Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

for the invocation and the pledge. Please remove your hat, sir. Thank you.

We'd like to thank you for the day that you blessed us with, one that we've never seen. We'd like to thank you for those who chose to come out and participate in the local government. We pray for those who wish they could be here but are not here. We pray that you continue to shine and bless Lowndes County as we strive to do your will in the best interest of this county. We'd like to thank you and ask for continued blessings for our staff as they carry out their day-to-day duties. for the best interest of this county as well. And dear Lord, say a special prayer for the families that have been impacted by the conflict in Iran and that you make them whole and that they come back safe. I pray that you continue to bless and guide us as we strive to do your will. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance. To the flag. Of the United States of America.

And to the Republic.

stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Commissioner Marshall. Commissioners, inside your packet you'll find the minutes of your work session of June the 22nd, the regular session meeting of June the 23rd, as well as the 2027 budget public hearing that was held on June the 23rd, the special call meeting to adopt the FY2027 budget on June the 30th. If there are no additions, deletions, or corrections, I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes.

Motion to approve.

Do we have a motion to approve? Do I have a second?

Second.

I have a second by Ms. Evans. Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in favor, signify by aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, like, sign? Hearing none, the minutes are approved. All right, we'll move to agenda item 5A, and this is our first appointment item. Actually, our only appointment item, and it's for the Lowndes County Library System Board of Trustees. Ms. Dukes?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening, Commissioners. The Constitution of Lowndes County Library System was amended in March of 2026 to conform with Georgia law. Regarding the Board of Trustees of the system, the Constitution, there was an amendment there. The board shall be comprised of nine residents of Lowndes County who are appointed by the Board of Commissioners as the only governmental agency supporting the system on a regular basis. Appointments shall be made in writing, and the board members shall serve staggered terms of three years beginning July 1 and ending June 30. So before you all, you have the number of appointments that needs to be made as well as some term limits. And so if we could take these appointments one at the time and then see the associated term limits, the only real restriction there is Mr. William Booth and Dr. Elvita Miller have both volunteered to start their service with a one-year term and they are both eligible for one-year term if the commission chose to start their appointments there.

Okay. Any questions for Ms. Dukes? All right, we'll begin with the first term for a one-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June the 30th of 2027. I will open it up for nominations.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to nominate your wife and baby.

This needs to be, this is one of the ones that either needs to be Mr. William Booth or Dr. Alveda Miller. Okay, so you'll nominate Dr. Alveda Miller. Okay? All right. Are there any other nominations? All right, hearing none, then Dr. Alveda Miller will be nominated for a one-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2027. All right, the next one would be also for a one-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2027. I'll open it up for nominations. I nominate Mr. Booth. Okay, we have a nomination of Mr. Bill Booth, or William Booth. Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll close the nominations, and Mr. Booth will be appointed by acclamation. for the term of one year beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30, 2027. All right, our next position would be for a two-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2028. I'll open the floor for nominations. I nominate Greg Moore. Okay, we have Mr. Greg Moore. Are there any other nominations? Okay, we'll close the nominations and Mr. Moore will be appointed by acclamation. All right, we'll move to the second two-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2028. I'll open the floor for nominations.

Mary Beth Brownlee.

Okay, we have a nomination for Miss Mary Beth Brownlee. Do we have any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll close the nominations and Ms. Brownlee will be appointed by acclamation. Our next term, also for a two-year term, beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2028. I will open the floor for nominations. I nominate Dr. Kendall.

Gary Weisenbaker.

Okay, we have a nomination of Mr. Gary Weisenbaker. Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll close the nominations and Mr. Gary Weisenbaker will be appointed by acclamation. All right, our next is for a three-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2029. I will open the floor for nominations.

I nominate Dr. Kendall Crawford.

Dr. Kendall Crawford. All right, we have Then nomination for Dr. Crawford. Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll close the nominations and Dr. Crawford will be appointed by acclamation. We'll move to our next three-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2029. I will open the floor for nominations.

Chairman, I nominate Dean Poland.

Okay, we have Mr. Dean Bolling nominated. Are there any other nominations? All right, hearing none, we will close the nominations and Mr. Bolling will be appointed by acclamation. All right, our final position is also for a three-year term beginning July the 1st of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2029. I will open the floor for nominations.

I nominate Jane Peoples.

Okay, we have a nomination for Ms. Peoples. Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll close the nominations and Ms. Peoples will be appointed by acclamation for a three-year term beginning July the 1st, 2026 and ending June 3029. Commissioners, I appreciate you. I know this was a little lengthy and a little timely, but certainly some good nominations there. We didn't miss one? I don't think so.

Okay.

We had one more than what we actually needed positions for. Okay. But all the slots were filled. Well, I appreciate it. All right, we'll now move to our public hearing item, and we have two, and our first is agenda item 6A. This is REZ 2026-14 for Ray Colding, 6808 Weisenbecker Road in Lake Park. This involves 8.5 acres. It is currently M1.

and are a and the request is for him to and this will be served by county water and septic mister bill thank you mister chairman good evening commissioners as stated the request before you is for him to zoning on eight point five acres in order for mister calling in his sons to continue operation of a sawmill and other related services uh... to such operations you notice the property here has frontage on south main street which is lake park belleville road and why is a bigger road which is a county maintained an improved road. Now, the future land use currently depicts it as rural residential. However, in the future, we fully anticipate this area to go to more of an industrial character area, as noted as across the street. There are no wetlands on this particular piece of property, though it is in a groundwater recharge, but with the viability of the septic system and the county utilities, there should not be any sort of issue here. Again, you can note some of the operations that are currently taking place from this overhead aerial, but in the TRC's analysis, again, with the neighboring land uses and lot sizes, the availability of the county water and the viability of the septic system, staff recommends approval of the M2 zoning with the following conditions. Any proposed commercial industrial entrances off of Weisenbaker Road will be required to the developer to pay Weisenbaker from said entrance to South Main Street. Developer will also be responsible for the design, acquisition of necessary right-of-way, relocation of utilities and construction costs for the paving of Wise and Baker, easternmost entrance to South Main Street, and if approved for M2 zoning, no correctional facilities, transitional care facilities, and junk and salvage yards should be allowed. And again, as we talked about, the Planning Commission heard the request. They also heard from Mr. Colding, and with no one speaking in opposition to the request, recommended approval of these two conditions unanimously 9-0. Okay.

Any questions for Mr. Dillard? Hearing none, we'll open up the public hearing portion of the meeting. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to this request? Anyone that would like to speak in opposition? Hearing none, is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this request? Anyone that would like to speak in favor? Hearing none, we'll close the public hearing portion of the meeting, and commissioners, I'll turn it over to you for your consideration.

