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.
If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support Pike County Times. Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Thanks for supporting Pike County Times.com!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 – 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
This meeting was attended by four commissioners, County Clerk Teresa Watson to take the minutes, County Manager (CM) Bill Sawyer, Kay Landers to discuss the budget, and County Attorney Rob Morton. (Chairman Mangham stated that Commissioner Bass' absence was cited due to health reasons.) Commissioner Collins asked that the metal roof for the Courthouse be placed back onto the agenda. Motion was made and it was approved.
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 of: Regular Monthly Meeting of April 11, 2012.
5. INVITED GUESTS - None
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.
None, as all reports will be submitted at the first Board meeting in May.
In reviewing the minutes from the past meeting, there was a discussion about House Bill 386 and its affect on Special Purpose Local Option Tax (SPLOST) and Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) collection. CM Sawyer clarified that HB 386 will affect both SPLOST and LOST collection because there will be no more ad valorem tax collection for car tags though the county will get some of the money collected from the tax that will be tacked onto used car sales between individuals. The state has said county ad valorem tax collection could go down as much as 10% or 15%. He said that there was $91,000 collected for SPLOST in February and $79,000 for March and that even if it were to go down from our high collection amount, Pike County would still have enough for cover the SPLOST payment needed for the Courthouse renovation. In reference to HB 386 and county taxes collected, CM Sawyer said that the State of Georgia has said that the Department of Revenue is going to try to help counties maintain what they received in the proceeding year. He also said that the state is also saying that some counties will lose money so there is no guarantee about ad valorem taxes that will be collected next year. CM Sawyer said that he thinks that the county has been prudent in looking at this and that it is reflected in our budget for next year.
b. County Manager Report
• Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund - $1,139,759.62
Jury Account- $0
Cash Reserve Account - $1,100,839.24
Jail Fund - $32,212.52
E-911 Fund - $85,189.71
DATE Fund - $13,194.74
Juvenile Court Fund - $27,314.83
Residential Impact Fees - $286,635.50
Commercial Impact Fees - $16,516.07
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 - $264,230.58
c. County Manager Comments
No other comments other than the amounts in the accounts.
d. Commissioner Reports:
District 1 - Commissioner Carol Bass was not present at the meeting due to health reason according to Chairman Doug Mangham at the beginning of the meeting.
District 2 - Commissioner Tamra Jarrett asked if it was too early for an update on the dumping problem on Johnson Road. CM Sawyer advised her that some action has been taken on the road but would rather that the public not know what has been done there. Advised that he would tell her after the meeting. [Note from the Editor: This was discussed in the past meeting with an emphasis on catching those who are doing illegal dumping. Click here for more information about this problem under 8a. New Business.]
Commissioner Jarrett asked CM Sawyer if there has been talk about removing the balcony in the Courthouse. CM Sawyer advised her that it was not on the agenda and that there has been talk about it. Commissioner Jarrett than asked if it would be appropriate to add to the agenda and the CM advised, "Absolutely." Motion to add discussion of the balcony in the Courthouse to the agenda. Approved 4-0. It will be discussed under Unfinished Business 7b.
District 3 - Tommy Powers had no comment.
District 4 - Commissioner Don Collins said that he has been involved in two animal control issues of late and that lack of animal control and not having an animal control ordinance in place leaves commissioners with nothing to advised callers who ask for a solution to an animal control problem. He fostered a bassett hound that was someone's pet and found out that if an animal is lost, there is very little way to find the animal's owner. [Click here for a way to contact the Sheriff's Office in case someone calls there to report finding a dog.] He said that Pike County is not as rural as it once was and that it's time to look at implementing animal control and an animal control ordinance to go with it.
Chairman Doug Mangham had no comment.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners - None except for Executive Session.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a.Discussion about a metal roof versus the asphalt shingles that were voted on during the April 11, 2012 meeting.
