The Greene County Water and Sewer Authority Board met on January 17, 2025, in the courtroom of the William M. Branch Courthouse to discuss their dispute with the Greene County Commission over being paid a $400 a month stipend for their service on the board.

William Morgan, chairperson of the board and the most outspoken supporter of a stipend was present. Board members Walter Beck, Barry Walker and Andre Woods were present. Board member Don Woods was absent.

Morgan and other board members appeared before the Greene County Commission, at their January work session and presented a resolution to get permission from the County Commission to pay the members a stipend of $400 a month, from funds available to the Water and Sewer Authority. The Greene County Commission, who appoints the board, and must approve the stipend for it to be legally paid, oppose the stipend, and voted not to place the request on the agenda for the Commission’s regular meeting.

Commissioners Garria Spencer, Chair, Tennyson Smith and Roshonda Summerville were present for the January 17 meeting. Garria Spencer addressed the Water and Sewer Board saying, “We do not support your request for a stipend. We appointed you to serve in these board positions to give leadership and make decisions in the best interest of the citizens of Greene County Your unwillingness to meet and sign checks is jeopardizing $7 million dollars of grant funds which will benefit the people of Greene County.”

Spencer continued, “ Our lawyer has sent you a letter clarifying our position. We appointed you to serve on this board and we have many similar boards, to provide service to the people of Greene County, not as a job. If you do not want to carry out these duties, you may resign, so we can appoint others who will carry out their duties.”

Morgan responded, “We have carried out our duties. We have worked hard. We have resolved some difficult problems facing the water system. We have raised grant funds, and we feel we should receive a stipend for our work. We feel we are generating funds and there are funds available in our budget and treasury to pay this stipend.”

A knowledgeable observer pointed out that some of the funds that Morgan referred to, were mandatory reserves, required by Federal and state funding agencies and were not available to pay stipends.

Chairperson Morgan then turned to the meeting agenda. There were four items on the agenda: 1. Discussion to go on strike; 2. Discussion to go to the media;3. Discussion to go to the banks, where the Authority has its funds on deposit; 4. Discussion to further negotiate on the $400 stipend.
The first three motions were tabled.

An engineer with Sentell Engineering rose to request the Board to approve contracts so work could proceed on projects. Morgan told him that
his request was not on the agenda and would not be considered at this meeting.

Before the meeting was adjourned, member Andre Woods submitted his resignation, saying, “I must travel to the meetings and take time away from my work, to serve on this board. It is not worth it.” Vincent Atkins, Manager of the Water and Sewer system, clarified that board members can receive mileage and travel expense for attending meetings, if they submit documentation of their expenses.

Since the January 17th meetings, the Greene County Water and Sewer Board has not met and postponed some meetings with engineers, contractors and representatives of USDA Rural Development, a major funder of the water system.

Attorney Barrown Lankster, who is the Legal Counsel for the water board said that the Board is looking forward to the next Greene County Commission working session in February, to further negotiate on its request for a stipend.

Commissioner Spencer said, “ They need to read and understand the letter from our lawyer, Mark Parnell. The majority of the Commission does not support a stipend for this board. If they do not want to serve, under the conditions that we have set out, they can resign, so we can go forward with the important business of providing water and sewer services to the people of Greene County.”

Spencer added that the Commission is looking into other ways to deal with the board members, who prefer to withhold their participation in ongoing business of the Greene County Water and Sewer system.” We have the power to impeach this board, if they do not serve and do not resign. We are exploring all our options to resolve this matter”