Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you.

We're going to begin with an invocation by Commissioner Goodman, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Let us stand as you're able, gentlemen. Remove your hats, please. Let us pray. Our Father and our God in heaven, we humble ourselves before you. We come to you thanking you for all the many blessings that you bestow upon us. Father, we ask for guidance tonight. and that we be led in the direction for the benefit of the citizens as we make decisions. Father, as always, we pray for the safety of those who stand in the breach between us and evil, those who wear the uniform both here and on foreign soil. Father, we pray for all of the first responders who support our community. All of these things we ask in thy name. Amen.

Roll call.

All commissioners are present.

Okay, moving on to the agenda. Do we have any additions or deletions to the agenda?

No, sir.

Okay, call for a motion to approve the agenda as presented.

Mr. Chairman, I move to approve the agenda as presented.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. And we move on to the approval of the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 special call meeting. I assume everybody's read the minutes. Any deletions or changes? If not, call for a vote or call for a motion.

Make a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting as specified. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor? Motion carries. We have a couple of presentations. Mike?

Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, I have a proclamation for you this evening. This is a proclamation of the Camden County Board of Commissioners recognizing America's 250th birthday. Whereas on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, establishing the founding principles of liberty, representative government, and inherent rights of all people. 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America, a historic milestone celebrating two and a half centuries of progress, innovation, perseverance, and shared national identity. Whereas communities across the nation are coming together to commemorate this important anniversary by honoring the generations who have contributed to America's story, its leaders, its service members, workers, families, and citizens from diverse backgrounds. Whereas Camden County, with its rich history, vibrant coastal heritage, and longstanding commitment to civic engagement, recognizes the significance of this occasion and the opportunity it presents to reflect on our past, celebrate our present, and inspire a strong and unified future. America's 250th birthday serves as a reminder of the enduring principles that continue to guide our nation, freedom, equality, democracy, and the pursuit of a more perfect union for all people. The Camden County Board of Commissioners encourages residents, businesses, schools, civic organizations, and visitors to participate in local, state, and national commemorations honoring this historic anniversary. Now therefore, it be proclaimed by the Camden County Board of Commissioners that they recognize and commemorate America's 250th birthday and encourage all citizens to join in celebrating this milestone with pride, gratitude, and renewed commitment to the enduring values that define the United States of America. Proclaim the seventh day of July, 2026, Robbie Cheek, Chairman, Camden County Board of Commissioners. I'm not sure if y'all were planning on having this, a photo, or if this was gonna be presented to someone, or if this is one we'll just hang here. Hang it. All right. Thanks, gentlemen. A reminder that 1777 next year will be the 250th anniversary of Camden County itself. We were incorporated on February the 5th, 1777. So as we roll from America's 250th anniversary, we'll roll into Camden County's 250th anniversary next.

And we are planning on some good participation, right?

Yes, sir. Absolutely.

We have a big party?

Yes, sir. I like it. Absolutely. As long as it's HR appropriate.

You would say that, wouldn't you?

Yes, sir.

You usually don't find out until after the fact.

That's true. Yeah, that's true. Thanks, Mike. The second is a follow-up regarding the disaster assistance presentation by the SBA. State your name for the record.

Sharad Shuler with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and commissioners. My name, again, is Sherrod Shuler. I'm with the U.S. Small Business Administration. We are here. I am based out of Atlanta, Georgia, but we are here due to the wildfires that took place in April. The primary county that was declared at the time was Brantley County. But what we do is when a primary county is declared, we do provide assistance to all the neighboring counties. And so today, we just wanted to ensure that we share this information and get the information out, specifically because of the deadline reminder for our physical damage. individual in this county had any damage or may be aware of anyone who has had any damage, they have until July 27th to apply for SBA assistance. And just to give you a little understanding of the U.S. Small Business Administration, of course we do service businesses, but in times of a disaster, we actually help homeowners and renters as well. So when a disaster takes place, if there's any damage to a home, any rental property within a rental home, or any business that's been impacted by a disaster, we provide assistance. And that assistance is provided in the form of a low interest rate loan that comes directly from the U.S. Treasury. So it is not a loan that comes through any bank or anything of that nature. But if anyone does apply for assistance, it does come from the U.S. Treasury. The rates for our businesses is 4%. So if a business that was impacted physically, they would get a rate of 4%. For our homeowners and renters, the rate is 2.875%. And just to kind of give you a little backdrop for our businesses, they may not have had physical damage, meaning that they may not have had damage due to the fire, but their business may have been impacted because of the slow of business during a timeframe. And so we provide what is called an economic injury disaster loan, also known as EIDL or E-I-D-L. You may have heard before during COVID, it's the name they used then, but it is specifically for natural, for disasters. And businesses can take advantage of that. So if you had any businesses that may have been tied to businesses that were impacted due to the wildfires, they can provide, they can apply for assistance that can help them with working capital assistance. And what we mean by that is any operating expenses such as their operating expenses, payroll, things of that nature. It's not to replace profits or losses or anything of that nature, but it is to help them repair, to replace any working capital losses is the best way I can describe it. Again, we are available for physical damage they have until July 27th, but for the economic injury they have until March, it is March 1st, 2027. So our businesses actually have a little time to apply for that loan. But while we're here, we're on the ground, we are servicing, as I mentioned, the primary county of Brantley, but we want to make sure that we get to the neighboring counties to make sure maybe there's someone who you know that has been impacted or someone in this county may have been impacted. they get access to all the full benefits that Brantley County has. And so I just wanted to make sure that we're able to share that information to you. If someone does want to apply, we don't have anyone on ground at this point. We did have a center there in Brantley County, but that center has now closed, but they still can apply online at sba.gov slash disaster, and they can go there and apply based upon their needs. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you so much. So it's an online process at this point, correct?

