[0:06] you have before you the 2026 mill rate. Um we have a short presentation for

[0:12] that. Um just to go over the millage and the calculation of that.

[0:20] Just a reminder um the millage rate is a tax levy um for county purposes. It is

[0:25] the tax rate per thousand dollar of assessed property value. And you

[0:29] determine that by dividing your budgeted tax revenues by your total digest, which

[0:34] is the value of the of the county, and subtracting any roll backs. Um the

[0:39] taxpayers's bill of rights comes into play there. Um that requires a roll back

[0:44] of the millage if there's significant net value from reassessment.

[0:49] You have to calculate the value of that reassessment and subtract it from your

[0:53] prior year's millage rate. And that applies to all existing real property.

[0:58] Um, if you do not roll back to that computed mill rate, you do have to

[1:02] advertise a tax increase as a percentage and hold three public hearings.

[1:08] Um, just as an example, if you had $100 million um, added from reassessment and

[1:15] your digest was $2 billion and your prior year milit rate was 5.283,

[1:22] the millet equivalent of that $100 million is.264.

[1:27] And so your roll back millage rate would be 5.019.

[1:32] If you left your millage rate at 5.283, you would have to advertise a 5.26% tax

[1:38] increase. Um, for the actual calculation, um,

[1:43] there is $102.6 million added from reassessment

[1:48] and your digest is 5.7 billion. Last year's millage rate was 5.051.

[1:55] So the millage equivalent of that 102.6 million is 091 mills. Um so your roll

[2:03] back millillage for 2026 is 4.96. Um if you had left it at 5.051 you would

[2:10] have had to advertise a 1.83% tax increase.

[2:16] Um there are several formulas that you use to calculate millage. The gross

[2:20] millage is going to be all of your budgeted property tax and your local

[2:24] option sales tax divided by that digest and then you have a roll back for the

[2:29] local option sales tax which is that local option sales tax amount divided by

[2:34] the total digest. The difference in those two is your net millage rate.

[2:40] Um just a reminder on local option sales tax you know we have 8 cent here in

[2:46] Louns County. of that four cents goes to the state of Georgia. One cent is for

[2:52] transportation splast which is for regional um transportation improvement

[2:57] projects. You have your splast which is split between the county and the

[3:01] municipalities and that's for capital improvements.

[3:05] Your education splast which is split between the school systems and that's

[3:09] for capital improvements. and then local option sales tax which is split between

[3:14] the county and the cities and that is for property tax relief and it has to

[3:19] roll back your property tax. So this is a calculation of the M which

[3:26] is your maintenance and operation millage um the countywide millage we're

[3:30] discussing. Um again the total digest is $5.7 billion. Um your county taxes and

[3:38] your local option sales tax. Um your total taxes there are 48.9 or just just

[3:44] under $49 million. So that gives you a gross millage of 8.581.

[3:51] And then when you calculate that local option sales tax roll back that is 3.621

[3:56] mills which gives you the 4.960 which is the roll back millage. Um at the 96%

[4:03] collection rate which is what we typically see in the first year of

[4:06] collection. That's about $27.2 2 million.

[4:12] Your special district millages, um you have your industrial authority, which is

[4:17] a countywide, um that is recommended to remain at 1.1 mil. Your rec recreation

[4:23] authority, again, that's countywide at 1.25.

[4:28] And fire services, which is in the unincorporated area, that is recommended

[4:32] to remain at 2.5.

[4:37] as an example for a property tax owner who lived in the unincorporated area.

[4:42] This is comparing 2025 with 2026. Um if you had a property valued at

[4:49] $200,000, the assessed value of that is 40% which

[4:53] is $80,000. You subtract your homestead exemption

[4:57] that gives you a net taxable base of $74,000.

[5:02] Um, your county tax would go from $373.77

[5:07] to $3674, which is a reduction of $6.73.

[5:14] There's no change in the recreation or the industrial. Um, the county school

[5:19] system is PL rolling back their millillage, so there's a reduction there

[5:24] of about $172 and no change with the unincorporated

[5:29] fire. So, your estimated tax on that same property overall is estimated to go

[5:35] down about $24 for that same property that's located

[5:41] inside the city of Valdasta. You would still see that same decrease of the

[5:46] county tax. No change in the recreation or the industrial. Um, the city of

[5:51] Valdasta is proposing an increase. Um, so that would go up about $129.

[5:58] Um the city schools are rolling back. So that goes down about $19. So overall

[6:04] that tax bill would change by about $104.

[6:10] If you look at the breakdown, um again, this goes back to the unincorporated.

[6:15] For every dollar of taxes that you pay, about 22 cents of that actually comes to

[6:21] Louns County. Five cents goes to the parks and recreation authority, five

[6:26] cent to the industrial authority, 57 cents to the county school system, and

[6:32] 11 cents to the fire department. Um, for every dollar for someone inside

[6:38] the city limits of Valdasta, about 17 cents comes to Loun County, 4 cents to

[6:44] the recreation authority, 4 cent to the industrial authority, 28 cent to the

[6:50] city of Aldasta, and 46 cent to the city school system.

[6:56] If you look at the history of the millage rate, the bar that you see is

[7:01] the county's millage rate, the countywide millage rate. And you'll see

[7:05] at the 4.9 um that is about just about half of what

[7:10] it was um back in 2005. It has significantly come down and it has come

[7:16] down um every year since 2016.

[7:21] Um looking at the property tax and budget history, this puts it in more of

[7:26] a chart form. You can see that um from 2018 to 2026, the increase in the digest

[7:34] value um of just over $3 billion to 5.7 billion. But you can see that the

[7:41] county's um military has gone from 8.814 to 4.960.

