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This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024 – 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
Courthouse Doors on East/South Sides open at 6:00 p.m.
Town Hall Meeting at 6:15 p.m.
ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners will hold their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the main courtroom of the courthouse in Zebulon. There will be a 15 minute Town Hall Meeting prior to the meeting where citizens can ask questions and air concerns to the commissioners. These concerns will not be on the record, but they can be brought forward at that time without getting on any kind of an agenda.
Pike County Times will also be broadcasting county commission meetings through Facebook Live on the Pike County Times Facebook page from here on out as much as possible. Past meetings can be viewed on https://www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes by clicking on videos to see what is online. https://www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes/videos/1442761132990071 to watch today's meeting online. (The sound is good now!)
Click here to see the documents that have been uploaded with the agenda on the Pike County government page.
[Note from the Editor - Added 3.22.24: Pike County Times has a concern regarding the county following its ordinances. The County Manager was allowed to hire the new Library Manager without commissioners holding a vote after the executive session in the February 27, 2024 County Commission meeting to confirm his choice. It was a long meeting, and we all missed it. But I have mentioned this concern since that time, and it has not been added to a county commission meeting to rectify the hiring after the fact. This may seem like a small thing, but if our county is not going to follow our ordinances on hiring and firing, then an argument can be made for future (and current) lawsuits that the county is choosing not to follow our ordinances depending on the topic of discussion. ADDED 3.26.24: And if an actual vote isn't required according to our ordinances, how about letting the public know the decisions that are made in the back room for this and other county issues? That goes for a secret evaluation of the county manager and the acceptance of the offer for the Library Manager at the next public meeting. County business is the public's business except in rare cases when matters discussed in executive session are delayed but are still brought to the public at the appropriate time.]
From the December 14, 2022 meeting:
"k. Second Reading of Text Amendment of the Pike County Code of Ordinances Title III: Administration, Chapter 30 Board of Commissioners, Section 30.03 (C)(2).
County Attorney Rob Morton addressed the Board stating this was a request by the Board of Commissioners for the revision to the code regarding the hiring and firing of Department Heads. Motion/second by Commissioners Proctor/Daniel to approve the Second Reading of Text Amendment of the Pike County Code of Ordinances Title III: Administration, Chapter 30 Board of Commissioners, Section 30.03 (C)(2), motion carried 5-0."
End of Meeting Note.
[Note from the Editor: My write up from that meeting can be read here: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC12.14.22.html and includes this change to the county manager only being able to fire a department head with permission from commissioners that was not in the ordinances prior to that date. This meeting also includes Commissioner James Jenkins' attempt to put something in the county manager's file for breaking state law with the fireworks donation that died for lack of a second from Commissioners Jason Proctor, Tim Guy, and Tim Daniel. (Chairman Briar Johnson cannot vote until after a second is made and something goes for a vote from the entire group.) And this is also the meeting where commissioners voted to change our ordinances to require a vote from the commission (including a special called meeting if necessary) for the county manager to spend county funds over $5,000 for anything that is not a part of the budget process because the county's manager's past decisions haven't always been wise.
This includes his authorization to make a fireworks expenditure without consulting the county attorney (and then acting like he didn't know what it was when commissioners asked about it and said, "I wasn't here at that time. So I'll look at it, and we can fix it. That's not a problem.") as well as authorizing the purchase of the new Christmas Tree on the Square without consulting the board of commissioners. You can read the documentation that goes with the Christmas Tree and Fireworks check at http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC7.26.22.html.]
[End of original concern regarding following our ordinances.]
[Follow up 3.30.24.]