At this point, it is an online process, yes. They would apply online.

Can we put that on the county website so people can access it? It's on there. Okay, thank you. Thank you, sir.

All right, thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Moving on to the first public comment section. This is regarding items featured on the agenda. Limited to three minutes. Do you have anybody who wants to speak to the board?

Yes, I have a couple registered. First is Mr. Ricky Manning. Okay, Ricky.

Follow-up behind Steve.

Okay, Mr. Steve Winkle.

Steve Winkle, Harriet Spoff. I have two different items that are on the agenda tonight to talk about. The first item is the zoning variance that's requested. That will be discussed in a few minutes and if you like I will just skip that at this point and speak at that point while you have perhaps even the presentation up on the wall. The problem that we have is that Camden County keeps making a lot of mistakes. administratively in the areas where the county has full responsibility to get it right. It's been going on for decades. It isn't something brand new. It's become more and more apparent because our population and the number of people who live here has boomed in the last 10 or 20 years. And because of that, We seem to not have the administrative abilities that are necessary to keep up with doing things the right way. The perfect example is the fact that our gun range was built on land that was not zoned for gun range. How is that even possible to have happened? I'm not arguing about whether gun range is a good idea or a bad idea. That's for other people to discuss. The fact is, the county, how could it build its own facility on land that's not zoned for such a facility? Now, that's not the first thing. I found out during Spaceport that Camden County was being told by consultants and by its administrative leadership that the Navy had no problems. Well, they picked and choose what they told everybody, the public, and maybe even the commissioners, to the extent that they even said, well, we'll just launch the rocket straight up overhead since we can't launch over Cumberland Island into the Navy's flight protected area to protect our submarines. And so they said, we'll just shoot straight up. Well, not even the Chinese or the Iraqis can do that and get to orbit yet, and we certainly can't either. And so the fact of the matter is, is that y'all need to be more careful about the information you're absorbing. And tonight there's two things on the agenda. The first one is that zoning variants. It turns out that nowhere on the documents that I saw on the full agenda that was posted, not the agenda that's handed out tonight, nowhere did I see that it mentioned that there's already a mobile home on that property. And the format showing where they want to put the mobile home doesn't identify where the septic tank for the existing mobile home would be. Currently is. And the lot is stated as being a little over half of an acre. It's actually 0.63 acres, I think. But the fact of the matter is, is that if you take a look, all of that information is on the county's GIS website. Just bring it up. Look at it. And so I just wonder how we keep making mistakes like that. Because you should know, before you approve a zoning variance... that there's already two buildings already on the property. And that's not mentioned anywhere in the application. And so that's one particular problem area. The second problem area that I want to talk about tonight has to do with the agenda item for a $640,000 Caterpillar articulated dump truck. Have we seen the report? of how the current articulated dump truck was set on fire by a county vehicle. Have we seen a report? How do we know that Camden County, which wants to get deeper into the transportation business, won't burn up buses with people on them? How do we know that we have in place the necessary management skills in order to handle more and more complexity? Because a $640,000 cost new vehicle is a surprise this year. It wasn't on anybody's list until an accident at the county landfill by county employees not a truck that was owned by someone else where their insurance might cover it, but where our own insurance that we taxpayers have to pay, okay, has to cover that loss. And the cost for a new one costs a whole lot more than it costs to keep that old one going and less than a month or six weeks later, we already have a quote and a request to buy a new one, and we rented one for $13,000 a month, I think, is what we're paying for. That's in your agenda tonight. How do we know that we have the management in place to not have more and more accidents like that as things get more and more complicated? You just seem to think, by the way things are presented, That is taxpayer money. We'll just tax them more. We'll just raise the millage rate. My property value went down this year. Does that make me excited to pay the same amount in taxes I paid last year? I got a notice from the county that told me that I was saving $3,500 in property taxes this year because I had filed for an exemption. That would put my taxes in Camden County this year over $5,500. You're not going to attract people who look at their home as something they have to rent for the rest of their lives from Camden County. Thank you.

