Resident urges cleanup and repairs along Jimmy Lee Smith/US‑278; city staff explains state and county responsibility

A resident told the council during the public comment period that trash, uncut medians and potholes on Jimmy Lee Smith — identified in the meeting as U.S. 278/Georgia 6 — are not being kept up to the same standard as neighboring communities and asked whether a street sweeper or other cleanup could be scheduled. The resident said: “There's a lot of trash, like, uncut mediums, like, roads that are at potholes and things of that nature. ... I'm just trying to see if you have, like, some type of street sweeper that goes through there to clean up all the trash.” City staff member Jody responded that U.S. 278 is a state highway. Jody said the city can submit work‑order requests to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for right‑of‑way trash removal, vegetation cutting and pothole patching and that residents can also file requests directly with the state. Jody added that the city does not perform routine work on state right‑of‑way but will remove obvious safety hazards when encountered. For a nearby street identified in the meeting as a county road (Bilkeruth), Jody said the work‑order request should go to the county. Mayor Mary and other council members also praised recent cleanup work by the county sheriff's office. Mayor Mary referenced a post showing sheriff’s office activity and thanked Sheriff Ashley Henson and Jordan, the sheriff’s office public information staffer, for community engagement and cleanup efforts. No formal action to allocate city resources or schedule city crews was recorded in the meeting transcript. Jody offered to speak with the resident after the meeting and to assist in filing work‑order requests; the resident was encouraged to file requests directly with GDOT as well.