In Attendance:
Ethan Calhoun, President
Lisa Jackson, Past President
Toussaint Kirk, Vice-President Chrissy Marlowe, UGA
Norman Pope, Treasurer
Jeanne Anne Marsh
Clifford McGrady
Loretta Hylton
Nayna Mistry, Secretary
Others in Attendance
Sharon Fenneran, UGA
Unable to Attend:
Randy Mannino (Italy)
Brandon Bowen
1. Call To Order
President Calhoun called the rescheduled Board meeting of GAZA to order at 9:01 a.m. This meeting was rescheduled from April 16 and was conducted via ZOOM for convenience.
2. Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Minutes of the previous board meeting held on February 12, 2025, at the Columbus Convention Center, 801 Front Avenue, GA 31901 were emailed out to everyone. Lisa Jackson made a motion to approve the minutes. Her motion was seconded by Jeanne Anne Marsh, which then passed unanimously.
3. Financial/Treasurer’s Report
Norman Pope gave a summary of the Financial/Treasurer’s Report. President Calhoun was able to share his screen to show the figures as prepared by Norman Pope. The expenses for UGA were $594.69, and for giveaways were $963.62. The total expenditure was $1756.71, and we have a current checking balance of $47,768.08. Norman Pope stated that the total funds, including the CD and Edward Jones investment account, were $67,998.25. This report was created on April 15 for the previous meeting date. Since then, a deposit of $210.00 was made for 6 additional memberships.
President Calhoun asked for a motion on the financial/treasurer’s report. Loretta Hylton made a motion to accept the financial/treasurer’s report as presented. This motion was seconded by Lisa Jackson and then passed unanimously.
4. Committee Discussion/Reports
a. Scholarship Committee
Jeanne Anne Marsh remarked that scholarship applications were being accepted up to the deadline which is May 30. No applications were received by mail. One application was received electronically. Jeanne Anne Marsh asked if a student from TN may apply, and it was determined that they can. Norman Pope stated that a previous recipient may also re-apply.
b. Legislative Committee
President Calhoun reported that Randy Mannino was currently in Italy. He will report on House Bill updates. Nayna Mistry asked for incentives such as for data centers that were passed in 2022 could be a part of future reporting.
c. Communications Committee
President Calhoun gave a brief update on the Facebook page which has been updated with about 200 photos of the last conference in Columbus and expressed his gratitude for Courtney Andrews for her great work. The official membership certificates were being mailed out with the help of Teresa from President Calhoun’s office. They had a good response and there was discussion about buying a gift card for Teresa.
d. Sponsorship Committee
i. Lisa Jackson stated the whole Board may help to push the sponsorships and donations. The networking event was missed last time so we will make sure to have it at future conferences. Norman Pope explained that the Sponsorship account is kept separate for private funds and the balance is approximately $8,830.00. Adam Nelson had donated $3000.00 at the Augusta conference. TDS has sponsored at the $250.00 level. President Calhoun stated that he would research sponsors in Rome, including two hospitals.
e. Membership/Nominating Committee
Norman Pope stated that the current membership number was at 173. Toussaint Kirk confirmed that he would work on the online credit card payment option to be added to the website and registering with the Secretary of State. This will be planned to be completed by the end of next week. President Calhoun stated that we will be able to apply for a GAZA credit card to pay for required services. Norman Pope nominated Mercedes Dodd would be a suitable candidate to fill the unexpired term of Tom O’Bryant. The group agreed to consider Mercedes Dodd and other suitable candidates. Discussion occurred regarding possibilities for board members, especially in the southern part of the State and this item was tabled for a future meeting. President Calhoun thanked Nayna Mistry for updating the contact sheet for the Board members and Brandon Bowen will be added to the list. Clifford McGrady Mentioned that he is retiring in January 2026. President Calhoun stated that he will be getting a plaque made for Tom O’Bryant for his leadership and service to the GAZA organization.
f. Award Program Update
President Calhoun reported that Richard Osbourne has a new job with Dawson County and will not have time to lead the Award Program and he would send email reminders to encourage applications. Lisa Jackson volunteered to help with the Award Program. Discussion occurred about the timing of the Awards during, before or after the lunch break and if the winners can be on the screen as a scrolling presentation during the breaks. Further discussion will continue as the agenda is finalized.