Motion to approve. With conditions.

With the conditions. Yes. OK, we have a motion to approve with the conditions. Do I have a second? Second. I have a second, and I'll give that second to Mr. Ornstein. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All in favor, signify by aye. Aye. Any opposed, like sign. Hearing none, the motion carries. Agenda item 6B is TWR 2026-02. This is Bermuda Run. It is for a new 159-foot telecommunication tower near Norfeld-Oster Road and the height of Metterer Drive. Mr. Dillard.

Yes, sir. Thank you very much. The applicant is requesting a new tower, 155 feet for the actual apparatus with a four foot lighting rod attached to the top of it. Located here on a portion of Langdale Park off of Haida Metro Road. You'll notice the conservation zoning and the ER, which is the city's version of conservation zoning, surround the property. Now, again, the future land use does depict it as a park rec conservation area, and it is in the floodplain and floodway. However, this is not a legislative zoning decision. This is a quasi-judicial decision for your consideration to determine whether the standards for telecommunication towers listed in Section 505 of the ULDC, which you have a copy of, have been met. With that being said, here's a proposal from the applicant showing the approximate 10,000 square foot location, and you see approximately 600 square feet, again, for the equipment area with the tower proposed there. Again, this is just an overlay of that same graphic onto an aerial to give you a better idea of any surrounding issues there. You see the park pavilion down to the far left, but other than that, no other structures in the area. And here's a rendering of the tower, again, 155 foot with the lightning rod on top. And then on the right-hand side, you see the proposed landscaping, which does meet the standards in 505. The applicant has provided, again, the proposed location and inventory of the surrounding existing sites. And again, those same towers as you see here with all the technical data associated with them. They also talk about some of the capacity issues on their existing towers and thus justifying the need for this new tower to be provided. And then again, this is the coverage currently without the Bermuda Run site. If approved, the potential coverage could increase to this map. The applicant has provided a pictorial walkthrough kind of of Lowndes County in this particular area. You'll notice eight potential sites that they have selected as potential view sites, and I'll walk through them briefly with you. Currently, again, if proposed, you see the existing view in the bottom right and the proposed view in the top there. Again, the view from Country Club as it intersects North Valdosta Road just to the east of the bridges. And again, 1,800 feet southeast of the site in the Links Apartments Complex. The view from Hunter's Glen, a little over a half mile away. From Pebblewood Drive, again closer to a mile south-southeast of the site. And again from Bermuda Run, a little over a mile on North Valdosta Road before you get to Foxboro Subdivision. Then again from Oak Ridge Bend, a little over half a mile northwest of the site. And as you see here from nearly the intersection of Valdale and North Valdosta Road. With that being said, the TRC did not analyze the requests. Having satisfied Section 505 of the ULDC, recommended approval of the request. And at the Planning Commission, the applicant's representative did speak in support. The applicant's representative is here again for any other additional questions. And one citizen spoke in opposition to the request, questioning the validity of Section 505. However, the Planning Commission did find it sufficient to recommend approval, seven to two. Any questions for Mr. Dillon?

Okay, we'll open up the public hearing portion of the meeting. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to this request? Anyone that would like to speak in opposition? Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Good evening, John Quarterman. I live at 5555 Quarterman Road. And it still does not meet several provisions of ULDC 5.05.05. I'd also like to point out those propagation maps that you just saw displayed were not returned as part of the board packet in response to an open records request. So I don't know, do you have them in your packet in front of it? You might want to look to see. But good, they are actually there. That's two of them. However, those sites and their specifications, according to section 5.05.05.b.2, are supposed to be in Valor GIS. And that section is very specific. It is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure they're in there and up to date. Where are they? And section 5.05.05.g.5 says that such a thing should not be in a historic district or a scenic view corridor. Now, the county plan editor at the planning commission said the county does not define a historic district, only the city does. I don't know why the city's irrelevant. This is not the city council. We're not talking about the LDR. The ULDC also does not have a section that says scenic view corridor yet section 5.05.05.G.5 specifically calls out both those terms. And I would say that the road leading to the Withacoochee River in Langdale Park, one of the oldest and largest parks in the Parks and Rec system, is both a historic district and a scenic view corridor. You perhaps would like to form an opinion. And Section 5.05.0.5.I.1 says that such a thing should not be too close to a public right of way. Now, um, the, uh, premises that rectangular area is within about 20 feet of white trail, a, the north south hiking trail that goes right along a lot line in the park. And the borders of the right-of-way of that trail are clearly marked by the butt ends of deadfall trees that many volunteers cleared with chainsaws to make that trail usable again after Hurricane Helene. Now, it's a public hiking trail as well. On the trail map that's at the kiosk, which is, I believe, about 250 feet away from the edge of that trail, square area. So I don't know why that trail will not be considered a public right of way. So there are several items here that have not been answered and one that just plain doesn't seem to exist, the inventory and valor GIS. So I would say, you make the decision of course, but I would say that it does not match the ULDC requirements. Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to speak in opposition to this request? All right, hearing none, is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this request? Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Good evening. My name is Caitlin Isley.

Pull the mic down, please. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Caitlin Isley. My address is 577 Mulberry Street, Macon, Georgia. I'm here to represent Vertical Bridge today. We believe we have complied with all the local, state, and federal laws regarding this communications tower. We have received approval from the FAA. the FCC and FEMA. We've also conducted a full environmental study which was provided to the county even though it's not required as part of the application and there was no adverse impacts noted to the area as well. We have complied with all setback requirements. This is not a historic district or a scenic view corridor nor next to any kind of public right of way. So again, we believe we have met all of the requirements here of the code section to be approved. If you have any questions, I'm happy to address them.

Commissioners, any questions? Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

You may be coming back up, though. I will offer the opportunity for those in opposition for a rebuttal to that comment. If you have a rebuttal, please come forward. Again, for the record, state your name and address for the record.

Hi, John S. Quarterman. I live at 6565 Quarterman Road. Hey, Hira. And she just boldly says that it's not a historic district or scenic view corridor without any reasoning nor a right-of-way. I don't see how that rebuts what I said. Thank you.

Okay. Ma'am, would you like to rebut on any of that, or did you make that clear in your first statement? I'm good, thank you. You're fine. Okay. All right, we'll close the public hearing portion of the meeting, and I'll turn it over to the commissioners for your consideration.

Mr. Chairman, just for clarity, I know we have a copy of it right here, and the height of that tower, is it 159 feet?

I believe that was correct, yes.

Okay, because in here it states just to the fact that it can't be a third of the height of a tower, not that it can't be near the right-of-way, so I just wanted that clarity. as well, is it designated a historic district or not?

