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www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has an online agenda and accompanying information for this meeting. Monthly information from Animal Control, Coroner, Fire Department, Grady, Library, Magistrate Court, McIntosh Trail CSB, Planning & Development, Registrar, Superior - Juvenile Court, Tax Assessor, and the Water Authority are included as well during the morning meeting only.
1. CALL TO ORDER………………………………………………………..Chairman J. Briar Johnson
According to the Post Agenda, all five commissioners were present along with County Attorney Rob Morton, County Manager (CM) Ron Alexander, and County Clerk Angela Blount to take the minutes. Pike County Times reviewed the Post Agenda as well as listened to an audio copy of the meeting since Editor Becky Watts was not able to attend this meeting.
2. INVOCATION……………………………………………………………………………….Bart Brock
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE…………………………………………….Chairman J. Briar Johnson
4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. § 50-14-1 (e) (1))
Motion to amend the agenda to include an executive session pertaining to the Administrative Office. Approved 5-0.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the January 8, 2020, Regular Monthly Meeting.
Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
6. INVITED GUESTS - None
7. REPORTS FROM COMMISSIONS, DEPARTMENTS, COMMITTEES, AUTHORITIES
a. Monthly Reports submitted from County Departments and County Authorities, including a
Revenue/Expenditure Statement for all departments, and a summary check register. There are no
Department reports as they will be provided during the first Board meeting of February.
Revenue/Expenditure Statement and Detail Check Register is included.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $5,003,111.08
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $6,067.11
BOC – Jury Account……………………………………………………………...$0.00
Cash Reserve Account ........................................................................ ….....$107,532.98
Pike County CD Special Revenue funds………………………………………….$0.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $25,358.31
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................. $148,997.37
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $50,350.39
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $11,143.67
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $703,120.90
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $89,807.43
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................. $180,907.10
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2016……………..$635,624.66
L.M.I. Grant (DOT) ..................................................................................... $135,246.81
c. County Manager Comment
CM Ron Alexander gave his first report as county manager. This is his second week in the office, and he is trying to get his feet wet. He has done a lot of field work and gotten a good look of the county and lay of the land. He said that comments further than that would be premature.
d. Commissioner Reports
District 1 Tim Daniel welcomed Ron as county manager. He said that road calls have not been as bad this week as they have been in the past. He reported those calls so they can be taken care of.
District 2 Tim Guy welcomed Ron as well. He has had some road calls including Nixon Road. We are supposed to be regrading and rebuilding the road. He asked if Ron had any further information. Ron said that he has read up on it but needs some more time on that. Charles Baker advised Commissioner Guy that he had run over some or something that holds road signs on Weems Road that damaged his vehicle. CM Alexander said that the culvert looks like it was run over and that is what caused the damage to the vehicle.
District 3 Jason Proctor welcomed Ron and said thank you for working on roads in his district to take care of issues. He said that we still need a workshop on roads like Briar suggested earlier. Ron agreed. Jason then asked Attorney Rob Morton what would be needed to become a firearms sanctuary county. Jason has already talked to the Sheriff and that he supports this. Rob said that this seems to be a hot topic and all commissioners need to do is authorize him to bring legislation before them in a format to consider and adopt. Motion to proceed with the county attorney gathering information and bringing it back before commissioners. The motion was seconded and approved 5-0.
District 4 James Jenkins – No report.
Chairman Briar Johnson welcomed CM Alexander to his first meeting.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
County Attorney Report – Rob Morton welcomed Ron and said that he and Ron have met a couple of times since January 13.
Rob said that on January 3, he met with Britain Turner (our county IT guy), Clerk Angela Blount, and his office staff about getting our county code updated. This has also been presented to commissioners in a previous meeting. He also talked with Planning and Zoning Director Brad Vaughan about doing this conjunction with updating the zoning map, and there will be a revised, updated code for ratification soon that can be uploaded onto the county website. There are some discussion about specific provisions that Ron wants to review and be involved in. Rob and Ron will be working together on this. Specific policy to be addressed includes the current personnel policy pertaining to Department of Labor guidelines. This also includes records retention guidelines that might need to be updated since the last update was from 1996. Ron and Brad have a meeting coming up to discuss Impact Fee Methodology and revisions as well. Building regulations and land use are also on the list based on Ron’s background.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider one appointment to the Three Rivers Regional Commission Board to fill a one-year term, set to expire December 31, 2020. Applicant has met criteria.
Ric Calhoun. CM Alexander has met with a number of these applicants, but he is also going from the staff recommendations since he does not know these applicants personally and has only been here for two weeks. Motion to appoint Rick Calhoun. Approved 5-0.
b. Consider two appointments to the Two Rivers R C & D Council as Pike County representatives to fill a one-year term, set to expire December 31, 2020. Applicants have met criteria.
Todd Goolsby and Rodney Hilley. CM Alexander has met with both applicants, and both have been recommended. Motion to appoint both. Approved 5-0.
c. Consider one appointment to the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board to fill a three-year term, set to expire December 31, 2022. Applicant has met criteria.
Fred Lacey and Robin Cochran. CM Alexander met with Robin Cochran and recommended reappointment. Motion to reappoint Robin Cochran. Approved 5-0.
d. Consider one appointment to the Pike County Water and Sewerage Authority Board to fill a five- year term, set to expire December 31, 2024. Applicant has met criteria.
Mark Whitley and Eddie Pierce. CM Alexander met with Mark Whitley and recommended reappointment. Motion to reappoint Mark Whitley. Approved 5-0.
e. Consider one appointment to the Pike County Planning Commission Board to fill an unexpired three-year term, set to expire December 31, 2020. Applicant has met criteria.
Bennie Evans, Mark Jones, Teddy Meeks, John Morrison, Windell Peters, Preston Sharpe, William Shubert, and Ed Penland. There are two appointments so this could be done together or separately. There are different expiration dates so going to appoint 2020 first. CM Alexander recommended Windell Peters. He said that Windell wasn’t well known to the staff or the board from what he understood but looking at his resume, he has a strong background in planning and development which includes serving on the metropolitan planning commission. This is familiar to Ron from the Savannah area. He also served as a planning and development director for a jurisdiction down in Florida. He has several building and development certifications, and he seems like a good person to be on the Planning Commission. Chairman Johnson confirmed that Mr. Peters was present in the meeting. Motion to approve Windell Peters. Approved 5-0.
f. Consider one appointment to the Pike County Planning Commission Board to fill a three-year term, set to expire December 31, 2022. Applicant has met criteria.
CM Alexander said that Mark Jones was the recommendation of staff, and Ron concurred after meeting with Mark Jones. Motion to approve Mark Jones. Commissioner Tim Guy said thank you to all of the applicants for applying and said that it was a difficult decision. He said that these seats come open more often so he encouraged them to put in for future seats. Commissioner Jason Proctor noted that one of these seats will be open again at the end of the year and encouraged applicants to reapply. Motion to appoint Mark Jones. Approved 4-1 with Commissioner Jenkins opposed. Chairman Briar Johnson said that he wished there were six open seats so everyone could be appointed to a board. He said that we need the experienced as well as the new faces.
g. Consider use of Courthouse Grounds from Ben Maxedon with Prayer Power of Georgia for National Day of Prayer May 7, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
Executive session at 6:51 p.m. Back in Session at 7:19 p.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn. 7:19 p.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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