Laurens County Commission OKs architect for senior center grant

The Laurens County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to hire an architect for a new senior citizens center, but only after one commissioner was assured that the vote was not a commitment to actually build a new center.

The plans are needed to apply for a $1 million federal grant for the construction of a new senior center. However, at least one member of the board, Commissioner Kevin Tanner, said he would rather see the current senior center in East Dublin renovated.

“The only problem I have is I’m not ready to build a senior center.” Tanner said. “Nothing against senior citizens, but I don’t want to be committed to build a new building. I want it to stay where it is at.”

Tanner said the center’s main function is to feed seniors. It serves 130 daily meals through the Meals on Wheels program.

“All you’re really doing is building a kitchen for that,” Tanner said.

County officials and the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission are working together on the grant. The sent out a request for proposals (RFPs) and recommended accepting the low proposal of 6 percent from Fry Design Group. That means if the county is awarded the grant, it will pay Fry a $60,000 fee.

“We need to do our homework before we build a new senior center,” Tanner said.

“Right now that’s not what we’re voting on. We can talk about that later,” said Commission Chairwoman Brenda Chain, who has promoted building a new senior center, perhaps at Southern Pines Park.

However, the commission will have to decide in the coming months on whether to go forward with construction. A public hearing on the grant application will be held later, most likely in February.

  “Before April, you will need to commit to build a new senior center,” said the RDC’s Rich Bennett.

The board voted 5-0 to proceed with Fry as the architect for the project.

Also at the meeting, the commissioners were updated on the Savannah District’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mission to remove storm debris here from Hurricane Helene. 

Laurens is part of a multi-county mission to remove storm debris from local roadsides. So far, the right-of-way cleanup effort in Laurens County has removed more than 172,000 cubic yards of debris from county roads, said Brian Thomason with AshBritt, the company contracted for the cleanup.

Tree debris is being converted to mulch at the county’s temporary “debris reduction site.” The public is not allowed on the site, Thomason said, but the county could consider offering the mulch once the mission is complete.

The Army Corps of Engineers is working with local, state and federal agencies to remove vegetative debris from 10 Georgia counties affected by the hurricane: Laurens, Dodge, Montgomery, Ben Hill, Brooks, Candler, Jenkins, Lowndes, McIntosh and Screven.

Thomason said that AshBritt had about 50 more days to complete the mission.

“I know y’all have been glad to see us and will be glad to see us go,” he said.

In other business, the commission:

•Made its appointments for the new year. Chain, who was vice chairwoman last year, was picked to chair the commission. Jimmy Rogers was named vice chairman.

Chain was reappointed to the Dublin-Laurens County Recreation Authority. Trae Kemp will come off the authority, and new Commissioner Gerad Mathis will take his place. Tanner was reappointed to the county Board of Health, Kemp and Rogers were reappointed to the Solid Waste Authority and Chain was reappointed to the Downtown Development Authority. Kemp was picked to replace Rogers on the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Development Commission Council.

• Signed off on $59,000 in additional ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding from the state for the district attorney’s office.

• Approved several procedural items for new Tax Commissioner Darla Brown, such as authorizing her to accept various forms of payment and to correct obvious clerical errors, and also her request to no longer require that mobile home decals be displayed on the outside of the homes.

• Approved a motion by Mathis to remove the 50-hour cap on station hours allowed on the stipend for the rural fire department. Instead the hours will be monitored by county Fire Chief Josh McCard.

• Heard from Marilyn Stauff, who invited the board to Releaf Dublin, a Georgia Forestry tree giveaway  from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, at Stubbs Park. Stauff also asked about the delay between tax revaluations and who was responsible for the process. County Administrator Bryan Rogers explained the Board of Assessors conduct the revals, and its members are appointed by the county commission.