No, sir, historic designations are required by the Department of the Interior. There are no historic designations outside of downtown Valdosta that are registered on the historical places. So Langdale Park, yes, being old, does not qualify or has not been designated by the Department of the Interior. And you're right, the right-of-way does require a third of the height. A third of the height of the 159 is roughly 54 feet, which the tower satisfies.

to answer your question. All right, any other questions? All right, hearing none, commissioners, I'll turn it over to you for your consideration for a motion.

Motion to approve.

We have a motion to approve the request. Do I have a second?

Second.

I have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All in favor, signify by aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, like sign? Hearing none, motion carries. We'll now move to agenda item 7A, and this is the award of pre-event disaster logistics support services contract. Mr. Tai.

Good evening.

Good evening, sir.

As we discussed this morning, this is a pre-event, no-cost contract. We solicited proposals from qualified vendors for disaster logistics services, which basically means things like setting up base camps, running points of distribution, generators, pretty much any type of resource that we might need after disaster. Having these contracts in place allows us to be better positioned to acquire those resources if we need them following a future disaster. And the recommendation is to award contracts to three vendors who were selected based on a number of criteria, including we wanted... To provide the best service by providing a diverse group as far as geographically, the services they provide, the equipment they can provide. And so we feel like the recommended vendors would serve the best interest of Lowndes County. And we just ask your approval to have the chairman execute contracts with the three vendors, MLU, Ashbritt, and Safe Industries. Be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions for Mr. Tai? All right. Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Do we have a motion to approve? Do we have a second? We have a second by Ms. Evans. Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in favor, signify by aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, like, sign? Hearing none, the motion carries. Agenda item 7B is the acceptance of the FY2027 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Award. Mr. Tye. Yes, sir.

Again, as we discussed this morning, once again, Lowndes County has been awarded funding for fiscal year 2027 in the amount of $325,000 to be used by the juvenile justice, juvenile court for functional family therapy. We're just requesting authorization for the chairman to execute the award documents and staff to perform all the submittals necessary to activate the award.

Any questions for Mr. Tye? Is this an increase from last year?

It's the exact same we got last year.

Any other questions? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

Okay, we have a motion to approve by Ms. Evans. Do we have a second?

Second.

We have a second by Mr. Marshall. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All in favor, signify by aye. Aye. Any opposed, like sign? Hearing none, motion carries.

but you know i'm seven c is the lift station bypass proper quest for proposal mister stout it's our you recall lounds county utilities was awarded a chief alone to install bypass pumps at a number of our lift stations that does not have a mercy back up staff advertised request for proposal received two responses one from baby eight pumps and one from harder service representing godwin Proposals were considered on a scoring criteria that comprised of several evaluation factors, totaling a maximum potential score of 100. An evaluation committee comprised of Lowndes County staff and Carter & Schlupp engineering representatives scored both proposals. BBA pump was the high score with a 96 and Godwin come in at 89. With the high-scoring proposal, BBA Pumps Incorporated was determined to be the most advantageous proposer for the county. Therefore, staff recommends approval to proceed with BBA Pumps to provide the bypass pumps. Any questions for Mr. Stoudy? What was the dollar amount of the GFA loan? Do you remember? I'm pretty sure it was a little over $2 million, so there will be another... 2.6, so we'll have another proposal that will come at a later time to provide the pads and the connections.

Okay, that was my next question. Okay, thanks.

I had a question. What type of warranty do we get with these type of purchases?

On the BBA pumps, they come with a three-year warranty.

Any other questions? Thank you, Mr. Dalby. Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion.

Motion to proceed with BBA pumps.

Do we have a motion to proceed with PPA? Was that right? BBA. Okay. Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second. We have a second by Mr. Marshall. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All in favor signify by aye. Aye. Any opposed, like sign? Hearing none, motion carries. All right, agenda item eight, county management report. Ms. Dukes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to invite Chief Young to come up and bring Captain Guerin with him as we just completed the budget process, and part of that conversation was finding efficiencies and grant opportunities and things where we could, and Captain Guerin was already working in that direction. So I'd like to invite Chief Young to tell you all a little bit about an exciting benefit that we have coming into Lowndes County Fire Rescue.

Thank you, Mr. Dukes. Mr. Chairman, commissioners, so as Mr. Dukes was saying, we were just looking at how we can help with the budget. And so beginning of 2026, Captain Guerin was promoted to our logistics captain. And so we sat down and we established some goals. And one of his goals was to find grants that we were eligible to apply for. So he hit the ground running. We've got numerous grants in the pipeline that we've applied for, but we are able to reap what he's done. So we've been awarded a grant, and I'm going to let him explain to you all the grant, because I just wanted to brag on him a little bit and introduce him. But I also want to mention Ms. Black and her team, the finance team, because it was like every other week I've been getting an email from Captain Guerin, hey, we need help from finance, we need this document or that document, and Ms. Black and her team has been very helpful with that also. But without further ado, Captain Guerin, if you'll explain the grant we've been awarded. Yes, sir.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. Good evening. So as Chief Young said, we sat down. We came up with some goals. The goal was to help find money to offset some of the equipment that we needed. I applied for numerous grants, one of which was the Firehouse Subs Foundation. We got word last week that we were awarded some money out of 600 applicants because they only take the first 600 every quarter, and it usually closes within about 30 minutes because it's nationwide. And we were one of 76 departments nationwide that were awarded. They awarded a total of $1.8 million, which was roughly $24,000 per department. We came out with a better of $32,146 and that money will be used to provide or purchase new extrication tools for our new engine in Twin Lakes, Lake Park. So we're very excited for that. It's a zero cost on the county. Firehouse Subs will purchase the equipment outright for us. It is a win for us. And the department. Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to add while Captain Guerin is here that this is not his first financial win for the county. There was a vendor that he found an efficiency that cut our costs for a particular renewal by about 75%. So We're very excited that Captain Guerin is in his position, and that 75% translated to thousands of dollars. So we're excited for his good work. Captain Guerin, you have set the bar for yourself very high early on, so we're excited to see where you take it from here. But thank you both, gentlemen. I'd also like to ask Ashley Tye to come up. We're going to start with some good news. We're going to transition to some not-so-good news, but as usual, we have a solution. So, Mr. Tye? So...

Remind me what the good news is.

Our solution is a contract. Oh, yeah. It's like we looked at just while ago.

