A land swap for a new recycling center in Bulloch County was the topic of a lengthy discussion Tuesday morning after posts on social media prompted a host of questions from the public.
At issue was the solid waste collection center currently on Highway 46 near Register. The 1.75 acre lot was slated to be swapped for another 2.85 acre parcel down the road on Pine Inn Road. The county says the land swap, for $0, would allow for “more safe and a safer entrance and exit from the solid waste center.” Under Georgia law, a county can exchange a parcel of real property for another parcel of equal or greater value without going through a bid or auction process. County staff said appraisals were obtained on both parcels showing a fair market value of $69,000.00 for each parcel.
The issues brought about on social media, however, raised concerns about the lineage of who owned the property and why so much space was needed relative to all of the other sites in the county. Specifically, some took issue with the fact that the property is currently owned by Kirk McGlamery but was deeded to him for $0 by Commissioner Timmy Rushing approximately six months before the process began.
It prompted further explanation by both Public Works Director Dink Butler and County Attorney Jeff Akins.
County Attorney Weighs In On Social Media Posts
“Before you consider it, I think there are a couple allegations on a certain Facebook page about this proposed property exchange that I think I need to address this morning,” Akins said.
“The first allegation is that Commissioner Rushing is the previous owner of the property that the county would acquire in the exchange. That is true. Commissioner Rushing did own this property but the current owner of the property is Kirk McGlamery and that is who I’ve been dealing with in facilitating this exchange.” Akins said he spoke with McGlamery before the Board voted on the measure and confirmed McGlamery was ‘willing to consummate the exchange.’
“The second allegation, and this is basically my summary, what I think the Facebook post said is that this proposed exchange is somehow not in the best interest of the county. That is false,” Akins opined. He then went on to reference previous statements made by Public Works Director Dink Butler, saying there are legitimate reasons to relocate the solid waste center and that Butler initiated the search for additional property.
Public Works Director Dink Butler
Butler said the issue is a result of the solid waste study contracted out two years ago, which recommended expanding and consolidating various disposal sites.
Butler said the Leefield Center, Eldora, and Six Points have all been expanded. Cypress Lake cannot be expanded, he said, because of wetlands and the Sinkhole location is limited in space. He detailed other small centers, like Pine Inn, and said, anticipating industrial growth and an expected increase in waste in the area, he sought out more space.
“I am following the direction of the consultant,” Butler said. “In that search, we also wanted to consider safety because we’ve had near misses at that intersection [in Register] getting out where it exists now. That’s a tight turn if you’re coming from Highway 301 South with big trucks, to make that turn, it’s basically a U-turn.”
“In this process, we found this piece of property. Mr. McGlamery was willing to trade the property and we felt like it would be a benefit to us,” Butler said. He said he doesn’t know what happened over the years, but the original cans were across 46 on Pine Inn Road before the location now.
“To address the safety issues of entrance, for us with the big trucks, we can get in and out of this center on Pine Inn without crossing traffic on any major highway. If we’re coming from town, we will go down past 46 and turn back on Pine Inn, which is a very low volume road and get into the center with less hazard. When we leave the center, we’ll go back to 46 and turn right and go back to 301. We don’t have to cross the line of traffic there, so for our trucks, it makes it a lot safer.”
He also said it gives a lot more space to store bulk waste in between services.
Public Input + Vote
No one from the public was able to comment because public comments have been moved to the end of the meeting after all votes are cast.
Staff had recommended approval, there were no commissioner questions or comments, and the vote was 5-0 to approve.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Brian Pfund and Lawton Sack both spoke on the issue.
Brian Pfund commended commissioners for going ‘above and beyond’ to explain the matter.
“It was explained very well and the reason I feel you went above and beyond is because I brought it to the attention of the public by my Facebook posts on this land swap. Yes, Commissioner Rushing did own this property until the 25th of October 2023 where he transferred it for no sale. I don’t know anybody who transfers property for no sale unless it’s a real good buddy or family, but I’ve done some research on this and I haven’t seen a traffic study so I can’t comment on that but I’ve looked at all the acreage on all the single point collection facilities and this is one of the bigger ones.”
