Chairman Jay Paul said there were several difficulties during the first board of commissioners meeting at the Oglethorpe County Courthouse Monday night.
“We’ve got some challenges to overcome,” he said. “The acoustics were awful; the setup is challenging.”
The 46-minute meeting ended in the arrest of Comer resident Brad Johns during the public comment section.
Three Oglethorpe County deputies arrested Johns after he refused to leave the lectern when his allotted three minutes expired. County officials gave Johns multiple warnings before his arrest.
“Arrest me,” Johns said before the deputies detained him.
Johns was charged with his third offense of preventing or disrupting general assembly sessions or other meetings of members, a misdemeanor for willful obstruction of law enforcement officers and public intoxication.
“I hate to see it happen,” Paul said. “This is a meeting that we have to conduct in a business-like manner. If we have someone that won’t cooperate, then unfortunately, that’s the result.”
Johns has regularly addressed the state of Almond Drive at commissioners meetings since 2024, when he said the U.S. Postal Service deemed his road unsafe for mail delivery.
A deputy forced him to cede the floor in last August’s meeting and Johns was reprimanded when he interrupted last month’s meeting.
Meanwhile, Paul said the board will reassess its decision to move meetings to the courthouse.
Limited seating is one of the reasons why county officials relocated them.
About 35 people attended Monday’s meeting, which would’ve filled the BOC meeting room, which seats 30. The courthouse seats up to 150 people.
Both Paul and District 2 Commissioner Andy Saxon made comments about the acoustics of the courtroom during the meeting.
Once the public comment portion began, District 3 Commissioner David Clark jokingly asked if he missed his chance to “say how much (he) dislikes coming to the courthouse.”
Unsettled rezones
Bill Davidson represented RBA Oglethorpe Investments, LLC in its request for a variance and large lot subdivision of a property on Faust Farm Road in District 4.
The variance was unanimously approved by the commissioners, but they voted 4-1 to table the request until next month’s meeting, with District 4 Commissioner Will Brown in opposition.
“It doesn’t fit the character of the area, to me,” he said. “It’s 14 potential housing lots on a dirt road.”
When the floor was opened to public input, Shea Ray of Crawford requested to see the plans for the subdivision since the property was near her own on Hutchins Road.
She said she received a letter about the subdivision, but said it didn’t include a visual of the plan.
David and Tammy Owens also requested a variance to waive a paving requirement for a private access drive on a property on Yancey Road in District 4. The variance request was denied by the zoning board last month, and the same property was approved for a rezone and subdivision last December.
District 5 Commissioner Tracy Norman said he previously asked David Owens to get signatures from the nearby landowners on the matter before the request was approved. Since Owens didn’t have all of the signatures, the board again unanimously approved to table the request.
“We need to see the other landowners say that they approve of this,” Norman said before motioning to table the request. “Hopefully, by then, we’ll have the documentation.”
In other business, the BOC:
- Approved a variance and rezone request from Tony Smith to subdivide two existing residences on Clark Circle (District 5).
- Approved a previously tabled rezone request from Bernardo Acevedo for a property on Washington Road to allow future construction of a single-family residence (District 1).
- Approved a county-initiated rezone request for three parcels on Black Snake Road to comply with the Oglethorpe County Unified Development Code (District 4).
- Approved a rezone request from Jerry Southers in order to subdivide a property for family (District 4).
- Postponed a variance request from William Cunningham to subdivide a Cunningham Road property to next month (District 1).
- Approved a previously tabled rezone request from Erasmo Martinez for a property on Washington Road to allow future construction of a single-family residence (District 1).
- Approved the administrative consent agenda, including the February meeting minutes and monthly financial report.
- Heard from Winterville’s Tommy Epps during public comment. He said he wants abandoned vehicles to be properly removed, in accordance with a county ordinance, to make the county cleaner and safer. Comer’s Randy Gordon also spoke on this issue.
- Heard from Winterville’s Katherine Turpin during public comment. She asked that the board aid her in requesting a speed limit sign from the road department for the unpaved portion of Pittard Road. She said she has heard of multiple incidents of children almost being hit by vehicles on the dirt road.
- Heard from Lexington’s Faith Campbell during public comment via Zoom. She asked the board for transparency on who residents can contact for animal impoundment services.