Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

[clears throat] Whoa. Good evening. Call to order the Columbia County Board of Commissioners January 6th, 2026 meeting to order. Asking uh the Vice Chairman Couch to open us with invitation.

Please bow your heads. Heavenly Father, as a new year begins, we come to you seeking your wisdom and guidance. Grant us the discern discernment needed to make the decisions before us tonight and all year in your will. Lord, please watch over all of our Columbia County citizens, county staff, and our sheriff's officers, firefighters, and EMS workers in 2026. Help us continue to be a community full of love for one another, grace, and compassion, just as you would desire. In your most holy name, I pray. Amen.

We stand for the pledge. Pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Let the record show we have a full quorum of commissioners. Commissioners, you have the minutes from the December 16th, 2025 meeting in your packet. If you've had a chance to review them, I'll accept a motion to approve them. Mr. Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to accept as presented. Second. Any questions? All in favor raise your right hand. That motion carries.

Excuse me, Mr. Oh, that's fine. Um, Mr. Johnson, I believe the agenda set. Ready for your approval, Mr. Chairman. It's approved. Our first item of business is to elect a vice chairman for the year. Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to um uh to elect uh district four commissioner and current vice chair Allison Couch to continue serving as our vice chair for our county. A second. Any other nominations? All nominations are closed. All in favor, raise your right hand. Your vice chairman from other half of you.

Thank you. Thank you all for your confidence. the special recognitions. I see none. We go to the consent agenda, which I see none. So, then we'll go straight to the debate agenda. And I believe Vice Chairman Couch, you have the first one. Yes, sir. I make a motion to approve resolution 26-01. Second. This is just setting the qualifying fees for the uh offices uh of Columbia County. This is required by law. Um, I don't think there's anything additional for that.

Any questions? There's a motion to second on floor. All in favor, raise your hand. Motion carries. On to you, Commissioner Mier. Yes, sir. I make a motion to approve the request for a variance to section 90-135 for property located at tax map074A, parcel09A, to reduce setbacks for a freestanding sign subject to the conditions enumerated in the December 18th planning commission report. Second, Matt. Yes,

sir. The setbacks for signs are five foot from the rightway line and five foot from the side property line. However, this parcel has a very narrow um it's a very narrow parcel, if we go back to an overhead view of it. There you go. Um u Jimmy D Parkway is to the south of of the plan here. So, Jimmy D Parkway runs runs down here. Um as you can see, their parking is in the front of the building. And if they were to try to meet the 5ft uh front set back and 10 foot side set back, they would actually be out in their parking lot with their sign. So they're asking for a 1 foot and a three-foot setback to place their sign in this location.

Any questions? Seems pretty simple. There's a motion and second on the floor. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. I make a motion to approve the request for a variance to section 90-53, list of lot and structure requirements for property located at tax map 078A, partial 025, subject to the conditions enumerated in the December 18th planning commission report and an easement encroachment. Second.

So, here you have a home that was destroyed during Hurricane Helen. Uh the house was demolished. They're looking to build back on the same footprint. Uh when the house was originally built, it was built into the side setback and into a storm easement. So they're asking to move the side setback from 10 feet to 5t. They're also asking for an encroachment agreement to be to be signed allowing them to encroach into the storm easement. Again, this is the original footprint of the house. It's a different house, but on the same footprint. Staff is recommending approval.

Any questions? There's a motion, second on the floor. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. I make a motion to approve the request for a major PUD revision to add C2 uses to the property located at tax map 072, parcel 043T. Second. So, this is a PUD. A PUD laid out the zoning allowed uses. C2 was allowed along the front of the road there. Um, they came back a few years later and and modified this pud and added some additional buildings. The new buildings had a M2 zoning. They're wanting to put a chiropractor's office in there, but is it's not allowed to go in M2 use. So, they're asking to have the PUD modified to allow C2 uses in the new buildings as well as the ones that are already there.

Chiropractor. Yes. Mo motion second on the floor. All in favor raise your right hand. [clears throat] That motion carries.

Believe you're still up. Commission. I make a motion to approve the reszoning from R1 to CC for portions of property located at tax map 068, parcels 018 and 019D, subject to the condition numerated in the December 18th, 2025 planning commission report. Second.

So they are looking to reszone from R1 to CC to allow them to build a retail building here. This is uh Trisha. There you go. Uh the gas station is to the right here. It's existing gas station. They're looking to develop the this parcel here. Uh one of the conditions that they have to put a 50-ft buffer between them and the neighboring residential property. Um if you will see here, it's hard to see, but this these two parcels owned by the same owner. So, anybody that does visit this area would have the ability to drive through the gas station parking lot to access South Oair Road to have full access to the signal. Currently their entrance here is a rightin access. This is a G dot rightway. So G dot will have full authority over that. But I'm assuming that G dot will not allow them to have a full access. But I just want to put it out there that we don't have that authority be all G dot. But they do have access to the signal to allow traffic to leave.

Have we heard any feedback from the neighbor? Um we have a couple that came in and spoke during the planning commission meeting. Um they had draft concerns regarding traffic. um wanted to make sure they understood which clear which parcels were involved. So that's why I want to bring up the traffic that they do have [clears throat] access to the signal and G dot will have the final say on what the access looks like, but our traffic division believes it'll be a ride in only, not allow full access out of that drive.

Can you give um just a tad more um detail on what a 50ft structural buffer entails? It involves 50 foot of vegetation as long as well as a fence will have to be in there. You see the what they proposed here was a 30- foot buffer. However, it does have a 55 50 foot side minimum build line. So, we want that whole 50 foot to be the buffer. Thank you. Any other questions? Motion second on the floor. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Continue.

Yes, please. I make a motion to approve the request to allow the applicant to withdraw without prejudice for R 2 RZ25-12-07

second. So this was a request to put self storage in this location but they have called and asked to withdraw this request. [clears throat] Any questions? Motion to second on the floor to allow allow them to withdraw. Raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Continue.

Please. I make a motion to approve the request for a reasonzoning from RA splitzoned M1 and RA and split zoned RA and S1 to S1 for property located at tax map 040 parcel 055B and tax map 051 parcels 029 0301 032 and 044 subject to the following conditions. Traffic engineering left and right turn lanes are required on Lewisville Road. referred to project access improvement policy. Minimum paving section for Lewisville Road arterial classification is 10 in AB 4 in 25 mm 3 in 19 mm and 1 and 12 in 12.5 millimeter or matching existing whichever is greater. planning. Prior to issuance of any land disturbance permit for the subject properties, a subdivision plat shall be recorded that subdivides the existing cell tower lease area and area zone from subject parcels. Once recorded, a copy shall be provided to Columbia County Planning. Prior to issu issuance of any land disturbance permit for the subject properties, a subdivision plat removing tract E shown as 17.54 acres on a recombination plat submitted to Columbia County Planning on December 11th, 2025 shall be recorded and a copy provided to Columbia County Planning.

Second. Got a number of people who want to speak. Mr. Ronald Gilchrist [clears throat] if you will. Sir9 right there. Yes sir. Please you have five minutes sir.

Put them on the clock. First statement is never trust anybody who owes you money or stand makes some money off this. So when I read this packet I see the two owners. So we know their names. They're predominant. [clears throat] One question. One question only. Have existing quories in this area reached the end of economic life? Sure don't think so. That's all I got to say on that. Turn it. Mr. Daniel Lanning. Please state your name and address for the record. You have five minutes, sir.

Sure. thing. Good evening. My name is Dan Lanning. I live at 825 Rolling Brook Lane, about half a mile north of here off Lewisville Road. I appreciate your time, opportunity for us to be here and communicate our concerns as a community and individuals of Columbia County. Um, also want to say I appreciate this beautiful space that we have. It's a lot better for larger group meetings like this than than the previous one. I think this is a record. I I probably break the record next month. But um again, thank you all for serving. Appreciate your efforts and consideration. Um specifically Allison, appreciate yours for district 4, for all the people that are here from that district. Um your attention to us and um communication with us is not going unnoticed and we appreciate you a lot.

Appreciate that.

