>> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Baldwin County Engineer Brian Wood spoke about the Local Maintenance Improvement Grant that will fund improvements to roads around the county. Wood reported two bids were made by Pittman Construction in Conyers and Reeves Construction in Macon. The board unanimously approved Pittman Construction, excluding commissioner Henry Craig who was not present at the meeting.
Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson presented three grant awards for the drug court circuit. The Family Drug Court received $239,173 with a match of $28,701. Mental Health Court received $374,650 with a match of $44,958. The Adult Felony Drug Court received $382,039 with a match of $45,845. All matching funds will be paid by the judicial circuit with drug court fines and other fees. The board unanimously approved to authorize the grants.
Hudson then presented a grant approval for the Dislocated Worker Program to the board. The grant provides federal funds of $122,015, with Baldwin County being fiscal agent for the local workforce through the Middle Georgia Consortium. The board unanimously approved the grant, which still must be signed by Chairwoman Emily Davis.
Moving into old business, Commissioner John Westmoreland informed County Manager Carlos Tobar that he met with Waste Management regarding potential plans for the Meriwether Convenience Center.
“I asked for preliminary sketches for what they plan to do and like you (Tobar) said, we will have to close the entire center down during improvements so I believe we should prepare it before that shutdown,” said Westmoreland.
Tobar agreed but said the Allenwood Subdivision storm drainpipe project must be completed first.
“With the rain we have had … that is our top priority,” Tobar wrote in an email to The Baldwin Bulletin on Wednesday. “We hope to be done there by the end of August. I am not sure what is on the priority list, but safety projects come before repairing the Meriwether Convenience Center.”
Westmoreland suggested a meeting needs to be made with Waste Management to hear feedback from the entire board and residents. Davis also suggested that the county attorney should review the contract to ensure expectations are being met.
“A lot of the damage at Meriwether was not caused by citizens but by Waste Management and their grappler. Damage to the asphalt was caused by the grappler being dropped to the ground. According to (local Waste Management manager) Josh Raugh, they’ve changed contractors to have a new operator,” said Westmoreland. “But if they are going to destroy some of our stuff, they should be helping us out.”
Tobar then described updates to storm drain and waterline projects. The Coopers Community waterline replacement is 75% complete and the Allenwood subdivision storm drainpipes replacement should be complete by the end of August, he said. The Community Development Block Grant sewer line replacement east of Vincent Highway will be out for bid in four days, so Tobar hopes by Aug. 1 the contract can be awarded.
Tobar also reported that all current parks and public safety grants have been approved and signed. In addition, the environmental firm was procured for the Harrisburg library and streetscape projects. The design and engineering services have been advertised and again on Aug. 1, the county is expected to award contracts.
Concluding the meeting, self-proclaimed historian Edwin Atkins of Macon approached the board to discuss his concerns regarding the current aquatic center project to be built in Walter B. Williams Jr. Park, where the Georgia State Prison Farm was previously located. Atkins requested a new site for the project after explaining the state has requested and licensed him to find graves at the Red Hill Prison Cemetery behind the site after ground-penetrating radar (GPR) identified 451 of approximately 650 graves.
“The majority of these graves are of African American prisoners and since segregation was in play, where were the white prisoners buried?” inquired Atkins. “In a news clipping from 1936, the prison superintendent says 1,500 deaths occurred at the prison, so where are all of these graves?”
Atkins concluded his speech by requesting the county allow the use of cadaver dogs to survey the site for possible graves. According to Atkins, cadaver dogs have alerted potential graves along the fence line. He further stated it would save time and be cheaper than using GPR, which is unable to detect odor from human remains. The board did not ask questions or provide comments in response.
However, in a Wednesday email interview with The Baldwin Bulletin, Tobar commented, “Regarding graves, it is highly unlikely there are graves or bones buried there. There is a cemetery behind the Recreation Department that was used to bury inmates. So long as the land is undisturbed there is no concern about buried bones.”
The next Baldwin County Commissioners meeting will be held Tuesday, July 18 at 6 p.m. in the government building on North Columbia Street. The July 4 scheduled meeting will not be held due to Independence Day.