County Commissioner Greg Beck said he was "chastised" by County Engineer Mike Howard for his vote on a zoning case.
Mr. Howard said he had no intent to chastise the commissioner in the Thursday morning call to his home, saying he was seeking clarification on the vote Wednesday.
Commissioner Beck said Mr. Howard wanted to know why the commission had voted the way it did in the zoning cases on a Planned Unit Development on East Brainerd Road near London Lane.
He said Mr. Howard told him his staff "had put in a h--- of a lot of work" on the case.
Commissioner Beck said, "I couldn't believe that a staff person was challenging the vote of a commissioner. His attitude was very arrogant."
Developer Don Walker, through his D&M Construction firm, had sought the PUD change.
Commissioner Beck said he made a motion to deny the request for a change in the original PUD because the developer was asking for an additional nine townhouse units that would have fronted East Brainerd Road.
The commission voted down the request with Commissioner Bill Hullander abstaining.
Mr. Howard said the road for the PUD was originally on the south side of the property and it should have been on the north side for safety purposes.
He said he had thought that the entire reason for the change request was to move the road to the north. He said he had not known about the part about adding nine units.
Mr. Howard said he did not blame the commission for turning down the proposal as it was presented.
He said he has learned that the vote does not mean that the road has to stay on the south end, but it can be on the north end.
Mr. Howard said he plans to call Commissioner Beck to apologize.