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concerns with the Commissioners. In the letter, Brown applauds the leaders for their proactive action of adopting a Cryptocurrency and Data Mining Ordinance, which placed some criteria for these facilities, in 2024, but asked the Commissioners to consider two questions when thinking about the future.
“Do you believe our current land use regulations are sufficient to prepare Toombs County for future large-scale developments, such as AI and cloud data centers, utility-scale solar projects, and other industries that may come our way? Has the Commission already begun having conversations about whether additional planning measures – whether that’s zoning, identifying appropriate areas for industrial development, or other land use policies – might be needed to help guide future growth,” Brown asked.
She continued, I’m not asking the County to stop growth or economic development. I support responsible growth. I simply believe that planning ahead gives us the opportunity to decide what fits our community before we’re responding to a proposal that’s already on the table…Good planning benefits everyone. It provides certainty for property owners, for businesses looking to invest here, and for our future generations of Toombs County.”
Toombs County Commission Chairman Tommy Rollins addressed Brown’s questions, as he stated that he felt like the Commission did need to revisit discussions on strengthening the land use ordinances or exploring the possibility of zoning within the County. “We talked about this 10 years ago and had a crowd here [that was] 10 times bigger than what is here tonight [opposing the action]. Toombs County was not ready for [zoning] then,” he remarked. “We may be in a different era here today.”
Rollins continued, as he explained that the decision- making process would be extensive, as he expected the Commission not to pursue the exact same zoning that they proposed several years ago. “Maybe we had too much [in the zoning guidelines]. That’s why it’s going to take a little time and a lot of consideration to determine exactly what we want this to look like in the future,” he added. “We want it to look correctly because that’s what we want. We don’t want to have to face this battle again two or three years down the road. We’ve got this four-lane [U.S. Highway 1] that’s going to be opened up to the middle of our county. That’s going to bring industry.
We want a certain amount of industry, but we want correct industry for our area.”
He assured that the Commission did not plan to stop growth and would continue to work handin- hand with the Toombs County Development Authority to attract and develop industry and business that best fit the area. He told Brown that the Commission planned to continue to look into ideas, such as a land use plan rather than zoning, for addressing the issue, and he thanked citizens for coming to the meeting and sharing their thoughts and concerns with the commissioners.
Brown shared her gratitude with Rollins for the Commissioners’ commitment to preparing for the future, as she stated that her concerns for the future of the County had grown as she watched data centers and other facilities “pop up” around new transmission line constructions, such as the Georgia Power Hatch-Wadley Line Construction. She told Rollins that she and other homeowners were currently monitoring a transmission line construction project in Coweta County, which was 6 months ahead of the Hatch-Wadley Line construction, She informed the Commission that numerous facilities were being developed near the new line in Coweta County, and she felt like it was important to prepare in case the same developments are attracted to the line in Toombs County, as she clarified that she was not against data centers when the facilities were placed in the correct locations, and she did not feel like the area near her backyard where the new transmission line will run is the correct location.
Citizen Gail Durden asked the Commission if they planned on forming a committee when beginning to discuss the land use plan or zoning proposal for the County. Rollins told Durden that he believed people from multiple backgrounds and expertise needed to be in the conversation, as he said that a committee of individuals in the community from various industries, business owners, and homeowners would probably be created.
Rollins reassured Durden that citizens would be involved in the project not only just through the committee, but also in public hearings, which would be announced and held prior to the Commission voting on the new legislation.
Citizen Gary Bankston told Rollins that he understood that the issue of zoning was previously vehemently opposed by the citizens, as he stated that the citizens were “worried that this kind of interference [could infringe] on their personal freedom and rights.” He advised Rollins to find a zoning plan that was better geared for Toombs County, rather than using another zoning plan that appeared as if they had found it “on the internet.”
Rollins explained that the Commission had not tried to put zoning in effect that they found online, but rather that the previous proposed zoning plan had been created by looking at surrounding counties of similar size and characteristics to Toombs County and selecting portions of each plan that the committee members felt best fit the County.
Bankston stated that he supported zoning as long as it was not as overreaching as the previously proposed zoning, and asked how these guidelines would be enforced, to which Rollins replied it would be the County Tax Assessor’s responsibility to oversee zoning.
The citizen ended his address by sharing his concerns about data centers, as he said he fears that these data centers could be spying on citizens and would utilize large amounts of water and electricity.
Other Public Participation The conversation shifted gears when Citizen Mark Montford addressed the Commissioners about his concerns with property taxes.
