At a public hearing Aug. 19, the county Board of Commissioners heard from one resident who urged officials to sell surplus county buildings, praised public safety and water crews, and pressed the board on road and bridge repairs and taxpayer value.

Alan Whitmire, a resident of 99 Diamond Head Drive, told the commissioners he supports adding deputies and praised the county sheriff’s office and the 911 center as “efficient, professional,” and he thanked county water crews for responding to recent line breaks. “I’ll support more deputies on their staff,” Whitmire said. “They are hard workers.”

Whitmire also urged the board to sell surplus county properties and stop spending on maintenance he deemed unnecessary. “I don’t think it’s smart to maintain landscaping and whatnot at this courthouse,” he said, and questioned taxpayer benefit from the Squirrel Bluff Campground and certain recreational facilities.

The resident raised infrastructure concerns, saying local bridges remain closed and roads are in poor condition. He asked the board to prioritize opening bridges and widening water-service access for areas without service.

The presiding commissioner (name not specified in the transcript) responded that some bridges are state Department of Transportation projects and therefore outside the county’s direct control. “Unfortunately, we don’t control the bridge; they are a DOT project,” the presiding commissioner said. The commissioner also told Whitmire that his road is on the county’s resurfacing list for this year and that the county collects a 1-cent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) to fund roads, not property taxes. “We’re not using any property tax dollars to pay roads,” the presiding commissioner said. “The roads are being paid from TSPLOST, which is a 1¢ sales tax that we collect.”

The presiding commissioner listed other revenue sources that the county uses for road work, including state grant programs and LMIG (Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant) funds, and said the county shares TSPLOST revenue with the city. The commissioner also said the county lowered the millage rate for homesteaders inside Thomaston city limits this year, saying in part: “For homesteaders, your M and O property taxes are actually lower this year, than they were last year.”

No formal board actions on policy or spending were taken at the hearing; the only recorded actions were procedural motions to open and close the public hearing and to adjourn. The board opened the public hearing on a motion by Commissioner Ellington, seconded by Commissioner Jones, and later closed the hearing on a motion by Commissioner Watson, seconded by Commissioner Biggs. The meeting adjourned after a motion; the transcript does not tie the final mover and seconder to named commissioners.

Discussion versus decision: Whitmire’s remarks were part of the public comment record; commissioners provided informational responses about jurisdictional limits (DOT control of bridges), the county’s road funding sources (TSPLOST and state grants/LMIG), and the county’s efforts to transfer some buildings back to the state of Georgia to reduce county maintenance costs. There was no staff direction, ordinance, resolution, contract award, or policy change recorded in the transcript.

The hearing lasted under 15 minutes and included one public commenter and several commissioners. The record shows public concerns focused on local road and bridge access, county property maintenance and potential surplus sales, water-service access for some neighborhoods, and the value of certain recreational facilities to taxpayers.

The board’s next steps were not specified in the transcript; commissioners indicated ongoing behind-the-scenes work to transfer some buildings to state ownership and reiterated the county’s planned road list and funding sources.