In their first meeting of the New Year, members of the Habersham County Board of Commissioners elected Dustin Mealor to serve as board chair. Mealor succeeds Stacy Hall who stepped down from the commission at the end of last year.
The panel elected Tim Stamey to serve as vice-chair, succeeding Natalie Crawford. The two were elected in a 4-1 vote with councilman Jimmy Tench opposing both. No other nominations other than Mealor and Stamey were made.
Habersham Commission recognizes Hall and Crawford for their years of service
Mealor will preside over a panel with limited experience. He and Tench are the two longest-serving members of the board, each of them took office in January 2019. Tim Stamey joined the board in December 2019 after winning a special election to fill the unexpired term of former commissioner Ed Nichols. Stamey was elected to his first full term this past November.
Newly-elected county commissioner Bruce Harkness nominated Dr. John Hendricks to replace Victor Anderson on the Habersham Hospital Authority. Hendricks serves on the Demorest City Council, which votes on decisions surrounding the hospital’s security contract with the City of Demorest Police Department. Harkness is a former member of the Demorest City Council.
Commissioner Bruce Palmer, who was also elected in the Nov. 3 general election, objected to his nomination. “He is on the Demorest City Council and they provide security for the hospital, so there could possibly be a conflict there,” Palmer said. Harkness withdrew his request following Palmer’s concerns.
The commission unanimously passed the amendments to the county’s comprehensive land
development ordinance, which was originally published in 1992. These amendments work to modernize the ordinance, which includes the protection of property values and economic development. The full amended ordinance, which has been in the works for over a year, can be viewed here.
Click here to view the county’s live stream of the meeting.
