Hello, Statesboro!
Labor Day, and the questions we have been carrying since July finally got answered. Tuesday night the county commission killed the data center ban by a single tiebreaking vote, then turned around and voted unanimously to put 21 citizens on a working group to study the thing. Tuesday morning the city council approved everything on its agenda, including the street name behind City Hall. And Tuesday evening, in a decision nobody had on the agenda, the burn ban came off.
Now the calendar turns. Three public hearings on a property tax increase start tomorrow at noon. Splash in the Boro closes for the season tomorrow night. The Eagles, fresh off a shutout, go to Clemson Saturday.
Also in this edition: what the city manager told council a data center would be worth, a new fire station opening on Brannen Street, and Raising Cane's, which is open until 1 a.m. on football weekends.
Let's get into it.
📰 TOP NEWS
The Data Center Ban Failed 4-3, and the Chairman Cast the Vote That Killed It
Bulloch County commissioners voted Tuesday night to deny the zoning text amendment that would have banned data centers in the county's General Business, Heavy Manufacturing and Light Manufacturing districts. The proposal had been tabled since August 4. It is now dead.
The mechanics matter here, because a 4-3 count on a seven-member board means the chairman broke a tie. Commissioner Timmy Rushing moved to deny the amendment. Commissioner Ray Davis seconded, and Commissioner Ray Mosley voted with them. Commissioners Nick Newkirk, Toby Conner and Anthony Simmons voted against the motion, which is to say they were the three who wanted the ban. Chairman David Bennett, who votes only to break a tie, voted for Rushing's motion.
"Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we deny this text amendment, leave the moratorium in effect, and give everybody ample time to figure out what's going on before we put something in permanently," Rushing said.
Bennett explained his vote before he cast it. "I'll go on the record saying I don't think that this community needs a largescale, 'Meta,' data center," he said, "but at the same time, I'm not going to ignore the fact that by doing an outright ban we'd put ourselves in a potential for legal jeopardy here in this community. I think there's a middle of the road here. I think we can work this."
Newkirk had said, while Rushing's motion was still pending, that if it failed he would move to adopt the amendment: "that's what I was put up here to do." The motion did not fail, so he never got to make his.
Two things did not change Tuesday. The county's moratorium blocking any data center application anywhere in unincorporated Bulloch still runs through December 31, 2026, and Bennett said he believes it could be extended past that date with legal advice. And the county still has no jurisdiction over city zoning, so none of this touches the Burkhalter Road property the city rezoned in August.
Newkirk brought his own evidence. He had traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, where gas-turbine-powered data centers have drawn national attention for noise and emissions, and he presented photographs, power line images and his own decibel readings. He set a loudspeaker on the commissioners' dais and played a 60-decibel sound he had measured from the back of the room, then noted that data centers run 24 hours a day.
The meeting ran three hours. Eight people signed up to speak.
And Then the Same Board Voted 6-0 to Put 21 Citizens on the Question
Near the end of that same three-hour meeting, commissioners added a new item and passed it unanimously. Simmons made the motion, Conner seconded, and the Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 to create a Working Group on Data Centers.
The structure is simple and the timeline is short. Each of the six commissioners names three citizens, for 21 members counting the chairman's appointments. Bennett asked commissioners to have their nominees, citizens willing to serve, ready by the commission's next meeting on Tuesday, September 15. The group picks its own chair, sorts out any overlapping appointments, and, in Bennett's description, would "sit down and look at the facts," with the possibility of visiting data centers of different types.
That is a one-week recruiting window that started last Tuesday. If you have an opinion about data centers in Bulloch County, informed or angry or genuinely undecided, the person to call this week is your commissioner. The seats are being filled by individual appointment, not by application, which means nobody is going to find you.
Bennett framed the group's purpose the same way he framed his vote. "I think that most of the issues that people discuss, we can mitigate them, we can work through them," he said, "and I'm willing to say that you go as far as to put them in an industrial park, and that helps mitigate some of those issues."
There are at least three months on the clock before the moratorium expires.
Three Public Hearings on Your Property Taxes Start Tomorrow at Noon
The City of Statesboro has tentatively adopted a millage rate that, in the city's own published wording, "will require an increase in property taxes by 33.98%." Georgia law requires three public hearings before that rate can be adopted, and all three are in the council chambers at City Hall, 50 East Main Street: Tuesday, September 8 at noon, Tuesday, September 8 at 6 p.m., and Tuesday, September 15 at 5:30 p.m.