[Note from the Editor: This was not addressed at the meeting. I guess we're going to continue doing business as usual which is a shame. That's not transparent government, but until we have three commissioners in there who will demand transparency (Johnson and Jenkins are doing that already but have been run down repeatedly for suggesting that the county act in a manner that is above reproach), this is how things are going to go. For those who think this is personal, you probably ought to go back and read what I've written during better times in Pike County government. There were county managers who would email or walk into meetings with their regular county manager report and hand it to me because I had asked for it previously, and that is just how they handled things. That isn't happening now for me OR the commissioners, but as long as three commissioners allow the county manager to disregard county ordinances and state law and insist on doing a secret evaluation in executive session (Proctor, Daniel, Guy), nothing is going to change. I've spoken on the record several times over the past year and addressed county manager behavior as well as the behavior of his enablers at a recent meeting:https://www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes/videos/2292113950983443 Things are as bad now as it was when I started Pike County Times back in 2006.]
[End of follow up 3.30.24.]
1. CALL TO ORDER ....... Chairman J. Briar Johnson
2. INVOCATION ....... Silent Invocation
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ....... Chairman J. Briar Johnson
4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. § 50-14-1 (e) (1))
Motion to approve the agenda. Approved 5-0.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the March 13, 2024, Regular Monthly Meeting.
b. Minutes of the March 13, 2024, Workshop.
Motion to approve both sets of minutes. Approved 5-0.
6. INVITED GUEST - NONE
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 are no Department reports as they will be provided during the first Board meeting of April. Revenue/Expenditure Statement and Detail Check Register is included.
Discuss/Approve/Deny
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ........ $3,430,421.95
Fire Dept. Donations ........ $74,094.09
Jail Fund ........ $28,391.84
E-911 Fund ........ $153,325.18
DATE Fund ........ $36,244.01
Juvenile Court Fund ........ $13,982.78
Residential Impact Fee ........ $265,443.01
Commercial Impact Fees ........ $5,501.69
C.A.I.P FUND ........ $22,551.23
General Obligation SPLOST 2022-2028 ........ $1,317,076.87
L.M.I.G. Grant (DOT) ........ $86,663.25
c. County Manager Comment
There has been a request to shut down the Meriwether Bridge. This will involve Meriwether County as well as Pike. Motion for the county manager to get started discussing filming including compensation to the county. Approved 5-0.
Working on budgets for the past few weeks. Hope to have requests and info to commissioners prior to the first reading.
During the Tax Assessor’s Audit, if you can figure out how to get them a vehicle, that would be great. That is already budgeted for this year. We budgeted $25,000 for this, but may have to spend a little more on this. F150 are the cheapest. 2WD. $36,000. There are work trucks. Also budgeted for 2 vehicles for Public Works. The Water Authority is working a deal to give the county one of their vehicles. Maybe we can do one there instead of two. Needs to be a 4WD. $48,000. Also got some Chevy prices. $48,000 and a couple of GM’s. Everything was $43,000 and above. Rangers are on back order. Asked the Board to allow him to move forward on these two vehicles. We budgeted for fund balances for losses this year. We have been careful with our funds so he feels confident asking for this that we are on track on won’t go overbudget. Motion to proceed and make these purchases. Approved 5-0.
Met with the school superintendent yesterday to discuss multiple projects. They are asking to help with paving in a parking lot and a turn around area. The BOE will cover our expenses other than the week that it will take for our road guys to do this. They want it done before the end of July or definitely before school starts. Discussion. Concern that this is right in the middle of paving season. Proctor. I'd like to help them, but I don't think we have time. Johnson. Stressed that we have helped the schools and municipalities in the past and would like to help them save money on this. More discussion. This will be grading and paving in a new parking lot with very little rescheduling. The grading crew is different than the asphalt crew. It takes about 3 days to pave it. Guy. If we save the schools money, we are saving taxpayers’ money. We ought to be well into our projects by then. We are close to being able to pave when the weather lets up. Anything that helps them will help everyone. Cost for them would be about $350,000 including the grading, labor, and materials with us. It will probably more than $500,000 if they have to put this out to bid. Motion to help the Board of Education with these projects. Approved 5-0.
d. Commissioner Reports
Chairman. Between now and election time, he will recognize anyone who is here in the meetings and running for office. Todd Child and Ken Pullin are here tonight. Both are running for District 3 County Commissioner.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners
Transaction regarding Twin Oaks Pass. The check will be given to the county manager.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny right-of-way acquisition of Tanyard Road.