[7:48] Um and while the budget has increased um over that time period um that next to

[7:55] last column there estimated taxes that is the tax revenue that that millillage

[8:01] has brought in that has remained almost um the same through that time period. So

[8:07] even though the the digest has increased and the budget has increased the amount

[8:11] of tax revenue that the county actually takes in has remained relatively the

[8:16] same. And this just puts that in a graphical form. Um this is on two

[8:22] different scales. So the two lines go with the left hand side that's in

[8:26] millions of dollars. Um that is your budget and your property tax. Um the

[8:32] area goes to the right side which is in billions of dollars. That shows the

[8:36] increase in the digest. And while you see that that dark line at the top,

[8:40] which is the budget increasing, the actual property tax revenue line has

[8:46] remained relatively flat. And then finally, where does your money

[8:52] go? Um, this is just a breakdown of every dollar you spend and how that um

[8:57] comes to the county. Nine cent of that goes to the board of commissioners and

[9:01] administration. One cent goes to the board of elections.

[9:05] two cents to the tax commissioner, three cent to the board of assessors, two

[9:10] cents for engineering, 1 cent for contingency,

[9:14] um, which are unexpected things that happen. 11 cents goes to all of your

[9:18] court services, 36 cents to the sheriff's department, 2 cents for animal

[9:23] services, 2 cents for emergency medical services, which is ambulance service. Um

[9:29] all other public safety gets four cents, public works 12 cents, industrial 5

[9:35] cents, recreation 7 cent, and all other which is um includes your outside

[9:40] agencies gets about 3 cents. Um so with that, if there are no

[9:46] questions, again, the countywide millage is before you and that's recommended to

[9:50] roll back to 4.96 mills. >> Any questions for Miss Black?

[9:56] » Stephanie, thank you for that presentation. Will that be posted on our

[9:59] website? Yes, sir. >> Thank you.

[10:01] » I I just wanted to say for clarity, uh I guess this reflects no tax increase for

[10:05] the county, unincorporated parts of the county. Correct.

[10:08] » Correct. >> I want to thank you and staff for

[10:10] helping us save dollars in these trying times.

[10:14] » Okay. Any other questions? All right. Commissioners, I'll entertain a motion.

[10:19] » Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve the 4.960 mill.

[10:25] » Yes, sir. >> Okay, we have a motion. Second.

[10:28] » We have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in

[10:32] favor signify by I. >> I.

[10:34] » Any opposed like sign? >> Hearing none, the motion carries. Agenda

[10:39] item 5B is the adoption of the special district millage for the industrial

[10:43] authority. Miss Black, you've already kind of made some uh recognition to

[10:47] that, so go ahead. >> Um, yes, sir. Um, prior to 2025, the

[10:52] Georgia Department of Revenue required the millillage assigned to authorities

[10:55] to be included in that countywide mill, but with the adoption of House Bill 581

[11:01] and um, related legislation, the mill assessed for authority funding is now

[11:07] considered a special district and is adopted separately. Um, the proposed

[11:12] mill for 2026 for the industrial authority is 1.1 mills, which is no

[11:16] change from 2026. Any questions for Mrs. Black? Hearing?

[11:22] None. I'll entertain a motion. >> I make the motion to adopt the

[11:26] Industrial Authority Mill at 1.1. >> Okay. We have a motion to adopt the

[11:31] Industrial Authorities uh special district millage at 1.10.

[11:36] Do I have a second? >> Second.

[11:37] » I have a second by Miss Evans. Any discussion?

[11:41] Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in favor signify by I. I.

[11:44] » Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None. Motion carries.

[11:49] Agenda item 5C is the adoption of the special district millillage for the

[11:53] parks and recreation authority. Miss Black.

[11:55] » Um yes sir. Um as the same as the prior one, um this is now a special district

[12:00] mill and has to be adopted separately. Um parks and recreation has been set at

[12:06] 1.25 mills since it was first implemented and there's no propose

[12:09] proposed change in that. >> Any questions for Miss Black? Hearing

[12:14] none, I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Okay,

[12:18] » we have a motion to approve the special district millage for parks and wreck at

[12:21] 1.25. Do I have a second? >> Second.

[12:24] » I have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in

[12:29] favor signify by I. >> Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None.

[12:33] The motion carries. Agenda item 5D is the adoption of the

[12:38] special district millage for fire services. Miss Black.

[12:41] » Um yes, sir. Thank you. Um following the board's approval to expand fire services

[12:45] in fiscal year 2022, a special district was in um created that includes the

[12:51] unincorporated area and that fire um millillage has been set at 2.5 mills um

[12:57] since its inception and there's no recommended changes.

[13:01] » Okay, any questions for Miss Black? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion.

[13:06] » Mr. Chairman, I move we adopt the special district millage for fire

[13:09] services at 2.5. Okay, we have a motion to adopt the special district millage

[13:14] for fire services at 2.50. Do I have a second?

[13:17] » Second. >> Have a second by Miss Evans. Any

[13:19] discussion? >> Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All

[13:22] in favor signify by I. >> Any oppose? Like sign?

[13:28] Hearing? None. A motion carries. Agenda item 5E is batch one of

[13:34] resurfacing group for the transportation improvement act known as TIA. And this

[13:38] is the project agreement for that resurfacing. Mr. Mloud.

[13:42] » Uh yes, sir. Thank you. The board approved the TIA local delivery

[13:46] application for batch one resurfacing project on July 28th, 2026.

[13:53] G DOT has approved that application and sent staff the project agreement to be

[13:58] approved by the board. Uh staff cannot begin any part of the process to

[14:04] construct the project without this agreement. Uh the agreement is eligible

[14:10] for the project cost up to 13,134,000.

[14:16] Uh this is T2 project and resurfacing 36 county roads.

[14:24] » Any questions for Mr. Mloud? >> We have a total of the mileage of all

[14:28] these roads. It is fif just a little over 52 miles.

[14:32] » Thank you, Chad. >> A lot of new roads,

[14:35] » huh? A lot of resurfacing on roads. >> All right. Any other questions? Hearing

[14:41] none. I'll entertain a motion. I >> move we approve and authorize you to

[14:44] sign those documents. >> Okay. We have a motion to approve and

[14:48] occupi occupi authorize the chairman to sign the documents. Yes, sir.

[14:52] » Second. >> Any discussion?

