Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good morning. It's great to see everyone today. At this time, we're going to call the meeting to order. I do want to let you know that if there are any open seats, there are still people waiting to sit down. So just wave your hands if you have an open seat next to you. We appreciate your hospitality. All right. At this time, we will have our invocation and pledge. And I'd like to ask Deputy Director Jamison to come to the podium.

Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Commissioner. Can we pray? Kind Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for this is the day that you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. We won't cry about the rain that's on the outside because we know it's producing something phenomenal for us on tomorrow. God, we thank you that Rockdale is not only a phenomenal place to work, God, but it's a phenomenal place to live. So we thank you. for her leaders. We thank you for her residents. We thank you, God, that we get to place this place on the rock, and we thank you that that rock is you. So, God, as we endeavor to make this a better place than we've ever had and experienced before, we ask that you lead us. We ask that you guide us. We thank you, for the legacy of leadership that's even in this room, God, that as we build, we are taking Rockdale to her finest days and her finest hours. We thank you for your wisdom. We thank you for your hand of direction. We thank you for your love. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Thank you. I pledge. 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.

All right. This morning, I have the honor of going through our special recognitions and presentations. We're going to start with our 2025-2026 Georgia Recreation and Parks Association Awards. So if you'll join me at the podium, Commissioner Royce. Sure. all right so yes that would be great and yes other members of parks and rec if you'll come up that would be great and senior services yes deputy director morgan Deputy Director Wilson, thanks for coming up and everybody for being here today. All right, our proclamation. Whereas parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this nation, including Rockdale County, And whereas, building active communities through parks and recreation programs aid in the prevention of chronic disease, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically disabled, and improve the mental and emotional health of all citizens. And whereas programming and education activities through parks and recreation, such as after school and summer programming, youth sports, and environmental education are critical to childhood development. And whereas parks and recreation programs increase a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses, and crime reduction. and whereas our parks and recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and whereas the U.S. House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month and whereas rockdale county recognizes the benefits derived from parks and recreation resources now therefore we the members of the board of commissioners of rockdale county do hereby proclaim july 2026 as parks and recreation month In witness whereof, we appear unto set our hands and cause the official seal of Rockdale County to be affixed on this 14th day of July, 2026. Signed by myself, Janice Van Ness, Chairwoman, Tawanya Smith, Commissioner Post 1, Doreen Williams, Commissioner Post 2. We'll go up here and take a photo.

So we have our video, but I'll speak first and then we'll do the video. sorry good morning everybody um as you said you just saw july is parks and recreation month and it is a time to celebrate the parks programs facilities and dedicated professionals who help strengthen our community every day we are proud of the positive impact our department has on health wellness and quality of life of rockdale county residents today we'd like to take a few moments to highlight the work accomplishments and people who make our department so special thank you for joining us as we welcome Parks and Recreation Month and the differences parks and recreation make in our community we do have a video we'll show the video and we actually have a few awards that we're going to present to some of the staff here for recognition

I grew up in Rockdale, came here when I was 16 from New York, and now I'm able to play in these same gyms, these same facilities. And now I'm here as a person with influence, and I'm able to bring programs and ideas to help keep our kids out of the streets, keep them safe, and just grow and have fun. So the power of Parks and Rec means to me, it gives the community an opportunity to come together, collaborate with sports, games. So Rockford County Parks and Rec has made a positive impact on my life and my family, from competition, just being competitive, and just growing together. I've been here now four years. I've seen kids that were small, grown, and I'm able to help and be an impact to their life. Hey, my name is Dylan Gibson.

I'm with Athletics and Parks and Recreation. The power of Parks and Rec means everything to me. I grew up playing and now I get to come back and see the kids grow and get to mentor them and just get to see them and be active in their life. I was able to play basketball, football, baseball and just do the right things and I was able to stay active. So that's why I was important to me.

I would actually like to ask Tahara, our deputy director, Tahara Wilson to come up and join. She actually is going to present the awards as well with me.

Good morning, everyone. They're all right here. All right, so across the screen, there were several awards that we won going into the later part of last year into this year, so I want to bring notoriety to that. We were awarded the Georgia Recreation and Park Association DeCastro Trailhead Nature Pavilion for Best Park Maintenance Operation Network Capital Project under $500,000. So DeCastro Trailhead is on the south side, so with collaborations with General Services, we were able to bring an award home to Rockdale County.

So that's that for right there.

In addition, we won another award with Georgia Recreation and Park Association Most Outstanding Event for the Rockin' Rockdale Summer Concert Series. And then our youth, our boys, 14-year-old team was able to bring home the 2025-2026 season Boys Class A District 6 Basketball Championship. And that trophy actually was the state championship, so that same team went forward and won the state, the whole state of Georgia. And also, every year we recognize an employee internally to make sure we keep up with morale and make sure we are pointing out the best of the best within our department. So in 2025, going into this year, Ms. Alandria won our Employee of the Year award. So I just want to make note that we always strive for excellence. We always make sure we apply for awards on state level and national levels, just FYI. So every year we never miss an opportunity to apply for an award. So I just want to thank my team again across this floor and in the back for all your hard work, Ms. Alandria Bing. Ms. Lavonda Bruton, Ms. Aaliyah Jackson, Cooper, who else am I missing? Jordan, thank you. So I appreciate that. In addition, we do have certificates given to our young volunteers who come in during the summertime. Ms. Lavonda, Ms. Alandria, can y'all, do y'all mind coming up here real quick? There are some names on here that I don't want to mispronounce, and I know that they know them very intimately. So we have young volunteers from 13 and up who come in during the summertime and really help us and thrive, and we love to educate them and show them an experience that they've never seen before. And, you know, counselors in training, because one day when they become of age, they're going to take the ring, and they're no longer going to be the student but the actual employee. So I'm not for sure.

Okay.

All right. So the first one we have is Ms. Shelby Hammonds. If you can come up front. Thank you, Shelby. Yeah, Ms. Shelby, you can stay up here. Okay. All right. Okay. And now we have Ms. Chloe Bumpers. We have more, but we do have their certificates here and they'll get them back at the office when we see them. But thank you all for your support.

And I'll say the third.

All right. Thank you very much to our Parks and Recreation. That's all your awards, right, Director Carney? Okay. Just want to make sure. Thank you for all that your department does for our community. I know that I constantly get great feedback about all the outdoor activities going on right now, especially at 1400 Parker Road. So lots of fun things going on. I love the event that we had not long ago, and unfortunately I couldn't make it, but it was the like not the old day but like 730 a.m. to 2 p.m. different exercises like every 40 minutes day of fitness that was really great so anyway all right so next we have human resources with the 2026 summer service awards for years of service

all right good morning we are super excited this morning to recognize and honor today we're going to be recognizing 12 individuals who have served rockdale county for 20 years 25 years we even have someone here who has served rockdale county for 35 years so super excited about that before we go ahead and call everyone up if public relations can go ahead and play the video we're going to see some beautiful pictures i don't know if they know their pictures are here But we're going to go ahead and show them right now. We know who that is. You know who that is? 25 years. You know who that is.

OK.