There will be no action on this. Hofstadter is the engineer of record, and he will be working on Tanyard Road.
[Note from the Editor: This was quite refreshing to see this after the tantrum that the county manager pitched at the last meeting trying to push commissioners to use another company to obtain right of way and make changes on the road when it could have jeopardized a million dollar grant that is going to fix that road. The feds don’t care how we try to portray our thoughts on how things should be two different projects or not. They have rules that pertain to this million dollar grant, and we have to follow them. Period. I wish that county ordinances and rules were given this much consideration, but I digress. Thankfully this time, someone got through to someone who listened and truly understood the consequences of county manager’s actions since it took us two years to get that grant. On a side note, the grant writer and administrator of the grant, Carol Southard, was in the audience. When Chairman Johnson asked at a later point in the meeting if anyone had questions for her, no one did. (He didn't see her in the beginning of the meeting because it was full of people from McCard Lake and Cook Roads.)
Prior to the meeting, I requested open records of a phone log to show where the county manager had contacted the grant writer and was advised by the county clerk as follows: "No documentation has been provided to your request. I provided all the documents that were provided." When I pushed for further clarification from the county attorney on these open records, I was advised as follows: "It is my understanding that the County Clerk has provided you everything that she has in her possession including what may have been provided to her that would be considered responsive to your request." My thoughts? You and I can go look at every number on our Verizon bill, but aparently the county either doesn't have access to this or is refusing to provide that information. Or... the county manager lied about calling the grant writer. Neither option is good for our county. You can read about the Open Records Act through the State Attorney General's Office https://law.georgia.gov/sites/law.georgia.gov/files/imported/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/62/51/186385699r1.pdf]
[Note from the Editor: Here is some background from the past meeting and more.]
From my write up on the 3.13.24 meeting:
A right of way drawing was provided to the commissioners on Tanyard Road. We were minimal in what we tried to do on this as far as changing the center line. We would like to proceed with trying to obtain right of way. Johnson. We are not allowed to do this. Rogers. The grant is for drainage and street repairs. Two separate projects. Johnson. We can’t do this without talking to our administrator. You can guarantee that this will not affect our grant? Rogers. I can’t give a 100% guarantee on that. This is not meant to affect our CDBG grant.
Johnson asked to postpone this to the next meeting because he wants to ensure that we are not putting this grant in jeopardy because that is not what he understands from his source. Rogers asked the source, and Johnson would not tell him. Johnson wants the project administrator and the project engineer to have everyone on the same page. Rogers did not want to wait 2 weeks. Johnson said that he doesn’t see a problem with waiting for 2 weeks.
Guy asked Attorney Morton for insight on this. Can you provide us with some info on this. Two separate projects. You approved the ROW acquisition to approve the design of the road because of how it was used prior. The issue has been clouded in the past. The discussion previously was about design work and whether it can be used. It was his understanding that this had to be done by the design firm.
More discussion. Is the approval of this going to affect the CDBG? We haven’t had a response from the state on this. Johnson. Asked for 2 more weeks. He has not called to project administrator after he has been asked. Motion to delay this for two more weeks. Discussion. Johnson wants no mistakes or misunderstandings. Proctor will speak to Carol himself and get a 100% guarantee that this won’t affect the grant. Rogers. He said that the comment about him not calling Carol is not true. Johnson. The only way to solve this is to get everyone in the same room. I cannot ignore the information that I have been given. Motion to postpone. Approved 5-0.
[Note from the Editor: This has been a source of contention in the past even to the point of saying that if this project has to be paid for twice, it will need to be paid for twice because the engineer of record on the grant will have to do the work according to DCA requirements.]