[14:56] Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All in favor signify by I.

[14:59] » I. >> Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None.

[15:02] The motion carries. Agenda item 5F is the Twin Lakes Road

[15:07] Paving and drainage improvements. Again, this is a TIA Transportation Investment

[15:13] Act uh project and this is supplemental agreement number one. Mr. Mloud.

[15:17] » Uh yes, sir. The original agreement dated 1228 of 2022 with G DOT has a not

[15:24] to exceed amount of 2.1 million for Twin Lakes Road. Uh staff has requested the

[15:31] TIA office for an additional funding request

[15:35] of 1.389 million1,389,400

[15:43] uh to cover the remainder of the project for a total of 3,489,400

[15:54] » and Tia has agreed. >> Tia has agreed. Uh they've sent the

[15:59] supplement agreement number one for you to approve.

[16:03] » Gotcha. Okay. >> Any questions for Mr. Mloud?

[16:06] » That's really just the difference between bidding something and estimating

[16:11] something in 2022 versus >> Oh, absolutely.

[16:15] » So, it's not that it was >> this is this is the difference in

[16:18] estimating 2018 versus 2026.

[16:22] » So, there's no scope change or That's correct. Or no. Okay.

[16:26] » This has already been started. >> That's correct.

[16:29] » When will that road be completed in a rough estimate?

[16:32] » 15 months. >> Also in the keep in mind in the in the

[16:36] TIA operation, they build in a certain amount of revenue out of that 1 cent for

[16:43] inflation issues. Tia one that we've just finished with. Um they they

[16:49] basically really was underestimating every or actually overestimating

[16:54] everything, underestimating the the revenue. That's the reason why it ended

[16:58] a little earlier because the revenue came in. Um, and so really the inflation

[17:03] factor wasn't really touched much on Tia one until right at the end. Uh, so

[17:08] there's still revenue there for inflation, but yet TIA 2 also they build

[17:13] in an inflation factor in there just for this purpose.

[17:16] » Makes sense. >> Okay, there's no other questions. I'll

[17:21] entertain a motion. Motion to approve the supplemental agreement number one

[17:25] and authorize the chairman to sign. >> Okay, we have a motion to approve

[17:29] supplemental agreement number one for the Twin Lakes road paving and drainage

[17:33] improvements and authorize the chairman to sign the documents. Do I have a

[17:37] second? >> Second.

[17:39] » Have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in

[17:43] favor signify by I. I. >> Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None.

[17:48] The motion carries. Agenda item 5G is the 2026 community development block

[17:54] grant disaster recovery funding application and this is in regards to

[17:59] any conflict of interest. Mr. Mloud. >> Uh yes sir. Loun County intends to apply

[18:04] for the 2026 CDBGDR for improvements to Riverside Road. As

[18:10] part of the application, Loun County must comply with federal conflict of

[18:15] interest regulations. If an employee, agent, consultant,

[18:19] officer or elected official of the state or of a unit of general local

[18:24] government, or if any designated public agencies or subreients

[18:30] could be affected in any way by CDBGDR funding, a full disclosure must be

[18:36] submitted to DCA as part of the application.

[18:41] Additionally, the person or persons affected must not participate in project

[18:46] discussion, planning, or voting. Uh staff has done some due diligence. We're

[18:52] not aware of any conflict of interest related to the proposed application

[18:58] target area uh based off of our research. And what we would ask is the

[19:04] commission to discuss this as you already have to determine that there is

[19:08] no conflict of interest. >> Okay. Any questions for Mr. Mloud?

[19:13] Commissioners, uh, unless there is a conflict of interest someone would like

[19:17] to bring to everybody's attention at this point, then I would entertain a

[19:20] motion. >> Motion to approve.

[19:21] » Do we have a motion to approve? Do I have a second? Second.

[19:25] » Have a second by Miss Evans. Any discussion?

[19:28] Hearing none, I'll call the vote. All in favor signify by I.

[19:32] » Any oppose? Like, sign? Hearing? None. The motion carries. Agenda item 5H is

[19:39] the 2026 community development block grant disaster recovery. Again, the

[19:43] CDBGDR funding application and this is the engineering selection. Mr. Mloud.

[19:49] » Uh yes, sir. As part of the same project and the same grant application, Loun

[19:54] County has to select a civil engineer through an R RFP process. Staff prepared

[20:00] and advertised the RFP. staff received 11 submissions, 10 that met the

[20:06] requirements. Uh these scores we provided to you yesterday morning.

[20:12] Uh the top three were Level Engineering and Associates, Innovate Engineering,

[20:17] and Axis Engineering. All three of those are local firms. Uh they scored in that

[20:24] order. And then the cost level was at 12% of construction. Innovate was at 9%

[20:31] and Axis provided a lump sum price of $255,000.

[20:38] » Okay. Any questions for Mr. Mloud? All right. Hearing none, I'll entertain

[20:44] a motion. >> Mr. Chairman, that seeing that the

[20:47] estimated construction cost was uh according to Mr. Mloud was around $4

[20:52] million. I see that as being the difference between 9% and 12% being

[20:57] roughly $120,000. So my motion would be that we approve

[21:02] innovate engineering as the engineer of record for this.

[21:06] » Okay. So we have a motion then to approve innovate engineering as the

[21:10] engineer. >> Second project.

[21:11] » Do I have a second? >> Mr. Marshall, was that a second?

[21:15] » Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. So we have a second.

[21:17] » All right. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none. I'll call the vote. All in

[21:21] favor signify by I. >> I.

[21:23] » Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None. The motion carries.

[21:29] All right. Agenda item five. I is the 2026 community development block grant

[21:34] disaster recovery. Again, the CDBGDR funding application. And this is the

[21:39] submittal resolution. Mr. Mloud. >> Uh yes, sir. Again, as part of the same

[21:44] uh project and application for Riverside Road, the attached resolution is

[21:49] required to be approved by the board before staff can submit the application

[21:54] for the grant. The resolution simply states the facts related to the

[21:59] application and allows the Southern Georgia Regional Commission to complete

[22:03] and submit the final application. >> Okay. Any questions for Mr. Mloud?