Read that percentage carefully, because it is not what most people assume. Georgia measures the advertised increase against the rollback rate, which is the rate that would collect the same revenue as last year given this year's assessed values. It is not measured against your current bill, and your bill is not going up by a third. What the number does tell you is that the city is choosing to collect meaningfully more than a revenue-neutral rate would bring in.
When the FY27 budget draft came to council in May, City Manager Charles Penny tied the increase to fire protection costs and described it as a one-year bump. That thread is visible on the ground this month: the city opens its third fire station on Brannen Street on September 15, the same morning as the last of these three hearings.
Two of the three are on the same day, one at lunch and one after work. Between those and the 5:30 p.m. hearing the following Tuesday, there is a time on the list that works for almost any schedule.
The City Manager Made the Financial Case for a Data Center, and Left the Cons Slide Out
Two weeks after the contentious Burkhalter Road rezoning, City Manager Charles Penny used Tuesday morning's council meeting to walk through how the city got here and what a data center would be worth. He was explicit that the presentation was not a recommendation to approve one.
"Data centers have taken center stage in our country, county, and city," Penny said. "Citizens have a right to be concerned with anything that they feel may impact their community, their homes, their health, and their children's health. We recognize and acknowledge their concerns. We can't just dismiss those concerns, we have to embrace those concerns."
The numbers came from a LOCI fiscal impact analysis the city completed before council approved its data center ordinance in May, and which staff deliberately withheld from council members before that vote. "We did not share that with you because we didn't want you to use that when voting on the ordinance," Penny said. Over ten years, the analysis projects roughly $21.8 million in additional revenue to the City of Statesboro against about $35,000 in new expenses, roughly $28.85 million to Bulloch County against about $139,000 in new expenses, and roughly $26.3 million to the Bulloch County Board of Education. Penny separately estimated utility franchise fees could add about $1 million a year to the city's general fund.
The employment figure was smaller and he said so: a completed facility might employ nine to 12 people full time. He argued that the small workforce is part of the financial appeal, since it means little new demand on city services or schools compared with a housing development.
Penny also said he does not agree that data centers belong in industrial districts, pointing to facilities the city toured in Alpharetta that sit near hotels and homes. That is worth holding next to Bennett's comment the same evening about putting them in an industrial park.
The presentation had a gap, and Penny named it himself. He said the discussion has to include the negatives. He then did not include any in the slides.
Mayor Jonathan McCollar was blunter. "There is no end user. There is no entity that's out there that's planning to come," he said. "If there's no end user, there's no kickbacks. There is no corruption. There's no lack of transparency."
Nothing has been approved. If a developer does come forward, the path runs through a special use permit application, a Statesboro Planning Commission recommendation, and a final council vote.
📋 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
The Burn Ban Is Off
Commissioners unanimously lifted the county's second burn ban of 2026 on Tuesday evening, an item that was not on the original agenda. It had been in effect one month and a day, since a July 31 special meeting, and it prohibited open burning of yard debris in unincorporated Bulloch. Rain returned soon after it went on. Yard debris burning is legal again in the unincorporated county. Agricultural and forestry burns still need a Georgia Forestry Commission permit, same as always.
The drought map backs that up, mostly. The U.S. Drought Monitor map dated September 1 puts 80.86 percent of the county at abnormally dry or worse, down from 95.51 percent on the August 25 map, the first real movement in weeks. The moderate drought figure did not budge: 16.18 percent, exactly where it has sat since August 18. Rain came, and it did not come everywhere.
City Council Approved Everything on Tuesday's Agenda, Including the Street Behind City Hall
The short road between East Cherry and East Vine is now Nicolas Anciaux Lane, approved unanimously with members of the Anciaux family in the room to support it and nobody speaking against. Anciaux was born in France, served with the French forces allied with George Washington's Continental Army, settled here, and was granted 1,200 acres in Bulloch County. Council also approved, all unanimously: a $459,895 task order with EMC Engineering Services for design of the Creek on the Blue Mile Multi-Use Trail, funded 80 percent by a GDOT Transportation Alternatives grant and 20 percent by 2023 TSPLOST; a $101,000 contract with Hubbard and Hudson to rebuild the deteriorating exterior stairway at the back of City Hall, which drew no sealed bids at all the first time it went out; $128,558.67 for two pickup trucks and a cargo van; and $109,445.20 for two diesel backup pumps at sewage pump stations that currently have none.