Ricky Manning.

Good evening, Commissioner. Rick Manning from Bullhead. I'd like to follow up on Mr. Winkle's concern on the purchase of the new Caterpillar articulated truck to replace the damaged one in the recent fire. We have yet, as the public, to see a complete root cause analysis performed to get to the bottom of the incident. Not sure if the board has or not. If you haven't, we need one. We have yet to see an action plan been written to prevent this from happening again to any of our county's most valuable assets. Who has been held accountable if deemed human error was a problem? More than likely it wasn't, but these questions still need to be answered before we move forward spending close to three-quarters of a million dollars. Also, the commission should ask the Superior Court to establish a long-term grand jury to investigate the weaknesses in our Camden County's ability to manage these people's business and our assets. Let's not kid ourselves. There's no way this administration or these five part-time commissioners can ensure that all aspects of operating our county in a cost-effective, environmentally sound, code ordinance, law-abiding manner can be achieved with our current way we are operating. Pretty evident. See what's going on. So I encourage this board to put on the next agenda a motion to convene a long-term grand jury to look into our current weaknesses in our government. I will follow up on this at the end of the meeting. Thank you.

That's all I have registered.

Anybody else? Anybody else want to speak? Mr. Goff?

Ben Goff, Harris Bluff. I want to beat that dead horse a little bit more. Good evening, commissioners. I have no experience with the equipment at the county dump. And yes, I realize it is an enterprise operation. What I don't understand is how the articulated dump truck was mysteriously burned up. I heard the explanation offered, but it still seems a little mysterious to me. Was there an investigation done of the circumstances? What will protect the new purchase from the same fate? It should be very difficult to justify a more than a half a million dollar purchase when it appears that there are less expensive models available. And finally, why can't the current burned truck be repaired? Thank you.

Anybody else wish to speak to the board? Seeing none, we'll end the public comments section and move on to a motion to adjourn the regular meeting and convene a public hearing to consider planning commission items.

Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn the regular meeting and convene a public hearing.

We have a motion to all second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Enter the public hearing.

Good evening, commissioners. Tonight we have a special use request to allow a manufacturer home in a multifamily residential zoning. The property is 081063, and the address is 402 Harriot Bluff Road. It's 0.5 acres, and the future land use is commercial. Applicants requesting special use to allow manufacturer home and multifamily residential r2 zoning The highlighted parcel and blue right there is the parcel that is requesting and this is just showing the zonings around the property This map here shows that there are a few other mobile homes in the area listed below And the applicants parcel is the highlighted in blue and This is a site plan showing the location of the mobile home on the property. And Planning Commission recommends approval.

Thanks, Petey. Does anybody wish to speak for the item? Anybody want to speak in opposition to the item? Mr. Winkle?

As I mentioned earlier, taken directly from the GIS website, is a picture of the property. That's the property number 081-063. It already has a mobile home on it. Your application doesn't mention anything about that. In fact, the new mobile home, as is shown in the Platt that you've seen is exactly where the existing mobile home is. Plus there's a second building, an outbuilding. And because there's somebody that's been living on that property perhaps for 10 or more years, there's probably a septic field, which is also not shown on the document that you have to make a decision on. And so my question is, how do we get to this point where it takes... someone who is a taxpayer to point out to you that when you look at that you don't know anything I just told you. And I'm wondering how the Planning Commission could make a decision if they even bothered to look at the county's own GIS map which we have a three-person department to manage in Camden County. And so all you have to do is open your eyes. And I'm wondering, are we moving so fast that we are blinded by the wind in our face? Because I don't see how y'all can make this decision tonight on the information that was presented to the Planning Commission, okay, and then subsequently presented to y'all and the public. because I had to do homework outside of the information that the planning department provided y'all in tonight's agenda. Thank you.

Anybody else wish to speak? Okay, moving on, we entertain a motion to adjourn the public hearing and reconvene the regular meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn the public hearing and reconvene the regular meeting.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Enter the regular meeting. Item number one, PD.

So up is a special use to allow a manufacturer home in a multifamily R2 zoning. Parcel is 081063 at 402 Harrius Bluff Road. Planning Commission recommends approval.

