,000 of the total amount, the city will provide the remaining $3,083. The clean up days are planned for April 24 and 25. Council approved the request.
BRAG Request
Last week, council was presented with a request for the city to cover the cost of hosting a concert for BRAG (Bicycle Ride Across Georgia) on city property, providing a shuttle to Rome for bike riders who wish to stay in a hotel, allowing use of space in City Hall as a massage room for riders and providing police services to temporarily block traffic when bicyclists leave town. The total estimated cost of the request is $4,500.
There is currently an events moratorium in place that applies to events held on city property. There is no documentation showing that the BRAG request specifically related to the use of city hall property was submitted prior to the adoption of the event moratorium.
Council was informed prior to the meeting that a council member had additional concerns regarding the request. Council unanimously voted to table the item until a called meeting on March 12 at 5 p.m.
Library Request
Council unanimously approved a $1,000 donation to the library to support the summer reading program.
Utility Mgt. Services, Inc.
Utility Management Services works with businesses and government agencies to identify ways to reduce utility costs. According to a representative of the company, Utility Mgt. Services, Inc. conducts an audit to determine if the client could be on a better rate plan. If they discover the potential for savings, they will help the client move to a lower-cost plan. For this service, the company bills the client a fee based on the amount saved (50% of the savings).
My concern with this proposal is that the agreement states it is a 48-month agreement from the effective date of the rate change for each account. After that point, it automatically converts to a monthly renewal until the client requests in writing to stop. In other words, agreeing to this means that we commit to pay an amount higher than what we should be paying (if we identified the lowest rate ourselves) for four years.
The city manager and finance committee are going to investigate further.
Citizen Comments
A citizen expressed concern about tractor-trailer traffic on Lee Street and requested signage to help prevent the trucks from taking that route. The city manager is going to investigate further.
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