The Third Fire Station Opens September 15
The city will cut the ribbon on the Statesboro Fire Department's third station at 11 a.m. Tuesday, September 15, at 983 Brannen Street. It is the first new city fire station in more than 20 years. Construction started in November 2025, took 10 months, and cost $4.8 million, funded by $1.1 million in city SPLOST revenue and a $3.7 million loan from the Georgia Municipal Association that the city will repay over up to 20 years with future SPLOST proceeds. The ceremony includes a "push-in" for the department's new 2026 Sutphen 75-foot aerial platform quint, a tradition left over from the days when crews pushed horse-drawn engines back into the bay by hand.
Splash in the Boro Closes for the Season Tomorrow
Today and tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, and then that is the season. The park's own schedule lists Monday, September 7 and Tuesday, September 8 as the two bonus days after the weekends-only stretch that ended September 6. Hours are subject to change and the number to call and confirm is (912) 489-9089.
One knock-on effect: with the water park's season over, Bulloch County Recreation and Parks is moving its concession operations to the ballfields at Mill Creek Regional Park and events at the Ag Center, and it is hiring part-time. Open to anyone 16 and older, evening and weekend hours built around a school schedule.
Three Effingham County Residents Sued Over a Data Center Zoning Change
Not our county, but close enough to be worth knowing. Michelle Finch-Mincey, Lehman Mincey Jr. and Raymond Carver filed a 14-page complaint in Effingham County Superior Court on Thursday asking a judge to invalidate Ordinance 2026-352, an amendment to the county's permitted use table that they say expanded where data centers may operate and cleared the way for a 1,400-acre project. The suit does not attack the data center itself. It argues the county skipped the public hearings that Georgia's Zoning Procedures Law and Effingham's own ordinance require. Whatever a judge decides, the process question is the same one people have been raising at podiums here.
Interstate Lane Closures Resume Tuesday Morning
GDOT's Labor Day work restriction on the 16@95 projects holds until 5 a.m. Tuesday, September 8, so today's drive is clear. After that, expect intermittent lane closures through Saturday, September 12: daytime on I-16 westbound between the I-516 and I-95 interchanges from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., eastbound from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., I-516 at the I-16 interchange from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and overnight closures on I-16 from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. All weather permitting.
Southeast Bulloch Middle's FFA Chapter Got a National Ranking
Fewer than 10 percent of FFA chapters nationwide earn a star ranking, and Southeast Bulloch Middle School's just earned a Two-Star in the National FFA Organization's 2026 Chapter Award Program, the first national ranking in the chapter's history. It is also one of 42 Gold Emblem chapters out of 391 in Georgia, and one of only 11 middle school chapters in that group. "This is truly a mark of exceptionalism," said Lexi Hunter, the school's agricultural education teacher and chapter advisor. Hunter and chapter members travel to Indianapolis in October for the national convention.
Lockdown Drills Are Coming This Semester
Bulloch County Schools will run lockdown drills at every school and office this semester, part of the annual state-required emergency drill series it added in 2023 under Georgia's School Safety Act. The drills run about 10 minutes, are led by school faculty, and use no real-life scenarios. The district has given administrators, teachers and counselors age-appropriate talking points, which is the useful detail for parents: your child may come home with questions, and the school has language ready if you want it.
📅 THIS WEEK'S EVENTS (September 7 to 13, 2026)
Splash in the Boro, Labor Day
Monday, Sept. 7 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 1388 Highway 24 East | Admission varies | (912) 489-9089
Splash in the Boro, last day of the season
Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 1388 Highway 24 East | Admission varies | (912) 489-9089
Adult Craft Activity
Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 11 a.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Free, ages 18 and up | (912) 764-1341
City millage rate public hearing (first)
Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 12 p.m. | Council chambers, City Hall, 50 E. Main St. | Open to the public
Tuesday Social
Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Bethany Community Commons Building, Gesmon Neville Lane | (912) 225-7204
City millage rate public hearing (second)
Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 6 p.m. | Council chambers, City Hall, 50 E. Main St. | Open to the public
Bulloch Retired Educators Association
Wednesday, Sept. 9 | 11 a.m. | Pittman Park United Methodist Church | $15, RSVP to Gail Dismuke at (912) 601-1455
Metter Mennonite Singers
Wednesday, Sept. 9 | 7 p.m. | Bethany Community Commons Building, Gesmon Neville Lane | (912) 225-7204
Teen Craft Activity
Thursday, Sept. 10 | 4:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Free, ages 12 to 18 | (912) 764-1341
B.Y.O.B. Book Club
Thursday, Sept. 10 | 5:30 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Free, ages 18 and up | (912) 764-1341
Bulloch County Board of Education regular session
Thursday, Sept. 10 | 6:30 p.m. | Board room, Central Office, Williams Road | Open to the public
Patriot Day ceremony, 25 years
Friday, Sept. 11 | 9 a.m. | Statesboro Fire Department, 24 W. Grady St. | Free, public invited
Kids' History Club
Friday, Sept. 11 | 4 p.m. | Statesboro Regional Library, 124 S. Main St. | Free, ages 6 to 11 | (912) 764-1341
Southeast Bulloch at Westside (Augusta)
Friday, Sept. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Westside High School, Augusta | Ticket required
Portal vs. Telfair County
Friday, Sept. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Portal High School | Ticket required
Main Street Farmers Market
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 222 S. Main St., behind Visit Statesboro | Free to browse
Wing Maxx 15th anniversary celebration
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Northside Drive East | Wing eating contest between local nonprofits, 15 percent of proceeds to Safe Haven
Georgia Southern at Clemson
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 7:30 p.m. | Clemson, S.C. | Away, streaming details TBA
Statesboro High is idle this week. ME FIRST tutoring for K-12 also starts Tuesday at the library, weekdays 3 to 5 p.m. through November 20, (912) 421-4479.