If you haven't heard the item, do we have a motion?

Do we get to ask questions about the presentation before we even get into... Let's get a motion in a second.

Then we can have a discussion, yes. I'll make the motion to approve. A second for discussion. Yes, we'll have a second for discussion.

PD, man, you want to tell us about this property and everything that goes into getting an application approved or recommended approval?

So... This parcel, being that it's future land use is commercial, is the reason it is having to be asked for the mobile home. So to do that, they just come and get the application and take it to the planning commission. And once that, they submit everything for us, site plan, stuff like that.

Was that black and white drawing with the blue rectangle, was that the site plan or was there something more robust? that was presented to y'all. I mean questions about the septic tank I think are a really good point. I don't know if that was presented to y'all in the application. Like how much do you know about the site before you?

The septic was not presented to us.

I will tell you that the Health Department does reach out to the Health Department and they do review all this before the permit is passed. So that will be before the review process when they apply for the permit for the mobile home to go on the property.

And it sounds like, based on the fact that there's one currently in the existing spot where this new one's going to go, they're replacing an old one with a new one. I guess, does the health department review their approval? Is that submitted with the application?

Once they get the permit for the new manufactured home, the health department will do an inspection of the lot and of the existing septic system.

Okay, well after this takes place, correct? Correct. Yes, so like if they can't get that and the new mobile homes not more it wouldn't be allowed anyways. Okay.

Thank you, sir Any more questions any more discussion Motion on the floor to Motion on the floor to approve we have a second any more discussion all in favor All opposed mr. Goodman opposes I Okay, moving on to item number two, purchase of two license plate readers from Millennial Products.

Good evening chairman members of the board. I'm Chris fed on behalf of the Camden County Sheriff's office. Uh, I'm requesting approval to purchase two message board trailer equipped with license plate readers, LPRs from millennium products. Camden County has previously purchased equipment from millennium products and has established a strong working relationship with a vendor. This purchase is being made through GSA state contract pricing. The majority of the purchase will be funded through a GEMA State Homeland Security Grant program with approximately 26,000 in required grant matching funds covering the remaining costs. The grant award for this equipment was approved previously at the Board of Commissioner meeting on April the 7th. At this time, I respectfully request approval to purchase these mission essential message board trailers and license plate readers as presented.

Okay, you haven't heard the item. Do we have a motion?

I'll make the motion to approve this purchase.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

So it's $26,000 of grant match funds, correct?

That is correct.

Okay, that's out of this new budget that we just approved? Yes. So that comes out of the $155,000 of grant match funds? I'm sorry? Is that correct? I see you nodding your head. So 155 minus 26,000.

I can give you the exact amount.

It is... We're doing something new this year where I'm going to keep a running total on things we spend, not just for you.

You're good. 26,554.52 is the exact overage. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

We have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you, sir. Moving on, I entertain a motion to adjourn the regular meeting and convene the Solid Waste Authority meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn the regular meeting and convene the Solid Waste Authority meeting. Second.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Solid Waste Authority agenda, are there any amendments to the agenda? Seeing none, do we have a motion to adopt the agenda as presented? I'll make a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Moving on to the Solid Waste Authority approval of the minutes from the June 23, 2026 Solid Waste Authority minutes. Any changes or deletions or amendments to the minutes? Seeing none, motion to approve the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 Solid Waste Authority minutes.

