Waynesboro Water Tank Project Completed

The Waynesboro City Commission met in regular session on Monday, August 24, 2026 to address a light agenda. In attendance were Mayor Tony Creasy, Vice-mayor Jeff Howell, Commissioner Lynn Warren, Commissioner Jeff Davis, Commissioner Chris Bevis, City Manager John Hickman and City Recorder Paige Sanders. Mayor Tony Creasy called the meeting to order and Commissioner Lynn Warren offered the invocation. Commissioner Howell made a motion to approve the previous minutes, seconded by Commissioner Bevis.

In department reports, City Manager Hickman said the city has completed and put online its newest asset, a 145,000-gallon water tank located on Andrew Jackson Drive. Dustin Dowey, who owns Southeastern Tanks in Lebanon, Tennessee, completed the construction of the tank. Jeff Minatra, employed by Collier Engineering in Nashville, Tennessee, oversaw the project. The Waynesboro maintenance department installed the lines and did the prep work, which saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. Greg Floyd and Wayne County Rock performed all the site preparations and excavation of the dirt. “With this addition to the Clifton Turnpike water tank, the Andrew Jackson Drive area now has 250,000 gallons of water that can be isolated in the event of an emergency,” said Manager Hickman. Mr. Hickman went on to say that, with the daily average consumption used by Wayne Halfway House, South Central Human Resources Agency, E-911, Air Evac, C & B Linen, Floyd Bonding, and The Wayne County Jail/Sheriff’s Office, that area has enough water for 5 to 7 days in the event of a disaster. The News asked Hickman what would happen if the city were without water for more than seven days, and he replied, "If the city is out of water for more than 7 days, we got a whole lot more problems to be concerned about!" The project cost was $1.3 million, with about $1 million coming from American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant money and $300,000 from the city’s water fund balance. The commission agreed that they would visit the water tank site immediately following the meeting.

The only item on the agenda was to award the bid for the recently announced paving project. The project consists of Old Highway 64 West from the corner of the square at Emeralds to the Highway 64 Bypass, and all the city streets in the Barlow area connecting to Highway 99. City Manager Hickman revealed two sealed bids before the commission. Nickell Contracting out of Columbia submitted a bid at $173/ton of asphalt and the Rogers Group bid came in at $140/ton. Commissioner Warren made a motion to accept the Rogers Group bid, seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed unanimously.

In open items, Commissioner Warren stated that there were some other city streets that needed immediate attention and Hickman said they would be addressed. Commissioner Davis stated that he had looked at several properties in the city that were clearly in violation of the city ordinance regarding unsightly property. Manager Hickman said that the Chief of Police and his staff were actively working on these issues with the property owners to get the violations resolved. Hickman also stated that the owners of these properties in violation of the ordinance have and will continue to be cited to appear in court.

With nothing more to address on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned.