Putnam Commissioners Postpone Parking Decision

Putnam County Commissioners voted to postpone a discussion until September on purchasing land around the existing Justice Center to be used for parking.

Several commissioners expressed concern about having the discussion via electronic means instead of in-person. Commissioner Jonathan Williams said the lack of face-to-face communication made such a weighty decision difficult.

“I think we do need to meet in-person next month,” Commissioner Grover Bennett Jr. said. “If we can ask our children and teachers go to school, I think we can safely meet in chambers and discuss this.”

Bennett also said the commissioners need more information on a sixth property. The property at 116 South Lowe Avenue will become available for purchase. Porter said the assessment of that property has not been completed.

Commissioner Jerry Ford said he saw no reason to postpone a decision. He said most commissioners, if not all, knew what decision they planned to make.

“We’ve been discussing this forever,” Ford said. “There’s no other land, there’s no other way to go. If we don’t buy this and we build the jail, there’s no place else you can go to get property over there. I’m for moving on with this.”

Commissioner Cynthia Adams expressed concern about tearing down quality buildings just to provide parking. Porter said planners had looked at whether the buildings could be used for some purpose in the expansion.

Commissioners voted 22-2 to postpone the vote with Ford and Sam Sandlin voting no.

County Mayor Randy Porter said he placed the purchase of six properties on the agenda because options on the properties will expire in September and cannot be renewed. The other five properties will cost at least $2.1 million.

Earlier Monday night, five members of the Fiscal Review Committee voted against discussing the land purchase on a virtual meeting. The motion for discussion passed seven to five. However, the Fiscal Review Committee did not pass forward any recommendation to the full county commission.

Commissioners decided last year to expand the Justice Center rather than going to another piece of land where parking issues would not be of concern.