Commissioners hear update on building projects

The regular monthly meeting of the Emanuel County Board of Commissioners was held Monday evening, March 17, 2025, at the Emanuel County Courthouse. In attendance were Chairman Jim Sherrod, Vice Chairman Timmy Oliver and Commissioners Kawame Coleman, Ricky Thompson and John Moore. Also present were County Administrator L.G. Singletary, County Clerk Halei Lamb and County Attorney Richard McNeely. Chairman Sherrod called the meeting to order and welcomed visitors and representatives of the media. Following an invocation brought by Attorney McNeely and the Pledge of Allegiance, the minutes of the March 10, 2025, workshop as well as minutes from the previous regular meeting were pre-sented and approved. Under Old Business, the Board considered an appointment to the Board of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The seat was previously held by Mr. Don Wilkes. Following discussion, and learning that Mr. Wilkes was interested in continuing to serve in the position, Commissioners voted unanimously to reap-point him to the seat. Under New Business, the Board voted to accept a bid of $900,518.00 for two new county fire trucks. According to Administrator Singletary, the majority of fund-ing for the purchase of the trucks comes from a grant of $742,000 with the remaining amount provided by SPLOST. Following this, Singletary brought commissioners up to date on various on-going projects included with the county’s multi-phase building program. The Administrator reported that the new county tax administration building adjacent to the post office is scheduled to open for service in the first week of April. Following that, the new Soft-ball Complex, new Gymnasium and the new Competition size Swimming Pool will have bid dates coming up soon with construction start dates in the near future. The renovation of the downtown Coleman County Office Building is on track and ready for the design phase to begin with completion expected in 14 to 18 months. The long-awaited project dealing with a major upgrade of the county emergency communications system is now headed for comple-tion in late summer. This will be a major step forward for our law enforcement and public safety community. These six projects mark an ambitious and unprecedented program of public facility growth and construction for Emanuel County. Administrator Singletary stressed that the active involvement and support of the County Commissioners along with the coordination of long-term financial planning have combined to make these projects pos-sible at this time. The aggressive building plan will be largely funded through state and fed-eral grant awards and special reallocation benefit with no additional burden placed upon the taxpayers of Emanuel County. It appears to be a very busy time ahead for new development in our community, and on that positive note, Chairman Sherrod called for adjournment.