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February 13, 2019
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has a download of the 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.
This meeting was attended by Commissioners Tim Guy, Tim Daniel, and Tommy Powers as well as Chairman Briar Johnson, County Clerk Jo Ann Wry, County Manager (CM) Bobby Bickley, and County Attorney Rob Morton. commissioner Jenkins was not able to attend the meeting due to unforseen circumstances.
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))
CM Bickley asked to amend the agenda to include Executive Session – germane to personnel in the Administration Office. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the January 29, 2019 Regular Monthly Meeting.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employee Recognition for service to Pike County
Christina Bailey has worked for the county for 5 years. Lt. Wendy Pippins said thank you for her commitment and the longevity in the department. She relayed a compliment for our 911 and others who go the extra mile to help people in their time of need. Sheriff Thomas said that they are a hidden secret and they are responsible for everything that goes on in the county from fire, law enforcement, etc. and that these 911 operators do a great job communicating with everyone!
Jeffrey Boatwright has worked for the county for 15 years. Sheriff Jimmy Thomas said that he has worked in almost every division in the department and has been good for the department. He also praised him for being a mentor to those who have come along behind him.
Melissa Connell has worked for the county for 30 years. Chief Tax Assessor Greg Hobbs said that 30 years is rare in today’s work force and said that in appraisal terms, there is value in rarity. He said that Melissa always went out of her way to help him when he was in the private world and now he depends on her today. He said that she is reliable and dependable. Pike County owes her a debt of gratitude because she is a true gem in today’s working environment.
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.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ........................................................................................ …$3,846,919.52
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $5,935.07
BOC – Jury Account………………………………………………………………$0.00
Cash Reserve Account ........................................................................ ….....$107,311.82
Pike County CD Special Revenue funds………………………………………….$0.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $31,773.92
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................. $153,746.50
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $44,693.39
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $11,710.13
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $581,107.20
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $44,001.40
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................. $215,620.18
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2016 .................... ..$697,631.66
L.M.IG. Grant (DOT)……………………………………………………......$1,399.73
c. County Manager Comment
Please keep Commissioner Jenkins in your prayers. His wife passed away yesterday.
Working on the Community Block Grant for Hilltop. We will be submitting this to the state within the next week or so.
From the County Manager Weekly Report
CM went with Chief O'Barr to look at options for the new fire station in Concord. Looked at land that Concord is offering accross from the existing building. Said two issues with this: 1) the lot is very small. 2) if the station remains in the city at the proposed lot, the far East (Flat Shoals) residents of the county will not benefit from a lower ISO rating. If a location can be found just outside of the city limits, these residents will benefit from a lower ISO rating. Brandon worked on quotes and plans for this before he left for deployment. There is a possibility of a donation of land for this station.
CM met with Larry Lynch on Tuesday. The Senior Center is in the proposal for this year with new plants around the front of the Center and installation of blooming shrubs such as gardenias and azaleas. Cost of the project is estimated at approximately $2800. This will be donated by the Nelson Memorial Beautification Project.
Dr. Haney, the acting physician for the Health Department will not finish out her 6 year term which expires June 2021. Her unexpired term has been placed out for advertisment and will run 4 weeks beginning Wednesday.
CM attended the IDA meeting Wednesday morning as an invited guest. During executive session of this meeting, Lot 4 in the industrial park was agreed upon to accept an offer from and interested business.
The work on Green Street in Concord continues. Todd and his crew have been involved in some pretty indepth pipe work that has taken several days. There has been issues that were "unearthed" with the water and sewer lines that ran underneath the road that were in great need of repair while it was opened up. Todd and the City of Concord have been working together to resolve this issue and should be completed first of next week. In the meantime, they have enough finished to allow one lane traffic to cross.
Driver & Adams hosted an open house for their grand opening at the Wealth Intelligance Building north of town which is owned by Brian Ogelseby. It was a great turn out with approximately 30 in attendance. Driver & Adams is a CPA and Audit firm owned by Reshan Adams and Wayne Driver.
CM attended the City of Williamson's council meeting to discuss the amendment of the Service Delivery Strategy to include Housing Revitalization so that we can move forward with the Hill Top Grant. Everything went smooth, and the Council voted to be included in this aspect of the SDS. CM Bickley and County Attorney Rob Morton will be attending each council meeting this month in hopes of getting the signatures we need to complete this.
The Storage Facility is coming along well. Sheetrock is up on the EMA side and the chain link fencing is being installed today. The completion of the chain link should be done by middle of next week.
Economic Development
Lot 4 at the Industrial Park - Had an offer that was accepted at the meeting on Wednesday. We are waiting to hear when the closing date is scheduled.
Chestnut Oak - We are having issues getting our grant funds from the state. The money was supposed to be here by now, but there is a hold up on the state's end. We should see the $150,000 from the grant by Monday Feb 11th.
New Prospect - Ginny started talking with a new prospect on Wednesday, at this point it is all very preliminary, but they are a well known business and would be a great fit for Pike.
Drone video - Ginny is meeting with one of the realtors from McLeRoy next week sometime to have him help with some drone footage. The company has a drone and Dee gave permission for them to help with anything Iwe need to promote activity. Our trial run will be a short clip of the retail development site to be used on the website and social media, as well as to send to the retail recruiting company. We hope that this will be a really beneficial in-kind partnership so that we can have this marketing material at no cost. Dee said he authorized any development project that I needed the footage for, even if it wasn't something McLeRoy was doing, so it's an opportunity that we are very grateful for.
Next week - Joint development authority meeting on Wednesday in Upson County.
