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Senate committee advances SB 260 to shrink Central State Hospital redevelopment authority
Summary
A Georgia Senate committee voted unanimously to approve SB 260, reducing the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority from nine members to four, designating a nonvoting state properties appointee and allowing a per diem; the measure passed with two committee amendments.
A Georgia State Senate committee voted unanimously to give Senate Bill 260 (LC 620126) a favorable recommendation after adopting two amendments that reduce the size of the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority and add a modest per diem for members.
Senator Williams, sponsor of SB 260, told the committee the authority was created after the state closed Central State Hospital in Milledgeville and has struggled with controversy and vacancies. "It's become quite controversial," Williams said, noting that "we've just had 6 members to resign." He said the property includes "over 2,000 acres of land" and originally more than 100 buildings; the number of buildings on site is now about 80.
The bill reduces the authority's membership from nine to four: one appointed by the governor, one by the lieutenant governor, one by the speaker of the House, and one nonvoting member appointed by the State Properties officer. The measure also makes the attorney general's office the authority's legal counsel and replaces a clause that "shall receive no further compensation" with language allowing payment of a $100 per-meeting per diem, limited to no more than three meetings per month.
In committee discussion, Williams described efforts to repurpose major buildings on the campus, including a 155,000-square-foot facility formerly known as Culver Kidd Hospital. He said local attempts to find reuse — including outreach to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Georgia College and the University of Georgia — were unsuccessful and that some buildings have been vandalized and stripped of copper. "We've tried everything to repurpose that building," Williams said.
Williams said the redevelopment authority's primary purpose is to return parcels and structures to the tax rolls, spur local economic activity, create jobs and develop affordable housing. He said a local developer has pledged to build some affordable housing on the site.
The committee first voted to adopt the two amendments: (1) specifying that the State Properties appointee is nonvoting, and (2) allowing a $100 per-meeting per diem, not to exceed three meetings per month. The chair then moved the committee substitute for SB 260 with the amendments and a motion of "due pass." The committee "passes unanimously," the chair said.
The action sends SB 260, as amended, out of committee with a favorable recommendation. The transcript does not record individual roll-call vote counts or the committee chair's name; the committee recorded the vote by voice/hand and indicated unanimous passage.