From the 3.8.23 Legal Minutes (verbatim):
"h. Discussion of Tanyard Road Engineering.
Carol Southard, CDBG grant writer, addressed the Board stating a grant was written for Tanyard Road last year and was not awarded. Ms. Southard contacted the State to see what could be done to make a stronger application and they provided several ideas, with the biggest one being they need more pictures showing the water. The County Manager provided a video last year of the entire road, but it was turned in after the application was submitted and they would not consider it. It is time to submit the grant application again for Tanyard Road. After talking to the County Mananger, Ms. Southard was made aware that a different engineer was working on the project at this point. Last year when the application was submitted, the Board of Commissioners selected Hofstadter and Associates as the Engineer for Tanyard Road after the procurement process and through a vote. With a change in engineers the CDBG project cannot be done. Department of Community Affairs, DCA, procurement protocol must be followed for Engineering and Administration. Ms. Southard asked for direction by the Board regarding Engineering because the grant application is due the first Friday in June. County Manager Brandon Rogers stated after the county was not awarded the CDBG grant for Tanyard Road last year, Tanyard Road was put in with the county SPLOST projects because there was always a plan to get Tanyard Road done. CM Rogers stated Whitley Engineering got appointed for all the SPLOST projects. Mark Whitley has done a lot of work on Tanyard Road. CM Rogers stated since the CDBG project was not awarded it was his understanding that everything would have to be reapplied for including the Engineering and in that process the county would have a full set of working plans that can be provided to that Engineer and it turns out that is not the case. Ms. Southard stated that when Hofstadter was awarded the Engineering, they will remain the Engineers for the submission of the project. Carol Southard stated in October of 2022 is when DCA announced that Tanyard Road did not receive the CDBG grant. Commissioner Proctor stated to leave it like it is and if the county is awarded the grant this year for Tanyard Road, he is sure Mark Whitley can call Hofstadter and charge a fee to stamp Whitley’s plan. Ms. Southard stated she does not know if Hofstadter will do that. Commissioner Proctor stated he knows they will that he has not talked to Hofstadter, but money talks and he knows for a fee they will put their stamp on there. County Manager Rogers asked if the county could not just reapply and resubmit for Engineers. Ms. Southard replied that the procurement process is a 45-day process and with that Whitley has already started and as far as the State is concerned Whitley has inside knowledge of the project and they would not be eligible to submit for the engineering. CM Rogers stated his confusion is when engineering is talked about for the CDBG, it is the oversight of the project. Carol Southard replied no, it is for Design and Engineering. CM Rogers asked if he had shovel ready project that a CDBG grant cannot be applied for and if he does, he will have to pay for a second Engineer to do the project. Ms. Southard replied that is one thing they have discussed with DCA, she does not agree with it either. DCA says if their funds are involved it must be an open competitive bid for engineering. County Manager Brandon Rogers stated he is not sure if the county will be ready to submit for the CDBG grant for Tanyard Road in June because the county has not obtained the appropriate right-of way needed. Carol Southard stated she put that in the application last year that the county did not have all the right-of-way however the county was working on it and that was not an issue. Commissioner Proctor stated just leave Hofstadter as the Engineer and worst-case scenario the county is awarded the grant; they will have to pay twice to get the road engineered. If the county is awarded the CDBG grant on Tanyard Road, Hofstadter will be paid out of the grant. Carol Southard asked the Board does she needed to tell Hofstadter to move forward putting the preliminary engineering report together for the application to be submitted to the State. The Board of Commissioners said yes. No motion, discussion only."
End of 3.8.23 Legal Minutes (verbatim):
[Note from the Editor: I have a ton of emails on this. (Thank you to County Clerk Angela Blount for her diligence on filling my open records request.) At the past county commission meeting, our county manager tried to convince commissioners to vote for the local engineering firm to work on right of way on Tanyard Road seemed angry about it when Chairman Briar Johnson pushed for a reassurance that the county would not lose the million dollar grant on Tanyard Road if commissioners did what the county manager was asking.
