Pike County Times
The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor@pikecountytimes.com
 
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This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.

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REGULAR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONTHLY MEETING
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 – 6:30 p.m.

This meeting was attended by all Commissioners, County Clerk Teresa Watson, County Manager (CM) Bill Sawyer, and County Attorney Rob Morton. County Finance Officer Kay Landers was also in attendance to help answer any financial questions relating to the county.

1. CALL TO ORDER .................................................................................... Chairman Doug Mangham

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ................................................................... Chairman Doug Mangham

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. 50-14-1 (e) (1))

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A.§ 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the following: October 12, 2011 Regular Monthly Meeting.

5. INVITED GUESTS

a. Mark Hardison, a principal with the accounting firm of Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker, LLC, will present the annual audit of the financial statements of Pike County for the year ending June 30, 2011.

The Annual Audit Presentation for the year ending June 30, 2011 should be at http://pikecounty.ga.gov/commissioners sometime very soon. Mr. Hardison said that Clifton, Lipford, Hardison & Parker, LLC gave Pike County a clean audit this audit. There were some material weaknesses that have been addressed regarding segregation of duties and use of petty cash by the library because it is a small entity with limited personnel so the appropriate segregation of duties doesn't exist. This is being dealt with by the county. He said that there have been significant improvements in financial reporting since they have been working with Pike County. He went on to say that the books are well organized and that his firm received complete cooperation on this audit. Here is an overview of some of the information presented. Pike County receives General Fund Revenues from property, sales, and other taxes, licenses and permits, fines and forfeitures, intergovernmental, charges for services, interest earings and other revenues according to page 14 of the audit. Out of our $8,753,345 general fund revenues needed to run the county, 64% of that revenue comes from property taxes in the amount of $5,504,770. Our biggest expendtures are 32% for public safety-$2,571,787 and 25% for general government-$2,046,623 and 15% for public works-$1,218,248 and 12% for judicial at $965,852. The commissioners were informed about who manages some of the special funds like the Law Library, Law Enforcement Confiscation, Drug Abuse Treatment, and Juvenile Funds and how those funds can be used. For example, the Law Library Fund can be used to help with costs for codefication of our ordinances and that the Law Enforcement Fund can be used to pay for necessary items but not for salaries. He cautioned that each of these funds have to be used according to the laws that bind them. Commissioner Carol Bass commended the County Manager and the financial staff for doing an excellent job of controlling expenses in the county. CM Sawyer said that 16 months ago there was no money to pay salaries and bills but through a lot of diligence from the staff, the County Commissioners, Kay Landers doing the finanacials and Teresa Watson getting involved in financials some as well and the department heads and constitutional officers, this situation is better. "Until the day that we don't have to borrow TAN money, there is work to be done," he said. (Tax Anticipation Note) [NOte from the Editor: Kudos to Chairman Doug Mangham for asking the audience if anyone wanted to make a brief statement about the Audit.]

6. REPORTS – From Commissions, Departments, Committees, County Manager, Attorney
a. Monthly Reports submitted from County Departments and County Authorities – None*
*A Comprehensive Report will be provided at the first monthly Board meeting in November.

General Fund $257,485.19 (last meeting $63,290.22)
Jury Account $0.00
Cash Reserve Account $152,677.92 (last meeting $2,677.37)
Jail Fund $33,892.45 (last meeting $33,892.45)
E-911 Fund $1,633.16 (last meeting $3,286.39) *Deposit of $55,000 to be made on 10.26.11
DATE Fund $9,685.45 (last meeting $11,392.91)
Juvenile Court Fund $26,011.29 (last meeting $26,011.29)
Residential Impact Fees $ (last meeting $270,619.09)
Commercial Impact Fees $12,118.43 (last meeting $12,118.43)
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund 2011 ............... $102,816.69 (last meeting $129,322.52)
• County Manager Comments: Advised that the County has not borrowed the remaining $400,000 on the TAN note (Tax Anticipation Note) and may not have to. The county will pay back the $400,000 that has been borrowed sometime in December. He said that the county has a better handle on finance. Commended the staff for working with the BOC to spend as little as we could and as "expeditiously" as possible.

