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Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – 6:30 p.m.
All five commissioners were present along with County Clerk Teresa Watson, County Manager (CM) Bill Sawyer, and County Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton.
Update 3.2.11:
In the Town Hall Meeting that was held fifteen minutes prior to the meeting. During this time, anyone can speak without getting on an agenda prior to the meeting. [Note from the Editor: Mollie Awtrey was speaking by the time I entered the meeting so I write about what I heard] Mollie Awtrey was angry that she was not listed on the agenda for the meeting. She told Commissioners that other counties allow citizens to walk in and sign up on a list on the night of the meeting and that they are trying to stop people from speaking by requiring citizens to call ahead of time to get on the agenda to speak on a specific topic. Parrish Swift spoke about the consolidation of the Probate and Magistrate Courts. He said that he wasn't convinced by the number of counties that are consolidated that this is financially feasible for Pike County. Said that many that have consolidated are either very small or very large and said many counties that are consolidated are looking to unconsolidate now and that Pike County is going backwards to consolidate. He encouraged commissioners to vote against this because he thinks that the reason for proposing this consolidation has nothing to do finances or economics and that he thinks it is being done for the wrong reasons. John Morrison said that he missed the discussion that was held when Mr. Swift was a part of the Commission. He chided the Commissioners for holding an eleven minute meeting and told them that an eleven minute meeting was nothing to be proud of. He said that the Commissioners did not conduct any business or didn't discuss the business that was conducted during the meeting. He said that people in the audience have a right to know what their Commissioners are voting for and why they vote the way that they do. Magistrate Marcia Callaway-Ingram said that our County Clerk worked really hard to collect information about the consolidation of Probate and Magistrate Courts and then passed out some information to go along with that regarding numbers. Said that there were 22 counties that are consolidated that have populations 1,800 to 11,500 which is infinitely less population than Pike County has. Greene County has a population of 15,743 which is a couple thousand less than Pike County. They have two full-time Judges, two part-time Judges and five part-time clerks with a budget of $445,428 per year. Pike County Probate is $136,474 and Magistrate is $137,599 which is significantly less than Green County's combined budget. Jones County has combined courts and their budget is more than ours. Newton County is around $628,000. Said that some of these counties have State Courts so that would skew the numbers. Said that there will not be space savings on facilities since neither Probate nor Magistrate has room to physically consolidate. Began to ask some questions when the County Manager informed the Commission Chairman that it was 6:30 and time to begin the meeting.
[Note from the Editor: Meeting information contained below has not changed since adding the update from 3.2.11.]
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 from the following: Regular Monthly Meeting of February 9, 2011.
5. INVITED GUESTS - None
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 meeting of the Board in the future,
beginning with the March 9, 2011 meeting. A memo sent to Department Heads and Component Units
regarding same is attached.
Update 2.23.11:
b. County Manager Report
•Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
•General Fund $1,852,418.22 (previous report $2,100,490.00)
•Jury Account $0 (previous report $-340)
•Cash Reserve Account $432,248.42 (previous report $506,276.07)
•Jail Fund $20,345.16 (previous report $17,000.00)
•E-911 Fund $63,727.07 (previous report $66,369.34)
•DATE Fund $10,430.88 (previous report $10,284.73)
•Fire Fund $280,882.73 (previous report $276,035.60)
•Juvenile Court Fund $28,464.93 (previous report $28,164.93)
•Residential Impact Fees $300,001.00 (previous report $183,296.43)
•Commercial Impact Fees $7,198.45 (previous report $6,533.02)
•General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund $75,870 *Note from the County Clerk that this should adjust to zero when the most recent payments are posted.
•Update on County projects.
- A Notice to Proceed has been issued on the Caldwell Bridge Road/Birch Creek project.
- The deadline for budget requests was February 18. We are in the process of entering that data
and will soon be scheduling individual times for departments’ defense of their requests.
c. Commissioner Reports
•District 1 Carol Bass - Thanked the Road Department for repairs on Old Zebulon Road.
•District 2 Tamra Jarrett - None.
•District 3 Tommy Powers - Said that he had received some calls about potholes and had handled it. Asked about an appointment with Teen Challenge. County Attorney Rob Morton advised that he had received a call back from the new director and will set this up.
•District 4 Don Collins - Said that he received another letter about animal control. Said that there had been another vicious animal attack in the county and that it was time to start thinking about animal control.
•Chairman Doug Mangham - None.
d. County Attorney Report to Commissioners: None.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approval/denial of request to combine Probate and Magistrate Courts by legislative resolution
(postponed from the Board meeting of January 25, 2011 for further study). County Manager Sawyer will address.
