County Meeting Turns (Yet Again) To Animal Control, Tagging Ordinance

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Kicking off the long Independence Day weekend, the Dade County Board of Commissioners held a lengthy monthly meeting on July 3. The meeting covered a funding request from Bridge Health, Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, further animal control debate, and a potential nuisance ordinance. A citizen also shared his concerns about the increased number of vacation rentals on Lookout Mountain.

First, the board reappointed Rex Blevins to the Historic Preservation Commission.

Then, the board approved the purchase of three 2025 Ford Explorers for the Dade County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) using Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). With warranties and equipment included, the purchase totaled $258,790.83. For comparison, last year’s total for two Ford Explorers and one F-150 was $256,605.72.

Tommy Bradford (DCSO chief deputy) explained that insurance on the vehicles increases once they reach 160,000 miles, hence the current replacement rate of three vehicles per year.

As for the equipment in the old vehicles, Bradford explained that the department is working on updating the radios and radar equipment each time they replace a vehicle. Once the fleet is all up to date, he expects the equipment to be reused.

Next, the CEO of Bridge Health, Heather Roesner, gave a presentation and requested financial support. (For a longer article about Bridge Health, see the Feb. 28, 2024, Sentinel.)

Roesner reported that the Trenton location served 786 people between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025. Among other statistics, she reported that from 2018-2022, our region had the highest opioid overdose death rate out of the whole state. Like the DCSO has noted (see the Feb. 5 Sentinel), Roesner also reported a decrease in overdose deaths over the last year or so. She thinks this is due to the use of Narcan to save lives.

Roesner asked the commission to consider supporting the Trenton location financially and through opportunities/partnerships. Noting concerns about potential Medicaid funding cuts due to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, she said that Bridge Health will look to counties to be able to continue providing services.

It is still unclear what the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill will truly be. The White House maintains that Medicaid and Medicare for eligible Americans will not be touched but waste, fraud, and abuse will be addressed.

Bob Woods (South Dade commissioner) asked how many “frequent flyers” the nonprofit sees, explaining that he is in favor of limiting how many times someone can use Bridge Health services. Woods seemed focused on addicts, but Roesner explained that most of the repeat users are mental health clients, not addicts.

Phillip Hartline (Sand Mountain commissioner) asked if any of the opioid settlement funds can be used for Bridge Health. All were in favor of pursuing this possibility.

Of the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) program, Don Townsend (county executive) recommended that the county appoint a group of people who work in real estate, are part of civic organizations, etc. to become the county’s GICH team. He said that being a GICH community “allows the county to have a few extra points toward grant applications.”

Woods asked if the goal is to build housing projects, calling projects-type places in Augusta “not good.” Townsend said the goal would be affordable housing but not high density housing.

The cost of forming a GICH team was not covered in the meeting. The 2025 GICH Application reads: “There is no charge for participation in GICH activities. However, communities must cover travel and lodging costs for their housing team members to participate in the biannual retreats and other associated team activities. On average, yearly costs for a housing team can range between $3,000-$5,000.”

The board approved forming this team.

Next, the commission had a lengthy, complicated discussion about animal control ordinances, particularly tagging requirements for animals that are allowed to wander. Here’s a quick summary, and of course the full video can be viewed on the county’s Facebook page:

• Some commissioners and citizens are not in favor of registering animals with/tagging through the county for a variety of reasons. As Monda Wooten (City of Trenton street commissioner) said in support of the requirement, “We tag motorcycles, we tag cars, we tag trailers, we tag all kinds of stuff.” However, this might be why some citizens are frustrated—animals would be yet another possession to add to this list.
• Other citizens, commissioners, and animal rights advocates are in favor of requiring only those animals that are allowed to wander to be registered with the county. The key here is that (per the clear wording in the ordinance) it would be required only for animals allowed to wander. If you never allow your animals off your property, you don’t need to do anything, but some citizens seemed confused about this.
• Those in favor of the ordinance said that even some animals that wander will not necessarily be required to be tagged. When neighbors all know where a dog lives and it doesn’t cause any problems, it could be excluded from the requirement, and only dogs that require a response from animal control would be targeted. The problem is this is not outlined in the ordinances.
• Those in favor of the ordinance explained that by keeping track of problem animals, the county can address irresponsible pet owners, thereby lessening the tax burden on responsible pet owners. However, the problem is that the county will not be able to hold people who abandon animals accountable because these people will most likely remove any identification before dumping the animals.
• Hartline noted that the requirement would not address the problem of people who abuse/neglect animals. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “You’ve got to change the heart and you can’t change the heart through legislation. You can’t legislate morals.” (Speech at Western Michigan University in 1963.)

