Property Management Company in Liberty County, GA

Liberty County residents and businesses are paying more for solid waste.

The Liberty County Board of Commissioners voted at its Feb. 4 meeting to approve a consulting firm’s recommendations on suggested rate hikes over the next five years.

Residential customers will see the price increase in 2026 on their 2025 property tax bill. Commercial customers are paying more immediately for roll-on/roll-off, dumpster, and tipping fees.

LIBERTY COUNTY SOLID WASTE ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL ASSESSMENT

Residential rates would go up 3% each year from 2026 through 2029 and are billed annually by the Tax Commissioner’s Office.

The county’s smallest municipalities will see the largest price increases. Walthourville and Allenhurst will go from $15.80 to $77.94 per year by 2029. Midway also will pay $77.94 by 2029, up from $53.04. Hinesville will go from $23.11 to $33.62. Gum Branch was not listed.

The county loses money when solid waste companies don’t use the county transfer station in Fleming.

For example, Atlantic Waste, which recently started hauling solid waste for both Walthourville and Allenhurst, does not use the county transfer station. That means Liberty County lost roughly $10,000 to $11,000 per month in tipping fees that Walthourville had been paying.

In August 2024, Walthourville’s city council voted 4-1 to get out of the sanitation business and to sell off its garbage truck to help balance the city’s budget. Councilmembers Mitchell Boston and Robert Dodd led the push to privatize solid waste services. The council voted to sell the city’s garbage truck to defray expenses. As of publication, the truck was still parked at the public works yard.

John Culbertson, a consultant with MidAtlantic Solid Waste Consultants, told the BOC the county can charge the market rate – significantly more than what the county has been charging in recent years – because the county provides both public and commercial tipping services.

“We believe it’s reasonable, and are recommending a scaled annual escalation that is consistent with the consumer price index, or inflation, by various names, essentially the increase in the cost of new business,” Culbertson said.

This would include a higher 2025 rate plus a 4% rate increase “because part of the cost of that service is tied to a contract that actually escalates higher than 4% — 5 and a half percent,” he explained. “But the other component of that is it’s anchored to county staff to operate the transfer facility.“

LIBERTY COUNTY SOLID WASTE COMMERCIAL COLLECTION CHARGES

Commercial rates would go up 5% each year from 2026 to 2029.

The plan also recommends “a fairly substantial increase” for large commercial dumpster pull fees and business curbside bins, Culbertson said.

Residential rates are much more complicated, he said, because different municipalities have different ways of managing solid waste.

After going back over the numbers, Culbertson said he was able to knock about 10% off of the previously proposed rate increase for curbside service.

Rates would go up 3% each year for the next 5 years to ensure the county can afford to keep providing solid waste services in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and inflation. He also said that the county has been “very customer friendly,” perhaps a little too friendly in that they gave out too many discounts “for folks that opted to go with higher third-party service.”

Companies that don’t use the county transfer station would be charged an “overhead sustainability fee,” Brown said, because the county would be responsible for providing sanitation should a company fail to do so.

“It’s our responsibility to provide sanitation countywide and provide the services and assets related thereto,” Brown explained, adding, “We lose your revenue stream, but we’ve got to maintain certain fixed assets and certain facilities for your care in case something happens.”

According to County Manager Joey Brown, the county must be able to provide landfill services in case something goes wrong. Under the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act, counties must be able to handle at least 10 years’ worth of solid waste.

District 2 Commissioner Justin Frasier pointed out the municipalities would pay the steepest increases, and that “fire and trash pickup is a hot topic [in Walthourville and Allenhurst].. So you know, they’re already a little, I guess, excited in a negative way down there about trash pickup. So are we going to send a representative down there or send a letter, just to let them know?”

Brown said the sanitation fee would be placed on 2025 property tax bills for the tax commissioner to collect in 2026.

Citing Midway as an example, Brown said, “$77.94 is actually $6.50 a month that those folks would be paying.”

Frasier replied, “So yeah, I get it. I’m just saying, have y’all been watching the meetings? Because they’re, they’re getting upset down there about $3… I guess it goes back to us, just, you know, informing the citizens that this is what is going down the pipeline.”

