Union County Sole Commissioner Harold Collins worked from a packed agenda in his monthly meeting March 24, tackling a host of business items ranging from annual Senior Center funding to Community Center changes amid discussions about dog parks and data centers.
But he started things off by recognizing three outstanding Union County Recreation Basketball Teams, welcoming coaches and players to receive certificates and rounds of applause.
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The 8U, 10U and 14U Boys Teams were all Mountain Athletic Conference Champions in 2026. Both 8U and 10U were District 7 Class C Finalists, and the 14U Panthers won their District Championship and came in third in state competition.
Playing for the 8U Team were Easton Adams, Bryant Colbert, Copper Gibson, Nixon Goins, Brantley Gutierrez, Weston Jones, Jack Lance III, Kip Moss, Abram Swanson and John Patrick Waggener, with Coaches Jack Lance Jr., Megan Swanson and Nataley Goins.
The 10U Team was represented by Callaghan Byrne, Jayceon Figura, Mason Fox, Greyson Gutierrez, Cash Jones, Troy McIlroy, Joshua Schroter, Ransen Swanson, Jonah Underwood and Sawyer Yancy, with Coaches Matt Gutierrez, Krista Fox and Casey Jones.
Rounding out the 14U Team were Jordan Cooper, Elliot Hillman, Mason Hopple, Allen Jackson, Kason Jones, Christiaan Jordaan, Adrian Mason, Leyton Mckeever, Karson Sosebee and Wyatt Yancey, with Coaches Tim Mason, Trevor Pendergrass and Kyle Sosebee.
Moving on, Collins accepted a $20,000 agreement with the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission for a “Transportation Needs Study” for Union County and the City of Blairsville, with the city expected to reimburse half of the study cost to the county.
“The Mayor of Blairsville approached me about getting a Transportation Needs Study completed regarding traffic in and around town as well as outlying county roads,” Collins said. “Having this study will allow for better and more efficient planning in the months and years to come.”
Collins also accepted the $218,000 local share of annual funding to the Union County Senior Center. This is the same amount Collins committed to last year, when he doubled funding from previous years amid budgetary shortfalls at the Senior Center.
Among other business, Collins accepted a $255,589.50 contract with GMASS Inc., the Norwood-based property appraisal company that has been assessing local values since 2019. The contract covers appraisal services between March 15, 2026, and Dec. 31, 2027.
The county has repeatedly contracted with GMASS because the Union County Tax Assessors Office does not have the personnel or equipment to do the job in-house, which the county has contended in the past would come with considerably higher costs than hiring a third party.
Commissioner Collins has expressed interest in the county establishing local appraisals. However, he said after the meeting last week that he is still examining the financial side of that possibility.
Additionally, the commissioner renewed the Union County Horse Arena lease agreement between the county and the Saddle Club that he secured for the first time last year. Under the one-year agreement, the Saddle Club will continue to pay $3,000 per year to lease the premises.
The county-run View Grill Restaurant at the Union County Community Center closed in February. Collins gave the restaurant a year to turn things around financially, as it was operating in the red, before deciding to bring in a company to operate the space instead of the county.
In the meeting, Collins signed a year lease agreement for Next Round Events LLC to open a new restaurant there. The lease includes office and storage space in the Community Center and will net the county $4,000 a month, plus a total of $3,000 for remaining unused food products.
“The renting of rooms at the Community Center will still be handled by Union County Government and will still be available to rent for an event,” Collins said. “This allows us as a county to make sure the facility is still available to be used by the public, but it gets us out of the stress and expense of running a restaurant.”
Local restauranteur Matt Leonard owns Next Round Events; he previously ran The View Grill for the county before management changed hands in recent years.
After the meeting, Collins said the agreement would put a dent in the overall costs associated with running the county-owned Community Center, though the facility will still operate at a loss. He hopes to have hard figures available in the next county meeting.
In other business, Collins accepted the amended Service Delivery Strategy for Union County and the City of Blairsville. The city had already accepted the agreement, which has changed to accommodate the city’s plans to extend its sewer service 2.5 miles east of city limits on GA 515.
During the Public Q&A, the sewer extension came back up when Collins was asked for an update on his plans for the Farmers Barket Dog Park.
The commissioner said months ago he would be closing the Farmers Barket primarily because of dog owners allowing their pets to wander in the adjacent Farmers Market, prompting concerns about feces being left on the property.
He said last week that he discovered another reason to close it when reviewing the updated Service Delivery Strategy, which would see a new sewer line installed through the park that would require it to be moved anyway.
Collins revealed in the meeting that he had chosen a destination for relocating the park, saying he would be upgrading the fenced-in area next to the Senior Center that has for years been designated for dogs. He hopes to have this completed sometime in May.
The Farmers Barket has become a contentious issue for the Commissioner’s Office, as the people who regularly use it believe removing the park will be a mistake. Arguments for keeping the park at the Farmers Market include the positive economic and social impacts to Union County.
To date, Collins has remained unmoved in his decision but has said the new park will be comparable to or better than the existing facility.
He told the newspaper after the meeting that the site near the Senior Center will be graded and expanded, and that the revamped park should be as accessible to people with disabilities as the Farmers Barket. He added that he has no plans for the Farmers Barket property at the moment.
Also in the meeting, another Q&A commenter asked about data mining centers, wondering if the City of Blairsville’s recent Rural Zone Designation would make it easier for the noisy, resource-hogging facilities to make their way to town.
Collins said the county had nothing to do with the city designation but that he would be strengthening the county’s Cryptocurrency & Data Mining Ordinance to make it even more difficult to set up shop here.
He also welcomed Blairsville Downtown Development Authority Board Chair Zach Edmonds, who clarified that the Rural Zone Designation “does not allow for data centers in any way.”
After the meeting, Collins said that, “Positively, there will be no data centers while I’m in office.”
The March 24 proclamation signing declaring April as Child Abuse Prevention Month appears in another article in the newspaper.
Collins will hold his next monthly meeting on Thursday, April 16, at 6 p.m. inside the Union County Courthouse. The public is encouraged to attend.