Um with that said, um I' I'd just like to bring a couple things to your attention tonight. um that we spoke about in the planning meeting as well last month. Um there's been a lot of change in the last month or in the last year, excuse me, with the foundations for the future, the update to the vision 2035. Um this section of land has stayed consistent in district 4 as residential land. Um, this in the new character maps, this was not requested by any of the residents that I can find, any of the county officials that I can find to reszone this to anything other than a residential area. Um, it's difficult as neighbors and as residents of our county when big change happens very quickly. um especially when it seems out of character of what's been considered to be a certain character. Many of us from district 4 moved out to the rural area to stay rural. And this is only the tip of the iceberg with growth in our direction. Um and so I'm asking that you at least consider what's brand new to Columbia County with this foundations for the future. What was requested? What was encouraged? What was thought of that we would stay as a residential area in this tract? um for it to stay that way. Just because someone proposes something doesn't mean we have to say yes. We always have the opportunity to say no. Um not everything is progress. Uh a good progress at least. Um so I would just like to say a couple more things um that a number of neighbors had talked about. There's a lot of issue on Lewisville Road with traffic concerns um and road concerns. Um bringing this many vehicles onto the road on Lewisville Road um is difficult with a school right there that already has traffic problems where traffic

circles have not been implemented that at Wrightboro or at Columbia Road. Even Baker Place has a lot of issues with that road. The bridge was a big concern. Um these are issues that we should tackle first before allowing this kind of growth with this kind of acreage to happen. Um Mr. Mike Carowway, I I had found a quote from you that had said, you know, forward thinking on infrastructure has to happen. We can't be reactive. This would be a reactive thing to allow this to happen first and then fix infrastructure later. Those are state roads, rightsboro, Columbia. You all know nothing happens fast with the state. So those intersections, though they're in progress, though they're happening, it can always get delayed. It could take years. The school system, I've heard of people who are sitting in line to turn left in the school at Uchi Creek. Um it blocks the whole way back to Ritsboro Road and then people are literally driving on the opposite side of the road to get past the car lane, crossing back over to keep going on Looseville. If you put 150 trucks on there at those peak hour times back and forth, that's an issue. you have students, small children, walking, being around, it's it's not a safe place for them to be. Um, Mr. Jim, I know you're new. Appreciate you being here, but one thing you talked about in your um in your platform was that uh you promote local business and that local small business and responsible growth. I ask you to think, is this responsible growth? This is a 40 to 50 if not longer year plan. Is this responsible for this area? Um Allison, enhance public safety and improve quality of life. I don't know if this enhances public safety in our area, at least in our our nucleus right there. And I'd say for the neighbors, many of us, it doesn't seem to improve our quality of life. Um Miss Connie, uh controlled intentional expansion to bring great benefits to our

community. I don't know if this is controlled and intentional. Maybe it is. If we're going to bring in data centers in the future, it that feels intentional, but this should be a separate item that we think about is this a controlled intentional expansion that we want to have. This is a big commitment to make. Um Mr. Doug, um you want to end gridlock and enhance quality of life. Now, I know that's a little bit older when you were in your platform. That's all I could find, but um this doesn't end gridlock in our area. adding this type of volume and this type of growth with those type of trucks. So, um I just hope that there are a lot of other issues that others will probably talk about. Those are the my big concerns that I'd like to share with you. Again, thank you for your time and your consideration with all of us here um sharing this with you tonight.

Thank you, Dan. Thank you, [applause] [applause] Gregory Guido. Gregory We're So, we're we're working on we're working on the volume. What we're going to ask everybody to do is is really lean into the mic because if you sit back this far, you can't hear us. But if you lean into the mic, you can. So, we're going to ask everybody to lean into the mic. We're also working on taking the volume up. Can y'all hear me? No, [clears throat] you need to lean into your mic as well. I'm going be laying on it in a minute. That's fine. Nice. [clears throat] All right. Can you hear me now?

I I haven't started your five minutes. I'm still trying to figure out my microphone. So, how's this? Better. Good. Great. All right. Go ahead, sir. Please state your name and address for the record, sir.

My name is Gregory Guido. I live at 3125 National Drive in Harlem. [clears throat] I am a resident and taxpayer. And over the past several days, I have reviewed the county's own documents, timelines, and land transactions related to the quarry and the data center. I'm speaking tonight as an individual, not on behalf of any group. I support growth and I also want to see the county thrive, but not but growth has to be responsible. It cannot come at the expense of our environment, our health or the long-term safety of the families who live here. [clears throat] The core issue with the quarry is simple. It's not a standalone project. It exists to support the data center. These two projects function as one industrial system and treating them separately hides the true cumulative impacts of this corridor. Residents were promised something very different. Greenport Greenpoint [clears throat] was marketed for years as a master planned residential community. Families brought homes based on that promise. Now a quarry is being proposed with roughly 150 within 150 ft of new homes. That is not a minor change. This is a complete reversal of what people were told to expect. And blasting mats do not solve the problem. Mats only stop flying rocks. They do not reduce the noise, the vibration, the pressure waves, or the structural stress that blasting creates. Homes under construction and homes already occupied will feel every single blast. When you place the quarry and the data center in the same corridor, the impacts don't add up, they multiply. You get continuous heavy truck traffic, dust, heat discharge, massive imperial services and long-term environmental strain. None of this was disclosed to the families who were sold a residential community, not an industrial zone. There is also wetland transfer. The quarry exists to supply the data center and the county

has already accepted ownership of the wetlands on the data center property. When millions of square feet of payment pavement and buildings go in, storm water runoff will increase dramatically. Because the county now owns the land, most of the vulnerability to the flooding, taxpayers, not the developer, will carry the long-term maintenance and liability. Approving the quarry moves us further down that path. On a financial side, public reporting shows that developmental authority took out a $30 million loan to entertain to and entered into a $60 million sale agreement for the data center land. But the full financial structure behind this project has not been disclosed. The public still does not know the total acquisition cost, the financing terms, or the long-term obligations tied to this land. That means taxpayers may exposed to may be exposed to significant financial risk before a single building is constructed. The county also invested millions of dollars building brand new schools in this corridor based on a long-term promise a long promised residential plan. Now the county is shifting towards a 4,546 acre industrial corridor. These two visions cannot coexist. So I have four questions the public deserve deserves answers to. Who approved the wetland transfer and what studies were completed before that decision? Why were land acquisitions and reszoning preparations underway long before the public was informed? Why are the quarry and the data center being treated as separate when they function as one system? and what safeguards exist to protect taxpayers from the financial exposure created by this project. I ask the commissioner to pause to evaluate the quarry and the data center together

and provide a full transparency before moving this corridor for further towards industrialization. Thank you for your time. Thank you. [applause and cheering] Greg P. [applause] Greg Pool. No pool. Is it Greg Pool?

So you're here supporting the quarry? Yes. All right. Well, well, let's uh go through everybody else first, then we'll get you last. Asal Muhammad. You're with the same boat. I got you. Morgan Grootand. Good evening. Good evening.

My name is Dr. Morgan Gutan and I live at 1655 Baker Place Lane. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to purchase 20 acres here in beautiful Columbia County. And as a single mother to a one-year-old, my goal was simple. I wanted to live peacefully on that land and raise my child alongside my parents. And I want to be clear about why I'm speaking tonight. I'm not here just to focus on general inconveniences like traffic, noise, or property values. I'm here to raise serious safety and public health concerns that affect my family, my elderly neighbors on Baker Place Lane and many residents here tonight. My primary concern is air quality, um, specifically fine particulate dust from blasting, crushing, and hauling. PM10 and PM2.5 are well documented in peer-reviewed studies to travel beyond property boundaries and cause long-term respiratory health issues. This is not hypothetical. Um research published in the environmental research and archived by the NIH shows higher rates of respiratory symptoms and reduce lung function in communities living near quaries especially in children. Infants and young children are particularly vulnerable. They breathe faster. Their lungs are still developing and they cannot choose where they live. My daughter cannot advocate for herself or the hundreds of children at Baker Place Elementary. That responsibility falls to us and to you. We also live in a rural area that relies entirely on private wells and septic systems. We do not have access to county water or sewer. The applicant's conclusion about groundwater impacts are based on desktop reviews, not baseline testing of our wells, not long-term monitoring, and not real world conditions. Blasting and continuous dewatering below the water table can alter fracture flow in granite and create long-term [clears throat] groundwater um drawn down. Individual wells can fail unpredictably and once

they do, the damage can be permanent and extremely costly. The proposal does not address sept septic systems at all. Septic systems depend on stable groundwater and soil conditions. If those change, system failures become a public health issue and not just a homeowner's inconvenience. There is no baseline testing, no monitoring plan, and no mitigation outlined. The entire risk is placed on the residents. We are not opposed to progress or economic development. I'm a proud owner of a business in Columbia County. But progress should not come at the cost of families losing clean water, functional septic systems, or their child's health. Once a well is gone, it's gone. And once a septic system fails, a home may no longer be livable. I would respectfully like for you to pause and ask yourself, would I raise my own daughter 2,000 ft away from a Corey? Am I sure that it is absolutely safe and cannot affect the air quality of the children and hundreds of children on Baker Place Elementary? We are asking the county to do what has already been determined last month to stand by the decision and not approve this application. Thank you so much for protecting the ability of families to safely live in their homes.

