Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, and welcome to our board of commissioners meeting. We are so pleased that you're here with us on Tuesday, April 28. It's now past 2PM, and I'd like to call the meeting to order. Today, we're blessed to have our invocation and pledge of allegiance from Andy Rogers, who's the executive director of Camp Westminster here in town.

Commissioners. Thank Thank you.

Will you pray with me? Heavenly father, we come before you today as this commission meets to decide things relevant to this county and this community. And we ask, father, that you would allow us to set our egos and our agendas aside and seek your best for this community. Whatever that is and that we would bend to that, that we would give you glory and honor in it. So help us with the direction as we need it, with wisdom as we need it, and with the discernment to act rightly according to you. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Will

you stand with me if you're able? Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Be seated. Thank you.

Thank you. At this time, we have special recognitions and presentations. The first one will be safe digging month proclamation for the Rockdale Water Resources. K. And I'll read it here if you'd like to come present.

And, yes, we can

do that. Okay.

Yes. All water resources. Come on now. Nobody hiding.

Oh, you brought your own sign. I love it.

Fantastic.

You wanna come right here

Okay.

To display your sign. All right. So glad to see everybody today. All right. Whereas thousands of times each year, the underground infrastructure in Georgia is damaged by those who do not have underground lines located prior to digging sorry.

Prior to digging, resulting in service interruption, environmental damage, and threat to public safety. And whereas in 2005, the Federal Communications Commission designated eight one contractors and homeowners with a simple number to contact utility operators to request the location of underground lines at the intended dig site. And whereas the Rockdale County Utility Coordinating Committee, a stakeholder driven organization dedicated to the prevention of damage to underground utilities in Georgia, promotes National eight eleven notification system and Georgia eight 11 in an effort to reduce these damages. And whereas damage prevention is a shared responsibility. By using safe digging practices, the contractors and homeowners of Rockdale County can save time, money, and help keep our infrastructure safe and connected.

Now, therefore, we as members of the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Rockdale County Safe Digging Month and encourage contractors and homeowners throughout Rockdale to always contact 811 before digging to ensure safe digging to prevent accidents. In witness whereof, we have here into set our hands and cause the official seal of Rockdale County, Georgia to be affixed on this April 2026. Sign, chair, Janice Vaness, commissioner post one, Tawanya Smith, and commissioner post two, doctor Doreen Williams. Right. Thank you.

All right. So we'll take the pictures, Tammy, right in front of here. At this time, madam clerk, do we have anyone that wants to speak for

public comment? So we have one more presentation from the finance department prior to public comment.

Yes. We do.

Which you might want to hear this. Yes. Very good. Thanks.

Good afternoon, madam chair, commissioner Bahrain, commissioner Smith. For an excellent state of the county address today.

Thank you.

Very nicely done. So we have February data. We have March data for 2026. And then we also have year end that is gonna do with the the deputy CFO.

We're looking forward to hearing from you, and I hope that our PR team can enlarge those numbers so that the column on the my far right is not even on the page. So any enlargement would be really helpful if that's possible.

And due due to the March data available, we're gonna right go into March if you guys can. Next page, I think. Because the at the quarter end, it is is there. So now the most recent data, we're going to go through it.

Okay.

So the ideal percentage in raining is 75%. Anything above that is in white category and green category. Green also have under expand leading to the last two years March versus this March. Couple of greens that we have is election and the sorry. Just one second.

Alright. Let let's talk about this for a minute.

Sure.

Mhmm. So the ideal number is 75% Yes. Remaining for the rest of the year to be be spent.

Yes. 75% remaining. Yes. The first quarter is done.

So what's going to be shown is anything over 25%, which would mean just the first quarter, you're going to have highlighted so that we can see any spending that's over the budgeted amount. Correct?

We will. Yes. Yes. The anything remaining percentage which is less than 75 is going to be shown as blue category, which are four of them, and there are notes associated with them, what they are for. Okay? And the first one is street lighting, and that is our billing for all the street lighting into this. And the next one is the agencies. These are quarterly payments. So that's the reason. And the other one is libraries, same situation, and the economic development. General fund as

a whole those four categories are overspending per month basically because we did advance payments? Is that why?

