R.J.'s Grill will stay open

Uncle Shug's owner Stacy Underwood purchases restaurant from Randy Nessmith

Stacy Underwood Randy Nessmith IMG 8820 — Stacy Underwood and Randy Nessmith

DeWAYNE GRICE

dgrice@statesboroherald.com

Updated: Aug 8, 2016, 12:16 AM

Published: Aug 8, 2016, 12:19 AM

Randy Nessmith, owner of R.J.'s Grill, announced Sunday that he has completed the sale of his restaurant to local entrepreneur and restaurateur Stacy Underwood.

The sale of R.J.'s Grill to Underwood means that the restaurant will not close on Sept. 4, as was announced last week. Underwood is well established locally in the restaurant industry as the owner of Uncle Shug's Chicken Barn in Statesboro, Uncle Shug's Bar-B-Q Place in Brooklet and Ronnie's in Savannah.

"This has been the craziest five days of my life," Nessmith said. "When DeWayne Grice's story announced through the Statesboro Herald my decision to close the restaurant on Wednesday, I had no idea the firestorm that would ensue. It is very humbling to learn the impact R.J.'s has had on this community and how so many of you were
determined not to simply allow a landmark like R.J.'s to go away. Many of our loyal clients and friends reached out to me through hundreds of visits, calls and posts on social media.

"However, DeWayne not only reported my decision but led an effort locally to connect me with potential investors and also to Stacy, the eventual buyer of R.J.'s," Nessmith continued. "I never dreamed that we could identify a buyer and put a deal together in five days, especially when two of those days were Saturday and Sunday. We did, and I could not have selected a better person to succeed me than Stacy Underwood. He will breathe new life into everyone's favorite local Statesboro restaurant."

Since the story announcing plans to close the restaurant was posted on the Statesboro Herald's Facebook page, it has been shared more than 1,000 times and garnered more than 200 comments from followers. Many have shared memories made at R.J.'s over the past 35 years - prom dates, family and class reunions, marriage proposals, baby showers and more.

My wife, Lori, and I held our rehearsal dinner there, and it was the place where we announced that we were expecting our daughter, Edie Grace, to our family and friends. For most of us, it is what we remember eating at Grandmother's house was like. Great food is only part of the reason we all go to R.J.'s; it is one of the few places in town where the owner and staff greet you by name.

The list of landmarks here are dwindling, including the loss of Bunny's, Webb's Nic Nac Grill, Franklin's, Craig's Deli, Snooky's and, most recently, The Soda Shoppe at Medical Center Pharmacy. We can't become America's Greatest Community by continuing to allow everything that makes us special to simply disappear.

The shares, comments and utter shock since the announcement is symbolic of everything great about Statesboro. Thankfully, there are business leaders in our community that share these sentiments and are willing to step up. The effort to keep R.J.'s alive is not only remarkable but a restoration of a commitment to keep traditions alive throughout the community.

"Randy Nessmith has set the bar high for everyone in the restaurant industry in our community," Underwood said. "I have always admired him and the way he operates R.J.'s Grill. We have been friends for many years, and I look forward to working with him to make this transition as smooth as possible. I have no immediate plans to change anything.

"Hopefully, the entire staff will stay in place, and all of you who have been so faithful to R.J.'s, from hosting meetings and events on-site (or) allowing them to cater your events or meetings off-site to making it your choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner, will continue to support R.J.'s Grill.

"My son John is a junior at Georgia Southern University and has interest in the restaurant business," he continued. "This expansion is a natural evolution for our family and business. We are excited to open this new chapter in our lives and thank each of you who have supported our restaurants and your commitment to continue supporting us. You, our customers, are the real key to our success."

The structure of the deal encourages Nessmith to stay involved in the restaurant, mentoring and consulting Underwood and the management team.

Darron Burnette, Brad Sheffield and the entire team at Sea Island Bank worked tirelessly over the weekend to see the deal through.

To read the full interview with Nessmith, click here.