[22:09] » No, Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to uh personally thank Chad um Paige,

[22:14] yourself, and the remainder of the commission, Pastor Morgan, and the

[22:17] residents of that area for helping us make this happen uh for them.

[22:21] » Yep. >> Thanks.

[22:22] » Well, again, we're we're we're praying that it is going to happen because we've

[22:25] got to be awarded the the grant, but yes, the process of going through the

[22:30] applications, working with the South Georgia Regional Commission to help

[22:34] guide us through the the grant process. Again, everybody has really uh done a

[22:38] great job and pulled together because this turns out to be a very significant,

[22:42] very important road. Uh really didn't really show itself until we had all the

[22:47] storms uh in place and because there is a an African-American cemetery on that

[22:52] road. As I've said, we we've actually had some incidences where funerals would

[22:57] have to be postponed because they just could not get down the road. It was that

[23:01] bad. So hopefully this will this is going to eliminate all that and and

[23:05] we'll have a good area over there. So >> when when would we we know if we're

[23:10] awarded? >> So the grant application if I'm not

[23:14] mistaken is due October the 5th. It was September 5th and they moved it to

[23:19] October and then typically by the end of the year first of the year we would get

[23:24] notice >> of award or not no award.

[23:29] » Okay. Any other questions? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion.

[23:32] » Motion to approve. The chairman to sign the resolution.

[23:35] » All right, we have a motion to approve and authorize the chairman to sign the

[23:39] resolution. Do I have a second? >> Second.

[23:40] » Have a second. Any discussion? >> Hearing none, we'll call the vote. All

[23:44] in favor signify by I. >> I.

[23:47] » Any oppose? Like sign? Hearing? None. The motion carries. Agenda item 5J is a

[23:53] data center moratorum on accepting applications for permits. uh yesterday

[23:58] morning at the work session you heard from M Miss Dukes. I know she regrets

[24:02] she's unable to be here this evening uh because she's just a little under the

[24:06] weather. So um commissioners if unless you have any questions in regards to

[24:12] that over what we discussed at work session then I will entertain a motion.

[24:16] » Mr. Chairman I move that we approve resolution as presented.

[24:19] » Okay. We have a motion to approve the resolution as presented and that does

[24:23] include a 60-day moratorum on the application uh for permits.

[24:29] » So, do we have a second? >> Second.

[24:30] » We have a second. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. I'll call the vote. All in

[24:35] favor signify by I. I. >> Any oppose like sign?

[24:39] » Hearing none. The motion carries. Thank you, commissioners.

[24:44] Please. Thank you very much. All right. We'll now move on to agenda item 6A and

[24:49] this is the one bid item that we have and this is for the land application

[24:54] system known as LA. This is the holding pond sludge removal. Mr. Stalin.

[25:00] » Yes, sir. Due to buildup of sludge over several years, the 25 acre holding pond

[25:04] at the L needs to have sludge removed. Staff in conjunction with Carter and

[25:09] Sloop Engineering advertised for bids to have the sludge removed. Five companies

[25:14] submitted bids ranging from $914,240

[25:18] to $6,681,594.

[25:23] Tenderwater LLC doing business as Southeastern Environmental Service

[25:27] submitted the low bid of $914,240.

[25:32] However, after reviewing its exper its experience,

[25:37] staff and Carter and Sloop Engineering have determined that it does not have

[25:41] the capac the capability in all respects to perform fully and reliably the

[25:46] contract requirements. BAM 2 Incorporated submitted the next bid of

[25:50] $2,978,848

[25:54] and met the contract requirements of the bid documents. Staff recommends the

[25:58] board reject the bid of Tindlewater LLC doing business of Southeastern

[26:02] Environmental Services and accept the bid of BAM 2 Incorporated for 2,978,848

[26:11] and authorize the chairman to sign the agreement.

[26:14] » Okay. Any questions for Mr. Staly? >> All right. Hearing none, commissioners,

[26:19] I'll entertain a motion.

[26:24] » Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve BAM 2 incorporated

[26:28] uh as the bid um for this project. >> BAM two.

[26:32] » BAM two. >> Okay. We have a motion to approve BAM 2

[26:36] uh for the bid on the project. Do we have a second?

[26:39] » Second. >> We have a second. Any discussion?

[26:42] » Hearing none. I'll call the vote. All in favor signify by I. I.

[26:47] » Whoops. Let's show your hands. There we go. Unanimous. Thank you very

[26:52] much. All right, we'll now move on. Well, we

[26:56] won't move on to the county manager report because Miss Dukes is not with us

[26:59] tonight. Uh, but we will move right on into our citizens wishing to be heard at

[27:04] this time. Um, let's see. We will start with Miss Teddiana Babcock.

[27:12] If you would please come forward and state your name and address for the

[27:15] record, please.

[27:26] All right. My name is Tatiana Babcock. >> Please.

[27:30] And I live at 3561 Ski Range Road. And I wanted to point out we do have a large

[27:35] nonpartisan group here tonight. And I want to welcome them as well. So, good

[27:38] evening chairman, commissioners, and neighbors. Our county manager, Miss

[27:42] Paige Dukes, has spoke about rising cost, housing, rent, and everyday

[27:46] pressures on families. That concern is real. A lot of us feel it every month

[27:51] when the bills come due. So I ask a simple question. If we are truly worried

[27:55] that people cannot afford rent and the cost of living, why would we welcome an

[28:00] industry whose entire purpose is to replace the human work with machines.

