The next meeting of the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14. The meetings usually are held on the first Monday of the month, but this one is a week later because of Labor Day
The Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners is implementing new technology at the courthouse so people who attend can hear, and therefore be better informed, about issues affecting their lives.
“Someone who takes time out of their day to come to the meeting, I respect that,” said Jay Paul, chairman of the Board of Commissioners. “If they think enough to come to the meeting, I want them to be able to hear what we’re saying and even have a chance to speak for themselves at the podium.”
County administrator Jason Lewis said the courtroom already has a few microphones for proceedings, but starting at this month’s BOC meeting on Sept. 14, county officials hope to have five additional microphones for commissioners, a wireless microphone at the lectern for attendees and display screens to show documents.
Paul said the technology is being funded by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), a temporary 1% sales tax used to fund local capital improvement projects in Georgia counties.
Paul said the county doesn’t have a total on the cost of the upgrades, but “they haven’t broken the piggy bank at this point.”
The meetings will continue to be accessible through Zoom and by phone. By early next year, full meetings will be available on demand through an updated version of the county’s website.
The upgrade will make it ADA-compliant (American with Disabilities Act) with transcriptions and closed captioning. Content will also be shared on Oglethorpe County social media platforms.
“We’re going to do a little bit of tech upgrade in the smaller meeting room, and then the really big one was the upgrade to the website to make it more engaging to the public and make it to where the public can find information that they need,” Lewis said. “That information is in a format that they can understand, if they have a disability.”
The new technology is capitalizing on growing interest in meetings from residents.
Paul noted one recent meeting, which discussed the possible rezoning of a parcel of land near Arnoldsville for a subdivision, that brought out approximately 80 people.
Usually, about 30-35 people attend the meetings.
District 5 Commissioner Tracy Norman said the rise in attendance prompted the move from the Board of Commissioners meeting room — which seats about 35 people — to the courthouse in March. Although the meetings returned to the traditional space in April and May, they are permanently back at the courthouse, which can seat up to 150 people.
County officials hope the upgrades will help those who attend to hear what’s being said.
“We want people to know what’s going on,” Norman said. “It’s not like we’re trying to hold secrets or anything. We want people to know what we’re doing all the time.”