Macon-Bibb County Commission Meeting Summary, October 14, 2025
Macon-Bibb County Commission Meeting Summary, October 14, 2025
The Macon-Bibb County Commission held a call meeting on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 9:00 AM. The session opened with a ceremonial proclamation of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15, 2025) signed by Mayor Lester M. Miller, followed by a reminder of the upcoming Hispanic Festival on Cherry Street. The commission approved the minutes of the previous special meeting, recognized commissioners for completing leadership training, and proceeded to discuss grants, infrastructure projects, and code amendments.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes from the September 23, 2025, special call meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- None recorded; the meeting proceeded directly to official business after the opening proclamation.
Discussion Items
- Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation: Mayor Miller read and signed a proclamation recognizing the contributions of Hispanic residents, noting they comprise approximately four percent of the county's population. Commissioners expressed strong support for the community's diversity and cultural contributions.
- Grants and Funding:
- Approved a $70,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the "Rebuilding Macon" volunteer youth program.
- Approved a $160,000 CDBG for minor home repairs for low-income homeowners.
- Approved a scrap tire abatement reimbursement grant of up to $42,148 from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; organizers noted a need to better manage traffic from the previous year's event.
- Approved a $700,000 agreement with the River Edge Foundation to construct two adult community residential alternative group homes. The project, funded by the 2025 Home Fund and state contributions, aims to transition individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from state hospitals to permanent residential settings. Commissioners praised the initiative's capacity to provide wraparound services, including nursing and hygiene support.
- Public Safety: Approved the appropriation of $960,500 from the SPOR program to renew the AXON contract for the Sheriff's Office to acquire body cameras and tasers. Commissioner Wilder was added as a co-sponsor.
- Financial Appropriations:
- Approved a $553,000 supplemental appropriation from the general fund balance.
- Approved the allocation of 2018 SPOTs interest to recreation projects at Ferrin Ushery Park, Frank Johnson Recreation Center, Fillmore Thomas Park, and Carolyn Creighton Park.
- Technology Licenses:
- Approved $116,959.50 for Tyler Technologies annual licensing fees for WorldERP software.
- Approved $213,810.64 for Journal Technologies annual renewal of eCourt software services.
- Paving Projects ("Paving the Way"): Approved four paving contracts totaling approximately $7 million to be completed by the end of the calendar year using 2025 supply bond funds.
- Contracts awarded to McElroy Inc. ($1,840,490.85 and $1,763,619.34), Professional Paving Services ($1,590,141.04), and Atlanta Paving and Concrete Construction ($1,800,773.36).
- Commissioners highlighted that roads include Mount Pleasant Church Road, Knoxville Road, Fulton Mill Road, Dixon Road, Rogers Road, and sections of Vineville.
- Addressed public concerns regarding road quality and concrete surfaces in Vineville. Commissioner Wyatt and Mayor Pro Tempore Clark clarified that concrete roads are being evaluated separately due to structural differences, and asphalt application on concrete requires special consideration to avoid curb alignment issues. The commission expressed strong support for the initiative, noting a reduction in per-mile paving costs from roughly $350,000 to $185,000 due to increased competition among ten bidders.
- Code Amendment: Approved an ordinance amending the Blight Tax program to include Board of Education ad valorem taxes in the multiplier (previously limited to county taxes only). The amendment aims to ensure the school system recovers funds and incentivizes owners of neglected speculative properties to rehabilitate them. Commissioners confirmed that property owners who spend over $25,000 on repairs receive a 50% tax discount for one year, scaling up to four years for expenditures over $75,000.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous Approval of all agenda items including grants, paving contracts, technology renewals, and the blight tax code amendment.
- Executive Session held for consultation regarding pending litigation and administrative proceedings.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at an evening time.
Note on Date Discrepancy: While the transcript text explicitly states the meeting date is "Tuesday, October the 14th," the system prompt request refers to a meeting on "2025-10-21." The summary reflects the content of the transcript provided (October 14th). The transcript also notes a future meeting is coming on the "21st," which aligns with the request's date if the user intended the upcoming meeting, but the transcript content is strictly from the October 14th session.
Additional Note: Commissioner Bryant extended condolences to the former Mayor C. Jack Ellis regarding the loss of his son at the Perry Fair; the commission acknowledged this with prayer.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Today is Tuesday, October the 14th, and the time is uh nine o'clock. We appreciate everyone being here for this call meeting today, as we had uh said on several occasions that we'd have several call meetings uh throughout this time because we're going to as soon as we get these roads uh approved and going through this process, we want to bring it before commission so uh the new companies that are on board can go ahead and get started working on those things to try to get them completed uh hopefully by the end of this uh calendar year. So I'd like to welcome everyone here and officially call this meeting to order. We are uh very excited today. We've got a presentation that we'll do today in preparation for our our Hispanic Festival that's coming up, as well as the uh honoring the Hispanic Month. So at this time, I'm gonna go ahead and take the liberty of going down to the lectern uh to read the proclamation for Hispanic Month and ask anyone that's interested in that uh from the audience to uh meet me out front, and we'll do a presentation. And whereas Making Bibb County is strengthened and enriched by diverse traditions, values, and achievements of its Hispanic residents, who make up approximately four percent of the county's population and contribute significantly to our community in areas such as education, business, arts, health care, public service, and beyond. And whereas the residents, businesses, and organizations of Macin Bib County benefit from the leadership, dedication, and cultural contributions of Hispanic Americans, which helped make our community vibrant, inclusive, and strong. Now, therefore, I Guster M. Miller do hereby proclaim September the 15th through October the 15th, 2025 as Hispanic Heritage Month in Macon Bibb County, and I urge all citizens to embrace this month by learning, appreciating, and participating in many of the cultural events and activities that honor Hisparic Hispanic Heritage. And witness wherever I'm here to accept my hand and cause the seal of the consolidated government to be affixed this 10th day of October 2025 is when I signed it. Lester M. Miller, Mayor of Macon Bibb County. As a reminder, we do have the Hispanic Festival planned for this week. Looking for a very exciting, safe event for all to attend, and certainly we welcome all of our folks in Bip County to attend that. It's this Saturday from one o'clock till seven o'clock, is that correct? Uh down on Cherry Street. So look forward to seeing it all there. It is on, and we look forward to making sure that we provide a great atmosphere for everyone. Mr. Ross, did you have your light on, sir? Oh, actually, my bad. Okay. All right. Approval of the minutes. We have the approval of the minutes from the September 23rd, 2025 special call meeting. Can I get a motion to approve? Lord. And got motions and seconds over there. There's like one voice. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Opposed, nay. That motion carries. Now you have something to say, sir. Real quick before we get started, and thank you again for the opportunity. I just wanted to say that this past weekend, I know it's a point of privilege here, but um this past weekend, myself and fellow commissioners had the opportunity to go down to the leadership conference, ACCG leadership conference. And I just want to give a quick shout out to uh Bill Howell for earning a specialty track for community engagement and uh Ray Wilder, Commissioner Way Wower for uh completing public safety. Uh myself, I completed the finance and revenue. So uh this great opportunity for the commissioners to get out and better equip themselves to be better servants to the people here. And I just want to give a quick shout out to those guys for that. Congratulations. Appreciate it. Mr. Ray Ray. Uh we have uh we had one appointments to authorities. We're gonna put that off till next Tuesday at our meeting there. Uh we had one change on that. It was going to be a replacement of Ken Blair, who has uh resigned to take other opportunities in another community, and he will be replaced by Weston Stroud. We'll do that next week uh in error it had uh him replacing someone else that will come off the board at a later time, but not this particular transaction.
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