Yeah. So the good news is the contract you just approved, you know, is proving, will prove to be beneficial in ways we didn't envision when we put out the RFP. But I have spoken with several of the vendors that we just approved contracts with, as well as Thompson Consulting, who helped us out during the hurricanes. They were our monitoring firm with the debris removal. We have the solution in place. The problem is last week we received word from GEMA that in some of the FEMA reforms, they're changing their policy. So if you recall, after the recent hurricanes, both times, we opened what's called a disaster recovery center. and the most recent one was at the city of Valdosta, Station 8 Public Safety Building there, the old church on Forest Street Extension. disaster recovery centers that was where people could go FEMA could have them register submit an application if they hadn't already done so online if they had questions they could go and there were FEMA representatives that could answer those questions they could help them upload documentation that might be needed you know just a wealth of different resources were available FEMA will no longer provide that service they have basically pushed that on us onto the states who have then pushed it down to the locals. So in the future, if a disaster recovery center or whatever a local government chooses to call it is opened, the responsibility of the building setting it up, staffing it, providing all the equipment, everything to do with it, will fall on the local jurisdictions. Upon request, FEMA said they may provide one or two staff to work for a short period of time in there. But again, that's kind of, some of that push to now they're transitioning all of the responsibilities to the county. In addition, one of the things that was very beneficial last time, which will, will also now increase the traffic to a disaster recovery center if it's opened. If you recall, FEMA had people that were going door to door. They call those direct survivor assistance staffs, DSA teams. And so they... They went and visited, I believe the number was just short of 40,000 homes by the time. I mean, they were here almost six months going door to door, making sure people knew to apply for FEMA assistance, answering questions. that will no longer be done either. The only DSA that they will provide is, upon request, they will consider going to festivals, basically large gatherings where people are already there, but the door-to-door, walk in the streets, that will also not be My biggest concern, other than the fact that it's not going to be there, is that that is something we've become accustomed to. It has been very effective, the last two disasters, in helping with outreach. Again, it's one of those things that We're already having to take on more of the load. And quite frankly, we don't have staff that are sitting around doing nothing that can go door to door, that can manage those. We don't have extra computers sitting around. And so there's a lot of issues that that raises. Again, the disaster recovery part, we can address that through these contracts. But again, that's an added expense that the county's gonna have to bear. Presumably, if we do that, it will be following a declaration And so it would potentially be reimbursable. But, again, that's not guaranteed that it will be 100%. And as we've had conversations this week, you know, we're almost two years out from Hurricane Helene and we're still waiting on funds. So, you know, even if it's reimbursable, it's not reimbursable right away. So I just wanted to share that so that – Um, like I said, we just found out, um, you know, I believe it was, um, Friday. Um, we got the, got the email from GEMA. And so just wanted to go ahead and make y'all aware of that. So if heaven forbid some, you know, something were to happen in the next couple of weeks, you're not caught off guard. You, you kind of know what, what we're expecting. And again, um, you know, we have a, we have a strong team. Um, I have no doubt that we will, um, figure out a way to serve the community to the best of our ability, but it is gonna make it a lot more challenging because we're not gonna have that federal assistance that was there. So did I cover everything? Any questions? That's the bad news, the bad news, and then the bad news. I mean, like she said, the good news is we do kind of have a solution. And like I said, I mean, and I will say, and I'm not saying this just to say it, when I say we have a good team, you know, I think we've seen over the last couple of storms as much planning as we do. There's always things that come up that you – not that you weren't prepared, you couldn't foresee. And so the team at this community has, I mean, we do very well in getting creative and pulling together. And when our ox is in the ditch, we figure out how to get it out. But again, it's not gonna be a painless process, so. Right.

Have we ever done door to door?

We have not. FEMA's always done that.

So now, will we have a center where these people can come to a center?

If we choose to open it and you choose to fund it.

Yeah, that responsibility now will follow.

Yeah, so that's what we were saying. We would have to hire the contractors. So basically, we would have to come to you and say, hey, we want to use this contract and have them come in and set up the tables, set up the computers, help provide the staffing and help do that. Because again, we just don't have the additional resources that we could do it in-house and do it effectively.

So in the past, the Civic Center, all that doings out there, that was FEMA?

Yes.

Manning that operation?

That's right, yes, sir. Do we have any plans to message this to our public, though, to our citizens and say, I mean, because at the end of the day, I mean, they're gonna have to take on more responsibility as the affected parties in this. I mean, I think that we should get ahead of it and say, you know, hey, if you're gonna just sit back and wait for somebody to come to you and ask how may I help you, that may not be the case next time, so.

So the short answer is yes. We always work the messaging. We don't have a specific plan like to say, hey, this is what we're gonna do. um you do a great job with with uh megan um and so what we want to do is be very intentional before we just tell people hey here's the bad news we also want to share you know hey this is what the change is going to be this is what you need to expect but also give them a little bit of a little bit of hope like this is what we're doing to um cushion the blow so to speak so we want to make sure you know like i said this is this is brand new came out friday so we want to evaluate it and figure out, okay, what is the best course of action? And of course, if something were to happen in the very near future, that would be part of our messaging before, during, and after the storm as we tell people, hey, these are the things that you need to do. Here's the assistance that's available. Here's what's not.

And I certainly agree with that plan. I also just think that The worst thing for us is that somebody comes after they've been affected tragically and to the level that we've seen over the past few years and say, well, last time they came to me and last time I had all this assistance.

And I will say part of that goes back to, so what FEMA does when they provide the assistance is they cover, uninsured expenses. And so that's part of our messaging year round when we do preparedness campaigns, you know, insurance checkups and those things are part of it. But the reality is, you know, that we have to figure out how to bridge that gap because there's some people that through no fault of their own don't have insurance for a variety of reasons. And so that would, again, that's where that messaging before, you know, Just quite frankly, I could tell them today that, hey, FEMA's not coming next time, but in the aftermath, if something happens, they're gonna be so stressed out, they're gonna have forgot that we told them that six months ago. So that's why we really focus, reinforcing that as a storm's approaching or something's coming, we highlight those important key messages. Megan has a lot of templates that we just pull that out, can very quickly get that out. Again, once it's over, we tell people that, hey, this is what you need to do. And again, we don't want to, you know, don't wanna sound doom and gloom and like, hey, we're not saying that we're not gonna help, but we also wanna paint a realistic, so they have realistic expectations, so then we push that messaging out, hey, this is the assistance that we're working toward, this is how this is gonna look different than it did last time, so we can hopefully address that to the extent we can.

