Habersham County approves burn ordinance changes, approves broadband grant amendment and energy audit LOI; tables fire consolidation study

Habersham County commissioners on Monday adopted revisions to the county's open-burning rules, approved an amended public-private broadband build agreement with Windstream and authorized an investment-grade energy audit under a guaranteed energy-savings approach — while tabling a study on possible consolidation of municipal fire services.

The meeting opened with election of Commissioner Jimmy Tinch as chairman and Bruce Harkness as vice chairman; the board then heard staff presentations, a vendor request for support on a broadband grant, and a slate of public-safety and facilities proposals.

The board voted to adopt an amendment to Article 2 (Open Burning) of Chapter 30 (Fire Prevention and Protection) of the Habersham County Code of Ordinances. Jeff Adams of Fire & EMS said the revision corrects discrepancies the Georgia Forestry Commission identified and updates local rules to align with OCGA —12-6-90. "This is the amendment . . . for the purpose of updating the burning regulation in Habersham County to be consistent with OCGA section 12-6-90," Adams said. The change passed on the second reading.

Why it matters: County staff said the revision fixes technical inconsistencies raised by the forestry agency and keeps local rules consistent with state statute; one audience member had asked for clarity that start/stop times remain tied to daylight and darkness, and staff confirmed that the ordinance ties allowable burning to daylight/dark hours.

The board also heard from Josh Baker, operations manager for Windstream, who summarized the company's local broadband build and asked the board for a letter of support to pursue federal BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) funding. Baker told commissioners Windstream has invested $3,250,000 in the county alongside a state award of $5,670,000 (a combined figure the presenter described as roughly $8,920,000), and that Windstream has completed about 146 miles of fiber with roughly 117 miles remaining. Baker said the company's BEAD…