Absolutely amazing. I always wonder if you guys send us the pictures, or do we go out and get them? So absolutely amazing. And it's one thing about HR as well. We always put up the government name. Have you guys noticed that? There's someone up there. Her name is Emma, but we're going to go ahead and go through that. So the first one we're going to talk about, I do want you guys, I don't want anyone to leave. So when you come up, we're going to have someone come up and make some comments on your behalf. We are going to take a photo at the end. So when you do come up, if you can just stand up here with us for a second and so we can get a photo of everyone. The first person I'm going to call up is CG Baker. He is the general manager for animal services in EMA. He's been with Rockdale County for 20 years.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Sharon Webb. I am EMA Director, which Animal Services falls under. And first off, CG, I'd like to congratulate you on many years. We've worked together for many years, not in this capacity, but worked side by side, next door to each other for numerous years. But I'll tell you, it's been a whole different eye opener being a part of Animal Services now. And the job you do goes, I don't know how you do it, actually. so there's a lot that goes into the animal shelter and he is the face of the animal shelter and the care and passion and heart you have shows truly every day and i greatly appreciate you and all you do and i know those fur babies do because without you and your team they wouldn't be able to do what you know get out and be adopted and things and i know you strive to make sure that is they're you know taken care of and something that you do and the passion shows and all you do and i greatly appreciate you and congratulate you for all your hard work thank you

It's coming. You were in this picture. Yeah. Sorry. yeah you can step here this next person I'm excited for her I think she it's gonna be retiring soon but I'm excited for her Cynthia Willingham she is the director of our Board of Elections and we do have someone here from her board that is here to speak up you come on up yeah come and speak on her behalf

Well, good morning, Rockdale. And thank you, Miss Willingham, for your service. I think we can all agree that Rockdale votes. And Rockdale votes because of this young lady here and her staff and her volunteers, her team. Let me, if all of her team would stand. So thank you for the acknowledgement, thank you for the recognition, and thank you for all of your hard work.

I don't want to miss the opportunity to say how much I've enjoyed working with you. You do. you make sure we have fair elections and we can trust that our vote is counted and that means so much many years ago when you thought about leaving i couldn't stand the thought so i'm glad that you stayed with us you've been a real asset in this community so thank you and your whole team you're amazing y'all do a great job as well and to the board members thank you

And I just want to quickly say thank you to my staff, to my election workers. Without them, none of this could be possible. Thank you to our candidates. We know the work that you all do with the public out there in the field. It's hard work, but we thank you. And without you, we would not be here. Thank you.

um this next person we're going to call up and again i think everybody knows who she is this is d.a johnson she has been with rockdale county serving for 20 years so ladies and gentlemen district attorney johnson And I believe her chief of staff, operations manager, is coming to make comments on her behalf, who I call Chief Cabe.

Thank you so much. Good morning, everyone. It's an honor to be here today, Madam Chair, Madam Commissioner, to represent the Rockdale County District Attorney's Office and recognize our leader, District Attorney Alicia Johnson. She is celebrating 20 years of service today, 20 years of service to this community. She started back on June 5. excuse me June 5th 2006 as an assistant district attorney for our office and in 2018 became our elected district attorney she is about to enter her third term and I can tell you that she has served this community faithfully for many, many years. But I can tell you working firsthand with her in the time that I've been with her office, she is truly dedicated to this community and making sure that we have fair prosecutions that go through our court system. So without further ado, on behalf of our entire office, I would like to recognize her for her 20 years of service and thank her for her service to our community.

It is truly an honor to be able to serve as District Attorney, but to be here in Rockdale County for 20 years. This is not just hard work, but it is truly heart work. I have said many times that I could not work in any other community but Rockdale County. Some have tried to get me someplace else, but it's in my heart always calling me back to believe it's been 20 years. I can't believe that happened. I was actually an intern My last year of law school and then was hired officially in June of 2006 upon graduating. So I love Rockdale. People of Rockdale know that we do every single day to serve you all. So thank you for 20 years of hard but fun times. Thank you.

Okay.

So DA Johnson has just informed me. We're going to go ahead and recognize someone also from her office who has been here for 20 years. I saw when his picture came up, he kind of shook his head like he didn't recognize the picture. So I don't know if that's true or not. But we're going to call up Investigator Wilson from the District Attorney's Office. And then we have Chief Investigator Michael Cobb will come up and speak. Did you recognize the picture?

Yes. You didn't say that right. I don't recognize that picture.

Here you go.

Good morning, everyone. It's an honor for me. I'm Michael Cobham, Chief Investigator at the DA's office. It's an honor of mine to be able to recognize Robert Wilson. Investigator Wilson has been with our office for four years, but he has served this county in public service and law enforcement specifically since 2006. There are very few people that I know of in law enforcement that have both the breadth and then specific depth of knowledge and experience in certain areas that he has. We are really fortunate to have him at the DA's office. I will tell you that he started in 2006 and I started in 2010, and he's one of the guys that I was able to learn a lot from when I first started, mostly from embarrassing myself or doing something dumb in front of him, and I can picture him shaking his head in disappointment at me. But he's had a great deal of experience. Rockdale County is fortunate to have his service, and hopefully we can have several years more. Thank you all.

all right this next person and again I don't again I don't know who doesn't know her I said we put up government names here but we know her as Emma Medina she's been with General Services she's a custodian 20 years

Good morning. I'm Andrew Hammer. I'm the Director of General Services. And I know I could speak for everybody else who gets to stand up here and present how much we enjoy these things. You know, we don't often get to... We work in the background. We work hard. We come in every day. We don't necessarily get to recognize the people that are putting in all the hard work. In the movies, the... The actors get all the fame and celebrity status, but there's so many people that work behind the scenes to make sure we have cinematic magic. And I don't know what else to describe Emma as a magic producer for the county. She's been cleaning our facilities for 20 years. Think about that. Every floor, every inch, every baseboard, every blind that you can think of. So I want to say three things about her. First, she speaks a lot more English than you think. Don't let her fool you. And she understands even more, so be careful. The second thing I want to say is if you've seen the plants, our job description doesn't include plants. And one of the things that Emma has done is provided these beautiful plants. If you walk by the administration building and the courthouse, she does those on her own. It's not part of her job duties. It's not part of she has resurrected some plants that have been destroyed and knocked over and made them look like they're fake because they are so shiny and so beautiful. So she really takes the care and concern to make the county beautiful. And that was the last story I was going to tell about Emma. Do you want to, do you want to say something more about Emma? Do you want to come up and say hi? You said you want, she said she wanted to, she is being shy, so. Come on up.

What? Oh.

Oh, she always say she appreciate whatever you do for her, but everything she told you, you listen to her.

oh that's so nice I do remember the last story so we had somebody who was working for us and and you know a lady never tells her age and so I won't either but she it was somebody that was working much much younger there's a strapping young lad all kinds of muscles and everything and he worked with Emma for a week and on Friday he came back and he said I can't do this anymore She outworks anybody that we put with her, and it's amazing. So thank you so much for everything.

Wait, I want to say something.

I'm so sorry. I say good morning for everyone. We want to appreciate whatever Ms. Emma is doing for Rother County. She's working with us for 20 years, and Mr. Clarence is working for 25 years. I have to say thank you for whatever you guys are doing for us and for the county, too. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Maybe I'm not saying that.

Thank you.

Okay, we're going to do a group picture at the end. I want to make sure that we capture everyone. Okay, this next person, she was not able to make it. She is the customer service supervisor, and she works in Rockdale Water Resources. I'm going to invite up Deputy Director Jamison to receive hers on her behalf. She has been with Rockdale County for 20 years. So that is Ms. Barbara Garrisaw.

So good morning again. I think it's Barbara had some pre-approved time off. So that's why she is not here. But I did want to say a few things. I've been privileged to work with Barbara for the last six years. And I'll say there's probably no one in this county like Barbara Gerasaw. Number one, I think she's, I know she's consistent. Barbara always shows up, right? And that's one of the things that we can count on for Barbara. And then secondly, she's competent. I don't think there's anybody over there that understands customer care and customer service the way that Barbara does. And then last, that division is called Customer Care and Business Affairs. Barbara resonates caring. She is one of the most empathetic people that you can ever get, and so I always appreciate the fact that she's going to make sure, it's like those old gasoline stations, you're going to get full service when you get Barbara on the phone. And so I just wanted to say we appreciate all that she does on behalf of customer care and business affairs, and certainly for all the customers that are privileged to use water and get her on the phone, you're getting a treat when you get Barbara. Thank you.

Next up, we have from the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office, and he was not able to join us today, but we do have Captain Harris here to receive on his behalf. We will be recognizing Certified Sheriff's Deputy Brian McNeil. So Captain Harris.