[28:06] These are not ordinary warehouses. These are AI data centers. They exist so

[28:10] companies can run artificial intelligence at massive scale. The same

[28:15] AI already taking jobs in customer service, bookkeeping, dispatch, legal

[28:22] research, insuranceances, logistics, and parts of the healthcare and

[28:28] our education. Reports show AI is eliminating thousands of jobs every

[28:32] month across the United States and those numbers are accelerating. That is the

[28:37] business model. A hyperscale facility does not hire hundreds of local families

[28:42] for the long term. Construction jobs, they do come and go, and even those are

[28:47] not guaranteed to the locals. After the concrete is poured, you're left with a

[28:52] small crew, security, a few technicians, and remote operators who may not even

[28:57] live here. The computers inside work 24 hours a day doing work that used to

[29:03] require people. Here's the contradiction. We hear concern that

[29:07] families cannot keep up with rent and groceries. Yet we are asked to accept a

[29:11] project that shrinks the future job market our children will be walking

[29:15] into. You cannot say you care about affordability and then help build the

[29:20] infrastructure that makes good local jobs disappear.

[29:23] And this is where the disconnect becomes impossible to ignore. Leadership in this

[29:28] county has grown disconnected from the people who actually live here. When

[29:32] residents show up meeting after meeting with real concerns about noise, water,

[29:37] power, sink holes, property values, and their children's futures, their

[29:42] responses, and often a carefully worded presentation, vague assurances, and the

[29:48] message that we just don't understand. Hard questions are treated as uninformed

[29:53] or emotional instead of as citizens who know their own land and know their own

[29:58] lives. That is not leadership. That is distance. If officials lived the same

[30:03] daily pressures, the same rent, the same power bills, the same worry about

[30:08] whether their kids have real careers here, they would not treat a hyperscale

[30:12] AI data center as just another economic developmental site. They would feel the

[30:16] same fear we feel when something this large is pushed towards residential

[30:21] neighborhoods with so little transparency and so few permanent local

[30:25] jobs. If fewer people have stable work, rent gets harder. Young families leave.

[30:31] Kids grow up watching opportunity move somewhere else. Our children will

[30:35] inherit three things from the decisions that are made in this room. First, their

[30:40] jobs. If we train them for careers that AI is designed to replace. We are

[30:44] setting them up to compete with a machine that never sleeps and it never

[30:48] asks for a raise. Second, their cost of living. Data centers demand enormous

[30:53] power. Residents across the state have already learned that the new loads

[30:57] change the whole system. Generation, transmission, long-term rates. Our kids

[31:03] will live with those costs for decades, not for one election cycle. And third,

[31:07] their home, a hyperscale site next to neighborhoods. It changes the noise, the

[31:12] light, traffic, water demand, and the character of the land. In a county with

[31:17] sinkholes and carsted, this is not a small risk. Tax money cannot replace a

[31:22] job that no longer exists. Tax money cannot buy back quiet neighborhoods. Tax

[31:27] money cannot give a teenager a future if the work that built this county has been

[31:32] automated away. If the county is serious about people being able to afford rent,

[31:36] protect the things that let these people earn a living, such as local jobs,

[31:43] stable utilities, safe land, and a community that's worth staying in. Do

[31:48] not tell us you're worried about the cost of living while paving the way for

[31:52] an industry that treats human labor as the problem that needs to be solved. And

[31:58] do not stay so disconnected from the people of Loun County that you can no

[32:01] longer hear them when they say clearly and repeatedly, "We do not want this

[32:06] next to our homes." Put a real moratorum in place. Finish a strong ordinance

[32:12] before any permits. Put our children's future ahead of a speculative AI campus.

[32:17] Our kids should not have to pay the price for decisions made without them

[32:22] and without us. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[32:28] » All right. Our next speaker, Mr. George Fiser. Please come forward and state

[32:32] your name and address for the record, please.

[32:38] » Good evening. My name is George Fiser. I live at 5278 Hall Road in Hehyra,

[32:45] Georgia. Uh, I've been working, as you know, on

[32:50] what lies beneath our limestone. We all agree is a carsted limestone. It's got a

[32:56] lot of tunnels and caves in it. What I've been doing for the last two or

[33:00] three months, I've looked at 22 different images, satellite images

[33:07] over our county. I've looked at uh from 1993

[33:14] to December 26th, 2025. We have satellite images. These images are taken

[33:22] right above the site. Uh they sort out. We don't have clouds. We don't have

[33:28] rain. We can see what is there uh very well. What I've been looking for are

[33:35] trying to identify any carsted features on the surface. What can you see on the

[33:41] surface? Are they indications of anything below the surface that should

[33:46] be a concern? I've also looked closely at existing places that have been

[33:52] studied including Shadri Sinkhole, Shiloh Road, Riverchase, Ocean Pond,

[33:57] Twin Lake, Snake Nation Road, and Camelot Crossing. I've looked at all of

[34:01] those in detail. I can actually make it like a movie. I can get an image up

[34:05] there and I can flip back and forth, flip back and forth, change the seasons,

[34:09] change the the angles. I can rotate the angles. Um, a lot of the terminology

[34:15] that we use is a little confusing because a lot of this work came from uh

[34:20] Slovakia and Croatia. So there it's in a Slavic language. So there's kind of hard

[34:25] to pronounce. So I'm just going to use simple terms ones here. Um,

[34:32] all of my ideas, everything technically that I speak here, I have vetted. I send

[34:40] my notes to recognized professors of hydrarology, of geology. I've got a uh

[34:46] former fellow I worked with that lives in Perth, that's Australia, is one of

[34:50] the premier hydraologists in Southeast Asia. And I get it vetted. I said, "Do

[34:56] you see anything in what I'm saying that's incorrect or is not right?"

[35:00] Occasionally I get feedback and usually my illustrations are exaggerated. You're

[35:05] you've compressed it too much. It's indicating this. So I I change my

[35:09] illustrations that I don't show. What I have found is where the data center is

[35:15] going to be located off of Coleman Road. I've identified potentially two large

[35:21] dissolution features. I've named them Mut and Jeff for the lack of a better

[35:26] word. Uh mut is about 500 feet in diameter. Jeff is about 400 feet. They

[35:31] are indicated on the 1998 Georgia soils report as wetlands, as a circle, as a

[35:39] depression. They're on the crest of the feature, which means they're not bogs.

