A Canton student is making an effort to get more of his generation interested in local government.

Brandon Roberts, an eighth-grader at Teasley Middle School in Canton, spoke to the city council during its work session Thursday and proposed a Teen Advisory Board for the city.

Roberts, 14, son of Jason and Jenny Roberts, has been a fixture at recent Canton City Council meetings. He said he is on a mission to influence other teenagers to become involved in local government.

"We are the future. We all need to be aware of what is going on," he said.

Roberts said he would like to form an advisory board with youth from the fifth grade up through seniors in high school. The advisory board would discuss the same issues as the council and would report back with their own viewpoints.

"One day, we will be right where you are," he told the council during the Thursday work session.

Mayor Gene Hobgood said he thought the idea for a teen advisory council was good.

"The more people, especially young people, we can get interested, the better," he said, adding he feels the city needs more interest in local governance. "I think it would be a great help to us."

Hobgood said the council will consider the advisory board at an upcoming meeting to get a "clearer idea of how it would function."

Also during the work session, one councilmember suggested a house on city-owned property on Big Oak Drive be used as a homeless shelter.

Councilman Bob Rush said he got the idea for the shelter from his church, the Catholic Church of Our Lady of LaSallete.

Rush said the property could be leased to a charity which, along with providing a homeless shelter, "could maintain it and keep it viable."

"It is not a big facility, but I don't think we have a big homeless population," he said. "We won't have anybody freezing to death behind a grocery store."

Hobgood said there were some "fringe issues," such as liability, that would have to be worked out, but it was an idea worth looking into.

He said the city is looking onto advertising for someone interested in buying just the house from the property and for a real estate management company to manage leasing the property.

The Canton City Council discussed the following items during its work session Thursday:

Discussed requirements for getting an alcoholic beverage license and the change of a manager's license;

Discussed a policy clarifying health benefits for dependents of employees who elected an early out window on retirement until the age of 65;

The council reviewed bids for silt hauling at the Hickory Log Creek reservoir. The low bid is Highridge Grading for $4,260,

Discussed reviewing job descriptions for the positions of Reservoir Manager and Reservoir Operator;

Discuss a proposed amendment to the capital improvements element and five-year short-term work program;

Discussed a proposed contract with MACTEC for $78,000 to create a uniform development code;

Discussed the Community Development Block Grant. The city will receive $65,000 for sidewalk improvements and tennis court resurfacing in Boling Park;

The city has received approximately $99,000 as part of the Energy Efficient and Conservation Grant. The money is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A contract with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority is being prepared;

The council reviewed a model soil erosion, sedimentation and pollution control ordinance;

The council discussed going through with an agreement to build a proposed booster pump station at Great Sky;

Discussed developing a plan to use one acre of land adjacent to the city's wastewater treatment plant it got from the federal government. The property must be used within the next 21 months or it is returned to the government;

Councilman Bob Rush suggested using a house on property owned by the city on Big Oak Drive for a homeless shelter operated by a charitable organization;

Rebecca Johnston of the Canton Downtown Development Authority spoke to the council in support of raising parking fines in downtown Canton. The city is considering raising the fines with the amount of the increase going to the DDA;

The council went into executive session to discuss personnel and real estate, but took no action.

City Manager Scott Wood introduced the city's new City Clerk, Coty Ervin. Her first day of work will be Monday. She has a bachelor's degree in both political science and sociology from the University of Georgia and a Master's in public administration from Kennesaw State University. She has worked with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.