The Statesboro City Council will gather this morning for their bi-monthly meeting to be followed by a work session that will update council members on a number of pending projects.
    At the meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, the council will consider a motion to annex more than 291 acres of property along Old Register Road belonging to BVT Akins L.P. and J. Edward Akins Farms, L.P. If approved, approximately 64 acres would be zoned for planned unit development – commercial retail while the remaining acreage would be zoned R-40 (single family residential).
    In addition, the council will consider a motion to increase the maximum building signage requirement in Sign District 3 that would allow an unnamed corporate restaurant chain to install a 91 square foot sign on at least one façade of their building. Council will also consider a special events permit for the Averitt Center for the Arts to serve wine at a Sept. 11 concert.
    In the work session following the council meeting, council members will be updated by department heads on a number of on-going projects including city water and sewer projects; updates on public safety equipment and the automatic aid agreement with the county; a revised hotel/motel tax contract with the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau; an update on Georgia Senate Bill 17 that discusses ethics reform; a downtown incentive program sponsored by the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority; and memorandums of understanding between the city and Georgia Southern University’s Cable 97 and between the Statesboro Police Department, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and the GSU Police Department.