Good night. Thanks, Morgan. [applause] David Grayson. David. Oh, you're the applicant. Sorry. I'm trying to put those last so we get You want me to wait?

Why don't you wait? I'm trying to write questions some of the folks have that I don't know the answers to. So, if you don't mind, bear with me. Brandon, I apologize. I can't read your last name. You will state your name and address for the record, sir. Please take five minutes.

Yes, sir. Brandon Tourett, 2061, Libert Court. I live about three miles or uh threequarters of a mile from the proposed site. I chose there to live or chose to live there after retiring from the army because the county supported facilities, schools, and the communities themselves. I am here to respectfully ask that you deny it. My concern is not only with the quarry, but the actual company itself. It has a track record of the proposed project leaders and its possible outcomes. There is incompatibility with the land itself and there is a long-term risk this decision would impose on the county itself. Public information indicates that the mining the director of mining operations for quality materials company was is led by the previous operations for excuse me it's very uh agitating [clears throat] they're led by someone who was part of Green Rock Mining LLC this company from public research was very controversial in county or Carol County. The results in with resulted in years of litigation, emergency zoning changes, permit denials, and organized resident opposition. This is not speculation. This is documented publicly. If this company is granted reszoning for this location, history shows a likelihood of similar outcomes. There are no enforcement guarantees that

truck volumes won't exceed estimates or that the production won't rise with the same leadership I mentioned before being present. They are also the president of a consulting company that openly advertises its services of the aggregate industry for pricing, aggregate lease negotiation, sales strategy, etc. What stops this consulting company from consulting with large projects like the data center that are being built just down the road and pushing them to one quarry that has economic impact on the current quaries themselves not only county um residents who work there. A quarry of this scale is recognized or is widely recognized in planning literatures as being among the most disruptive land uses when located next to a residential area particularly without land buffers. And we are not talking about the BMS as proposed and stated in the last meeting. Aggregate extraction has been shown in publicly available research to cause ongoing noise uh vibration damage to homes. Other factors that persist year after year. Studies using rigorous rigorous methods have found that quaries close to a population center correlate with measurable decreases in nearby property values often anywhere from 5 to 30%. This ma this means homeowners may lose tens of thousands of dollars, including myself in equity simply because someone decided to put a quarry next door. On top of that, the county

will not only devalue our property, but there could be a loss of county taxes as well within a three mile radius. Even where research is mixed, many professional planning and land use reviews emphasize the potential adverse impacts including silica dust, noise, vibrations, blibrations for blasting, truck traffic, road damages, the list goes on. These impacts are not just perceived. They are objective environmental and community issues. Georgia has laws for land reclamation, but we know that they impact generations. This request is not anti- business or growth. It is pro planning, pro- transparency, pro Columbia County stance. Thoughtful long-term development requires balancing economic activity with the health, safety, and welfare of residents. The proximity of this quarry to established and future homes impacts from similar projects, the potential for substantial property value loss, and the lack of enforcable constraints all point to the wrong location of a quarry. For the long-term interests of Columbia County, for our residents, for the protection of the neighborhoods, for the thoughtful land use, I respectfully ask you to deny this resoning request. Thank you for your time and your service to the county. Thank you.

Thank you, [applause]

Jeremy Pennington. Jeremy, [laughter]

good evening. My name is Jeremy Pennington. I live at 3908 Greasy Lane, a member of Hidden Creek Subdivision. Um, first

first of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your for your service to our county. Um, I understand that it the toll that it must take and I appreciate that that you're willing to put yourselves aside for the service of the betterment of the county. Um, I've once approached the county commissioners on another matter when our neighborhood was reszoned from uh heavy density um and uh to increase for town homes and whatnot. And the concern at the time was the infrastructure or lack thereof and how much it was going to impact an already flooded road, i.e. Baker Place Road, especially during morning and afternoon school traffic times. I was told at that time that it was settled business because the planning had already been the zoning had already been approved back in 2008. So, I made it a point to show up at the planning committee meeting a few weeks ago. And I like to think that it was part of partly based on my input that Respectfully, I might remind y'all that despite having put forth a motion to approve and the fact that it's already been seconded, respectfully remind y'all that the planning committee recommended that this not be approved.

We as parents have the responsibility of protecting our kids because they can't do it themselves. And within a close, very close proximity to this proposed quarry, you're talking about four densely populated schools, Utley Creek, Baker Place Elementary, Columbia Middle, and Grovetown High School. As parents, that should concern all of us because, like I said, they can't look out for themselves. They they look they they look to us to take care of them. And for all of the talk that was made at the planning commission's meeting about how studies have shown that well this shouldn't have any impact or when it may not have any impact. Look at co all of the things that were said when uh things were proposed that said, "Well, this shouldn't hurt and it probably won't hurt." But years later, we find out, you know, it had an effect on people in ways that weren't even imaginable. And my fear is that years from now when our kids are old enough and they wind up having lung conditions, things like that, it'll be far too long to do anything about it at that point. So again, I respectfully request and that y'all do not approve this resoning request. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. [applause] Stephen Sims. [clears throat]

Good evening everyone. My name is Stephen Sims. I reside at 8797 Crrenshaw Drive in Hidden Creek. I'm going to begin with a letter that my wife wrote. She wanted to be here but couldn't because of health reasons. My name is is Kimberly Sims and I reside in District 3 in a housing development that would be directly across the street from this project. Since I am unable to be here tonight, I submitted a detailed letter to express my concerns and wanted to make sure that my statement was on the record. The proposed quaries in districts three and four. The proposed quarry in districts three and four would place a heavy industrial operation in the immediate vicinity of approximately 1,500 homes. Four and four nearby schools serving nearly 5,000 children. A number that has grown exponentially over recent years and is projected to continue to grow. As these neighborhoods continue to grow, more families and children will be directly affected. Many studies have been done that shown that residents living near quaries are routinely exposed to carcinogenic dust, even inside their own homes. And increased air pollution is linked to millions of premature deaths worldwide. Unlike other quarry sites in this county, this proposal would place an elementary school less than a half mile away. As the doctor said earlier, those children are smaller, they breathe faster, and they're going to be outside a lot more than the adults in this area. Putting young children at disproportionate risk during critical stages of development is atrocious. Approving this project knowingly exposes those families to polluted air, industrial noise, and unsafe conditions that directly undermine their health and quality of life.

Beyond health impacts, the quarry would significantly degrade community safety and infrastructure. The project anticipates over a 100 heavy trucks traveling local roads six days a week, [clears throat] adding millions of pounds of daily weight to an already strained narrow roads frequently used by school buses, families, and children walking home from those schools. Corey operations threaten groundwater quality in a county already experiencing water pressure and contamination issues. Families depend on clean water, safe roads, and access to natural spaces like the Uchi Creek Greenway resources this project will place at risk. Residents have grown increasingly frustrated with recently recent deeply unpopular decisions, including zoning approvals for data centers and other industrial uses that provide little community benefit while imposing long-term environmental and social costs. This quarry follows that same pattern. I'll pause there on her letter and speak of my own thing. I live a significant distance away from the quarry on Columbia County or Columbia Road. Whenever there's a blast, I have a list of people that I have to call and make sure they're okay. I'm veteran. I did 20 years in the army. Got out and didn't anticipate having to live near blasts anymore. I think I've been through enough of them. There are people that even though their helpful little pamphlet says it says those blasts only last two seconds, people I know will be bad for hours if not days after. Amen. [applause]

This this quarry follows the same pattern. Get back to this. It is not lost on the community that three members of this commission are up for reelection this year, including Miss Couch. Your decision on this matter will be noted. You represent the families in this area. This decision will drive families out. Some people can't afford to move away just because they don't like it. It's not a matter of liking it. We are here. We moved here because of the pre-approved plan that y'all had in place that had nothing to do with any industrial areas in our area.

[clears throat] We can't just move away on a dime because the county wants a data center and there's already four quaries in the county. Get the rock from there. This the fact that this is even projected is ludicrous. The fact that it's projected for approval is a betrayal of everyone of the people that you were ELECTED TO REPRESENT.