Good morning everybody. So yeah, McNeil's on vacation. He's taking a long needed vacation from the courthouse. McNeil's been working at the courthouse for about 14, 15 years. He's been with the county for 20. He worked at the sheriff's office over at the jail for about two years and probably worked the road for about three. So Benil's a good deputy. He's dedicated. And we appreciate having him around. I think he'll appreciate getting this award today. And I talked to him. He said, make sure you get my award, Captain Harris. You know, so... yeah I've worked with him probably about maybe six years he's worked under me and I really enjoy working with him so I appreciate all deputy McNeil

All right, we are now moving on to our 25 years of service and we will now recognize again, she is no stranger definitely to me. I think Chief Sanders and I talk every single day, evening, morning. She has been with Rockdale County for 25 years. Ladies and gentlemen, our COO, Ms. Chief Sanders.

Lucky me I get to talk about you. Wonderful. Well, I have had the pleasure of working with Sue Director Sanders Chief Sanders for ten years and I will tell you When I was here before you were at Parks and Recreation General Services you run a lot of different departments and we appreciate your ongoing dedication to the county and And just the amazing job that you do now as COO in Rockdale County. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make everything happen in Rockdale. And so I appreciate the dedication and care that you have with each of the members of our team in Rockdale. So thank you.

You don't want to show them your plaque? No. We'll get over to a picture of the front. Yes.

You got your phone.

All right, next up. Now, this is a treat simply because he's already retired from us, you guys. But he definitely, we wanted to bring him back and recognize him for 25 years. He's here. You can always see his smiling face. Again, I don't know who doesn't know him. We're going to bring up Clarence Shipp, 25 years. He's a retired custodian from General Services.

I'm going to say a few things, but I know Clarence is going to want to talk to you. You don't know? Depends on what I say, right? If you thought cleaning for 20 years was one thing, 25 years of the county, a quarter of a century. He's predated many of the buildings that we have. And that wasn't a comment on your age. but rather just the service that you provided for the county for such a long time anybody who knows Clarence if you've bumped into him ever I've been with the county 19 years and I've bumped into Clarence I don't know thousands of times and I have never not once and I don't mean occasionally I mean sometimes I have never seen him upset I have never seen him anything but his smiling face that he is. In all the adversity, all the times, COVID, everything that we've endured over the past 25 years. And someone said to me, which I do think is true, that he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's just a joyful person. And although I agree with that, I also want to go further with that because he wakes up every day and going through an experience in adversity and But having joy anyway, having that smile anyway is a choice. And when we did his retirement ceremony, someone made a comment. He was up there talking and everybody's kind of casual. And they said something, oh, tell us some of the stories that you've encountered. And he started and he said, no, I'm not going to do that. And I realized at that point it's a choice he makes every single day to have a smile, to have joy, and then to extend that to everybody else. That to me is amazing. It's just truly amazing. So I want to thank you for that every single day. Thank you, man.

Clarence, if you can stand over here. All right. This next gentleman, who is a supervisor for Parks and Recreation, not here today, but we're going to bring up Director Carney to receive this on his behalf. It is Mr. James McNeil. Again, he's been with Rockdale County for 25 years. Deputy Director Wilson as well.

All right, good morning again. Unfortunately, James could not be here this morning. However, on behalf of Mr. McNeil, our parks maintenance supervisor, reaching 25 years of service is an incredible milestone and a testament to his dedication, hard work, and commitment to serving Rockdale County and our community. It's an honor for both Deputy Wilson and I to stand up here and be able to recognize James and to have him on our team. We appreciate his dedication and service to the county and department by maintaining our parks and green spaces countywide he's not just at one location so he's been around for a long time and he's seen all of our parks grow to what they are today so it's because of him that we have what we have with the way they look today okay

All right. This person, he knew he was up because he already stood up, you guys, so he's waiting for us to go ahead and call him. I'm going to call up Deputy Director Jamison to come and speak on his behalf as well. Mr. Hugh Pinnell, Supervisor, Water Resources, 25 years.

Good morning again. I'm going to yield to General Manager Richard Davis, who's going to share a few remarks.

Good morning, Rockdale County. Back in, I've been here almost four years now, and when I came to Rockdale County back in 22, I made my rounds because I'm a responsible for the wastewater treatment plant, water treatment plants, and operation 2420 Tatum Road. And when I made my way to the water treatment plant, they had just got a building built, a maintenance building, and I hadn't met Hugh yet. And so when I got there, Hugh welcomed me there, walked me around, showed me everything. And I happened to go into his office and I sat down and I saw deers and I saw this and saw that. But what made it interesting is that I noticed that when we got to talking, we had so many things in common. i he started in the wastewater i started in the wastewater and we got to talking before you know it was about an hour hour and a half and one thing else i noticed about hugh and first of all i want to thank your your wife your family for allowing you to give us 25 years of service with rockdale county and you that don't know he's also a veteran united states navy And I know the director couldn't be here. He's a veteran as well, so I'm pretty sure he would have loved to have been here to congratulate you. But on his behalf, I say we love you, God bless you and your family, and you know what it is.

DA Johnson, if you can get the comments.

This is our last service award, or summer service award for today. But again, we talked about people that have served the county for 20 years, 25 years, and now even 35 years. I'm gonna go ahead and invite her up. It says Sarah, but I'm gonna go ahead and call her Dabney. Miss Dabney Kentner, Chief Assistant District Attorney, 35 years of service.

Dabney's laughing because she can't believe it's been 35 years. But back in August of 2005, I remember being a third year law student, my first day interning here in the Rockdale DA's office in Judge Irwin's courtroom. And as I'm sitting in the gallery, I hear from behind me these pounding and commanding footsteps coming into the courtroom. And in walks then senior ADA Dabney Kentner. I stood in awe as I watched this woman who was strong and powerful. She was a fierce advocate for victims, and she was competent in front of that courtroom. And I watched her and said, man, I wonder if I can be like her one day. Over the course of 20 years, she has grown from someone that I have admired and been in awe of to being my mentor as a young, struggling ADA trying to figure out this world of prosecution and how to be fair and just and how to balance life. I've watched and have grown to become friends and a confidant for me to be able to know how to do this work with justice at the forefront of what we do. When I became DA, I was a little concerned, can I do this work? And it was Daphne coming into my office and saying, you got this. She is my right hand. She is my confidante. There is no one else who I want to do this work with day in and day out. 35 years in any capacity or in any office is a testament to someone's dedication. But I want to say 35 years as a criminal prosecuting attorney. A criminal prosecutor for 35 years takes a level of dedication that very few truly understand. It is hard work. And what I mean by that is that you don't just leave this work in your office. You don't just leave it every day. You carry it with you because it is what you have been called to do. and Dabney represents the best of us as prosecutors across the state and across this nation. It is my honor to have worked with her, to have learned from her, to grow with her and by her side, and I am so thankful for not just what you do, but who you are every day. We do hard work, but we get to have fun too. A little bit of fun. But we do it because we care, and we care for Rockdale County, the victims that we serve every single day. I am blessed to call her my friend and my chief assistant, and Rockdale County is blessed to have her serve for 35 years. Daphne Kentner, we thank you for your service, and I am so proud of you.

Wow.

Y'all, I just thank you. Thank you to the citizens of Rockdale County for affording me what has been the most interesting, fulfilling career any person could ever dream of. I'm so honored to have been able to do this work for 35 years. But the reality is it's because of the people I work with, the fantastic members of our office who just go over and beyond day after day. But the best part has been getting to be Alicia Johnson's chief assistant. So anyhow, it's been great. Thank you.

At this point, I do want to do a group photo, but I want to have both. Again, I want to thank you and thank everybody for your service and your dedication. I do want to allow for our commissioner, Williams, to make comments as well as the chair, and then we're going to do a group photo.

So having taught school for 30 years, I know how that longevity impacts an organization. And that longevity in the county makes a huge difference when you have the stability, the knowledge, the care that each of these recipients who have been here for 20 and more years have brought to our county. They excel at what they do. They like what they do. If they didn't, I don't think they'd be here as long as they were. So I really appreciate the stability and the continuity that they bring to Rockdale County.

