Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session – May 12, 2026
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Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session – May 12, 2026
The Clayton County Board of Commissioners held a work session on May 12, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting covered updates on a behavioral health crisis facility, the Development Authority, the Flint River Boys & Girls Club, a rescheduled FY2025 audit, Georgia Power's growth strategy, a data center presentation from the National Association of Data Center Readiness (NADCR), zoning revocation notices, and a briefing on the newly passed statewide homestead exemption (SB 33). No public comments were heard. Several items were scheduled for the next regular meeting on May 19, 2026.
Behavioral Crisis Facility Update
- Chad Jones of Viewpoint Health reported that the organization closed on a nine-acre property in Morrow (corner of Mount Zion Boulevard and South Lake Parkway) for a behavioral health crisis center. The facility will include 30 adult beds and 16 youth beds (ages 5–17), plus 10 temporary observation beds on each side. Jones announced that the Department of Behavioral Health has provided a contract for operations and that community-based intensive services (assertive community treatment and intensive case management) will be expanded. He requested partnership from the county using SPLOST funds for construction. Commissioner Davis asked about services and security; Jones noted the Department of Behavioral Health covers operational costs. Staff noted legal clarity is pending on whether SPLOST funds can go directly to Viewpoint Health or must go to the Department of Behavioral Health. The board directed that the item be placed on the May 19, 2026 agenda pending legal direction.
Development Authority Update
- Dr. Braddy, chair of the Development Authority, presented a quarterly update. Highlights included rebranding, the Momentum 500 small business program (which awarded $330,000 in capital grants to 120 businesses), workforce training (over $600,000 spent, a career expo on April 22, 2026), and the bond inducement process for two data center projects (including a $3.7 billion inducement with end user CoreWeave). A community benefits agreement is under development. Commissioners questioned incentives for data centers and the status of the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the county. Dr. Braddy noted the IGA is still under review. Commissioner Hambrick expressed concern about offering incentives to data centers and requested a meeting to discuss. The board agreed to continue discussions and to involve all commissioners in the IGA and incentive package.
Flint River Boys & Girls Club
- Libby Sailor Wright (CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta) and Michael Maxwell (executive director) presented an update. The Flint River Club, located in the Flint River Community Center, serves 120+ youth with academic, character, and sports programs. A mobile club (27th club) in partnership with Delta Airlines will launch this summer, focusing on STEM and expected to reach 500 additional children annually. Commissioner Allen requested the bus wrap reflect Clayton County and suggested starting in the North Clayton area. The club reported that member Louise is the 2026 Youth of the Year and will attend Spelman College.
FY 2025 Audit Presentation
- This item was rescheduled due to a family emergency. It will be presented in June 2026.
Georgia Power Growth Strategy
- Michael Olajubu (Regional Executive, Georgia Power) presented an overview of the company's growth strategy. Georgia Power plans to double its electric capacity to meet demand from data centers and advanced manufacturing. He emphasized that the grid is strong, rates are being held flat through 2028, and large-load customers like data centers are required to sign long-term contracts, have minimum bills, and provide financial security to protect residential ratepayers. A fuel case ruling will save the average residential customer about $50 per year starting June 2026, and further savings of $100 per year are expected in 2029. Commissioner Davis asked about prioritization during power surges; Olajubu explained that voluntary curtailment programs for large industrial customers would be used first. Staff also noted they are adding information to the county website to educate residents about electric bills and the Public Service Commission's role.
Data Center Update – NADCR
- Vivian Thomas, representing the National Association of Data Center Readiness (NADCR), presented. NADCR advocates for local ordinances to regulate data centers, including pre‑ and post‑operational assessments with a minimum passing score of 85%. The assessments would be paid for by the data centers, not the county. Thomas stated NADCR does not seek a contract with Clayton County. She highlighted that data centers often target Black and brown communities and urged the board to adopt local legislation. Commissioners asked about enforcement and NADCR's two‑year history. No action was taken; the board received the information.
Zoning Revocation Notices
- Cheryl Brooks (Planning and Zoning) reported that courtesy letters were sent to 35 applicants with projects approved between 2019 and 2024 to check on progress. 13 responded; 22 did not. Next steps include meeting with each district commissioner to discuss specific cases before proceeding with formal revocation or termination processes. Commissioner Allen asked about transparency and the criteria for determining abandonment. Brooks clarified that the letters were not revocation notices but meant to encourage communication and project completion.
