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Wednesday, March 14, 2012 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
All five commissioners were in attendance along with County Clerk Teresa Watson to take the minutes, County Manager (CM) Bill Sawyer, and County Attorney Rob Morton. It was a longer meeting than usual, but I appreciated the amount of information that was presented to citizens at the meeting.
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))
Minutes from the following: Regular Monthly Meeting of February 28, 2012.
5. INVITED GUESTS
a. John Spaller, Senior Geologist with GEC (Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants), will be present to discuss post-closure ground water monitoring wells and contamination at the Pike County – County Farm Road Landfill site.
GEC has been monitoring our water and contamination levels around the old landfill. Mr. Spaller said that the levels are low and that there is a schedule that we are adhering to that will have our list of corrective measures to the EPD by June. He advised that we are currently in compliance and waiting on the EPD to get back to us on this. If we have to put in 4 monitoring wells, it will be a cost of $29,986 though CM Sawyer said that the county may be able to do some of this work so maybe it will be less. The EPD representative that spoke with CM Sawyer, Chairman Doug Mangham, and Commissioner Don Collins has not gotten back with the county.
Update 3.16.12:
6. 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.
Brief presentations will be heard from the following:
Voter Registrar Sandi Chamblin: There is a new Deputy Registrar in her office now. Advised that 30% of Pike came out to vote in the Presidential Primary but that absentee and advance voting were down this time. There were 90 and 150 voters on the last two days of advance voting. Said that they are registering a lot of new people to vote and working on the General Primary Election now. There are possibly 4 more elections this year. In response to a question from Commissioner Carol Bass, Sandi advised that it is more economically feasible to have 1 assistant part-time during the 21 days of advance voting along with hiring a poll worker to abide by state law. Said she could use some extra help but trying to keep her budget down.
Planning and Zoning Director David Allen: Dollar General should be operational by early April. The expansion of Johnson Battery is about halfway done. Said that someone has inquired about building houses in Round Tree Estates and and Irish Hills. Said those who have suffered a catastrophic loss with housefires have one year to live in another structure on the property and not seek a Special Exception while rebuilding their homes. Said he is anticipating 4 or 5 appeals at the April Board of Appeals meeting.
EMA Director Jimmy Totten: The test call of the Deltalert System took place on February 23rd. Called every number in the system-almost 5,000 numbers-in the system and it took about 48 minutes to test call. Said that they are working with the phone company to find out the maximum number of calls that the system can handle. Said that in a storm situation, calls will not be made in the same way. For example, it would start in Molena and call across the county. If the first call is picked up, then will not call the second number. Even doing this, it will probably take about 15 minutes. They are working to get rid of the bad numbers in the system--disconnects, etc. They are putting businesses on a separate list. Approximately 62% of the calls picked up. About 1800 didn't. 200 emails, 48 text messages and TDY messages went out too. 558 people have gone online to sign up. 4600 are in the 911 database. If you signed up but didn't get a call please let them know so they can check on it. Someone who has lived in the county for 42 years thought they were in 911 and weren't. Click here for more information.
The EMA meeting on disaster assistance preparation was held in Concord. About 26 people attended along with representatives from American Red Cross, GEMA, Salvation Army, and District 4 Health. This was a time to help organizations know how they can help in case of a disaster like the tornado that touched down in neighboring counties a year ago. This way there can be a way to coordinate who can bring chainsaws, tractors, meals, etc. and by working together, EMA can ensure that all are taken care of and can funnel in goods and workers. This will also help people know where to go for shelter and will help train volunteers. All organizations--churches, private organizations like Lion's Club, etc.--will stay separate but be part of a larger organization to ensure that everyone doesn't go to one street and others get left out. It was pointed out in discussion with the commissioners that local community steps up and helps out first. Commissioners Carol Bass and Don Collins both attended this meeting and praised our EMA Director for his work on this project. Work is going forward on with a Citizens Emergency Response Team. GEMA will provide training for 1st aid, search and rescue, etc. One of the biggest problem before was trees being down and cutting people off from help.
Update 3.20.12:
Pike County Emergency Services Mike Grant: PCES has graduated 6 certified firefighters who have since been enrolled into the 1st Responder program so they will be dual trained by the time they complete this course. PCES is teaching its own school. There will be 13 to 14 EMTs when this school is completed around October. * Update on the Molena Fire Station: Groundbreaking will be on April 9th. The Department of Corrections has advised that it will be probably be operational in 3 months. * Advised that two 1800's era homes caught fire around lunch time recently. These are peak hours for not having volunteers because they are at work, etc. One fire was located close to a hydrant so there was available water. It looked like a total loss but only the top story was lost. They got out the owner’s pictures and a large amount of antiques were salvaged. The second house was heavily involved by the time PCES was notified. There was limited manpower and no water close to this fire. It took 14 minutes to get a tanker to water and back to the fire. He said that there were more bystanders than firefighters when they began but they did all they could even trying to help find the dog that was in the house. Chief Grant said that PCES does the best that it can and that at night—when volunteers are not in school or working—they can turn out 30 people at a fire, but during the day it is hit or miss depending on the day. He also said that it is hard to overcome after a loss because they always remember the loss. If anyone has any questions about the fire department, he asked the commissioners to have people call his office. Commissioners commended PCES for their work and said that they really appreciate what our volunteer fire department does for the county.