I only want to add thank you for your passion and dedication that you show up to Rockdale County with every day, the mentors that you are in your departments and offices, and we thank you for choosing Rockdale.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. do you want to just face the audience

I'm probably turning around.

You guys can go back up there.

Good job, Clarence. Good job.

I'm glad you came back.

Thank you. I was going to tell everybody thank you for your patience with seating today. oh good to see you clearance thank you see you soon

We're having a party out there.

Okay.

All right. Well, I'm glad everybody has a seat now so we can move forward. Let's see. All right, but, yes. Good morning. Good morning.

Madam Chair, Commissioner Williams.

Good morning.

Presentation without the music.

Yes.

hard to follow up all this. Before I present, I know that Chief Sanders is 25 years. I just want to say to her, thank you so much. She was acting in as a CFO, and it's very hard to fill the shoes that even that transition thing for me. So I really appreciate that. My team appreciate her. So thank you so much, Chief Sanders. She was not here, so she will probably hear me. Anyway, so we are presenting our fifth month of the fiscal year, which is 41.67% is lapsed, 58.33% is idle percentage remaining. And above that is our green categories and not highlighted categories for all those. Those who are in green category also have under expense comparing to the last two fiscal year, 24 and 25. So those are technology services, public relations, clerks of the court, planning and development, debt service, which is obvious, and stormwater, which is the enterprise fund for this.

So all of those that you mentioned are under budget.

under budget, and not only that, but spending less as compared to the last two fiscal year. It's a marvelous achievement. Excellent. Those who are in blue category, ideal presentation rating is 58.33. They are a little bit under it, and there is a reason behind it that we put it on the comments. And those are elections, human resources, tax commissioners, sheriffs, EMS, street lightning, agencies, libraries, economic development, and our special revenue fund, E911. No projection for trending. Everything is going fine. General fund is under spending. But how much it's going to be, I'm just going to wait a little longer for that one. And if any question, I'll be right here. And we sent you the reports that you requested. Yes. And we will follow up on that, if anything, that we can help with.

Well, I appreciate your department's help and being good financial stewards and working collaboratively with the different directors and offices throughout the county. I know we're starting the budget cycle, which is a great opportunity for citizens to come out and hear about where their dollars are being spent. And we I think collaboratively last year were able to save four point four million after we had the approved budget Yes, and I think that is as definitely a step in the right direction to help Manage our millage rate and be good stewards to the taxpayers in Rockdale County so we appreciate your team's commitment and the great stability that your long-standing team has and I think the average age of employees tenure in your department is like 20 years. Yes. Correct. Yes.

Wonderful team and I'm very fortunate to be here. Yes. Just a quick note about that we closed out over fiscal year 25. And first time in, I think it may be probably three or four years that we did it on time. And the financial report, which is called ACPA, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, is posted online on our website. So I just wanted to give that note to everybody. And thank you so much. If any questions, I'll be right here.

All right. Thank you. Do you have any questions? No, I read through it yesterday. It looked good.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

All right, very good. Thank you. At this time is a point of privilege. I'd like to call up Fire Chief Jimmy Robinson to provide an update.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Chairwoman, commissioners, everyone in attendance. Thank you for allowing me a few moments to speak on behalf of the men and women of Rockdale County Fire Rescue. I want to express our sincere gratitude for the incredible support shown following the line of duty death. of firefighter Juan Smith. Losing one of our own is something no fire department is prepared for. During that difficult time, this board, our county leadership, our public safety partners, local businesses, churches, and countless members of our community surrounded us with prayers, encouragement, and compassion. Your support meant more than words can ever express, and we will never forget it. While we cannot replace one, we can ensure that his sacrifice is never forgotten. I am honored to share that we have been working with former Chairman Richard Oden and RDOT Director Brian Kelly on a project to memorialize Juan by designating a portion of Sigma Road near Fire Station 1 as the Firefighter Juan A. Smith II Memorial Highway. I want to personally thank Mr. Oden for bringing this idea forward and Director Kelly for partnering with us to help make this lasting tribute possible. Juan dedicated his life to serving this community, and it is only fitting that his legacy will continue to be remembered in the place he proudly served. Thank you again for your unwavering support of Juan's family and the members of Rockdale County Fire Rescue. We are grateful to serve such an outstanding community. Thank you.

Thank you very much. At this time, I'd like to call up Director Brian Kelly.

good morning madam chair commissioner um so with this um concept what we're looking at is potentially uh renaming the roads in the area that that would um bring uh recognition to our our fallen firefighter here We have examined other options, but the ideal would be to maintain a safe flow and clear zones for the future public. So we have done some research, and that will be the recommendation is to move forward with a naming of sorts that we will bring to you and let you guys vote on there.

Okay. And at this time, we don't have a designation area, but I know that it requires a good bit of work with GDOT and things like that.

So State Route 20 does fall between the hospital and all the way to 138, so there is some coordination that needs to happen before we can finalize that. But once we have agreement and concurrence, I'm sure we can move forward with GDOT as well.

Okay. Very good. All right. Former Commissioner Chair Richard Oden, if you'll come to the podium.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Commissioner. And to the body, it's always a sad occasion when you have a fellow brethren citizen or any member of this community to lose a life the ultimate sacrifice and I want to appreciate Commission for meeting with me on multiple occasions and for your listening here I also want to appreciate and thanks Chief Robinson and Deputy Chief Richard Pickens for also listening to me and hearing my cry and I say that because I am a lifetime firefighter member, as I'm gonna share with you all. I have a badge that was given to me years ago. And I think it's just fitting and an honor to be able to present a resolution that we all are familiar with. I'm not going to read it in its entirety. I'd like to start it, but I do know that it has to be done through a legal form of approval. So I won't read it in entirety. I'll just read a couple sections of it so that you'll be aware that the community as a community advocate and leader and a person who believes in this community I just want to just come by today and just say thank you, thank you, and thank you to our first responders from the Sheriff's Department, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Department Rescue. So I do want to present to each and every one of you just a little package. that has the potentials in it, has four documents in it. It has the document of the resolution proposed. It also has the support of our state senator letter and our House representative letter. We have three House representatives. So I have two of those letters with me here in well, and then our last meeting agenda and another document inside. So I have the three documents. I don't see Commissioner Smith, so I want to prepare to get to her as well, right?

We'll make sure she gets it. I'll take hers as well. Thank you. Thank you very much.

So I'll just be very quickly brief on this resolution here. Chief, can you come stand with me? For those who, on the 26th of June, sat in the church, I sat by the family, and my heart was hurt. And I thank you, Chairwoman, for sitting on that stage, holding your composure, and the leadership you provide to this community. It meant so much to everyone that was in prison, and we appreciate you and your leadership. For those who didn't see this fallen brother, It's very heartbreaking, but we want to make sure we realize this. So take my eyes off so I can see. A resolution honoring the life, service, and sacrifice of firefighter Ron Antonia, with an A, Smith II, through the designation of the firefighter Juan Antonio Smith II Memorial Corridor in Conyers, Georgia, Rockdale County. Whereas firefighter Juan Antonio Smith faithfully served the citizens of Rockdale County and the city of Conyers with courage, professionalism, dedication, and honor. And whereas throughout his service, Firefighter Smith demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting the lives, safeguarding property, and serving the community during the times of emergency and crisis. With unwavering dedication, with the Rockdale County Fire and Rescue Department, from service date, February the 5th, 2024, until the ultimate sacrifice of the line of duty death, the LOD, on June the 12th, 2026. There's a couple more lines here. I will not read them for the sake of time and out of respect for everyone time. But I'd like for the chief, if we would pick up and read from now and therefore, just a couple, that state right here, right here, and I'm just, we'll be through.

Okay.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners, assembled in lawful session, that the portion of Sigmund Road, and we'll work on the exact areas, be as designated as Firefighter 1, Antonia Smith, the Second Memorial Corridor.

Thank you. All right? Thank you.

Okay.