Make a motion to approve the June 23rd Solid Waste Authority meeting minutes.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Moving on to the public comment section for the Solid Waste Authority. This is comments related to items on the agenda. Do we have anybody we should speak to the board regarding the Solid Waste Authority agenda items? Okay, seeing none. Mr. Pittman.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners. John Pittman, Solid Waste Director. I come before you this evening to request the approval of purchasing a 2026 articulated truck from Yancey for the amount of $640,294. A little history on that. This piece of equipment is our current emergency rental replacement, the articulated truck that that caught on fire a couple months back. We used the articulated truck to haul dirt from the borrow pit to the MSW and the CND sites, and that has to be done on a daily basis when it comes to the MSW. So this piece of equipment is something that we got to have in order to stay in compliance with EPD going forward. So in order for us to stay in compliance, the Solid Waste Authority needs two, you know, articulated trucks. We already have one to deliver that cover for each site, and that has to be done on a daily basis. The articulated truck, of course, is a vital piece of our operation and equipment for our daily operation. And the proposed plan for purchasing this articulated truck is, you know, the initial plan was to come before you. I got three options that I'm going to present. The first option was a 12-month plan at $54,000. That was the initial plan. option for $54,862 per month. The second option is $25,144 per month for 27 months. And the last option is for 60 months at $12,000 per month with a 4.99% Eight percent. So a rate. So what I'm asking and recommending today is to go with the 27 month plan at twenty five thousand one hundred and forty four dollars. You know, that will alleviate some. Well, it wouldn't have a big impact on the operation because we already approved the fifty four thousand dollars to knock off the GIFO loan. So it wouldn't impact it at all. So we're going to, of course, push the GFA loan back for 12 months and we're going to take care of this piece of equipment because it is an emergency. It is something that we got to have in order to continue our day-to-day operations. Yeah, it costs a lot, but it's something that we got to have in order to stay in compliance and continue to be able to run our landfill operations. And at the end of the day, in the lease agreement, on all three lease agreements, the $13,200 that we spend per month, up to six months, will go towards the purchase of that piece of equipment. That's $79,200. You know, I don't intend to do anything until we get to the six months. that's when I plan to start paying for that piece of equipment six months from now. So I'm going to apply that $79,200, you know, to the lease when it comes to purchasing that piece of equipment. So today I'm asking, uh, that you consider, uh, one of those options and, um, a recommendation is a 27 month plan. Uh, and I'm requesting that you approve the purchase of this piece of equipment.

If you haven't heard, Mr. Pittman, do we have a motion?

I move to approve the purchase of a 2026-730-04A articulated truck for Mansecat in Brunswick, Georgia. With questions.

Do we have a motion? Do we have a second?

Which one did he say? The 27 month?

No, he just said he proved the purchase. Proved the purchase.

Yeah, it was presented to us as a 27-month plan.

It was presented.

I second it.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

I prefer a shorter period of time because long-term, you're going to be paying less on interest. But that's just my thoughts.

Did you solicit... bids on this particular item or is this? Like there's questions about the amount that we're paying to lease to own this vehicle.

Well, this is probably the cheapest. We use Sourcewell, and the contractor, the vendor, Yancey Cat, is on the current Sourcewell contract. So it's the cheapest. And so we did not have to go out according to the purchasing policy. We didn't have to go out and get any more quotes because they are actually on the Sourcewell contract.

Okay, and it's comparable to what other governments would be paying for the same piece of equipment?

Absolutely.

Okay. I'm interested in hearing about shorter terms. With the rate increase that we approved, are you able to get it on a shorter term and save interest?

Yes, sir. We can do the 12-month $54,000 and be done with it at $4.99. 12 months is... You know, it's one year, and we can afford to pay the $54,000 and be done with it in 12 months.

So to be clear, the $640,000, the $79,000 lease purchase is already incorporated in that price? So that's actually the price we're paying, $640,000? Yes.

So that $640,000 will actually go down once we... Once the lease is over. Yes, sir. All right.

So the motion on the floor is... Well, the motion was to approve exactly how it was presented to us.

Right, with the 27-month plan. That was one of the options. You had three options, the 12-month, the 27, and the 60.

But you think you can afford the 12-month plan?

Absolutely.

And should anything unexpected... We're not going to put ourselves in a bad position by trying to hurry up the payment.

Exactly.

Okay. So do I amend my motion? You can amend it, or you can rescind it and make a new one. Either way. I'll just keep it clean. I'll rescind my motion that I made. And then I would like to propose a new motion, and that is moving that we approve the purchase of the 2026 articulated truck from Rancy Cat in a 12-month period.

At $54,000.

At $54,000 a month. Yes, sir. Correct. Thank you.

Do we have a motion? I'll second that motion. Any more discussion?

One. The warranty, is it the same because you've got a two-year PM contract?

Yes, sir.

So you still have the two years even though you're going to pay it off in a year? Yes, sir.

All coming out of the Enterprise Fund, correct?

Yes, sir.

Thank you. Oh, and is there a report for the fire?

I don't currently have a report, but I can certainly get one.

It sounds like there's a lot of interest surrounding this particular incident, so I think we should get that together.

I will formally get a report done, get it to you.

One more question, too. Yes, sir. Is the truck that caught on fire, is it totaled?

Can it be refurbished? No, sir. It is completely, it was deemed total by our insurance companies. So, not repairable.

My understanding, it was kind of a junker to begin with, and that might be part of the problem.

Well, what caught it on fire was a junker. Yeah. Yeah.

Any more discussion? No motion on the floor. All in favor? Motion carries. Moving on to item two, the approval of the repair costs for the current excavator.