🦅 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATES
Georgia Southern Is Building a Statewide Opioid Program Around Rural Libraries
Georgia Southern's Institute for Health Logistics and Analytics has launched "Rural Opioid Harm Reduction for Libraries," funded by the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust, with the goal of building a statewide model that equips public libraries to serve as stigma-free places where people can get information, naloxone and connections to local recovery services. The pilot runs in partnership with the Ocmulgee Regional Library System in central Georgia. Jennifer Drey, the institute's community outreach coordinator, is project lead.
The premise is worth sitting with. In a lot of rural Georgia, the library is the building people already walk into without having to explain why.
🏈 SPORTS & CAMPUS EVENTS
The Eagles Opened With a Shutout, and Now They Go to Clemson
Georgia Southern beat Charleston Southern 31-0 Saturday night at Paulson Stadium, the program's first shutout since it blanked The Citadel in 2023. The Eagles scored 21 in the first quarter on drives of 75, 57 and 69 yards and never looked back. Max Johnson finished 28 of 39 for 281 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Ashton Hollins, the Illinois transfer the coordinators singled out at the end of fall camp, caught eight passes for 106 yards including a 57-yard score. Tripp Bryant added a 32-yard field goal, Ty Cummings ran in an 18-yarder, and Jayden Jackson ended it with an interception at the Eagles' 5 with 14 seconds left.
The defense is the number to remember: 110 total yards allowed, eight rushing yards, nine first downs, six sacks, two takeaways. Anthony Bynum had five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Rashon Myles Jr., the Abilene Christian transfer, led with six tackles and a sack.
Georgia Southern is 1-0 and travels to Clemson for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday. Different sport entirely.
Statesboro High Is 3-0 and Off This Week
The Blue Devils beat Emanuel County Institute 25-12 Friday at home to move to 3-0, after wins over Southeast Bulloch and Burke County. There is no game this Friday. They return September 18 at home against Benedictine, which will be the first real measuring stick of the season.
Southeast Bulloch Fell to Burke County, Portal Won Late
The Yellow Jackets lost 30-7 at Burke County Friday and are 1-2. They travel to Westside in Augusta this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Portal beat Jenkins County 21-14 on fourth-quarter scoring to move to 2-1 and hosts Telfair County Friday at 7:30 p.m.
🍽️ RESTAURANT SPOTLIGHT
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, 24087 U.S. Highway 80
The building was an Applebee's until 2017, and then it sat empty until this summer. On August 24 it opened as Raising Cane's, the first location in Bulloch County and the first in the Coastal Empire, on the 1.53-acre lot in front of Lowe's.
The line got there before the doors did. More than 100 people were outside on opening morning, and the first customer arrived before 5 a.m. The first 100 in line got a free box combo and a trucker hat, and 20 raffle winners got free chicken for a year. One couple told WTOC they had come Sunday night, slept in the parking lot, and then slept through the alarm.
The path here was slower than that line. Statesboro City Council approved the variance that let Cane's build on the site in September 2025. The company announced the opening date in early August 2026, then ran walk-in interviews for a week straight at the Holiday Inn on Commerce Drive at $15 an hour starting pay. About 170 crewmembers were hired locally.