There is a specific email from February 2024 from Kathleen Vaughn, Office Director, Community Development at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs advising that there are federal guidelines that must be followed including Hofstader and Associates being the engineer of record for all engineering work done on Tanyard Road, asking questions, and directing our county manager to ask for assistance from our grant writer, Carol Southard, "in navigating all of the federal and state requirements, rules, and regulations." Even before that, grant writer Carol Southard advised by email that her emails from November 17, 2023 and January 31, 2024 have gone unanswered by the county manager attempting to address the issue of engineering on that road after the CDBG was awarded to the county on August 25, 2023. County Manager Brandon Rogers has tried to smooth this over with the DCA, but the DCA is still asking questions regarding design of the road, etc. which are to the point and sound very concerned with how the county and an engineer that is not the engineer of record on this project has been allowed to do anything at all on this road after April of 2022. Federal rules are not very forgiving and don't care about reasons if something is done against their explicit instructions.
Did Commissioner Proctor and/or the County Manager call and speak to the grant writer, Carol Southard, after the past commission meeting? Will the local engineer continue work on the right of way on Tanyard Road? Or will the county abide by DCA regulations for CDBG as the county manager is being advised by the Department of Community Affairs and the grant writer? I look forward to seeing this is resolved. Grant writer Carol Southard worked very hard with residents of that road to get the documentation that was needed -- including residents' videos of water washing over that road so it is not safe to pass during huge downpourings of rain -- in order to obtain that million dollar grant.
I will be broadcasting the upcoming meeting (and every other county commission meeting if I can) on Facebook Live through Pike County Times' Facebook page in order to bring accountability to our Board of Commissioners and County Manager on this and other issues and hopefully cut unnecessary drama because the past meeting included behavior by the county manager that was not as professional as it should have been. The video can be watched at https://www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes/videos/726513142966020. Pike County Times has bought new, wireless microphones and will have the camera backed up to include everyone at the tables from here on out.]
End of prior meeting note.
b. Discussion of Road Projects.
pikecountytimes.com/secondary/2024RoadsList.pdf
We ended off at Concord Road.
Tanyard CDBG. No change.
Blanton Mill. Entire Road.
Woodcreek. No change.
Roberts Quarters. Only using current ROW and paving it.
McKinley. No change. Almost ready to start.
2nd District. Using current ROW and paving what we have to connect through to the city’s connection.
Old Zebulon Road. Need ROW acquisition to widen it.
Hill Street and Hwy 18 realignment. This has been awarded by the state.
Concord Road. Stick with what we have. This is before Cook Road.
Williams Mill Road. It needs to be resurfaced. Stick with what we have. Stress cracks, multiple potholes, etc.
Chapman Road. 2 potholes, stress cracks, some shoulder failure. Daniel. I live on that road. It doesn’t seem like it needs to be completely resurfaced. There are some issues with striping. We can put it back on the LMIG list if needed.
Sandefur Road. Proctor. There is a pothole, but it doesn’t need resurfacing. Complaints about striping.
Daniel Road. Stress cracks and shoulder damage. Keep it on the list.
Plantation Road. It’s done, and people appreciate it.
Pilkenton Road. A lot of potholes. Keep it on the list.
Column E. Given a pretty good deal by a crew to help us paving roads. That cost is the estimated additional cost to pay a contractor. So if you decide to do this, let me know so we can talk about it later. [Note from the Editor: The contractor has not been named in the meeting. I'm curious why we are wanting to pay someone to do what we could be doing ourselves. I realize that it will get done quicker like this and it could save some costs on paving if paving costs were to go up, but I have questions. I guess I should look at the bright side and just be thankful that this was discussed in an open meeting instead of being done behind closed doors. More on this later in the meeting.]
