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Wednesday, February 14, 2018 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has a download of the agenda and accompanying information for this meeting. This includes items listed on the agenda such as the Medical First Reponse License and the property being decided on Bottoms Road. 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.
1. CALL TO ORDER .................................................................................... Chairman J. Briar Johnson
All five commissioners are present along with County Clerk Jo Anne Wrye to take the minutes, County Manager (CM) John Hanson, and County Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton.
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))
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the January 30, 2018 Regular Monthly Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.
James Briar Johnson was recognized for five years of service. CM Hanson thanked him for a job well done. John said that he was a good person to work with and that he genuinely cares about what everyone thinks in this county. Rob Morton said that he visited the DA’s Office and saw a picture from many years ago with Briar as a Sheriff’s Deputy.
James Jenkins recognized for five years of service. CM Hanson said that James is a worker and is in contact with the Commission Office on a regular office. He said that if people call James, he helps to make sure that things get taken care of.
Scottie Brooks recognized for ten years of service. CM Hanson said that Scotty is our shop supervisor and he runs a tight ship. He keeps all of the vehicles running in our county from cars to motor graders and patrol cars. John said that he is always looking for ways to save money. Todd said that Scotty does a good job and started his position ten years ago working to take care of all the vehicles. He makes sure that every vehicle that runs out of that shop is safe.
b. Joy Walker to address the Board regarding the Tourism Authority.
Joy advised commissioners that the permission and enthusiasm has been given to the group from all of the cities in the county. With permission from the county, they will take the information to Rep. Johnnie Caldwell, Jr. to get it approved in the House. Then they can go to the State Tourism Board to ask for grants to have operating funds. No income from the cities and counties. Only from donations and grants. They want to put brochures to advertise our county at welcome centers, etc. Counties around us have doubled and tripled their tourism dollars over the past 5 or 6 years. They are making improvements and doing things without raising the tax base in the county.
She said that we need to promote our county and to be recognized by the state to do this. Three of the cities have even offered to put one of their members on the board to help with this endeavor. It will take time to write grants, but it is important to get this done now. She said that the idea of bringing in money without asking for cities and counties is exciting. We have been sitting at the 6.3 million dollar mark for years, and this is the opportunity to bring in money. Other counties are funding those who are promoting their counties to bring in tourism dollars.
Joy said that we are on the Pike Pathways to Pride already and that was done with volunteer dollars, but we don’t have enough dollars to order $5,000 worth of brochures to hand them out. They have free labor to draw up the brochures, but the printing is very expensive. Upson, Meriwether, Lamar, Spalding and Fayette have upped their amounts according to the state of Georgia. Eating will be a big way to bring people in and we are looking at the VA Clinic being placed here. She said that it will take time to build on this.
CM Hanson said that they meet regularly on their own. And Joy added that as an authority, they will be responsible for reports and accounting for the money and she thinks that is very important.
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 ........................................................................................ …$3,334,317.25
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $4,661.87
BOC – Jury Account………………………………………………………………$0.00
Cash Reserve Account ........................................................................ ….....$506,537.34
Pike County CD Special Revenue funds………………………………………….$0.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $15,634.37
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................. $128,137.88
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $42,673.56
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $12,802.95
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $456,541.18
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $37,640.71
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................... $33,256.31
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2016 ...................... $581,994.48
L.M.I. Grant (DOT) ..................................................................................... $162,504.10
c. County Manager Comment
The weather has been a major factor and Public Works is trying to scrape the roads as soon as they can. County Farm Road is a high traffic road that will have to be shut down to replace a culvert. They are going to try to do this as quickly as possible. We have applied for an emergency LMIG request for this replacement and the DOT gave us 50% on this. We have more requests in as well.
Short Cut Road is on the list for patching where the culvert is. The potholes should be patched. All we need is a day without rain to fix this.
The rain has made a mess out of several roads. Public Works is working as much as it can on culverts and ditching right now.
We are down one employee in Building and Grounds, but interviews are going on.
Old Zebulon Road and a number of roads have given us problems with places that are very narrow. McCard Lake Road has a hill that is steep like Old Zebulon Road too. They are working on them.
Georgia Military College is hosting a dual enrollment and college enrollment night on February 15 at 6 p.m.
d. Commissioner Reports
Tim Daniel said that there is a big project going on at Hilltop and asked the County Manager to elaborate on this. CM Hanson said that there have been some challenges with water. No ditches and curving affects the roads when there is a lot of rain and it was affecting the integrity of the street infrastructure. The county applied for a community block grant on this project. They have met with community leaders and members but the grant could be from $750,000 to a million dollars. We are proud of the Hilltop area and the work that the community has done out there and we are proud to be able to work with the community to help improve their infrastructure. They had a meeting last week with 70 people in attendance there and have a very strong presence in the community. [Note from the Editor: How many places can you get 70 people to attend a community meeting?! That is awesome!]
Tommy Powers said that his concerns are about the roads and potholes. He said that callers have been very nice when they called. The rain is the issue and people understand.
Briar Johnson – He named a couple of roads that need addressing including Turner Road. [Note from the Editor: This is how the process works in Pike County. The commissioners take a problem through the County Manager and the County Manager gets with the department that needs to handle the problem. It hasn't always been this way (and the county was sued more than once over how we used to do things) so it makes me happy to see things running smoothly. Citizens who see issues that need to be addressed like potholes or bad areas on roads can call the County Commission Office at 770-567-3406 and ask to have an issue addressed too.]
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners: None.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Discussion of Fire Marshall Services for Pike County Fire Department.