Madam Chair and Commissioner, I thank you for the time today to come by today and to share this thought for our beloved brother and for the opportunity to stand before you in this community once again. And I'm always willing to be open to volunteer and help our community continue to be. And in closing, I'm going to say our Roddale County is a perfect position community with a rock-solid approach dedicated to excellence in customer service and quality of life and global economic development. As we said many years ago, we're headed in that direction. And Madam Chairwoman, you and your team, we will get there. We will get there without a doubt. I'm confident. God bless you, each and every one of you. God bless Rockendale County government. God bless the citizens of Rockendale County. And then forward ever, backwards never. Thank you.

very good and thank you for joining the many citizens and businesses who are who have been so incredibly supportive of our first responders the fire department specifically we appreciate everything that people do for outreach so we appreciate that effort um i did also want to say i know that there is some more work to be done on this as any great thing deserves is the proper attention so we will continue to work and move forward

Thank you so much. Thank you. Great day.

Thank you, Chief Robinson. All right. This time we will move to public comment and we will start with Miss Trish Miller. Oh, very, very good.

All right. Hi. How are you doing? Let's see.

All right, so good morning to everyone. My name is Trish Miller. I'm the founder and CEO of Swim School. We're a Georgia-based 501c3 nonprofit that's dedicated to drowning prevention and water safety education. So I'm here just to introduce myself, share some exciting news. Swim School is proud to be a new property owner here in Rockdale County. Earlier this summer, we purchased a 14,000 square foot building on Iris Drive, the former Babcock Furniture Store, that will become our permanent headquarters and the future home of our indoor aquatic education center. For nearly a decade, our organization has worked to eliminate barriers to swimming by providing affordable swimming lessons, water safety education, lifeguard training, CPR certification, and workforce development opportunities throughout metro Atlanta. Every year, hundreds of children and adults lose their lives to drowning, and it remains one of the leading causes of death for humans. We believe that learning to swim is not a luxury, it's a life-saving skill. We chose Rockdale County because we believe this community shares our vision for investing in families, public health and opportunity. Our new headquarters will allow us to serve thousands of youth and adults each week while creating new jobs, training future lifeguards, swim instructors and establishing Rockdale County as a leader in drowning prevention and support Rockdale County's already wonderful aquatics programming. As we move through construction and prepare to open later this year, we look forward to becoming an active community partner. We're excited to work alongside the county, local organizations, schools, and community leaders to expand access to water safety education for families across Rockdale County. I want to thank the Board of Commissioners for your service to this community, and I look forward to getting to know each one of you as well as the community in the months ahead. So thank you for your time and thanks for welcoming us to this community.

I want to tell you that I am so passionate about people learning to swim, and I am so tickled that you're here today. I hope, you know, I'm not sure about the depth of your pool. Will you also have adult lessons as well?

So I learned to swim as an adult. My background is in public health, and so we are planning two pools in this location, one eight-foot pool as well as a family-sized pool that's four and a half feet. okay so adult lessons is what we pride ourselves in doing and we create a relationship with the water outside of just the skill of learning how to swim excellent now do you have other locations we do we started in the city of Atlanta we have six locations in the city of Atlanta however this is our first purchased location and so we're just proud to have been able to do that here in this county

Well, small businesses are the backbone of America. And I am so tickled that you've chosen Rockdale for your corporate headquarters. And I can tell you, knowing this community, you will be overwhelmed with success. So I hope that you will make sure to stop by our Chamber of Commerce and be a part of that. You will have a very positive experience, I know. So if we can do anything for you, please let me know.

Thank you. We are already members, and we're just looking forward to just really loving on the community and opening those doors January 2027. Okay.

And if you have cards today that you want to leave for us, we would love that. Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you and welcome. All right. We have Ann Sapp.

Good morning. Good morning. First off, I'd like to just say we're really grateful for you realizing that the UDO needs more work. And I noticed there's a request for deferral on the agenda. And I'd also like to commend our planning department for upholding our comprehensive plan this week and denying MMM's rezoning request and future land use amendments. It's been very encouraging to see our county officials listening and standing up for our community and so we really appreciate that and I hope that continues. I have several questions in relation to the work on the UDO that I'm hoping you can clarify. At the last BOC meeting, you said you were considering passing some parts and holding back the more contentious parts. And we're assuming the contentious parts relates to the data centers, but it was never really said clearly. So I was wondering if you could clarify if that's the case, and how will we know or be made aware of what parts will be passed and what ones will be held back? That was my first question. Do you want to answer?

It's normally not a question and answer, but when you get done, I'll do a brief summation.

The other thing was you also mentioned forming a committee of stakeholders and experts. And your name is on the list. Congratulations. Thank you.

You get to move forward to Chief Sanders' desk afterwards, and she'll be glad to talk to you more about that.

Wonderful. So that was my next question was, when would that be formed? And will the suggestions that the citizens submitted through the website be incorporated? And what timeline are we looking at for the rewrite? And then my third question was, the newest version was made available to the public on June the 12th, six days before the meeting on the 18th. Six days isn't enough to review over 400 pages of legalese and give meaningful feedback. And besides that, it violated a state law. At the planning committee last Thursday, Attorney Paul Stalkup said there's a requirement for 15 days of notice, and it has to be put in a newspaper. And we weren't given that notice, which he said should, in effect, void the entire thing, because that notice wasn't given. So can any part of the UDA legally move forward since that was violated? That's all my questions.

Madam Clerk, can you specify, can you clarify on that ruling? Hi, Ms. Sapp.

Hi, again. Hi, Jennifer Rutledge. So a couple of things are going on. So today, yes, we are going to ask the board if they would please defer the UDO at least until the next board meeting. At the next board meeting, we will, between now and the next voting session, we will parse out the pieces that are available to be able to be adopted. The portion about Mr. Stock up about the legal advertisements. I have had conversations with the planning department and they have provided information to me about the legal advertisement, but also moving ahead. They're going to start incorporating those. There's three pieces that have to be done when there is a portion that's amended through the UDO. You've got to send letters to the adjoining property owners. You have to post the signs. And you also have to make sure that the legal ad is ran in time. There's a shot clock on every one of these things, right? If one of those things is not done, yes, you have to start all over again. I think you've seen some of this before. So to avoid some of this and the questions during the hearings, our planning director White came up with a solution and said, you know what, we'll start including it in the PowerPoint presentations. Here's what's been done on this and here's what's been done on that as far as legal ads. Now, back to the question about the UDO. The UDO has been advertised numerous times. So we have actually met the requirements on on that. Now, if we go back and there's one of those checkboxes I just listed that wasn't done, we'll do it all over again. And so what we're going to do right now is this. The board has heard the public. We're going to slow down. We're taking a breath and we're going right back through that document to see what could be ready.

OK. All right. Thank you. All right. Next, we have Melissa Mims.

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair, Madam Commissioners. My name is Melissa Mims, and I stand before you as a concerned citizen and the commissioner-elect. I am concerned about the proposed reclassification of costly meal under general services and the lack of transparency surrounding that decision. Why is this item listed under class and pay rather than a separate agenda item? Why is costly mill being moved while other parks remain under parks and recreation? To my knowledge, no other counties place their parks under general services. During the recent SPLOST meeting last night, Director Hammer stated that it is the board's desire to generate additional revenue and that costly mill has several buildings that require upkeep. While I understand the need for fiscal responsibility, parks should not be measured solely by revenue. Like libraries, roads, public safety, and schools, parks are public investments that strengthen health, safety, and quality of life. Their true return on investment is measured by the people they serve, the opportunities they provide. and the lasting impacts they have on residents. Director Hammer also stated that there are false narratives surrounding costly meal. However, the board has hosted several town hall meetings, and I don't remember a town hall meeting about costly meal being included on any of the on any of those agendas. It is concerning that parks and recreation was not a part of those conversations that members of the Parks and Recreation Splats Committee were unaware of this proposal and that citizens have not had an opportunity to understand your reasoning and thinking behind moving this. As elected officials, transparency is essential because parks is a vital quality of life asset for our community. I respectfully ask that the board clearly explain their rationale for the proposed changes and ensure that citizens are fully informed before decisions are made.

Thank you.