Public Works Director Todd Goolsby: 57 work orders have been completed. They have hauled 38 tons of gravel, 41 vehicles have been repaired or serviced, 3 logging permits issued, they have moved the DA’s office from the Courthouse to the old school beside Ruth’s Restaurant, they also moved the Court, and that asphalt patching has been scheduled. Commissioner Collins asked for citizens to please be patient while patching is ongoing because we have a lot of deteriorating roads after the winter season, but they are working to get to all of the places that need patching. FYI to citizens from Pike County Times: You can fill out a work order request at the Board of Commissioners’ office. They can't patch it if they don't know about it.
Update 3.21.12:
b. County Manager Report
• Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund - $1,619,987.79
Jury Account - $0
Cash Reserve Account - $1,000,770.41
Jail Fund - $30,476.30
E-911 Fund - $91,683.63
DATE Fund - $12,639.80
Juvenile Court Fund - $28,754.18
Residential Impact Fees - $277,000.31
Commercial Impact Fees - $15,821.84
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 - $519,023.51
c. County Manager Comments: The renovation has been going for 9 days (on the day of the meeting) and they have started tearing the backs off of the walls to expose the wood studs in the Courthouse. Power will be shut off on at the Courthouse on March 23rd while the transformer is moved. The Courthouse will be closed that day. Asbestos was found upstairs in some tiles. There were two options: hire and abate the asbestos or what the county chose to do is encapsulate it according to federally approved standards with a binder and plywood.
The bids on the Library resurfacing will be opened on March 20th. One of the two homes on Adams Street has been condemned and is scheduled for a controlled burn on March 17th. Budget conferences are set for the end of this week and the next three weeks. We are still waiting on timber bids for the Public Works property.
Update 3.27.12:
d. Commissioner Reports
District 1 - Commissioner Carol Bass had no comment.
District 2 - Commissioner Tamra Jarrett discussed the hiring of a new employee in the Board of Commissioners (BOC) Office and that employee's salary. She said that the new hire is making slightly more than the previous employee was in that position and that, in the past, a decision about raising a salary normally came before the Board. She asked the County Manager (CM) to elaborate on this. CM Bill Sawyer advised that there were 5 people working in the office when he came to Pike County and now there are 3. He said that the previous employee made $29,000 or so (County Clerk Watson advised in the Post Agenda that it was $29,494), that the position was advertised for a new employee who will make $30,000, and the department is underbudget. He advised that his understanding is as follows: if he went overbudget, he would have had to get Commissioner's permission to do this, but since the department was underbudget, he felt like our Code of Ordinance allowed him to give a slight raise to this employee position.
Commissioner Jarrett then asked if the new position fell under our position classification system and payscale according to our Code of Ordinance. (She actually had a copy of this part of the code in her hand and read from it several times during this conversation.) CM Sawyer advised that this position has been reconfigured with added duties because it was cost effective to do this. She then asked if the BOC needed to vote on this to give approval for the reconfiguring of this position. County Attorney Morton advised that the board could vote to approve the reclassification of this employee position out of an abundance of precaution if Commissioners felt that was necessary. He went on to say that the CM, as the budget officer for the county, had the authority to work within the parameters of the budget that were given to him when the budget was adopted. Commissioner Jarrett reiterated that she did not think it was appropriate for pay raises to be given by the County Manager without Board approval because these (employee positions) are budgeted items and people need to know where their money is going even if a department is within their budget. She asked that the Board make this decision official so people can be aware of it. Commissioner Jarrett made the motion to amend the agenda to approve reclassification of added duties to the Human Resources Administrative position in the Commission Office. Commissioner Carol Bass seconded for discussion. It was clarified that this motion would approve the combination of duties for this position that are different from those listed in our Code of Ordinance. (This does not change our Code of Ordinance.) Approved 5-0.