Pfund said the current site is already the second largest in the county, following only the Brooklet-Leefield location.
“We have other collection points that are considerably smaller. Why don’t we focus on those first? Why do we focus on the one that’s less than a quarter mile from Commissioner Rushing’s house, swap it with some property that he owned last year, and was given to somebody else? It doesn’t look good, gentleman.”
“It just always seems like everything benefits you all more than it benefits us. We’re gonna do a land swap that’s not going to cost any money. Then we have to pay someone to come in, clear all those trees out, put up a chain link fence, put up a shack, pave areas, put gravel in areas, move all the dumpsters. We have to pay for that, us taxpayers.”
He said his own collection site is on Arcola where there is a blind curve and safety is a huge issue as there are frequent accidents in the area.
Sack spoke on a couple different issues, but first thanked county staff for answering questions so details can be shared in the community. But he corrected County Attorney Jeff Akins’ use of the word ‘allegation’ as it pertains to the social media posts, saying the organization was sharing concerns brought forth by members of the public who feel like they don’t have a voice anywhere else.
“We’re not being heard by the elected officials and the divide continues to grow,” Sack said, lamenting the problem with public comments taking place after votes are cast.
“We’re not allowed to speak on this issue today on this land swap in Register, “Sack said, “I’ve traveled that road for 21 years. I know what I’m talking about. It is extremely dangerous to hang a left from Pine Inn onto 46. There is limited sight to the right, even with the trees that have been cut down. People whip off of 301 and come speeding through there. It is dangerous area coming off Pine Inn, nothing was mentioned about 18–wheelers that go up and down Pine Inn that park there.”
Sack continued, “There’s a lot of talk about Moving Bulloch Forward Together. But it seems like those that want to move forward together aren’t the regular citizens of Bulloch County. It seems to be a small group of people that want to see commissioners drive Bulloch County in a certain way. We’re not stupid. We see where the political signs are, we see where the incumbent signs are, we’re seeing where they’re located. We know who is benefitting from decisions. But then we have these citizens who are crying out. For 14 months, we’ve been asking for exemptions for senior citizens and there’s yet to be a discussion of that. Zero discussion. But we’re swapping land.”
Commissioners Respond to Public Comments
Chairman Roy Thompson said he’s proud of the dump sites because they exist and there’s a place for people to take their trash. He also said there are a lot of citizens who go out and clean up dump sites and clean the sides of the road.
“I heard the explanation from Mr. Butler about the safety. Does he need to repeat any of that?” Thompson said toward the audience.
Cassandra Mikkel responded saying, “He just said he’s going to cut some locations.”
Thompson did not respond to the comment but went on to say that citizens can speak for five minutes at meetings, referring to the comments that people don’t get responses from their elected officials.
“We don’t get tired of you coming up there. You’re a citizen, you have five minutes to speak. You can smile if you want to, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Timmy Rushing addressed the land issue to discuss the history of the current location.
“Just to clarify something, some history on the recycle center where it’s at now. When Mr. Bob Smith, when he had Dink’s job, I’ve been down there for just about all my life. Anyway, they were inquiring about some land and you just don’t get any out there, I mean there just don’t much sell out there where we at. And he come to me and that’s where the spur used to come off of 301 and tie back into 46 and they had pulled concrete and the bridge and all up and made a turn lane there at 301 when it was just stop sign. It wasn’t a red light then. And I told him, I said, “Why don’t you go to the state and see if they’ll deed you all that?” and so he went to the state and the state deeded. It didn’t cost county taxpayers a dime. They give it to ’em. Now something in the records of the history of the land when the Williams’, which is in a trust far as I knew, they ain’t never seen none of that sale but I don’t know if it ever will, but they, the state deeded ’em that and then in the deed, if the state wasn’t going to use that land anymore, it had to go back to the original land owners. So it went back to the original land owners, that’s the reason Dink and them is landlocked and they can’t get no more land there. I mean, it’s not like they have more access to get any. There’s just no more there. So, that’s the history on why it’s there now.”