DeWayne Grice may be reached at dgrice@statesboroherald.com or (912) 489-9499.

Commissioners look to issue $60M in bonds to finance jail project

Voters authorized with March SPLOST referendum; board to choose between 12- or 20-year financing

Courtesy of Bulloch County Public Safety / This conceptual layout by the Goodwyn Mills Cawood firm in the county facilities study blocks out Phase 1 of the Bulloch County Jail expansion as a single building containing a 160-bed men’s housing unit and a 128-bed women’s housing unit, plus an outdoor recreation area.

Jail Schematic — Courtesy of Bulloch County Public Safety / This conceptual layout by the Goodwyn Mills Cawood firm in the county facilities study blocks out Phase 1 of the Bulloch County Jail expansion as a single building containing a 160-bed men’s housing unit and a 128-bed women’s housing unit, plus an outdoor recreation area.

AL HACKLE/Staff

ahackle@statesboroherald.com

Published: May 1, 2025, 11:48 PM

Bulloch County commissioners are poised to act during their 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6 meeting on either of two resolutions to borrow $60 million through a bond sale to finance an expansion and update of the county jail. Their choice will be between repaying the bonds in 12 years or over the course of 20 years.

No details of the options are provided in the proposed resolutions in the commissioners’ agenda folder materials, which were made publicly available Thursday. But the cover memo for this top “new business” action item states that representatives of the county’s financial advisor firm, Davenport & Company, and also the county’s bond council, Murray Barnes Finister LLC, will be at the meeting to present the options and “make their recommendations regarding the preferred option.”

In either case, the immediate funding source is the 1% Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. An 85.8% majority of Bulloch County voters in a March 18 referendum election approved a six-year extension of the SPLOST. During that time, the penny tax is projected to raise $138 million or more for building projects and capital equipment purchases of the county government and the cities of Statesboro, Brooklet, Portal and Register.

The wording of the referendum and the intergovernmental agreement gave the jail expansion top priority as a joint project serving the county and the municipalities. It is assigned a $51 million share of the revenue up-front, far more than the other “joint and priority project” identified in the agreement, expansion of solid waste disposal capacity, which was earmarked $9.6 million.

If SPLOST revenue within six years surpasses the $138 million predicted amount so that the towns and county get their population-based shares for other projects, additional money beyond the initial $51 million would then be directed to repayment of the jail project bonds. The referendum also authorized borrowing in the form of bonds for the project up to $60 million.

Not all as envisioned

But even at that amount the currently proposed bond issue would not cover all the work that has been suggested for the jail and the Public Safety and Public Works campus it shares with Bulloch County Correctional Institution, or BCCI.

“This will be for Phase 1 of the overall jail expansion, and that includes a total of 288 beds, which is room for additional male and female detainees. …,” interim County Manager Randy Tillman said Thursday. “It will be an additional building that will be connected to the existing by way of a secure corridor.”

The existing jail has bout 466 beds, officially, but capacity is limited by the need to have separate areas for men and women and to segregate gang members or people with mental health issues.

Also the county’s Public Safety Division director and previously warden of BCCI, which is a county-owned facility housing state inmates under contract, Tillman worked with Sheriff Noel Brown and staff members two years ago on a larger plan for the complex. Their concept included the jail expansion, replacement of BCCI’s oldest structure and construction of some facilities, such as the laundry, to be shared by the prison, the jail and a proposed transitional center.

But for now, the county government is moving forward with a phased approach based in a facilities study by the Goodwyn Mills Cawood, or GMC, architectural and consulting firm. As currently proposed, Phase 1 does not include the laundry facility, he said. GMC’s sketch for the layout of Phase 1 construction shows one building with a 160-bed male housing unit and a 128-bed female housing unit, plus an outdoor recreation area and new security fence.

“The next step once we secure the financing will be to go with an actual architect to develop the plans,” Tillman said. “Basically, we just have the building placement and square footage-type details. We don’t have any conceptual art at this point.”

After the financing steps next week, county officials should be able to move quickly toward a timeline for design and construction, he said.