Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to both the Putnam County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission and the Putnam Board of Commissioners (BOC).
Dear P&Z, At last Thursday’s meeting, despite overwhelming opposition, you again, in a vote of 3-2, voted to give Putnam County Stone (PCS) everything they asked for, in this case, a withdrawal of their application, without prejudice.
This is the third time this rezoning has appeared on the P&Z calendar, starting on March 5, 2026 – an unprecedented number of times based on history – and twice you have granted PCS what amounts to a delaying ploy.
Dear BOC, once again, you failed to provide an adequate venue to accommodate the crowd that wanted to attend this meeting. The maximum number of citizens (269) allowed to attend the meeting was reached 20 minutes before the start of the meeting, and an estimated 50 or so citizens who arrived later were denied entry.
Do I need to remind you that on March 17, at a regular BOC meeting, Jennifer Ray, during Public Comments, placed on the record a formal notification that Room 203 would be inadequate for future meetings regarding this rezoning?
This means the BOC had virtually all of March, April, and May to secure a venue capable of accommodating the anticipated crowd before the required official announcement of the meeting location. Of note, I commend the interim county manager for trying to make the best of this situation in the short time he has been on board, but, in my opinion, an alternate, capable location should have been secured weeks, if not months, before his arrival.
Georgia State Law 50-14-1(c), copied below, is pretty specific. I interpret this to mean that ALL the Public shall be afforded access to meetings, not some or a majority of the Public.
“(c) The public at all times shall be afforded access to meetings declared open to the public pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section. Visual and sound recording during open meetings shall be permitted.”
Since we are now facing at least two more meetings associated with this rezoning request, it is time for the BOC to take appropriate steps to secure an adequate venue for these future meetings, in my humble opinion.
Respectfully, Billy Webster, Putnam County