Tuesday will be a busy day for Columbia County government as all five committees will meet due to the Christmas holiday.
Management and Internal Services Committee
The Management and Internal Services Committee will discuss an amendment to the comprehensive policyregarding the grievance procedure. According to the agenda document, the changes come after the last few grievance hearings and county staff if working to better clarify the procedure non-probationary employees can use if they are going to be terminated. In cases like this, the employee can request a public hearing before the Civil Service Commission.
County staff is recommending the following changes:
“1. This right to a hearing should only be extended to Regular Full-Time employees. Currently, Part-Time employees are capable of requesting a grievance hearing which triggers legal consultation with our attorney, countless hours of investigation work, and scheduling a meeting with our Civil Service Members. With our revised procedure, should a Part-Time employee want an outlet to express dissatisfaction with his/her termination, he/she can direct it to the Human Resources Director in lieu of requesting a formal hearing.
2. There are several areas where we are trying to simplify the verbiage of the procedure timeline to make it easier to understand for the employee.
3. We have added a statement that should the employee elect to use an attorney at his/her own expense, the employee must notify both the Human Resources Director and the County Attorney no less than five (5) working days before the hearing and provide the contact information.”
Development and Planning Services
The Development and Planning Services Committee will hear an item regarding the waiver of distance requirements for 2207 William Few Parkway, which is at the corner of William Few Parkway and Columbia Road.
According to the agenda document, the owner is trying to develop the property under the current zoning and one of the potential end users for part of the property is a grocery store, which would like to sell alcohol. The grocery store would like to be able to sell alcohol, but to do that the distance requirement would need to be waived due to its proximity to Patriots Park.
“The waiver of distance requirements only waives the distance requirement for a grocery store of more than 25,000 sf. Also, the waiver does not waive any other requirements for alcohol license approval, nor does it guarantee any alcohol license will be approved,” according to the agenda document.
Public Works and Engineering Services
The Public Works and Engineering Services Committee will discuss an independent Contractor Agreement with Hydrologics, Inc. to pilot a zero discharge flushing program.
According to the agenda document, the program is designed to “aggressively scour water mains for cleaning.”
“This agreement will allow Hydrologics to perform onsite water main cleaning for 10 business days. The Water Utility will select one or two subdivisions that would work well with this technology to perform this pilot study. Hydrologics is the sole vendor to provide this technology for water main maintenance. They have been providing this service for over 10 years. The cost of the pilot is $91,722.00 and will be funded from line code 511-5125-601081.”
Community and Emergency Services
The Community and Emergency Services Committee will discuss an agreement with Open Sky Drone Light Shows for a drone Light show for 2026 Boom! in the Park. According to the agenda document, Boom! In the Park draws over 19,000 attendees every year to Evans Towne Center Park for the Fourth of July celebration.
“In 2026, the United States will commemorate its 250th Anniversary (Semiquincentennial). To honor this historic occasion, the Community Events Team proposes the addition of a drone light show to the Boom! in the Park program. The show will feature 200 synchronized drones creating patriotic imagery and animations in the night sky, offering a modern, visually stunning enhancement to the traditional celebration. The cost for the drone show is $70,000, which includes all production, programming, and onsite execution. This addition will greatly enhance the overall guest experience and provide a memorable element fitting for such a milestone year.”
The CES Committee will also discuss an agreement to host the USA BMX Gold Cup Southeast finals.
“Columbia County has been selected to host the 2026 USA BMX Gold Cup Southeast Finals event at Blanchard Woods Park BMX Course September 25–27. This event, previously hosted by Columbia County in 2018 and 2021, brings the best riders from the southeast to compete in the finals of their Southeast Gold Cup schedule. Hosting this event is expected to generate an economic impact of $350,000 – $500,000. The $10,000 host fee will be funded out of Hotel/Motel Funds, according to the agenda document.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee will receive the results of the 2024/2025 audit.
The committee will also receive the audit on the Facility Services Division and a follow-up on the Clerk of Court audit.
The committee meetings will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will continue one after the other on Tuesday, Dec. 9. The meetings will be held in the auditorium at the Evans Government Center. To view the full agendas for all the meetings, visit columbiacountyga.gov.