Planning and Development
Business licenses submitted: 8
Fees Collected: $629.80
Permits applied for: 4
Fees collected: $1497.90
Residential Impact fees collected: $2404.15
January 31st was the last day for the public to submit business license renewals without incurring the 10% late fee. That’s why license fees collected are not in even dollar amounts.
It’s been a relatively slow week compared to the rush at the beginning of the year.
We have had several in-office meetings with citizens regarding the process for splitting parcels for estate purposes and the actual permitting and building process. These have all been individual citizens who have never been through the process before and quite frankly, were intimidated by the process. Our office has put them at ease and they now have a clearer understanding of what we require, the respective codes that will affect their property, and how to set up inspections once permits are issued.
Dewey Yarbrough is out and about as our Code Enforcement Officer. He is working on the running list we had for complaints. He has helped Tanya Perkins from animal control on a few calls and is getting the lay of the land. We introduced him to the magistrate court staff and he has been issued a ticket book. They also walked us through their side of the process and made sure we understood what was required when a ticket has to be issued. We will coordinate with Morton & Morton and their staff to get prepped for when a violation goes to trial.
Administratively, I have been getting packets ready to disseminate to the Planning Commission for next week’s meeting, and getting my packets in order for the Board of Appeals on February 21st.
All agenda items were processed thoroughly and efficiently by the BOC at our last meeting so we actually have nothing for the 2/13/19 meeting agenda.
Kevin’s truck has still been down, but we anticipate it back any day now. It was determined by the Public Works shop that the CPU unit had gone bad and that was what had been causing it to break down and have electrical issues. While this is still going to be a large repair bill, I commend Todd and his crew for getting it done at a price for less than half of what this would have cost at a professional garage.
End of County Manager Weekly Report.
d. Commissioner Reports
None.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
None.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider use of Courthouse Grounds from Ben Maxedon for Prayer Power for National Day of Prayer on May 2, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
b. Consider reopening Nixon Road.
This goes back almost 11 years. Back in 2007 there was a lot of discussion considering or abandoning Nixon Road. It was never voted on and has remained part of the county’s road system but has not been maintained. The parent tract of land has been divided into several lots of property with 30 acres a piece. He received a call on this from someone who bought property on the backside of this road and she asked about the road because they are trying to get property. He researched this and so she asked if the county would go back and start maintaining this road. CM Bickley and Public Works Director Todd Goolsby have looked at this road as well as Commissioner Tim Guy. It will need about $30,000 to get this road back up to standard. The Bennetts have worked on this road over the years though so it won’t take as much to get this back up to par. If we can get this up to standard, the bus can make it down there for the kids to ride, etc. Funding can come through SPLOST or it can be paid for in the new budget through a capitol outlay item. SPLOST is probably the better way to do this. Motion to approve the funding and maintain this road. Do we need to decide funding now? Discussion of the history with Attorney Rob Morton. This was one of several that were considered for abandonment at this time. This is appropriate for SPLOST for roads that is ongoing now. It could go either way though. CM Bickley has spoken to Director Goolsby about these options and said that we would rather do this sooner than later with SPLOST. Do we need to approve the cost? It’s an estimate. Most of this is in gravel. The rest is in possible surveying, etc. Attorney Morton said that there might not be a right of way dedication so this will need to be done to obtain easements, etc. Motion amended to include cost from SPLOST. Approved 4-0.
c. Approve/deny the cost of the County’s portion for the joint sidewalk project the county has with Zebulon from SPLOST proceeds. The county’s portion is $10,207.68.
Attorney Morton said that this is something that was passed on from John Hanson. Rob worked with John on this for easements and John got signatures from all of those affected by this but it was delayed until now. City citizens are also county citizens. This is a continuation of the sidewalk down back Big Chic for future growth. Recommendation is that this was agreed upon previously and asked commissioners to approve this. Question about bidding from Commissioner Guy. The project was bid out. He was concerned about it being the same contractor who did work on County Farm Road. It is not the same contractor. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
d. Review of the J. Joel Edwards Public Library Board of Trustees Draft Constitution and By-Laws.
CM Bickley asked for a review of this document.
e. Approve/deny the Nelson Memorial Beautification Project for Pike County Senior Center. Work done by Bennett Landscaping.
Larry Lynch handles this memorial and represents Pike County’s interest in this. This money is shared by the cities of Meansville, Concord, Zebulon and Pike County. He has money that has to be spent each year. He asked do we proceed? Attorney Rob Morton said that like the Courthouse and fire stations, the county will be responsible for maintaining this landscaping. Motion to proceed. Approved 4-0.
f. Approve/deny to declare the old fire truck surplus and to authorize the county manager to dispose of pursuant to legal requirement through the bidding process.
This was discussed at the last meeting. CM Bickley asked permission to put this out to bid on Govdeals, but there is some local interest so he would like to start local first. Attorney Rob Morton said that we can do a silent bid so the person who would like this can make a bid and we can accept or not. Motion to go ahead with the process. Approved 4-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - 9:33 a.m.
a. County Manager requests Executive Session for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a county officer or employee as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(6) germane to personnel in the Administration Office.
Back in session. 9:58 a.m.
Rob asked to consider motion to authorize training under Jo Ann for the County Clerk’s position for Jo Ann’s pending retirement. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0. [Note from the Editor: March will mark the beginning of Jo Ann’s 7th year working for Pike County. It has been a pleasure working with Jo Ann. She will be missed!]
12. ADJOURNMENT - Motion to adjourn. 9:59 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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