Yes. We do quarterly payment, and we're doing it in advance for those cases.

And I

think we'd be fine. General fund as a whole is trending nicely, I will call it. It's too early to project anything for that right now. We are about 4% or so underspent, but that's very, very too early.

What are we underspent?

I'm sorry. What?

What is the number for being underspent?

Underspent is about four point some percentage, but that's very unsustainable.

Right. Right.

So You never know. You never know. And the

It's collective effort across the county with all our elected officials and directors.

The special revenue funds and the enterprise fund, both all or all three of them are very trending nicely. No concerns at all.

Okay. Great.

I am gonna turn time to Narendra for the 2025 year end adjustment because his familiarity with all the But numbers associated with I do want to say one thing leading to 2025 while he's coming in over here. Very interestingly, if you look at 2025, we know about $4,400,000 saving. We know about its 3.5%. But the very interesting thing happened in 2025 is that overall general fund spent 917,000 less than 2024. Very remarkable when you look at it. We've taken care of our employees, public safety adjustments, and everything. With that said, Narendra is the one who's gonna take care

Can you just make me really happy and repeat that? Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. It's so noteworthy that I think we should hear it one more time. Yes. It's so what?

It's it's it's very, very interesting and very, very noteworthy that it's probably gonna happen once in our history that we are spending less than the last year, '24 fiscal year versus '25. 917,429 exact number. Very, very interesting. Anything else for me or?

I think that's good, but I think Doctor. James may have a question.

Sure, sure.

So we spent almost a million dollars less.

Almost a million dollars less.

So where did the other 3,500,000

come from? This is the total general fund. So we are talking about '24 to '25 comparison, nothing to do with the budget. Budget was 124 Okay. And we spent 190. But this is an interesting fact that we look at not with the budget, but actual to actuals, comparing the actual spend of '24 versus actual spend for '25. Total general fund, not by department, total. So that is a very remarkable achievement that we did. Any other questions for me?

No. Thank you for your hard

work. You and

your team do an amazing job, and we're grateful for the stability you provide.

That's one of the main reasons, is that I'm having Narinder presented because of he deserved that credit. Came very late late into the year, and he doesn't.

Alright.

Good afternoon, madam chair, commissioner William, and commissioner Smith.

Good afternoon.

I'm Darinder Bhardwat, deputy CFO, finance department. And today, I'm going to present 2025 year end presentation. Let's start. The first slide is executive summary of 2025 budget to actual. Approved budget for 2025 is $123,500,000 Actual expenditure is $119,070,000 Net saving is 4,430,000, which is 3.6% of the budget.

County ended the year with 4,430,000 in saving while funding new pay grade for public safety, COLA, cost of living adjustment for all employees. It shows strong fiscal discipline. Next slide, please. This is the snapshot of executive summary. The county operated under budget while maintaining service levels.

It shows effective financial planning and execution. Next slide, please. Saving breakdown: Personal services and benefit 3,680,000, which is 83% of the saving. Purchased and contact services 220,000, contingency 530,000, visit 12% of the saving, and contingent contact is point and 5% of the saving. Next slide, please.

Can we enlarge enlarge that in PR if that's possible? Thank you.

Department by department saving, this is the gross number, $5.7500000 total department. Only two departments.

So just to clarify, there was a total of $5,750,000 in savings over 22 departments.

Yes,

ma'am. And then we took the increase through the cost of living adjustment for employees, and I think you said the workforce investment dollars.

Yeah. That's COLA. Yes.

K.

And I divided these saving into three categories. First five are the top contributor to the saving, dollars 400,000 and above, and the next nine are mid tier contributor to savings above $100,000 and below $400,000 The last eight are smaller but meaningful contribution to the saving of less than $100,000 And I will name a few. Fire rescue, over $1,600,000 and the area of saving is personal services and benefits, purchase and contact services and supplies. Next is finance department, over 634,000. The area of saving is the same.