Caldwell Bridge Road. Multiple potholes and shoulder issues. North end is worse than the south. It needs to be addressed before it gets worse. If this is done, the number changes to $15,197 to do the paved part. Recommendation from Todd Goolsby? It would be another $30,000 for that section from the pavement to the bridge. Recommends going all of the way to the bridge.
Drew Allen. Completed.
Oliver Road. Needs work.
Pedenville Road. 2 potholes, stress cracks, but in pretty good shape otherwise. We can do the same as with Chapman and Sandefur to help balance the budget on this road project list.
Vickery Road. We don’t own the ROW on the south side. No change.
Scott Road. No potholes and large stress cracks. If stress cracks, we need to address it.
Cook Road. Public Works is ready to pave now. It’s in terrible shape. Recommend paving it. It was put down thin and wasn’t good asphalt.
Melville Brown and Chapell Hill. Completed.
Williams Mill Road Bridge. The state is going to do this.
Hutchinson Road is complete.
Every road so $17,925,000 so far. Original cost was $17,112,000. Only $584,00 over budget. [Note from the Editor: This is important because the cost to go with the other contractor to finish things up quicker could be covered with any available funds. And it sounded like they were looking for about half a million.]
McCard Lake. Probably ok on about 90% of the road and the Lamar County side is going to need some work.
Sands Road. Culvert? It’s been like forever. If it rains, we immediately shut it down. We’ve poured a lot of money down that stream.
Harden. Keep this. CM said that there is nothing special on this but has had some calls about it.
None or these are more important than the rest.
Watering Hole Pass. Needs to stay on the list.
Wildwood. 16 or 17 houses. Keep this because going to do Cook Road. [Note from the Editor: It was noted previously that feeder roads (or roads that people travel together) should be paved together to avoid future issues.]
Calvary. Maybe 5 or 6 houses. Pretty good road to Fossett. Hold off on this and Fossett.
Fossett to Eppinger Bridge. Keep this. If we’re going to do one road, we need to the connector roads. If remove Calvary, need to remove the other. When fix one, fix the other.
Hagan's Mountain. It’s not a bad dirt road. Got some bad ditches. It stays in good shape. Hold off on that.
Number of houses and whether it is a connector road are both considerations.
Scott to Ward Road to Blanton Mill.
Discussion of bringing in a second crew for paving. The more can do this year, the better.
Friendship Circle to Gaulding. Stop where the stop sign is.
Cook needs culvert done before paving.
SPLOST money.
We are paying back our loan. We just have to have the match for LMIG and pay the loan and keep doing this until we finish our projects. The interest rate was extremely low. This will save the county money from gravel on these roads. [Note from the Editor: Kudos for saving county money by taking care of these roads instead of constantly having to grade and gravel them. Whether or not it's a good idea to hire someone else to do our roads when we have road crews already is a question that needs to be discussed in depth though.]
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider use of Courthouse Grounds from Bryan Richardson with Pike County American Legion Post 197 on Monday, May 27, 2024 from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. for the Pike County Memorial Day Observance Program.
Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny CivicPlus for agenda and meeting management platform software.
Our agenda software is going to cease to exist at the end of the year. Civic Plus/Municode is currently updating our ordinances. They have a good platform for interacting and is very user friendly. Drag and drop makes things very easy. We need to move on this asap because there is a 3 month delay to get 20 weeks into the new program. We can add on as many departments as we want with no charge. All meetings connect to the meeting, and all of the agendas will be in one place with no limits. We have full access so we can change things too. Paying $12,000 annually. The first year is $16,740 but then $12,300 from then on out with 5% increases. Motion to approve. Discussion. County website may come together with this at some point. Approved 5-0.
c. Consideration of removal for cause of a member of the Pike County Parks and Recreation Authority.
