by Janice Daniel

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners held a regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. (there was no work session meeting for December).  All were present. District 5 Commissioner Ernie Reynolds offered the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were no Public Comments.

Carroll County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Brad Robinson presented an equipment purchase request to finish outfitting the 2023 Dodge Chargers they had purchased in advance due to this model no longer being made after 2023.  He said they need eight (8) Getac in-car cameras and ten (10) body-worn cameras – some for the new School Resource Officers (SROs) and some updates for courthouse officers – all for a total cost of $71,072.67 to come from the School Zone Safety Camera Program.  In response to a question by District 2 Commissioner Clint Chance, Chief Deputy Robinson said the sheriff’s department IT people have made sure this equipment is compatible with the current equipment they have, and also said they checked with the Dallas Police Department who have these cameras and said they are very satisfied with the way they work.  They are less expensive than the Motorola cameras and also come with a cloud service that allows significantly quicker upload time to the sheriff’s department. In response to a question by District 6 Commissioner Danny Bailey, Robinson said these vehicles will be on the road as soon as the cameras are installed.  This request was approved by the commission board unanimously.

Chief Deputy Robinson also informed the commission that the SWAT team’s current bullet-proof vests are expired, and requested replacement with eleven (11) vests which are designed to cover the throat and groin areas and also protect against high-powered rifles.  The cost is $60,401.44 and will come from the same source as the cameras.  This request was also approved by commission 7-0.

Finance Director Alecia Searcy presented the 10/31/24 Financial Reports as follows:

Year-to-date Revenues are at $23,422,589 or 19.31% of 2024-2025 Budget

Year-to-date Expenditures are at $26,712,104 or 33.43% of budget

Searcy said the trend of expenditures over revenues is consistent with last year for the first four months. She reported that sales tax is trending downward, but all other revenue streams are either flat or trending upward.  She also said that, in anticipation of lowered interest rates, she put funds in some longer term investments to offset that drop.  Year-to-date interest revenues are at $630,000 as opposed to $633,000 for the same time last year.  SPLOST collections were way down in July, but since then have been pretty flat.  She opined that the county government’s financial situation is still in a very good position.

Searcy presented the 6/30/24 Year-End Audit Amendments which were mostly transfers of money between departments. Amendments were approved by commission 7-0.

Public Works Director Danny Yates spoke on the first step of the Whooping Creek Church Road right-of-way abandonment, consisting of 4,400 square feet which hasn’t been used by the public (county closed it off years ago) and the Hollingsworth family who owns the land that road runs through wishes to put it back into pasture land.  Commission approved this request unanimously.

Yates also presented the first step of abandonment of the Taylor-Rainey Cut-Off, which is an entire roadway of 0.19 miles, or about 1,000 feet with two (2) houses located thereon. Yates said the residents of both homes have signed affidavits acknowledging they realize easements for power and water will have to be given. He is in the process of notifying all other agencies of this request to obtain their agreement or disagreement. Commission approved this item unanimously.

The board then undertook the process of appointments to various authorities and boards throughout the county where terms are ending.

Commissioner Chance nominated retiring Commissioner Ernie Reynolds to be appointed to the Three Rivers Regional Commission Council. Since December is Reynolds last month serving as an elected official, he is eligible to service on this council where Mr. Hemphill is not seeking reappointment.  Commission approved this nomination of Ernie Reynolds 6-0, with Commissioner Reynolds not voting.

Four members of the Carroll County Water Authority whose terms are expiring 12/31/24 all wish to be reappointed, and they are: Aaron McWhorter, At-Large seat; Regina Cleveland for District 1; Barry Huff for District 5; and John W. Tanner III for District 6.  Commission approved all four appointments unanimously.

Commission also approved the reappointment of Lisa Boggs Justus whose term is expiring 12/6/24 to the 20-27 Corridor Joint Development Authority for a four-year term ending 12/31/28.

The reappointment of Seth Hobson to the Carroll County Board of Elections and Registration was approved 7-0 by the board of commissioners for another three-year term ending 12/31/27.

Judge Edie Haney is not seeking reappointment to the Pathways Center Community Service Board. Dr. Morgan Jenkins was recommended to serve from 1/1/25 through 12/31/27, which was approved unanimously.

Dr. Laura Larson was approved unanimously to serve another term from 1/1/25 to 12/31/30 (six-year-term) on the Carroll County Board of Health.

Lastly, Tim Grizzard for District 5 was reappointed unanimously to serve another six-year-term (1/1/25 through 12/31/30) on the West Georgia Regional Airport Authority.

Commissioner Chance thanked Commissioner Reynolds for serving on the Carroll County Board of Commissioners faithfully for many years and wished him the best on his retirement.

Chance also announced the December 7^th opening of the newly renovated and updated Villa Rica Fire Station and invited all to come out and see the facility.

Since no executive session (secret session/not open to the public) was needed, the meeting was then adjourned.