Transportation, over 609,000. The area is the same. Board of commissioners, over 485,000, which is 8.4%. The area is the same. Mhmm. Parks and recreation, over 412,000. The area is the area of saving is the same. Public defender over 377,000, and area of saving is the same. Clerk of the court, 252,000. Area of the saving, the same.

And probate court, over 183,000. And area of saving are the same. The next two slides are similar, and no need to read the numbers. Let's go to the pie chart. This pie chart shows the department's contribution to savings of over $100,000 It shows strong operational disciplines.

17 departments are saving over $100,000 and eight departments are saving less than $100,000 Next slide, please. Department by department overspending. Overspending is 1,320,000. And total departments involving the spending are nine departments.

Can you hold on for our PR department to catch up real quick so they can enlarge that screen? And the PR needs to enlarge all the screens if they can for the public, please.

Dental services or spent over 690,000 between 50

Can you hold on one second so they can the public can follow along with information. Could okay. It'll be just a second. I think you were talking about the nine departments that overspend Overspend. On their budget, and you're gonna read those in just a second. So, thank you very, very much. Okay. Go ahead. Oh,

first number, can't see, I think. General services, I can't see. Oh, yes. Now I can see. General services over 690,000, which is 50.27%, and the overspent area is countywide utilities. Miss Right. Department, they were in little control on them. But I think in 2026, we have budgeted them. Same level, but 2027, we will fix this.

So that county wide the county wide utility increases for general services, I know that working with director Hammer, we're looking at gaining efficiency through department bills being given to him so that they can make more closely work with building administrators for oversight in control of the utilities. So I think that will be a great move for the county.

And next is district attorney, over 193,000. These are lease expenses earlier paid by the grant, but the grant ended and or little bit of work spent on personal services and benefit purchase and contact services and supplies.

I do know that in our district attorney's office, they've made a commitment to excellent representation. And so I know I think we're Yeah.

I signed district attorney's

office because they're always looking for the top talent, but they also had some lease expenses that ran had been paid through grants. So we know this year that we'll be looking for opportunities there.

Yeah. Next is tax commissioner. They spent over 180,000, which is 13.64%, and overspending is personal services and benefit purchase and contract services and supplies. Personal services may be reason sometimes the vacancies are not busted because we do a snapshot, and that's why they've been to fill the vacancies overspending. And sheriff office, over 122,000, they spend money on overtime. Because when somebody leave, it's hard to fill the vacancy, and they have to spend more time more money on

overtime. Are also hiring in our first responders divisions, which is our sheriff's department at nine one one. But I wanted to know that he did a great job budgeting this last year for overage because I think last year before was about $1.1800000,

and this year, just a million. Yes. It's a great achievement. Yes.

So this is a significant improvement, and we appreciate the sheriff's office for their stewardship.

Yes. And the next is election. They spent more than 84,000, basically, on poll workers. That's the election. And other departments are state court, human resource, emergency management, supply.

They just spend little more than the budget. Okay. Next slide, please. This pie chart shows the department's ore spending over $100,000 ore spending is concentrated in a few areas and offset by strong savings across most departments. Net result achieved $4,430,000 in savings, in closing, strong financial discipline, financially stable, operationally efficient. And next slide, please. Thank you. Open for question.

Well, that is great information. If I had had those slides, I might have stolen them for the state of the county. That is really, really good news. And I

hope many of the citizens will be able to get this information. Where could they see these slides? Where can we post these for their access? So we can place these on the web page for the finance department. We could just upload them as because PR has them, so we could simply put them online.

Okay. Well, I think that would be really exciting for citizens to look at the cuts that were made. We could not have done that without 22 different departments cooperating and our elected officials also understanding the focus of this administration, which is to be cost effective and find efficiencies within their own departments. This year, as we recognize those savings for last year, We were able to set our own budget this year as a board, and I think that's going to also, hopefully, trend very well as we rely on our directors and, other elected officials to really analyze contracts and things that have maybe been in place for a long time and just need another look to make sure that we're maximizing our investment in those contractors and that we're also able to find those savings along the way. So we are so excited and appreciate every person that helped work towards achieving this goal.

