Commissioners vote to improve safety at two dangerous intersections at Tuesday's meeting

Bulloch County Commission met for their regular bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday morning, February 20, 2024. Road safety was a top priority for commissioners at the meeting. They approved supporting improvements to two dangerous inspections including Langston Chapel and Lanier Road and Hwy. 46 and Nevils Denmark. DOT and County staff will now move forward with making these two intersections all stop intersections.

Commissioners received an update on the transportation study, approved acceptance of a grant for the Mental Health and Drug Court and discussed opportunities to provide grants for workforce housing. Read more about this and all County business covered below.

PRESENTATION

1. Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) - Statesboro-Bulloch Long Range Transportation Plan Update

Glenn Coyne, Senior Planner with GMC provided an update on the long range transportation plan 2045. They are about half way through the joint City-County planning process. The last time this was done was in 2009. The plan is looking at all types of transportation, not just vehicles. They hope to put together a plan that can be actionable building on the work already being done. GMC has been relying heavily on public comments. Getting public input is very important in developing the plan. They want to know where are folks traveling, want to go and how they get there. Safety, roadway conditions, sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and transit are areas they are looking at. The next public meeting will be held on March 12th from 5 PM to 7 PM at First United Methodist Church, 101 South Main. They received over 1,000 responses from the online survey. Click here to view the website to review the progress of the plan.

A few highlights of feedback at this point:

County - better roads, less congestion, better street operations

City - same, more bus stops, sidewalks and bike lanes

They are incorporating travel demand modeling which takes a look at how travel patterns are happening now and look in the future at these patterns developing future scenarios.

ALL APPROVED - CONSENT AGENDA

1. Minutes Approval: Tuesday January 30th, 2024 12:00 PM

2. Minutes Approval: Tuesday February 6th, 2024 05:30 PM

3. Motion to approve a contract for Splash in the Boro Summer Marketing/Media purchases through Davis Marketing Company

Splash in the Boro Waterpark & Aquatics Center utilizes an outsourced marketing company for summer advertising and marketing. Davis Marketing Company (DMC) would consult and manage all of the Splash in the Boro media including social media, traditional media, and more. They also would design brochures, flyers, email blasts, and tv/radio commercials to boost attendance for the 2024 season.

Also included in the contract is the Advertising Buy Plan. This is the amount that DMC would pay to third-party advertising media for spots on their station/websites. This is a direct buy, no percentage of this is kept by DMC, it is paid directly to the vendors through DMC.

The total of this contract is $23,346 and is budgeted in the Splash in the Boro Advertising budget.

This contract would be a continuation of prior work. Approval is recommended.

4. Motion to accept bid for Spring 2024 Baseball / Softball Equipment & Uniforms

Sealed bids for Baseball and Softball equipment and uniforms for Spring 2024 season were opened on January 22, 2024. This bid was not a lump sum bid and the award has been broken down as follows: BSN Sports, $47,465.19 for equipment and uniforms; Pyramid School Products, $2,959.05 for equipment; and S & S Worldwide, $2,328 for equipment. It is stated in the bid that bids may be accepted in whole or in part as it is deemed in the best interest of the County. Approval of the award of this bid in the above-mentioned breakdown is recommended.

5. Motion to Approve the Purchase of Motorola APX 6000 Portable Radios from Motorola Solutions.

Bulloch County Fire was budgeted $50,000 to purchase portable radios, This purchase is through SOURCEWELL, a cooperative purchasing program that Bulloch County Fire Department is a member of, SOURCEWELL also meets the requirements of the AFG Grant. The purchase of these radios will help to ensure Volunteer Firefighters have the necessary means to communicate on the fire ground.

6. Motion to approve contract for the main band for Firecracker Fest Celebration to be held on June 29, 2024

Based on staff review of recorded performances and reputation, as well as past performances at the event, we recommend the use of “Color The Night” as the main band for entertainment for the Firecracker Fest Celebration to be held on June 29, 2024 at Mill Creek Regional Park. We have used East Coast Entertainment to secure a variety of bands over the years and had great success with the company.

The deposit for the main band will be paid out of FY24 budget and the final payment will be paid on the day of the event from FY24 budget due to the event being prior to June 30th this year.

7. Motion to approve a bid and enter into a contract with Mill Creek Construction Company for construction and repairs to the Portal Fire/EMS parking lot in the amount of $109,891.50, to be funded by TSPLOST.

This contract includes repairs to the existing parking lot at the Portal Fire/EMS station, as well as the construction of a new parking lot in the rear of the building. The building was recently expanded to add accommodations for EMS personnel at the station. The building addition creates a need for additional parking for the additional employees that will be working at the station. The work also includes grading and drainage for the new parking area.

Sealed bids were received on February 5, 2024, as detailed in the attached memo from Faye Bragg, Purchasing Manager. Only one bid was received. The bidder, Mill Creek Construction, met all requirements of the County's bid specifications. The bid amount, which was $109,891.50, is lower than the County Engineer's estimate of $125,000. The County Engineer recommends awarding the contract for this project to Mill Creek Construction in the amount of $109,891.50.

