Board of Commissioners Agendas and Minutes - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order, Mayweather County Board of Commissioners, June 23rd, 2026, 6 p.m. meeting. Please silence your cell phones and any other electronic devices. Please stand by the invocation given by Deputy County Administrator, Mr. Jeff Fisher, followed by the pledge of the flag.

Father Hudson, let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather today in service of our communities. Grant these commissioners wisdom, discernment, and integrity as they make decisions that affect the lives of our citizens. Help us to work together with respect, fairness, and a shared commitment to the common good. Guide our discussions, bless our country, and keep safe all that live, work, and serve you. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

Next is to adopt the agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda?

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, we need to add on a new business number eight. That's going to be a lengthy title. It's on your sheet in front of you. Consideration of resolution. Requesting legislative delegation. Assistance for a local homestead option sales tax. L host referendum. So consideration a resolution requesting legislative delegation assistance for local homestead option sales tech L host referendum.

Any other changes? No, sir. We have a motion to adopt the agenda. Second. All in favor? Presentations. We'll be reading a proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. But before that, I'd like to turn it over to Ms. Jennifer Snelson.

I just wanted to say, as we move from Juneteenth to Independence Day, we have the opportunity to reflect on two important milestones in our nation's history. Though they come from different chapters in our story, both of those remind us of the value of freedom, a blessing that we cherish, protect, and pass on to our future generations. What makes America special is not only found in the history book, it's found in a community like ours. It's seen in the volunteers that serve. It's seen in the first responders who answer those calls, the teachers who inspire our children, the veterans who defended our freedoms, and the families who work every day to build a better future. And I just want to thank Meriwether County for being that community.

Thank you. This time I'll read the proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. Whereas on July 24, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, establishing the United States of America as a sovereign nation founded upon the principles of liberty, equality, and self-government. And whereas the year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, a historic milestone commemorating two and one half centuries of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. And whereas throughout the past 250 years, generations of Americans have worked, sacrificed, and served to deserve the freedoms and values upon which our nation was founded, strengthening our communities and contributing to the progress of our country. And whereas the citizens of Meriwether County have played an important role in our nation's history, through military service, public service, agriculture, education, business, faith, and civic engagement, helping to build and sustain strong communities for future generations. And whereas this anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect upon our nation's rich history, honor those whose sacrifices have secured our freedoms and recognized the enduring spirit of the American people. And whereas the semi-centennial of the United States encourages all Americans to celebrate our shared heritage, appreciate the blessings of liberty, and inspire future generations to uphold the responsibilities of citizenship and service, and whereas the Meriwether County Board of Commissioners joins communities across the nation in recognizing the historic past, occasion, and encouraging residents to participate in the commemorative activities honoring America's past, present, and future. Now, therefore, be it to claim that the Meriwether County Board of Commissioners does hereby recognize and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America and encourages all citizens of Mayweather County to commemorate this historic milestone by reflecting on our nation's history, honoring those who have served and sacrificed and renewing our commitment to the principles of freedom, unity, and civic responsibility. adopted this 23rd day of June, 2026. Thank you. All right, finance report, Ms. Tammy Lackett.

Yes, sir. Commissioners, on the first page are the bank balances as of this afternoon. We will be receiving the loss, lost, and teased loss distributions for June next week. If you look on the second page, the balances for this loss are a negative $119,482.57. And the T-SPLOS balance is a negative $373,576.64. You have also received a copy of this month's credit card charges. Can I ask a couple of questions about the credit card statement? Pardon me?

Can I ask a couple questions about the credit card statement?

Of course.

What are we purchasing tax account fees for?

Those are the subscriptions for the cameras that cover Breeze and Lake Merriweather.

Why do we have them on like three different cards on three different names?

Awesome. Thank you.

Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of, but then it's under multiple names.

Should be under the IT director, Matthew Brown had them at first because he started the first initial cameras. I replaced them with mine. His description should be canceled. And I have that card in my possession.

Well, it's still showing on here under his name. It does note that you have it in your possession. But on April 13th, there's a charge.

For $9. I'll make sure that one is canceled off in his account.

It looks to be like there's a charge for the card at the courthouse as well for the same thing.

Yes, the sheriff.

And then she'd be on my card as well. So they have that same system at the courthouse.

I'm not sure it's a courthouse, but somewhere in the sheriff's office, they should have a tachycam service somewhere.

Okay. And then what do we, what do we use Starlight Internet for?

It's the, for the elections down in the cove where you can't get out signal.

Okay.

And I don't think any of the firehouses now have, I think we switched over to charter for them.

Sure.

We may have one or two fire houses.

I noticed one. Yeah. I think the Durand was gathered too, right? But I don't know if they're active. I just saw that.

This is the old credit card. We're switching and transferring everything to the new Colony Bank. And on that one, we're stopping all old subscriptions that are no longer in service. So we're analyzing everything as we switch over and put everything on Colony Bank.

So do we need Starlink in each one of those locations? Or internet access?

We need it.

Okay.

I think on the elections, we just deactivated and reactivated when it's time for election. I'll double check on that.

You can get the portable unit with it attached to one of the locations. You can have a mobile. It may be cheaper and you just take it to the Cove at the time you need it and you

We'll look into that, Commissioner Waters. Okay.

What power company is down that way? What power company? Because most of them have got it now. So what power company is down there? I think it's Georgia Power as well. Yeah, Georgia Power don't have it yet. Southern Rivers does.

Yeah, but us to the EMC is down in that area, so they don't operate in that area specifically. They operate on the opposite side of the river.

Okay.

So...

Well, are they fixing to run something, Nicole?

Yeah, they're running some stuff currently, but I don't think it's both. I think it's Comcast is what they're running now.

Now, I believe it's similar to Kudzu, but it's the EMC version, but similar as Kudzu. Upson EMC is running that line, just like Diverse did with Kudzu. And they're coming out that way. They're working on getting that way.

Oh, there's the tall high line, right?

think so.

Anybody got any more questions on finance? Department heads. Do we have any department heads?

Yes, you guys seen that pretty red thing sitting outside, right? That's one of the two that were purchased the other ones in Woodbury tonight for training. We've been processing getting the letter done on them and putting radios in them, stuff like that. It's some small stuff. I think those will be a huge asset to our department and especially having the ISO ready with those 4,000 gallon tankers. Submitted for an AFT grant yesterday, the 2026 AFT grant in the amount of $748,000. So we'll just sit back and wait and see if we get a word of that. That's for turnout gear and some SCBAs. We had a We've done something a little bit different a couple Thursdays ago. We're going to do these family first friend nights. We had a sponsor come in and buy a meal and then buy some door prizes for our department. And we had about 70 people in attendance for that fire department dinner. It's just a social, you know, just something to try to build them around and have people come out and We can go and talk and all that kind of stuff, so it's just doing that. I also have a card that I will send from one of our citizens, and I'd just like to read it this time. It says, Danny, we want to applaud three of your extraordinary employees, Allie Turner, Nicole Holloway, and Timothy Morris. We had to get 911 help on 222 regarding our granddaughter, and I won't say her name. Hi. They all showed so much care and expertise in handling her situation and the entire situation. We could not have asked for better care. They gave us guidance on what we needed to do for her during a most difficult time that no child should ever experience. They were awesome to her and also to us worried grandparents. Thank you for all you and your staff do for Maryland County. And then they signed it out of the box. So I just wanted to kind of read that. I got that in my mailbox the other day. And that's all I got. So.