Okay. Thank you. So I have a question. Is this this is not an audited report?

No. This is an audited report. Okay. I hope this is going to stir maybe a little bit more saving may come. Yes.

Yeah. You.

Thank you.

Now we're down to public comment. I have not received any request for public comment. Oh, but I see that.

We have one. Miss Charlotte Kellert.

Right. Julie noted, madam chair.

Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, commissioners.

Good morning.

Good morning. I really appreciate the transparency that y'all have been given to the taxpayers. I'm aware of some a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes on that the public doesn't doesn't really need to know. Right. But because it helps us in the long run. I like that you're holding the departments accountable for our taxpayer dollars. I'm happy y'all I'm seeing fiscal responsibility from y'all, and it it impacts all of us through the millage rate, which Absolutely. The bottom line is the property taxes. Yes. So thank you again.

Thank you very much. And I know that I had a conversation the other day with a member of the school board and the superintendent, and they are working really hard to also put pencil to paper and figure out solutions and also find efficiencies at the school system. And, you know, that is one of the largest parts of your tax bill, but we recognize our responsibility and take it seriously. And so, you know, if the city, the county, and the school board work to do our very best, then I think we'll all be proud by what we are able to do for the tax payers when the next tax bills come out. So thank you again for your good stewardship to each of you.

Alright. At this time, I will ask for the approval of the agenda.

I move to approve the agenda

as published. Madam chair, I second the motion.

I have a motion and a second. Are there any questions?

No.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. The motion carries. Item number six, approval of the minutes.

Madam chair, I move to approve the minutes as presented

I second the motion

I have a motion and a second all in favor say aye aye the motion carries there is no unfinished business so we'll move to item number eight, new business. And, madam clerk, if

you wanna continue reading through the contracts that we have today. Thank you. Thank you. Item two twenty one is with Piedmont Healthcare through the fire rescue department for EMT and advancement EMT clinical training for the fire rescue participants. This is at no cost and is for three year term unless terminated and then renewed in writing.

Item two twenty two is with Affinity Insurance Services doing business as h p s zero s o for the fire rescue department. This is for professional liability insurance coverage for Rockdale County Fire Rescue, the students for the EMS clinical rotations at Piedmont Healthcare. It's in an amount not to exceed exceed $995. It is for one year through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two twenty three is with Clifton Jeffries through the coroner's office for an independent contractor agreement for the deputy coroner.

It's on an as needed basis. It's a $175 per call. It's for one year with option to renew four additional one year periods, renewable each year unless terminated. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two twenty four is with Corbett Davis to the coroner's office as an independent contractor agreement for the deputy coroner.

It's an as needed basis as a $175 per call. This is for one year with option to renew four additional one year periods. It's renewable each year unless terminated through the general fund and as a budgeted item. Item two twenty five is with Kickin' It LLC through the Parks and Recreation Department for the use of Costly Mill Park for filming. It's $4,400 in revenue to the county.

The term is 01/30/2026. This is through the general fund and is submitted for ratification. Item two twenty six is with Open Hand Atlanta through the parks and recreation department for the twenty twenty six home delivered meals. It's at $4.95 per unit in an amount not to exceed $86,835 for the senior services anticipates ordering 17,542 meals. The term is 06/01/2026 through 05/31/2027. This is through the general fund and is

a budgeted item. Madam madam clerk, can you hold on for a minute? Yeah. So if we could take these, to this point, I'd like for, director Christine Carney to talk about the meals and also how seniors who are interested could be could get on the list if they would like to receive mails.

And I also wanna point out, madam chair and commissioners and director Carney, we have a representative from Open Hand with us today too in the audience. So

okay. If you wanna come forward, we'd be glad to hear more about program. And then if you'll talk about a connection for seniors. Or a duet.

