Code enforcement is now a public safety agency, Macon-Bibb commissioners decided

Should code enforcement be considered a public safety agency? A majority of Macon-Bibb County Commissioners said ‘yes’ in a vote that divided commissioners and garnered lively discussion at a special meeting Wednesday.

“There’s sort of a general question that has been raised about the classification of code enforcement as whether they’re public safety or not,” assistant county attorney Michael McNeill explained to commissioners.

The proposal to make code enforcement a public safety agency stems, in part, from its recent application to the Federal Aviation Administration to be licensed to operate a drone program, McNeill explained.

“The FAA has asked us to do a letter saying the commission has designated them as public safety in order to get that FAA license” he said, adding if that issue comes up in the future with other federal or state agencies, “this is just to create a record so we have we have something we can refer back to.”

The reclassification also would make code enforcement employees who’ve worked there for more than a decade eligible to receive the same bonus pay and pension as Bibb County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and emergency management service employees, McNeill said.

Commissioner Donice Bryant, who retired from the sheriff’s office last January upon being sworn into office, immediately had questions including whether the sheriff would oversee code enforcement.

McNeill said some code enforcement officers are state certified peace officers whose law enforcement activities are under the authority of the sheriff, but other code enforcement officers are not certified. The department as a whole is a county agency on the organizational chart. 

Bryant said she wanted more information from the sheriff and code enforcement.

“If it’s a pension thing, can we work out something where they can still get their pension? Or they can get something that would give them that monetary amount of money,” Bryant said, adding she was concerned the reclassification would need a charter amendment involving legislators.

McNeill said the reclassification requires only a change to the county code of ordinances and does not necessitate a change to the county charter. 

Bryant asked if the commission would table the issue until it can hear from the sheriff and code enforcement. 

“We plan on voting on it tonight,” Mayor Lester Miller said. “But if you ask for a table and you get a second and move forward we can consider it.”

Commissioner Stanley Stewart seconded the motion to table, but it failed 5-3 with Bryant, Stewart and commissioner Paul Bronson voting in favor of postponing the vote. 

Stewart said he wanted to table the vote until after the election for the District 5 commission seat in April.

“We have whole district — District 5 — which is not represented,” Stewart said. “That’s a whole section of Macon, Georgia, who should be involved in this very serious matter. … Something like this is too important for us to exclude a whole district of people.”

Stewart added that “I’m all for incentives for people but this also feels like a power grab and I’m not on board with this.” 

Public safety — and the powers of the sheriff as the county’s top law enforcement authority — have been under scrutiny in recent years amid deaths at the jail, slow response times and a shortage of sheriff’s deputies. 

Miller and commissioner Bill Howell have not been shy about their dissatisfaction with the sheriff. Late last year, Howell drafted a resolution to create a police department.

Bronson wanted to know why code enforcement could not fall under the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning board.

“When you start talking about your common usage for your code enforcement, they deal with your property maintenance, they deal with your land use, zoning compliance and so forth,” Bronson said, adding that he’d rather have the agency under planning and zoning to “minimize confusion of who is in charge of who.”

Interim County Attorney Duke Groover explained that the county planning and zoning board is set up in a way that is unique to Macon and unlike any other such board in the state. 

Groover said code enforcement falls under planning and zoning in other counties but, “in Bibb County, it’s a little different because our planning and zoning commission is constitutionally created to be separate from the supervision of the Bibb County government. That’s why they’re not under P&Z.”

McNeill added there is no department within planning and zoning that would allow it to enforce anything other than comprehensive land development resolution.

“Anything having to do with the property maintenance code, things like noise complaints, grass is too high and there’s rats and snakes living in my neighborhood, broken down cars, blighted houses, all of that is outside the jurisdiction of the planning and zoning commission,” McNeill said, adding the reason why code enforcement officers are deputized is because the sheriff asked the county for help with enforcement on such matters.  

Bronson said he thinks the county is treading in dangerous waters with the proposal and urged commissioners to table it because “it just seems a little muddy.”

Ultimately, the resolution reclassifying code enforcement as a public safety agency passed 5-3 with Bryant, Bronson and Stewart voting ‘nay.’

Jail, arena and public safety spending

The commission voted to earmark some $31.5 million from 2025 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax collections, a penny-on-the-dollar sales tax voters approved last year. 

The projects and amounts approved include:

• $17.5 million for pre-construction work on the arena 
• $5.1 million for debt service payments
• $5 million for the jail pre-construction and architectural work
• $2 million for public safety projects, which now includes code enforcement
• $1.5 million for I.T. projects
• $375,000 for cultural and recreation projects 

In other business at the March 18 meeting, commissioners voted to approve:

• Accepting a commemorative bench for America’s 250th anniversary from the Georgia State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for Whittle Park at the entrance of Rose Hill Cemetery. 
• A contract with Professional Paving Services for $1.2 million in 2025 SPLOST money for 5.5 miles of deep patch asphalt resurfacing along portions of Clinton, Upper River, Riggins Mill and Millerfield roads. 
• A lease agreement with the Macon Transit Authority for 17,107 square feet of office space inside Terminal Station for $219,312 from the information technology and rentals budget. 
• A new public road near Interstate 16 and Joe Tamplin Boulevard for a future land acquisition to expand the industrial park in coordination with the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority. 
• Appropriating of $14 millions in 2018 SPLOST money for courthouse renovations for safety and security purposes. 

 The commission also voted to accept the following grants: 

• $2.7 million from the state for local road maintenance.
• $400,000 in federal Safe Streets And Roads For All money to update the county’s Vision Zero Action Plan with a $100,000 local match.