[applause] THAT'S my time. We're paying attention. Thank you for your service. Truly, if you want to thank me, do the right thing. [applause] K. Jones. [applause] K. Jones.

Good evening. As a former elected official, I don't need much bending over because you'll hear me loud and clear. Uh my name is Kay Jones. I reside at 1907 Long Creek Falls in Grovetown, Georgia in the area of Ivy Falls. I am a grandparent of two children at Uchi Creek. I know the experience of getting in and out of there, even just for a grandparents meal. It's congested. I can't imagine them trying to fight buses and trucks out there. It's not a road that was designed for buses and dump trucks. Uh, one of them already has breathing problems. It can't get any better. It'll have to get worse because they only live two miles from the school. They don't walk because they're young. But our children, our grandchildren should be able to breathe safely at night. We have the Vulcan plant and we have um waste management within a mile of our house. This quarry would be within mile and a half as the crow flies. I already have to listen to booms that we think are tornado sirens when they're getting ready to blast. We have a house filled with dust. We've had everyone come in and look at it, but the dust is so fine partic [snorts] fine grade that it's you can't even see it in the ducts of the air conditioner, but it blows it all out in our house. Um, there are several concerns out there. Um, first of all, the infrastructure of either roads, Baker Place or Lewisville were never designed to carry what weight this is going to have to carry. It's not just the quarry, it's the building of the quarry. There's going to be env environmental dust. There's going to be environmental waste. We haven't talked about them rinsing and and traveling. Um, and really the only

one that benefits from this quarry will be the company that puts it in. It will be of no benefit to the residents. I don't believe anybody has come in here and asked you please build this quarry across the street from my house. It it wasn't a request from the constituents. it and and to quite honestly I was shocked by it when I saw it coming up. Uh and I've been that area a long time. You got kids across the street in an environmentally dangerous area when this starts. You can't contain nature. Um you know, I said last time I spoke at the planning commission, if you're dying to have it, put it out in Riverwood because we just don't want it. You've got the land out there. You've got property you can you can use imminent domain for if you want to. But you know with all that's going to be thrust at us, these people were promised and I was promised a place safe to live. And as a former real estate agent, they're not going to disclaim that a quarry is going in across the street. They can't sell houses if they do. One lady's already been on Facebook talking about trying to get people to sell their homes now before they lose all the money that they have in equity. You know, mine's my forever home. My husband and I are retired, and we we just wanted to live in comfort and quiet, and our neighborhood is quiet, except for all the booms and all the blast and all the dust. And our water, let don't get me started with our water quality. We had to install a $5,000 unit to filter our water. So, we didn't have an orange bathtub every day. We were drinking it. It's not every quick month we get out a flyer from uh the water commission saying, you know, here we failed all these tests this month, but you're fine. Don't worry about it. Just flush your system. I've been there seven years here and just flush your system. Well, now I still get particulate even in that filtered water because it's so heavy in our water. So, how is that going to get better when you start blasting or

pouring? I don't believe it will. I want you to know that the bridge weight limit and the bridge width scares me to death putting those trucks on there. But not only that, from where they're going to build to where they're going, it's going to be it's going to be all over our roads. Our roads are going to be torn up and they're not going to fix it. They're not going to come in and build us new roads. So, please listen to your constituents. You represent a certain amount of each district. I had 15,000 residents that I represented and I went up getting some big guns, too. But I stood and I voted with my constituents because that was my job as a Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. [applause]

Benjamin Black, [clears throat] it's your turn. I believe that was everybody that was against it. Now they're questioning for you. So [clears throat and snorts] can I help you? Sorry about that. Your wife said, "Hey, explosions out of my brain." Whenever [clears throat] they're done talking their fancy words, ask if it changes anybody's opinion. [clears throat]

Who wants to go first? Thank you very much. Uh, my name is David Grayson. I'm at My name is David Grayson. I reside at 273 North Peach Street, Northcross, Georgia. I'm here tonight representing Quality Materials. Hold on a second. One second. One of the things that I want to do with these meetings is let when they have their time to speak to let folks be heard. So when they finish, clap, cheer, throw fruit, whatever you want to do, but uh let folks have their ch time to speak. So go ahead, sir. Okay. Thank you. Uh at the planning and zoning meeting, we had heard a lot of the

at the planning and zoning meeting, we heard a number of the same concerns we've been hearing tonight. And so I would like to take a few minutes in the time I have to address some of those. Um again, there was a handout that's in the back of the room. I know uh commissioners received that as well. So, I'm going to address some of those issues. Um we've also got three experts here tonight that uh can answer questions on air quality, um geology and and other things. So, and blasting. Um again, the the most critical thing is that uh everybody uses aggregate. It's it's in the roads we ride on. It's on the sidewalks we walk on. It's in every home, schools, everything. So, aggregate is used in every part of construction. So, that's the critical nature of the product. But we feel very confident that we can coexist with neighbors, neighborhoods, schools. It's done across the country every day. Um, and uh we're very [clears throat] confident in that. And I want to take a few minutes and talk about that. One of the things that came up previously was the rural nature of this area and it's uh something that we're focused on. We are going to of the property roughly 40% will remain undisturbed. So it will not be touched. The section to the east will literally have about a 750 foot buffer. It will not be touched. The entrance will come off onto Lewisville Road and the entire property will have at least a 100 foot undisturbed buffer, but other areas up to the northwest could be as much as 450 ft. So when you're driving up Lewisville Road or on Baker Road, you're not even going to see the quarry

back there. We're also going to put BMS in, vegetated BMS that will be planted in pine trees. Um again it's uh we're we're trying to make sure that that area from the rural at least the uh look and feel uh will remain the same. Um a question that came up previously has not tonight but was about reclamation and I do want to touch on that. There is a bond that is placed on every quarry that is built and that bond ensures that when the life of the mine has played out that the property is reclaimed and uh typically it can be for reservoirs. That's uh probably one of the best options for this site that it will be a reservoir for the county. But uh there there parks uh there's again hundreds of different uses for a quarry after it has uh the material has been removed. Um one of the greatest examples is in Atlanta at the Bellwood quarry, an old Vulcan quarry. It's now a city reservoir and a park around that. um uh questions come up about noise and if you look in the packet um on page four uh our plan is to limit uh all mining activity and keep it between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturdays until noon, no operating on Sundays. Um we again will probably blast once to twice a month and again it's a second second and a half impact and um uh again this is this is uh something that uh from a a timing standpoint these are normal business hours and we are not going to operate at night and do any

mining activity that is not going to happen. Another question that's come up tonight repeatedly obviously is uh blasting and vibration and we've done extensive studies and the blasting impact will not damage homes. There's a pipeline there that was questioned previously and the vibration levels will be roughly 25% of what the state mandates. So state sets terms and on what they feel like are safe levels. This will be about 25% of that. Um, we will continuously monitor. Can't hear.

We will We're not going to do that. Excuse me. We will continuously monitor these blasts. We'll put seismographs on our property and we hope to on adjoining properties. If a neighbor would like one, we'll set that up. We'll monitor that. We'll share that information with the uh with the neighborhood. Um, also an important aspect, I know uh the gentleman referenced it, we will put people on a call list and notify them uh if when we're planning to blast. So, if they would like to be on a call list that that will be available to them. They can receive a text or a phone call and it'll all be done electronically to make sure that everybody's given uh ample notice and they'll know exactly when we're going to uh to blast.

May I ask a question about that? Yes. How far in advance do you text and call? It can be a couple of hours and and say that it's going to be at one o'clock or something and and we can have a followup if necessary.

Are you able to do that in further advance maybe the day before to provide them with time and do you continue to call and text until they you're assured that they've received the message or how does that work? Well, typically it's a it's a a rooc call and a text, but if they would like something via email, um we can do that as well. Um, [clears throat] again, so many people don't have landlines now. It's typically done through their their their cell phone and and if there's a critical issue, we can if there's a critical issue with somebody, we can certainly continue to make that phone call.

Thank you. um something that we want to do and that is bring in an independent third party for anybody that lives within 300 excuse me 3,000 ft of the pit at our own expense. We will do a pre-blast survey to sort of set a baseline for the homes. There's concerns about what's it going to do to my house. we will do a independent study and evaluate that, give them that information and then if they ever feel like there's some issue, we have a baseline uh to work from. Um wells has been mentioned uh repeatedly. This is very important. This is a granite quarry. This is not a limestone corey. In limestone, you have fractures. You have a chance for water to move through in the aquifer. And granite it is a solid ignous rock. It is not going to impact wells.

