The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners met July 15 to approve several agreements and discuss the acceptance of grants for Workforce Development Area 11, which the county is the fiscal agent for.”
The meeting began with the board also unanimously authorizing an agreement with CAS Architecture for the architectural services for the Collins P. Lee Memorial Library.
The board unanimously authorized the sale of surplus property with a dilapidated structure located at 300 Sparta Highway to Jaykrishna Patel. When the property previously went out to required bid, there was a bid not submitted in proper form, so the board voted for the property to be put back out for bidding. There was a minimum bid of $1,000. Patel’s bid came in at $1,525.
The board unanimously approved an agreement for Baldwin County to remain a subgrantee, administrative and program entity of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Grant. According to Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson, the county has acted as the fiscal agent for Workforce Development Area 11 since 2015. This contract is for the period of July 1, 2025June 30, 2026, and is an extension of the same contract the county has been acting under.
The board unanimously accepted a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Adult Felony Drug Court grant in the amount of $373,058 with matching funds of $65,834 to be paid by the judicial circuit.
“These are state appropriated funds sent to the county and Baldwin County accounts for the funds,” Hudson confirmed to Commissioner Sammy Hall during the meeting. “We get reports on the financing of it. Most of it is spent on treatment and supervision.”
Hall requested to see the success rate of the program, and Strickland, while he agreed, stated he felt the county should accept the funds and work with the program to get more information on its spending.
“If we can save one person, it is worth the money,” said Commissioner Kendrick Butts. “I have no problem with us continuing to do this.”
Hall stated he had no plans to vote against the resolution but was solely curious on the success rate.
The board unanimously accepted a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Mental Health Court Grant for the amount of $363,558 with a match of $64,157 to be paid for by the judicial circuit.
“This is the same type of program but for mental health. It helps to keep people out of jail that are experiencing a mental crisis.
“They provide counseling and treatment for those individuals,” said Hudson.
The board also unanimously agreed to request statistical data and have the programs speak directly to the board about the effectiveness of the programming and the uses of the approved grants.
The board unanimously approved appointments to the Fall Line Development Authority, the Middle Georgia Regional Commission Central Georgia Joint Development Authority, and the Emergency Medical Services Central GA Region 5 Council.
Moving into old business, Strickland informed the public that the road paving contractor has experienced a family emergency, which will delay paving.
“It is unavoidable to the company…but it is also a source of frustration for the public because they are in desperate need of the roads being paved. I am frustrated as well and I believe the contractor is aware of our frustrations,” said Strickland. “The reason we use contractors instead of hiring our own staff is because it saves us money. The cons of that is that we are at the mercy of the contractors. We want to get this done and we will work diligently to do that.”
The meeting concluded with Strickland announcing that the Baldwin County Recreation Department 12 Youth Allstars Championship Team placed runner-up in the All-Star Youth Softball World Series on July 12 in Hoover, Alabama.
“Baldwin County was well represented,” said Strickland.