Thank you. Any other department here?

No, sir. Mr. Chairman.

Citizen comments. We have one citizen signed up. Comments.

Read the citizen comments.

Oh, okay. I got to read this. Speakers must contact the county clerk at stevens at merriwethercounty.gov or call 706-672-3460 on or before the dates and times listed below in order to be placed on the agenda to speak. Speakers must provide their name, address, and topic they wish to discuss. For the second Monday of the month, 6 p.m. meeting, speakers must email or call before 5 p.m. on the day of the scheduled meeting. For the fourth Tuesday of the month, 6 p.m. meeting, speakers must email a call before 5 p.m. on the day of the scheduled meeting. Speakers must direct their remarks to the board, not to individual commissioners or to the audience. Personal disagreements with individual commissioners or county employees are not a matter of public concern and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Speakers will be allotted three minutes to speak on their chosen topics as they relate to matters pertinent to the jurisdiction of the Board of Commissioners. No questions will be asked by any of the Commissioners during citizen comments. Outbursts from the audience will not be tolerated. Common courtesy and civility are expected at all times during the meeting. No speaker will be permitted to speak more than three minutes or more than once unless the Board votes to suspend this room. And our speaker is Sakina Favors. Please come up and state your name and address.

Hello, my name is Shakina Favors. My address is 106 Brookstone Drive, LaGrange, Georgia, 30241. I'm here to recognize one of your commissioners. Good evening. My name is Shakina Favors, and I'm the Senior Director of the Greenville Senior Center here in Greenville. It is my honor and privilege to publicly acknowledge Ms. Jennifer Nelson for her unwavering support and dedication to the seniors of our community. Ms. Nelson first demonstrated her commitment to our seniors in April when we hosted a coffee and donut with county and city officials at our event. Serving as the county's representative, she did a phenomenal job addressing the questions and concerns of our seniors. If she did not have an immediate answer, she took the initiative to research the matter and follow up with the information they needed. In May, when the Grateful Senior Center hosted its fundraising, Car Show, Ms. Nelson and her family came out to support the event. They patronized our vendors, encouraged participants, and showed genuine interest in helping make the event a success. Most recently, Ms. Nelson chose to participate in our Christmas in July Adopt-a-Senior Board Day campaign. By adopting one of our seniors, Her generosity and compassion continues to make a positive impact on the lives of those we serve. Today, I would like to publicly say thank you, Ms. Nelson, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to support our seniors whenever possible. Your kindness, dedication, and willingness to serve has not gone unnoticed. On behalf of the Greenville Senior Center, we proudly present you with this certificate as a token of our appreciation and gratitude. Thank you for being a true friend and advocate for our seniors. Congratulations, Ms. Jennifer Snelson, and thank you for all you do.

yeah thank you minutes uh monday june 8 2026 regular meeting 6 p.m any changes to the minute no changes to the minute i'll make a motion to approve this is presented all in favor public hearing Case number PC26-001, request from Chisel Mill Design and Build LLC to rezone parcel 028-029, 36.81 acres, Elliston Forest Road from RR to R1 for the proposed use of from two acres lots to one and a half acre lots. This has been continued for the May 26th meeting, regular meeting. We don't have to open back up, do we? Did we close the public hearing?

You can close it if you want to make a motion.

I'll make a motion to go into public hearing. Second. All in favor?

Mr. Chairman, you may want to set a time limit for the public hearing.

10 minutes, 4 and 10 again. Generally, I know you already allow the petitioner to speak once before, but you can extend the time.

We got about 10 minutes, 4 and 10 again. And we'll set the time at 10 minutes, 4 and 10 again.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner, for having me again. First of all, I'd like to apologize for some of the miscommunications we had last time at our last meeting. I know there was some papers going around. During the time we've owned this property, we've gone through a lot of different plans. And so it's somehow that was mixed up, but tonight we should be looking at the finalized version of what we intend to report. I'd like to go over some of the questions that were brought up at the last meeting. Hopefully get those answered for you. Someone asked, what was the original development number of lots approved under two-acre zoning? Originally, we're talking about seven lots. We actually have reduced that to five lots. What we're now seeking for this is five lots. Tonight, we'll be referring to Phase 1 of what we're calling LS4, and we are trying to get it These high blots of fruit under the R1 zoning. We just feel like it's not all about lot yield. We think that these will be a better, more marketable lot due to some of the soils I talked about last time and some of the troposity. Obviously, you can see that pond. So that's why we're looking for it. Water is already available up until our property. The nearest hydrant is 1,000 feet away. which you can see on the hydrant flow test. I was asked, didn't we already approve paving for Ellis Road for two acre lots? Yes, sir, that was approved. As you can imagine, paving the road is very expensive. And that's why there are a lot of dirt roads in Meriwether County. Once we discovered Lone Oak had water capacity, we discovered this project to pave Ellis Road could be made feasible if we extend the waterline. So that's not what we're referencing tonight, but I did want to address that, why it hadn't been paved. yet and that brought up the other question, when will you pave the road? We had to get the approval from the commissioners to pave the road before we could spend time and money on engineering and estimating for the road. After receiving the approval, we began that process. We expect to build phase one this year and simultaneously we will be working on the road given we received the approvals and numbers we need. We plan to pave our portion of Ellis Road in early 2027. Someone asked it blown up with already having water pressure issues. We do have a hybrid flow test report that shows there's great pressure to this site. Commissioner Worsley brought up a concern with the flow test. And I had Mr. Caspari clear that up on the report. It has already been approved for seven additional homes with no additional infrastructure. And we are only asking for five right now. Mr. Larry, he lives at this property and he's here on behalf of Chisholm Millsville tonight. He has spoken to his neighbor to the north of our property, 5418 Forest Road, and he has no issues with water pressure. And his property is actually at a higher elevation than ours, which would mean worse pressure at higher elevations. We have no intention to build homes with weak water pressure. That would be bad for us, and it would just cause us more issues than anyone. So we're going to make sure that the water pressure is good before we build these homes. I was asked what size is the land currently on Forest Road. There's currently a two-inch line that stops at Forest Road in front of our property. This is enough to service at least seven lots as we got in our service agreement. If we wanted to bring water to phase two and three, this would require additional infrastructure. We would have to go to the hydrant that was a thousand feet away, and we would upgrade the line to six inches. Again, we're only talking about phase one today, but those were brought up, so I didn't want to I feel like people thought I was hiding the grand scheme. I didn't want to be open about what we hope to accomplish. But again, tonight we're only talking about LF4's phase one. We also would have to run those numbers and make sure that six inch line running at a thousand feet to our property was even feasible. But that's what kind of infrastructure would be required to add those additional lots. And then lastly, I want to clear something up. It was mentioned last time that developments like this are how you start to look like Riverdale, Jonesboro, Coweta County. We purchased just under 75 acres, 74 in change right here at this property at the corner of Forest and Ellis Road. And through phases one through three, we're asking to build 29 houses. Even with the zoning we are requesting, we are averaging a 2.5 acre lot. So even though we're asking for one and a half, you can see a lot of these are above that number. So we're averaging a two and a half acre lot. To be fair, that counts Mr. Larry, so if you reduce his 16 acres from what we bought, we're still averaging over two acres lot. In Riverdale, Jonesboro, and Coweta, you can build as many as eight attached homes per acre, but sometimes that number is closer to five, to be fair, for detached. At five to eight homes per acre, you are looking at 370 to 592 homes for development of this size. So what we're asking for I just want to reiterate that an acre and a half lot is still a really big lot when in those counties you're looking at 0.2 acre lots or smaller. In fact, I think it is by denying good developments like this that one day when the infrastructure can handle it, it turns it into a much large development. If we don't put in something with large lots here, one day when the water is upgraded and sewer is available, that's when these kind of developments come into large developments. Or worse, you could end up like me and Kawita, who's currently being sandwiched by two data centers, Peach and Pegasus. So that's what I'm working with right now. Also, in regards to that, we're not intending to build the most affordable product we can here. We pride ourselves in quality, affordable housing, but Maryweather County allows a minimum of 1375 square feet. We intend to build houses from 1,700 to 2,500 square feet here, which we've done a lot of in near weather. And these will be priced at around the high 300s to mid 400s. This is a house that we build a lot here. And we've actually are building these branch plans where we've recently added a bonus room above the garage. And that's, if it's that 25 number, we've built some of those on Andrews Mill Road, off Roosevelt Highway, where we've also already sold a couple. So we're trying to build a really beautiful product on a still large lot. And that's what I'd like to bring to you today. So to reiterate tonight's approval, we're just asking for the rezoning of phase one. We're just asking for the five lots. We already have the service agreement there. We'll have a chance to discuss phase two and phase three at a later date, but I did want to show you because we did bring it up about how we brought up the paved road, how we intend to do that early next year. I did want to not hide the end goal, you know, what we would intend, but the first step when there's already water available to our lots, phase one is to get these five lots here. And if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them at this time.

