BUTTS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
124th Session Covering Calendar Year 2022
2021-2022 Biennium
Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for January 10, 2022

Commissioners:
☐ Ken Rivers, District 1
☐ Robert Henderson, District 2
☐ Joe Brown, District 3
☐ Keith Douglas, District 4
☐ Russ Crumbley, District 5

Staff:
☐ Brad Johnson, County Manager
☐ Michael Brewer, Deputy County Manager
☐ Andrew J. Welch, III, County Attorney

Section 1: Opening of Workshop

The workshop opened at 5:00 PM, with Chairman Joe Brown presiding. Nine items were discussed, which included 1). a presentation by the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board, 2). Presentment of the FY2021 Audit, 3). Presentments on Redistricting and Maps, 4). Discussion on Legislative Action for the Water Authority, 5). Discussion of issuing a letter to GDOT opposing two roundabout projects, 6). A restatement of our 401A Retirement Plan for Senior Management, 7). Purchase of an ambulance, 8). An update on the Comprehensive Plan, and 9). Upgrading the high mast lighting at Highway 16 and Interstate 75. The workshop was then adjourned at 5:55 PM.

Section 2: Session Preliminaries

Chairman Brown called the Regular Session Meeting to order at 6:00 PM and Mr. Brewer introduced Pastor Keith Joseph of First Baptist Church to give the Invocation and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Section 3: Opening of the 124th Session of the Board of Commissioners

Item 2022-01-001 Approval of Docket
Mr. Rivers moved to approve the docket, seconded by Mr. Crumbley with unanimous consent.

Item 2022-01-002 Election of Chairman for the 124th Session
Chairman Brown relinquished the gavel to Mr. Brewer to conduct the election of Chairman for the 123rd Session. Mr. Brewer declared the Chair vacant and called for nominations. Mr. Douglas nominated Joe Brown. No other nominations were made and Mr. Brewer called for a motion to close the nominations. Mr. Douglas moved to close the nominations, seconded by Mr. Crumbley and passed with unanimous consent. Mr. Brewer then conducted a roll call vote to ratify the Chairmanship. All Members voted in consent and Mr. Brewer declared Joe Brown to be elected Chairman.

Item 2022-01-003 Election of Vice Chairman for the 124th Session
Mr. Brewer declared the office of Vice Chairman vacant and called for nominations. Mr. Henderson nominated Keith Douglas. No other nominations were made and Mr. Brewer called for a motion to close the nominations. Mr. Henderson moved to close the nominations, seconded by Mr. Brown and passed with unanimous consent. Mr. Brewer then conducted a roll call vote to ratify the Vice Chairmanship. Mr. Rivers voted in dissent, with all other members voting in the affirmative. Mr. Brewer declared Keith Douglas to be elected Vice Chairman by a vote of 4-1 and then relinquished the gavel to Chairman Brown.

Item 2022-01-004 Approval of Minutes
Mr. Douglas moved to the approve the minutes, seconded by Mr. Henderson and approved with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-01-005 Appointment of County Attorney
Mr. Crumbley moved to reappoint Smith, Welch, Webb and White as our attorneys of record, seconded by Mr. Henderson and approved with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-01-006 Appointment of County Auditor
Mr. Johnson notified the Board that Haisten and Johnston wished to step down as our Auditor and specifically Rae Johnston, due to the growth in their business from other areas making it difficult to devote the time necessary to be the Auditor. Mr. Brewer presented a Proclamation honoring Ms. Johnston’s commitment and work as Auditor for the past 26 years, which was approved upon a motion by Mr. Crumbley and seconded by Mr. Douglas, with unanimous consent.

Section 4: New Business

Item 2021-01-007 Approval of County Audit
Ms. Johnston presented the FY2021 Audit, which was presented with only one finding continued again, said finding being a concern about the Tax Commissioner not disbursing tax funds to the government in a timely manner. It was also noted that this was completely beyond the control of the Administration to correct. Mr. Rivers moved to approve the audit, seconded by Mr. Crumbley with unanimous consent.

Item 2022-01-008 Joint Public Hearing on Redistricting and Maps
A joint Public Hearing of the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education was held to receive input from the public on proposed new district maps and the redistricting plan proposed. Mr. Welch presented the process by which the maps and plan had been drafted. Chairman Brown and BOE Chairman Daniel opened the Public Hearing. No one spoke in favor of or against and the public hearing was closed.

Item 2022-01-009 County Resolution CR202201 Approving Redistricting Plan and Maps
Mr. Welch presented a resolution to approve the new Redistricting Plan and Maps for the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Rivers moved to approve the Resolution, seconded by Mr. Henderson and approved with unanimous consent. The resolution shall be attached to and made a part of the Book of Resolutions, Volume 1.

Item 2022-01-010 Public Hearing on Amending Development Impact Fee Ordinance
Chairman Brown opened the hearing. No one spoke in favor of or against and the hearing was closed.

Item 2022-01-011 County Resolution CR202202 Approving Qualifying Fees for Elected Office
Mr. Brewer presented a resolution setting qualifying fees for County Commissioner and School Board Members, which are the only two non-municipal offices up for election in 2022. Mr. Rivers moved to approve the Resolution, seconded by Mr. Henderson and approved with unanimous consent. The resolution shall be attached to and made a part of the Book of Resolutions, Volume 1.