[35:44] The crest of the feature, the water would drain off. A recent aerial view of

[35:50] that reveals water in both of these things. A lot of wa water. So my concern

[35:56] is that they are in communication from the surface down to the aquifer. The

[36:02] overlying rock, the Hawthorne group is very shallow there. In fact, the whole

[36:09] the whole county dips down to the east as far as our aquafer and the

[36:14] overburden. So it's very very very shallow there. very near the surface.

[36:18] These depressions are aligned in a line that's probably due to a compressional

[36:24] fra fracture that uh compress pressed this um

[36:30] and they are designated wetlands. So, we have to be very careful with the

[36:34] wetlands. I've also looked at other features that I mentioned last time here

[36:38] to the east of the railroad tracks going down to the river. What I'm looking for

[36:43] there are depressions, slope failure, dissolution creasses,

[36:49] fluial washouts, and changing string patterns, and even some trees that are

[36:53] knocked over there. Um, so that's what I've been doing. And I do

[37:02] want to correct a previous statement I made when I'm talking about the aquifer.

[37:06] I really want to change that when I speak about the groundwater

[37:10] there. I've been talking about the aqua aquafer aquafer but in researching some

[37:14] of the hydrarology it's really the groundwater that is my concern you know

[37:20] uh we don't want to contaminate the groundwater so

[37:25] what I want to ask you to do is to consider in the ordinance putting in a

[37:31] very strong geohysical study I talked to a geohysicist yesterday on my road this

[37:37] is what we do this is they're out of Tallahassee and out Tampa, this is what

[37:41] they do. They they do electrical testing to measure what the ground is like.

[37:46] Let's build our house on solid rock and not on shifting sand.

[37:52] Thanks, sir. All right. Our next speaker is uh Jen

[37:58] Frell. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record,

[38:02] please.

[38:18] Uh, Jen Frell, 480 Murray Road. I am here to address the conduct of the

[38:24] commissioners. Um, thank you for allowing me to speak and let me

[38:28] apologize in advance to the people behind me. Public speaking is not my

[38:32] thing. On August 11th, in this room, Dr. Retrieva Gear made a comment to the

[38:38] commissioners that they in the process of being elected were married to the

[38:42] people. Marriage as we all know is only truly successful when built upon a

[38:47] foundation of mutual trust. Yet meeting after meeting while we sit in this room.

[38:53] Thank you. We are expected to follow and demanded

[38:58] to follow rules of decorum while we watch all of you on your phones

[39:02] answering calls, sending text messages, whatever it is that you're doing. As

[39:08] plainly as I can possibly say it, it's disrespectful. It's giving rules for

[39:12] thee, but not for me. Uh there are currently matters of public

[39:17] interest that have large portions of the public involved in attending these

[39:20] meetings regularly and some that are here for the first time. These matters

[39:25] of public interest are discussed even more frequently on social media where

[39:29] there are no rules of decorum. Everyone is free to weigh in as they see fit in

[39:34] these conversations oftent time become extremely spirited. I am the admin of

[39:40] one local Facebook group with over 31,000 members. The vast majority of

[39:44] whom are Lowdens County residents, business owners, and taxpayers. Several

[39:49] of you seated before me are members of that group.

[39:53] I'm here today to place on the public record comments left by Mark Weisenbaker

[39:58] in that group. >> We're not going to mention any of the

[40:00] commissioner's names. Now, you can you can admonish

[40:04] say what you want to say, but we're not going to call out anything.

[40:07] » I'll take his name out. That's fine. >> Okay.

[40:09] » On the evening of July 28th, someone came into Miss Rachel's internet to tell

[40:15] me, and I quote, "There will be another meeting like this one. Get off the

[40:20] couch, show up, and see for yourself. Then maybe, just maybe, others will

[40:24] notice you probably have a brain or part of one. It puts in question the validity

[40:30] of our marriage. These comments have now been spread far

[40:34] and wide throughout the community. I brought 50 printout copies that have

[40:39] already been given out. You may each have one. We've also turned all of those

[40:43] comments into vinyl stickers for anyone in the audience that may want

[40:48] them. suggesting people should not be asking

[40:51] questions about these meetings unless they are also willing to attend

[40:56] ignores your disabled constituents who may not be able to physically attend. It

[41:01] ignores your economically challenged constituents who may not have

[41:04] transportation to and from these meetings. It ignores your constituents

[41:08] who work second shift or long hours. It ignores our local farmers and farm

[41:13] workers and a large number of Lowdens County residents who may otherwise want

[41:18] to attend these meetings but can't. Which then brings forth the question,

[41:22] what happened to the high-priced equipment that was purchased to live

[41:25] stream these meetings. This is unacceptable conduct by someone

[41:31] uh who we, your constituents, expect a higher level of professionalism and

[41:36] integrity from. In closing, I would like to remind the entirety of you that we

[41:41] elected you to sit up there. We can remove each and every one of you by

[41:47] recall. >> We expect more and we deserve more.

[41:53] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[41:56] » All right. Our next speaker is Brida Mink.

[42:00] Please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

[42:18] My name is Britta Mink, 807 Blackwood Road, Valdasta.

[42:25] I am disappointed.

[42:29] I'm terribly disappointed. Um, I'm glad I followed Jen because

[42:37] what she said is um, a lot of what I feel and that is unheard

[42:45] completely unheard. Uh, I think a lot of us in this room

[42:50] feel unheard. U, we do not want this center. We do not want this data center.

[42:58] We want a complete moratorum. We 60 days. That's great. Thank you. I think

[43:04] that's wonderful and we appreciate it. We do appreciate the 60 days.

[43:10] But we want we do not want it at all. If if for some reason you guys cannot

[43:18] understand this, um please hear it now.

[43:24] We do not want this.

[43:32] Um, there are a lot of reasons it's not going to be in my backyard,

[43:41] but I've lived here since I was three. I love this area. I don't want to move

[43:48] out. And all of the things that are going to

[43:52] happen, they may happen after I die. I'm old. I don't have children.

[43:58] My nieces and nephews don't live here. My great nieces and nephews don't live

[44:03] here. They never will. So, you could say I don't have a dog in this fight.