Well, one, you mentioned that the cost of the road was very expensive. Yes, sir. Y'all didn't try to find out what it's going to cost until you do. You're just going to be approved for it when you can take any pavement road company, anybody that does that out there without even owning the land and just go, if I want to pay from here to here, can you give me a projected cost? Y'all should have known that cost when you came in. What bothers me is when people come in, they want us to change something or approve something. you expect them to follow immediately and get going with it. And those people live out that way looking forward to it. But then they put it on a back burner saying, well, we didn't know it was going to cost that much. But when they came in and asked for it to be approved to be paid, there was nothing mentioned. We don't know how much it's going to cost and whether we can afford it or not, but we'd like to do this and the board approved it to go under county guidelines to pay it, but now it's not happening. And then you stated in the last meeting that, well, we're hoping to get these lots smaller. help get the money up to go pay that i'm an advocate which i've been trying in the uh know my time's up in december the 31st but we've been discussing you made a comment just didn't go well this would be a better idea than waiting one day when water or sewer comes and then y'all are really going to have a bigger project but my goals and i hope the board follows through with it is to change the zoning to two acre minimum regardless if you have water or sewer it doesn't matter cities can do what they want but i don't think the citizens and i don't think we need anything smaller than two acres of mayor with the county but I'm just concerned that y'all aren't moving forward with the paving of the road and now it's going to be next year. And then what if it doesn't happen then? You know, we can't rescind the zoning.

Yes, sir. Well, when we came in here, we did have an estimate for the road. But as I said, we had to put engineering and you're certainly not going to pay engineering and then the additional infrastructure that might come up in engineering before having to rule for a road. As you know, I know as a developer. I would have done that before I came in. The engineering you would have paid $10,000 for before receiving approval?

I've developed Cetabene just like you have for years. It doesn't take much for someone to meet you out there and pay them a small fee to go give me a good idea of what I'm looking at. The engineering part comes later with the drawings and stuff, but they can pretty much tell the right of way, the ditch, how much it's accounting, and look at the county specs and give you an idea.

Yes, sir. But as someone who's developed for years with your experience, you know that developments take several years. So I think it's kind of unfair to say that we've got this approval and you expect us to pave the road immediately when developments take multiple years before they're putting product on the ground.

It's never taken me that long, but that's all right. Nothing was mentioned that meeting to saying we want to do this. We all approve it, but we're looking at a projection taking about four years to do it. I didn't hear nothing like that. I thought we were going to approve it. Y'all are going to start surveying, cut the lots up to two acre lots and start getting it paid.

But at that meeting, did we say we were going to pay it immediately? I mean, I know you said we didn't say it was going to take four years, but did we say we're paying this right now?

Well, maybe I shouldn't assume, but I would assume somebody comes in and says, will you approve us to go to two acre lots if we paved the road and we approved it? I would think that's what would be the goal to get started.

I think you could be saying we planned before in early 2027 is pretty fair for the turnaround for that, in my opinion. I understand.

Would y'all still start that in 2027 if you don't get these lots at 1.5?

We will have to rerun the numbers, of course, but as long as we get the what we're hoping to get, then it will have to... That's what I'm asking, you see.

So you're counting on this lot's profit making off going to smaller lots to help pay for the road?

Maybe. We need to do a deeper dive. Like I said, we're starting on phase one, then we'll enter phase two, and then phase three. And we just, we got approval from you guys to do the road But we didn't get, we haven't gotten approval for a plan. There's a lot more that goes into it just under the commissioner's group.

So I got a question. Yes, sir. You probably figured that. So this is phase one. Phase two and three is not in the quest for this.

That's correct. And I was just asking for five lots on phase one.

And phase one says 25.8. So who owns lot one? It's 16.42 acres.

That's that good brand Larry's. He's right here. He works at Chisel Mill. We bought this property. I walked that house with him and we were talking about, we had a unique thing going on. I was like, I think we can buy this house and build some homes. I went and looked at the house and I was like, oh, this house is a little rougher than I was expecting. And I said, I don't know if we can do it. Like I was thinking Brandon was there and he said, I live here. You know, he wanted to live in Merriweather for a while now. And so we helped him fix it up. And that's kind of how we were able to put this together.

So if we approve it as written here, then you can go and develop any portion of that 16.42 acres into 1.5 acre lots because we're certifying the entire track.

Yeah, we could. I don't care if you want to put a stipulation that it's limited to five, because this is what we intend to do, five additional, an addition of grainings. These are, as you can see, that pond. When we were doing it, we just thought it was too difficult, and the topo, and this would be much more. All the soils are bad, too. There's not any good soils on that whole side of the pad. So at least systems that would be engineered systems, more expensive topography that I think would not sell as good of a house as what we're presenting now. So if it wanted to be, I know sometimes they do special stipulations in zoning, a zoning requirement could be you're limited on phase one, so we use five, that would be something.

So why would we look for the full 25 acres versus the nine point something just for those lots? Sure. Why would you request 25.87 acres versus the 9.4 of just those lots? Why include the 16?