I'm gonna, commissioners, add this, and of course you all know this, because we talk about it a lot, and especially around budgeting time, but this really puts a bigger emphasis on our responsibility of a strong fund balance. Again, as Mr. Tai is saying, this funding, if we have an event such as this, it's going to fall on us to provide those services. Now, they may be reimbursable and they may not, but that outlay initially for that contractor is going to have to be done on the front end as well as the debris removal, as it was. If we had not had a strong fund balance that you had worked very, very hard over the years to have that fund balance in place, we would be in a whole lot, would have been in a whole lot different situation than where we found ourself with the three hurricanes we had. Simply because we were able to go ahead and execute those contracts, pay those contractors, get that work done on a timely fashion, and then we were able to wait, as we still are waiting, on some of our reimbursements from FEMA and GEMA, so again, that's to your credit that y'all worked hard to get that done but it adds even more importance as we move forward that that continues to be our policy to have that in place just simply because as we're finding out there's more and more of this responsibility that falls on fema gma whomever but it gets pushed down to the local governments some will not be repaired or prepared but hopefully we will continue on our good policies and be prepared for an event such as that again. Hopefully it won't happen, but if it happens, we'll be prepared. Any questions for Mr. Tyler?

Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley. And to your comment, Mr. Chairman, Ashley and I actually worked with Charlie Barrett today. Some of you, I think, know Charlie. He works for the Senate. There's one repayment for 1.1 million that we're still waiting on, and one for 1.7 million. Ashley's good contacts and information allow him to log into some portals to see where those payments are. We have one that's been sitting almost a month, and the comment that we received from GEMA was they'll get it when they get it, and that resulted in a call to Senator Goodman, and now Senator Goodman has Charlie working directly with the GEMA director to find out what's taken so long for those two checks to be released so they have the funds have been allocated allocated the projects were approved it's gone back and forth all the approval systems between the state and federal government and the money appears to just still be sitting so Stephanie and I did some rough math during the budget process and since 2024 We have missed out on nearly half a million dollars in interest income waiting on GEMA to reimburse these projects that we've already turned all the information in from that have already been approved. And so we've passed that along to Charlie for them to advocate for us in Atlanta there.

Just two outstanding.

So there's two outstanding now. There's one that will come after, one last one for some administrative reimbursement that will come after those two. But if you remember, Commissioner Weisenbaker, they won't look at the next step until they close out the step before. So these two will have to be released before they will start the final process for that last one. Now, the last one is just over a million dollars. It's not a big one. We are getting down to the tail end of it, but we still collectively have close to $4 million that's waiting to come back in.

I just had a question, Paige. Basically, you're saying FEMA's been cut. And at the end of the day, to Chairman Slaughter and Commissioner Orenstein's point, In the past, the citizens were able to sit down with a FEMA person and file the claim and see if I can get the money. The average citizen could do that. So if it happens, another disaster comes, that won't be available. Or we'll have a contract, but at the end of the day, that liability still falls on the county?

Financially, it will fall on you at that point, which may be or may not be reimbursable. That would be yet to be determined. Okay.

And an important point of clarification to what you were saying, what we can do is we can pay contractors to sit at the table with a computer and help somebody navigate the application. Like you can log in, we can let them log in, use the computer, provide the internet, make sure it's working and they can navigate through. what we can't do that they did before uh... we can only provide the tool to give application in we can't see their stuff we can't uh... answer any questions because we don't have you know the applications we can't see their application if they get something that says hey you need more information We may be able to help them upload documentation, but that's probably the biggest thing, and I do want to clarify, the people we're hiring are not FEMA people, so even with what we're doing, the service will not be quite the same, and so I just want to make sure that point was clear.

Contractor would have no authority to basically commit to funding for an individual.

and we're sending our comments back at the chain unit hopefully there's going to be enough local government that say you know you're leaving people that that need the most help out in the cold by making this change this is this is a critical change because a lot of times people who have availability to technology and don't have challenge with challenges with computer literacy a lot of those folks also have insurance and so fema is not a resource that they even need the folks that ashley and i and so many of our staff and so many of our citizen volunteers work so closely with through the last two hurricanes were people who maybe had literacy issues beyond computer literacy or didn't understand the system or didn't understand exactly what documents were being referenced when more information was needed. So because of our relationship with FEMA and them being here on site, Ashley could work through that to find out exactly where so many of those sticking points were. And the comment that he made now is we'll no longer have that ability. So again, I'm hoping that enough information is gonna go back to DC and we'll certainly continue to have those conversations. And I know you all will too with your congressional relationships to say, Someone at the federal level really needs to rethink this because if they're just looking for a way to not get citizens back on their feet, this one change has certainly been a step in that direction, and that's not something that I think we can tolerate without further communication. Okay. Okay, one more thing. I know we've got a lot of folks here that want to talk about data centers and all good information. We continue to gather all of that. There are best practice guidelines, environmental and noise studies, as well as model ordinances right now that are being developed across the country. Our staff has leaned into tracking those. We've got relationships with folks sending stuff in. We still do not have a data center project. No one has come in and met with the county. We don't have any more locations discussed other than the rezoning that everyone is aware of. weird night further along in the process than we were before other than the fact that we continue to gather this information that other communities some of the environmental studies and always studies in the thresholds that are being sent there based on generator sizing in particular discharge and all of those things there's a lot of other communities that are quickly paying for that study that that we're able to benefit from his as we come across them to move forward to develop a draft ordinance for you all to consider. So we are still in the fact-finding environment there. There's no new information where staff is concerned. We are certainly taking anything that comes in. We have citizens who are sending us articles. We're collecting those and running those down and just continuing the conversation internally. But beyond that, there's no additional information from staff.

