Amid a bevy of regular business in the March 20 county meeting, Union County Sole Commissioner Harold Collins made a couple of major announcements: a Sorghum Festival will take place this year, and the Union County Development Authority will be returning soon.
An estimated 150 people filled the Jury Assembly Room at the courthouse to see Collins in action for his third regular meeting, and he started off his Commissioner’s Comments by asking residents to be patient with him, as he was only 80 days into his new job as of that evening.
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“Most of it’s new, but I know a little bit,” Collins said of the position. “I’m learning a lot, and I just ask everybody to be patient and don’t expect things to get done overnight.
“The Great Wall of China wasn’t built in a day, so if there’s anything wrong with the county, it can’t be straightened out in 80 days.”
To that end, the new commissioner said his office was “making good strides” on evaluating departments, employees, operations, efficiency, finances and more, and Collins said that, while he will certainly be keeping people updated, “big, meaningful changes take time.”
SORGHUM FESTIVAL
Speaking of big changes, Collins said he would be partnering with local organizations to host a new Sorghum Festival after the long-running Blairsville Sorghum Festival was permanently shut down by organizers this month following either a disagreement or a misunderstanding – depending on who is asked – about the provision of county services.
“We are going to have a Sorghum Festival,” Collins said. “As far as I’m aware right now, it’s not going to be run by the same group. It’s going to be a (different) non-profit group going to run it.
“Steps are being took by the Chamber of Commerce, by the Union County Government, by the Historical Society and numerous volunteers from the community, and money will be going back in the community. So, the final word is, we are having a Sorghum Festival.”
Specifics are lacking currently, as the process is still in the early planning stages, but Collins said the money raised will be used to fund scholarships and “anything to help out the community – it’ll be different, it just won’t be one thing.”
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Regarding the Union County Development Authority that he dissolved last month, Collins said he would be recreating it very soon.
“I am moving forward toward re-forming the Union County Development Authority,” Collins said. “I have had multiple meetings with various stakeholders.
“We are in the early stages of planning for a more diverse board and hoping to create a good working relationship with the City of Blairsville and the Downtown Development Authority.
“And we’re working with legal counsel as well as the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission on the procedures to create this board. I hope, before this next meeting, to have this board recreated. It will probably be a nine-member board. So, keep that in mind.”
Toward this end, he opened a separate bank account with United Community Bank “for the purpose of depositing funds from the previously dissolved Union County Development Authority for the purposes of future economic development.”
REECE FARM
He also spoke to the county-owned Byron Herbert Reece Farm & Heritage Center – which serves as a testament to both the farming and intellectual roots of Union County – and said he and County Manager Tony Hughes had a plan “to put it back proper.”
Collins said the Reece Farm operated at a $70,000 loss for the county last year, but that if his plan works out, “I think we can be alright up there.” The county will be working with the volunteer Byron Herbert Reece Society to enact Collins’ plan.
UNION GENERAL HOSPITAL
“I evaluated the county’s agreements in cooperation with the Union General Hospital Authority,” Collins said, switching gears. “We have met with their CEO; the hospital and Union County work very well together.
“They have always been questioned about Union County providing funds to the hospital in any way. I have determined this is not a one-way street for the county providing them a little bit of funding to offset the cost of operation of EMS.”
With transparency in mind, Collins called on new County Finance Director Kay Wilcox to lead a brief presentation outlining the financial relationship between the county and the hospital, which Collins held up as giving “a lot back to the county and its citizens by way of services.”
In terms of offering countywide services to residents, Wilcox said the hospital’s annual financial contributions come to about $600,000, including: $15,000 in the 50/50 cost-sharing arrangement with the county for the air ambulance service; a $582,871 loss on its ambulance service; and $3,000 in medication and supplies provided to Union County Fire and other first responders.
As far as reciprocity, the county helps to offset these costs – particularly the losses associated with running ambulances – by providing $300,000 to the hospital.
If the county operated the ambulance service, as is done elsewhere, Wilcox said the loss would be even greater than what Union General is currently experiencing – and come at the expense of taxpayers instead of the hospital.
“The only other option for the EMS is for the county provide that, and so it seems to be more efficient for the hospital to have that,” Wilcox said before going on to discuss the annual economic impact of Union General on the community.
“When judging economic impact, we’re talking about monies that families in the county gain from employment or other things that are spent that reflect back savings to those residents,” Wilcox continued.
According to the most recently available public data, Wilcox said this impact comes to $106 million, and she went on to discuss other benefits from Union General Health System.
“They provide a childcare center, which, about 50% of their children there are hospital employees’, and the other 50% are children in the community,” Wilcox said, adding that the hospital also offers a Wellness Center plus uncompensated care in the form of “indigent care, charity care, bad debt incurred and just other free, uncompensated care that they provide.”
OTHER BUSINESS
Collins also highlighted some savings he’s been able to find, such as dropping a long-standing insurance policy for a crane the county doesn’t have, and he said he terminated a lease agreement for a vehicle driven by the former Development Authority director.
“And we will be holding a Town Hall Meeting April 10 at 6 p.m., and the location will be determined, and the meeting will be advertised in the North Georgia News (soon),” Collins said. “My plans are to invite our Sheriff’s Department, our Fire Department, the School Board, the City of Blairsville, elected officials to have a Town Hall Meeting.”
Additionally, Collins said he and his staff have been examining all county checking accounts with the goal of securing “the best interest rates for our county funds that we can” to provide additional revenue that will benefit taxpayers.
Among regular meeting business, Collins accepted multiple agreements, including allocation of funds for transit projects through the Georgia Department of Transportation as well as groundwater and methane monitoring services for the Union County Landfill.
He also held second readings and subsequent adoptions for revisions to the Union County Code of Ordinances pertaining to Short-Term Rentals, the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, and Alcoholic Beverages, details of which were previously reported by the newspaper.
To enable residents to attend both county and School Board meetings – several of the latter were rescheduled for 2025, resulting in multiple conflicts for the separate meetings – Collins changed his November and December meetings to the third Tuesday instead of the usual third Thursday.
The commissioner also proclaimed April 2025 as “National Donate Life Month,” encouraging people to “give the gift of life” by signing up for organ and tissue donation.
County Manager Tony Hughes updated folks on a variety of county happenings, including that the Recreation Department had signed up 1,151 children for spring sports. Hughes also announced Saturday, April 12, as the first “Bunny Run” Egg Hunt at 10 a.m. in Meeks Park.
Attendees received multiple chances to ask questions, including on specific agenda items and generally. In response to a question about the struggling Senior Center, Collins said he was in talks with Legacy Link to determine how the county might offer greater assistance there.
The public is encouraged to attend commission meetings, usually the third Thursday of each month starting at 6 p.m. inside the Union County Courthouse.
