The Chamber of the Vidalia City Council was filled Monday night with residents who believed several ordinances would be approved and passed by the members of the City Government. Those ordinances included guidelines on permits, long-term rentals and what most individuals came to voice or show their disapproval for was on how the city would address and oversee the unhoused population.

But what they came to object to didn’t come up for approval. Originally on the agenda for the July meeting, an amended agenda was sent out superseded the original one and City Manager Josh Beck told those at the meeting why the agenda was updated.

“We all want the same thing and that is to make Vidalia better,” Beck said, “and I want to tell all of you that I appreciate your attendance at this meeting tonight. It shows your concern. We pulled the ordinances from tonight’s agenda because I felt the process was backwards. We need public participation before they need to come before the Council.”

Beck said an open meeting to gather the concerns of the public on the revision of the ordinance pertaining to the homeless would be scheduled before any passage of the ordinance. That public meeting is tentatively scheduled for early August and these radio stations will post those dates, times, and locations as soon as we are made aware of them.

Ordinances presented for revisions and updates include the building code ordinance, the homeless ordinance, the solar panel ordinance, long-term rental ordinance, and the RV/camper ordinance. Beck said each one would be addressed separately in the public forum.