County Commission Debates Historic Courthouse Rental Fees
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Although still grieving the death of fellow commissioner Lamar Lowery, the Dade County Board of Commissioners conducted business as usual at the Nov. 7 monthly meeting. A significant topic from the night was the lease agreements for the historic courthouse.
On behalf of both elementary schools, Josh Ingle (Dade County Schools superintendent) thanked the commission and county staff for hosting the pumpkin patch/corn maze day on Oct. 22 at the county’s Sells Lane property.
The commission then approved a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) expenditure for three new AEDs (automated external defibrillators) for the Davis Fire Department. This expense is being covered by the SPLOST funds already allocated to Davis. Mark Gibson (Davis fire chief) reported that the total cost for all three AEDs is $10,496.61. One will be going in each fire engine and one in the rescue truck.
The historic courthouse restoration is still not yet complete, but Cole Adkins (construction manager with Blevins Construction Management) hopes it will be complete in just a couple of weeks.
The commission then discussed lease agreements for the historic courthouse. There are four agreements: One for the Industrial Development Authority for $3,000 a year ($250/month), and three under the umbrella of the Alliance for Dade each for $3,333 a year ($277.75 a month). The Alliance for Dade leases are for office space, the gift shop, and the regional visitor center.
Phillip Hartline (District 2 commissioner) asked how these numbers were decided. Don Townsend (CFO, county clerk) explained that it was difficult to estimate how much power and water would cost, but the leases can be adjusted as needed next year once utility costs are known.
Hartline asked, “Did we look at fair market value price and the square footage occupied and go by that, or did we just come up with this number on our own?” Townsend did not answer directly, but it seemed that they did not look at fair market value.
Hartline asked how much the Alliance is currently paying for rent, to which Robin Rogers (county attorney) answered that they are paying $500 a month just for the current visitor center space.
Townsend cited the work that the Alliance does for the county as a whole as important, and Hartline agreed but added, “They get 60-70 percent of our hotel/motel tax…I think we’re below market value on the rent. I think it’s at least about half of what it should be.”
Townsend said he doesn’t know if the Alliance could afford higher rent.
Hartline said, “We spent over a million something dollars on the courthouse. They’re taking the whole building, and we’re getting $1,000 a month.”Townsend said, “The purpose of the building is for tourism, and they are our agent for tourism.” (There are certain hotel/motel tax incentives that can only be used for the courthouse if part of the building is used to promote tourism.)
Later, Townsend said, “I think their services rendered almost equals free rent.” According to Ted Rumley (county executive), some counties in Georgia that have similar setups don’t charge their chamber of commerce for rent.
Taking an individual vote was suggested, but in the end, the commissioners agreed to use the current lease agreements for a six-month trial period (beginning Jan. 1, 2025) before reassessing based on actual utility expenses.
While debating whether or not to vote individually, Rumley said that he’d prefer to wait until Lowery’s seat is filled. He said, “Which we’ll have that in December,” but there was no further explanation of how this seat would be filled.
Evan Stone (IDA executive director) then gave a quarterly report and requested SPLOST expenditure (from the IDA’s allocated SPLOST). He noted that he’s pleased with recent industry expansions (such as Trenton Pressing and Vanguard), and he said several industries were waiting to move forward with projects until after the election. In just the two days after the election, Stone received several phone calls about industries who wanted to move forward with projects.
Stone requested (and the commission approved) $110,000 from the IDA’s 2021 SPLOST fund to cover asphalt costs from the paving project inside the industrial park. This was combined with the $50,000 previously approved for the project from the 2015 SPLOST.
Stone also gave a fascinating presentation about Placer.ai, showcasing the platform’s capabilities. (The purchase of Placer.ai has been covered in several articles about the IDA this year.) The goal is to use the information to better understand people’s shopping and traveling habits to improve tourism (on the Alliance side) and attract businesses (on the IDA side).
Using the software platform, the IDA found that the Dade County Sports Complex had 79,000 visitors over a 12-month period who stayed an average of 54 minutes at a time. Placer.ai also shows when (by day, week, and month) locations have the highest traffic, and a heat map shows where people come from and return to. Many came from Dade County, but the map showed visitors coming from across the tri-state area.
Stone explained that for security reasons, Placer.ai doesn’t show data about school or church properties, and individuals remain anonymous.
Then looking at Jenkins Park, Stone showed that there were 74,000 visitors over the course of 12 months. Visitors stayed for an average of 66 minutes. July 4 showed a massive spike in visits (5,900 people), so Stone said, “This tells me the data is right because we all know we had a big celebration there.”
Additionally, Placer.ai shows where people go before and after stopping at a given location.
Stone showed that the Trenton McDonald’s had 807,000 visits in the last 12 months. According to the data, this location is the 16th most visited out of 424 McDonald’s in Georgia, and the Trenton Guthrie’s is the number one Guthrie’s in the state.
