Gray Downtown Development Authority members held their first meeting of January with a full board and a clean slate for the coming year.
The Jan. 12 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Sherri Rollins, and her first order of business was to welcome new board member Alex Smith. The attorney was approved by the DDA and Gray City Council last month to replace outgoing board member Bert King.
Anndrea Lampkin, who joined the authority in August, was in attendance as were members Rick Childs, Vicki Ethridge, Cecil Ethridge and David Tufts.
Rollins began by going over the financial report that included the 2025 budget. She commented that items had been added, but revenue had been strong.
“We are starting 2026 with a clean slate,” she said.
Tufts made the motion to approve the report, and the motion passed unanimously.
Old Business
Rollins asked about the update to the Butler Hall lease agreement, and Smith stated that he had met with Main Street Director Ashley Roberson, who oversees the facility, and suggested improvements. He said a draft of the lease agreement would be sent out to members next week.
The discussion turned to the lease agreement for the 102 East Clinton building that houses the offices of the Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce, Jones County Development Authority and Main Street Gray.
Smith said his suggestion was to make separate leases for each organization and would contact JDA attorney Kevin Brown to work on the agreement.
Rollins talked about progress with the 104 Eatonton Hwy. corner building. She said the roof was finished, and her suggestion was to focus on the exterior of the building.
The chairman said there was interest in leasing the building.
“We need to wait until we have a definite tenant before we complete the interior,” she said.
She said the idea was to put the building back as nearly as possible to the original design, and that includes garage doors. Rollins asked for approval to start by getting quotes for the doors.
The board was in agreement for the quotes.
Rollins said the cleanup would begin with pressure washing the building.
New Business
The director gave a marketing update for Butler Hall and stated there had apparently been a lot of engagements, which spurred a lot of interest since the first of the year. She said there had been three new bookings.
“We are busy from April forward,” Roberson said.
There was also a conversation about the need to repair the fence at the facility.
Rollins and Roberson presented the 2026 budget. The budget had few changes with total income estimated at $192,345 and expenses at $171,270.
Vicki Ethridge made the motion to approve the budget, and the motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Main Street report
Roberson gave an update for the branding project. Board members were shown the latest rendering of the DDA logo and once again gave suggestions for changes.
The director said accreditation documents for Main Street Gray were due Jan. 15. She said she would present the information to the Georgia Main Street Board in February and requested board members who could be present.
Roberson also requested approval to have a Main Street strategic planning session in April with a design facilitator. She said the session would be a day and a half.
Rollins said it was a great idea to have the view of an outside person, and board member Cecil Ethridge agreed.
“That’s how we got Butler Hall,” he stated.
“We might want a design team to do another walk through,” the chairman added.
Rollins said the idea of including residences downtown needed to be decided. She said the design review would be expensive and may need to be held until next year.
“The courthouse renovation will make a big difference,” she said. “We are looking forward to a great new year. It’s exciting to keep moving forward and making Gray the place to be.”
With no more business, the meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting of the DDA is scheduled Feb. 9.
