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Wednesday, April 14, 2021 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has an online agenda and accompanying information for this meeting. Monthly information from Animal Control, Coroner, Fire Department, ambulance, Library, Magistrate Court, McIntosh Trail CSB, Planning & Development, Registrar, Superior - Juvenile Court, Tax Assessor, and the Water Authority are included as well during the morning meeting only.
We encourage that attendees follow recommended Covid-19 guidelines which include staying home if you are ill/not feeling well, washing your hands, maintaining social distancing, and wearing a face covering (recommended but not required)
Commissioners James Jenkins, Tim Daniel, Jason Proctor, and Chairman Briar Johnson were at the meeting along with County Clerk Angela Blount, County Attorney Rob Morton, and County Manager (CM) Brandon Rogers. Commissioner Tim Guy was not present at the meeting.
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))
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the March 30, 2021, Regular Monthly Meeting.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
6. INVITED GUEST
a. Employee Recognition for service to Pike County.
Tracy Vincent
Congratulations to Major Vincent on 20 years of service to Pike County! CM Rogers and Sheriff Thomas both commended Major Vincent on her work in the office and on the budget. Sheriff Thomas said that this is a tough job, and you’ve been a good employee and a good friend. Major Vincent commended the Sheriff saying that he is a fair man and a good man as well as saying that time has gone in the blink of an eye. She also commended the Board of Commissioners, Angela, Rob, and Brandon and said that this is the best board she has ever worked with.
Joseph ‘Garland’ Keller
Congratulation to Sgt. Keller on 10 years of service to Pike County! CM Rogers said thank you for all that you do. Sgt. Keller works the night shift for the Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Thomas said that Keller is a family man. He is firm but fair. He has also assisted the public by going above and beyond by changing a tire and unlocking a car when needed.
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.
Discuss/Approve/Deny
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ........................................................................................ …$4,849,018.60
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $6,419.89
BOC – Jury Account………………………………………………………………$0.00
Cash Reserve Account ........................................................................ ….....$307,584.37
Pike County CD Special Revenue funds………………………………………….$0.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $27,505.60
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $40,286.35
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $52,517.03
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $12,207.82
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $942,504.52
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................. $179,950.76
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................... $39,478.98
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2016 ................. ..$1,270,143.96
L.M.IG. Grant (DOT)………………………………….……………….…..$662,046.39
c. County Manager Comment
Received a request to lower the speed limit on the dirt side to 15 mph from 35 mph because of the dust. He doesn’t know if this will help. It’s already been reduced from 45 to 35 so this would be a second speed reduction on this road. Question about paving. This is on the list because of location and that it is a cut through. Funding is the issue. ¾ of a mile. About $700,000 or $800,000 to get it asphalted. We are spending about $700,000 a year from LMIG to do several roads rather than just one. Commissioner Jenkins is worried about seeing right or left and dust maybe clouding vision. Maybe go to 25 mph instead of 15 mph because it’s too slow. Brandon is concerned about people cutting through and going fast when it is paved. Motion to change it to 25 mph. Discussion: Commissioner Daniel said that both sides come in at an angle, and it’s dangerous. Commissioner Jenkins asked about a dangerous intersection sign before the Dollar General. Chairman Johnson said that he is going to oppose this because he thinks we should put money into calcium chloride on the road to bring the dust down instead of responding to citizen requests to change the speed limits all over the county. Brandon said that there are some questions about usage, costs, and length of time that it will remain. $4500 per mile when we used it before. 3-1 with Chairman Johnson opposed. [Note from the Editor: I remember when calcium chloride was placed on this road. It worked for quite some time to cut down the dust. And the intersection is horrible right there at the DG and Cadie's Corner.]
A previous board moved forward with water at Peachstate. The project is underway. Public Works is finished, and the only thing left is pressurizing the lines. This was a reduction of tax credits. Would the Board approve $22,470.13 for paving from contingency? $39,970.13 reduction by doing some of the labor. Motion to use contingency for this project. Approved 4-0.
During the budget process, we have two CAT dump trucks coming off of a lease in July. He and Todd think that the best thing to do is buy these trucks. 2 new trucks are $160,00 or $170,000 each. These trucks are $70,245 each with 3.25% for 36 months from First Bank of Pike for 3 year loan since it was the lowest bid when sent out for bid. Motion to buy these and accept the low bid. Approved 4-0.
Old Zebulon Road culvert. We are working as quickly as we can on this. Hydrology and engineering reports have come back. DOT agreed that it needed to be a bigger pipe. Two 84 inch culvert pipes. Somewhere around $320,000 to put these in. RFP’s expected April 23. Opened at the night meeting on the 27th. Wants to open and make a decision that night if possible. The road deteriorated extremely fast and started caving in. It’s a huge inconvenience, but it was a safety issue. We are not capable of dealing with putting in because of the 9 ton weight of the pipes. Concrete box culvert is double the price that we are looking at so this is why we are putting these in instead. It will handle 100 year flood. We have applied for emergency LMIG. Hopefully we’ll get 70% on this, but there is no guarantee.
Reminder that the environmental review is ongoing on the ordinance. Hopefully have some details on the May 12 meeting.
d. Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Jenkins is concerned about Jonathans Roost Road. Code Enforcement was behind for a little bit, but one of our part-timers from Animal Control helped with this for 2 days a week so we are making some progress on this. CM said that if it hasn’t been resolved, we’ll follow up on this.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners
Lawsuit against Clerk of Court for July. The plaintiff has agreed to dismiss the case. He is actually in prison. The case will be dismissed.