Yes, our excavator went down and the excavator is a part of our operation. That's something that we have to use on a daily basis. That excavator actually loads our articulated truck with the dirt so we can do the job of covering on a daily basis. The repairs I think the repair cost is about $50,000, and it's going to be out, down for probably about three months. And then, of course, we have to lease a vehicle. So now we're at about $80,000 trying to get this vehicle up. So I'm requesting that approval to get this vehicle repaired. I would like to come back at mid-year and have a discussion, maybe purchasing a new excavator going forward. I want to see how the revenues are and making sure that we can afford the piece of equipment, but I would like to come back before you and present that to you.

Let's get a motion to – I'll make a motion to approve the request.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. That will open up for discussion.

You're paying for the rental right now? You're paying $8,000 a month?

I'm paying $10,000 a month for the rental, the excavator.

All right. Are we getting that – The repairs, are they doing the same company doing the repairs? Yes, sir. And they won't let us put anything toward? Not unless you're purchasing it.

And that same thing applies.

Are you paying $50,000 to repair it?

Yeah, for an old piece of equipment that's antiquated, that's reached the end of its life cycle. It's on the CIP for next year. Okay. You know, it's unfortunate. You know, things happen.

Just a thought.

Big dollar item.

Never hurts to ask. Yes, sir. Okay.

So back to your comment about... Purchasing a new excavator, I think that's probably worthy to bring back, but we just make sure the revenue resource is there to cover the cost, because right now it's not budgeted. Absolutely.

I just want to make sure that we are healthy, and if we can, I'll come back. If not, I'll come back and let you know that we can't at that particular time. Okay.

Okay. When it comes to an excavator or an articulator, this is a business that the county provides and we have an obligation for. I think it's important to mark the distinction between the Solid Waste Authority and the Board of County Commissioners. This is a business that we're responsible for operating. So the articulators, you had two, one went down, and now you're going to have two again. You don't have a backup excavator, correct?

I don't. And that's something that we need to put in place. We can certainly repair this one. And in the future, we can purchase a new one and we'll have a backup and we can create a preventive maintenance plan, you know, so we can keep these things up and running. I don't want to. come before you and having to increase my repair and maintenance budget. Cause it's big. And you know, right off the bat, we in the first week of the, you know, new budget year, FY 27, and we already spending 50, 60, 70, $80,000 for repairs.

And if we don't cover the Hills, I mean, there's, that's a higher risk for potential landfill fires and other fires.

And we out of, we out of compliance with EPD.

Can I ask how we're covering the Hills now?

We have an excavator that we're leasing. That's how we're doing it now. We've leased an excavator in order to continue the process. I mean, we can't go a day without having equipment running. And it's unfortunate that we don't have a backup. But however, with this plan coming back mid-year, we'll have a backup if we have the revenue stream and we can see a forecast that we are able to purchase that piece of equipment going forward.

We can have the repaired excavator as a backup.

Absolutely.

That's all I've got.

Anything else? We have a motion on the floor to approve and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Move on to any additional Solid Waste Authority public comments. Mr. Winkle.

I'm curious because I heard two different terms used for what may or may not be the same truck. The articulated truck was to move dirt from where it's removed from a pit to where it needs to be spread. Is it also called an excavator? Does it remove the dirt from the ground in the pit and put dirt in itself? and then haul the dirt to a different location to spread it? So are we talking about one machine or two machines? And the question that I have is, how do we get by requiring two machines to haul it from point A to point B and only one operating machine, apparently, to dig it out of the ground? I'm just not hearing the right questions being asked about the landfill. I know that it's a different operation altogether and that it is a business and that it requires certain demands by the state. I want you to understand that I know more about it than many people know because I got involved with the state over the Camden County landfill mismanagement five or seven years ago when the landfill was shut down by the state due to mismanagement. And when 92% of the equipment was on a list by the state inspector that said the equipment was in poor condition or not operating and operable. And so have you looked at a list? Have you looked at any of the reports about the landfill before you have approved a near three quarters of a million dollars worth of expense for new equipment that we have to have? Because I don't think you've got enough information to make a proper decision on this. But you move forward like all you have to do is just check the boxes. And so that's what this is going to become known as. Let me give you an example of another check the box. The zoning variance we talked about. Whose county commission district is that in? Your agenda says it's in District 1. It's not in District 1. It's in District 2. And the county maps show it. But the agenda says District 1. So I have to just then assume that a District 1 commissioner looked at the documents even though it's in District 2. And so that's a pretty, it is in one, not according to the county map online. So how would someone who lives there know where to vote? That's important. And you treat it like It's not. And the map I'm looking at says it's in District 2.

Anybody else? Moving on, entertain a motion to adjourn the Solid Waste Authority meeting and reconvene the regular meeting.

Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn the Solid Waste Authority meeting and reconvene the regular meeting.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor?