So you don't you don't uh dig rock past the wells. What now? You don't dig down past a well. Well, you can go that's a question.

You can go deep, but that well water is on it's it's generally going to be in fractured material at a much higher level. And when you're in a quarry, you don't have water coming in the quarry. Um, one of the things that we're going to do is obviously everything is recycled within the quarry water. You're not going to access county water. Water will be captured uh by rainfall in either the pit or sediment ponds. And that water will be used and recycled through there. But the water is coming in from storm water running into the pit. It is not coming in from the sides of the

So, you've never had an issue with wells when you're blasting granite? No. No, not in granite. And we've got a ge uh our geologist here. I'm sure he can take a few minutes and and respond to that as well. I've got I've got a question about the truck traffic. Sure. Um I used to own a trucking company and I know are these going to be p private hires you going to hire out to different companies to haul? Yeah, these will be private hires that customers will either uh contract with them directly. We might have some that if if someone is requesting uh you know a tandem load of crusher run or something that that we would uh arrange that

just like all the other ones do, right? Uh similar. Yes. Do you all have a designated route that they have to take once they leave or they're on their own once they leave? It depends on where the project is would dictate the the route they take. But if there's concerns about a particular route, we can certainly work around that. How many trucks are you are you expecting the volume of this Corey? We're expecting to operate somewhere around 100 to 125 a day. In and out. In and out. 125 in and out a day. Yeah. This is going to be roughly probably This will be about a 500,000 ton a year operation.

That's our expectation. The only people excused from saying whatever they want to say are the small children because we like to hear them. So again, I want everybody to be able to hear what he says. So don't worry about the kids. They're good. I know. No, this we're going to get that. We're going to So that's the estimated get. That's the estimated amount of trucking that's going to be coming out of it. Correct. Yes. And it's all going to be coming out on Louiswisville Road, not Baker Place, right? Not on Baker Place. There it showed that there was an entrance there. That is only for emergency. You need a second entrance. Just uh and so but but uh employees and trucks will go in off of Lewisville Road.

Yeah. My concern is just where the trucks going to go because you don't have any control over where they're going to go once they Okay. Yeah. My biggest concern um in addition to the truck traffic is also the health are the health concerns. So especially with the surrounding uh elementary schools and neighborhoods where children live. So can you speak to me about some of the health concerns that have been raised this evening?

Yes. So like the air quality issue um again we did extensive studies and I know the reference was made about uh an increase in uh the particulate matter. Um the studies indicate that this Corey will have a very negligible impact on that I20 and other things have a much greater impact on the air quality of that area. Not this quarry. One of the things that we want to do again is and this is statemandated. You have to put together a uh fugitive dust control plan. We will have sprinklers on conveyors, crushers. You have to have a water truck that will spray the road daily. You you can mitigate the dust. Again, one of the great things about this site is the buffers themselves, the natural vegetation. This isn't like it's going to be open to everything, but we will have uh quality dust suppression methods that will be in place to uh help control any ambient dust.

Do you have to submit the fugitive dust control plan to the state? They regulate that. Yeah, I was going to ask. Well, it's all a part of surface mine plan and everything. Yes. So, and then the air the air branch. So, we will submit that. How often is that done? I'm not sure. You have a Come up here so we can hear you. You can talk back there. Come on.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Sal Muhammad. Um I live in 10320 Northwest 10th Lane, Gainesville, Florida. And I have um performed an preliminary air quality assessment uh for the quarry and um the future dust control plan will be prepared and submitted to the state of uh Georgia, Georgia Environmental Protection Division and it will be updated as needed. But uh the future dust control plan will include um the um the controls that would be used to minimize the dust and it will also use uh it will also include um other things such as um if somebody complains about dust you know how to uh reach out to the aquarator and in case of any any kind of dust complaints uh what uh remedial m u what remedies need to be um you know performed. to to minimize the dust.

And will this be uh silica specifically or is that too heavy? It doesn't travel any particular matter. Have you spoken with uh members of the school board or the board of education about uh any concerns that they may have and and did they bring those forward to you? We have um and so far and we will continue to work with them. We have spoken with them and will continue to do so. You had no concerns from members of the school board. I have not. Um, no, we have not.

So, I'd like to I have a question about traffic. In the CSR regional commission report, U page three, the it mentions a a traffic study. Can you discuss that traffic study um that was and the recommendations that's listed there?

Yeah, the the the study was done and based on again looking at current traffic and what the the current truck traffic from actually from other quaries as well as car traffic and what the impact would be. Um and there was uh the the study basically said that it would not have a dramatic impact on Lewisville Road. What we wanted to do what we want to do and and we offered this up is to obviously we're going to have excel and del lanes at the entrance to the quarry

at your expense. at our expense. And then at our expense also because through traffic, one of the concerns we heard was coming south on Lewisville Road. What about through traffic? So, we want to put in a left turn lane at our expense. It will not impact the county at all. And we will put that in. Our study indicated that the traffic levels were not high enough to dictate that, but through the county transportation group, they just seemed like that would be something they would like to see. So, we agreed to do so. And those those uh turn lanes are part of the the conditions here.

Correct. They are now. Yes. And what has the state told you since uh Lewisville Road is a state highway? Correct. Louisville Road is not is not okay. Sorry. I apologize. I take that question back.

I want to address the school traffic um that Mr. Pinson brought up. I noticed it's probably pretty packed at certain times and if the cars already going around it, you know, are the trucks going to be going down that way or are they expected not to go? That's my concern is where the trucks going to go when they leave. Well, again, if it's if it's best if it's best for the county and the school, uh, again, I think it was the local superintendent that we were having conversations with. I did not personally, someone else did. And, um, there did not seem to be concern. If that becomes an issue, we can certainly restrict a left turn during certain hours by that school if we need to, and then we can turn to the right. Have you have you witnessed how it is when the school's in session on that road? Have you had anybody?

We we were we we have uh uh and I know that there's a lot of car traffic and and such there there certainly is.

Does a truck count include the asphalt plant and concrete plant? Uh no, it would just be for material because those two would be uh again material from the pit would go directly would never enter the road. So it would go directly to those plants and then yes they would have uh uh so some of the volume that they take it wouldn't be our trucks it would end up being their trucks. You have any questions? [clears throat]

Matt, I I have a question. Will will the county have any uh authority over inspecting that, you know, for from a dust collection or It is entirely covered by the state. It falls under state permitting completely. And I have just one more question. Is there any thought to the blasting uh ending before 5:30? [music] 5:30.

Absolutely. And thank you for bringing that up. Blasting is typically done during the middle of the day. You try to pick a clear day because on cloudy days, that's when you get that air over pressure, which uh can occasionally people are going to feel that a little bit more. So, you try to pick a clear day, but it's always done in the middle of the day. We won't we would not blast on weekends. Uh

but you did say up till 5:30. That would be mining activity but not blasting. Blasting would be done in the middle of the day. Yes. Any more questions? Thank you. John Eubank. [clears throat] My name is John Eubank. uh 6700 Spring Hill Farm Road in Appling. I'm one of the land owners of the project and would like to make myself available for any questions you guys might have uh for for us as the owners. I'd like to say a few things about the project. Um first is that the land owners are local folks. Uh we live and work right here in the community and expect to own the land through the duration of the project.

Lean into the mic. They can hear.

Thank you. Um the land owners were were local folks. We live and work here in the community. We expect to own the the project throughout the duration of it. And that's important to us because we have adjacent land to the project and just want it to be done very well. Um second thing I think that's worth noting and it was come up with the roads question but uh the project has asked for no public funding. Um it's all privately funded. I think that's important. uh it'll be a contributor to our community rather than uh than a drain or a draw on public resources. Um and it's a natural resource that will help uh build the community in the future. And so I think that's a good part of the project. And lastly, I'd like to say that it's been very good working with quality materials. Um they've been very conscientious throughout the whole process of the project. um meeting with neighbors um [clears throat and cough] um designing the site to be as insulated as possible and um to be as least intrusive as possible to the neighborhood. So, I really appreciate working with a group that's been conscientious of the dynamics of the project. So, if you have any questions for me, I'll be glad to try to answer those.

Richard Hall, you have any qu [clears throat] Please Richard.

Let's make sure I got through all of them. Well, there's a motion and a second on the floor. Do you have any other questions or comments?

