The future of Woodland Drive, the Boys and Girls Club and cameras in public bathrooms discussed at Plains City Council

On Thursday, July 18, the Plains City Council (PCC) conducted its monthly regular meeting. There was much to discuss at that meeting, including the future of Woodland Drive, the street that former President Jimmy Carter lives on.

Jill Stuckey of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site told the PCC that there has been much discussion between the Parks Service and the city of Plains regarding Woodland Drive. “It is currently owned by the city and as a federal employee, I ‘m not allowed to solicit land, but I know there has been some interest in possibly the city donating that,” Stuckey said. “She went on to say that the Parks Service anticipates that when President Carter passes away, the Parks Service will be able to find the money to convert the Carter home into a museum. “Mrs. Carter is currently buried across that street and when President Carter is no longer with us, he will be buried across the street,” Stuckey said. “We anticipate it would take three or four years to open that house to the public once he has passed, so the plan would be to open that area to visitors who want to visit the grave sites of President and Mrs. Carter.” Plains Mayor Joey Recker asked Stuckey if the burial sites would be open to the public fairly quickly. Stuckey replied that they anticipate that they would be. “There’s a fence currently along side the road that separates President and Mrs. Carter’s house from the other side,” Stuckey said. “So we could open that street up various times during the day or week and allow visitors to drive through there.”

Mayor Recker asked Stuckey if she could brief the PCC on what the process would be. Stuckey replied that if the city was interested in donating that property to the National Parks Service, the Department of Interior, the city could send a letter expressing its interest in doing so and Stuckey would get solicitors and property folks involved in how that transfer would work.

Stuckey went on to say that the Secret Service detail is located in a building in front of the Carter home and that once President Carter is lowered into the grave, their service on the Carter protective detail ends. “According to the congressional record, then that property will be transferred to the Parks Service,” Stuckey said.

She went on to say that the Parks Service has extensive plans for what the Carter compound will look like as a museum.

In other news from the meeting, Council Member Amy Wise shared with the PCC that she attended a meeting with the Boys and Girls Club of Plains. “They reopened two years ago and there are still some people that are not aware that it has reopened,” Wise said. “They’re going to use our newsletter to put announcements out to let people know. Mayor Recker stated that the Boys and Girls Club of Plains is a wonderful resource that is not being used. “I road by there yesterday (Wednesday, July 17),” Recker said. “Grass growing up, nobody in the pool. It looked like it was empty.” He went on to say that kids in the community ages 6-18 need to be encouraged to go to the Boys and Girls Club because it is free, as the Carter Foundation is paying for a child to go. “These are the kids that don’t need to be breaking into our cars at night. They need to be over there playing basketball,” Recker said. Jill Stuckey stated that the Carter Center has pledged to donate one million dollars and someone else has pledged to donate close to $700,000.00.

Recker stated that as a community, the Boys and Girls Club needs to be a priority.

There was also a concern raised about transporting the kids to the Boys and Girls Club, but Council Member A.B. Jackson stated that she had talked with the director and was told that if they can get at least 10 kids from the schools to participate, they would pick the kids up from school and bring them to the club. Jackson went on to say that they need to get the parents involved and let them know first and foremost that it is free. “A lot of the kids are at home after they get out of school,” Jackson said. “If they can go to that Boys and Girls Club till 6 p.m., that would keep the kids out of trouble.” She went on to say that there will be a registration drive and that hopefully, they can get some children involved. “Some of the parents just don’t know and if it’s been closed, they don’t know what’s going on,” Jackson said.

Recker stated that the biggest thing the PCC can do is messaging and getting the word out about the Boys and Girls Club. He added that he had heard a statement from someone who said that, “If you want to change the community, you have to raise up a new generation.”

The PCC also unanimously voted on several items, including approving the budget. Council Member A.B. Jackson made a motion for approval and Council Member Eugene Edge seconded the motion. The PCC voted and the motion to approve passed unanimously. The PCC also voted unanimously to rescind the order to extend the old budget. Council Member Eugene Edge made a motion to approve and Council Member Amy Wise seconded the motion. The council also voted unanimously to approve the purchase of an icemaker for a shop for $1,500.00. A.B. Jackson made a motion for approval and Eugene Edge seconded the motion. Another voting item that was dealt with by the PCC was the E-911cost, which Mayor Recker insisted must be paid immediately. After a discussion that took several minutes, Eugene Edge made a motion for approval, but others on the council were hesitant to second the motion. Finally, A.B. Jackson seconded the motion and the vote passed unanimously.

The PCC also voted unanimously to approve a special election to fill the unexpired term of Kim Fuller, who resigned her position. This election will take place in November. A.B. Jackson made a motion for approval and Amy Wise seconded the motion.

The PCC also discussed putting cameras in public bathrooms. Mayor Recker stated that they have had instances where the bathrooms have been vandalized and have not been kept up. “Another resource in this town that is not being used,” Recker said. The Mayor went on to say that he was looking through the city’s budget not too long ago and discovered that there is some SPLOST money specifically designated for parks. That money turned out to be in the amount of $30,000.00. Recker went on to say that he would like to hire contractors to fix up the bathrooms and to install cameras in them so that they would be open more and utilized. “If somebody does go in there with ill intent to do something wrong, we can look at the camera and figure out who it was and take care of business from there,” Recker said.

One concerned citizen at the meeting stated that the bathroom problem has been an issue for years and that when people get off the Sam Shoreline train in Plains, that’s the first thing they see. She stated that somebody came and told her that the bathrooms were nasty. She stated that when she went into a particular bathroom, there was fecal matter smeared all over the walls. She stated that she bought several cleaning supplies at Dollar General to clean both the men’s and women’s bathrooms and that it was awful. She went on to say that the bathrooms need to be fixed and updated. According to Recker, the bathrooms are currently locked up and there is no sense in having them if they are locked up.

In other news from the meeting, Council Member A.B. Jackson introduced Kathy Reyes as the Honorary City Council Member for the month of July. Mayor Recker presented Reyes with a plaque commemorating the occasion.

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