Thank you. Any questions for Ms. Dukes? All right. Thank you, Ms. Dukes. We'll now move to our citizens wishing to be heard. And we will start with Kat Myers. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Good evening, my name is Kat Myers and I live at 1307 William Street, Valdosta. This is my very first time speaking at a county meeting and I'm here to urge the commission to update the animal welfare ordinance to define responsible animal stewardship and to ensure some resources are dedicated to reducing unwanted pet populations rather than simply housing them. A $5 million shelter investment is a significant one, but unless we also reduce the number of animals entering the shelter, we're spending money on the consequences of pet overpopulation rather than on its causes. There are really only two ways to address the pet overpopulation problem. Either more people have to adopt animals or fewer unwanted animals have to be born. If the county is committed to reducing euthanasia, then preventing unwanted litters through education and accessible spay and neuter programs must be part of the strategy. Other Georgia counties are successfully doing this, and I first became aware of these discussions because I'm a preservation breeder of Grand Champion long-haired miniature dachshunds. My breeding program is small, focused on preserving the breed through health testing, sound temperament, and careful placement. Responsible breeders work really hard to ensure that none of the dogs we produce ever end up in a shelter. We have a shared interest in reducing this irresponsible backyard breeding, so that's something that we share as a goal. While I would prefer to pour all of my resources into my dachshunds, unfortunately we were conscripted into sharing our time and resources with stray cats in our neighborhood. Like my former young neighbor, many people are unintentionally running backyard breeding programs for cats when they feed them and fail to spay or neuter them. They don't realize this is what they're doing oftentimes because they lack that education. When I saw that she was struggling to feed them, and they were spraying on my front door and stressing out my house cats, I helped locate vouchers for the spay and neuter surgery, and then I realized she couldn't transport them to Thomasville, which was the only participating vet for that program. But since that time that I helped her with those initial cats, Helene dropped a tree on her house and forced her to move, and that responsibility of those cats have now become mine. We've now trapped and neutered 10 cats, all of whom we feed twice daily, and we provide them heated shelters in the winter. do about 1,000 pounds of dry cat food and 2,200 cans of cat food yearly, thousands of dollars that we never expected to spend. Very few people realize how difficult the work is. Borrowing traps, catching the feral cats, transporting them, returning them requires time, coordination, and persistence. If the county expects residents to be the first line of defense in this, then it should also make it easier for residents to succeed. Community cats belong to no one. But frankly, they belong to everyone. And for those folks who step up to prevent the suffering and to prevent the shelter from overflowing, the county should allocate some resources or at least help folks navigate the uncoordinated and threadbare existing resources. So the county must make spay and neuter services more accessible, expand public education about responsible pet ownership, and create, frankly, a free trap lending program through the library system, perhaps, or another public resource which would remove one of the biggest barriers for residents who are willing to help. Public education about responsible pet ownership and low-cost spay and neuter programs should be visible on county websites and public buildings and throughout the community in a committed and visible way. So the new shelter is a very important step, but it should be a safety net and not the whole strategy. Pairing that investment with policies that prevent overpopulation is the most responsible use of taxpayer dollars and the best outcome for both animals and our community. Thank you for your time and no data centers.

our next speaker is mary bill please come forward state your name and your address for the record please hi i'm mary deal

And my address is 4841 Oak Harbor Drive, Valdosta.

I live in Stone Creek.

The zone for county. My husband and I picked Valdosta, Lowndes County, when we moved here for... the smallness and yes it's in large over the years we've been here uh... thirty five years he opened a practice here now he's getting ready to close the practice here but regarding the uh... data centers i don't really think i see anyone up here jumping to live near one i mean who would want to live near one not me not me and on those poor people in foxborough Well, you know, as Ms. Duke said, there's no, they don't know anything more than, you know, what they've known in the past couple of weeks, a year, whatever. But, you know, remember when we were in the drought? Couldn't burn anything. What's gonna happen if a data center's here sucking up all the water? What? Do we really need a data center in Valdosta? They say that Georgia is rapidly growing with data centers because the electric rates are lower than other states. We don't want one. I'll leave you with, this is really simple for me because I'm not going to take long. I'm done. I'll leave you with this parting question. Why would y'all even consider a data center here in Valdosta? Why?

Please, hope. No comments, please. All right. Our next speaker is Ms. Lauren Lynn. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

I'm Lauren Lynn, and I reside at 4039 Pottsboro Boulevard. I'm the poor person that lives in Pottsboro that she referred to, I guess. Um, I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of my family, my neighbors, and my community in opposition to the proposed data center near my home in Foxborough subdivision for nearly 25 years. Foxborough has been my home. It's where I raised my two children. And for the past 19 years, I've had the privilege of educating children from our neighborhood and from the surrounding community. I have dedicated my life to helping children grow and succeed, and I care deeply about the future of this community. I know each of you chose to serve because you care about Lowndes County and the people who live here. Tonight, I'm asking you to remember that responsibility. I'm not a scientist. I'm not an engineer. I'm not a historian or an environmental expert. I'm simply one of the people that you were elected to represent. My perspective is the perspective of a homeowner, a parent, and a neighbor. Like so many others, I want our children to grow up in a place that's peaceful, healthy, and safe. I want families to sleep at night without worrying about constant industrial noise. I want to know that our water will remain plentiful and safe to use. I do not want to worry about increased light pollution, higher utility bills, a decreased home value, or the possibility of damage to our homes from sinkholes or changes beneath the ground. Our neighborhood has already endured a great deal. We lost many of the trees that once protected our home from the heat, and our energy bills have already risen because of it. We already live with excessive light from nearby commercial development. We have sacrificed enough. We should not be asked to unnecessarily sacrifice even more. The forest and the river beside our community are not just beautiful. They are part of what makes this place home. They are resources that belong not only to us, but to the wildlife and to our future generations. Once they are damaged, we cannot simply replace them. I believe that it is no coincidence that this project is proposed next to a neighborhood of people who are hardworking, busy raising families, and who do not have the time or the means to fight like they would like to against it. They are depending on you to represent their interests and to protect the community that they call home. This decision is more than just about a data center. It's about the kind of county we want to be. It's about whether the people who already live here matter as much as the developments being proposed. Tonight, I respectfully ask you to choose the people of Lowndes County, choose our neighborhoods, choose our natural resources, choose the families who have invested their lives here. Choose not to allow a proposed data center. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Please hold it. Keep it down, please. All right, Mr. George Fisher, our next speaker, please come forward. Would you name and address please?