I think that's just how the zoning works because currently it's just one parcel. So we have to get the whole parcel rezoned before we can cut it up. But then once we get it rezoned, then maybe another part of the stipulation. Could be that instead, once we get, and planning is going to have to say if this is possible, we keep this one zoned as what it currently is and make these five R1.

I think it may even say that on the plot. I think on track one, I wonder if somewhere it says to remain LDR.

It does small.

is that large piece would remain and we're only asking that the five would be even toned.

Well, it's not spelled out that way in the request is why I'm asking those questions. So if that's the intent, then yeah, we'd have to. That's one of the concerns. You can always go to planning zoning. You can go and have that property separated and have two tracts instead of one, just like you can always combine two tracts. So we could have done that and then asked for the 9.44 acres, one and a half acre lots, five lots for that. So that's one of the concerns we've had is that we're showing five lots, but we're giving you an opportunity to do five to 10 more if we rezone the entire lot. So, okay.

They want to go from two acres on Ennis Road to one and a half. It's already right in.

One of the maps that we had last week did have some of that land included in it, it looks like.

And then it says phase one and not phase two and three right now, but once you're through phase one, you set a precedent for phase two and phase three. There'd be no reason not to, you couldn't stop it.

But we would be investing a lot of infrastructure into Meriwether County. We would be putting a lot of money into that road, into that water line in order to get that stuff. So we would be putting in a lot of work and money and time in order to grow Merriweather. So I think that.

So that all that for you, I know you spent a lot of money, but for y'all to do that, then you got to be able to get permission and work with the county because all that would be in the county right away. Yes, sir.

But you've been building houses Merriweather for five, six years, ain't it? Yes, sir. On two acres, right?

A lot of acre and a half. We've got a lot of water from the city of Lutherville.

I'm sure if it's in the city, but you've done some in the county and acre and a half.

Yes, sir. We ran on Primrose Road. We had 22 lots, and we ran water there on Goldmine Farms. We ran water there.

Wait, you're saying on Goldmine Road, out of the city limits, you got one and a half acre lots?

Yes, sir. We did the water on Goldmine Road. We ran water for... Was that county or city? That would be county.

When was that approved?

That would have been probably three years ago now.

have five lots at the corner of um gold mine and what's happening i've been here four years now i wouldn't i would have known if we approved 1.5 acre lots uh i'd have to confirm to 1.5 but we definitely ran the water for them so you might you might have ran water to it but you're saying 1.5 i want to know that it was meat and i want to know if there's 1.5 acre lots in the county and how it got approved without coming forward.

Well then, more recently we did Johnson Village at the corner of Wargo's, where Wargo's is, it's on Johnson Road and Charlie Fuller Road, you know that triangle? That was in the county and those were in Apriltown. And we ran the water.

But you didn't come before the board to get permission for that? You didn't have those rezoned?

We had to get those rezoned, yes ma'am.

They've been before us multiple times.

We were getting it rezoned for R1 for one and a half acre lots in that area.

That piece you're talking about is the one that was originally zoned for like commercial? Yes sir. And you came here and had it rezoned for residential? Yes sir. But I don't remember anything in that residential saying 1.5 acres.

Well, they are 1.5, and it's because we ran the water. And then further down, Charlie Fuller, where we did seven that were brought in front of the board, that we did 1.5 acre lots that we also brought in front of the board, and it wasn't zoned commercial before heating. So we've done this several times. You remember any of that?

I remember changing it from commercial because a lot of neighbors thought, well, do you want to have a commercial store there, have some nice homes? So we approved it. And they came in and said, Lutherville is going to provide us water. And that's great. That means you don't have to put a well. But no, I don't recall anything being changed, 1.5-acre lot. We need to really find out about that.

On the one that was called Shallow Valley Ranch, so at the end of Charlie Fuller right there, that one wasn't commercial. And we definitely had to come forward and rezone it to R1. Right. I remember that. So that one was an acre and a half.

I remember y'all saying change it to commercial to residential. And then he mentioned something that night about getting water from Luther'sville, which if it's on a two-acre lot, we don't care where you get the water from. It's either a well or there. But I'd like to, if we could, find out some minutes later on where it was presented as 1.5-acre lots and was approved by the whole board.

Mr. King, admin will pull all chisel mill rezoning. What's that? Admin will pull all rezoning requests from chisel mill. And we'll look into it.

Thank you, sir. I'm not saying it. Maybe I'm forgetting something.

Y'all been here? I can't recall. I mean, I've seen, they've been here multiple times. I can't recall the name of the property at all those times.

I know that part. But do you recall us talking about 1.5 acre lots? Because the day I came in here, I'll be talking about going two acre minimum or going up. So I would have either I've only missed one meeting in four years, so I would have either been arguing about why are we doing it, or I'm not remembering something.

I'm sorry. As I said, I'm sure we have, because we are again today.

But I can't remember which property section. They've been here multiple times, and we approved some stuff. I don't recall 1.5 acres in the county. That might have been an understanding, thinking it was in the city, and they can allow it, but I don't recall. That wouldn't have came before us.

What's that? If it was in the city, it would not have come before us. I mean, I don't remember seeing you, but I don't know what property, what road it was, if we approved it or not.

We'll put it all in a quiz.

We never predicted that it would be a curving gutter. So everything that we've done in Merriweather has been presented here. So that it would have been before.

No, I don't doubt that at all. I remember very well. And we've had discussions. You and I. I remember all of them. I just don't remember changing lots because we had water in the county to 1.5. But maybe it was.

Running the water is pretty expensive. So the only reason we would have done it. is to get that and I think because of how it's currently written if you have water you can do the acre and a half and that's kind of what drew us to that zoning block.

Any other questions? Black people in the opposition? We have anybody opposed? No one to oppose. Need a motion to come out.

We want to come out of public here. Are we done with questions?

I'm good.

I'll make a motion to come out of public here.

Second.

All in favor?

All right.

With this Go ahead.

Go ahead. It's in your district.

With this being in my district and the area, I'm very familiar with this area. I know the citizens talk about their water issues. They might not have mentioned them to y'all, but they do communicate them to me by me being right there and a commissioner that's very close by. I want to make a motion that we do not rezone this to R1, that we keep it residential and two acre lots in that area.

That's your motion?

Yes, sir.

I'll second. All in favor? Aye. That was fast. All right, move on in public hearing to case number 26-007, a request from County to close Hossbatten Road, AKA Pony Farm Road, approximately 3,410 feet. The road has no financial public use. This was continued, public hearing was continued from June 8, 2026, regular meetings by the action of the board.

Second.

Do we need a motion to continue the public hearing?

Do we need a motion to continue the public hearing? Second.

All in favor? All right. At this time, we have Mr. Lee Todd to speak in favor. We're going to do 10 minutes in favor and 10 minutes against. Mr. Todd, go ahead.

Well, before we had it worked out, I think we do have it worked out. We don't have everything signed. We got one person that supposedly mailed it to me yesterday, and I haven't gotten it yet, Tony. I'm going to ask y'all to kick it down the road. I know you already kicked it down the road one time, but if it gets signed, you know, it's over. We don't have to worry about any objection whatsoever. Well, but the north side of the road is straight. Everything north of the bridge, we've got everybody on both sides have signed off on that. One party on the south side signed off, but we're waiting on one party, one other party on the south side to Get me the doctor, but I understand this in the mail to me today.

