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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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REGULAR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONTHLY MEETING
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia

All of our commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioner Tamra Jarret who was not able to attend today due to illness. County Manager (CM) John Hanson, County Attorney Tom Morton, and County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye were also present at this meeting.

1. CALL TO ORDER....................................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson

2. INVOCATION…………………………………………………………………………....Ben Maxedon

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE...................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson

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

5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A.§ 50-14-1(e) (2))
Minutes of the Regular Monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 24, 2013.

Motion to approve the minutes. 4-0.

6. INVITED GUEST

a. Mary Milner/Libby Naramore to address the Board in regards to Retired Educator’s Day In Georgia Proclamation.

A welcome was given to CM Hanson. They asked the county to sign a proclamation for November 3rd to honor retired educators. The goal of their organization is to unite retired educators. They also provide countless hours of volunteer help in our community as well as providing a $500 scholarship for a senior going into education, collect food for the needy, and collect for Toys for Tots each year at Christmas. Chairman Johnson read the proclamation aloud. Motion to approve. 4-0.

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 was $568,000 in General Fund last month and $40,000 in there now. Commissioner Bass asked about this. CM Hanson said that there have been some rather large check runs this month and that he would look into this matter since this was just posted this morning. There is a $600,000 or more check expected this week this week. The drop down to $40,000 in our county finances is, according to Kay and Rob, is not unusual, but this was lower than the county expected. There are still a few items that are coming in with funds that will come into the county. CM Hanson will be making some calls to entities that owe the county money for items and we are still paying out checks to them.

There is $5,991 that can be moved from SPLOST to the General Fund. [Note from the Editor: I had a typo here. Sorry for the error. $5,991 is correct.]

There was also a question about the Pike Parks & Recreation Authority and the 5% gross salary bonus that it is giving to all of its workers and an additional week of vacation to the Director. Commissioner Bass pulled these budget numbers because she was concerned about this. It is $8,938 plus additional for plus the vacation dollars which brings it to $10,149. CM Hanson has contacted Director Teate about this. Details on this are: Director Teate was contracted to have two raises and the last raises in this department were in 2008. The county was advised that this is a one time bonus payment based on their salary and will not be raising their salaries. This money was paid from concessions. Director Teate advised that he did not ask for this and the board insisted. Commissioners were concerned that there haven’t been any raises for county employees in just as long. The county will look at this in next year’s budget. [Note from the Editor: The county gives Pike County Parks & Recreation a bulk amount of money and they spend it according to their needs so the commissioners cannot tell them how to spend their money, but they can examine this when the next budget comes around which is what was said in this meeting today.]

b. County Manager Report

▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund - $40,567.32
Jury Account - $0
Cash Reserve Account - $176,455.42
Jail Fund - $31,041.06
E-911 Fund - $237,799.95
DATE Fund - $21,836.55
Juvenile Court Fund - $21,349.86
Residential Impact Fees - $288,911.13
Commercial Impact Fees - $17,024.93
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 - $317,582.56
PC L.M.I. Grant - $323,144.92

c. County Manager Comments

HR position in the paper today. Public Works recently filled a position. They are working on potholes around the county. And following up on Roberts Quarters Road from the last meeting, it was resurfaced in 1993.

Looking into surplus items and getting set up with GovDeals.com.

Questions about the TAVT. (This is the new state car tag tax.) He said that there is going to be a difference with the amount of money coming in from car tags (old sales) and every car sale from here on out. He said that LOST and SPLOST continue to impact our income here in the county and they are watching it carefully.

Update 10.12.13.

d. Commissioner Reports.

Commissioner Bass said that the Tax Commissioners Office is sending a lot of information to commissioners. She asked for just the minutes from the meetings. She asked if the commissioners could set a date for a retreat to be held in January. Commissioner Jarrett suggested possibly having all of the department heads to write something by December and the commissioners could come up with what they want to see in that January meeting. It was said that the Depot might be cold so it was suggested to be held somewhere else. CM Hanson said that this would be a very good idea for the county. January 9th is the morning meeting and the 29th is the last meeting of the month. Thursday, January 14th is the date of the meeting and it could be held here.

Motion to allow John Morrison to speak. 4-0. He said that the heating system at the Depot has been reworked so it won’t be a problem.

She also said that she has been talking with CM Hanson about the Asset List and getting things tagged at the Adams Street House.

Commissioner Powers - No comment.

Commissioner Jenkins - No comment.

Chairman Johnson went to the IDA meeting last week. He said that he is honored to be on that board and gave three options to the IDA last time about representation at their meetings: The County Manager could be on that board. He and the CM could both be on that board. Or there could be a rotating position. Chairman Johnson said he would like to be on that board, but didn’t want to hold them back if he couldn’t be there so maybe CM Hanson could go in his place if he couldn’t go. They just want some type of representation over there. Cutting of the grass down at the sign for the Industrial Park is a discussion item for them.