Further discussion got a little bit heated. Commissioner Jarrett made the motion to ratify this reclassification and rehire as selected by the CM at the new salary. Seconded again by Commissioner Bass for discussion. Commissioner Don Collins said that this seemed to interfere with the CM’s day to day duties. Commissioner Tommy Powers and Chairman Doug Mangham agreed. County Attorney Rob Morton clarified that this is not ratifying the action taken by the CM but it is giving approval of putting two positions together in that office so an employee could not come back later and say that the position does not match what is in our code of ordinance. Chairman Mangham asked if this related to just this one position and was told yes by the County Attorney. Commissioner Jarrett reiterated that the BOC has certain duties in our ordinance and so does the County Manager. She read a section from the ordinance about pay reduction and duties of the Board of Commissioners--the only ones who can reduce someone's pay after a demotion would be the Board of Commissioners. She said that the CM has to abide by our ordinance and that the merging of a job position is under the duties of the Commissioners and not the County Manager. Commissioner Carol Bass said that the CM can't reduce someone's pay according to the ordinance--that would have to come before the County Commissioners--so she suggested that this ordinance be looked at again because it sounds like that he couldn't have hired this person without the Board's permission if he had followed the letter of the law. County Attorney Rob Morton did not agree and said that this is a new classification because it is a hybrid job and said that hiring and salary issues are made by the County Manager. Chairman Mangham then agreed with Carol that the CM couldn't have filled the position based on the current wording in our ordinance. County Attorney Morton then said that the CM is responsible for all employee-related issues except for department heads and he has control over all of the departments according to our ordinances. Commissioner Bass then stopped the County Attorney and said if there is language in our ordinance that prevents him from being able to do that then we need to address that. County Attorney Morton said that the Personnel Policy has needed to be addressed since 2007 with prior CM Marro. He pointed out that the county has even been through litigation and legislation has since been written which says what the duties of the County Manager are including making the ultimate decision on employees except for department heads. He went on to say that out of an abundance of precaution it would be good for the Board of Commissioners to approve the reclassification. It is not doing away with the hire or affecting his authority as CM over related personnel but simply addressing the language in the ordinance. Commissioner Jarrett said that she was concerned about transparency and asked why it was so difficult for the CM to come before the Board, say what he wants to do and get a vote on it so the public and the Board knows what is going on in the BOC office. Commissioner Bass pointed out that the ordinance is outdated and that is what caused this problem. She said that she didn't see Commissioner Jarrett as trying to tie the County Manager's hands but trying to clarify this ordinance so the CM can do what he has been hired to do and that would go along with the Interlocutory Agreement. County Attorney Morton reiterated that this vote is not about the new hire, the individual, or the duties but whether this is a rewriting of legislation related to this classification so it conforms to our code. Motion was approved in a 3-2 vote with Chairman Doug Mangham and Commissioner Tommy Powers opposed. [Note from the Editor: I think that it was a good decision to do this and thank our commissioners for abiding by our ordinance and (as seen below) for addressing the Personnel Policy as well. The county has been sued more than once over the duties of the County Manager and it should be clear what the parameters are for his job duties and what is the responsibility of the Board of Commissioners. Most of all, if we have rules, we need to follow them or change them so they are acceptable.]
Commissioner Don Collins made a motion to charge the County Manager with updating the Personnel Policy and bringing it back before the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Tamra Jarrett seconded for discussion and said that she would like to see a small task force of people along with the County Manager who can bring some knowledge forward on revamping the Personnel Policy. Commissioner Collins said that he didn't think that we needed a task force on this. The County Manager said that he could bring it to them and if they didn't like it they could bring in a task force to look at it if they don't accept it. Approved 4-1 with Commissioner Tamra Jarrett opposed.
District 3 - Commissioner Tommy Powers said that he had a couple of calls that have been addressed.
District 4 - Commissioner Don Collins said that the 15th Annual Tour de Pike is upcoming with riders from 4 states in a ride that starts and ends in Concord. Asked that citizens be aware and please give right of way to riders.
Chairman Doug Mangham - No comment.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioner: None beyond Executive Session.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approval/denial, on second reading, of readoption of the Pike County Official Zoning Map.
This will be current through December of 2011. Motion to approve. 5-0.
b. Approval/denial, on second reading, of Ordinance ratifying the Pike County Code of Ordinances in its entirety, as amended. County Attorney Rob Morton will address. All books have been updated with the revised pertinent Ordinance pages.
Motion to approve. 5-0.
This will be finished out asap.
c. Approval/denial of a 75% discount on non-residential impact fees for a two-year period, per direction from the December 7, 2011 Board of Commissioners’ meeting. Carried forward from the February 28, 2012 Board Meeting. Planning and Development Director David Allen will address.
8. NEW BUSINESS
a. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on the issue of a Quit Claim Deed for the old Hollonville Fire Station property with reversion as on the original conveyance to the former property owner.
Action: Approval/denial of Quit Claim Deed for the old Hollonville Fire Station property with reversion as on the original conveyance to the former property owner.
b. Approval/denial of Resolution to establish an alternate location for Pike County Court proceedings during the period of renovation to the historic Pike County Courthouse.
c. Approval/denial of the following Fire Department vehicles to be declared surplus: 1) 1990 Ford Crown Victoria, VIN 2FACP72G4MX166966 – Runs but in poor condition, and 2) 2000 Ford Crown Victoria, VIN 2FAFP71W21X113393 – Runs but in poor condition. County Manager recommends approval.
d. Approval/denial of Proclamation to declare April as Donate Life Month.
e. Approval/denial of Proclamation to declare March 22, 2012 as Melanie Harris-Simmons Day.
9. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)
a. Robert D. Clark, 85 Rosehill Road, Meansville, desire to address the Board regarding yearly property tax billing dates and yearly business license times and notifications.
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION
d. 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.
11. ADJOURNMENT