Yesterday, so it's 2 weeks in that time.

I would make a motion.

We continue to public in the money July 13th. I'll 2nd regularly.

That's what, good for you. If that's done, you won't hear anything out of me next time I'll be here saying it's done, you know, and there was no objection. It was not, I guess I'll just show up and say we still object to it, you know, on the south end.

Okay. By then we'll have to make a decision to either close it or leave it open. I'm sorry? By then we'll have to make a final decision. We either want to close it or leave it open on that date.

Okay, Doc. Everything on this side works out.

Yeah.

Hopefully we won't see you again.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you Mr. Thompson. Appointment to the Airport Authority District 2 to fill an unexpired five-year term. It will expire October 31st, 2030.

I want to ask the board to table this to the July 13th meeting. I have someone, but they're wanting to meet with some of the airport authority members. And since they haven't had a meeting right now, we just need a couple of weeks for them to meet them to get a field form first.

Is that a motion?

Yes, sir.

I second it.

I'll invite them. Appointment to the Department of Family and Children's Services. Board District 2 is to fill a five-year term that will begin on July the 1st, 2026 and expire on June the 30th, 2031.

I would like to make a motion to appoint Timothy Morris to that position.

Second. All in favor? Unfinished business? 2026 2027 state agency budget request and allow chair vice chair to sign guy with a circuit public defender this item was tabled from june 8 2026 regular making

Commissioners, the Coweta Circuit Public Defender is requesting an increase in an annual budget in the amount of $12,040. The majority of this increase comes from pay increases for staff. Rick Samper is in attendance to present the Public Defender budget and answer any questions the commissioners may have.

The one that says get out of jail free? Yeah. For each one of you, and I want to reiterate I get tired of coming to four boards and just asking for money every year. Finally, my schedule is getting to where I'm getting freed up some, and I would like to have the opportunity to maybe meet with y'all. I know boards like to meet two-on-two instead of one-on-one. If you would make time sometime to allow me to come down so I can explain what we do. We're one of those agencies that everybody loves to hate, and we've seen a lot of times it's an unfunded mandate. And I understand that, but we also buy trying to keep people out of the jails and moving them out of jails through bond hearings. And that kind of thing can help save counties money by the work that we do. It's one of those kind of situations that everybody loves to hate us, but we're a necessary evil at times, and we now hate to put it that way. And before you asking for this solution, 12,000 plus John C legislature last year passed a legislation to get pay parity between district attorney's offices and public defender's offices. And then the whole pay issue was back before the legislature again this year. And the legislature went up on all the pay scales for the state employees, the assistant district attorneys, and for the district attorneys, which with the pay parity bill that was passed here before that, it has to spring anybody else up, which leaves me in a bad position in that I have a lot of people that are, So the counties contract back with the state to pay the cost of the insurance and the benefits and the bargains and all that kind of stuff. My employees in Meriwether County are still far below my employees in Troop County or California County. And they are far below the pay scale that was just passed by the legislature. Last year, I came before this board and I asked to offer an additional $5,000 for my attorney, Ryan Fuller, who is a resident here in Merryweather County. And I indicated to some people that I will be coming back again this year because I didn't vote to hit the board with a super large increase. I'm trying to get it phased in to get him up where at least he's comparable to people that are doing the same job and the same amount of work in my other county. And that's why this year I'm asking for that addition of $12,000, which is a $5,000 raise for Mr. Fuller that goes along with the expenses of being the insurance and the retirement funds and all that kind of stuff that go along with that. And so those expenses are factored in. And in addition to that $5,000 from Mr. Fuller, I'm also asking for a 3% cost of living adjustment for my administrative assistant that is here in Meriwether County. All of these funds go straight to Meriwether County people, both of them are residents and landowners here in Merriweather County, and both of them work solely in my Merriweather County office. So it's not like I'm before y'all asking you for funds for people that are not directly serving Merriweather County.

So the question I have on here is, what is the administration fee of 5%?

That is the fee that the state charges, and that picks up stuff like the the cost of computers and the cost of that kind of thing, the cost of providing their CLE credits, because as attorneys, we all have to get continuing legal education, and the state picks up all of those things. For a while, y'all were providing computers to our office here, and when I took over in January 2025, I realized that they hadn't been updated and that they'd been put on the county, and so since then, I've been managing to shift some of that back over to the state. And so earlier on towards the end of last year, I managed to get the state to replace the computers and that kind of stuff to help them work more efficiently now.

Any other questions? No, sir. I'll make a motion to 2026-2027 state agency budget request to be approved and allow the chair and vice chair to sign.

Second.

Motion to second. I only told them. Thank you. Discussion and approval of third floor courthouse remediation. This item was tabled from the June 8th, 2026 regular meeting.

Commissioners, I'm referring to the one that you just got today that was dated 6-23-26. It's a little bit more condensed version than what was in your packet. The item was tabled on June 8th, 2026 meeting to allow additional time to attain vendor quotes for remediation work on the third floor of the courthouse. We received three proposals. One for trauma services for $89,926.96 for remediation of the third floor and bell tower. PIN code for $136,857.34 for the third floor with an additional $25,000 to $30,000 estimate for the bell tower, bringing the total to $166,857.34 on the high end. And then ServPro came in at $546,128.18 for remediation on third floor in the bell tower. The proposals from trauma services and PIMCO are significantly lower than the original anticipated and estimated project cost that exceeded $225,000. Based on the current estimates, the projects can be funded with approximately one month's PLOS allocation while remaining within the budget for the courthouse exterior restoration, remediation, and HVAC projects. At this time, I do not anticipate the need to borrow funds from the general fund. Should this become necessary, the board will be notified. You will notice trauma services is the lowest out of all of them, but from my research on them, they are more of a biohazard cleanup type company i don't think remediation is their strong suit on it penco and serpo are more into the remediation part of it penco we do have a master agreement with them and we can start immediately if they were awarded the bid you will see a detailed scope of work from penco in your packet that outlays just about every description that they plan on doing where trauma services is basically just two pages of verbiage of what they plan on doing. And then SERPRO is attached to the email, just giving me their total prices of today. So with that status recommendation, we'll be going with PINCO. With our history with Penco, they have worked on the law library. When it failed clearance, they came in and redid the work on ourselves. No cost to the county until it cleared and the protocol. So that's one of the reassurance with Penco having that service agreement. If they do the work and it fails remediation protocol, they come back and reclean it and no charge to the county. And yes, it is a increase of the lower bid, but sometimes the lowest bid is not always the best bid to go with. And with the courthouse being as foreign project as it is, like to see it done correctly the first time and one time only. And this was not in the scope of work with River City, with EMC that did the original assessment. So the county took this part on because it was not in the scope of work for River City.

I'd like to make a motion unless there's questions. Make a motion to approve PINCO as the contractor not to exceed $167,000 and be funded from SPLUG. I'll say I'm fine.

Thank you, commissioners. I'm not if I can go and get started on a railway.

