I attended the October 29, 2026, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.
All commissioners were present.
The first agenda item was “Gilmore Bell Annual Financial Report.”
Mark Grimm from Gilmore Bell was on the speaker phone to speak with the Commission about the report.
He explained that when counties issue bonds, it is common for the issuer to prepare an official statement that includes an audit, operating information, and demographic data. This provides important information that a bond purchaser would need to consider before making an investment. Gilmore Bell prepares these reports for approximately 350 bond issuers. Once they finally received the county’s audit, Gilmore Bell was able to complete their report.
Grimm also explained that government bodies don’t usually request a new bond rating evaluation unless they are issuing new bonds because the process costs money.
Commissioner Dougan asked Grimm about a $7.3 million deficit on his report? Commissioner Gohagan explained that Dougan was looking at the County Treasurer’s report. There was a $7.5 million planned budget deficit and Gohagan explained that the county budget has contained a planned deficit in every budget year since 2015.
The Treasurer’s report stated that the budget deficits had always been planned, but since 2021, it has never been realized.
Commissioner Gohagan stated that the County Auditor has warned every year since 2020 that maintaining current spending levels could not be sustained. The budget was sustained by CARES and ARPA federal money during those budget years.
The next agenda item was “3rd Public Hearing – Chelsie Rd & Brush Creek.”
We’ve been through two of these meetings already so I’ll offer a brief summary.
The Pro side wanted at least one stop sign at Chelsie Road. They were concerned because there is no visibility for oncoming traffic coming over the hill.
The Con side preferred alternatives to a stop sign. They felt a stop sign would be a problem with icy conditions during winter. They preferred the idea of an oncoming traffic warning sign for Brush Creek Rd.
Unfortunately, these traffic sensor signs can cost over $20,000. A traffic study would cost approximately $7,000.
Commissioner Dougan preferred to install a convex mirror to improve visibility and then conduct a traffic study in the summer when the tourism season is at its peak.
The county will also investigate the potential cost of cutting down the crest of the hill.
The Commission voted unanimously to deny the stop signs and install the convex mirror.
The third agenda item was “3rd Public Hearing – Sellers Rd., Everly Loop & Lake Road 7-6.”
The Commission also voted to deny this stop sign request and instead conduct an engineered traffic study at this intersection in the summer. Pat Wolf, the Road & Bridge Administrator, noted that both spurs of the Everly Loop connection with Sellers Road created blind spots.
The fourth agenda item was “Unattended Signs on County Property.”
According to the County Attorney, you can have election signs within 25 feet from the outer door of polling places. He opined that the intent of the law was to allow people to hold the signs, but not allow them to post the signs and leave them unattended. The point of this agenda item was to explore ways to prevent people from posting election signs on county property. The County Attorney will look into this and let the Commission know what he discovered.
The fifth agenda item was “4th Tax Sale Final Decision.”
Presiding Commissioner Skelton proposed that the Commission should decide to put out a public request that it is seeking applications for a land trustee who would collect the 4th Sale tax properties and sell those properties. The trustee would receive 10% of the gross proceeds from the sales.
Commissioner Gohagan brought up an issue he had with Camden County’s policies to handle tax abatements, but the other two commissioners preferred to address that issue at a later meeting.
Commissioner Dougan wanted to be sure that the county land trustee would not have the ability to purchase trustee properties for themselves.
The Commission voted 2-1 to appoint a trustee with Commissioner Dougan voting No.
And that was that.
On an etiquette note, it’s important to remember that when attending a Commission meeting, a proper gentleman should make sure that he is wearing a belt, suspenders, and/or underpants. One gentleman was wearing none of this crucial trinity and when he stood to harangue the Commission about the dangers of Sellers Road, he presented the back row of the meeting room with a complete and full view of his posterior. Definitely a Show Me moment.
The good news for him is that, while I’m not a medical professional, I don’t think he has to make a follow-up appointment to come see a commissioner for another 10 years.