I do. I do. I I I think that there ought to be some consideration for uh that traffic pattern during school zones. If if it can be done, I don't know why we would not look at limiting that during school while the schools were in session. It just makes good sense to me that uh from a safety standpoint that that that if that can be done and he's shaking his head. I I just think that u we'd be remiss if we didn't deal with that today because you know safety is very important. Are you asking me to amend my motion? Yes, ma'am.

What would you like? I would like to amend it to that that the uh the pattern of uh traffic to go away from uh the school of Baker Place uh during school hours. I don't know how to say it. Let me recognize it. How would that be controlled though? Is my thought. I don't I don't know. Mike, I need help saying it in an enforceable legal way. Yeah. How can that be enforced is my question talking about [clears throat] uh

when when school is beginning like from say 8 to 9:00. There's usually a time frame in there, right? when the buses are are coming in. If you if you want to say from uh 7:30 to 9:00, no left turn or no left turn from 3 to 4 or something like that. That would be that's fine. I think that's uh that that's [clears throat and cough] something that we should do. Yes. I just I'm not sure about when school starts, Scott. I don't I don't know the so the timing part of it, you know, I don't know, but I think

I say 7:30 to 9 and then uh 2:30 to uh 3:30 or something is is 2 to 4 2 to 4 7:30 to 9 and then and then we have a process where folks that want to speak fill out a form before we start and we stick with that process. I'm not going to be calling on you with your hand in the back. We try to stick with the process and work through and give everybody a chance to speak that wants to speak, but we have to stick with the process. Keep go. I'm sorry. Go. I mean, just I mean, if if does anybody have any idea when elementary school starts? 8:30.

Starts at 8:30 and it gets [clears throat] out at But there's a high school high school starts at 7:30. 7:30 7:25. So 7:30 to 9. Well, if they got to be at school at 7:30, the traffic is before then. So 7 to 9. 7 6:30. Anything before 9:00 a.m.? Huh? They just couldn't do any before 9:00 a.m. I don't turn until after 9. Not at 9. Yeah, I think that would do. That would take care of the morning traffic and then 2 to 4 in the afternoon. I think that's right. 2 to 4. Okay. You can live with that during school.

I've got another question too about the trucks. Uh what what's going to be the weight on the trucks? You going to have some? The average will be about 16 tons. That 16. That's your Okay. Yeah. Most of them are your your So tractor trailers, you're probably not going to have any that. Well, you have some of those. Again, that's all weight restricted by the state of Georgia. Um but those are very few and far between. Most of the trucks that are out on the road, you notice, are uh what most people would call a dump truck, but a tandem. Yeah. Just my concerns about the roads. Yes. Mr. Chairman, how would you like to proceed? Are you adjusting your motion?

I am working with my fellow commissioners to come up with the wording of such. I think that we have a time [clears throat] call it time constraint. Nothing before 9:00. Like no trucks at all. No left turns. What? No left turns at all. Mr. Chairman, you need to get order. Huh? I said we need order, you guys. Please. Go ahead. I'm going to wait until we have order. Okay. Have what?

I can't hear. What? I'm waiting on order. Oh. Please let everyone speak as we work through this. And again, we've had 15 people speak and the process is you have you want to if you want to speak, you fill the form out before you get here. So, I don't want to rule if I rule folks out of order, then they have to leave and that's the last thing I want to do. So, please let us work through this.

[clears throat]

Okay, keep going. So, what's your proposed uh My proposal is to put a time the time restriction on that on on what? Turning left or turning left or trucks at all? Left till all till 9:00. No, no trucks at all till nine o'clock and then uh and uh between two and four. So, no trucks at all coming in and out on Lewis. Turning left. Turning left. So, it's not no truck traffic, it's no trucks turning left. No truck traffic turning left onto Lewisville.

Onto Lewisville. And the same between the hours of two and four. Okay. Is there anything else? I'm a I can't hear. I'm trying to be transparent and do our work in front of everybody so they can see how this also just made, but I can't hear y'all very well. So, I apologize for making it. [clears throat] That's enough. I'm going to rule you out of order, sir. And if it happens again, I'm going to ask the deputy to ask you to leave. I'm done. I made the

is it? So that would be the one asked to add to the motion. Is there anything else? Commissioner Steve? No. So, I'd like to amend my motion to add to the conditions that were already enumerated that no truck traffic shall turn left onto Lewisville Road on school days before 9:00 a.m. or between 2 and 4 p.m. Correct. Is that it? That's it for me. Do you have a second to the amended motion? Second. Second.

There's an amended motion on the floor on February's right hand just for the motion. All opposed to the motion and we're not voting on the So that was just the change. That was for me to change my motion. Change your motion. Right. Okay. I apologize. motion.

Just the change of the motion. We haven't voted on the war. No, Mr. Dwey, you came in after six o'clock. I apologize, but that's a process. Filled out the form [clears throat] and I I deserve five minutes. I mean, it's not going to hurt. And I just I just think that uh the representatives from the Corey were able to speak for longer than five minutes and you asked question. That's because we wanted to make sure all the questions were answered before we voted.

Okay. But I can't help where I live, what's going on, the traffic, and I didn't know the this was a new building. and I came in. I didn't know where you were, so it took a few minutes. All I'm asking is for five minutes or less. Take two minutes, sir. Please go.

Okay. My name is Dwey Kerry. I live at 3118 Doure Road, Apple, Georgia. And thank you, Mr. Duncan, for allowing me speak. Thank Thank you for everything you do and certainly staff. Also, [sighs] there's two things I want to say. When I listen to the Corey, not and it's not indicative of his Corey, but as many of you know, I coached at Columbia Middle School from 1980 to 1989. They built the Corey. I used to coach football and baseball. They would dynamite and dust would cover us on the baseball field. Thank you, sir. Um um it's unbelievable what happened to my players during that time. Okay, that's a fact. Number two, the building at Columbia Middle School became in disarray. They had to redo it. People were dying. From what I understand, one particular lady would because of asbestous poisoning and it was probably caused from all that damage from the rock core shaking it. Teachers would feel it. There was no they felt it then. I don't know about yours, but they felt it there. The other thing is I'm here for the veterans. My dad was a veteran. His five brothers were veterans. I moved all over the place. Communities. We accept our veterans. We love our veterans. Yes, we have PTSD people. I've got them in our neighborhood. I was principal for at Grovetown for over six years, 10 years at Columbia Middle School. I had I've had people call me from

Grovetown saying, "Mr. Carrie, we don't need this court. What can we do?" I said, "Well, I'll go I'll go speak for you for a minute and let them know we don't need to be putting things like this next to homes that have been developed and the the plan calls for residential just like the data centers and then throw industry on them. We don't need to do that. That is unethical, immoral, and shouldn't be done." Thank you, Mr. doing. [applause] I'm going call for the vote if you

I just wanted to mention that I've spoken to many District 4 residents over the past few days and weeks on this matter and although I've heard various opinions um I do I am concerned about some of their concerns which includes truck traffic infrastructure and unanswered health questions. So, I just wanted to share my thoughts from the district with you. Yes, ma'am. Are you concerned about blasting during school hours or blasting at all? Uh, school hours and and in general, I am hopeful that if this goes through that the applicant will in fact notify veterans and folks that want to be on a call list so that they can prepare. But

Jim, [clears throat] is that is them blasting during school hours something that you feel like we should address? Would that make you feel any different about it, Mr. Careway? Do you feel like them blasting during school hours is something we need to address? Well, because I grew up in that era and actually lived through the blasts of of that, you know, I don't really see that as the problem. I I think the the real question to me was the uh the traffic situation and that's been alleviated to to my uh you know and then you know the the how far is Vulcan from this one? Um a mile about a mile pretty close.

Yeah. And and the the point is is that uh we already have it. We we we have it. And uh and I'm not saying more is be more is better, but um you know, it's not we're not going to experience anything differently than what that than what we've done that we've lived through. Well, I know I know we've talked about the dust inside the plant, but um I'm just concerned about the dust coming off the trucks as we go out of there. I mean, it's you're not going to be able to contain that. That's true. Um that's a good point. and and my my kids went to Columbia Middle, so I remember when they had to deal with with that. So,

any other questions or comments? No, sir. That was my motion. Right. The motion is do you have the correct one? Yes. All right. There's a a motion and second on the floor to accept. All those in favor, raise your right hand. All those opposed? Motion carries. Three of two. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I have one more motion from the agenda. Please make a motion to approve the request for resoning from R2 to you're out of order. Please ask your deputy please take him out.