So just a couple of comments. So Rockdale County remains committed to our park system. And we want to make sure with the SPLOST dollars, which was the committee that met last night, that those dollars are not just used to build new projects, but that we have it built in and dedicated for us to be able to maintain our parks. and there have been some areas that need improvement at that park and we felt like this would be the best way to address some of those concerns after a time period under parks and review we we waited assessed and so we feel like this will be the best move going forward and we will still have staff on site the park will remain open thursday through sunday as it has been for about the last seven months i believe And we look forward to even maybe adding additional hours moving forward, but that's still under review. So we are going to make this operational change, which the Board of Commissioners has full ability to do. And sometimes in the past, you know, there's been before I think even Chief Sanders used to run the general services. And under that was Parks and Recreation 911. You had a lot of things at that time. Can you tell me about that?

And I had general services was animal services and building maintenance capital projects parks and recreation fleet and senior services.

so and then in the future it had been changed so sometimes counties do things differently not everybody is the same us being the second smallest in land mass in rockdale county sometimes we just do things a little bit differently and so we're going to try this and see how we can make sure that we do the very best for the tax dollars that we are investing into that park along with the sploss dollars which are certainly important to rockdale county Additionally, I want to make sure that there are staffing changes, but those staffing changes will still stay employed with Rockdale County. This will give us an opportunity to improve operational efficiency, coordination, and oversight, and improve the assets that have been invested in out at Costley Mill. I have spoken with Ms. Bowman, who certainly is the former owner of that property, and she fully understands now that the importance of a business model can be applied in the situation with the event center and other places that are able to be rented. And I have the financials to show that there are still areas for growth. So for us to have a park system, we want to make sure that the investment that has been put out there, which is close to, I believe, $9 million that the county has put in there with all the projects. Do you know?

Probably right around there with the purchase and then SPLOST dollars.

Yeah, so nine million dollars sits out there and I think it's part of our obligation to make sure that we use that asset in the best way possible to serve the community, to make sure that it's rented on a regular basis, and that proper accounting and financial practices are used to make sure we maximize our opportunities. So I understand that I'm not just trying to make it all revenue, but that is part of our responsibility to the taxpayers in Rockdale County. Thank you for your comments. All right, with that being said, we will move to the approval of the agenda.

I move to approve the agenda as published.

All right. I have a motion. And I will make a second to that. So we have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. The motion carries. Next, we have the approval of the minutes. And I would like to approve the minutes as presented for June 23, 2026. I second the motion. I have a motion and a second. Any questions? No. All right, all in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. The motion carries. Item number seven, we do not have any unfinished business at this time, so we'll move to new business.

OK, item 324 is a transcontinental gas pipeline through Williams for the Water Resources Department for an encroachment agreement. This is at no cost. It's ongoing with permission to construct or conduct encroachment project. Would you like me to keep reading?

Yes, if you would, please.

OK, thank you.

Item 325 is with the Atlanta Regional Commission through the Water Resources Department for incumbent worker training agreement. This is reimbursement to the county not to exceed $25,000. The term is July 1, 2026 through December 15, 2026. Item 326 is with Trinity Services Group through the Sheriff's Office for Inmate Food Services. It's change order number one to contract 2025-112. It's a cost increase of 3.8% from $728,340 per year to $756,016.92 per year. The term is August 12, 2026 through August 11, 2027. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 327 is with Axon Enterprise to the Sheriff's Office for the jail body worn cameras. This is change order number one. To contract 2026, that's 10. This is adding body worn camera bundle and extending the term. It's a one-time payment of $486,831.84. This is July 2026 through January 2031. This is a restricted revenue fund and is a budgeted item. Item 3.28 is with Rockdale Emergency Relief through the EMA Department. This is the memorandum of understanding between Rockdale County and Rockdale County Emergency Relief to help minimize the impact of disasters and emergencies. Rockdale County Emergency Relief is to receive monetary donations on behalf of Rockdale County to assist with the recovery efforts for declared disasters to the county. This is for one year with automatic one-year renewals unless terminated.

So I had a question on that. So if there are contributions or grants regarding disaster preparedness or disaster remediation, they'll go to RER and then come to the county?

So we will utilize RER if we have a declared disaster within the county and we have to collect funds. So we have a donation management plan, which will, you know, hard item supplies. But if funds are being collected during a particular incident in the county, they will receive those funds, and we will help us hold those for us, and then we will designate where those funds need to go through. So it's not just for grants or just overall preparedness. It's actually during a declared incident in the county. They will be the holders of those collections.

Sometimes organizations, even individuals, want to contribute. Yes, ma'am. Correct.

And that's what we're talking about.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. OK, item 329 is with Kenny Mortuary Services to the Coroner's Office. This is for the Body Transport Services. Change order number one to contract 2025-151. This is extending the term for an additional six months and adding option to renew. It's $175 per call. This will be July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 with the added option to renew one additional one year period. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 330 is with Corey Gaddy for the coroner's office. It's a cancellation of independent contractor. The contract was 2026-42, and it was approved on February 17, 2026. Item 331 is with Praetorian Group doing business as Lexapol LLC through the Fire Rescue Department. This is for fire policy and standard operating procedures management and training platform in the amount of $17,602.42. The term is August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027 with automatic renewals of one year periods until terminated. This is to the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 332 is with Rajiv Arvind Rai through the General Services Department. This is for a lease renewal for 10 months for Suites 110, located at 1009 Milstead Avenue. Change order number three to contract 2023-154, $2,800 per month for a total of $28,000. It's November 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 333 is with 1Pass Solutions for the Parks and Recreation Department. This is for 1Pass Fitness Passport for the Medicare and Medicaid members to Johnson Park. This is at no cost to the county. 1Pass will reimburse county $2.40 per visit, up to 10 visits, at $24 per month. for each eligible member. This is through December 31, 2028, with option to renew two additional one-year periods, renewable each year. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 334 is with Patricia.

I have a question on that one. So is this for employees or is this for the general public?

Anybody for the right. Good morning. It's for anybody. It's anyone that qualifies. I don't know if you've heard about, what's the other one now? I can't, I'm drawing a blank. Silver sneakers. Thank you, silver sneakers. It's just like that. But it's put through Kaiser, really. So it's the exact same concept that they have per visit. But it's for anybody that qualifies with them.

Thank you.

All right, item 334 is with Patricia Blake through the Parks and Recreation Department for Youth Swim Lessons at Johnson Park. It's change order number one, the contract 2026, that's 75. It's a change in revenue. The increased share of revenue from 75% to 85% for the instructor, decreased share of revenue from 25% to 15% to the county. It's an amount not to exceed $15,000 through December 31st, 2027. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 335 is with Larry Sams to the Parks and Recreation Department. A program coordinator for Hoops After Dark is $25 per hour, not to exceed $3,000. This is through December 31st, 2026. This is grant funded and is a budgeted item. Item 336 is with TextMyGov through the Public Relations Department for text messaging service to send non-emergency notifications to citizens. It's $18,000 for year one, includes $3,000 setup fee, $15,000 for years two and three. For years two and three, this is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 337 is a requisition through the Water Resources Department for ACOM for water distribution system hydraulic model update. The amount is $99,809. It's through the Water Enterprise Fund and is a budgeted item. Item 338 is a requisition through the Water Resources Department for floor creations is to replace the flooring at Water Resources Engineering on Portman Drive, Suites G and H. The amount is $26,000. This is through the Water Enterprise Fund and is a budgeted item. Item 339 is a requisition through Water Resources Department for Delta Municipal Supply for the 8-inch Neptune HP Protectus III fire line meters for the high pressure water systems and large volume water measurements. The amount is $32,545. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 340 is a requisition through the Water Resources Department for RDJE, Hunter's Point Water Main Critical Safety Adjustments. The amount is $38,553.60 plus the original amount of $915,292.40 for a total of $953,846. This is to the Water Enterprise Fund. It is a budgeted item and is submitted for ratification. Item 341 is a requisition through General Services Department for imperial date. It's additional janitorial supplies in the amount of $34,000. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item 342 is a requisition through the General Services Department for Allen Visual Ford Lincoln for a new truck for the Animal Transport Body for the Animal Services Division. The amount is $81,396.42. This is a capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item.

