Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners Pre-Commission Meeting - July 21, 2026
Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners Pre-Commission Meeting - July 21, 2026
The Macon-Bibb County Board of Commissioners held a pre-commission meeting on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at approximately 4:30 PM. The board received an update on the county's comprehensive plan and voted on a large number of contracts, appointments, and grants, all of which were approved unanimously and referred to the consent agenda for the regular meeting.
Comprehensive Plan Update
Gregory Brown, Planning Director for the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission, presented an update on the comprehensive plan, a long-range guide for growth and development over the next 20-30 years. He reported that the plan's kickoff meeting in 2025 had about 50 attendees, and a community survey closed on April 2, 2026, with approximately 153 responses. Seven steering committee meetings have been held with 40-50 members each. Community meetings on transportation (March 19, 2026) and economic development/quality of life (May 14, 2026) were held. The housing element will consult a 2050 housing needs assessment completed by RKG and Associates in June 2026.
Mr. Brown requested the commissioners' support in holding nine additional community meetings for the land use element from August 24 to October 30, 2026, in each district. Commissioner Cato asked about the housing study methodology and meeting formats (in-person). Commissioner Stewart expressed strong support for the plan, noting its importance for transportation, economic development, and housing. No action was taken on the presentation.
Consent Calendar Items
The board voted on numerous items, all of which passed unanimously and were referred to the consent agenda. Key items include:
- Appointments to Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Board: Willie Pitts, Margaret Ryakers, and Shanika Wooten were appointed.
- Alcohol Licenses: Approved for Fuel Haven Exxon (3004 Debra Ann Drive, Suite A) and Dollar General #9814 (1370 Gray Highway).
- IT and Communications Contracts (Items 6A-6H, 6J): Multiple agreements with Williams Communications (radio equipment replacement, post-construction drone inspection), Granicus LLC (government experience software), Gardner Inc. (executive programs), Progressive Communications (managed network services), and others, all already budgeted. Commissioner Cato questioned the frequency of radio replacements and the state contract process. Attorney McNeil explained Williams Communications is the sole authorized reseller of L3 Harris radios under a state contract. The board also approved a $1,149,950 contract with Air Media Corp (H&H Strategic Consulting) for IT staffing to fill 11 positions and a $133,800 contract for leadership team services.
- Paving Contract: A $3,280,877.09 contract with Professional Paving Services for asphalt paving and resurfacing, funded by 2026 LRA grants and 2018 SPLOST funds. Commissioner Cato questioned road priorities in her district; the mayor explained the robotics-based priority system and noted Clay Murphy can provide specific road lists.
- Arena Project: Approved $28,262,438 in change orders for preliminary work and phase one construction with Barton Malow Builders for the Macon Arena. Commissioner Cato requested periodic financial updates; the mayor indicated the bond for $350 million will be taken to market soon and updates will be provided.
- Engineering Services: Approved $117,000 for Bryant Engineering to design sidewalks on Heath Road. Commissioner Cato expressed urgency for student safety; the mayor noted challenges with ditches and utilities and that this is a first step.
- Solid Waste Services: Purchase orders for Liberty Disposal ($300,000 for current year services and $93,000 for prior year bills) and Direct Technologies ($130,000 for postage database services).
- Microsoft Azure Renewal: $160,812.27 for annual renewal of cloud services via state contract.
- Ocmulgee Heritage Trail: $52,795 supplemental appropriation for engineering services for a bridge inspection.
- Grant Acceptances: Three grants from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council: $299,679 for accountability courts (with $52,885 in-kind match), $169,074.20 for family treatment court (with $29,837 in-kind match), and $365,114 for juvenile justice incentive (no local match). Commissioner Cato asked about salary inheritance if grants are not renewed; staff clarified positions are grant-funded.
- Code Ordinance Amendment: Introduced an amendment to the procurement code to add software and software-related products as a commodity class, allowing three-quote procurement. The transcript ends before a vote was taken.
Key Outcomes
- All votes taken during the meeting passed unanimously and were referred to the consent agenda for the regular commission meeting.
- No public comments were heard.