Thank you. I make a motion to approve the request for a reszoning from R2 to S1 and a major S1 revision for property located to tax map 084 parcels 012 and 06C subject to the conditions enumerated in the December 18th 2025 planning condition commission report second Matt the uh students church has purchased this property they're looking to put a second driveway into their property so they need to reszone this to S1 it would be a combination plat to incorporate into their current parcel. The cell tower, which is the square you have here, will be a separate parcel. Um, has the cell tower always been a separate parcel or is that part of the

part of the part of this process to make that a separate? It's currently a lease. Any other questions? Motion and second on the floor. All in favor, raise your right hand. The motion carries. No legal matters. No. Uh the request for review by committee commissioner Malier. Yes sir. Um our committee has reviewed the software for um the tax assessor's office that we were asked to review and we have decided to not bring it back before the full commission. Okay. Public comments. Miss Priscilla Bentz. I believe I saw her leave.

Mr. Ronald Gilchrist. He's already he asked to speak on two. This about the new two new data centers. Again, same thing. [clears throat] Why does Clem County believe we should have more than

Speak into the microphone? I'm sorry. There's a lot of noise in here. Why does Clement County believe we should have more than the one that's already in the mix? We should have a crawl, walk, and run. Let the white oak/green jacket, whatever the name is now, let it [clears throat] be the test bed, then come back and see about the water usage and the power usage. Revise the de the data center ordinance to make it more restrictive because obviously it's too lax if people are coming out of the woodwork now to put more data centers here. So maybe it's two lakhs. That's all I got to say. Blaine Carter.

I'm Blaine Carter. I live at 861 Dearwood Circle. Um, I really have a bunch of questions that probably would need to be answered personally or through email or something like that, but we'll

do our best. Um, I got an English degree at University of South Carolina. I'm very proud of that. I worked my tail off to get it. Um, and I've always wondered why did I get that? And now I have this inkling to read and study and and research. And so I had I had the opportunity to meet a lady named Jane Curry. And apparently she's influential in elections and things like that. and she suggested that I run and I said, "You don't want me to run. I'm not the personality to run for an office." And so anyway, I've considered it and I have been considering it. And so I have a question about the uh ACCG regulation guidelines handbook for commissioners in the state. I know how to [clears throat] work on the lawn mower, but I got a microphone. [cough] Um, so one thing I read when I was in college was um, when Ben Franklin walked out from signing the Declaration of Independence, he was asked, "What kind of government did you give us?" And the answer was, "A republic if you can keep it." And so he was actually, I'm trying to find some notes I made. He was actually referencing a French philosopher Tukville who had said that u when the when the elected realized they can vote a share of the tax dole the republic was doomed. I

think Carl Mark said that didn't he? Well my research said Tukville [clears throat] originally said and then there's another guy on Wikipedia that claims it too. So, so what I've noticed is with the data center for example, uh there's some tax abatements and so it's my understanding there's going to be no tax benefit to the county of any significant proportion. Are you you mean on the data centers? On the data center.

Can you tell talk more about where what you mean? Uh well, I was told recently that and I could be incorrect um that there's been sort of a waiver on any uh taxes on things that the data center will require from the county. No, that is not correct. That is not true. The windfall of the billions of dollars that was implied at a couple commission meetings from the data center that is still intact. Uh where's that money coming from?

Their property tax on the buildings and land. the value of those. That'll be part of our tax digest and they'll pay full freight property taxes on that. There's an advorum tax on equipment just like you pay for the tag on your car. That equipment will be taxed for advorum tax and there's a tax on the energy. Um so just like your power bill at your house, there's a sales tax on that and those sales tax dollars will come back to us. Has it there been a state um that was state sales tax on the equipment inside not on the energy on the purchase of the equipment? So all of that information pretty much that I heard was not correct. That is that is you're right. Okay. That's incorrect.

So do y'all have just out of curiosity y'all have any estimates on what that total will be for the county? 118 million per year when it's fully built out and fully operational. But in the interim, it won't be right. Well, it has gonna take time to build it up, but they'll be they'll be paying tax on the value of the land that was just purchased. Is it still a 12 to 15 year buildout plan? No. My understanding is that uh the first one will be energized in 20 is if there if three happened, then it would be 28, 29, and 30. What's this is 26. So,

but there's still property tax on the value of the land that was just over I believe 470 $475 million. So, the property tax on that will be full freight in our tax digest. Right. And you and I spoke after a meeting and I asked you about the intentions to do away with the homestead exemption. Yes. Right. Remember I was talking? Yes. Um, so have there has there been any communication with the state level representatives that would put that forward so that that could get voted on at the state level? Absolutely. In multiple meetings. And so what's the indication? Are they going to approve it or disapprove it?

My understanding is they're going to approve it. We continue to meet with them. The legislation has been drawn up. It has to be dropped. So the only people that will qualify for that are the people who apply for the homestead exemption. No. No. It would be if you if you see your tax bill, we just I guess the citizens vote to take it to 10 grand from 2,000 to 10. Well, if it goes through as we have written it, anything over the budget that comes from the data centers will be applied as a credit for homestead for homestead property. So, a person won't have to apply for [clears throat] the homestead exemption as you'd have to it'll have to be homestead. For example, if you own a house in Florida and you claim Florida as your residence. Yeah. and but you don't claim here then you would not get it.

But in previous years you had to apply for the homestead exemption to qualify. Yeah. You have to apply once. You apply once and if you have it here then you have it forever. So moving forward if a person wants to get some of that benefit or proposed benefit they will have to apply for the homestead exemption. Correct. One time. One time. I get it. I get it's only once. And so but not everybody knows they need to do that and I was one of them. So the um you will when it's that much money. Yeah, I'm just asking. Give you perspective.

All right. So, I've been self-employed for 38 years and I have in the past bid on some county jobs, participated in some jobs with this county um as a subcontractor. And so, my concern if I were to run and get elected by chance, um I've read through the sections on conflicts of interest and so I'm a little bit concerned what I read. So, if you don't mind, do you mind if I read a page out of the ACCG handbook, which which actually I can just tell you, Mr. Carter, I can I can tell you the answer to that question that if you're an elected official, you can you're not allowed to hold any contracts with the county at all. No contracts. Okay. All right.

So, do you mind if I ask you a very pointed No, sure. Go ahead. Does RW Allen have a contract that does any business with the county? We do have contracts at RW Allen. So, would any partners of RW Allen be disqualified from that bid process? If they directly benefited, potentially they would.

If you're asking about my participation in RW Allen, I'd be happy to tell you all about it. I was a 10% owner in RW Allen. I fully participated in all of RW Allen's profits, everything that went along with it. My position as a commissioner precluded RW Allen from getting to bid on any county work or do any work with the county. I had to sell all my stock in RW Allen and give up my whole nest egg in that in order to participate in what we're doing today. That is correct. I do not make any money off of data centers or rock quaries or any of those things that we have been accused of doing in the media and social media. I'm not.

But there's a question and I I want this opportunity to clear it up. Okay. I have lost money, personal gain that I would be putting away for my retirement, for my family. I have lost financially because of my service to the county. And I'm not regretting it because I love being able to do this. But it hurts deeply when people make those accusations. And it's a fair question because if you have that question, other people have that question. Thank you for bringing it up and allowing me the opportunity to say to you and everybody [clears throat] listening that I do not own any part of RW Allen. I do work there, but I do not own any part of it. Okay.

Does that answer your question or anybody else who thinks that I am being impropri any of this? I'm not. I'm I'm sincerely asking because you understand how that would be very hurtful. Absolutely. Absolutely. And as I've read, I've just I've I've been asking myself a question. And that question is, what's in it for me? If I were to go through and and what I see happens to you guys, I really don't want that. It's hard, you know, I don't want to deal with that kind of push back. So that's why I asked the question. Um, it just

it has looked that way, though. Well, I wish you'd asked me directly so I could have answered it when the question first came to your mind. Austin Rose has asked and I I've answered him publicly on the radio and anybody who asked me to my face, I absolutely answer with full honesty how much I have lost personally to be able to serve in this position. So, I I'm not trying to imply that. I wasn't trying to put you on the spot. But you've heard the other people in here who have asked about where's the checks and how much are these folks making. I've heard it. We can hear. I'm going to just Sure. Any other questions? I I don't mean to um make one comment about the quarry that was very quickly please. Very quickly. So

all of that will have a sales tax on everything that comes in and out of there. Even if they supply the data center, I I don't have any indication that they have a contract or heard it here tonight with data centers. Okay. Well, that's the only reason I think we need another rough quy is why I was asking the Let me just Mr. card. I'll say this that the quarry this quarry has been at least contemplated and tested for the last seven years. Okay?

