>> BALDWIN COUNTY
The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday to hear updates from GMC partners and approve several contracts.
County Manager Carlos Tobar began the meeting by reading a proclamation declaring May 15-21 as National Salvation Army Week. The week is a time for education and fundraising events related to the National Salvation Army and a time to encourage the community to get involved by volunteering, donating money, or spreading awareness about the organization.
Tobar also read a proclamation declaring May as Older Americans Month under the theme, Aging Unbound. Representatives from AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older, were present for the reading.
“The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners recognized the need to create a region that offers services and supports older adults who may need to make choices about how they age and whereas, the board endeavors to build an even better community for our older residents … emphasizing the many positive aspects of aging … and embracing our region’s diversity,” Tobar read from the proclamation.
Following the proclamations, Georgia Military College (GMC) Director of Business & Community Outreach Kate Pope described GMC’s new Water Technology Degree program. The Water Technology Degree program begins next fall in collaboration with the City of Milledgeville and Woodard & Curran (W&C), a science and engineering operation company with a specialty in water and environmental projects.
The curriculum for the two-year associate degree program was developed by Georgia Military College with the assistance of W&C. It is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of the principles and practices of the water treatment industry.
According to Pope, the program’s goal is to develop a talent pipeline to the city of Milledgeville, Baldwin County, and the state in order to meet the need for various water treatment workers.
Another partner of the city and county, Vice President of Online Education for GMC’s Global Online Leadership College Dr. Jeffrey Wells presented an update on Keep Milledgeville-Baldwin Beautiful.
The organization seeks to establish a board of directors to serve one year and a secondary board that will then serve two years. Currently, there are seven seats to be filled. This goal correlates to Wells’ hope to ensure the longevity of the organization.
Recently, the nonprofit managed an Earth Day clean-up promotion in areas that included the Central State Hospital campus, Oconee River Greenway, Hurley Park, city roadways, and lakeside areas.
Wells reported that individuals volunteered more than 30 hours to clean up on Earth Day and added that people have been picking up trash bags and vests from local Fire Department locations to start their own neighborhood clean ups.
Moving forward, Keep Milledgeville-Baldwin Beautiful is working with Georgia College & State University’s Director of Leadership Programs Harold Mock to create a strategic plan. They are also working closely with the county and city to start an “Adopt a Road” program.
As they continue these efforts, the nonprofit will also be conducting social media campaigns to educate the public and working on a recyclable, educational coloring book to give children over the summer.
Moving into agenda items, Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson requested the approval of the Motorola contract to upgrade the P25 Motorola Communication System with enhancements to all radios for law enforcement services, fire services and the Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
“In 2011, Baldwin County purchased the P25 Motorola Communication System and the radios we currently have. The radios’ typical lifespan is 10 years and we have had them for about 12 years,” said Hudson. “Conversations over the last year with our Motorola representative, Fire Chief Victor Young, Sheriff Bill Massee, our 911 director and EMA director have developed the project.
We asked for financing arrangements because we knew it would need to be something discussed early in the sales tax.”
According to Hudson, Motorola offered three years of zero-percent financing if the county signs the contract by the end of June. Authorization of the contract includes execution and delivery of the equipment leased for purchase in the contract, execution and delivery of documents required, and the approval to do all tasks of all actions necessary to the consolation of the lease, purchase agreement and for all other purposes.
The board unanimously agreed to the contract’s approval.
Tobar then presented an update to the timeline of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST). He said a notice to the city is due by June 21 and they should meet with the city on July 1. The board authorized sending the letter to begin the timeline.
The board also approved amendments to the Judicial Alternative Group (JAG) contracts, excluding Commissioner Kendrick Butts, who voted against it. At the end of last year, the board approved the JAG contracts for state court, magistrate court and superior court for JAG to do supervision and probation services for those courts. This year, JAG requested an increase of $5 per month ($45 per month in toal) for its fees for defendants to the defendants, at no additional cost to the county. Judges of all courts had already signed the agreement before it was approved by the board.
The meeting concluded with a discussion of Georgia Power’s requested easement. Georgia Power has had transmission reliability issues on a line going through 113 Towns Street, a county lot.
Georgia Power requested an easement of 75 feet in length and 20 feet from the centerline in order to perform tree trimming and removal of limbs to help improve reliability. The board voted in agreement of a fee of $600 to do the easement, but the amendment is still pending the approval of the county.