Overview:

The City of Midway is one step closer to full fire coverage after the Liberty County Board of Commissioner approved a draft contract approved by the Liberty County Board of Commissioners. However, Mayor Levern Clancy said the council had not seen it and would not clarify details of any possible millage rate to pay for the proposed Midway Fire Protection District. The estimated 5-year cost would top $5.8 million, with the city making quarterly payments of more than $225,000.

Midway residents are one step closer to full fire coverage from Liberty County Fire and Emergency Services. They would pay for it through a county fire prevention tax district, under a tentative contract approved by the Liberty County Board of Commissioners Feb. 4.

The contract, which County Chairman Donald Lovette said he “wouldn’t call a draft,” goes back to the city for what County Manager Joey Brown described as “line edits” and is not final until the city approves it.

Midway Mayor Levern Clancy told The Current that city officials and City Attorney John Pirkle would go over the document, adding, “It’s not final until the city review[s] it and they haven’t reviewed it yet.” In follow-up e-mails Wednesday, Clancy said he had not seen a copy of the draft contract and that council members would not be voting on it at Midway’s Feb. 10 city council meeting: “They can’t vote on something they haven’t seen.”

The Current asked Clancy to provide a rough estimate of what millage rate might be needed to cover the expense, whether the city might instead issue bonds to cover the cost, whether the council would have to advertise and hold public hearings on any proposed millage rate, or whether the tax would have to be approved by voters in a special election, as well as whether City Attorney John Pirkle would need to make any technical changes to the city charter would be necessary.

Clancy replied, “There is no rush he will get everything when council get[s] it we know the law.” Pressed further as to whether the city would impose a millage rate or issue bonds, Clancy wrote, “That is a council question but I can tell you it[‘s] going to be what’s best for the residents.”

County Attorney Kelly Davis told commissioners the draft contract includes reimbursement for expenses in the first year and the establishment of a fire prevention tax district.

“In a nutshell, the county is agreeing to provide essentially the same services it provides unincorporated areas to the City of Midway,” Davis explained. “In return, the City of Midway, for the first year, will reimburse the county, based on invoices submitted to the City of Midway for the actual cost expenses incurred by us in the startup and the provision of services during that initial year.”

After that, he said, “it’s anticipated that we’ll establish a fire prevention tax district where, much like in the unincorporated areas of the county, an assessment or tax will be levied against the taxpayers in the City of Midway to defray the cost provision of the fire services within the city. And of course, the city will fully cooperate with us in those matters, and they’ll enact whatever ordinances that we need to fully authorize us to provide services within their city limits.”

Kelly added that the city would make its water system available free of charge to county fire services, and that the agreement would protect the county so that it would “timely receive payment and have mechanisms in place to ensure those payments are timely received” by imposing a default interest rate and “a wide range of remedies” if Midway doesn’t pay the county on time. The county has tightened language in all its contracts with local municipalities after slow payments from Walthourville and Hinesville city elections.

Liberty County Fire Chief Brian Darby and Assistant Fire Chief Christopher Morrison were at Tuesday’s meeting, “in case anyone has questions,” Darby said. No commissioners asked any questions about the plan, which Darby had previously explained at the Dec. 19, 2024 board meeting, and the chiefs left without addressing the board.

County officials had suggested that perhaps the City of Riceboro might consider splitting the costs of placing a new county station where it could serve both cities. However, Riceboro decided to maintain its all-volunteer fire station.

The BOC’s vote to authorize a deal with Midway is the latest step in efforts to replace Midway’s defunct volunteer fire department, most of whose members quit after repeated run-ins with Clancy and Mayor Pro Tem Clemontine Washington.

After The Current’s investigation uncovered the problems at Midway’s firehouse, Clancy shut down the facility without warning and told Campbell not to let firefighters in, citing possible health and safety hazards. Campbell resigned on the spot, and several other volunteer firefighters also resigned.

Since then, some Midway residents have complained that their property insurance has either gone up or that they lost coverage, due to lower ISO (or Verisk) ratings. For insurers who use that system, an ISO rating determines what a property owner pays for fire coverage.

