The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is slated Tuesday to discuss a consultant’s study of the Columbus Lowndes Recreation Authority.
The matter is listed on the board agenda for its 9 a.m. meeting at the Lowndes County Courthouse.
Board President Harry Sanders requested the item be added to the agenda.
“I think we need to bring it up and discuss it amongst ourselves in public at the board meeting,” Sanders said.
Sanders said he’d hoped to have consultant Ramie Ford available to talk about the study at the meeting, but Ford cannot attend.
The board hired Clinton-based RF Outdoor Consulting, LLC in June to review CLRA’s facilities and operations. The county paid $4,000 for the study, which it received in mid-August.
CLRA operates under an inter-local agreement between Columbus and Lowndes County, and those entities provide the bulk of organization’s funding. The study has sparked fears in the city that Lowndes County intends to withdraw from the agreement, though supervisors have yet to formally decide on the matter.
Sanders said he doesn’t expect a vote at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I just think that we need to talk about it and see what everybody has to say,” he said.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks said he’d like to see the county, city and CLRA come together to discuss issues before reaching any sort of decision. Brooks said he doesn’t know what the board will decide to do, noting he hasn’t decided his own vote yet. But, he said even if the board ultimately chooses to split from CLRA, the county would be best served by hearing other parties before making a decision.
“There’s always another way,” Brooks said. “If the county splits up from the city, I don’t know what it would do with the working relationship. It would probably leave a bad taste in their mouth.
“Let’s sit down and have a conversation,” he added.
Sanders said he’s not opposed to hearing public opinion on the matter, after Columbus resident Berry Hinds raised concerns about chances for public involvement at Wednesday’s board meeting.
“I think maybe in our discussion Tuesday, we might set a time to have some sort of public hearing on this and bring in the public involved in it,” he said. “There’s a lot of issues on both sides … of the fence. It’s good to hear what everybody has to say.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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