[44:09] But the people that I love are still here and they're going to be here.

[44:16] And the fact that you guys are even considering this,

[44:21] that means that you don't love this place.

[44:24] And that's upsetting to me. If you can't tell them I'm upset,

[44:29] then then you have less of a heart than I thought you did.

[44:36] This is going to ruin a lot of people's lives. This is going to take down

[44:44] the value of their houses. This is going to ruin

[44:51] the land.

[44:55] This is going to destroy the a lot of the animals.

[45:02] Like I said, I'm an old woman, so I bird watch. Do you know how many birds are

[45:08] going to go away and never come back if this place is built?

[45:15] We have beautiful birds here, and this is going to make those birds go

[45:21] away. Please don't do this.

[45:28] Please. This isn't right. This This is This is

[45:32] not for us. It's not my backyard, but it's my home.

[45:41] It's your home, and you should care more about it. You really should.

[45:49] All right. Our next speaker is Charlotte Noel Lundy.

[45:54] Rick, please come forward and state your name and address for the record, please.

[46:02] » Hi everyone. Uh, my name is Noel Lundy and I am a resident and student at

[46:08] Valdasta State University. Um, that's 1500 North Patterson Street. Go Blazers.

[46:13] Um, I am here to talk about the proposition to build an AI data center

[46:17] in the Foxboro subdivision. Aside from the fact that we as a

[46:21] community are saying we do not want a data center here and that the voice and

[46:25] opinions of the people should be enough, a data center would damage our community

[46:29] in several ways. The sound levels of the methane gas turbines used to power AI

[46:35] data centers have been compared to that of jet engines, making it impossible for

[46:39] residents and children nearby to sleep at night, which increases rates of

[46:43] insomnia. And according to uncalthcare.org,

[46:47] lack of sleep increases risks of dementia, depression, and weight gain.

[46:51] It's especially damaging to newborn babies and young children as it can have

[46:55] lasting effects of damage to their brain development, putting them at increased

[47:00] risk for developing issues related to mood regulation and intellectual

[47:04] disabilities. A data center would also cause community

[47:08] electric bills and water bills to skyrocket, a precedent set by residents

[47:12] in other parts of the country who have been so unfortunate to have a data

[47:16] center built in their neighborhood. This would affect all kinds of people in our

[47:20] town. Everyone like elderly on fixed income, both single and dual inome

[47:25] households. And it would only add to the many factors that affect rent

[47:29] affordability already. It also has huge impacts on our environment like

[47:35] contaminating groundwater, taking away crucial amounts of clean water from

[47:39] residents, and the decimation of local bird populations.

[47:43] Data centers are not only an attack on lowincome people. The increased use of

[47:48] reliance on generative AI is an attack on our humanity and our right to

[47:53] sustainable living conditions. We cannot separate ourselves from this land. We

[47:58] cannot live without clean air or consistent affordable access to clean

[48:02] water. Our future is at stake and a future where the world is a desolate

[48:07] wasteland of data centers is no future at all. Please choose the people of

[48:11] Valdasta. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[48:15] All right. Our next speaker is Mr. Jimmy Lefiles. Please come forward. State your

[48:19] name and address for the record, please.

[48:26] Jimmy Lefiles, 3561 Riverchase Drive. First of all, thank y'all for giving me

[48:33] a chance to talk. I appreciate it. Um, as y'all know, my family are longtime

[48:39] Loun County residents and intend to stay that way. I'm an industrial chemist, as

[48:44] I've reported already. My research on the chemical side of data centers

[48:48] indicates that the proposed 480 megawatt data center will have over 7 million

[48:53] pounds of either ethylene glycol or propyline glycol on site and could have

[48:59] tens of thousands of pounds of highly toxic PAS chemicals aka forever

[49:05] chemicals because they never degrade into safer chemistry.

[49:10] These are highly toxic water-soluble chemicals that if released in the

[49:14] environment will migrate into the groundwater and into our drinking water

[49:18] and we have no way to fix that problem. 50 pounds of PAS pollutes the entire

[49:23] Georgia Florida aquifer above the EPA safe drinking water standards of four

[49:29] parts per trillion. But I've reported all this already. So

[49:34] tonight I want to talk about something else. Every one of these meetings starts

[49:37] with an invocation. We ask God to be present in this room and to bless us and

[49:42] guide the people that here making these decisions. And I take some solless in

[49:46] that because I know the job you guys have is really hard trying to balance

[49:50] economic growth to the county and at the same time maintain a high standard of

[49:54] living for the people there. On the one hand, the data center could provide a

[49:59] lot of tax revenue revenue for the county that could be used for many good

[50:03] purposes and some jobs. On the other hand, the data center could generate a

[50:07] lot of serious problems. Nearby neighborhoods may be faced with nuisance

[50:11] noise, lower property values, flooding from increased storm water runoff, and

[50:16] possibly more frequent sink holes. If there are chemical spills, all Loun

[50:22] County citizens will be faced with drinking water polluted with even higher

[50:26] level of forever chemicals that we have now, which will be there for generations

[50:31] to come. And these chemicals are known to cause several kinds of cancer and

[50:35] autoimmune dysfunction. All of the problems I just mentioned are

[50:40] specific to the proposed Coleman Road site.

[50:46] A data center built on a site that didn't have all the all the

[50:49] characteristics of the Coleman Road site wouldn't present all these problems.

[50:55] The day the Coleman road site is close to nearby neighborhoods in the width of

[51:00] Coochie River and combined with that it's on a highly unstable porous car

[51:06] geology. I am sure DC blocks the company that

[51:11] will build the data center, sell it and then leave town with their money will

[51:15] claim to have answers to all these issues. Do I believe that DC blocks can

[51:20] design and build a 480 megawatt data center on car limestone within 2500 feet

[51:26] of the width of Cuchi River that will run safely for years? No.