Chairman Johnson said that he attended the memorial for Jeffrey Walker. The family has asked that the Board check into naming a road after him. He grew up on West Road. This will take some investigation because it will involve the Post Office and 911 with the changing of a road name.

Motion to allow Director of Public Works Todd Goolsby to speak. 4-0. Asked to let EMA Director Jimmy Totten speak because he has received a check on the generator. Motion to attend the agenda to read 9d to accept the check for the generator at the Road Department. 4-0.

e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.

Tom Morton advised that there were tax appeals in the last meeting. All but one have been resolved by negotiations. He praised Lisa Weeks for her work with the county on these negotiations.

Reminder that the county has a Pike County Transportation Area Committee that has been somewhat dormant. He said that it is important to reactivate this committee because a SPLOST is due to be on the ballot for voters in two years. There will be a meeting with Three Rivers in the next several weeks.

8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Chairman Powers made a motion to approve the two cars. Commissioner Jenkins gave the second. 3-0-1. Commissioner Bass abstained. She said that she compared the two lists from the Sheriff’s Office and found 52 cars assigned to the Sheriff. She said that CM Hanson is going to work with the Sheriff to update this list.

b. Consider and/or approve/deny bid from First Call Network, Inc. and to pay from Contingency Funds.

EMA Director Jimmy Totten said that we are currently with Code Red who bought out DelAlert. He recommended going with First Call who is currently used by several surrounding counties because they are more user friendly and also cost less. County Attorney Tom Morton suggested a change to the contract to read county instead of municipality. He said that Georgia law will apply to this contract.

Commissioner Bass said that the county wants to do this, asked where the money going to come from. CM Hanson said that Fire Chief Snyder and he have gone through his budget and the purchases that are being made such as Bunker Gear that are constantly being bought to keep our volunteers protected as they work in the county. There is some room in supplies, but this is about 2.4% of his entire budget. He said that this equals three sets of Turn Out Gear for his people and he hates to see it gone because it is needed. He also said that they have a lot of ongoing costs with replacing gear, etc.

It will be $6,300 for the first year. It fell through the cracks this year and wasn’t budgeted. It will be in the EMA budget next year. Chief Snyder said that they tried to have this budgeted this year in good faith, but it wasn’t even planned to be in their budget so it is a hit that they were not planning on. Commissioner Bass said that bookkeeping will bring this from Contingency if the Fire Department goes over budget so she wasn’t encouraging this, but they could move their line items around if needed and take from contingency at the end of the year if it is absolutely necessary. Chief Snyder said that EMS supplies bridges the gap when an ambulance is held up because it is out of the county and first responders respond to an emergency within the county. Motion to take it out of the Fire Department budget. Bass, Jenkins. 4-0.

c. Approval//deny 2nd Reading – Text amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 157, Development Impact Fee Ordinance, Sections 157.04 and 157.06.

Commission Bass made the motion to approve. Powers 2nd. 4-0.

9. NEW BUSINESS

a. Approval/denial of resolution to adopt the revised Capital Improvements Element 2012 Annual Update as transmitted on July 10, 2013 and approved by the Department of Community Affairs in September 2013.

This has been approved up the chain even to the DCA. Director Allen said that this has been gone through with a fine toothed comb with bookkeeping here in the county office and Tara Winstead as well to find out exactly what has been spent over the past several years. The numbers are correct along with explanations on all of our expenditures. The revised numbers will go to Three Rivers and to the DCA for final approval. Commissioner Bass thanked Director Allen for listening and making the needed changes. Motion to approve. 4-0.

b. Approval/denial of the Impact Fee land use category for a potential addition to the existing salon located at 215 Junction Road, Molena, GA Tax Map Parcel #020 030.

Director Allen said that someone came to him about adding an addition to a hair salon. He said that there wasn’t a good, clean fit so he worked with it and came up with what he thought was a good fit and came up with an Impact Fee for them. The Board needs to give an ok on this. Motion to approve. 4-0.

c. Consider and/or approve/deny authorizing Tara Winstead as our representative with the IRS and Georgia State Tax.

This authorizes her to talk upon the county’s behalf to these entities. County Attorney Tom Morton said that the county can rescind this appointment if it chooses in the future. Motion to approve. 4-0.

d. EMA Director Jimmy Totten to present a check from GEMA to reimburse for the generator.

The county approved a GEMA grant last year to put a generator out at Public Works so if we lost power in the county, Public Works will be up and running and our vehicles will be able to get fuel. No power was a problem a couple of years ago when gas stations in the county were without and we had no back up for our gas tank so emergency vehicles and clean up crews could work. Everything is underground so there will not be a problem with the power lines getting knocked out for this emergency backup. This check is for $18,260. Motion to accept. 4-0.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION: None.

12. ADJOURNMENT

Motion to adjourn. 9:56 a.m.

Agenda subject to revision.

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10.9.13
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