The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners met May 6 to honor several individuals and approve multiple administrative and fiscal matters, many of which were previously voted on and were voted on again to gratify their agreements.
Chairman Andrew Strickland presented Certificates of Recognition to Phillip Rowland, Matt Millwood, Kristy Bryant (who was absent), and Othello Walker with Emergency Medical Services for their work on Dec. 30, 2024 with trauma care on a Baldwin County resident, which ultimately saved their life.
“Their dedication to our citizens was shown through their life-saving work,” said Strickland.
Commissioner Scott Little presented a Certificate of Recognition to Create Inc.’s Toyia Barnes for her hard work with Georgia College to host the annual Art Healthy Festival.
“The way she’s moving the young people in this community is incredible,” said Little. “Create Inc. is transforming the lives of the community.”
Overview Executive Director Wanda Addeo presented its annual report. Overview is a community action agency that is located in Milledgeville and serves a total of nine counties. In 2024, Overview served about 16,000 home-served meals, 8,500 congregate meals at the senior center, served 1,300 households with cooling and heating assistance, repaired four homes in partnership with the county, and weatherized eight homes in Baldwin County. After her report Strickland read a proclamation naming the month of May Community Action Month to honor all community action agencies.
Little nominated Robert Binion to the Central State Hospital Authority, which passed in a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Emily Davis denying. Commissioner Kendrick Butts was absent from the meeting.
The board unanimously approved several administrative and fiscal matters including:
• Anagreementwith Great Southern Recreation, LLC for $138,000 for the construction of the Coopers Park Splash Pad.
• AnagreementwithIce Risers, LLC for Kona Ice of Lake Country to provide shaved ice at Walter B. Williams Park.
• Aresolutiontoauthorize an agreement with MYGolf, LLC to develop a master plan for the Little Fishing Creek Golf Course.
• Anagreementwith Judicial Alternatives of Georgia, Inc. to reflect a change to the current chief judge of Superior Court and to the chairman of the board of commissioners. The county already had a contract with the Judicial Alternatives of Georgia to provide probation services under the superior court. The contract is signed by the superior and, due to the change of the chief judge, the Judicial Alternatives of Georgia requested it be resigned by the new chief judge and chairman.
• Aresolutiontoadopt the 2023-25 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.This is a routine process all cities are required to go through.
• Anagreementwith Sinclair Aviation, LLC to provide the fixed base operations and function as airport manager for the Baldwin County Regional Airport.
The one change to the agreement that the fuel surcharge is 16 cents per gallon of jet fuel rather than six cents per gallon. The additional revenue will assist with airport maintenance.
• Anamendmenttothe public-private partnership agreement with Sinclair Aviation for Baldwin County Airport Hangar W4 and a lease agreement with Sinclair Aviation, LLC for Hangar W4. The board previously approved this and the following public-private partnerships in 2023 and state law requires when an amendment is made, a revote must be made.
• Anamendmenttothe public-private partnership agreement with Fouts Brother for Baldwin County Airport Hangar W5 and a lease agreement for Hangar W5.
• Aresolutiontoauthorize an amendment to the public-private partnership agreement with T.
S. Smith Development Company for Baldwin County Airport Hangar M7 and a lease agreement for Hangar M7.
• Authorizedtheassignment of Baldwin County Airport Hangar M7 lease from T.S. Smith Development Company to LGM Properties.
• Aproposalfrom Thiessen Training Systems for the purchase of a turning target system for the sheriff’s office training using funds from the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget Public Safety and Community Violence Reduction Grant.
However, the board agreed discussions need to continue on the location of the targets.
• AuthorizedCarterand Sloope to complete plans and specifications for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system for the Water and Sewer Department and present to shortlisted companies. According to Strickland, it is a digital way to control how water flows throughout the county and will also assist in preventing sewage overflows.
• AproposalfromC and S Landscaping for county right-of-way mowing and authorize contract preparation.
According to County Manager Carlos Tobar, the bid was $680,208 and had “excellent” references.