Right? Yeah.

Good afternoon.

Yes. Good

afternoon. Right?

Thank you.

Madam chair, commissioners, Open Hand, has been around for over almost thirty eight years providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education across the state of Georgia. It's been an honor to, serve the seniors of Rockdale County, and we look forward to continuing, to do that Wonderful. In the future.

Well, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here today. Tell me a little bit more about your company if you don't mind. Are there other things that you offer Absolutely. Through your

It's comprehensive nutrition care. We believe that food is medicine. So we also have dietitians on staff that can offer nutrition education and counseling, if that is of interest in the future. And we serve more than just older adults. We started as an HIV service organization in 1988 and then continued to expand to serve, people navigating all types of diet related and chronic conditions. Very good.

Yes. Alright. Well, thank you. Yeah. Of course.

Good afternoon. How are you? Good. So in order to be a part of the senior program at the senior center, which includes part part of the Meals on Wheels, they do have to go through kind of a vetting process. I don't maybe that's not the best word, but they do have to register with the senior program or at the senior center and then there is some information that they provide that they based on their income and things that they need.

So once that is considered and looked through from the senior staff, the senior center staff, I apologize, then they get on the list and then they're able to receive the Meals on Meals. So it basically just needs they have to be vetted through the system and it has to be a need there has to be a need for it, for the person to receive it.

Mhmm.

So is there a waiting list or is everybody on the

waiting list right now. Yes. There is. Hopefully, we talked about the chair talked about the senior center extension that will happen on the South Side, so that will help along with getting more people and being able to serve more meals out of that location.

And how do those meals get delivered?

So they are prepared and they get delivered from our staff. So there is a maybe a transportation route that's provided and it depends on what days of the week that they receive them. So it can be sometimes they'll prepare them sooner for the like when we had the cold weather when we were shut down, so they would give them more meals for that time frame to over in case they could not in case they could not make that delivery. But they get delivered three times a week or two to three times a week depending on the week and what they receive. So it just it's given by our staff, the senior center staff. And I know our rotary club actually does delivery and packing for Meals on Wheels, but it's a different program out of

First United Methodist Church. Mhmm.

But do we allow volunteers to help deliver meals at the senior center? As of right now, we do not. That's something we're considering that we're looking at, but we're not doing that right now because of certain requirements and things of information that's provided that we gather from the client or the customer. Sure. Okay. Well, I'd love

to look at that and see if there's opportunities to serve because we have so many people in the community that want to be engaged and help our seniors. So that'd be great. Thank you very much for your help. So if I could get a motion for the items we've worked on so far.

We'll Madam Chair.

Oh, that would be $2.21 through two Okay. 20

I move to approve the contracts 02/21 through 02/26 as been presented. I'm sorry.

I second the motion. Alright. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Aye. The motion carries. Item two twenty seven is with Patricia Blake through the Parks and Recreation Department to provide swim lessons for youth and adults at Johnson Park Recreation Center. It's a seventy thirty split. It's an estimated amount of $2,012,000 dollars. The term is 03/27/2026 through 03/27/2027. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

K. Let me ask a question about that. There has been some interest in a in a class for employees. We have a we have quite a few employees who do not swim.

That is true. Oh. Yes. This came up because in the water department, we've talked about some of their work near the reservoir and making sure that people that work out there and are out on the lake, we'd love to see them get swim lessons as well for safety reasons.

We can definitely come up with something. It's not just that she's not the only instructor. We have other instructors that are on contract and some of our employees, our current lifeguards do teach swim lessons as well. So we have a lot there's a lot a very big need for it. Yes. One in particular class we've had we have a waiting list. It's very long. Was that yesterday's Yes.

List? Oh, gosh.

Good mind.

Okay. Yeah.

Yes. So but we do have other options and we have other opportunities for other instructors to come on with the same $70.30 split if it's just the space is limited. We only have one pool. So, you know, we just need to be creative on how we schedule it. Okay. But that's something we definitely do with the employees for sure. Wonderful. We'll do a lot of things like pickleball instructions and things like that that we're trying to incorporate within it could be an HR benefit. It could be some other opportunities too.

