A date has been set for the Columbia County Board of Commissioners District 3 special election.
Commissioners approved a resolution during the meeting on Feb. 6 calling for the special election to be held during the primary on May 21. The election is needed after former commissioner Gary Richardson resigned to run for the Georgia House District 125 race.
This election is to finish out Richardson’s term, which expires at the end of 2024. There will be another District 3 election on the same ballot for the next four-year term for that seat.
Commissioners also approved appointing Commissioner Connie Melear as the vice chair of the Public Works and Engineering and Community and Emergency Services committees. Commissioner Alison Couch will serve as the chair of the committees. These appointments are to fill the vacancies left by Richardson’s departure and until a new District 3 representative is elected.
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The commissioners also approved the appointment of Hillary Millar to the Board of Health for a six-year term ending Dec. 31, 2029, and Ryan Cato to the Planning Commission for a one-year term ending Dec. 31, 2024.
The purchase of DroneSense for Fire Rescue was also approved. Deputy County Manager Glenn Kennedy said the software is needed because calls involving the use of a drone increased last year in Columbia County.
“It supports the use of drones or UAS in fire safety/public safety…the amount of use we’ve had with drones or UAS over the past year has grown dramatically. Between the sheriff’s office and the fire department, fire services, I think they ran over 40 real world missions last year, so there’s been a significant increase. The reason this is needed is because the program itself provides for the tracking, the maintenance, training services and flight logging of all the missions flown.”
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
