Commissioners approve more staff in sheriff’s office and fire department, hold town hall on potential new park 

WARNER ROBINS — The Houston County Commissioners were quite busy Tuesday night as they held their regularly scheduled meeting as well as a town hall on the potential Echeconnee Creek Park afterwards. 

In the meeting, Commissioners held a public hearing for a proposed alcohol license by including the retail sale of beer, liquor, and wine to be used off premises at 295 Old Hwy 96 in Bonaire. The first reading was held at their previous meeting and the license was approved unanimously. 

“The applicant has approval from the following: Houston County Sheriff’s Office, Houston County Building Inspection, Houston County Fire Department and Houston County Commissioner’s Office,” County Administrator Robbie Dunbar said.

One citizen didn’t speak specifically about the location itself, but was concerned about the number of liquor stores in the county. He wondered if the Board could disapprove a liquor license because of saturation. 

The Board also approved nine additional firefighters and six additional positions for the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Matt Moulton spoke on the approval of their additional personnel. 

“I am committed to continuing to make Houston County the safest county for our families to live, worship, work and play,” Moulton said. “The addition of these six positions are going to continue the legacy that has been the Houston County Sheriff’s Office for so many years.” 

Houston County Fire Chief Chris Stoner mentioned the Houston County Fire Department had roughly fifteen full-time staff from the years 2000-2016. The additional nine members will bring them to 45 full-time firefighters. 

“In an eight to nine year span, we’ve tripled our full-time staffing which is a historic moment for us,” Stoner said. “All eight county fire stations will have 24 hour coverage seven days a week with at least one staff member there. That’s a tremendous achievement for Houston County.” 

Commissioners then approved a bid from C.W. Matthews Contracting Company to perform construction on Pleasant Hill Road. Board Chair Dan Perdue said the company also managed the Elberta Road project and is a year behind in the completion. He said the delay is largely due to utility conflicts.  

“We experience utility conflicts a lot of times when we’re working in older parts of the city or county,” Perdue said. “I think everybody knows that we will have utility conflicts, but we’re going to do our best to mitigate those in a timely fashion and ensure that we have good response as the utilities need to be relocated.” 

Perdue said a $700,000 difference in bids from other contractors was one of the deciding factors in choosing C.W. Matthews. 

“[C.W. Matthews] is certainly a very reputable operator in this space and does a phenomenal job at their work,” he said. 

After the meeting, the Houston County Government hosted a town hall on Echeconnee Creek Park, a potential new public park. Perdue said it would be located on a parcel of land acquired through work done around Robins Air Force Base. 

“The county wound up with several parcels of land and this parcel which is on the extreme northern end of Houston County ,” he said. 

Potential funding for this park is through the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP). According to the Department of Natural Resources, the purpose of the GOSP is to conserve Georgia’s natural resources while supporting the creation and improvement of parks and trails and expanding public access to outdoor recreation opportunities.

“This is not a done deal as we still have to go through the grant process,” Houston County Community Planner Jacob Cox said.  

Cox said the potential park will be 12 acres on the Houston County/Bibb County line. One of the main priorities Cox discussed was the need to improve the park entrance.

More planned upgrades include a canoe and kayak launch, boardwalk, picnic area with a pavilion, improved lighting, a walking trail and restrooms, if a nearby sewer is available.

The Middle Georgia Regional Commission (MGRC) will be helping them with writing the grant. Director of Planning and Public Administration for the MGRC, Greg Boike, said the most important thing for the public to do is to share their feedback with them and the county. 

“We want to make sure that this is a project reflective of what the people of Houston County want and what’s going to be a truly beneficial park that is a regional asset for all those in Middle Georgia who want access to the Echeconee,” Boike said. 

One county resident said he lives near Echeconee Creek and heard that Bibb County has plans to replace the bridges over the creek. Boike said the Georgia Department of Transportation does have a plan in place to replace those bridges in the next three to five years. 

“What we found is that we have found a lot more success with local funding and grant funding to go into those types of revitalization projects rather than just what GDOT has budgeted alone,” he said. “If Bibb County wants to make improvements on their side of the river, by all means we’d welcome that, but this is just a Houston County park.” 

As for next steps, the grant application for the park will be submitted to the DNR in October, and by next spring, they are expected to have an approval decision. 

The next Houston County Commissioners meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 9 a.m. at the Houston County Courthouse. The full agenda of the Commissioners meeting can be found at www.houstoncountyga.gov/minutes/2025-09-16%20Department%20Head%20Copy.pdf