Stone said, “This is going to help us tremendously on the retail side to be able to put together some packages when we’ve got companies coming in and they say, ‘What kind of traffic do you have?’”
Of Cloudland Canyon State Park, Stone said, “I’ve heard over the years, ‘Well, there’s 400,000 or 300,000 people that go to our state park, well they all come up from Walker County and they don’t come through here.’ This data tells you different.” The map showed that I-59 through Trenton and up GA-136 has more traffic to get to the park than other routes.
Stone concluded, “As y’all make decisions about recreation and different things like this, you can actually see how many people are utilizing the things that y’all put in, even down to the time of day.”
The commission briefly addressed selling the public defender building (now that the office has been relocated to the train depot). Rogers recommended putting it up for bid rather than on Govdeals.com, and a notice will be run in the Sentinel.
The commission authorized participation in the “Interlocal Risk Management Agency Supplemental Medical, Accident, and Disability Fund: First Responder PTSD Program.” Townsend explained that this is the result of a state law requiring counties to provide this supplemental insurance, and part of the process is approving this resolution.
During Citizens Participation, Anthony Goins explained his concerns about the Trenton sewer system. The Sentinel is working on a more in-depth article about this topic, but for now, here’s a quick summary.
When walking his dog about a year ago, Goins noticed feces, tampons, and other sewage coming from a broken sewer line on private property. He collected water samples and had them tested, the results of which showed high levels of E. coli. He said he’s seen deteriorating manholes. He is not satisfied with the city’s work repairing the problems. He did not explain how this issue ties to county government or what action he wants the commission to take.
Goins also explained that he was concerned about speaking publicly because he fears losing customers (he runs a small business), and he fears retribution from law enforcement. (He cited several run-ins with local law enforcement. At this time, the Sentinel does not have any evidence of whether or not Goins’ accounts are accurate.) Rumley explained that Goins’ concerns about the sewer should not cause him to lose customers and encouraged him to feel comfortable speaking.
Rumley asked if the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) investigated the issue. EPD has investigated, but Goins reported that the representative did not look thoroughly enough. Rumley said he would contact EPD himself and encouraged Goins to follow up with him.
Alex Case (City of Trenton mayor) explained how the city has been addressing the issue, including visiting every location Goins brought to their attention and taking additional samples at these areas.
John Huffman also spoke, voicing again his dissatisfaction with the five-minute speaking limit and reiterating that he wants further follow up from the commission when citizens speak. Many words were said, but he brought no new issues up for discussion, focusing instead on the same issues he’s discussed many times.
It turned into a yelling match between Melissa Bradford (District 4 commissioner) and Huffman. Many comments were made. Several from Bradford include: “We had a person that we buried today, and you want to sit here and tell us [what] horrible people we are? You don’t even call me or send me an email…Unless you want to do something in a positive way to help this county, I don’t want to hear it…Why don’t you leave if you don’t like this county?”
When Bradford asked what Huffman specifically wants done in this county, he could not give a specific answer.
Hartline explained that Goins got extra speaking time because it was his first time addressing the commission (at least since Hartline’s been on the board). He said Huffman has not brought “one legitimate question or issue that we could fix for him. It’s mostly opinions. That is the difference: When you come up here as a citizen, when you come with an issue we can address or fix, then we will listen.”
Regarding the infamous bag of pennies story that Huffman routinely brings up, Hartline explained that Rumley paid Huffman from his own pocket. “He didn’t just leave with the bag of pennies. He also left with the cash for the money back. That’s the part he don’t tell about that story.”
Robert Goff (District 3 commissioner) also addressed the Huffman issue. Just one snippet was, “General Bob Woods will be coming in. It’s not fair for him to come in and have to start hearing this right off the bat. It’s part of the job, yes, for people to complain, but you got to remember that [commissioners] are people. They’re not stoic statues that have no feelings, that don’t go home with the same issues of high groceries and high fuel…We pay taxes just like everybody else.”
Through tears, Bradford apologized for her behavior. She said, “He wants to bash us, but he doesn’t even give us the opportunity to help him.”
Laura Beth Cunningham (Dade County 4-H agent, county extension coordinator) gave several updates, noting the success of the Oct. 16 Rivers Alive clean-up project along Lookout Creek at the county’s Sells Lane property.
She also noted that the University of Georgia has been tracking the Joro-spider’s northward movement through the southeast. They’ve reached our area, but Cunningham said, “They’re not dangerous…They’re not a bad spider. Please don’t kill them, but they do look really scary.”
Townsend noted that the county is accepting applications to fill his current position as county clerk. (Rebecca Jones will be filling the role of CFO). The county will continue taking applications until the position is filled.
No 911 report was presented at the meeting or included with the online agenda.
