A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF BUTTS COUNTY TO ESTABLISH AND LEGISLATE CRITERIA GOVERNING THE NAMING OF COUNTY BUILDINGS, PARKS, FACILITIES, ROADS, STREETS, BRIDGES, FIXTURES OR RELATED PROPERTIES; TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS; TO PROVIDE A PROCESS FOR PUBLIC INPUT AND TO ENSURE UNIFORMITY; TO ASSESS COSTS AND TO DEFINE RESPONSIBILITIES; TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE RESOLUTION; TO AUTHORIZE THE CLERK OF BUTTS COUNTY TO ATTEST ALL DOCUMENTS; AND FOR OTHER RELATED AND LAWFUL PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, Butts County is a duly created and validly existing political subdivision of the State of Georgia under the Constitution and laws of the state of Georgia; and

WHEREAS, the Butts County Board of Commissioners, hereinafter referred to as “The Commission”, is the elected governing body charged with managing the affairs of the County is the acknowledged owner and holder of all buildings and properties of the Government of Butts County, as statutorily defined in O.C.G.A. 36-5-22.1(a)(1) and O.C.G.A. 36-9-2, which states both that “The governing authority of each county has original and exclusive jurisdiction over the directing and controlling of all the property of the county, according to law, as the governing authority deems expedient” and “The county governing authority shall have the control of all property belonging to the county”, and under such law has the absolute and final authority over any county government facility, building, road, street, bridge, public lands or fixtures that serves a public purpose, and;

WHEREAS, the need exists and has existed to establish and promulgate rules and regulations governing the assignation of names to the aforementioned County owned assets, either in memory or honor of an individual, and to provide for an orderly and structured process that shall be representative of fairness and equitable recognition on the rare occasion that such a designation is desired by the public or recommended to the Commission, and;

WHEREAS, the County government wishes to ensure that the brand, name, reputation and standing of Butts County is in no way debilitated by unsuitable requests for the naming of the aforementioned County assets, now therefore be it:

RESOLVED, that the Commission hereby declares that the foregoing preamble and whereas provisions set forth hereinabove constitute, and shall be considered to be, substantive provisions of this Resolution and are hereby incorporated by reference into this provision.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Commission, through this Resolution, does hereby exercise its statutory rights as the Governing Authority of Butts County and the lawful holder of all properties in the public trust for the Citizens of Butts County, does hereby enact the following policies that shall, from the date of this Resolution, be considered in full force going forward, to wit:

A). It is now created a policy that shall be used by the Butts County Board of Commissioners in determining the appropriateness of naming public buildings, fixtures, lands, roads or bridges under its jurisdiction, ownership, and control, and said policy shall be governed by the following provisions:
1). An application must first be completed by the person(s) or group requesting the designation at least 60 days prior to board approval. By submitting the application, the applicant(s) acknowledge their acceptance of all costs associated with the request and agrees to be solely responsible for them.

2). The naming shall be “honorary” only and is not meant to replace any other official or legal designation for the facility in question unless specifically established by the action of the Butts County Board of Commissioners. In no event shall the official names of roads be changed pursuant to a request under this Policy due to public safety, addressing, and other considerations, but shall instead be directed through the proper process by the Planning and Development Department with all due logistical and public safety considerations given.

3). After administrative review for completeness and compliance, the County Clerk shall set a public hearing to formally consider the request and to seek input from the public. The applicant(s) shall place a legal notice in the legal organ of Butts County to run for two weeks in a prominent location in the newspaper. The first publication must run at least fifteen (15) days prior to the public hearing. All costs associated with the publication of the notice shall be paid by the applicant(s). The wording of the notice must be approved in advance by the County Clerk.

4). The naming of any County building or facility shall be approved by Resolution of the Board of Commissioners, said Resolution containing all required criteria and specifications and the Resolution shall require unanimous consent of the Commission.

5). If the designation is approved by the Board of Commissioners, all costs associated with the manufacturing of the signage, other materials, and installation shall be the responsibility of the applicant. Should the total cost associated with the naming not be made within sixty (60) days of approval of the request, the approval by the Board of Commissioners shall be considered null and void, and reapplication must be made.

6). Only one honorary designation per facility and per individual shall be considered.

7). For designations made involving county roads and bridges, all associated signage and post(s) shall meet the same material and visual requirements as are required for County road and street signage, which may include State or Federal DOT specifications, if required.

8). Any approval of the Board of Commissioners shall also establish specific criteria, such as the types and sizing of signage, appropriate to the designation sought, as well as placement thereof.

9). The following elements shall be required in any naming designation considered by the Board of Commissioners:

a). The nominated honoree shall have been a resident and property owner in Butts County for at least ten (10) years;

b). The honoree shall have a notable historical association with the area where the facility is located, or shall have some significant historical role in the nature of the facility;

c). The honoree shall have played a leadership role in the community, such as lengthy service in public office; distinguished service in the military; service in local public safety, or other longtime and distinguished public/community service.

d). The honoree shall have made a substantial and positive contribution that benefited the majority of Butts County. Individual family tribute or commercial or corporate related recognition does not qualify.

e). The honoree shall have been deceased at least two (2) years preceding the date of the application.

10). The Board of Commissioners will always give due consideration to proclamations, awards, commendations, or other types of formal recognition made on behalf of the honoree by any civic, charitable, or volunteer organizations. The application of the specified elements and determination thereof shall be exercised through the sole discretion of the Board of Commissioners.

11). In the event a sign installed pursuant to this Policy is ever damaged, stolen, or otherwise in need of replacement, the applicant shall be responsible for all costs associated with such replacement.

12). The following Butts County facilities shall be excluded from any consideration for naming from the date of this Resolution and in perpetuity:

a). Any currently named facility, building, park or recreational complex, unless said facility is, at some future point, undesignated for reasons of cause, thus constituting a renaming.
b). The Butts County Administration Building & Judicial Complex, which has already been named for the Citizens of Butts County
c). The Historic Butts County Courthouse, due to its National Historic Registry Designation

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board assigns the responsibility for receiving and overseeing the application process for the naming of County assets with the Clerk of Butts County and authorizes the County Administrator to assign associated County employees, including affected Department Heads, to review and make recommendations on said requests to ensure that uniformity, legality and best practices are upheld, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the County Administrator to make alternative recommendations in the event that said request is deemed unable to be fulfilled due to legal, regulatory or other related issues of substantial consideration, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board retains their statutory authority to revoke, rename or otherwise remove any naming assigned to a facility, public land, fixture or related, in the event that the continuation of the usage of said name in any way brings discredit to the County or in any way impairs the brand and reputation of the County, including any publicly owned County asset that may have been named or so designated prior to the passage of this Resolution, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption by the Butts County Board of Commissioners and that any and all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with this Resolution shall be, and they, to the extent of such conflict, be hereby repealed, and;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners to sign this Resolution on their behalf and to authorize the Clerk of Butts County to attest all signatures and spread this resolution upon the minutes of the Board of Commissioners

Adopted in open session this 24th Day of June, 2019

/s/ Ken Rivers, Chairman

/s/ J. Michael Brewer
Deputy County Administrator
as Clerk of County

Author: Brewer M
Status: Pass

Motion: Douglas, K. of the 4th
Second: Henderson, R. of the 2nd
Concur: Rivers K. of the 1st, Brown, J. of the 1st, Crumbley, R. of the 5th