Thank you.

If we could go ahead and get a motion. So far.

I move that we approve items 324 to item 342 as presented.

I second that motion. I have a motion and a second. Are there any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. The motion carries.

Okay, item 343 is a requisition through the General Services Department for Space Saver Storage Systems, care of Patterson Pope. This is for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex, the JAC project. The amount is $305,315.31. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item 344 is a requisition through the General Services Department for AMSYS Innovative Solutions through the Digital Signage for the Courthouse Judicial and Administrative Complex, JAC. The amount is $95,967. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item 345 is a requisition through the General Services Department for physical link communications for the fiber infrastructure for judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $75,820. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item.

Thank you. If we could pause right there. Director Hammer, if you could come and just address these items and give us a status update for the project, that would be great.

Absolutely. You want me to give you an update as a whole for the courthouse and the administration building? OK. Where do I start? We've been working on this for many, many years now. And we're almost there. And so we're really excited about this. So we're kind of getting to the last stretch. We're putting in fiber. We're doing the network. We're doing low voltage, the data cables, the card readers. And then obviously, as you can see, a lot of the furniture on here. There are several different stages in the project. So the administration building and the courthouse started at the same time along with the site. But the administration building, because it's simpler than a courthouse and much smaller, will finish earlier. So we're looking to complete. The contractor will complete a portion. It's looking at sometime in the middle of August. Then we'll be finalizing the furniture installation. And then we'll be moving everybody over in September. We'll be moving all the departments from the administration area. The second phase of that is the courthouse portion of it. And we'll be completing that in October and then moving the courts in November, December, and we're working with them coordinate their moves with their court calendars, and so they'll be staggered for that. And the item that you referred to, the very last one, also establishes a redundant fiber loop. It was one of the security initiatives is to make sure that if one section of the network goes down, you can, by creating a loop, if there's one section, it can go the reverse direction and everything can be connected. So there's a lot of security items like that that we include in the project as well to try to update this to the latest protocols and technology.

And can you talk about item specifically, item 343, the space saver or storage systems?

So that is, we put out a bid for all of the furniture, including the, they call them benches, but they're pews in the courtrooms, the high-density filing systems that go in all of the different areas. And this is that one piece of it. So Patterson Pope is the state contract holder. And they were also the lowest bidder on the bid as well. And this is 343. There are four different areas where we have high density storage files. So these are the systems. You're probably more familiar with them in libraries where you rotate and the the shelving move back and forth and what it enables you to do is condense a lot of files from a very large room into a very small space and that's more efficient of course it reduces the size of the building as well so that will be in the courthouse these this one in particular in the courthouse that's correct So what we're doing now is we're preparing to get all the furniture ordered and all the systems ordered to be put in when the contractor finishes his portion, and we turn right around and finish ours and move on with the project.

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Do you want to vote on items 3.43, 3.45 or keep going?

Keep going.

Okay. All right. Item 3.46 is a resolution to set the fees for water and wastewater services. Amending resolution R-2025-23. Item. I'm sorry. Did you have a question? Okay. Item 3.47 are the updates to the Rockdale County Classification and Pay Plan. Item 348 is a resolution authorizing the adoption and execution of the Rockdale County Donation and Management Plan. Item 349 is a requisition with the Water Resources Department for All South Constructors for additional components and repairs for the high service pump number four. The amount is $26,935. This is through the Water Enterprise Fund and is a budgeted item. Item 350 is a requisition through the General Services Department for solder courtroom furniture care of impact office interiors. This is for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $273,913.26. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 351 is a requisition through the General Services Department for exemplists doing business as sit-on-it care of impact office interiors. This is for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $86,091.08. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 352 is a requisition through the General Services Department for a JSI Jasper Seating Company Care of Impact Office Interiors for the courthouse furniture for the Judicial and Administrative Complex, JAC project. The amount is $178,654.04. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 353 is a requisition through the General Services Department for AIS Care of Impact Office Interiors for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $101,031.20. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 354 is a requisition through the General Services Department for 9 to 5 seating care of impact office interiors for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $22,026.29. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 355 is a requisition through General Services for Indiana Furniture Care of Impact Office Interiors. This is for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $934,765.88. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. Item 356 is a requisition through the General Services Department for the sitmatic care of impact office interiors. This is for the courthouse furniture for the judicial and administrative complex JAC project. The amount is $53,523.60. This is SPLOST funded and is a budgeted item. So we should probably take items 343 through 356.

So I move to approve items 343. Did I get that right? Yes. 343 to 356 as presented.

Thank you. I second that motion. So I have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. The motion carries.

Item 357 is Texas Amendment Case 2026-03, an ordinance of the Board of Commissioners of Rockdale County, Georgia, to repeal in its entirety subpart B, planning and development of the Code of Ordinances of Rockdale County and all prior unified development ordinances and amendments thereto, to adopt a new subpart B, planning and development, entitled the Unified Development Ordinance of Rockdale County, Georgia, dated June 12, 2026, to provide for the incorporations into the code of ordinances to provide for continuation of prior zoning conditions and approvals to authorize codification, renumbering, technical corrections, to provide for a severability, to repeal conflicting ordinances, to provide for an effective date, and for other purposes. This is submitted for a second reading. The request is to defer this ordinance.

Very good. I move to defer this ordinance as presented. I second the motion. OK. I have a motion and a second. I do want to take a minute to address with Director White the plan moving forward, if we could, and where this would go now.

Thank you Thank you

All right, good morning, Madam Chair, Dr. Williams. So as you know, we've been working through the process to update the Unified Development Ordinance, the UDO, since March of 2025. And so the plan at this point, thank you all for the deferral, appreciate that. And so what we'll do with the additional time that we have, The plan is to submit to the board by July 28th portions of the UDO that we believe are ready to go. So I'll outline those districts just so everybody's aware of where we are. So as of this date, we are prepared to move forward with Article 1, general provisions. Article 2, the establishment of zoning districts. Article 3, rules for interpretation. Article 4, measurement rules in its entirety. Article 10, general development regulations, a portion of that article. Article 13 in its entirety, streets and road improvements. Article 14, environmental standards, portions of. And Article 16, portions of the land development regulations. The sections that will not move forward July 28th and that we expect to have for the board by September 8th of 2026 include Article 5, agricultural and residential regulations. Article 6, non-residential and mixed-use district regulations. Article 7, special purpose districts. Article 8, overlay districts. Article 9, supplemental regulations. Article 10, general development standards, portions thereof. Article 11, buffers and fences. Article 12, landscaping and tree preservation. Article 15, parking. Article 17, administrative procedures. And Article 18, public hearing procedures. So we'll submit, like I said, the first batch will be ready for you all by your July 28th meeting. So we will review those, QA, QC. I'll also submit those for legal review and have those for you by July 28th. The second portion we'll have by August 25th is the plan. And so that's two weeks before the September 8th meeting. So we want to have those publicly available for the public to view, give any final feedback, any final feedback from you all. We'll set up briefings with members of the board, discuss those. We'll also have legal discussions as part of that process to conclude the entire thing by September 8th.

very good and i know that we will have that citizens committee together to help with the upcoming meetings to hear some of the udo recommendations and questions they may have yes ma'am all right all right thank you very much all right so i'm moved so we've got a first and a second so now we're ready to vote all in favor say aye aye aye the motion carries

All right, item 358 is an intergovernmental agreement for the imposition of the floating homestead local option sales tax, FLOST, for and between Rockdale County, Georgia, and the city of Conyers, Georgia.

So I want to take a moment to share with those that are listening that this is an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Conyers. This would allow us to add an additional one penny at the register. Those collections would then come back and help defer taxes for residents and businesses in Rockdale County. So this would move our current sales tax rate from 7% to 8%. This will help stabilize the budget with the implementation of HB 561, which capped the amount of inflation for homestead inflation. so this will this is something that the General Assembly has given us as a tool to help stabilize that the local budgets and so with agreement from the city we are moving forward with that floss and this actually will go on the ballot in November so the citizens will be able to vote on that proposal All right, so at this time, I'd like to move to approve this agreement as presented.