The menu is not complicated and does not pretend to be: chicken finger meals, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, coleslaw, and the sauce. "We are excited to continue growing our presence in Georgia, and Statesboro is the perfect place for our newest restaurant," said Restaurant Leader Joey Baylor when the date was announced. The company said it plans to work with local schools, sports teams and nonprofits on fundraisers and sponsorships, and handed Georgia Southern's Center for Wildlife Education a $1,000 check at the ceremony. In a town this size, that is a promise people will keep track of.
The detail that will actually change your habits is the hours. This is the rare Statesboro kitchen open past midnight, and on Friday and Saturday it runs until 1 a.m. On a home football Saturday, that is a meaningful thing to know.
Hours: Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to midnight. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Phone: (912) 298-7602
Worth knowing: it has been open two weeks. Expect a line at lunch and expect it to settle down by October.
🌤️ WEATHER ADVISORY
No watches, warnings or advisories were active for Bulloch County when this went out. Here is the National Weather Service forecast.
Monday (Labor Day): High near 87, showers and storms likely after noon, rain 60 percent
Tuesday: High near 88, storms likely in the afternoon, rain 60 percent
Wednesday: High near 90, storms likely in the afternoon, rain 70 percent
Thursday: High near 91, chance of afternoon storms, rain 50 percent
Friday: High near 91, mostly sunny, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 30 percent
Saturday: High near 90, mostly sunny, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 30 percent
Sunday: High near 92, mostly sunny, chance of storms after 2 p.m., rain 30 percent
Today is the coolest day of the week at 87, and the wettest half of the week is the front half. Monday and Wednesday each carry a quarter to a half inch of possible rain, which is the kind of total that actually moves a drought map. Tuesday is forecast at less than a tenth despite a 60 percent chance, so read that one as scattered rather than soaking.
If you are going to Splash today or tomorrow, the storms are afternoon storms both days, and the park closes at 6. Friday night football sits under a 91-degree day cooling into the evening with a 30 percent chance. The Patriot Day ceremony Friday at 9 a.m. should be dry.
Forecast from weather.gov, gridpoint CHS/20,55, generated 8:59 p.m. Sunday and pulled Monday morning. Conditions change; check before you make plans.
Commissioners are each naming three citizens to the data center working group, with nominees due September 15. Would you serve on it?
👀 LOOKING AHEAD
Tuesday, Sept. 8: Splash in the Boro's last day of the season, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus the first two city millage hearings at noon and 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 10: Bulloch County Board of Education regular session, 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Central Office on Williams Road.
Friday, Sept. 11: The Statesboro Fire Department's Patriot Day ceremony, 9 a.m. at 24 W. Grady St., marking 25 years since the 2001 attacks.
Saturday, Sept. 12: Wing Maxx turns 15, with a celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a wing eating contest between local nonprofits, and 15 percent of proceeds going to Safe Haven.
Tuesday, Sept. 15: A three-item day. Commissioners' nominees for the data center working group are due at that evening's meeting, three per commissioner. The ribbon cutting for the city's third fire station is at 11 a.m. at 983 Brannen Street, with a push-in for the new quint. The third and final city millage hearing is at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Friday, Sept. 18: "Boro Nights, Senior Lights" at the Statesboro Family YMCA, a Grease-themed prom for local seniors. Red carpet at 4 p.m., event 5 to 7 p.m., $25 per person or $40 per couple.
Thursday, Sept. 25: Written comments on Blue Mile Phase 2 are due to Brad Deal, city engineer, or [email protected].
Thursday, Oct. 15: The 16th annual Tasting Statesboro the United Way, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Anthony P. Tippins Family Training Facility next to Paulson Stadium, with more than 40 local restaurants.
Saturday, Oct. 24: The inaugural Black Creek Outdoor Classic, a charity fishing tournament co-hosted by Black Creek Scout Reservation and the Live Like Aiden Foundation, with paddle craft and shore divisions for adults and youth.
Tuesday, Nov. 3: The District 2 special election. Loletta Donaldson Elliott, Maleek Jones and Kathleen "Katie" Keehner are on the ballot for the seat Paulette Chavers left in May.
✉️ THANKS FOR READING!
Six weeks of meetings produced one vote, and that vote produced a committee. That is not a cynical reading. A 4-3 result on a tiebreaker is a community that genuinely has not decided, and the honest response to a community that has not decided is to go find 21 of them and ask. The only thing that would waste it is if the 21 seats get filled by whoever is easiest to reach by Monday.
If you want one of them, call your commissioner this week.
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