At its Nov. 25 meeting the Meriwether County Board of Commissioners approved a slate of routine and contract items, including appointments to boards, procurement awards, and a budget amendment required for the fiscal audit.

Key approvals and votes (board action recorded by motion and voice vote unless otherwise noted):

- Appointments: Reappointments and new appointments to the Board of Elections (David Caldwell; alternate Mark Spradlin), Community Action for Improvement (Allison, term corrected to 12/31/2026), Land Bank Authority, 3 Rivers RDC, 2 Rivers RC&D and Planning Commission District 3 (John Funderburk). The board also reappointed Greg Hobbs to the Tax Assessor Board for a term through Dec. 31, 2028; a resolution will be required for that appointment.

- Commercial property revaluation: The county awarded the countywide commercial property revaluation contract to Bethesda Appraisals ($110,000) over an alternative bid ($124,000). Chief appraiser William Harris told commissioners that using the same vendor for residential and commercial valuations simplifies appeals and that Bethesda stated they would provide Board of Equalization hearing support "at no extra charge" in its proposal; the board approved the award pending board of assessors and legal review and standard contract negotiation.

- Firefighting tankers: The board awarded purchase of two firefighting tankers to First 5 Fabricators Inc. for a total of $384,355.28. Funding will come primarily from $347,397 in insurance proceeds from a wrecked truck, with the remaining approximately $36,958 covered by SPLOST.

- Sheriff vehicles: Commissioners authorized purchase of four pursuit vehicles (Dodge Durango or similar) at a discounted price of $43,800 each and outfitting at $10,200 per unit, for an estimated total of about $216,000; staff recommended SPLOST funding and the board approved the purchase.

- Jail sewer repairs: Max Air Plumbing offered two repair options for a deteriorated jail chase sanitary sewer line. Staff recommended and the board approved option 1 — cutting the slab and replacing 40 feet of 4-inch line at a cost of $39,371 — pending legal review of the contract. A lining alternative was presented with a considerably higher cost estimate (about $4,053,210) and was not recommended.

- Budget amendment: The board approved a general fund department appropriation adjustment totaling $845,310.05 to prepare financial records for the fiscal 2024 audit; the presentation included debits to communications ($250,000), public defender ($200,000), EMS ($35,000), public works ($450,000), community services ($23,006.38), and recreation ($60,000). The chair and finance director were authorized to sign audit-related documents.

- Alcohol ordinance public hearing: Staff identified errors in the county’s alcohol ordinance update (Ordinance 25-05) and the board scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 23, 2025 at 6 p.m. to consider the corrected ordinance.

Several items were tabled or previously discussed and returned to the board, including a two-acre lot zoning change (tabled until the second meeting in January 2026). The meeting also moved into an executive session to discuss litigation, personnel, real estate and tax matters.

Votes in the transcript are recorded as voice approvals ("all in favor?") rather than roll-call tallies for most items; where more formal roll call or recorded tallies are required they were not recorded in the transcript.