In other business
The commissioners:
- Voted to begin developing an energy efficiency and conservation strategy for Hall County. The county could begin retrofitting government buildings for energy savings and may undertake an ambitious methane gas recovery project at the Allen Creek and Candler Road landfills.
- Approved a bid by a 3-2 vote for Charles Black Construction to be the construction manager at risk for the North Hall and Cool Springs Park projects at a cost of $689,100.
- Renamed the Hall County Enforcement Division as the Hall County Marshals.
Stephen Gurr
Hall County commissioners decided Thursday to scrap the work they had done on a proposed ethics code after agreeing with its critics that it lacked teeth.
Instead, the commission is likely to adopt a slightly modified version of a draft ethics code being developed by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.
Each of the commissioners will appoint a citizen by the end of the month to help review and “tweak” the ACCG ethics code.
During a public comment portion of Thursday’s meeting, Murrayville’s Doug Aiken said the wording of the proposed revisions to the ethics code that was developed by commissioners contained vague wording and would be unenforceable. The code had been scheduled for a first reading.
Afterward, commissioners voted unanimously to withdraw the proposal for an amended ethics code on the motion of Commissioner Ashley Bell.
“I would have liked to have seen it stronger,” Bell said after the meeting. “There was just no enforceability. And there was no way I could do like every other commission did prior to us and vote for a ethics code that had no enforceability. So tonight we ended that — if we’re going to have ethics, it’s going to be enforceable. There’s no point in recognizing unethical behavior and then having no ability to do anything about it.”
The adoption of a new ethics code has been discussed for nearly a year.
“One way or the other, we’re going to make it happen this year,” Bell said.