Okay.

Wonderful. Thank you. Okay. Alright.

Item two twenty eight is with Putnam Partners LLC through the Parks and Recreation Department for the location agreement for filming of Georgia judicial ad at the Rockdale County Courthouse. The amount is $3,500 in revenue. The term is 03/29/2026. This is through the general fund and submitted for ratification. Item two twenty nine is with Tiara Latson through the parks and recreation department for boxing fitness classes.

It's a seventy thirty split. The estimated amount is $12,000. The term is 05/01/2026 through 05/02/2027 with option to renew two twelve month periods. This is to the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two thirty

communications to the technology services department for cloud based phone demonstration. This is at no cost to the county. It's a single event

Item demo

term period. Item

two two thirty thirty is one is with Blue Raster LLC through the technology services department for GIS professional services. The amount is $22,950, is for one year term, is through the general fund, and is a budgeted item. Item two thirty two is with Conyers t h Owner LLC and Conyers Land Owner LLC through the water resources department. This is a maintenance bond for land acquisition, dedication of public water and sewer agreement, power of attorney, bond decrease penalty rider, utility easement agreement, and the final plat. Location is 2051 Highway 138 Northeast for 51.146 acres.

The bond is $6,000 for a two year period. Item two thirty three is with CALIA Incorporated Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies to the sheriff's office. This is two agreements for a publication subscription and access agreement and accreditation program for law enforcement agreement. The amount is $5,580. The contract one is for one year.

Contract two is for thirty six months. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 234 is with tango tango through the sheriff's office for the cat alert radios. It's $8,985 for a three year period. The total price is $2,995 per year.

It's for three years to the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two thirty five is with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to the Planning and Development Department for the homeless management information system agency participation agreement and end user agreement. This is at no cost and is ongoing until terminated. Item two thirty six is with Strategic Materials Incorporated, Ripple Glass through the general services department. This is for the site agreement for collection of recycled glass.

It's $500 per dumpster pickup and is to be offset by the $28 per ton rebate. This is ongoing until terminated. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two thirty seven is with Cone Incorporated through the general services department for door lock monitoring upgrades for three elevators. The amount is $79,501.34.

This is splash funded and is a budgeted item. Item two thirty eight is with triple r paving and construction LLC through the transportation department. This is the Ebenezer Road resurfacing project. It's change order number one to contract 2025Dash136. This is adding Ebenezer Road resurfacing at an additional cost of $690,604.15.

This is to the extend the term for forty five days through 06/05/2026. This is SPLAS funded, a budgeted item, and is submitted for ratification. Item two thirty nine is a requisition through the stormwater department for Vortex Services LLC for chemical lining rehab project. The amount is $28,557. This is through the stormwater fund and is a budgeted item.

Item two forty is a requisition to the water resources department for AquaSmart. This is for the polyblend orthophosphate chemical for water treatment plant. The amount is $102,521 for 65,300. This is through the water enterprise fund and is a budgeted item. Item two forty one is a requisition through the water resources department for Cintas Corporation.

This is for the weekly locker uniforms and cleaning goods and services for 2026. The amount is 45028¢ $45,000.28. This is through the Water Enterprise Fund and is a budgeted item. Item two forty two is a requisition through the water resources for Vortex Companies. This is for the easement clearing services.

The amount is $240,505.75 for clearing services, plus $3,682.50 for the 1.5% performance bond for a total of $249,188.34. This is through the Water Enterprise Fund. This is a budgeted item. Madam Clerk, you hold here Yes.

A minute. Director Peak

Yes, if

you could join us.

Good afternoon, chair, commissioners.

Good afternoon. Can you clarify for us what that process was for clearing services?

Yes. For clearing easements. Easements, we we have sewer systems, sanitary sewer lines out in the woods, off road. So the easement clearing is to clear the brush, to clear the trees down, to be able to have access to that sanitary sewer system when we need to do services on it.

