FORMER COMMISSIONER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT STREET LIGHTS; NEW ITEMS ADDED TO JAN 7 10AM BOC MEETING
NEW BUSINESS
5. Resolution to establish the charges for street lighting in each Street Light District to be collected by the Tax Commissioner. DEFERRED FROM 12/17/24
Former Commissioner Ann Guider showed up during today’s public work session and stated she had found the BOC agenda from when the tax commissioner supposedly started collecting for the street lights. She wondered why she had not spoken out about it and realized she had been on vacation at the time because it was during a holiday. She said the street lights were a tax district and not a fee, and it was established in 1990.
Guider stated that the resolution Baker is asking the BOC to approve now is the “standard resolutions” that are approved every four years and that the BOC approved it in July 2021 with a 5-0 vote. The vote was not 5-0 as Guider was on vacation. Guider alleges that Baker “never mentioned he was taking $2 from the county for himself for every bill containing a street light.”
Guider estimates the total Baker would have received was $2,000. Guider stated Baker never mentioned that “he took a larger fee for himself.” The old resolution was split 50/50, with the county getting $2 and Baker getting $2. Baker allegedly changed it where he gets $3 and the county gets $1. Guider doubted that this was an oversight.
BOC Chair Romona Jackson Jones told Guider that “this matter will be taken under advisement.”
The BOC will table the street light resolution at tomorrow’s meeting and research these findings by Guider before making a decision.
6. Resolution terminating Pension Plan with Sharon Subadan. Subadan is currently the City Manager for the city of South Fulton. She was hired for that position in May of 2023. She served as the Douglas County Administrator from April 2021 to December 2021.
- There were no details on this item.
7. Authorization to commence condemnation proceedings to acquire the required right of way and easements on Chapel Hill Road, in connection with Chapel Hill Widening project, to be funded by SPLOST 2016 and authorize the Chairman to sign all related documents pending final legal review.
- The road will be widened from West Chapel Hill Road to Dorsett Shoals Rd/Anneewakee Rd.
8. Resolution for approval of Project Lighthouse’s participation in the Douglas County Tax Incentive Plan and the Memorandum of Agreement regarding Taxation for Real
and Personal Property Leasehold Interest and authorize the Chairman to sign all related documents pending final legal review.
- Project Lighthouse is a data center on Rockhouse Road. It will be 1,465,000 square feet on a site that includes multiple streams and wetlands, according to an Atlanta Regional Commission Regional Review Notification dated January 19, 2023. The report stated that “A large area of existing forested land will be cleared for the project. The project’s buildings, truck courts, access roads, parking, electrical substation and associated grading will be built over significant portions of stream buffers, streams, and wetlands which is not in keeping with regional environmental policies.” It went on to say that “federally listed species have been documented within three miles or within the watershed(s) of the proposed projects.”
The Atlanta Regional Commission even stated that there was “little to no development” in the Developing Rural Area and that the “region should strive to protect these areas by limiting infrastructure investments to targeted areas and allowing no development or only low-intensity development.”
You can read the entire report at https://documents.atlantaregional.com/Land%20Use/Reviews/ID5383/2023%20Rock%20House%20Road%20Data%20Center%20Site%20DRI%204078%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
9. Election of Vice Chair of the Board of Commissioners.
Also added:
17. Approval for the Sheriffs’ Office to go into an Agreement with Accurate Controls, Inc. for 24 months to complete the replacement/upgrade of the Security Electronics System at the law enforcement center in the amount of $6,230,498.72 to be funded through 2022 SPLOST funds and authorize the Chairman to sign all related documents pending legal approval.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Public Comment allows the Board the opportunity to listen to the public. The public is invited to participate in the Work Sessions and the Commission Meetings by registering in Citizens Hall at least ten (10) minutes prior to the start of the meeting. Please include your name, email address, phone # and topic. As a reminder, Comments at the Work Session may be made regarding any item of public interest. Comments at the Commission Meeting must be germane to the agenda. For more information, contact the County Clerk, Lisa Watson, lwatson@douglascountyga.gov or 770-920-7416.
NOTE: THE PLANNING & ZONING MEETING IS JANUARY 7 AT 6PM.