>> BALDWIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners heard updates on the Baldwin County Convenience Center on Meriwether Road, approved multiple budgets, and heard updates on recreational projects, June 6.
The meeting began with Chairwoman Emily C.
Davis honoring Deputy Hayden Blackburn, due to the amount of positive calls she has received about his service.
Blackburn has served for two years in Baldwin County.
“The words I have heard to describe this young man have been awesome,” said Davis. “I just want to say thank you publicly and show our appreciation.”
Moving into fiscal matters, the board unanimously agreed to cancel the Faithful Guardian Aviation Contract. According to County Manager Carlos Tobar, Faithful Guardian Aviation did not meet the commitment levels that were agreed to in the contract and despite having 30 days to comply, they did not respond.
The board then moved into two budget discussions for the Public Defender Budget FY 2024 and Superior and Juvenile Court Budgets FY 2024.
The Public Defender Budget FY 2024 extends from July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024. The budget is $232,354. According to Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson, this amount is within the budget that the commission approved for the FY 2023 budget and will be included in the FY 2024 budget. Alongside this budget, Hudson presented an agreement with Georgia Public Defender Council and the Circuit of Public Defenders Office for Baldwin County to commit to provide public defense in the county.
The board unanimously approved the budget and the agreement.
The superior and Juvenile Court Budgets FY 2024 extends from July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024. The Superior Court budget is $37,338 and the Juvenile Court Budget is $81,496.
According to Hudson, both of these budgets were also accounted for in the FY 2023 Budget.
The board unanimously approved the budgets for FY 2024.
Moving into new business, Davis announced that the state of Georgia awarded Baldwin County two grants for public safety in the amount of $530,000 for 20 security cameras for law enforcement and training equipment.
“I just want to thank the staff for helping us get these grants and we greatly appreciate it,” said Sheriff Bill Massee to the board. “These cameras, for those that do not know, have helped us in several cases so we appreciate you helping us finance them.”
Following Masse’s comments, Davis also announced a request for an ordinance regarding parking at the courthouse.
With the recent renovation to the courthouse, parking has become more of a problem and Davis suggested that an ordinance may help to prevent anyone using the parking that is not an employee or using courthouse services.
Masse spoke with hesitance to the ordinance and suggested that if an ordinance is to be written, they meet with law enforcement and courthouse staff to discuss the specifics so the parking is fair for everyone.
“We will never have enough parking at the Baldwin County Courthouse by the time we have all the staff,” said Masse. “It is hard for us to tow cars and write citations to limit the public from parking at the courthouse. When we discuss an ordinance, we should plan something fair and neutral for the public and employees.”
Moving into the county manager’s report, Tobar announced that the county is actively working on 17 active projects, with the majority being grant funded. Some of these projects include the Aquatic Center, the Collins P. Lee Center Memorial Library, the Baldwin County Convenience Center on Meriwether Road and many others. Tobar also announced several areas almost complete for their water line repairs.
Amongst the projects, public comments and concerns were expressed towards the update to the convenience center.
Tobar informed the board that he met with Waste Management staff last week to discuss another solution for removing yard debris and park the rolloffs. He suggested it would be similar to the parking of the compactor.
“They picked three roll-offs of yard waste on Saturday and I told them I need it all cleared so our county engineer can survey the area for the depth of the ramp,” said Tobar. “As you will see from my reports, the road department will have to do this and we do have projects ahead of the Meriwether site.”
According to Tobar, projects are prioritized by the county and they will tackle the Meriweather site as soon as possible based on the projects ahead. Tobar also advised when construction begins on the site, the convenience center will be closed.
“It is not just the yard debris but the surface of the parking lot is a mess, so it will need to be closed,” said Tobar.
A board member also suggested that a policy is also needed to specify the definition of yard debris. They suggested that yard debris should be considered for example, trimmings over logs. This would combat the issue of current large debris dumpings that has affected the center.
To listen to the full county manager’s report, skip to 26:44 on the recording of the meeting posted to the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners’ Facebook Page.