Okay. And does that help make sure that, like, tree roots don't wrap around our pipeline?

Yes, ma'am. Mean, possibility. It it could help. As long as you get trees down, We move the trees off of the sanitary sewer system. Of course, we know the sewer system feeds tree roots. So Yeah. If we move those tree roots, nine times out of 10, we have a clear system. When we get out there, can service it without any root infiltration.

I see. Okay.

Yes, ma'am. Alright. And we have 323 of those sites. This helps to everyone.

123 sites?

323 sites. Yes, ma'am.

That's why y'all are so busy all the time.

We stay we we stay busy.

Alright. Very good. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you.

Keep going. Okay. $2.43 is a requisition through the water resources department for ESG operations incorporated for the Lorraine tank interior renovation. The amount is $189,900. This is through the Water Enterprise Fund and is a budgeted item.

Item 244 is a requisition through fire rescue department for Zoll Medical Corporation for eight Zoll AED three BLS EMS fire packages. The amount is $25,492.96. This is through the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Item two forty five is a requisition through fire rescue department for the North America Fire Equipment Company, also known as NAFCO. This is for five battery operated positive pressure ventilation fans and accessories.

The amount is $33,700. This is to the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Item two forty seven is a requisition to the general services department for Matrix Engineering Group. This is for the additional material testing for the judicial and administrative complex project. The amount is $57,470.

This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item two forty seven is requisition through the general services department for DCR Media and Systems Incorporated for the JAC project audio video for the new courthouse and annex. The amount is 802 $822,568.50. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item two forty eight is a requisition through the general services department for Electrical Contractors Incorporated for the lighting upgrade at Earl O'Neil Park Softball Complex.

The amount is $422,565.14. This is splash funded and is a budgeted item. Item two forty nine, our budget amendment request, a, is to the finance department for general fund. This is the year end budget amendment net savings of $4,431,397. B is for the finance department for the e nine one one fund for the year end balance budget amendment. The amount is $106,351. And we left off at item two twenty seven.

You did? Mhmm. Oh, that's where we left off.

Think yeah. Okay.

I move that we approve items two twenty seven through two forty nine as presented.

Ma'am Chair, I second the motion.

Alright, thank you. Do we have any questions? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. None. Motion carries. Alright. At this time, we have item number nine, board comment. Commissioner Williams, would you like to start? Commissioner Williams, would you like to start today? Been a long day.

Thought she said we left out two twenty seven I hope

Oh, we got them off.

We got

them off. Yes.

So that was a really good state of the county this morning. Congratulate the PR department

Yes. For

their hard hard work on that. Most definitely. And for the chair for sharing lots and lots of information.

Thank

you. We do have our memory cafe still in place on the second Wednesday of every month from three to 5PM at JP Carr Community Center. There is no cost to participants. It is for those living with dementia and their caregivers. It's you can't drop off your loved one, you have to stay with them.

But I as I visited with someone the other day, she talked about her mother had dementia and I was telling her about the memory cafe and she said it wouldn't work for her because her sundown, sundowners starts early, like 04:00. And so, I'm, you know, that made me think, okay, well maybe when we have a second senior center, we can do a morning kind of program also. Sure. For those who can't do it in the afternoon.

Or we could start it before that.

Or we could. Yes, we could.

Those are my comments.

Okay. Thank you very much. Commissioner Smith?

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Again, wonderful job this morning. Thank you much. Very good job. PR, everybody said the same thing. It was very nice.

Thank

you. Very stately. Very good.

I agree.

Very good. Alright. I want to express condolences to congressman David Scott's family in his passing. He did a lot for Rockdale County and brought a lot of funds to Rockdale County. He worked hard to get us what we needed and we got it. And just a note on that, the constituent services will continue. The liaison will still be here every Friday at the library from ten to twelve until someone else has been elected. So that is still available. Excuse me. I want to also let guys know that KCRB did a community collaboration cleanup with Publix on last Thursday, and it was a success.

