Houston County working session reviews grants, jail HVAC plans and possible new health department site

Houston County commissioners met in a working session to review a slate of budget items and grant updates, discuss facility repairs and a prospective new county health department site, and set follow-up steps on a major Connected Communities grant.

The meeting opened with routine business: the commission noted a notary renewal for Ms. Tiffany Jones and scheduled a briefing next Tuesday from Braden Health’s chief executive to update the commission on the organization’s activities and recent spending, the Chair said. "They want to update the commission or if somebody asks you at the grocery store, you'll know what's going on from them," the Chair said.

Several appropriations and grant items were discussed but not formally voted on during the working session. The Chair presented Resolution 90-2026, a Budget Committee recommendation to appropriate roughly $17,000 from impact funds to repair or replace a malfunctioning jail air-conditioning unit. The Chair told commissioners he had asked staff not to begin work until the commission approved it and said addressing the unit now would reduce the risk of another emergency repair before a new sheriff starts in September.

Commissioners reviewed other maintenance and grant requests including Resolution 91, a $24,500 appropriation for septic work at six Danburg Campground sites originally budgeted previously; Resolution 95, a $141,626 capital investment grant intended in part for downtown drain repairs and additional cold-storage capacity; and a Three-Star grant contract of $165,000 to add restroom facilities for the Fair Board.

Under Resolution 92 (Health Department capital improvement grant change order #4), the Chair relayed information from Miss Anderson that the state has placed Houston County "on the radar" to receive a new health department building. Commissioners discussed likely acreage needs informally—"probably three to four acres, probably," one participant said—and noted that a parcel had been identified but may be subject to separate purchase discussions. The Chair said the timeline is uncertain: "it could happen this year. It could not happen for 5 years," he said.

The session included discussion of two Connected Communities items. Resolution 93 would fund a park parking lot; Resolution 96 involves a $1,000,000 facilities grant. On the larger grant, the Chair warned of a cash-flow issue: the county may need to pay a contractor upfront and seek reimbursement from the state (the Economic and Community Development office). He said staff are trying to secure direct state payment to the contractor but that the contract must be approved first. "It really puts a small county in a bind," the Chair said, adding that reimbursements are typically processed after invoices are submitted.

Fire and emergency services items included a $2,000 donation appropriation (a recurring contribution from Georgia-Pacific), and Resolution 98, a $31,890 grant for volunteer firefighter equipment and training; the fire chief was out on an incident and expected to provide specifics at the next meeting. Commissioners also noted recurring training costs and the department’s use of the I Am Responding mobile app to distribute alerts.

The commission discussed administrative items such as a draft county credit card policy (Resolution 100). Miss Debbie, who prepared the draft, outlined procedures including a sign-out book and limits on the number of cards; commissioners asked about tracking, fuel-card distinctions for the sheriff’s office and whether school resource officers would use county or department fuel cards.

The Chair also introduced ceremonial and community items: Resolution 99 would designate Houston County a Purple Heart County and the Chair said the commission will submit the resolution to the Purple Heart Commission; Mr. Bag described plans to refurbish a veterans memorial and display flags around it.

Several items were described as having been vetted by the budget committee and were recommended to the full commission or noted as previously approved. The working session concluded after commissioners reviewed packet materials (sheriff, court, fire and juvenile commission reports) and adjourned without in-session roll-call votes on most listed resolutions.

What comes next: several items will move to a formal meeting or require contract approvals before work starts. Staff are expected to confirm contractor-payment arrangements for the $1 million Connected Communities grant, and Braden Health’s CEO is scheduled to brief the commission at the next meeting.