A delegation of officials from Griffin attended the Georgia Municipal Association Mayor’s Day conference in Atlanta that ran Saturday through Monday.

“It’s a dual-purpose event,” said Assistant to the City Manager James Landham. “It’s a training session hosted by the Georgia Municipal Association ... and also an opportunity for local leaders to be able to network with other elected officials throughout the state on other contemporary issues.”

According to the agenda, issues discussed this year included fire and emergency services, municipal rights of way, how to create a vibrant downtown and how to properly deal with electronic records.

Griffin Mayor Doug Hollberg attended the event for the fifth time. On Saturday, he attended a six-hour course on the municipal court system.

“The course was very informative,” he said. “It gave me a better understanding of the operation of the city municipal courts.”

On Sunday, Hollberg, who is a member of the GMA’s Natural Resources Policy Committee, attended a lecture and panel discussion on the statewide water plan and discussed concerns about municipalities already attempting to conserve water - such as Griffin, which repaired leaky meters and constructed the Still Branch Reservoir - being unfairly penalized by the state’s mandate to reduce consumption by 10 percent.

Hollberg said further imposed reductions could threaten debt repayments on Still Branch and could force rate increases. The committee also discussed pending legislation dealing with septic tanks, landfills and low-flow plumbing and Gov. Sonny Perdue’s 2008 legislative agenda as it pertains to environmental issues - the plan includes additional monies for the hazardous waste trust fund and more preservation of forest lands.

Afterward, Hollberg attended a luncheon in which proposed amendments to the GMA bylaws were voted on and new officers were elected to the GMA board of directors.

The amendments included measures confirming that the immediate past president was in fact a GMA officer, permitting GMA districts to elect officials via mail and clarifying which positions within the organization must be staffed by an elected government official and which can be staffed by an elected or appointed official.

“I was a voting delegate from the city of Griffin and voted in support of the recommended changes,” he said.

City Manager Kenny Smith also attended Mayor’s Day. He participated in an all-day course Saturday entitled Excellence in Utilities.

“It was a great course,” he said.

He said Griffin is a full-service utility, so much of the information was helpful.

On Sunday, Smith attended a session on creating a vibrant downtown that featured planning directors from Madison, Bainbridge, Woodstock and Macon discussing downtown revitalization. After this, he attended a revenue and finance policy committee meeting.

“We discussed proposed legislation,” he said.

Included in the discussion was Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson’s so-called GREAT Plan that would eliminate ad valorem taxes and replace them with an expanded sales tax.

Sunday afternoon, Smith attended a Transportation Policy committee meeting.

Sunday night, Smith attended a Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) meeting discussing the future of power generation and on Monday morning he attended a policy issues breakfast attended by Perdue.

“The governor gave us some of his perspectives on growth for the entire state,” he said. “He talked a little bit about the budget he’s proposing.”