[Note from the Editor: Here is the letter that was sent to the commissioners containing the legality of the issue and the request to remove Mr. Leatherman by no fault of his own.]
March 7th, 2024
RE: Jason Leatherman’s appointment as a PCPRA Member
Pike County Board of Commissioners:
On June 8th, 2022, during a Regular Meeting, the Pike County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to appoint Jason Leatherman as a PCPRA Member—a State created public office. One month later, on July 26th, 2022, during a Regular Meeting, the Pike County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to appoint Jason Leatherman to the Pike Zoning Board—a locally created public office. On February 11th, 2024, in a PCPRA Special Called Meeting to discuss personnel matters, the PCPRA reviewed its enacting legislation for guidance. At that time, it came to the attention of the PCPRA that Mr. Leatherman’s Membership may have been compromised by his appointment to the Pike Zoning Board. PCRPA Chair Chris Childress asked Mr. Leatherman to abstain from any further voting until the issue was further investigated. Chairman Childress contacted PCPRA Attorney Kevin Hurt the following day. A few days later, Mr. Leatherman advised the PCPRA that the County Attorney requested that he immediately resign from the PCPRA. As of March 7th, 2024, Mr. Leatherman has neither resigned as a Member nor is the PCPRA aware that the County has taken any formal measures to address this apparent issue. Since February 11th, 2024, the PCPRA has been operating as if it is down one Member.
The Georgia General Assembly, through Senate Bill 591, enacted into creation the Pike County Recreation Authority (hereinafter referred to as “PCPRA”). S.B. 591 (1986). The enacting legislation vested the Pike County Board of Commissioners with the authority to appoint Members to the PCPRA. S.B. 591 § 2(a). The enacting legislation strictly instructs that “no member of the authority shall hold any appointed or elected local, state, or federal public office.” S.B. 591 § 2(g). Just as S.B. 591 authorizes the Pike County Board of Commissioners as the only entity able to appoint members, it is the only entity vested with the ability to remove members. S.B. 591 § 2(i). S.B. 591 grants no authority to the PCPRA to remove Members. Likewise, the Bylaws created in accordance with S.B. 591 specifically states, “any removal of a Member from the Authority requires action by the Board of Commissioners of Pike County, pursuant to the relevant provisions of S.B. 591.” see PCPRA Bylaws, paragraph 5.3 (2010).
The PCPRA has no authority to remedy Mr. Leatherman’s PCPRA Membership. The remedy must come by way of the Pike County Board of Commissioners. The PCPRA is entirely grateful for the time contributions that Mr. Leatherman has afforded the Park. Because of Mr. Leatherman’s active involvement at the Park, The PCPRA believes that Mr. Leatherman’s resignation may be misinterpreted by the General Public and cause the PCPRA to be subject to unwarranted public discourse. We respectfully request that the Pike County Board of Commissioners, in its next Regular Meeting, remedy the issue of Mr. Leatherman’s unlawful PCPRA Membership without requiring Mr. Leatherman to resign, as it may save the PCPRA and Mr. Leatherman, each holding no fault in this unfortunate circumstance, from unnecessary public scrutiny.
Respectfully,
Christopher D. Childress, PCPRA Chair
[End of Letter.]
This has been discussed already. Leatherman simply can’t be on two boards according to the Parks & Recreation's acting legislation. The Board of Commissioners asked if he wanted a hearing on this, but he waived the hearing and asked to be removed from the Parks & Recreation Board by the Commissioners so he can remain on the Planning and Zoning Board. Motion to remove Mr. Leatherman from the Pike County Parks & Recreation Board. Motion fails for lack of a second.
Proctor wants to leave him on there. Morton. It says elected OR appointed. You’re subjecting yourself to litigation if he stays. Motion to remove Mr. Leatherman from the Pike County Parks & Recreation Authority based on Morton’s recommendation. Discussion: Morton advised that Leatherman gave a written waiver of the hearing. Approved 3-2 with Proctor and Daniel opposed.
