Macon-Bibb commission approves alcohol license actions, budget moves, airport lumber order and several contract items

The Macon-Bibb County Commission on Tuesday handled a series of consent and contract items, approving most alcohol-license applications, authorizing budget transfers and appropriations, and approving contract-related resolutions and grants.

Licenses and retail alcohol applications: The commission considered seven alcohol-license matters (items A–G). Legal staff recommended denial of Tienda Bernabe’s packaged beer-and-wine application because the store is within the minimum distance of a church; the body approved the recommended denial. Two other applications were denied or tabled earlier on similar grounds; multiple change-of-ownership gas-station and convenience-store applications were approved after site inspections and documentation from code enforcement.

Budget and appropriations: Commissioners approved an intra-departmental budget transfer of $250,000 from professional services to contract line items in the engineering department “for the purpose of funding road work contracts.” The commission also approved an ordinance to appropriate up to $10,624,314 from 2018 proceeds to specified projects, including stormwater management ($1,922,840), stormwater emergency obligations ($481,696), public health/mental-health obligations ($865,000), recreation and Fillmore Thomas Park improvements ($2,384,000), economic/industrial obligations under an intergovernmental agreement (amount cited in agenda), and $970,240 for Grand Opera House improvements; contract awards for the individual projects will be returned to the commission for approval.

Bench, airport and procurement: The commission authorized a supplemental appropriation of up to $500 for a memorial bench in Coleman Hill Park. The commission also approved a $110,000 supplemental appropriation from the general fund for lumber purchases tied to construction of a new fixed-base operator (FBO) building at the airport, with staff citing long lead times for lumber and a desire to lock prices to keep the project on schedule; the total FBO project cost cited by staff was approximately $14,000,000.

Contracts and resolutions: The commission approved a reimbursement resolution related to prior vehicle purchases for the sheriff’s department (the county previously purchased about $2,000,000 in vehicles and intends to reimburse the general fund). It also approved two $10,000 change orders to Civic Partners for services to the district attorney’s RISE initiative, and authorized the mayor and plan administration boards to execute an agreement with Nationwide to provide recordkeeping and administrative services for the county's 457(b) and 401(a) plans at a cost not to exceed $98 per plan participant and 0.12 percent of plan assets annually.

Internship grant: The commission authorized acceptance of a 2025 Georgia County Internship Program award from the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation for $65,819, with a required local match of $4,800 to be paid from the county attorney’s budget to fund the county attorney's internship program.

Votes: Most items were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote and recorded as sent to the consent agenda. Several commissioners asked clarifying questions on site inspections, ownership transfers and limits on license transfers; staff answered that ownership transfers were allowed if they were arms-length transactions and that planning/zoning rules (not this body) govern spacing requirements for gas stations adjacent to residential areas.

The meeting recessed to the consent agenda after commissioners completed the items on the published agenda.