We're going to new business. Presentation of a policy manual.

The mission is human resource director, Valerie Chambers has been working on updating the policy manual. The county's current personnel policy manual has been in place for many years and no longer fully reflects today's workplace environment, employment laws, or organizational needs. Since the manual was originally adopted, there have been numerous changes in federal and state regulations, human resource practices, and employee expectations. As a result, some sections of the current manual are outdated, unclear, or do not provide sufficient guidance for employees and supervisors. To address these issues, the county has completed a thorough review and update of the Personnel Policy Manual. The revised manual modernizes existing policies, clarifies procedures and expectations, and incorporates current best practices in human resource management. That date manual will help ensure consistent application of personnel policies, improve compliance with applicable laws, and provide employees and supervisors with a clear framework for workplace expectation operations. This was an email to all the commissioners. It's a 117-page document, I believe. So we did not print it just to save the taxpayer money on having all those copies. We did have Gerard and Davis review everything with their recommendations. And Ms. Chambers can speak to anything that the board may have questions of. They sign off on a final. It meets all legal compliance issues and it's updated. So it's up to them.

So they have recommendations. We've taken those into account, adjusted that, and now everyone's signed off on it and agrees. Correct. They go over everything.

Well, Gerard and Davis Legal has signed off on everything. It meets all employer law specifications, went in great depth details. This was approved back in August of last year, and it finally wrapped itself up for this meeting here.

Okay.

And I would recommend that the board approve it. We make it effective July 1st that a new policy manual be implemented.

Are we going to issue a new copy to every employee? Yes, sir.

I got a vendor I'm going to get quotes from to get it processed, and we'll do about 300 copies, get all current employees, have them sign off that they've received the new policy manual, and that would be effective hopefully July 1st if we can get it printed all the time by July 1st, but that would be my recommendation.

I make a motion we approve the new policy manual and make it effective July 1st, 2026. Second.

All in favor?

Thank you, Commissioner. Second.

Discussion of the tree by flagpole on each side of the courthouse.

Commissioners, Chairman Collins asked for this to be brought back on the board for consideration, and Ms. Marie Branch, his daughter, I think she may be present again, is present to discuss the trees that were planted at the courthouse. To our understanding, it has a significant history behind it, and I think that's not the case.

Yeah, we'd heard talk that, you know, her father, Sheriff Branch, had planted the trees and they're sort of inhibiting the view of the courthouse. So I spoke with her about it and she was glad to come out and share her thoughts with us. And at this time, I'd like to ask you to come up, Ms. Mickey Anne. Thank you for coming.

The tree. Yes, Daddy planted it. Daddy was so proud of the courthouse when they opened it back up in 1980. But I've always come from LaGrange to Greenville. And with the renovation going on, the courthouse is absolutely beautiful. I mean, it makes me proud to drive in from that way. Now that I've moved to Meriwether County, I'm coming from Woodbury. And I'll be honest with you, it You can't even tell it's a courthouse. And the tree that Daddy planted is too big. It's grown. It hasn't been taken care of. And I'm not opposed to cutting it down because what Daddy would want is the people of Merriweather County and surrounding counties to see the beauty of the courthouse. And so, I mean, I've had numerous people contact me about keeping it up. You know, your Daddy planted it. They want to cut it down and all. Daddy was not about a sentimental tree. He was about the beauty of Meriwether County and Meriwether County courthouse. So I'm not opposed to it being cut down. In fact, you need to cut the other two down too because you can't see the courthouse.

And we're working on all those.

I'll tell you what would be great then. I'm the one that brought it up the first time, because I come that way now with a 362 being closed. I have to come this way to the meeting. So every time I'm coming down there, it's not just that tree blocking the courthouse. Like you said, it's so beautiful. The church there in the corner, is that a Methodist church? If we could contact, you would go reach out there. That tree is leaning way out like this. A bitch is going to fall in here. So I'm the one that said, man, that tree was moved and trimmed the others up. What a beautiful view, you know? But what if we did this? Because you took time to come here. I think it would be great that if we take the tree down, we plant some kind of beautiful dogwood or something and do a presentation in honor of Sheriff Branch as he originally planted it. But you came forward and still recognizes a few years to come and some kind of thing there at the tree.

That would be great.

Well. I like to make a motion that we do something to that extent if we're going to take the tree down.

I second.

I only have five. Thank you.

We received quotes to get the two oak trees gone. One quote came in lower than the rest of them, so we'll get them to actually take that tree out as well, trim up the rest of the trees, and then Once that's done, with the two corner ones done, we can do a ceremony.

Get it all done up first, yeah.

We'll reach out once we get them all cut down. What about the church one? The church will reach out to GDOT to see if they'll come and cut it for us.

Yeah, they should do it on the state highway.

I'll reach out to the Thomaston office. I've left them a message and thought about going with them.

Thank you. Purchase a narcotic safe and tracking system via an AMS.

Everybody got the paper on this? Anybody need any information or got any questions on that? I mean, it's a biometric safe that the age counter requirements put these in the ambulances they have. seal tops that go on our vials of narcotics and it's got a RFID tag in it, so it knows when that comes out of that safe and who went in there. I think usually your fingerprint and the biometric identifier when you open that safe. So this is just kind of coming in compliance with some of the new rules coming from the Roto-Porsche today.

Just curious, who checks, like, who would come in and check to see if that was done? I mean, that's, I'm just curious how that goes.

And you just sub it to an audit from the DEA.

And just see what employees have been removing them.

Well, people have access to that. So anytime that I have a discrepancy, like based on certification or something, I say, why don't you get this out? You know what I'm saying? I'm going to have some accountability there. That's why we like this system. and also the safes are more durable and the RFID tags are plastic and not paper. I've looked at a couple of different versions and they have like a paper thing that goes over it. And it's just, to me, it lends for tamper. These plastic hard ones are like the locks on a Coca-Cola bottle. When you screw it down, it locks. So when you break that seal, it breaks that device and it says, hey, this has been opened. So.

What account would this come from, John?

It will come from the EMS equipment line item. I was looking at maybe an OBO fund, but it's only fit now as the OBO and in there, so I think it'd be kind of great to use the OBO fund, but we can put in a Department 36 equipment purchase line item. And you see this as a sole manufacturer, so this is the only company that makes the specific tracking systems.

So we have, so we'll get from our supplier, I just should call that in the street. But anyway, from our supplier, they keep lot numbers and everything from all of the drugs that we buy, all the narcotics, all the, anything biomedical has a lot number. They'll send us a recall. So when we put these in, if you look at that sole source letter, it tracks your lot numbers, your expiration dates, all this stuff. So it will send us the email. you just swap it out with, you know, and then you go through the process of discarding that medication.

So you need eight of them, one for each ambulance?

Yes. Well, that's seven ambulances and one vehicle to get it from the pharmacy to here.

And they're easy to transfer between? Yes. That's why, that's the only reason I like this one, so we can move it to another ambulance for remount. What kind of system is it? If it's that easy to move, somebody just grabbed it and ran off with it.

Well, you've got to unlock it with your thumb, Grandpa, before you can take it loose on the inside. Put tamper-resistant bolts to the bottom and screw it down on the inside. So, I don't know who went in and, you know, to...