I move to approve it, or am I seconded then?

Did you second it? I made a motion. OK, I second the motion. OK, thank you. So I have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye, the motion carries. Next, we'll move to board comment. Commissioner Williams.

OK, the first thing I wanted to share is to remind people that this Thursday is our Arts for the Ages. I've been talking about this for a number of weeks. And if you have a chance to go by and visit, it'll be out at Costley Mill. It's where our youth and our seniors get together and do some collaborative kinds of things, as well as each group doing their own things also. Am I right? OK. So it is really a fascinating event. There's the dancing, the fashion, the art that's exhibited. It's really, really. It's fun and it's interesting. So 10 o'clock on Thursday morning out at Costley Mill. Now since this is the year for America 250, I thought I would share today a story about, I think she is my fifth great grandmother, maybe sixth, I'm not sure. But she is called the heroine of the Battle of Cowpens. So it's not a very well-known story across the nation, but it is very well-known in South Carolina. So her name was Margaret Catherine Moore Berry. Berry is my maiden name. And history remembers her as Kate Berry. So as the British were coming in to to challenge the patriots that were there, it became aware, people became aware that there was going to be a battle. And so During this time, Kate Moore Berry had grown up near Spartanburg. And she was the oldest of 10 children in one of the region's earliest English settler families. She knew the woods, rivers, and trails of the back country better than most. She had married Captain Andrew Berry when she was 15 years old. He had actually joined the military, the Patriots Army, when he was 15. And when war came to her doorstep, Kate was a young mother with the drive and determination to support the Patriot cause. So according to long-held local tradition, when Kate learned that British and Loyalist forces were advancing, she mounted her horse and rode through the night. Now, another part of that tradition is saying that she took her two-year-old and tied her to the bed post because she had no one to watch her. So using her deep knowledge of back country past, she warned neighbors, local militia, and patriot forces that British forces were approaching. Her ride helped ensure that American troops were alerted, reinforced, and ready. The Battle of Cowpens unfolded the next morning, and what followed was one of the most decisive American battles, American victories of the Revolutionary War. So Morgan, General Morgan had planned a defense that shattered the British army in less than an hour. And the defeat weakened the British southern campaign. Kate Moore's courage extended well beyond a single ride. Throughout the war, she served as a scout, a messenger, and a spy for patriot forces in the Tiger River region. Family tradition holds that she faced retaliation from loyalists for refusing to reveal patriot movements and narrowly escaped capture on more than one occasion. Her actions earned her lasting recognition as the heroine of the Battle of Cowpens. So as Kate Berry reminds us that independence was not won by generals alone. It was secured by ordinary people who chose bravery in extraordinary moments. Sometimes history turns on a single ride through the dark. Some of you may have interesting stories coming back to help us celebrate America 250. I hope you enjoyed the 4th of July activities and the 3rd of July activities here in Rockdale County. I had grandchildren with me and they certainly enjoyed everything that was going on. So those are my comments. very good thank you i love genealogy myself so i appreciate that historical story that you were able to share with us thank you well the home that she grew up in is on the historical tour so to speak in spartanburg so i've i've been there and that's really interesting yeah very good

All right, this time I'd like to ask Deputy Director Mike White to come up with our Public Relations Department to talk about some of the projects we've got going on.

A lot of good stuff coming. Madam Chair, Commissioner Williams. Thank you. So first, I'll mention a Homeowners Association meeting. That's going to be coming up Monday the 29th at JP Carr. It'll be at 6 PM. Everyone's invited. We have a flyer for that we'll put up on the screen. But we did a Homeowners Association meeting last month. That was a zoom and we want to encourage we want to do it in person. There it is our July 27th Excuse me, July 27th 6 p.m. Monday JP car community center and this way we'll be able to talk about community updates things going on with homeowners associations Code enforcement will also be there as well. They'll be speaking and And so we encourage the public to come out for that, 6 o'clock Monday the 27th.

And we'll have a number of other items on there that will be pertinent for HOAs in the community. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Another big one I want to talk about and plug to the public is Citizens Academy. We are doing a fall session. And that's going to be starting in August, at the very end of August. But the application period only runs for the end of this month. And we can only take 25 positions. The last time we did an application push, we had 110. It was very significant. So anyone watching and wants to be a part of the Citizens Academy, you go to our website, rockdalecountyga.gov. There will be a Citizens Government Academy dropdown under, I believe, business. You hit business, and then you'll see the link. Click it. Fill out the application. Email it to cga at rockdalecountyga.gov. cga at rockdalecountyga.gov. That's the email address to send the application. And these things usually fill up very quickly, but it's eight weeks hosted by different departments. You get to tour government facilities, learn the inner workings of Rockdale County government. And most importantly, all of the graduates have the best chance of them becoming Rockdale ambassadors, which we're very excited about. And the last thing I wanted to talk about is we have the cover. of the first ever Rockdale County Community Magazine that's gonna be in August. And there it is. Yes, we're very excited about that. The chair, myself, and Chief Sanders have seen what it's gonna look like. It's gonna be very nice. We're thrilled about it. We're still encouraging businesses to advertise with us in the magazine, but this was done by Trudeau Media, Scott Trudeau, and it is going to be a very big benefit to the community, I think, when everyone sees this thing in action. We cannot wait for it to launch.

Yes. And I just glanced at some of the stories and the human side of just what's in our community. And that brings me so much excitement to see the local writers that were able to tell these stories. And so I think the community is going to love it. We are planning on a debut party in our new space in the Board of Commissioners, well, let me just say this, in the administration building. Yes, ma'am. In the Board of Commissioners room there. And so we are looking forward to that. We don't have an exact date yet, but we're hoping. It's coming soon. Yes, very soon.

We're going to encourage all the advertisers and all the people that were featured in the magazine to certainly be in attendance. Wonderful. Yes, ma'am.

Well, thank you very much. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Absolutely.

All right. Well, I love that exciting news. I'm very grateful for our financial update. Thank you, Director Majeed, for the good work that your team does. Again, we appreciate you. And to all our directors, our leadership team yesterday got to take time to work together in a collaborative spirit on a DISC assessment to kind of see personality-wise where we are and how we can best work together in a collaborative spirit. so thank you director Holmes to you and your team for leading that charge and to dr. Andrea Bowens Jones as well so I wanted to share thanks with the city of Conyers for a collaborative effort to put on the red white and boom on July 3rd I don't know that I've ever seen that many people in one space in downtown Conyers but it's exciting as we work to not only complete the administration and the judicial complex, but also as we reinvigorate downtown Conyers and spur a greater level of economic development, I am very excited about what the future holds. I do want to say I believe we're still on budget, Director Hammer, okay, for the complex. I know that's very important to our citizens, and so I appreciate your stewardship there. And anyway, with Red White and Boom, it was just so nice to see so many of our neighbors and friends out there celebrating our 250th anniversary of the signature of the Declaration of Independence. And so we also were blessed in our community to have an outstanding librarian in Brenda Poku. If you've never met her, it's worth your time going to the library and meeting her. Her leadership has spurred some great things in our community. And so I called her about some special things we'd like to see in Rockdale for America 250. And one of the things that we're going to be working on is a quilt of a paper quilt. No, not enough little hands to make quilts and machines to make quilts by the deadline of the end of the year. But we are giving the community an opportunity to be engaged. So know that there will be more comments coming down the pipeline for people to engage, tell their story. Paint pictures relative to the event that kind of thing so Director deputy director white is working on that as well. And so I think the final project will be 250 different Pieces of paper that will represent a quilt of our community and tell a story. So I Anyway, with that being said, thank you so much for attending today. I want to see if we need executive session today.

No, Madam Chair.

All right. Thank you. So that being said, I'd like to call this meeting to adjournment. Thank you very much for your time today.