“I realize that we’re in a growing community and it takes a lot of money to operate, but taxes are getting absolutely ridiculous,” he emphasized. “When my taxes and other people’s taxes are just as much as a house payment, it’s a little crazy.”
He questioned the status of the Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST) that was sent to the state legislature to be approved for the County. Commissioner Buck Moon explained that the state legislature was not able to pass the action for every county who submitted these local actions for approval because of a partisan divide, but the measure will be proposed again at the state legislature’s next session.
Montford encouraged the Commission to seek out of the box methods of gaining revenues in hopes of being able to lower property taxes.
Action Items New Ambulance The Commission agreed to purchase a new ambulance for Toombs-Montgomery EMS, as the current wait-time for these ambulances to be delivered and ready to begin working in the community is around one year.
Currently, Toombs-Montgomery EMS has 8 ambulances in service and purchases ambulances on a rotating basis because the high amount of mileage that is driven during each month, as the service is averaging over 500 calls a month. The new ambulance costs $281,498 for the truck and necessary body work; this purchase will be funded through the Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
Toombs-Montgomery EMS Director Drew James estimated that the ambulance should be in service in Toombs County by July 2027. Hazard Mitigation Plan
Toombs County Deputy Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director C.J. Worden presented the Commissioners with a 120-page Hazard Mitigation Plan, which the Commissioners authorized to be filed with the federal government.
“The adoption of this plan is ongoing,” Worden explained, as he stated that the plan is reviewed every 5-10 years. “It’s multi-jurisdictional, which means it’s for the county and cities. Just by nature of the definition, ‘mitigation’ means to make something less severe. That’s what this plan is all about – we know disasters are going to happen. We want to take every opportunity that we can possibly get to make them, when they do happen, not hit us so hard. This is a federal requirement that all counties and municipalities participate in the development of a plan and then adopt it. We had a contractor, who did a wonderful job facilitation those meetings, [where the public was invited and involved].”
He said that the plan featured goals for mitigation and strategies to get there, including ideas and things discussed through public input at the meeting. “To boil this all down and just say what it really is: it’s a very expensive wish list. The good thing is we have developed this wish list knowing that we do have the potential for federal and state funding to come along so that we can spend federal dollars and state dollars [for these things] as opposed to our local dollars,” Worden continued. “Some examples of those things are building retrolifting, flood elevation, equipment purchases, etc.”
Commissioners unanimously agreed to adopt the plan.
Quit Claim Deed
The Commissioners authorized a quit claim deed to be executed for a half-acre of land currently owned by the Marvin United Methodist Church to be used as a fire station for the Marvin Yancey Volunteer Fire Department.
The deed states that as long as the land is used for public safety, the county has control over the lot. If the fire station ever ceases to be used, ownership will transfer back to the church. This new location of the continued from page
Department will help firefighters to better serve the community, as they are closer to the residents which they serve.
“We certainly appreciate the church being willing to help us out like this and volunteering to donate that land to us to be able to do that,” County Manager John Jones emphasized.
Intergovernmental Agreement Commissioners authorized an intergovernmental agreement between the Toombs County Commission and the Georgia Forestry Commission to allow the Forestry Commission to continue to use the tower on Tom McDonald Road.
This agreement has been in place for several years and is renewed periodically by the County. The new agreement will last ten years, during which the Forestry Commission will pay $1 per year for the usage, Road Repair
The Commission authorized the County to complete the necessary repairs to Levy Cave Road, which has been in emergency repair for several weeks.
County Manager Jones explained that while trying to repair the roadway, the County had been struggling to find a way to handle an issue caused by a pond near one part of the road. Now, having found a solution, the road will be repaired by McLendon Enterprises for $36,731, which will be paid for by Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax funds.
Jones stated that this repair will greatly help farmers in the area, as these farmers are currently having to drive along state highways to move their farm equipment and tractors, creating a hazard for both drivers and farmers. EMS Billing Services
At the recommendation of EMS Director James, the Commissioners approved to change EMS’s billing service contractor from their long-term contractor to a new contractor, who is used by several surrounding counties. This new billing service will help to cut down on the amount of time EMTs and paramedics spend logging information into the system and should help with the overall efficiency of the service.
Reappointment
Greater Vidalia Chamber President and Toombs County Development Authority Executive Director Michele Johnson was reappointed to the Middle Coastal Unified Development Authority Board.
THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX – Citizen Mark Montford encouraged the Toombs County Commissioners to think outside of the box to find new ways of generating revenue within the County so that they could then lower property taxes.Photo by Makaylee Randolph
