The Ware County Commission held a work session, public hearing, and regular monthly meeting Monday, September 9 at the County Administration Building. Chairman Elmer Thrift and Commissioners Leonard Burse, Sammy Hendricks, Timothy Lucas, and Jerry Pope attended. Following are actions taken by commissioners on agenda items:
• Bid award for motor graders: The county has received bids for two motor graders.
Three vendors submitted bids, Dobbs, Linder, and Yancey. Each vendor supplied a price on the two different types of graders, with and without a sloper.
The lowest bidder on both types of motor graders was Yancey, $306,154 without a sloper and $408,203 with a sloper.
Regional TSPLOST and 2014 SPLOST funds are available for purchasing the heavy equipment. A motion to reward the bid to Yancey was made by Burse, seconded by Lucas and carried unanimously.
• Courthouse Controls and VAV Box Turnkey Project Proposal: The board postponed approval of a contract with Trane Technologies to install VAV boxes in the courthouse to provide heat at their last meeting for the purpose of Trane extending the warranty beyond just one year. Chris Gleiter provided an updated proposal for Trane to extend the warranty to five years.
The total cost for the project is $918,000 for the 1st and 2nd floors of the courthouse. A motion to approve the contract with Trane was made by Burse, seconded by Lucas and carried unanimously.
• Alcohol License Application: The Family Dollar located at 2000 West South Georgia Parkway applied for an alcohol license to sell beer and wine for consumption off premises. Christopher Dale is listed as the applicant for Family Dollar.
The location already had a license and this application was for changing the name of the applicant. A motion to approve was made by Pope and seconded by Hendricks. The motion carried, 4-1 with Lucas voting no.
• Ordinance 202401: Regulating Camping on Public Property: Several complaints have been received about homeless people camping at the boat ramp off Jamestown Road.
James Shubert, Planning Director and Ware County Chief of Police explained what has been happening to necessitate this action. Dennis Strickland and Diane Ziegler, residents who live near the landing, expressed concern about two people who are alleged to have criminal records and are registered sex offenders.
Shubert suggested the Jamestown boat ramp be designated as a county park to facilitate enforcement of the ordinance. County Attorney Jennifer Herzog will research the possibility of designating the ramp a county park.
Lucas moved to approve, Pope seconded and it carried unanimously.
• Resolution 2024-21: Fiscal Year 2026 Rural Public Transit Grant Application: The measure authorizes submission of the FY26 5311 grant application to GDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation for rural public transportation assistance. The Southern Georgia Regional Commission administers this program for the 18-county region. There is no cost to the county for the program, and this is a regular and annual agreement. A motion to approve the ordinance was made by Lucas, seconded by Hendricks and carried unanimously.
• Change Order Nos. 1 and 2 — East Coast resurfacing contract (Local Maintenance Improvement Grant 2024): Order No. 1 is to add Mount Pleasant Road from City Boulevard to Central Avenue for an added increase of $106,575.
Order No. 2 is to add Jamestown Road from Sandy Bottom Road to Johnny Minchew Road for an added increase of $446,759.
Funds are available from LMIG and local match funds. A motion to approve the orders was made by Pope, seconded by Burse and carried unanimously.
