City of Richmond Hill department heads and council members, as well as the mayor and city manager, held a workshop on Oct. 7 to decide how SPLOST money will be spent.

City finance director Bob Whitmarsh said the only for sure expenditure is $1.5 million toward the construction of the Richmond Hill Conference Center, which recently broke ground at the rear of J.F. Gregory Park. The workshop was held to discuss other projects and prioritize them.

Whitmarsh said it was the first opportunity for council to hear out what each department needs. He also said there will be at least one more workshop before the matter becomes an agenda item for a council meeting.

Here is a list of the proposed projects/expenditures that SPLOST could potentially fund:

- additional patrol cars for the Richmond Hill Police Department

- planning and engineering costs for a new fire station – restoring the old one on Hwy. 144 and/or building a new one near Daniel Siding Road

- heavy equipment for ditch maintenance

- radio read meters, geared toward a accurate reading for water meters

- vehicles for planning and zoning department and city administration

- equipment to develop Boles Park and Pierceville Park

- a maintenance building for the parks department, to be located in J.F. Gregory Park

Whitmarsh said there is roughly $3.2 million available after the conference center, and council is expected to designate which projects to appoint the funds to at the next workshop.