Good evening, I'm George Fisher and I live at 5278 Hall Road in Hayhira, Georgia. I spoke last time we met on sinkholes and the corridor of sinkholes from Cherry Creek all the way out to Snake Nation Road. And can you imagine my surprise when two days after I spoke to you last, I came across a sinkhole on 4637 Rustic Ridge in Foxboro. Right here is what it looks like. It's about 15 feet by 10 feet, about six to eight feet deep. I can't tell you what caused this, but at the bottom of it is a, looks like a 10 inch sewer line that is shattered. And I don't know what came first. I don't know whether the sinkhole opened and the cement came down and shattered it, or whether the septic system leaked, or the sewer leaked. But I can tell you that house appears to be abandoned, so there's nobody living in that house. The key thing for me is that the conduit flows right into the creek that then drains into the Withacoochee River. So it's a direct conduit. Now, people have asked me why I'm against the data center. The reason is I spent six years working in the former Soviet Union. I brought my passport in. If you wanted to verify that, you can see all the stamps. When I entered the country and I left the country, I had a big Russian guy with a big Russian hat, 20 degrees below zero Celsius, stamping my passport. You're never... really relax until the plane takes off. I've seen people taking off the airplane before we left. But I was there for six years. I was in a block that had 56,000 square kilometers of oil exploration. The problem that I have with the data center is that in the Soviet period, they did not care about the environment. and the water became contaminated, severely contaminated, to the point of where the middle of the night, the KGB would come in with the border police, their Kamaz and Ural trucks, load everybody up, and move them to a different place to live. The problem with the contamination was in stillbirths, and children and babies and fetuses that were born with extreme deformities. And I had a chance to visit a clinic once that had some of these in jars where you could look at. The risk to our aquifer by a data center and the chemicals that are present, especially one as large as the one that they're proposing, is serious, and this is a serious effect. People do not know these PFAS chemicals. We don't know what happens if it burns, if it catches on fire, and these circuits and all of this stuff is contaminated into the reservoir. It's right here. I think what this sinkhole shows is that there's a direct conduit to our drinking water. And that should be our primary concern is this affects everybody, our kids, your kids, your grandkids, my grandkids, and this is something that we really need to not allow. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mr. John Quarterman. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Hi there, John Quarterman, 6565 Quarterman Road, Hayhira, Georgia. And let me wedge in a compliment to EMA and Ashley Tye for planning ahead for disasters. After Hurricane Helene, I was talking to a number of counties about trying to stop that proposed strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, which in case you haven't heard, got bought out, yay. And they were all scrambling to try to get those contractors after the hurricane. I talked to one of the contractors, and he said only Lowndes County had actually had them in place before. So thank you all for looking ahead and planning ahead. So looking back into the past, some of you remember the James Road episode where a developer from Tampa came up and said he was wanting to develop another shopping mall and townhouses and apartments, basically a whole new downtown on James Road area. Joyce Evans remembers that west of I-75 and Commissioner Evans had to do well the county rerouted James Road which coincidence or not, a Toyota dealer went out of business. Somebody else bought it. Commissioner Evans had to do damage control, if I remember this correctly, because widening the road got onto various people's property and If I recall correctly, there was a requirement for them to connect to county water, which was expensive, so I don't remember what the actual deal was, but she did something to help ameliorate that. So why am I bringing this up? It sounded like a good idea at the time, okay, and only a few years ago, Crypto barns is what I call them, farms, whatever, they were all the rage. Cook County's got one, they don't like it very much. You don't hear of anybody building those things anymore. The latest rage is these AI data centers. You might also look at Fortune magazine just had a story about how the big AI companies are running out of money. They're spending a lot more money and taking on a lot more debt than they have cash on hand. They're gambling for huge profits which they're not getting. I submit that this may well be another flash in the pan, another bubble. So why do I bring this up? Because I probably won't name all of them. Brooks County, Cook County, Lee County, Mitchell County, and according to Georgia Public Broadcasting, I think eight other counties in Georgia have passed moratoriums on data centers. Madison County, Florida has already had a first reading on a moratorium. They'll be back with a second reading next week or the week after, and it's likely to pass. Citrus County, Florida, they passed the moratorium, but they waited until they actually had an application, which means the moratorium doesn't apply to the application. So I understand that there's a lot to consider for data center ordinance because there's all sorts of technical issues as logistical issues as water and there's all sorts of comparatives to take into account. I don't envy anyone the task of composing such an ordinance, though I think it should be done. So it would take some of the pressure off of writing an ordinance if y'all were to pass a moratorium for, for example, 18 months, as some of these other counties have done, and you might even discover in that amount of time the bubble might pop and there might be nothing to do. And if it doesn't, well, as you're probably aware, I know there's no actual application, but I've talked to the landowner, as you probably have, And DC Blocks, the company that he says is the actual builder, they're not the end user. And they don't know who the AI company end user will be. I'm talking about outfits like Microsoft and Amazon and OpenAI. They don't know. Same with Irwin County. They already got a special exception there and they did an ordinance first, but the actual applicant, they don't know who the end user will be. This is all being done on speculation. And if it's really such a big deal and it's gonna happen, why aren't these end users known? So I recommend that you do a moratorium, give you time to write a real ordinance, and you might discover the bubble pops during the moratorium. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mr. Michael Noll. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

uh... good evening as uh... must we be back in for but we have any of you want to t-shirt like this you can let me know if you have to get you want uh... as and i'm really happy to be here and many of the things i was planning on saying today already have been stated by your address all my address uh... uh... my name is mike and all of the twenty three o five clinton drive you all know that but i know i have to say it's all of my my apologies for that We had a fairly long time to listen to the importance of preparedness. We talked about FEMA and GEMA. We heard the comments by a neighbor who lives in Foxboro. I've heard also the comments from Mr. Fisher who was looking at the sinkhole that just developed on Rustic Ridge Road, which is about 1,000 feet away from where the proposed data center would end up. so that you get a sense of how close these things are to each other. Not only the data center would be built, and I do appreciate, by the way, the update you provided earlier about where we are in this process, to again realize just how close we are to the potential side of a data center. And when it comes to preparedness, this is also where I would like to basically piggyback on what Mr. Quarterman already said. important to not just study what other counties and communities are doing, but also to develop a data center ordinance and to give yourself the breathing space you need to do it right, to put a moratorium in place. To give you the list of all the counties that I'm aware of that have actually already either done a moratorium or are working or have already A data center ordinance here is the complete list as far as I know. Bullock County, Camden County, Carroll County, Clark County, Clinton County, Covita County, DeKalb County, Floyd County, Fayette County, Lamar County, Lee County, Terrell County, Thomas County, Troop County, Pike County, Walker County, and I probably forgot a few. And the most recent one that was added to that list is actually Terrell County that just decided to put a moratorium into place earlier this month. You all know the concerns that we have. And I know we're all in the process. And that's a good thing. But we need to use that time we have to be prepared. Just like when you get in the car and you buckle up to be prepared for the exit you never want to have, you want to develop a data center ordinance. that address such things as noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution, the distance it must have from residential areas in general, such things as how much water it can take out, and all those things that we have already shared with you. I don't want to bore you to death with that. You already know all of these details, and I appreciate some of you also following what we are publishing on our Facebook page. to make us all sleep a little better at night, even if you think it is an exaggeration at this point, it would help to not wait to get our act together and to develop a data center ordinance and giving yourself a breathing space by having more term in place to do so. It's really not that big of a deal. And if you want some troublemakers to help you with the development of those kinds of things like a data center ordinance, I am a retiree. I have plenty of time. Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Ms. Gretchen Quarterman. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

