Commissioners Vote to Close Road

The Meriwether County Commission voted at the July 13 meeting to close Hoss Bowden Road, also known as Pony Farm Road.

The discussion regarding the road closure had been ongoing for several weeks. The road and nearby bridge were deemed unusable and determined to have no substantial public use. Commission Chairman Emmett Collins suggested the county clean up the brush, which had not been cleared in over 25 years, but the County Attorney said that since the vote to close the road had already been taken, he questioned the idea of spending county money to clear it. Collins withdrew the suggestion following the Attorney’s comment. No property owners along the road appeared to oppose the request, and the closure was granted.

The Board discussed approving a fireworks service agreement with Southern Sky, LLC, for the 2027 Lake Meriwether Fireworks celebration, but in the end only voted to confirm the date of July 2, 2027 for the show. The Commissioners will continue discussions regarding vendors and costs, though an upper limit of $25,000 was proposed.

A request from County Clerk Allyson Stephens to approve an agreement with River Mill Data Management for confidential document destruction was approved at a cost of $900 per year.

In other business, the Meriwether County Commissioners:

• Read a proclamation recognizing the county’s 9-and-under Recreation football team for winning the CTYSA Super Bowl football championship;

• Approved a request from Rodney Landrum for a hardship variance to allow placement of a smaller home than allowed on his property on Cove Road;

• Approved a request from Zohar Jassani for selling and serving alcohol at the S.K. Riverside Inn and S.K. Riverside Inn Convenience Store on River Cove Road;

• Appointed Gregg Brandner to the District 2 seat on the Airport Authority;

• Approved CivicPlus Accessibility and Media Services and Sole Source Procurement;

• Awarded the 2026 Meriwether County LMIG Phase II for 3.5 miles on Alvaton Road to C.W. Matthews for a low bid of $899,726;

• Approved withdrawal from an awarded cybersecurity grant of $200,000 because the details listed a specific vendor and county requirements call for competitive bidding, and because the county would not be able to meet the project deadline;

• Approved an Airport Assignment and Assumption agreement required by the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration resolving historical documentation issues concerning Roosevelt Memorial Airport ownership; and

• Tabled to the July 28 meeting a request from the Tax Assessor’s office to “Reclassify Position/In-house Commercial Revaluation.”

The next regular meeting of the Meriwether County Commission will be Tuesday, July 28, at 6 p.m.