CM Sawyer said that the commissioners should have had time to review the packet of information on issues of finding out what is in the best interest of Pike County and what would be cost efficient for our county. The information shows monetary savings and counties are satisfied with the merger. Discussion: District 2 Tamra Jarrett said that she is not convinced that this is a cost savings for Pike County based on observation and discussion of budgets with other counties with merged offices including their personnel. She believes that the annual budget will exceed the projected $213,654.11 [from the packet of info given to commissioners] with salaries, operational expenses, and additional expense for cross-training staff. Also said that our Probate Court currently handles traffic, vital records, and elections whereas the majority of those combined offices [about 23 counties] only handle two of those three functions plus the Magistrate duties. Elections are often delegated to an Elections Board. Traffic Court in several of those counties is handled by State Court. And none of the three larger counties that she listed handle all three functions. Only three of those 23 counties are larger than Pike County and one of those has legislation in the works--Johnson County. She pointed out specifically that Green County, with a population of about 1,000 less than Pike, has a combined budget of $445,428. District 4 Don Collins commended County Clerk Teresa Watson on collecting this information for the commissioners. Comparing the counties with Pike on this list, he said that most of the counties are a lot smaller than Pike with the exception of Green County above and Jones County. Jones County is a little larger than us but it has a staff that is much larger than we are expecting if we combine the two courts. He said that each of the courts have different functions and that merging them could give us the opportunity to save money but also lose the individuality of each court. He went on to say that each court functions very well now and combining to save a considerable amount of money would be in order, but that he did not see the consideration of money being the prime object in this. We don't know know exactly what it will take to combine the two courts and make them function. It's not simply a matter of eliminating one court but will take some augmenting to make it efficient. Said that he thinks we are going to lose the effectiveness of our court system if the two are combined. He went on to say that if the commission had budget concerns, that should be handled during the negotiation of the county budget. District 1 Carol Bass said that she researched this diligently since the last meeting. She went to a website of counties with the number of cases that they handle and how the number of cases effects the budget. Said that Green County has twice the budget but also has twice the number of cases. Pike County had 4,054 cases in 2008 compared to 6,600 in Green County. Said that more money would be needed to handle more cases. Said that according to what was given to the commissioners in their packet, the county would save $70,418.89. Said that we won't save it this year because we're over midway through the year. Said that the savings could be more than this if the Magistrate Court submits a budget of $236,000 for next year. District 3 Tommy Powers said that $70,000 is not a great savings, but with the economy being like it is, it is a savings. Commissioners Powers made the motion to combine Magistrate and Probate Courts in Pike County. Second by Carol Bass. Chairman Doug Mangham raised his hand to support this with those who agreed to combine the two. Voting in opposition were Commissioners Tamra Jarrett and Don Collins. Approved 3-2 to combine Magistrate and Probate Courts. [Note from the Editor: This legislation will have to be sent to the Georgia Legislature through our representative where it will be approved before it can go into effect. I do not know when this is supposed to take effect or how the two offices will be combined into one. According to documentation from the County Clerk, the position of Magistrate Judge would be eliminated at a savings of approximately $64,593.89 and Probate Judge Lynn Brandenburg would take on Magistrate Court duties with an increase in salary of $13,282.27. Current budgets of Magistrate FY 2010/2011 $147,599.00 and Probate FY 2010/2011 $136,474.00 are costing the county $284,073.00. According to this document, combining the two courts would only cost the county approximately $213.654.11 each year. I am going to sit back and see how this turns out. There are a lot of factors that will have to be ironed out such as whether Probate Court will continue to handle the elections or if we have to appoint an Elections Board, how much training will be needed overall and what that will cost us, and many other factors that have to be taken into account on this. If we save the amount of money that we are being told that we are going to save, I am going to be suprised. We all like to cut costs and save money, but I have to say in this case that I don't have enough information to endorse this decision; therefore, I am against combining the two courts at this time.]
8. NEW BUSINESS
a. Public Hearing: Open for public input on Text Amendment to add a new Chapter 165, Cemetery
and Burial Regulations to Pike County Code of Ordinances and to amend Chapter 156, Sections
156.048(B), 156.048(D) and 156.203(B), consistent with the provision of the new Chapter 165.
Planning and Zoning Director David Allen answered commissioner questions about the reasoning behind this legislation and the fact that there is a three acre minimum on it. Speaking in Favor: John Morrison, Margie Trammell, and George Norris. No one spoke in opposition.
b. Approval/denial, on first reading, of Text Amendment to add a new Chapter 165, Cemetery and
Burial Regulations to Pike County Code of Ordinances and to amend Chapter 156, Sections
156.048(B), 156.048(D) and 156.203(B), consistent with the provision of the new Chapter 165.
County Manager, Planning/Development Staff and Planning Commission recommend approval.
Motion to approve 5-0.
9. PUBLIC COMMENT (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - None
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
11. ADJOURNMENT: 7:01 p.m.
On February 23, 2011, County Manager Bill Sawyer sent a letter to Georgia legislators on the behalf of the Pike County Board of Commissioners. This letter asked Representative Billy Maddox and Senator Ronnie Chance to introduce legislation regarding Pike County's Magistrate and Probate Courts.
The letter states, "Pursuant to a majority vote by the Pike County Board of Commissioners on February 22, 2011, I am requesting that [Rep. Maddox and Senator Chance] introduce legislation to effect the combining of the Pike County Probate Court and the Pike County Magistrate Court. Requested effective dates would be as soon as reasonably feasible, preferably on or about the start of our FY [fiscal year] 2011-2012 which is July 1, or as legislatively practical.
A copy of the draft minutes from the February 22, 2011 meeting signed by County Clerk Teresa Watson and Commission Chairman Doug Mangham were attached to each letter.
Neither office has issued an official statement on the request at this time.
[Note from the Editor: Crossover Day, the 30th day of the Georgia Legislative Session, is on March 16, 2011. This is the final day for bills to be given a vote of approval in the House or Senate so the bills can cross over to the other chamber of the Legislature. Even if our representatives are willing to present this bill to the Legislature on a split vote of 3-2, we are so close to Crossover Day that it may not occur.]