The commission did not reach a consensus, so the Trenton-Dade Animal Center (TDAC) committee will continue hearing from citizens and discussing.

Later in the meeting, during his report, Woods returned to TDAC, saying that he’s heard from many citizens about the topic: some support the project, and some do not, or they want a significantly reduced approach/program. He cited citizens’ concerns about the cost of building and maintaining TDAC, with citizens using terms like “money pit” and “dog hotel.”

He also reported, “I have heard from many citizens…[who] believe that the city should have a program and the county should have their own. They see the concerns of folks within Trenton being much different than those that live out in the country.”

He shared that he is in favor of a low cost spay/neuter program (which Wooten has several times said would be funded through grants—not local taxes).

Woods concluded with, “I support updated rules that make the individual animal owner responsible; not the taxpayers,” and, “There are discussions about having to keep animals in the facility for quite a while; I do not support this in any way shape or form.”

Melissa Bradford (Lookout Mountain commissioner) then briefly introduced a potential nuisance ordinance. The draft was not linked on the county’s website, but she handed out the draft for her fellow commissioners to review and consider.

Bradford noted that both the Republican and Democratic parties answered a ballot question about the topic in the May 2024 primary election. 57 percent of Dade County Republicans were in favor of a countywide nuisance ordinance, and 71 percent of Dade County Democrats were also in favor.

Tommy Bradford assisted Bradford by gathering examples from other counties.

Bradford is not proposing a noise ordinance; rather, she mentioned that “junk dealers” would have to have a license, presumably to ensure that they are not creating unsafe conditions for their neighbors. She said, “I certainly don’t want to tell anybody what to do with their property, but there’s times where it’s necessary when people can’t do what they need to do.”

The Sentinel will cover this further once we have access to the draft and as it is discussed further by the commission.

On behalf of the Dade County Board of Elections, Carolyn Hixson requested funding to increase poll worker pay, highlighting the long hours that the volunteers work. Estimating that 56-60 poll workers will be needed for at least two elections in 2026, the office would like to pay:

• Election day: $240/manager, $200/assistant managers, $260/poll workers
• Training per hour: $15/manager, $12/assistant, $10/poll worker
• Advance voting: $10/hour for board pay

The board approved this request, with Townsend noting that the new wages won’t take effect until the fall 2025 election cycle.

Two citizens spoke during Citizens Participation. First, Steve Buffington shared his concerns about the increased number of vacation rentals on Lookout Mountain. Explaining that a number of vacation rentals have been established around his home, he said that one of the rental’s property managers was rude to him, and some guests have shot off fireworks that sounded like gunshots.

He added, “My property taxes went up $12,500 this year.” (He later noted that he owns several properties, but it was not clear if the $12,500 was from all or just some of his properties.) “Is it because they’re buying up this land and building these little huts and bringing who knows who in?…At some point it’s going to be overrun. I moved as far away from everybody as I could, and here they are…I don’t want to tell people what to do with their land, but at the same time, they should have some respect.”

He said his neighbors are also upset. “They moved here for the quiet.”

He concluded, “My question is, how are we going to address this in the future?…At least, don’t go up on my property taxes—make them pay for it. They’re the ones making money. They bought land just to make money.”

Townsend said the commission will take this into consideration.

Then, Jim Smith with Piney Grove Baptist Church’s food ministry thanked the commission for donating to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank because this food bank donates to the church’s program.

Townsend noted that Kathy Ragon (part-time grant writer) applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program through which the county was awarded thousands and chose to donate a portion to the food bank.

Lastly, the board entered executive session because, as Townsend said, “we have some litigation that needs to be discussed with our county attorney.” Nothing was discussed or voted on after the nearly 45-minute session.