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The Lowndes County Commission held its regular first meeting of the month on Sep. 11 where board members discussed, voted on, and approved items such as repairs to the Old Town Hall as well as appropriations to various organizations in the area.

The Old Town Hall will soon be the home of the Organized Community Action Program (OCAP) which is a self-help agency that provides an opportunity for human dignity by providing decent housing, food, clothing, health assistance, counseling, referrals, education, and job placement.

During the Sep. 11 meeting, commissioners discussed repairs to the building as well as a possible proposal to eliminate the cost of rent for OCAP.

Commissioner Robert Harris proposed a swap of a current appropriation to cover the costs.

“We give them (OCAP) $5,000 per year,” Harris said. “They (OCAP) were asking about the rent for the building and I was thinking that instead of the money we give, we could let them occupy the building rent free which would ultimately surpass the $5,000.”

Also on the docket was the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) which was voted on and approved by the commission. The funding from the CDBG grant would be used to purchase defibrillators for use throughout the county.

In other commission business, five appropriations were made to organizations in the area which include a $1,000 appropriation to Life Changing Community Outreach by Commissioner Joseph Barganier, a $500 appropriation to the Fort Deposit Senior Program by both Commissioner Joshua Simmons and Commissioner Barganier, and two appropriations to the Collirene Volunteer Fire Department which included $1500 by Commissioner Charlie King Jr. and $2,500 by Commissioner Simmons.

The last item discussed during the meeting was a letter received by the County Attorney, Prince Chestnut, from a company who had proposed to bring a solar farm project to Lowndes County which announced that the company would be withdrawing its interest in bringing the project to the county.

Commissioner W. Dickson Farrier expressed disappointment in the company’s withdrawal of interest.

“We lost a wonderful project in my opinion,” Farrier said. “The school system was going to get a good bit of money from it.”

The Lowndes County Commission will meet again on Sep. 25 at 6:00 p.m. for their regular second meeting of the month. All community members are welcome and encouraged to attend.