good evening my name is gretchen quarterman i live at sixty five sixty five quarterman road i give you a new topic for today if i understand correctly for the last year and a half we've been working on a comprehensive plan update uh... and i i think that the actual update is coming soon So I have a couple of requests. Could a public copy of the draft be made on the county's website so that the general public could review it? Otherwise, I'm gonna have to open records request to get that, or John will, and then we'll put it on our website. And lots of people don't know to go to our website to look for stuff that should be on your website. And the comprehensive plan really guides our community. It's a really important guiding document. And I know we pretty much follow it. So could we have it available before you say, oh, we find out on Friday, you're approving it on Tuesday. Because I think we've had a lot of input. A lot of people here have been to meetings. They've looked at different things. They've given input. They'd like to see ahead of time, how did their input get integrated? So could you put a public copy? I'm not positive about this. Is a public hearing required before the approval? I know we had a lot of input meetings, but is a public hearing required? And if it's not required, could we have one anyway so that people could give their feedback? I'm going to give a lot of feedback that says, I really like how you changed this and you included our comments about that, and I'm going to be happy. But I might also say, well... But you didn't do this thing I've been wanting. Anyway, can the zoning map, does the zoning map, I believe it does, get approved, signed, and sealed with the comp plan? The zoning map that's on the website right now, is that 10 years old, JD? I think the one that's there is 10 years old. And the answer I've always gotten when I ask, can't you put a new one, is, well, the official one is the signed and sealed one. Could we sign and seal them more frequently? Because the answer right now is for people to go to Valor GIS. It's in Valor. I've verified that. But that's sort of a big ask for somebody who says, gee, I wonder what that property is zoned. And it's a zoning from three or five or seven years ago. We need to have on the website a current zoning map and not just to say to people, go to Valor. So that's my request. I've been to a lot of those comp plan meetings. When will that happen? So thank you.

Our next speaker is Ms. Amy Burnham. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Good evening, my name is Amy Burnham, 5207 Abbott Circle, Hayhower, Georgia. I'm speaking on behalf of Animal Welfare tonight, but first I would like to thank everyone on the panel for the vital work you do for Lowndes County. I know it can be a thankless job and hearing a lot of citizens, your efforts are applauded and we do appreciate you. But there is so much about our county to be proud of. As a teacher in the Lowndes County system, I see that pride every day. In education, we understand that to remain effective in a changing world, we have to constantly adapt, modernize our strategies, and strive to improve. I'm here tonight because our local animal welfare ordinances are facing that same need for modernization. We must update our county laws to protect the vulnerable, secure our neighborhoods, and prevent avoidable problems.

Amy, if you'll stay about six inches from that mic, I can make it sound better.

Okay, I'm sorry. And prevent avoidable problems. I know you often see the same faces speaking up for animals, but please do not equate that with the notion that only a few people care. I challenge anyone here to look at local social media pages for just one week. You will be overwhelmed by the number of citizens begging for help. These are your constituents, your exhausted, heartbroken taxpayers trying to find safety and resolution for stray and neglected animals. Because our current ordinances lack substance, an emotional and financial burden has been dumped on private citizens and underfunded local rescues. These rescuers are working around the clock trying to patch a hole in a sinking ship. They do not have the tax-funded infrastructure of a county shelter. It is unsustainable and it is preventable. Citizens are very appreciative that you are allotting money for the shelter. However, let's be mindful to not put all of our money into brick and mortar, but in common sense approaches such as prevention and collaboration. Private citizens as well as our hardworking humane society, our hardworking shelter staff, we need to be able to catch a break, our breath. They are constantly working at full capacity. The fact of the matter is the number of homeless animals is rapidly increasing, and if we don't try something different, we will continue to fail our town and the animals that depend on us. We cannot just adopt our way out of this crisis. There will never be enough adopters for the number of animals in need. So our community would benefit from an ordinance focusing on four pillars. Number one, prioritizing prevention, shifting from a reactive system to a preventative one, saves tax dollars by reducing the number of animals entering our shelter in the first place. One doesn't have to be an animal lover to see that this is a smart fiscal policy for the county. mandatory spay and neuter ordinances allowing unaltered pets to roam and breed out of control causes public safety concern and contributes to our crisis uh... no tethering or chaining of dogs research shows aside from the cruelty this makes them territorial and aggressive and it's a public safety hazard and lastly accountability and consequences We must have clear enforceable consequences for animal neglect and cruelty. Sadly, this is almost non-existent in our county. And I know this to be true because I personally work with TNR, with my group, and we have seen cases of torture. We've seen pie plates of antifreeze sitting on sidewalks where they're poisoning. We've called for help everywhere we can think of, and they're just allowed to do it because no one really helps with cats. I think every animal deserves that protection to not be tortured. An ordinance without enforcement is nothing more than a suggestion. We can write the most beautiful laws on paper, but if animal control is not empowered or required to enforce them, nothing changes. We are sending a message to neglectful owners that in this county, your cruelty is permissible. This is not just a partisan issue, it's a community issue. Our current system is relying on the desperation of private citizens to fix a public problem. We are asking tonight to draft stronger ordinances that prioritize prevention and commit to strict enforcement. Since I have a few seconds left, I would like to say that the TNR program that we work with is trap, neuter, and return. And my group has done over 1,000 cats in the last nine years. And one unaltered cat can produce 2 million descendants in eight years. So the work we've done in nine years, just imagine if you do the math of the difference we can make if we all work together. Thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am.

All right, our next speaker is Ms. Kelly Saxon. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Kelly Saxon. I live at 8 Baldwin Place, but also Georgia, 31602. So, again, good evening. Since we are in hurricane season, I wanted to share a national resource for storm survivors and communities. Rebuild.us will officially launch tomorrow evening with a virtual event beginning at 7 p.m. I know many people have Bible study on Wednesday nights, but a recording will be available for everyone who registers. So if anyone is interested, you can see me after the meeting or register directly at Rebuild.us. And another thing with listening earlier, FEMA just announced a few days ago millions in federal funds to train community officials on disaster preparedness and response. So FEMA made $90 million in federal funding available to develop and deliver targeted high-quality training courses for state, local, tribal, nation, and territorial emergency managers and first responders. So I think this would be a good avenue for what was mentioned earlier. Also here locally, we have our South Central Georgia COAD. which is a community organization's active in disaster. So that is also housed at Second Harvest. And so when we think about these storms and things that's happening, we can't just see about what's not going to happen. I think this gives us time to prepare, to get ready. I think that's kind of been the theme tonight. We have an opportunity to be ready and not get ready. So that's there. And then just looking at a turn of recent events, things happening also in our nation, I wanted to ask if we have a succession plan in place. We have many dedicated staff members with more than 20 years of experience. One even had over 50 dedicated years. And several of you have also served the community for many, many years. So if key employees or leaders decide it's time to retire and enjoy their grandchildren at the beach, do we have qualified people prepared to step into those roles and ensure stability of services? Are we preparing for our longevity in future? Thank you.

We had one other speaker. However, the request was filled out and provided prior or after the start of the meeting. So this speaker will not be allowed to speak tonight. But certainly, I will let you know you know who you are. Please come back in the next meeting. And the policy is that the request must be filled out and provided to the clerk prior to the start of the meeting. This one came in at 538. So this one will not be able to be heard.

DAVID BURRAGE.

Any questions, comments, commissioners?

Motion to dismiss. DAVID BURRAGE.

We have a motion to adjourn.

We are adjourned.