5. Report on the 2025 Winter Conference in Columbus
a. Surveys
Sharon Fenneran stated that the survey results from the Winter Conference were emailed out to the Board members and encouraged that the Board take the time to review the feedback. Overall, the feedback was good and there were interesting suggestions for future topics. President Calhoun expressed his gratitude towards the staff and the Mayor who took the time to welcome the members at the beginning of the conference. Jeanne Anne Marsh also expressed gratitude for the staff at the Columbus Convention Center and stated they were extremely helpful and happy to assist.
b. Financial Report
The expenses were $48,328.27 and the revenue was $64,102.50.
6. Future Conference Locations 2025-2027
a. Summer 2025
The Summer Conference will be planned for August 13-15, 2025, in Rome, GA. Discussion occurred about the hotel rooms and the possibility that some members may plan to stay in Atlanta. Sharon Fenneran is proposing to block 90 rooms for 2 nights in Rome. That would include the rooms for the presenters. Clifford McGrady mentioned that Rome was a wonderful place and there are sights to see and things to do and members may decide to spend the weekend there. Sharon Fenneran expressed her observation that this Board is doing an excellent job to build a solid foundation for future conferences and President Calhoun thanked the Board for working so well together.
Jeanne Anne Marsh stated that one of the comments from the survey asked for GAZA stickers. She said she would work on getting pricing for stickers. Another idea that was suggested was a tape measure that incorporated a leveler, pad, and pencil. She would get pricing for that too.
b. Winter 2025
Working on details for Athens, GA
c. Summer 2026
Sharon Fenneran presented two options for the Summer Conference 2026, one in Jekyll and one in Savannah. She mentioned that her contact in Savannah has been working extremely hard to get the costs down as the catering portion was expensive. Sharon Fenneran shared her screen and presented the numbers for the two locations. In summary, the overall cost for accommodation/meeting rooms/catering in Jekyll was $459.85 pp and the overall cost for Savannah was $502.96 pp. The registration rate will remain at the current rate of $495.00. President Calhoun thanked Sharon Fenneran for working diligently to bring the costs down and asked for a motion. Toussaint Kirk announced that he had to leave the meeting to talk to his County Attorney. Lisa Jackson made a motion to select Savannah for the conference location. This motion was seconded by Norman Pope which then passed unanimously. Discussion occurred on the proposed dates for August 12-14 or August 26-28 so that there is no conflict with Labor Day on September 7, 2026. August 26-28 would be the first choice and August 12-14 would be the second choice as agreed by the Board.
President Calhoun mentioned that the GMA Conference allows a free booth and he and Lisa Jackson would be willing to go and represent GAZA. Expenses would be incurred for the accommodation and travel. Jeanne Anne Marsh made a motion to approve the expenses and the gift cards for the table drawing (1 x $50.00 and 1 x $100.00). Her motion was seconded by Loretta Hylton, which then passed unanimously. Jeanne Anne Marsh asked to be notified of the date and location to be able to co-ordinate the swag for the booth.
d. Winter 2026
Working on a location to be decided.
7. 2025 Summer Conference Agenda
a. Sessions and Speakers
President Calhoun stated that there were 6 sessions available for the conference in Rome. We could also have some breakout sessions and Sharon Fenneran said that 75 people maximum would be in the breakout sessions. President Calhoun thanked Lisa Jackson for putting together a list of topics using the survey comments and suggestions. This list was shared on the screen.
After some debate and discussion, the list of speakers included Brandon Bowen, Adam Nelson, Frank Jenkins, ACCG/GMA. For the breakout sessions the most popular topics were Data Centers, Mock Public Hearing, Infrastructure V. Development, Ordinances that Work. Cemeteries could be added to legal topics. Lisa Jackson mentioned that Greg Boike could be a good speaker about Ordinances. Alfie Meeks could be a good speaker on Data Centers.
b. Networking Reception
Everyone agreed that the networking reception was a tremendous success last year, and we would do it again.
c. Conference Registration Giveaways
Jeanne Anne Marsh will work on various swag options.
8. Board Member Introduced Topics
No additional topics were discussed.
9. Set Date and Time for Next BOD Meeting
The next board meeting would be held on August 13, 2025, at 4.00pm at the Rome Forum. Room TBD.
10. Strategic Planning Session – Board Members Only
No planning session required.
11. Adjourn
With no other topics to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 11.15 am.