Darby has pointed out that, even though Midway’s ISO fire safety rating dropped, not all insurance companies use that scoring system to provide coverage. Liberty County’s ISO rating is 4/4x, slightly above average, with 1 being the highest rating, and Midway residents would benefit from the county’s higher rating once a deal is finalized.

Brown had said predicted growth coming to Midway would dilute some costs for existing property owners.

Midway’s Estimated Annual Costs for County Fire Service, 2015-2019

Under the draft contract, Midway would pay Liberty County to provide full fire services over the next 5 years.

The problem for the City of Midway has been how to pay for the over $5 million in estimated costs to start a fully-staffed, fully-equipped fire station from scratch. The proposed deal would spread out those efforts and expenses over five years.

The first year would cost an estimated $842,330.09, including $225,556 in one-time startup costs, paid quarterly.

According to the county’s 2024 Consolidation and Evaluation of Digest for Midway (District 6), the total taxable property value across all categories comes to $105,833,007. (That’s the 40% assessed value on tax bills.) Whatever the city has to pay the county would likely be calculated as a millage rate on the city’s total taxable property value.

The last Report of Local Government Finances for the City of Midway posted on the Georgia Department of Community Affairs website, from 2020, shows the city’s revenues totaled $1,078,967.

Midway has not posted its budget since 2017 on its website. On August 15, 2024, The Current filed an Open Records Request with the City of Midway for copies of its 2022 through 2025 budgets. The city has yet to fulfill that request.

The City of Midway has been undergoing at least one audit but no results of that audit had been made public as of this publication. The last audited financial statement that Midway has posted on its website is from 2018.

Midway’s City Council is scheduled to meet 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 10. Lovette said at least one county commissioner would attend that meeting.

SAVANNAH, Ga. —

Below are the school systems in our area that have announced changes due to weather. Check back for updates.

Appling County Schools: "Due to hazardous road conditions, there will be no school tomorrow, Friday, January 24, 2025."

Beaufort County School District: “After consultation with Emergency Management regarding current and expected road conditions impacted by ice, frozen sleet, and snow, there will be no school or E-learning tomorrow (Friday, January 24, 2025) and district buildings will be closed. All extracurricular and athletic activities scheduled thru Sunday, January 26, 2025, are cancelled. Unless the district communicates otherwise, schools will resume normal operations on Monday, January 27, 2025.”

Bryan County Schools: "After careful consideration, Bryan County Schools will remain closed on Friday, January 24, 2025."

Bulloch Academy: “After careful consideration and in light of recommendations from local authorities, we have decided to cancel school, all after-school activities, and athletic events on Friday, January 24. There is a significant risk of black ice forming overnight, and any thawing that occurs today is highly likely to refreeze, creating hazardous conditions on the roads.”

"Bulloch County Schools will remain closed on Friday, as road conditions remain uncertain and may not be safe for bus travel or student drivers.

"Keeping schools closed on Friday will keep everyone safe and allow conditions to improve over the weekend," said Superintendent Charles Wilson. "I am not comfortable with the risks involved or the issues it may likely cause for everyone if schools reopened."

The school district plans to return to normal operations on Monday. At this time, no decision has been made about potential make-up days."

Snow in Savannah? Take a look back at the last time flakes fell in the Hostess City

"The College of Coastal Georgia will continue with online classes and reduced operations for faculty and staff for Friday, January 24."

"The Children’s Village in Richmond Hill will be closed tomorrow Jan, 24th."

Effingham County Schools: "We hope this message finds you remaining safe and warm! Due to current weather conditions, Effingham County Schools will be closed on Friday, January 24, for students and all ECSD employees. The Frosty 5K scheduled for Saturday, January 25, has been canceled, and a rescheduled date will be announced soon. All Extra-Curricular Activities are canceled as well! We will continue to work closely with Effingham Emergency Management to monitor weather conditions. Currently, the roadways are very dangerous, and we are all encouraged to stay home. We plan to see all students and staff on Monday, January 27th."

Evans County Schools: "Evans County Charter School System (ECCSS) officials collaborated with Evans County Emergency Management Agency (ECEMA) again today to discuss impacts of Winter Storm Enzo. Due to the snow and ice accumulation, current forecast, and potential for refreezing again overnight, ECCSS campuses will remain closed on Friday, January 24."