- The comprehensive plan update was received without action.
- The code amendment ordinance was introduced but no vote was recorded in the transcript.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Make and Bib County Board of Commissions Pre-Commission meeting. We are happy that all of you are here today. Today is Tuesday, July the 21st, and the time is approximately 4:30. And we'd like to begin our meeting here with a call to order, which I'm doing now. And we have people that are watching at home, so welcome all those that can hear us and some of you that can see us today. I get a motion to approve the minutes, please. A motion by Commissioner Stewart, second by uh Commissioner Cato. Uh any other further questions. Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Opposed, nay. That motion carries a resentment consent agenda. We do have an update on the Make and Bible County comprehensive plan. Uh, this is an update, uh, not necessarily uh anything we'll be voting on today, but it's uh gonna be uh planning and zoning presentation, the making bib county comprehensive plan. Mr. Gregory Brown is here to present that, sir. If you may come forward, you don't mind speaking into that microphone there and telling everybody at home who you are, what you do uh before you begin your presentation, sir. Uh good evening. Uh, my name is Gregory L. Brown, planning director with the Making Bible County Planning and Zoning Commission. And uh today we are here to update uh you all on the uh making on the comprehensive plan update uh that uh making be up county planning and zoning commission is updating, and this is on behalf of uh Jeffrey Rugiery, our executive director and the Making Beal County Planning and Zoning Commission. Next slide. We're in the process of updating the county's comprehensive plan, which is a long-range guide for growth and development that will shape how we live, how we work, how we travel, and how we invest in our community over the next 20 to 30 years. And we have a focus on the next five years. Next slide. And we had approximately 50 attendees at that meeting. We also launched a survey, a community survey, and that survey closed on April 2nd, 2026, and we received approximately 153 responses. Throughout the process, we've been holding uh steering committee meetings, and uh this we've had at least um seven steering committee meetings, and the steering committee meeting uh comprised of about 40 to 50 uh members, and they are used to help guide the preparation of the comprehensive plan and to provide technical assistance. Uh the committee includes interested citizens, elected officials and appointed officials, neighborhood organization representatives, special interest group, local government staff, and business owners. And so from February uh 2026 through October 26th, uh this particular time frame is going to be uh focused on element development, and this is gonna be trying to gather uh public input, and then we'll delve deeper into uh the topics that would help shape uh shape the plan. The uh the topics of the community of the comprehensive plan are transportation, uh, and we've held a community meeting on that, which was held on March 19th at the middle Middle Georgia Regional Airport. We've another element of the comprehensive plan is economic development and quality of life. Uh we've held a community meeting on that. That was Thursday, May 14th at um Davis Village and uh the family investment center. And uh the housing element, uh, we're gonna consult uh the 2050 housing assessment and four forecast study uh that was recently uh uh completed uh for the county, and that uh housing study was uh done by RKG and associates. So next slide. Uh what we really need your assistance uh uh county commissioners. We're planning to hold nine community meetings throughout the county uh from the time frame August 24th uh through October 30th, and we have some dates. Uh if you go to the next slide, you can see the dates uh that we have listed for the uh land use meetings that we're uh planning to have. And uh we're looking to have those meetings in the evenings from 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock p.m. Also uh another outreach activity that we're looking to host, uh do are they called meeting in a box. Uh, these are some uh outreach activities that will allow anyone to share ideas in a way that is comfortable for their schedule. Um families can host them, friends can host them, youth, uh community groups, and so forth. And so uh we have a website uh www.making it happen plan.com, and it's the webcite website dedicated for the comprehensive plan update. And uh we really uh just would like uh the commissioners uh support in this from for the land use element of our uh comprehensive plan because we want to make sure that we reach uh the broader community and um schedule and meetings in each of your districts so that we can get the input that we need for the for the land use development and uh for more information. My contact information is is listed in the presentation, and I can be available for any questions. Thank you, Mr. Brown, for being here in that presentation, and we'll make sure that uh everyone has the information to connect you. We do have two uh quick questions from you. Well, first from Commissioner Cato, and we'll follow that up uh with Commissioner Stewart.
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