CAIRO — Grady County will revise the terms of its contract with Tired Creek lake consultant Will Butler following a “candid” meeting earlier this month.

County commissioner June Knight had requested that the Grady County Board of Commissioners meet with Butler, consultant for the Grady County Lake Authority and president of Real Estate InSync (REI), to discuss his future relationship with the county. Butler initially had been brought aboard to help navigate a series of legal hurdles with Leon County, Florida, but with the county having signed a memorandum of understanding with Leon last summer, Knight was concerned that the original scope of service Butler had been brought on for had now changed.

Butler met with Knight, County Administrator Buddy Johnson and commission vice chair Phillip Drew at the Grady County courthouse April 22.

The discussion that followed was “candid and professional,” Johnson said. Butler agreed that his role with the county had changed and that the costs associated with his services, currently a flat rate of $5,750 per month, should be more proportional to his current scope of work.

Drew suggested that Butler draft a new scope of service offer and return it to the commissioners for review. The commissioners are expected to be able to make a decision on the matter at their next regularly scheduled meeting May 5.

The commissioners also agreed that Butler’s new offer should be “as needed,” in part because the current COVID-19 pandemic means that budget cuts may need to be made at a moment’s notice, Johnson said. Butler agreed with the request, saying he would stop invoicing the county should his services need to be placed on hold, and would be ready to pick up where he left off whenever the county was ready to resume.

Knight also requested an opportunity to meet with Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge, which Butler agreed to set up.

Butler’s new scope of work offer will nullify the original deal with REI and likely will have him working jointly with the commissioners and the Lake Authority, rather than exclusively with the Lake Authority, Johnson said.

The new draft offer is expected to be delivered to the commissioners’ office sometime this week. The draft will then be sent to the Lake Authority for approval.

Among the duties Butler is currently tasked with are directly consulting with lake attorney Laura Benz on matters related to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, legal matters concerning the revised lake management plan and a marketing and branding campaign with the Tallahassee-Leon County Marketing Group and the newly-formed Grady County Growth, Marketing and Development Committee. Butler is also involved with planning a potential RV park site at the lake, and Johnson said he has an interested contact with a “reputable and experienced” planning group which specializes in RV park development and construction.