[51:31] I've got 40 years of experience with with heavy industrial chemical plants,

[51:37] designing them, building them, managing them, and I can tell you it's just not

[51:41] going to happen. The margin for error is too small. Remember 50 pounds of PAS

[51:47] pollutes the whole aquaer. Over time, equipment fails, pipes crack,

[51:53] inspections fail, people fail to follow procedures, extreme weather happens,

[51:58] budgets get cut. Given the fragile car substrate, the buildings may fail

[52:03] structurally as we've already seen with Camelot Crossing. But the difference is

[52:08] that data center is going to have millions of pounds of chemicals in it

[52:12] when it goes. When is that going to happen? Is that

[52:16] going to happen in year three or is it going to happen in year 10? Do you want

[52:20] to have to constantly worry about that? Do you want that to be your legacy as a

[52:24] commissioner? So, I go back to the invocation. God

[52:29] calls on us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We can't make the world

[52:33] perfect for our neighbors, but we're called to help them whenever we can.

[52:37] People in Foxboro and other nearby neighborhoods need a safe, decent place

[52:41] to live, and some cannot afford to move. The citizens of Loun County depend on

[52:46] the Georgia Florida aqua for water that is safe for drinking and agriculture and

[52:50] recreational uses. No amount of tax revenue is worth compromising the basic

[52:55] needs of the citizens you're serving. I understand that the path forward is to

[52:59] write an ordinance that protects the citizens. To really protect the

[53:03] citizens, the ordinance must eliminate the possibility of chemical spills, not

[53:07] just to establish what happens after a spill because removing these chemicals

[53:12] from our aquifer can't be done. With all due respect, I don't think it's possible

[53:17] to write such an ordinance. I'm asking you to please conscientiously

[53:22] consider the implications of the current path forward. If you do that, I think

[53:27] you'll follow your heart and agree that the Coleman Road site is just too risky

[53:31] for the cit citizens of Loun County and maybe start focusing your energies

[53:37] on a more appropriate site. Thank you for your service.

[53:41] » Thank you. Thank you.

[53:45] All right, our next speaker, and I'm sorry I can't read the first name, but

[53:50] it looks like Dixon. Sarah Dixon, please come forward and state your name

[53:57] and address for the record, please.

[54:05] » Hi, my name is Laura Hannah Dixon. I live on 3978

[54:10] Apple Cross Road. Um >> Laura, if you'll stay about 6 to 8 in

[54:15] from the microphone, I'll amplify it. It will sound much better.

[54:19] » Okay. Can is that good? >> Yeah, that's fine. Okay, thank you.

[54:28] Um, a lot of what I have written here has already been stated. Um, but I'm

[54:34] going to reiterate it anyway. And if I need to move around for the microphone,

[54:38] please let me know. Um, as taxpayers,

[54:45] our voices need to be heard. Um, and so many of us have said so many

[54:53] times that we don't want a data center here in Valdasta or in any of the

[54:59] surrounding areas. There are livestock and animals dying and being still born

[55:05] because of data centers and we can see that in in other towns in other places

[55:11] where the data centers have been implemented. So we should learn from

[55:15] example rather than uh try to make the same mistakes that are causing real

[55:22] problems like the livestock dying um like the polluted water. And I know that

[55:28] a few weeks ago um we saw a presentation of what might happen to the water uh if

[55:39] an ordinance is created uh to take the water somewhere else. And

[55:44] I would like to echo what Dr. Tva Gear uh said two weeks ago when she stated um

[55:51] even if the water is taken away, where is it going to be taken? uh is it going

[55:57] to be dumped somewhere uh else? And you know, someone on this planet is going to

[56:03] have to deal with the consequences of the forever chemicals that we can never

[56:07] remove out of the water. Um and there are cancer clusters popping up where

[56:13] these data centers are. And um it is not wise for us to see these mistakes to see

[56:21] the damage from the data centers in area other areas of Georgia and all over the

[56:27] United States and to not pause and say we don't want that here

[56:33] because we don't want this damage to happen here. Um

[56:40] at the very least uh consider the moratorum to be more than two months. Uh

[56:48] that is not enough time to really think about making the ordinance stronger.

[56:54] It's not enough time to get input from the community. Um

[56:59] which we really hope that you will allow input from the community. Um, I spoke

[57:06] with a commissioner a couple of months ago and I asked for community

[57:11] representation uh to help develop the ordinance and I

[57:16] was immediately told no, we are not going to allow uh a citizen to be part

[57:21] of the drafting the ordinance because I the commissioner said uh of course we

[57:27] wouldn't want a citizen on the committee because y'all are opposed to it. Um, I I

[57:34] think that that's ludicrous and uh it's really just of course we would want to

[57:39] be on the committee. This is our town. We are the taxpayers and we elected the

[57:45] commissioners. So um please uh consider working with us on an

[57:51] ordinance and one example and we don't want the data center at all but for

[57:55] example something that might be included in a strong robust ordinance that would

[58:01] really protect the citizens would be um to not have the data center run on

[58:08] fossil fuels because what that would do is create a heat island and make the

[58:14] temperature of our area even higher uh than it is. And we're about to we're

[58:21] approaching hurricane season. So um we are having hurricanes and weather that

[58:27] is not normal for our area. And part of that is because of global warming. So we

[58:32] really need strong protections uh environmentally

[58:37] um for the water for example uh to protect us from sink holes as others

[58:42] have already stated and because of rising temperatures um

[58:51] I don't want to believe that we are living in a different Loun County than

[58:57] we were in 2010 and 2011 whenever we fought the biomass. Well, actually, I

[59:05] was I didn't know that was going on. I was living in Alabama at the time, but I

[59:10] was born in Loun County and I've lived here all my life except for a couple of

[59:14] years. And um during that time, the community was able to stop the biomass

[59:21] uh from happening. And I hope that we still live in All County where the

[59:26] commissioners will hear what we have to say with a conscience.

[59:30] All

[59:34] right, that's the end of our citizens wishing to be heard. Commissioners, any

[59:38] questions, comments? I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved.

LCBOC CM 8 25 26

Transcript