SB 33 – Statewide Homestead Exemption
- Tax Commissioner Tanya (and staff) briefed the board on SB 33 (signed into law May 11, 2026). The bill makes the statewide homestead exemption mandatory, limiting annual assessed value increases to the rate of inflation, effective January 1, 2027. It supersedes local legislation and applies to all homesteaded properties. Commissioner Allen noted the board must now work to offset revenue losses. Staff recommended town halls to educate the public. Commissioner Davis announced a town hall on July 9, 2026, with the CFO and financial advisor to discuss the budget and SB 33.
Key Outcomes
- Behavioral Crisis Facility: Direction to place SPLOST funding resolution on the May 19, 2026 agenda, pending legal guidance on the recipient entity.
- Development Authority: No formal vote; board agreed to continue discussions on the IGA and data center community benefits agreement, with plans for a roundtable on incentive packages.
- Flint River Boys & Girls Club: Information received; no action needed.
- FY2025 Audit: Rescheduled to June 2026.
- Georgia Power: Information received; staff to update county website with utility education resources.
- NADCR: Information received; no decision made.
- Zoning Revocation Notices: Next step is district-level meetings with commissioners.
- SB 33: Staff to prepare for implementation; town halls to be scheduled.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone or afternoon. The Clayson County Board of Commissioners work session is now called to order. The date is May 12th, 2026, and the time is 5 30 p.m. At this time, board members, are there any preliminary items for May 19, 2026 that you would like to discuss or um that are going to be on our next board meeting? All right, anything to discuss? No. All right. All right. Next we will move on to our agenda items. Uh the first one is behave is our uh behavioral health crisis uh facility update. And we have Mr. Chad Jones who is here. And will you please come forward to the podium? Well, good afternoon, Madam Chair and board members. It's good to see you all again. Good to see Dietrich coming in. Um I have some very exciting news. We have presented to you all uh before and showed plans that we were going to purchase nine acres in Morrow at the corner of Mount Zion Boulevard and South Lake uh Parkway, right across from the Costco. We use the Costco as a landmark sometimes for people that don't know that area. So right across from there, nine acres to build the behavioral health uh crisis center, the BHCC. Uh I am very pleased to report they accepted our offer, and last Thursday we closed on that property. So we now officially own that property. Um we have also received uh funding in a contract from the Department of Behavioral Health to uh not only uh for the funding of that property but also the uh the operations. Um so in addition, I have some fantastic news that I wanted to share with you all. Um in putting out bids for the architect and the construction. We started looking at the land, we started talking to the Department of Behavioral Health, and we have a crisis stabilization unit for children that is off of Canler Road, off of I 20 Canler Road in DeCab County. But it's good. The issue is um we only serve 14 year olds to 17 year olds at that facility. The Department of Behavioral Health would like us to move to five year olds to 17, basically serve the entire childhood and youth years. We cannot fit that population in that current space. So I am very uh pleased to report and very excited to report that on the back side of that property, you're gonna have the behavioral health crisis center, which is going to be 30 beds for adults, and then on the other side, we're gonna have 16 beds for children and youth. So we're very, very excited about that. Uh that will serve all ages five to 17. Uh, I have re I've also reported out to you all before, Commissioner Davis. I think you asked a really good question last time I was here. How are we going to make sure that we handle transitions in and out and all that kind of stuff? And I'd answer that question, then it came up about serving Clayton County residents. And we did pull some data from our other programs. We have a we have a crisis center in Gwinnett County. 71% of that crisis center is served serves uh Gwenitians. Um I am here to tell you that that crisis center uh will have a walk-in component. Nobody from Clayton County will ever, ever, ever be turned away. Uh they will get received those services. Uh, in addition, and Commissioner Davis, I hope this makes you happy. I went back and started doing a lot of work on we've got the housing components, and we're doing a lot of stuff like that, but the transitional services out of a crisis center, usually our intensive services. You don't you don't leave a crisis center and just go right back to you know what you were doing over here in the outpatient clinic. Sometimes you need intensive services. So I'm very pleased to report that we've also expanded our contract with the Department of Behavioral Health. We are going to be offering two very large and very robust community-based uh intensive programs. Those community-based intensive programs are assertive community treatment act and intensive case management.
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