The Putnam County Commission met on June 5, with commissioners tackling alcohol licensing enforcement, commercial growth, and how the county might prepare for emerging technologies like data centers.
Commissioners unanimously voted to table an alcohol license application submitted by Welcome to the Lake LLC, doing business as Lakehouse Tap, after they learned the business had received a citation for selling alcohol without a local license.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told the commission that his investigators confirmed the business had been operating without a valid license. Interim County Manager Byron Lombard then told commissioners that although application fees and inspections had been completed, the outstanding citation created complications.
“If you were to issue the license today and it’s adjudicated in court in July, then you would turn right around, and their license would be revoked,” Lombard said.
The commission then voted unanimously to postpone action until court proceedings are completed.
A similar decision followed for Long Shoals Package LLC, despite a representative arguing that licensing problems resulted from ownership changes and confusion surrounding new state requirements.
“We take full responsibility for it,” applicant representative Khamil Ali told commissioners. “A lot of people have reached out thinking we’ve closed, or we’ve sold, or something has happened, but it was just a change in which a family member was going to operate it.”
Officials, however, said the business had been cited after investigators purchased alcohol while no valid county license existed.
“This is something that you don’t miss,” Lombard said. “You make sure you get it.”
Commissioners ultimately tabled that application, too, pending court outcomes.
Next, the commission considered how future growth might look in Putnam County. They discussed creating a new commercial zoning category intended to provide transitional commercial development between agricultural or residential areas and larger commercial districts.
County Attorney Adam Nelson said the proposed “neighborhood commercial district” would attempt to narrow uses currently allowed in existing commercial classifications.
“The intention was to try to narrow the commercial uses that we currently allow in C1 and C2,” he explained.
Commissioners debated whether future discussions should occur through individual meetings with staff or public work sessions. Acting Commission Chair Tom McElhenney, substituting for a vacationing Bill Sharp, said he favored larger public discussions.
“I just think that we need to discuss it openly, and the public needs to be a part of that,” McElhenney said.
Commissioners eventually approved scheduling a future work session.
The board also approved an agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation regarding lighting for two roundabouts planned for the third phase of the Highway 44 widening project. One would be at the intersection of Hwy. 44 and Scott Road, with the other not far away at the entrance to Harmony Crossing off Hwy. 44, across from the new Publix site.
Lombard said the county would assume the maintenance and electrical costs for the lighting at each roundabout, estimated at about $40,000 annually. Commissioners approved the agreement with District 3 Commissioner Steve Hersey voting no.
The most extensive discussion of the meeting was then reserved for proposed ordinance changes addressing solar developments, battery energy storage systems, and potential future data centers in Putnam County.
Several residents urged commissioners to move cautiously — or not at all, since no one spoke in favor of adding data centers. Concerns centered on potential environmental impacts, including noise, water consumption, and electricity demand, as well as long-term, quality-of-life impacts.
Dale Bills, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party Committee, praised commissioners for being proactive about data centers, but cautioned them of “looking for a quick fix for some of their financial tax base.”
Bills added that several Georgia counties have reported “voter remorse” after data centers were placed in their midst.
“So, guardrails are important for making sure that the development matches the benefits for the county and the citizens of Putnam County,” Bills said. “A lot of counties have forged ahead of you. I would highly suggest that you look at what they’ve done as a baseline.”
County resident Sandra Decker next explained she had previously worked with data center projects and warned commissioners to consider broader infrastructure impacts.
“AI requires four critical things to become more intelligent: more data, more compute, more power, and more water,” Decker said. “That means everything that data centers require, the data, the compute, the power, and the water, expands. My question is, how will you determine water usage limits with the very model demanding more and more and more?”
Hersey expressed concern that the proposed rules remain too broad and argued that restrictions should be strengthened, even before public hearings.
“There’s nothing in this document that limits the size of the data center or limits the size of the battery storage unit,” he pointed out.
Commissioner Richard Garrett then argued that the county should begin developing regulations now, while recognizing that technology will continue evolving.
“It’s not aggressively pro and equally it’s not aggressively anti,” Garrett said of drafting regulations. “But I think that’s the appropriate stance at the moment.”
Commissioners ultimately approved moving forward with a public hearing process while also scheduling a work session beforehand to further refine any proposed data center regulations.
Hersey cautioned his fellow commissioners that waiting may soon no longer be an option.
“This is not an if,” he told them. “It’s a when.”