"First Christian Academy will be closed Friday, 1/24/2025."

"Georgia Southern University will resume normal operations at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. Classes will remain online on Friday, Jan. 24. Classes will resume normal instruction on Saturday, Jan. 25.."

Glynn County Schools: "After consulting with local emergency officials and thoroughly assessing our schools and roads for storm-related damage, Glynn County Schools will remain closed to students on Friday, Jan. 24.

Staff are expected to report to their designated locations on Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Classes will resume on Monday, Jan. 27."

Hampton County Schools: "Due to the ongoing freezing temperatures expected across the Lowcountry area through Friday and dangerous driving conditions, especially the potential for black ice on roadways and secondary roads that many buses must travel, Hampton County School District will be CLOSED on Friday, January 24, 2025."

Jeff Davis County Schools will release one hour earlier than their normal dismissal times, Tuesday, January 21. All after-school activities scheduled for tomorrow afternoon are canceled.

Additionally, schools will be closed for all staff and students on Wednesday, January 22, and no after-school activities will take place on Wednesday.

"Kicklighter Resource Center will remain closed on Friday, January 24th, 2025 due to the inclement weather."

Liberty County Schools: "Due to the impact of the winter storm weather, Liberty County Schools will continue with virtual learning through Friday, January 24, 2025. All Friday after school activities are cancelled for the day. All teachers, students and staff will return to school in person on Monday, January 27, 2025."

"LifeSpring Christian Academy will remain closed for Friday, January 24, 2025."

Long County Schools: "Due to continued concerns about unsafe road conditions, Long County Schools will remained closed tomorrow, January 24, for students and staff. All athletics, practices, and school events are cancelled. Schools will resume normal operations on Monday, January 27."

McIntosh County Schools: "On the advice of EMA and Sheriff's office, we will continue remote learning tomorrow (Friday)."

Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools: "SCCPSS will continue with remote learning on Friday, January 24, due to the impacts of the weather."

Savannah Tech: "As we prioritize the safety of our students, faculty, and staff during this winter weather event, Savannah Tech campuses in Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty counties will continue remote operations for the remainder of the week due to continued inclement weather."

Screven County Schools: "Due to the continued possibility of hazardous road conditions in many areas of the county tomorrow morning, there will be no school for students on Friday, January 24. All Staff should report at 9:00 AM tomorrow for a staff workday. School for students and staff will resume on Monday, January 27, 2025."

Tattnall County Schools: "Due to the winter storm that has impacted our area, the Tattnall County School System will remain closed on Friday, January 24, 2025."

Technical College of the Lowcountry: "Due to hazardous road conditions, TCL will remain closed through Friday, Jan. 24. All classes are canceled during this time."

Toombs County School System: "After consulting with the local Emergency Management Agency and the Toombs County Sheriff's Office, we have determined that hazardous road conditions caused by snowfall and persistent sub-freezing temperatures—leading to dangerous icing—make school travel unsafe. To prioritize the safety of our students, staff, and community, schools will remain closed on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The plan is to return to normal school operations on Friday, January 24, 2025. Our school transportation department will reach out to families of bus riders affected by impacted roads to ensure safe travel to school on Friday."

Wayne County Schools: "Due to the continued hazardous road conditions in our area, the Wayne County School System will canceling school once again on Friday, January 24, 2025. Additionally, all after-school activities will also be canceled for the day."

Brynn Grant is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in2022 as a continuation ofWomen of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

Just two short weeks before former President Jimmy Carter passed, Brynn Grant sat in a conference room in the Liberty County Development Authority, describing a signed picture of Carter and her father with the rest of her family.

Carter, then governor of Georgia, was swearing in her father for a state appointment. Grant's mother's eyes are closed, while her grandmother and brothers watch with all seriousness. A young Grant snuck in as close as possible, placing her pinky onto the Bible.

Grant named Carter as the person she most admired. She repeated one of her favorite quotes of his―"Unless both sides win, no agreement is permanent"―as one of her north stars.