So, it has been going on much longer than any discussion about a data center. They've worked on actually the the testing of the materials to see if if the rock was there. You can only do a quarry where there's rock. They've been working on that for many years. Um I have been here that entire time. I know I was approached over five years ago uh about the quarry because the presence of the rock. Okay. So, it's much more before the data centers. Okay. I I appreciate you answering my question, Connie. I did not intend for it to come out the way maybe it did. Thank you. I thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to make sure everybody heard that. Thank you. Thank you. I need to move on to the next person.

If I were to run, I would ask for your vote. Thank you. You probably could have it. I got 359 days left of this. No, don't do that. Susan Warren. Miss Warren.

Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Susan Warren Appan. Uh tonight I'll say that my talk is not going to be the statistics about data centers wasteful use of power, water and land that I spoke about so much last year. [clears throat] But when you call me back or question and said something to me at the last meeting, Mr. Yes, ma'am. Chairman, uh I went back to the mic and I didn't say exactly what I meant to say. So, I want to clarify that tonight. Yes, ma'am.

You said Columbia County had gone after data centers for [clears throat] tax relief rather than jobs. Yes, ma'am.

And I said that I wasn't opposed to Columbia County having them, but that I was opposed to all data centers because of the misuse of AI. But I don't actually oppose all data centers. Some are there for real work. That's where they store stuff from the cloud and you can pull up your information from an AI data center is a whole different animal. Um AI exists I mean these hypers scale data centers exist only to feed AI for the benefit of the shareholders and the owners of the big seven on the stock market or as some people say the magnificent seven. And why do I oppose so many of the hyperscale data centers? When AI is not regulated and used responsibly, it destroys jobs rather than making them. AI is constantly fed the work product of writers, artists, filmmakers without the consent of or payment to those folks who did that work. This result is that you're going to get carbon copies for free of what those humans worked for as they are configured. Now, a AI doesn't actually make new product. It just copies from us. They're constantly changing that, but that's the way most of it is right now. Companies are marketing teddy bears. Remember teddy bears? little bitty T

that use AI chat GPT to interact with toddlers. And some of the things these toys say are not good. One from a company that is blocked on my computer advertises deep emotional connection. Now, can you imagine that with a toddler? Does that sound familiar? Teenagers and pre-teens are using chat bots as companions because they claim to be best friends. Teenagers are killing themselves and others because a chatbot encouraged them to do it. Children from grammar school on up through college are using AI to do their work, so they aren't actually doing the foundational work that's necessary for learning. loss of some skills from professionals like doctors who use AI so much they lose some of the skill that comes from doing things without its help. Doctors have warned patients. They've actually had other patients bring in bad medical information gotten from asking AI medical questions. Some ministers use AI not only to write sermons but to counsel parishioners. Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court has already warned lawyers about using AI in their briefs because of the high percentage of hallucinations as they call them. 58 to 82% in legal queries. And meanwhile, we have an administration that resists regulation for AI while encouraging the buildout of data centers and their power generation upgrades without the proper regulation for either of those. Uh Yosua, I'm sorry, I'm terrible with these names. Yosua Benjio, a computer

scientist known as one of the godfathers of AI, said recently, "A sandwich has more regulation than AI. A number of prominent industry people are speaking out about the possible downsides to AI up to and including that they are are afraid I AI will at some point in the future as it becomes censient destroy humanity. Sam Alman, CEO for Open AI and chat GBT said, "We are entering a world where we need more nuanced understanding and measurement of those capabilities and how we can limit the downsides both in our products and in the world." Demis Hassabis, Nobel Prizewinning co-founder of Google Deep Mind, last month warned of risk that included AI's going off the rails in some way that harms humanity. Mustafa Sullean, CEO of Microsoft AI, told BBC Radio's fours today, "I honestly think that if you're not a little bit afraid at this moment, you're not paying attention. I was listening to the OnPoint program on NPR on 1229 when Jeffrey Hinton, known as a godfather of AI, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable me machine learning with artificial neural networks. discussed among other AI issues the percentage of probability not possibility but probability of AI destroying human humanity within 20 to 30 years. He gives it a 20% chance. The host of the program asked him if it could be used to solve complex problems. His a his answer was sure that

if AI were asked to solve climate change, it would probably answer that it could be solved by ending humanity because it was given no constraints when the question was asked. You know, I have begun to compare these concerns being voiced about AI after the fact as to how some scientists on the Manhattan project expressed how they felt after contributing to the development of the atomic bomb. Thank you. Thank you, [applause]

Lindsey Brantley. Good evening, commissioners. Chairman Duncan, thank you for allowing me to speak. Lindsey Brantley, I live in Pumpkin Center in Harlem. My focus tonight is on data centers with a focus on parcel 029037B representing Mr. Prather regarding his DC reszone request coming to your vote on February the 3rd. I want to start by saying thank you for what you do. I am truly grateful to live in Columbia County. It's a wonderful and safe place to raise my children and that does not happen by accident. My motivations tonight are personal. I live down the road from Pumpkin Center roundabout and I don't want Harlem and Appling to be industrialized. I also don't want comm my community to be overburdened by PUD abuse which also rests with you all. The five of you already know how I feel about data centers and how our development authority brought in the first one. While I appreciate the fact that Commissioner Couch posted about that reason on Facebook on April the 4th, 2025, the vote went through on May 1st, 26 days from that post. And for everyone else who didn't see her post and saw the signs in the ground, they had 15 days. 15 days to process, learn, form an opinion, and give meaningful feedback. 15 days is not enough. 26 days is also not enough. It's strange that you all would hold town halls and meetings to get feedback and answer questions and educate the

public, but it was too late. All of that should have occurred prior to May 1st when you voted. I'm not quite sure what to even advocate for tonight as I suspect even if a no vote went through for the DC reszone, I suspect that would spur Mr. Prather to maximize the density on his final phase rather than uphold the current draw up. With the county's track record of allowing PUD abuse, we could be looking at another highdensity crisis handed to Mr. Prather as a sympathy card. I have tried my best to understand exactly how many homes are slotted for this parcel only under his current PUD plan and I have not been given a straight answer. My husband and I are currently waiting on email replies and phone calls. I am 20 days out from seeing the news article about these two new data center reszones. I am still processing. I'm still learning. and I have many unanswered questions. Your first data center went to a vote on day 15, day 26 for those who saw Miss Couch's post. What the Pumpkin Center residents need right now is three three commissioners who will bravely consider the following as we approach February 3rd. Take your time. [clears throat]

Jane Beth, can you give our water some tissue? Thank you.

I'm not paying for that and I'm very sorry. It's okay. I need you all to bravely consider the following. We need three of you who will consider these things. realize that you are the gatekeepers to allow future high density neighborhoods or prevent them. You have the ability to help us uphold the unique rural character of District 4. [snorts] You have the ability to consider slowing down this land grab with no votes and let these people come back in six months. [snorts]

and you all should consider pausing to pay better attention to what your community actually wants. I think there are three of you here tonight in front of me who were if you were me would feel the same way. I hope I am right. In closing, thank you for your time and I look forward to having all of mine and my husband's questions answered on email prior to your vote and ideally prior to January 15th. Thank you. Thank you, Lindsay. I had meetings today to be able to provide the answers to the questions and those emails. So, you can expect that for me tomorrow. Thank you, Joanne Murdoch. [applause]

Good evening. Joanne Murdoch, 1547 Swint Road, which is in the Pumpkin Center area. So, I specifically just want to early bring it to your attention that I would respectfully ask you all to vote no when it comes up in February. I'll be going into further details with my reasoning other than the main thing of it not aligning with vision 2035. That is a rural area. It's only been since 2020 when Prather had it reszoned for PUD. That section was supposed to not even start build out until this year, I think, if I read read correctly. Anyway, I'll go into detail in my emails y'all be getting, but please over the next course of couple weeks, take into consideration what the residents in Pumpkin Center area want. We want it to remain rural. We don't need a data center across the street from neighborhoods and the shopping center that Prather put up there. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no executive session, I think all 20 people have spoken. I need one more motion. Make a motion to adjurnn. We are adjourned.