[Note from the Editor: Kudos to County Attorney Morton for saying it just that plain and to three commissioners for listening and acting upon the direction given by our county attorney (Jenkins, Guy, and Johnson). Explaining how things should be from your point of view -- whether it be an appointment who can't be on two boards or explaining how two engineers can work on the same road because it's supposed to be two different projects -- doesn't change the fact that rules are written and have to be followed.]
d. Discussion of the Master Plan and other services for a new proposed 238 + acre mixed use Business Park.
Committee to reach out and get qualifications for the 238 acres. RFP went out. Narrowed down from 5 to 3. Invited 3 firms to do a presentation. After presentations and discussions, 2 definitely qualified. The committee chose Falcon first and Whitley second. The third was WAY higher than the other two. Looked at qualifications first. $468,000 and 2 at $20,000.
Proctor. Motion to use Falcon for Master Plan only. Daniel 2nd. Discussion. Jenkins. Is there a clause on using local rather than outside? CM Rogers said that there is a section of our code that allows us to use a local preference to let them match a lower bid. Trying to find the section of code. They have done 3 small projects for us in the past. Jenkins had a meeting today with Falcon. There were some discrepancies. Chairman. Need to have both parties in the same room to get to the bottom of this. Something happened with the City of Griffin several years ago. Committee felt like Falcon had done a good job with past jobs and nothing against Whitley. Where roads and buildings will be. Nothing else. Preferences can be given to local bidders. Both firms don’t know how to bid this because they don’t know what the county needs until we give them further information. The two bids are very close. Basing vote on the recommendation on the committee. Approved 3-2 with Jenkins and Guy opposed.
e. Discussion of Pike County Ordinance 35.09 Financial Policies, Section (B) Purchase of Materials and Services; Contracts for Public Works and Road Construction; Subsection (4)( j-o).
The county’s code versus the state for contract prices are very different. It only pertains to road contracts. Currently we are at $20,000 where the state is $100,000. With increased pricing, it’s impossible to do a road for less than $20,000. Additional costs are minimal. Our ordinances require sealed bids. CM asked them to consider looking at something similar to state requirements. It is a delay of about 2 months. We were lucky that the local contractor had nothing to do and could give us a good price, but we can’t do this with our ordinances written like it is. Stick with Public Works only. 2 readings would be required. Motion to change it to the current state only for current road contracts and materials only. Discussion. This was written when state policy was $25,000. Jenkins. Is this your recommendation? Tell me what you want to do. But you can change things if you would like. I don’t have a legal issue with the proposed change. I think it makes business sense to have a little more freedom. Proctor. It doesn’t change the approval process, right? We still have to approve it? Morton. Yes. Can do the first reading tonight and the second reading at the next meeting. Clarified that this is NOT an emergency situation. Approved 5-0.
[Note from the Editor: This goes back to that discussion about getting roads done sooner with a local contracting crew rather than waiting and letting our crews get it. Benefits and costs need to be weighed out before spending $500,000. The company has not been named that I have heard, but my thoughts will be the same regardless of who it is.]
f. Approve/deny 2012 Dodge Charger, 2013 Dodge Charger and 2016 Dodge Durango as surplus on GovDeals.
Asked to approve tonight with the exception of the Dodge Durango. If it’s junk, we’ll junk it. Motion to surplus the three vehicles with a follow up on the Dodge Durango. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT - NONE
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. County Attorney Rob Morton requests an Executive Session for 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 pending or potential litigation.
b. County Attorney Rob Morton requests an Executive Session to discuss the possible acquisition of real property pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-14-3 (b)(1).
c. County Manager Brandon Rogers requests an Executive Session for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the position of the executive head of an agency, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(b)(2), germane to personnel.
Executive Session. 8:20 p.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Back in session 9:20 p.m.
Motion to adjourn. 9:21 p.m.
Agenda subject to change.
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