Motion to dismiss in the SO case.
Also provided an open records request in response to an employee matter.
Closings and an abandonment of property also being followed up on. Continuing to work on ordinances. Working with staff in Planning and Development and code enforcement as well.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny the Second Reading of the Pike County Code of Ordinances Chapter 36 – revisions to Personnel Policy regarding full-time employment and benefits.
Added a definition for full-time employees, hours, etc. Motion to approve 2nd reading. Approved 4-0.
9. NEW BUSINESS [Note from the Editor: Use the link at the top of the page to look over all of the information in the Unfinished and New Business sections of this meeting. Many thanks to County Clerk Angela Blount for expending the time needed to ensure that county business is transparent for Pike's citizens.]
Applicant is here. This is Cadies Corner. Currently selling alcohol now so this is just a change of ownership. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0. Appreciated site plan, etc. from the County Clerk.
a. Approve/deny issuance of alcohol license (Retail Sales – beer) for Marcus Kyzer, 3K Enterprises Inc, 10030 Hwy 19 North, Zebulon, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
Applicant is here. This is Cadies Corner. Currently selling alcohol now so this is just a change of ownership. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0. Appreciated site plan, etc. from the County Clerk.
b. Approve/deny Internet Access and Services Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Concord.
This was discussed at the last meeting but was not voted on at the last meeting. Nothing has changed. We could do the same thing for Williamson later on. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
c. Approve/deny the First Reading of the Pike County Code of Ordinances to add Chapter 116 Hotel/Motel Excise Tax Ordinance.
Rob provided information prior to the meeting so this can be a 1st reading. What percentage do you want to do? Anything over 3% has a specific way that this money has to be used. The decision will have to be made before 2nd reading. Meriwether, Upson, etc. use 5%. Brandon recommended 2.1. 60% of 5% is non-restricted with the 40% being restricted by Georgia code. The summary of the law is included. Other counties are using the over 3% funds to help support the local Chamber of Commerce which is supporting tourism. Motion to approve the 1st reading pending the percentage. Approved 4-0.
d. County Manager to present the FY 2021-2022 Budget to the Board of Commissioners.
Salaries, insurance, and retirement are not included. Has a number that includes 3% raise for everyone. 12619 recommendation plus. Turnover is a problem. The insurance is fair but could be better. Retirement needs significant improvement. These increases will make us competitive. The Sheriff’s Office and Public Works are two big items. We are competing with Spalding County and losing officers with experience because of what we are paying. Came up with a points system to become competitive with Public Works as well. We are paying them $13 an hour for $30 hour job. We lose experience when they go to that $30 an hour job. Whole motorgrader crew has turned over twice in the past couple of years. We are constantly having to train people. We’d better to look at the long term plan.
Contingency line has a $25,000 increase. This is an unknown. We don’t have a finished census yet, and that may bump us up to the next level for 20,000. Registrar. We are having to pay a warranty on the equipment. This number will increase again next year because we’ll be paying for a full year instead of 6 months. BOC. ACCG sent a change to the base salary last year that changed everything last year in January. It wasn’t anticipated last year but we know this year. This is written in Georgia Code and must be followed. Public Works. $110,000 increase. Decrease in LMIG of $100,000. Concord Hollonville Road was supposed to be paved but the DOT is replacing a bridge so this is put off until next year. Next year: Vega, Country Brown Road (Lamar is paving their section), Blanton Mill to Ward Road (first dirt to pavement road), Twin Oaks Place, and McDaniel Road. $611,000. Took extra $100,000 and put it into Public Works for roadwork maintenance and ditching. Recreation covers expenses for expansion. Planning and Development has an $87,000 increase. They are hoping to reduce this because of extra funds there because next year will be expenses with Comprehensive Plan is coming up and it is $90,000 alone. Fire Department has a vehicle included. An F250 had an apparatus that is just overloaded. They need a safe vehicle for brush fires. Animal Control has been reduced, but we are almost done with the facility.
Chairman Johnson asked about AmWaste. It used to be $0 for us, and now we are down to $4500. We have allowed Countryside to use our equipment to continue operating the Transfer Station. It used to cost around $250,000 for the county to run it. Countryside had $0 for like 13 years before coming to the Board and said it was costing them more money. The Board helped out some. The reduction is because one of the pieces of equipment is coming off of a lease. They purchased the tractor from us. This is a win-win for everyone. Bailer is in poor shape. They asked for one last year and we approved it but they didn’t get it because of Covid. This is added this year. AmWaste is going to do some improvements out there. A request to extend the shed for coving recyclables. They will pay for the added improvements and change some things around. [Note from the Editor: If we don't have a contract with this new company, that needs to be addressed immediately because of possible liability issues.]
Rob had to step next door for prosecutions that are going on. Suggested receive the budget. Motion to approve. 2nd. Discussion. Projected revenues. How are they looking? We have seen an increase in certain revenues with some flatlining because of Covid. We are expecting the digest to change due to the reassessment from last year and walking through the commercial this year. We are anticipating a little higher money coming in. Approved 4-0.
Click here to download a copy of the General Fund. [Note from the Editor: This is almost everything in the budget. However, there are some open spots like E911 which will have to be downloaded and viewed separately according to the links below.]
Click here to download a copy of the SPLOST Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the LMIG Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the Law Library Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the Law Enforcement Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the Juvenile Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the Jail Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the Impact Fee.
Click here to download a copy of the Federal Seizure Fund.
Click here to download a copy of the E911 Proposal.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn. 10:05 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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