"That's powerful," Grant said. "So, if we want to create things that last, and we want to do work that expands and grows in positive ways, we've got to approach things from that kind of perspective. How do you win? And how do I win? And how do we win together?

In her current role as the LCDA's chief executive officer, Grant carries this notion with her. Equally important to her approach to economic development was her four-year tenure as president and CEO of the United Way of the Coastal Empire. She took the helm of the regional nonprofit just months before the COVID-19 shutdown, and she said the experience of ushering Coastal Georgia communities through the pandemic granted her a unique perspective on how to approach economic development: that social issues and economic issues "are clearly, inextricably linked."

"We have to be thinking about all those facets of our community," Grant said. "Otherwise, we don't win, really, right?"

Before her time at UCWE, Grant spent 20 years at the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), where she rose to COO and vice president of World Trade Center Savannah. She held interim positions with organizations such as the Savannah Music Festival and what would become The Creative Coast, as well as assisted in establishing the Savannah Regional Film Commission. She has also served on the boards of Leadership Southeast Georgia and the Savannah Technical College Foundation.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Grant: "I knew nothing about economic development; I had never even heard of it. I was a journalism major at [the University of Georgia] UGA, but I couldn't make a living, so I went the advertising route. I was working remotely before remote work existed, and driving back and forth from Savannah to Augusta for my job at the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame two or three days a week, communicating by email, phone, and fax machine.

About a year and a half into remote work, I thought I was not doing the job that I needed and wanted to be doing. In my outreach of looking for a job in Savannah, I got connected to a headhunter somehow and said would I like to interview at the Savannah Economic Development Authority. I said I don't even know what that is. It's a great deal, though, for people who love to learn and like to learn about a lot of different things."

"I was making that drive so often between Savannah and Augusta, and there was a Mennonite Church that had a sign. I was really struggling with that last six months of remote work, thinking I was not doing a good job. I was pregnant or had had my first baby, and I was struggling to make this transition and feeling very low. This Mennonite Church had a sign, and I don't know why it pierced me, but it said, 'In everything, be grateful.' I had already been on the path to try and find a job in Savannah and nothing was working, nothing was happening. That sign made me change my way of thinking, and eventually, that helped shape the way I approach life going forward. If I can help it, I'm going to try and stay focused on being grateful. And it just seems to work."

"I think that I try to face everything from the perspective of what good could I do here. What solution might we conceive? If it's something like the death of someone you love, then it's what is a positive that I can take from this experience? How can this fuel me? And how can I learn from this? I try not to let things make me spiral. There's a quote that I've used many times, and it's not eloquent or elegant, but it's 'you may be given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.' We can make things better or worse with our thinking."

"I don't know if I have a definition of courage for myself. I've heard this statement, [and] I can take no credit, but you feel the fear and do it anyway. I think we all struggle with that every day, you know, looking ahead at our schedule for the day, week, month, or even the next year. What do we have to achieve? There's fear in that. You don't know what's coming. Will I be able to stand up to it? Will I be able to do what I need to do? So, I like that definition. Feel the fear. Feel it. See it. You can't surrender to it. You have to do it anyway."

"So many people. I feel like there are so many people in our lives, certainly in mine, that it would be impossible to name all of them, but I would like to honor them all, all of the people who made a difference in my life. I think it's a philosophy in a way to think of all our life as people who are opening pathways if you want to see it that way. Paths appear and doors open. Thankfully, there were many people along the way who were brilliant at what they did, and I had the opportunity to witness it."

"I've done a lot of thinking about young Brynn. The me of my earliest days was a confident, spunky girl. When I look back, with all the therapy that I've had, I look back on middle school me, high school me, and young adult me, and I realize I probably saw the world pretty back and white before. Like, this is right and this is wrong, and you do this and you don't do that. When I was younger, when I went through a divorce on my own and tried to raise children on my own and build a career, and make a living, I realized there's a whole lot of gray. I think I'm more forgiving, understanding, and peaceful now. More loving and accepting. I think I would maybe tell my younger self, because of that, to just relax."

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for the Savannah Morning News, covering the municipalities, and community and cultural programs. You can reach her at DAmbus@gannett.com

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