We had partners with Golden State Foods who allowed us to park our cars there and they did a great job with cleaning up. It's like 30 people that came out from Publix. Oh, wow. All around to clean up our community because we do have Publix here. So, we have a great time collaboration with publics. We appreciate that. And also KCRB hosted a composting workshop last Friday. It was well attended at the UGA Extension Services. That was last Friday. So it was a big success.

Please Please look out for our future composting and other workshops that we'll be offering. And just to remind you that early voting is going on until May 15, and they have Saturday voting this Saturday from nine to five, and also on May 3. I guess that would be this Sunday. Yeah. No. Is that this place?

This Sunday.

May 3. They have voting from ten to three. So make sure you get out and vote. Your vote counts. Your matter your vote matters. And I would like to leave you with this. If you want to see a rainbow, you have to learn to see the rain. And those are my comments.

Thank you. Yeah. How appropriate that we were blessed blessed with a little rain during the, drought that we're in these days. So, it was a great way to welcome Danny Johnson from the North Yeah. Metro Water Department. So, anyway, very good. I did think the state of the county was great today. It definitely showed our patriotic spirit to everyone who came. And I definitely wanna give a shout out to the public relations department and the leadership that I saw today from every person in that department Everybody. Who handled whatever responsibility they had Mhmm.

With joy on their face, and I appreciate that. So thank you. It was definitely a great day to connect with so many neighbors and business owners and people throughout the community. So, I did wanna let everybody know that the farmer's market has started. Growing season is coming up, so we'll see a lot more of our vendors there with fruits and vegetables and an array of different products.

But they're still vendors, so don't forget to come out. It's on Sundays from one to 4PM, and that is located at 1400 Parker Road, which is Wheeler Park. And so, we would love to see you there additionally on Wednesdays from 3PM to 6PM. It's at Pine Log Park right off Highway 138. 8.

So those are two opportunities for us to get more engaged with a healthy community and bring connectivity to neighbors throughout Rockdale. So I hope to see you there in the near future. And I did want to just mention real quick if I could have the discretion of having Andy Rogers come up for a minute and tell us real quick about an opportunity for children in our community. Yes.

Yes. So Camp Westminster is a Christian summer camp for kids ages six to 16. We run seven weeks of summer camp beginning May 31 and ending the July 18, a week long each. And then we have usually three sessions going on on any given week. So we'll have something for the older kids, a day camp for younger kids, or a first timer experience three nights overnight, as well as our six night overnight program that runs Sunday to Saturday.

We hire a staff of 50 young men and women, 17 and up, usually 17, sometimes some 16 year olds, who operate our activities, our cabin staff for these children who mentor them during their time at camp. But ultimately, we're about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and so we're sharing our faith in Jesus Christ at camp to these children. Some of them come from Christian homes, some of them come from non Christian homes. We work with ministry partners throughout the community. The largest of which right now is Angel Tree Camps, which is a prison fellowship ministries.

And they're in contact with about 10,000 children of whom at least one parent is incarcerated in Georgia or the Western Part Of South Carolina. We have access to those children, and they come out to camp on an entirely free scholarship, which is something that their family condition and everything, they wouldn't even be thinking about camp as a possibility, but we get to bust them with that with Prison Fellowship Ministries as well.

I'm proud to have what you guys do right here in Rockdale County. I know a lot of kids who come to the camp from outside of Rockdale. So it's not just locals. There are people that come from all over.

Yeah. It's

a It's a cross section of area

in the Southeast. So we get kids from multiple states and far away from as as Mississippi and the Carolinas and Florida. But primarily, it's in the Atlanta area in this you know, and which is huge in the area around Rockdale and and Conyers.

I appreciate having another accredited partner who understands the importance of a safe environment for children during the summer. So thank you very much for all that you you. Be over there. Okay, at this time there are no other board comments. So Madam Clerk,

do we have a need for executive session? No Madam chair.

Okay. Thank you. At this time, we'll adjourn the meeting. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of

your week.