8. Motion to approve a contract with Keck and Wood in the amount of $16,750 to perform an updated traffic study of the road network near the site of the proposed SEB High School, to be funded by TSPLOST with the Board of Education funding 50% of the cost.

Keck and Wood has previously performed a traffic study of the area surrounding Brooklet Denmark Road at Rushing Road and Black Creek Church Road when a subdivision was proposed to be constructed on property south of the existing SEB High School. Since that time, the Board of Education has purchased the property and proposes to build a new high school on the site. The existing high school will be converted to a middle school, and the middle school will be converted to an upper elementary school. It is expected that these changes, along with growth in southern Bulloch County, will cause traffic to increase on the roads and intersections near the schools.

This proposed traffic study will analyze the intersections around all three proposed schools, including Brooklet Denmark at Rushing Road, Black Creek Church Road, and the school entrances, and recommend any needed improvements. Keck and Wood has previous traffic data for the area that can be utilized in the study. The Board of Education has agreed to pay 50% of the cost of the traffic study. The County Engineer recommends approval of this contract.

9. Motion to approve the Appointment of Marsha Twiggs to the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center Aging Services Advisory Council

10. Motion to approve the Appointment of Dennis A. Brown to the Coastal Area District Development Authority for a two-year term

11. Motion to approve the Reappointment of Dr. Angela Gerguis, MD to the Bulloch Board of Health

OLD BUSINESS

Move Forward - 1. Discussion of traffic study of Langston Chapel Road at Lanier Drive.

The Board of Commissioners previously requested staff to perform a traffic study of the Langston Chapel Road at Lanier Drive intersection to consider making the intersection a Three-Way Stop. The County Engineer will discuss the results of that study and recommendations for the intersection. The traffic study is attached in the agenda packet.

Lanier Drive currently experiences long traffic queues from the intersection with Langston Chapel Road during some time periods. During the afternoon peak hour, Lanier Drive currently has a level of service of E at the intersection, and is close to level of service F. Converting the intersection into a Three-Way Stop would improve conditions on Lanier Drive, but would increase delay on Langston Chapel Road. The intersection would be an overall level of service of C as a Three-Way Stop, and each leg of the intersection would also be a level of service C.

Converting the intersection to a Three-Way Stop would also provide some safety benefits for the intersection as well. Each leg of the intersection has approximately the same traffic volume. If the County moves forward with making the intersection a Three-Way Stop, all appropriate signage and striping must be installed prior to opening it to traffic. The intersection is planned to be converted into a roundabout at a later date.

Since the improvements are less than $5,000 there was no vote needed. Commissioners did agree to move forward. Brad Deal, County Engineer provided the update and recommendations. He said they will move forward quickly in making this change.

NEW BUSINESS

APPROVED - 1. Motion to Approve the Acceptance of FY25 Mental Health and Drug Court Grant Awards

The Mental Health & Drug Court are requesting approval of the FY2025 Grant Applications for Bulloch County Accountability/Treatment Court (Mental Health Court and Drug Court) in the amount of $429,118.00 ($364,750.00 federal and $64,368.00 County match) for Drug Court and $241,280.00 ($205,088.00 federal and $36,192.00 County match) for Mental Health Court to be split between Screven, Jenkins, Bulloch, and Effingham counties). Copies of the award amounts and applications are available in the full packet below.

Superior Court Judge Michael Muldrew presented this to the Commissioners and requested their continued support. Karen McClain leads this program but was out sick today. Judge Muldrew presented on her behalf.

APPROVED - 2. Discussion and/or action regarding a letter of support for GDOT's recommendation of converting the SR 46 at Nevils Denmark Road intersection into an All-Way Stop.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has performed a traffic study of the SR 46 at Nevils Denmark Road intersection at the request of Bulloch County. The study is included in the agenda packet and recommends converting the intersection into an All-Way Stop. The intersection has experienced several traffic crashes with injuries, and converting it to an All-Way Stop is expected to reduce the frequency of traffic crashes with injuries. The traffic study reports that there were seven right-angle crashes at the intersection from 2015 to 2017. Bulloch County has also received requests from citizens for safety enhancements at this location.

GDOT requests a letter of support from Bulloch County before moving forward with converting the intersection to an All-Way Stop. GDOT would manage the project and install all traffic control devices. The County Engineer recommends authorizing the Chairman to sign a letter of support for the project.

gdot-intersection

Tom Couch, County Manager asked about increasing or adding lighting at the intersections as well and making this part of the recommendation. Brad Deal, County Engineer agreed.

3. Rural Workforce Housing Initiative

Presented by Tom Couch, County Manger and James Pope, Planning and Zoning director. Last year Gov. Kemp put int the state budget $36 million for this initiative. He is adding more funding into this years budget. The purpose of the program is to stimulate workforce housing. Much of the funding in the first round has gone to rural areas. Bulloch's current unemployment rate is 2.6% which is well below the state unemployment rate which is above 3%.Bulloch, Bryan and Effingham are conditionally eligible for these grants.

These would be in the form of infrastructure grants with low interest rates to incentivize affordable housing.

To move forward the county staff will have to put a framework in place.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Cassandra Mikell spoke about possibly considering expanding hours at SPLASH to help increase success of the park. She also suggested extending the season. She then asked that the County implement impact fees to help fund growth.