c. Commissioner Reports

District 1 Carol Bass: Asked about the vacant house on Adams Street and whether the County Manager had a plan for the house after the leasee vacated it. CM Sawyer advised that the person renting the house has been given 30 days notice. Said that his plans would be for an overrun for offices while working on the courthouse. Asked about some expenses from the upcoming SPLOST that were taken out of the General Fund and whether the SPLOST could repay the General Fund. CM Sawyer advised that the SPLOST has repaid the General Fund for those expenses.

District 2 Tamra Jarrett: Said that the commissioners received a memo in their packets concerning complaints about firefighters regarding traffic rules and regulations. She asked about specific policies on this. CM Sawyer said that the Fire Chief and he had a conversation about this as late as yesterday. CM Sawyer said that he appreciates the job that they (firefighters) do because they are on their way to save lives but don't kill somebody on the way (to a call). He said that when traffic lights are involved, the rules are the same as the citizens. He said that these complaints were about joy riding and getting into vehicles and "hotdogging" and that these complaints have been addressed. [Note from the Editor: I would think that there would be written policy with the Fire Department on how to deal with written complaints from the public that are received through the County Commission office and the Fire Department. This would ensure that individual incidents could be addressed appropriately. I would expect no less from our Fire Department and Commission Office.]

District 3 Tommy Powers: Said that he had received a complaint about Arthur Road but that it has been taken care of.

District 4 Don Collins: Said that he attended the State Round Table Meeting in Savannah and learned that not only is Savannah the 2nd largest export port in the United States, but that Pike County benefits $58,383 from this port. Said that the latest American Legion magazine mentions Pike County Firefighter Captain Brian Michel who was honored as The American Legion's Firefighter of the Year.

Chairman Doug Mangham: None.

d. County Attorney Report to Commissioners: Report in Executive Session.

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

8. NEW BUSINESS

a. Appoint for one board position on the J. Joel Edwards Public Library to fill an unexpired three year term, set to expire August 31, 2013. All applicants have met criteria satisfactorily.
Two applications were received from Christine Thomason and Jodi D'Hollosy. Motion to appoint Christine Thomason. Approved 5-0. Commissioner Don Collins said that the other applicant had excellent credentials as well and suggested that she would make a good board member if there was an opening in the near future on this board.

b. Appoint for two board positions on the Pike County Board of Appeals for three-year terms set to expire November 25, 2014. All applicants have met criteria satisfactorily.
Teresa Crow and John Hoover put in their applications for these positions. Motion to appoint Teresa Crow and John Hoover. Approved 5-0.

9. PUBLIC COMMENT (Limited to 5 minutes per person) – None

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 7:14 p.m.

a. County Manager requests consultation with the county attorney, or other legal counsel, to discuss pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings, or other judicial actions brought or to be brought by or against the county or any officer or employee or in which the county or any officer or employee may be directly involved, as provided in O.C.G.A. §50-14-2(1), germane to Magistrate Court.

No decision. [Note from the Editor: Again. This has been ongoing for quite some time.]

Back into session at 7:40 p.m.

11. ADJOURNMENT: 7:41 p.m.

Agenda subject to revision.

Click here to read a synopsis of the lawsuits from the 9.14.11 meeting write up.

Read past write ups of Board of Commission meetings by clicking on the Pike County Times "Links" page above, clicking on Pike County Government, Commissioners, and then scrolling down to find out what the date of the meeting is. All of my links to past meetings are listed as follows: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC[insert date here like this 10.25.11].html. Today's meeting is online as www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC9.27.11.html. The County Government website also has links to minutes from past meetings.

9.27.11
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