[Note from the Editor: The following is from the County Manager Report... "In your packet you will find the proposed Fire Marshal position within the Fire Dept. We discussed this last year and asked that it be brought back for consideration once more information can be provided on the position. The Fire Chief has provided a description that would be added to the Fire Department SOP and answer to the Fire Chief. This will be a volunteer position to serve in the capacity as Fire Marshal. Points of discussion to consider will be the needs of the position, level of service, implementation, fees, and expectations. The Fire Chief will be present as well as the State Fire Marshal Dave Williamson which also happens to be a Pike County Resident."]
Over the past couple of months, issues have been handled with volunteer help and help through the state. [Note form the Editor: This looks like the beginning of a long conversation. Specific parameters need to be laid out so everyone knows what is expected of them and who answers to whom because there are legitimate concerns being voiced that need to be addressed so that there aren't any problems later on.]
The courthouse and our buildings have all been inspected, and Fire Safety Compliance Officer for the State Fire Marshal’s Office, David Williamson, has come in on several large projects to help out. Since we work with cities and businesses, we have found that we need someone who can do inspections on our local area rather than having to call the state to do this. Part of this program is to make sure that our firefighters have safety info on all of the businesses as well in case of fighting a fire too. [Note from the Editor: I asked some questions about this and why it would be important. This would enable firefighters to know the layout of a business and whether there are any hazards such as propane tanks in a certain location outside of the business or other potential hazards. Pike County also has specific ordinances on the books that we could be liable for if there was a fire and we were not following our own ordinances. If we are not going to enforce what we put in place, we probably need to look at taking the laws off of our books.]
Commissioners were told that this has to be a gradual process for commercial businesses but will not affect home occupations. This would still be on a volunteer level. We could add an inspection fee to our business licenses if needed in order to supplement. Maybe something like $25 for an inspection. We would have a Volunteer Fire Marshal. This is for information for commissioners today. One of our firefighters, Patrick Kelly, is actually going through training right now. CM Hanson said that he has worked well with the current fire chief and would work well with the public.
Fire Chief O’Barr said that the state pays for these classes so it isn’t costing the county anything. Places that have to have fire inspections every year need this. He gives people 60 days between reinspections if there is a problem too. Commissioner Tim Daniel said that in other counties, the Fire Marshal has a lot of power. He said that he is concerned with a Fire Marshal being able to hold up a certificate for occupation like he has seen in another place. The Fire Chief said that they are more concerned with working with people to ensure that everything is up to county and state law standards. They would be working with Planning and Development on this. We have code in place here in the county that can’t be enforced right now.
How are we going to govern this? Commissioner Jenkins asked. CM Hanson said that the County Fire Marshal will answer to the Fire Chief who answers to the County Manger. He said that we need to put a system in place to provide protection and accountability. Tommy Powers and James Jenkins said that we have Planning and Development in place now. CM Hanson said that we could contract this out if the commissioners would rather do this. The state has a backlog now and that they try to get down here in a timely manner when they are needed. Tim Daniel gave an example and asked about a restaurant opening now. Currently, we refer people to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Once the building is finished, Planning and Development never goes back in, but the Fire Marshal does the annual inspections and gives 60 days to complete any things that need to be fixed. Tommy Powers said that he used to own a business and that there are things that are required before a business can operate. The Fire Chief said that they are looking at enforcing county regulations.
The Fire Safety Compliance Officer for the State Fire Marshal’s Office, David Williamson, was invited to speak. He covers 11 counties. They are 13 officers covering all 159 counties. They also do federal Medicaid, etc. studies for hospitals so they have many areas to cover. The only merchantile stores, etc. that they would look at is Freshway because of the size and number of employees. The Courthouse is covered by the state. There are more businesses than the 23 that are required for state inspection. He said that is much better to do things right the first time. He said that if people know that this will be required up front on new construction for example, people are much easier to work with rather than asking forgiveness later. The state is currently working with Christ Chapel now as the building is being built. He has about 1,100 buildings to inspect on an annual basis.
CM Hanson asked about a fictional burger joint opening here. He said that there is state code that isn’t being enforced because we don’t have a county mechanism to enforce the law to ensure that public safety is followed. Mr. Williamson stressed the importance of checking to make sure that doors can be opened and are not blocked, checking the hood systems for potential fire problems, testing fire suppression systems, and testing the gas and electrical systems to be sure that they shut down if an emergency situation arises. These are items that are not checked by Planning and Development. CM Hanson said that surrounding counties have someone in their city or county who handles this rather than depending on the state. The Fire Chief said that most of our surrounding counties have someone who handles this. He said that it is time to be moving forward with safety for our commercial buildings. David Allen said that he has someone who handles the residential but that they don’t handle commercial. The Fire Chief advised that this would not handle residential.
Spalding and City of Griffin, Fayette, Fayetteville, Peachtree City all have their own inspectors and staff to handle this. The Fire Chief in Lamar County handles CO’s there. Thomaston has a fire inspector. Most of the surrounding counties have a mechanism to handle their own fire inspections, etc.
Click here to read the Fire Marshal Proposal that was presented to commissioners for their review.
CM Hanson said that this will likely call for a workshop and more information and discussion. He just wanted to be sure that commissioners had the information today, and that he will be happy to get information from surrounding counties so they can examine it. He thanked Mr. Williamson for coming out today.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider request from Ben Maxedon from Prayer Power to use the Courthouse Grounds, south steps and grounds for National Day of Prayer on May 3, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
This is an annual event that has always gone well in the past. CM Hanson said that they recommend approval. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny Alcohol license for Parvez Dawoodani (Retail Sales – beer and wine) d/b/a Mountain View Convenience Store, 3181 U.S. Hwy 19 S, Meansville, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
CM Hanson verified that we have done this under the old background check system since the new system gave us problems. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
12. ADJOURNMENT: 10:04 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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