Paris Appointed Hiram's Interim Mayor

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Hiram City Council, Mayor Pro Tem Jack Paris was appointed and sworn-in as interim mayor to complete the term of former Mayor Carmen Rollins, who resigned as of July 1.

Paris, who said he is still undecided about running for the mayoral job this fall or if he will seek to remain in his council seat, will fill in for the remainder of Rollins’ term, which runs through December. The qualifying deadline for the November election is in August.  

The council then voted to place retired council veteran Alvin Sims in the Post 1 council seat vacated by Paris, while Councilman Derrick Battle was unanimously approved and then sworn-in to serve as mayor pro tem.

The council revisited two items of old business before moving on to three new items during its work session.

Operations Manager Jody Palmer answered questions from councilmen regarding an agreement with Croft & Associates for a Design & Construction Services Proposal for the old Regions Bank Building at 855 Hiram Douglasville Highway. The council tabled the item last month pending further discussion. Members of the council wanted time to further consider how best to renovate the building.

During the regular meeting, the council voted in favor of authorizing Paris to enter into an agreement with Croft & Associates for the renovation design and bid specifications for $16,800, and for bid tabulation and construction management services during the renovation for $6,300.

Palmer also tackled questions from the council regarding the construction of a “Welcome to Hiram/Paulding” Gateway sign on Wendy Bagwell Parkway at the Cobb/Paulding line for an
not to exceed amount of $60,000 to be paid from Street SPLOST, in accordance with the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum of 2017. The council also set this item aside last month. Paris cast the deciding vote not to pursue the project.

New business included Hiram Police Department (HPD) SPLOST projects to come out of the remainder of the current SPLOST. Those funds must be used by October. Projects proposed to the council by Hiram Police Chief Gary Yandura included a Comsec Systems video surveillance and key-card access system for $14,301 and a Taser project for active resistance by violent suspects for $23,144.15 from DGG TASER. The council voted in favor of both items as proposed.

The council also discussed and passed a resolution to allow for the Sunday sales of malt beverages, wine and distilled spirits to be added as a referendum to the November election ballet. The referendum, if approved by voters, would add alcohol sales at retail outlets on Sundays within city limits.

And the council voted in favor of an ordinance regarding emergency management with the intent to specify that city officials be a part of the Paulding County Emergency Management Agency and voted to renew its franchise agreement with GreyStone for utility services in the City of Hiram, another item that was tabled from last month.

The council also voted in favor of a resolution to recognize and promote HPD’s National Night Out. Chief Yandura presented Eric Moon, a Target executive team leader - assets protection, with a commendation for his support and donation of $3,200 to National Night Out.  

Two other items approved by the council were in preparation for the November election.

One item calls for a resolution that authorizes Paulding County to conduct municipal elections and also allows the city to choose an election superintendent, while the other item will allow Paris to enter into a contract with Paulding County to conduct an election and is necessary in order to meet the state requirement that the city pass a resolution to run an election.