Item 2022-01-012 Approval of Letter of Opposition to Roundabouts
Mr. Crumbley made a motion to authorize Mr. Brewer to draft a letter for the Chairman’s signature on behalf of the Board to the Georgia Department of Transportation opposing two roundabout projects. Mr. Brown seconded and it passed with unanimous consent. The text of the letter reads as follows:

Russell McMurry, Commissioner
Georgia Department of Transportation
One Georgia Center
600 West Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30308

January 12, 2022

Dear Commissioner McMurry,

The Butts County Board of Commissioners held their January 10th, 2022 meeting this week and one of the topics of discussion was two proposed projects, both of which are within the city limits of Jackson, but which will impact two of our County properties. The first project, identified by GDOT as project 0013379, proposes to build a mini bypass from Brownlee Road and SR 36 to SR36 and Covington Street, which also includes a roundabout next to our public library.

The other project is 0015425, which proposes to put a roundabout at the intersection of SR42 and SR16 west of downtown Jackson and directly proximal to the Butts County Administration Building, located at 625 W. Third Street, Jackson. Following discussions, the Commission voted unanimously to express via this correspondence our opposition to both of these projects.

Project 0013379 will have what we feel to be an unresolvable, adverse impact on our property at this location, both land and facility. The location of the Public Library was selected because of its tranquil setting, natural vistas and room to expand in the future. All of these attributes would suffer irreparable harm if a state highway bypass were to be constructed directly adjacent to the facility, bringing large trucks, noise and an elevated potential for injury to persons navigating the roundabout and walkways. Additionally, the right of way that will be needed from our land reduces our ability to expand in the future, diminishes our parking lot and removes much of the natural landscaping that separates College Street from the property. We feel this will drastically alter the character and appeal of the area, and for those reasons, we wish to express our opposition to this project.

Project 0015425 brings a roundabout perilously close to our Administration and Courts complex. Since the addition of all County court operations to this campus in the past few months, we have arguably become the busiest location in Jackson, with many vehicles coming and going all through the day. We have also observed traffic backing up all the way from the downtown square to our building during the time school releases students for the day, as well as from diversions of traffic off of I-75 during accidents or construction. We don’t feel that the proposed roundabout will alleviate the backups of traffic occurring from other locations, but rather that it will further complicate them. Additionally, the size of the roundabout proposed is too small to allow commercial trucks and large vehicles to easily navigate it, which could result in accidents and further traffic snarls above what currently exists.

We are concerned about the ingress and egress of persons coming to court or to handle other County business, as well as the potential impacts it could have on existing businesses, which may lose land in the process or lose unfettered access to their property due to restrictions imposed by the presence of a roundabout.

In voicing our opposition to these two particular projects, our opinion was partially supported by what we observed with the temporary roundabout installed at SR36 and Keys Ferry Road near the Newton County line. While we are happy to see this particular one being upgraded to a proper roundabout, we were told for a long time that it was only a short term solution to test materials and that it would be going away soon, but it stayed far longer than we imagined it would and it caused a great deal of constituent concern.

We concede that roundabouts, when properly sized, engineered, and placed, can effectively move traffic faster. Several locations in Butts County have proposed roundabouts now which we feel will be advantageous once completed, but these two particular projects give us great concern, both with impacts on our government properties and long term viability.

We sincerely hope that the Georgia Department of Transportation will consider our objections to these proposed projects and will also give consideration to the alternate we discussed with you in our meeting last year to construct a proper bypass to move trucks from I-75 around Jackson and north, to allow them greater access to I-20. We feel this will not only mitigate a lot of traffic impact on Jackson but that it will also encourage new economic development and growth, which will benefit both the County and the State.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of our concerns and objections to these two projects.

Sincerely,
Joe Brown, Chairman
On behalf of Butts County Board of Commissioners
Item 2022-01-013 Approval of Restatement of 401A Retirement Plan for Senior Executives
Ms. Ellen Glidewell presented documents from ACCG Retirement Services which required the Board to restate certain provision of the retirement plan. Mr. Rivers moved to do so, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent.

Item 2022-01-014 County Resolution CR202203 Approving Ambulance Purchase
Mr. Rivers approved the passage of the Resolution, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent. The resolution shall be attached to and made a part of the Book of Resolutions, Volume 1.

Item 2022-01-015 Approval of Outdoor Lighting Agreement with Central Georgia EMC
Mr. Johnson presented a proposal to the board whereby Central Georgia EMC would refit all of the high mast lighting elements at the interchange of Highway 16 and interstate 75. They would also take over all maintenance of the lighting system and the costs would be shared with Spalding County. Mr. Crumbley moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Rivers with unanimous consent.

Item 2022-01-016 Reports
Ms. Blissit presented the monthly financial status. Mr. Brewer presented the monthly operations report and Mr. Johnson presented the County Manager’s report.

Item 2022-01-017 Adjournment Motion
With no Public Comment submitted and without need to enter upon an Executive Session, Mr. Douglas moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Crumbley with unanimous consent.

Ratified this 14th Day of February, 2022

On behalf of the Board of Commissioners
Joe Brown, Chairman of the Board

CERTIFICATION & ATTESTATION

I do hereby attest by my signature and seal below that the aforementioned minutes of the Butts County Board of Commissioners are an accurate representation of the official actions undertaken by the Board during the open meeting designated for the date and times stated herein.

J. Michael Brewer, Deputy County Manager
Clerk of the 124th Session, Attesting