But they stole it. Whenever they unlock it, you know, you got them then.

That's right.

What's the life expectancy of each one? How long should it last?

Now, that I don't know. I don't know. And I'm going to be honest, probably the Shortest life is going to be that biometric. Now, it does have a keypad so we can sign. Key numbers as well to each individual person. You know, and they'll have their own unique identifier and keep it in my work.

We use a biometric thumb blocks on a lot of things in. we had to replace them about every six to nine months. Sometimes more frequently. We have more people coded in. We're not doing narcotics, so it's just part of the control thing. They get damaged or worn out.

Unless it's a trauma or a cardiac. I mean, the narcotics are not really, you know, we're not going to take as soon as possible. Like normal saline and things like that, we store in a different compartment. This is just for the controlled substances.

Gee, Stephen, did they give you an option for a warranty on anything?

I can ask them.

Just to see if it covers the biometric for a period of time. I don't see it on the quote, but I'm just wondering if there's a warranty.

You know, the recommended annual service contract for support. I don't know if that's just an annual price on that $500 a year.

It should be just one server and one client license. That should be the whole thing. But tech support is probably an annual service contract. So we have to get the contract illegal. So it would be contingent upon legal review of the contract. And I would recommend we look into a warranty option if the board wants to pursue purchase.

I'll make a motion to approve it. $44,062.14 plus additional warranty after investigation funded from the fire and arrest.

And legal review of the contract.

And legal review of the contract. That's what I'm expecting.

I'll invite him.

Go get that contract so we can get it legal.

Yeah, I'll get it. I'll see if I can reach out first thing in the morning. All right.

Purchase of luteus chest compression devices by an SP.

Okay, you got to remember, I guess, two years ago, whenever I come up here and I had this equipment, they had a, like a lease purchase, you know, like, well, I'll add that to you, but you buy what you can every year out of that. We've been buying those loads for the ambulances. Okay. So this was one of those pieces of equipment. This is a chest compression. This is a hands-free. It does CPR for you. It's battery-powered. It straps around the back, latches down, and it frees up somebody having to do chest compressions where it can push, you know, administer drugs, things like that. So this is just a request to buy those. That the Lucas... striker you know i know you said we hear that name a lot but that's where we get it's where we get compatibility with all of our stuff our monitors from our striker our cops our striker our ac's from the same company and that's what this device comes from that same company as well so with something like this you would need a program

to verify and audit that you got charged batteries, you got spare batteries, you got, you know, this equipment's maintained and ready to use whenever. Are you prepared to have all that in place?

We do, we keep batteries, like we have other things like our Treasury View batteries, we keep those in our supply, you know, because we do have batteries go bad. And then we have a maintenance issue with Costriker, they come out and service the equipment. I don't have a I'm going to be honest, they sent me a service contract, it's $45,000. I had to spend a lot of money on something.

No, I'm saying, so if we had a defibrillator in this room for an emergency, there's a period of time that we need to go by, audit it, inspect it, make sure it still functions, it's charged, it can do, you will have to do that same thing with each one of these units in their ambulance.

These will be on the truck, so they're part of daily check. They get checked every day. there's a list of equipment on every truck that we go through and check off every day.

I just want to make sure we don't lose sight of that, add that to that list, because the last thing we want is to get that, then get out in the field and can't use it. Can't use it, yeah.

Every so often, it's probably going to have to be certified again, right?

Oh, not really. I'll have them like once a year look at our stuff, but it's not like it just does one thing. You know, it just does compressions.

so it's not a uh every year i don't have to have a certain stuff well this is coming out of your budget yes this i'm not knowing i've been at the same line i'm department 36 equipment i'm making motion to approve the legal review of the contract set up let's say i don't know thank you

Report out change order number 13, repair damaged column with north elevation and tuck point rope joints.

Commissioner, River City has submitted proposed change order number 13 for repair the damaged column on a north elevation and tuck point rope joints. The cost of this change order is $8,310 and it will be used from the courthouse contingency fund in the A1A contract. This is one that I pointed out to Travis when I viewed the courthouse. I knew this column had damage before this work even started, and I asked them to bring a change order to the board for consideration. As you can see by the pictures, there's significant damage to the column. We need to fix that. Otherwise, it's just going to stick out like a sore thumb with the courthouse being as beautiful as it's looking with all the restoration.

Does this leave us with sufficient funds in the contingency?

It does. It's 12,000, almost 12,000 still in it.

still after this correct after the next two is they both were approved okay okay i'll make a motion to approve as presented and i'll chair the sign and allow the chairman of science all right courthouse change order number 14 paint all handrails light poles and doors on the exterior of the courtyard

Commissioner, this is change order number 14 for painting all the handrails, light poles, doors at the courthouse. The cost of this is $5,900 and it comes from the contingency fund as well. This is another one I asked Travis to bring to the board potentially because you can tell by the pictures. There's significant need for paint and we did determine from a prior assessment done by EMC that there's lead on this before Travis or River City begins painting. We need to have it abated. We are working on getting those quotes and get it done so we can remove the lead safely.

That'll be an addition to this request or that's included?

It's going to be an additional request as part of the assessment by EMC, but it was not part of the scope when it was turned over to River City.

So this is just a cost of painting it once we're ready. We're going to have to review the removal of the lead thing.

Correct. And we're in touch with three vendors totaled and get five vendors to buy the lead.

Anybody got a ballpark of what that might be?

We do not right now. They've all been on site in the past week, week and a half, looking at everything.

Scared.

That's probably going to be cheap. Well, my thing is, you know, I mean, I get it when you do a change order on something you can't see, like under the roof, the plywood was a change order, but all this stuff here that could have been seen, I don't know why it's not in the... first scope of work that you bid on. I can't understand. But I mean, it's very visible. It's not anything hidden.

And I can verify that with Mr. Evans the same, Mr. Chairman, that I've talked with Chris with EMC. I pointed out that the assessment was done by EMC. They knew remediation needed to be done on third floor. They knew lead was in the paint. All that was not speaking with Mr. Evans. It was not coordinated to him through the bid process. That was not put into the bill initially. But this was an oversight somehow between EMC and when they put out the documents for River City to bid on, it is not Mr. Evans or his company's fault in this one at all. And I reached out to EMC regarding this matter. That's why the county has taken the lead on these two items because it was his assessment that pointed them out to the county. and the county is making sure it's done correctly. And we have a nice looking courthouse when it's all done as said.

So on that note, did we do anything as far as landscaping outside around once that we did so?

No, sir.

I'd like to see us go back. If you look at these pictures, snapshots, where you're showing these things in the background, you can see bad overgrown weeds and flower beds, various spots in the grass, exposed dirt in different places. I think we need to take a look at what would that cost to get all of that taken care of once we're finished.

We kind of can oversee that project. We got landscapers on that one, I think. Is it mid-August you're shooting for exterior completion?

We're shooting the first August. And then the sidewalks rolling around, is that part of what you got? So we need to look at that too, because you can see from the pictures that there's, you know, all this nice pretty, and then And now it's starting to really stand out.

A few years back, we had pressure wash that.