Motion carries. entertain a motion to reconvene the regular meeting.

We just did that, Mr. Chairman.

I'll second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor?

No, sir. We already did.

Oh, we did. I'm sorry. As good as this is, it's not good enough, okay? Moving on to item three, purchase of the 2026 articulated truck as presented by Mr. Pittman. Do we have a motion?

I'll make the motion we approve this purchase for a 12-month purchase. Second, Mr. Chairman.

We have a motion and a second. That was a stipulation of the 12-month period. Yes, sir. Motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor? Motion carries. Moving on to item four, approval of the repair costs for the excavator.

I'll make a motion. Mr. Chairman, I move to approve the cost of the repair to the excavator.

I'll second. Any discussion? All in favor? Motion carries. Thanks, John.

Thank you. Moving on to reports.

There's no changes to the calendar.

No changes to the calendar. Joe, you have any administrator comments?

Yes, sir. I'd like to announce that we will be beginning, myself and a couple of staff members, we'll be beginning our summer town hall meetings, which will begin on Thursday, July the 30th. The first one will be held at Maple Ford, and we'll actually have more info coming on that soon. So stay tuned to our website. And I'd also like to remind everyone to participate in our joint comprehensive transportation plan survey You'll find in some of the seats here tonight the flyer with the QR code, but I encourage everyone to go on our website, camdencountyga.gov, to participate in that transportation plan survey. Thank you.

So, Joey, the town halls, is there a particular format you're going to go with, or is it just going to be open discussion?

At this time, we're planning on just doing an open discussion. It will be... family friends setting where we just have a open discussion as you all have basically. Awesome.

Yeah.

I think that's a great idea. Okay, moving on. Is there any additional public comments?

I do have several registered. The first is Mr. John Wojcik.

I'm John Wojcik, Clarks Bluff Road. I use this commissioner meeting as a learning vessel. And I attended a lot of your, first time ever, your budget meetings and a lot of your work sessions. And I've seen a lot of people out here bring up their needs. And some were accepted and some were rejected. And like I said, I attended a lot in person, but the last couple have been on the video, YouTube. I watched the last meeting online. I didn't come because I thought it was gonna be a simple session. Wasn't much to it. It's like all the I's were dotted and T's were crossed for the budget. And I said, well, it's gonna be a simple meeting. But the CFO came up here and said, what do you think about $10,000 for the museum? I don't recall anybody coming up from the museum to say, I need $10,000. Would you guys voted on it and said, yeah, we'll vote $10,000. But no explanation of where this money's going. I have nothing against the Thirecall Museum. I'm just looking at the process of okaying the money while everybody, it seemed like you waited to the 11th hour to get the $10,000 with no justification on how it's going to be used. Nothing. Thank you.

Ricky Manning.

Rick Madden from Bullhead again. I just want to follow up on what I started with. As this board and administration are very aware that the past few months we have been looking into an ongoing project in this county. This all began with mismanagement and noncompliance concerns that were brought forth, environmental concerns by several citizens. These concerns were brought to the attention of the concerned county admins and the board chairman. As of today, the required BMP and failure reporting has still not been brought into compliance. No matter what y'all been told, it's not in compliance. Just as the prior project that was looked into, this project has revealed several more weaknesses in our county's ability to manage the people's money and business. Once again, there is no way that our administrator and you five part-time commissioners can ensure that people's business is being managed properly. I have once again attempted to work with the county to keep concerns within this house. Yet once again, it is taken as a threat instead of as a constructive attempt to bring awareness to the board's unknown mismanagement, noncompliance practices. The board and the board's employers, known as all these citizens out here, would be very surprised at the environmental issues that have been found, much less all the mismanagement practices found while investigating this project. This is just one example of why this board should request and convene a long-term grand jury for the oversight into the management of the people's business. All the information gathered so far on the mismanagement, noncompliance, and environmental concerns will come forth. and would serve the people in the county much better by a grand jury instead of other entities being brought into this situation. Y'all know I don't come up here without research. It's been wrong before, y'all. I don't know who's handing you what, but the state says you're not in compliance. You haven't reported in compliance. Y'all can hand me what you want to, but I'm not going to stop. You know it. That's up to y'all what decisions you want to make. Thank you.

Steve Winkle.

