Brown’s resolution for open government, free speech, while opposing judicial intimidation voted down 4-to-1
The possible expansion of opening hours for county lakes is under consideration by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, which tabled the matter until Sept. 22 after considerable discussion at last week’s regular meeting.
Commissioner Steve Brown said changing to a daylight-to-dark schedule would make things more consistent across the county’s park system and also improve safety. He showed a PowerPoint presentation with daylight patterns to support this.
The Water Committee discussed the impact of changing the hours and recommended no changes, although Brown emphasized that safety was cited as a major priority in that report as well.
Noting that people are using these park locations in the dark while that is not allowed at other county parks, Brown said the system is “totally backward from the way we should be doing it. You don’t want people running around in a park with no lights.”
Brown presented a separate agenda item related to lake activity, this time addressing the minimum ages for young people to be allowed to operate certain watercraft unaccompanied. He said he was not asking his fellow commissioners to approve anything in particular but rather to direct county staff to look into the issue further.
County Attorney Dennis Davenport said that any move the county makes should mirror state law, which supersedes the policies of any state or local agencies regarding lake use. He gave some feedback from his research on the issue at the request of the Water Committee.
Brown’s proposal was to allow children 12 years and older to operate a canoe, kayak, and stand-up paddle board solo, to exempt children under the age of 12 participating in the RowAmerica Peachtree program provided they are directly supervised by a certified instructor and all safety guidelines are followed, and for the Recreation Department to explore related activities.
In other business, the board considered a request by Brown to adopt a resolution lengthening the polling hours during the early voting period and consolidating some voting precincts, with Brown making a motion but later withdrawing it after members of the county’s election board informed the commissioners that they were looking at various ways to improve the process.
Brown said he had heard from a number of constituents about this and recognized that a large percentage of county residents work outside the county, which means they can have trouble getting to the polls during regular hours.
This was one of several issues for which Chairman Charles Oddo and Commissioner David Barlow criticized Brown for not going through county staff or attorneys before bringing it to the board.
A proposed resolution by Brown to formally oppose judicial intimidation and promote open government and free speech was rejected by a 4-1 vote.
All of the commissioners agreed with the principle but differed on the approach, with some of the wording in the resolution causing concern. Of particular worry was the specific mention of a north Georgia judge recently in the news for seeking indictments on a local journalist and attorney. Since that case is not over, it was feared that certain comments in the resolution could be considered libelous.
A rezoning petition on the agenda for a public hearing was withdrawn at the applicant’s request. There were no other public hearings on the meeting agenda.
The board approved amendments to the county’s ordinance regarding the definition of dangerous dogs and how they are classified, reflecting changes made in state law.
A recommendation by the Water Committee to adopt a revised reservoir management plan was approved.
The board approved the appointments of Angela Hinton Fonda, Pete Nelms and Anthony Rhodes to the county’s Department of Family and Children Services Board.
Barlow’s recommendation to enter a contract with The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to conduct a compensation and classification study was approved. The vote was 3-2 with Brown and Ognio against. Both of them felt the study was not needed.
The board approved an ordinance regarding records retention as well as a separate ordinance pertaining to a records management plan.