It was supposed to be done once a year after the fall and fail.

Sure. But it did look good when they did it.

Yeah, we want to start with that, too.

Yeah, I don't think that was part of it.

When they get through with everything, we need to pressure wash the wall, and then we can look at it on a county level. There's not that much grass, so it probably wouldn't hurt to go in and strip it, re-sod, and bring it up to par where it's a complete finished product.

I'd like for us... This is off topic. I'd like for us to go ahead and start looking at those options now so the timing works out about the time they pull out with their stuff, we get that done, and it's all done at the same time.

A citizen that's a landscape architect that reached out, he was at a meeting last time, and he reached out and said that you can give him a call, and he would be willing to come and do it as a pro bono service for the county to do a landscape, just give him kind of an idea of what we're wanting to plant, but he would help lay it out and bring it, present it.

I still want to tell him in the solution alone or reach out to him and get an irrigation system.

And if we don't handle. So, as far as I have in my hand, I'll make a motion to approve as presented in. 2nd, right? Thanks.

That work session for budget discussion for additional staff and capital asset required.

Commissioner, staff is requesting that a work session be scheduled to discuss departmental staffing needs and capital asset requests to assist the finance department in developing the upcoming 26-27 budget. The effort remains holding the work session at 4 p.m. prior to either the July 13th or July 28th board meetings.

So y'all are prefacing that. You're already saying we need more people. We're going to add heads, bodies,

Polar Works, I think, would be the only one. I don't know. I did not sit in on the budget discussions. I don't know if anybody posted it when they met with Finance Director.

I was half joking, half sitting.

Polar Works may need a few bodies as well with paving, but we've

Yeah, I knew I figured public works is going to need one or two more to keep growing what he's doing. We'd already talked about in the fire plan. We was adding a couple every year or seven every year. So I'm going to get to get whatever it was. So yeah, I was half joking, half serious.

And I'd like to request that when we have the work session, that when the department heads come, that they already have it kind of in writing like an issue paper. That way I can, for me, I can make notes on it as we go instead of it just seem like it's kind of getting rattled off. But go ahead and have it ahead of time so I can be reviewing it.

Yeah. I don't see every department head. I just maybe a handful of department heads coming in.

It's been laid out in the format that we can clearly follow what current status is and what proposed status you're wanting that we can see the bridge between the two.

With the budget request that we've been approving.

With that, I would recommend a July 28th meeting.

I was going to request that also. I'll be out of town on the 13th meeting. All right. That's a good one. Thank you.

Ample time to get everything together for the departments that they're requesting.

That's fine with me.

July 28th at 4 p.m. at the head budget.

You need 4.30? I mean, I don't perceive thinking.

Well, I'll make a motion. July 28th, 4 p.m. Second. All in favor?

What? I'll reach out to the departments or Ms. Laker will to get if they need any capital asset or additional personnel.

All right, consideration of a resolution requesting legislative delegation assistance for a local homestead option sales tax, bail vote referendum.

Commissioners, this is a resolution requesting Mary Willard County's local legislation delegations to introduce local legislation authorizing a referendum for local option, local homestead option sales tax, also L-host, pursuant to SB 33 and OCGA 48-8-109.52. SB 33 adopted during the 2026 legislation session allows counties to seek voter approval of an L-host to provide property tax relief for qualified homestead property owners. Before a referendum can be held, a local legislation must be enacted by the Georgia General Assembly. The proposed resolution requests the county's legislative delegation to introduce and support a necessary local act, including a maximum term of 10 years and all statutory requirements established by state law.

We'll make a motion to approve. Second.

All in favor? This will be for all members to sign.

Support mechanic, man of trial.

Commissioners, I had a meeting with legal on June 18th, a department head meeting, safety meeting, attended the Greenville work session about the Elhus and IGA animal services, Woodbury, Not Woodbury City Council, that was Warren Springs City Council regarding L-host. Late Mayweather meeting discussing the July 4th event, working with staff to coordinate the July 4th event. Had interviews for the public and zoning director, attended water and sewer meeting. We had a mayor's meeting about the L-host. Had a GEMA meeting, and just let everyone know, and Commissioner Stelson will probably bring it up, the L-host did not pass during special call session. We will not have time to put the PTR loss on this year's election, so we'll be looking at options for that. And I want to say thank you to Vice Chairman Stelson for her assistance in relaying LHOST information to the administration. It saved us numerous hours, so thank you for relaying all that. Got the titles in for vehicles. We'll be listing those next week on GovDeals. I did looking at we're expecting a check around $25,000 coming in from GovDeals on the first sale. So that's pretty good turnaround on that one. All the sheriff's office trucks, black ones have been resent for paint. They have the last one now. And then lastly, the flatbed truck has been sent to Barrett to get a new engine replaced. And that's all I have, Mr. Chairman.

Fulton County Commission, Vice Chairman Snips.

First off, just want to thank the Greenville Senior Center for the certificate they presented me tonight. That was an honor. I love being able to serve in the community. That's what I ran to do, and that's what I'm here for. I want to remind everybody about the fireworks coming up in the city of Manchester and then our county fireworks on July 4th, and I look forward to seeing everybody out there. And I want to thank the citizens for their input and all that they're doing. It's good to see the community together.

Same thing. I was reminding everybody about the fireworks coming up. It's going to be great for the county out there at Lake Mayweather and the staff. And, uh, I don't know about the rest of the commissioners, but my phone was blowing up over potholes and, uh, Like Brian said, at Public Works, with all the rain we've been having, they're going to have to bear with it because you can't fix them when they're full of water. You can't fix them when they're full of mud. And we've been having so much rain that they're just wearing them out. So I try to assure all of them that it's on the agenda. We are focusing on it, but I'm telling you, I'm getting five, six calls a day. And they act like we don't care, but it's, you know, the weather. We can't control the weather. It's making it really rough right now. So if they can just bear with us, Brian, and the public works knows to get on it and start passing as quick as they can. Oh, and thanks for getting the tent on them doors out there. This is the first time in three and a half years I wasn't behind it. Wonderful.

Wonderful.

yeah mr wordley as i thank everyone for the job they're doing and uh keep up the good work moving in the right direction i'd like to thank staff and all employees for the work they do and all the department heads and we're really looking forward to a good show at uh july 4th fireworks at lake merriweather please come out and join us and that's all i have The Portland County attorney.

I have done the report. So when we have, we have paper.

I'll go ahead and read the future meetings and notices. Closing observers of Independence Day, Friday, July 3rd, Monday, July 13th, 2026, regular meeting, 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28th, 2026, 4 p.m. work session. And the regular meeting continued. It's after that at 6 p.m. Monday, August 10th, 2026, regular meeting at 6 p.m. I need a motion to go into executive session for litigation, personal, real estate, tax matters, and cyber security. So moved.

Second.

All in favor? Motion to go back to the regular. So moved.

Second.

All in favor? We had some action taken in executive session. Need a motion to terminate the grant writer contract pursuant to the terms of the contract. Who moved? Second. All in favor? Second. Also need a motion to approve pay increase as discussed in executive session effective 6-8-2026. Second motion. Second.

All in favor?

Make a motion we adjourn.

Thank you.