I think that the problem that we have is that Camden County has taken on more than it can chew. And that all these fine ideas that make us the kind of fast growing progressive county puts us way in over our heads. I want to remind the county commissioners, of which four of you were not even, you hadn't even thought about running probably at the time, that the Georgia Supreme Court, its decision that went against Camden County government and in favor of the public appeal to the state constitution, the state Supreme Court stated that it would not be routine for elected officials to ignore their constituents. And tonight, y'all seem to know better than your constituents on every questioned issue. For instance, we were assured that that zoning was in District 1. That's not what the county maps show for voting districts. I can look at it right here. Did you look it up? I looked it up after that question came up. And then it says that the district commissioner is Mr. Turner for that address. And I don't think Mr. Turner represents District 1. And so the fact that it's confusing even to people who think they know and want to know means that you have to be a whole lot more careful when you're messing with my money. You approved the purchase of a truck that requires the taxes from 28 homes just like mine, 100% of the tax money going to the purchase of that truck for that 12 months. That means I'm not paying for fire protection, I'm not paying for police, I'm not paying for the sheriff's department, I'm not paying for road repair or cutting the grass. All I'm paying for and 27 other people like me are paying for a new excavator and I didn't hear a single question or answer or an explanation about how such an accident that requires we spend almost three quarters of a million dollars occurred. And maybe y'all know that taxpayers need to know or else y'all gonna be thought of as being nothing but bully tax collectors because you just think that you can go out and charge us whatever you need in order to give away burned up trucks without a good explanation other than what we heard here tonight. That's not the way county commissions should be doing business. I think the grand jury would be the first step. And if y'all don't agree that the grand jury should be the first step, then maybe the state Supreme Court should look at the charter of Camden County government and decide whether y'all are actually obeying the law, no matter what you're being told.

Anybody else? Seeing none, we're going to move on to...

Good evening, Commissioner. My name is Glenn Miller. I live at 320 Buck Lane. I have been calling the county shop up there trying to get the dirt on that road. I'm up here now on that. I hope I can hold my peace because I can't get nothing done. I went Sunday. I took my backhoe and dug a ditch to drain the water off of it because it's slanted or flat. We don't know nothing about crowning the water, the road. The road is two foot lower than the land. Every time it rains, it holds water. I have called up there and told them, I said, I need dirt on the road. Build it up, or the water will run in the ditch. I can't get nobody out. Friday, I was down there with my tractor. The county truck comes, turns around, in the road to the left. Didn't come down and ask me, what do you need? Do I need help? A lot of people talking about it. I pay taxes. What I plan on doing is hire me a contractor. Dirk Hall, I'm gonna send y'all the bill. If I can't, y'all don't pay it, I take my tax money to pay the bill. Thank you. How about get something done on the road?

What road is that?

320 Buck Lane. Something else popped up too here. The county bought four trucks, Silverado, $480,000 truck. I bought a 2019 Zezas Avenue 1 Colorado, $40,000. That's $160,000 y'all could have bought, four of them. Save 200-something thousand dollars in the budget. Do y'all think like that? Do y'all run your budget like that at the house? But y'all up the taxes, though. Every three years, my taxes goes up. I know your home debt is in. Got 10 acres in home debt is in. It goes down, goes back up. All we do is raise taxes. We need money. But y'all spend money like it's on a tree. Thank you for your time.

Anybody else?

Okay, we'll move on to the commissioner comments section. Does any commissioners have any comments tonight?

I just want to use my comments to maybe answer some of Mr. Winkle's questions. There was one about the taxpayer dollars being used on some of these purchases tonight. Specifically, I think they came out of the enterprise fund, which is money that's generated from the actual business use of the landfill. So that's fees for service, people coming to use the landfill. It had been articulated before on what the cause of the fire was at a previous meeting, but in case you didn't get it, there was like a junker vehicle that was used for moving around the landfill. Apparently, I'm waiting on the report that Mr. Pittman is going to put together, had an electrical issue that caused a fire on that junker vehicle, which unfortunately spread to the articulator that was parked next to it. And then, as far as the county charter, I hear this a lot actually. People confuse cities and counties quite frequently. There's two things. There's one piece of legislation that establishes all 159 counties. And then there's the county's enabling legislation, delegates or designates what the makeup of this board of this actual government is. So it's not like a city that has a charter. It would take an act of the Georgia legislature to, to diminish it. I just wanted to clarify some of those things and maybe answer some of your questions.

it.

Anybody else?

I'll just quickly say that we haven't scheduled yet, but we're trying to get Senator Hodges and Representative Saines down for one of our board meetings just to give an update. I know Atlanta's a ways away, but we need to start focusing on the legislative issues coming up for next year, and that's one way to start. So we're trying to get them down probably sometime in August at a commission meeting just to let them give us an update, give their thoughts, and we'll give their thoughts back. So we're scheduling that. That's all I have. Anything else? All right. Motion to adjourn.

Mr. Chairman, I move that we adjourn this meeting.