Sky cops are coming to the county.
At Wednesday’s Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meeting, the board authorized Sheriff Eddie Hawkins to buy four solar-powered, mobile surveillance cameras.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith and Hawkins had talked about investing in cameras in trouble spots and brought the idea before the board.
“We’ve had a lot of shootings recently in the Crawford and Artesia areas, and in the area of (Yorkville Road),” Hawkins said. “The problem for us is getting the victims to open up to give us information so we’ll have leads to follow up on and make arrests.”
Camera systems could capture the incidents, and “at least give us a direction to go in to investigate these crimes,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said the cameras he is looking at cost around $2,250 each and are solar-powered. They can be used both to get a real-time view of the area but also will store footage for up to three years.
“If we’re having a problem somewhere, we can move that camera there,” Hawkins said.
They can be paid for out of an existing revenue stream, he said.
“We get revenue monthly through the inmate phone system, and that goes to the general fund,” he said. “I’m asking you to earmark that for this technology.”
Hawkins said the commission the county receives about $12,000 monthly from that source, and, as he is changing vendors, he expects that amount to increase substantially.
The board generally liked the idea, but stopped short of giving Hawkins free rein.
“The cost is not a hardship, but we are shorting the general fund,” said District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders. “If we are going to short the general fund, why not spend it on cameras rather than whatever?”
“I think we all agree that we have to do something,” Smith said. “There are people that are terrified in their homes.”
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks suggested making a “short-term” decision to get some cameras now. In the long term he suggested looking at using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to buy more.
Hawkins asked for three cameras to start with, but District 3 Supervisor John Holliman suggested going for four. Sanders moved to buy four, seconded by Smith, and it passed unanimously.
“We have to send a message from this room that we’re not going to allow (crime),” Smith said.
“I’m glad you said it,” Brooks joked. “I don’t want them to burn my house down.”
More ARPA discussion
The board discussed, but took no action on, prioritizing projects for ARPA revenues and, hopefully, attracting matching funds from the state.
During a discussion about setting up a workshop with the county’s ARPA consultants next month, the board segued into talking about spending priorities. Much of the discussion centered on water and sewer needs in Lowndes County.
Brooks urged his fellow supervisors to reach a decision about what to focus on as far as projects that may attract state grant funds.
“I keep hearing about water and sewer systems, and I don’t know how many of them there are in Lowndes County,” he said. “We need to compile a list and make some decisions ourselves. …Water and sewer seem to be the biggest things, but we don’t know who we’re talking about or who we’re trying to help.”
“We have a large area out here that is undeveloped,” Smith said. “As long as we don’t have water and sewer out in that area, it’s going to continue to be undeveloped. How can we best move Lowndes County forward? That’s key.”
Finally, the board approved an amendment to its contract with the Lowndes County Industrial Development Authority.
In February the board entered into a contract with LCIDA that, among other things, obligated the county to issue $2.2 million in bonds to raise funds for several large capital improvement projects, including water and sewer improvements at the industrial park. The bonds were originally to be sold by the end of this year.
Golden Triangle Development LINK Vice President Meryl Fisackerly brought the board an amendment to that contract that pushed the date for issuing the bonds back to June 1, 2022.
“You agreed to four capital improvement projects, and it appears that at least two of those will be able to be paid for with ARPA money,” she said. “Not knowing regulations and matching funds that might become available we thought it would be a good idea to extend that date.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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