[The discussion of HB 386 at the beginning of this meeting factors into this discussion because the possible reduction of SPLOST taxes is the reason that the county manager gave commissioners the option of going back to composite shingles to save $77,000 when replacing the air conditioning units on the Courthouse. Commissioners voted 3-2 to buy new air conditioners and go with a composite roof instead of metal. Click here for more information about this vote under 8. New Business, letter c.] Commissioner Collins said that he asked to bring this up again because he talked to the architect Ben Carter what his thoughts were after the last meeting when the roof was changed from metal to composite. He said that Mr. Carter advised that Courthouse historically had a metal roof. Mr. Carter said that the big reason that we need a metal roof is that it not going to burn if there was a fire there and that shingles will. He asked the other commissioners to look at the long range value versus saving a few bucks to ensure that they haven't overlooked anything.
Commissioner Collins made the motion to add the metal roof back to the Courthouse. Commissioner Tommy Powers gave the 2nd on this motion. Commissioner Powers advised that he is the one who made the motion to go with composite shingles in the past meeting. He said that he changed his mind after talking to Commissioner Collins and other about this and that he doesn't want anyone to think that Commissioners are trying to take shortcuts on the Courthouse. He wants people to know that Commissioners are doing what they are doing what they are supposed to do with the Courthouse and that Commissioners are "doing it by the book". 3-1 with Commissioner Tamra Jarrett opposed. It was clarified and revoted that the Commissioners are going back to the original plan on the Courthouse with the metal roof and not doing a change order. The 3-1 vote stood.
b. Discussion about removal of the balcony in the main courtroom of the Courthouse.
Commissioner Jarrett asked what has been discussed and said that she is hearing about half the people are for removing it and about half of the people are for keeping it. She said that she has not been included in any discussions on this. CM Sawyer advised that the architect specifically said that the balcony was integral part of the courtroom. CM Sawyer said that some have said that the balcony was an add-on but said that from examining it himself, it looks like it was built at the same time as the rest of the courthouse and yields to the architect's recommendation that the balcony remain as part of the courtroom.
8. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approval/denial, on first reading, of newly revised Chapter 36, Personnel Policies and Procedures, to the Pike County Code of Ordinances. County Manager will address.
This was quite a large document that commissioners received in their packets on Friday. The county manager advised that the commissioners could make changes as necessary and that the next step would be to give it to the employees for review. Then the commissioners could have the 2nd reading and then the final adoption. He said that this what he has had at several places that he has been at. He thinks that it protects the county and the employee. He also said that this would give Pike County a personnel policy that is line with other counties in this state.
Commissioner Tamra Jarrett said that this has several major changes from current code such as allowing comp time which Pike County does not do and that the proposed policy does not have a Code of Ethics which Pike has in place now. She said that it was going to take time to make a comparison between the two documents and that she was not ready to vote on this tonight. She said that she feels a workshop is needed because this is an overhaul and not just an amendment to current policy. Commissioner Jarrett also asked where this proposed ordinance came from and was advised that it came from Macon County--where the County Manager had worked prior to coming to Pike County.
Commissioner Tamra Jarrett made the motion to postpose any action on the proposed policy until the Commission is able to hold a workshop for indepth discussion. Commissioner Collins made the 2nd. Approved 4-0.
b. Appointment to the Board of Assessors to fill a four-year term, set to expire April 14, 2016. County Manager will address.
CM Sawyer said that he was sure that the applicant was qualified but that it was a shame that the county had only received one application for the position and asked commissioners to advertise it one more time.
Motion to readvertise. 4-0.
Update 4.26.12
c. Approval/denial of recommendation of County Manager to rename the northern part of Bagwell Road to: Bagwell Road North and the southern portion of Bagwell Road to: Bagwell Road South. County Manager will address.
This has been in the works for some time. A look back at past meetings will show the work that has been done. The north side of Bagwell Road has no houses on it. CM Sawyer said that this decision, by a consensus of EMS, etc, was the common sense thing to do. Motion to notify residents and gets signs up marking the roads with the new names. Approved 4-0.
d. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on proposed amendments to Chapter 157, Development Impact Fee Ordinance, Sections 157.01 through 157.14. David Allen will address.
ACTION: Approval/denial, on first reading, of amendments to Chapter 157, Development Impact Fee Ordinance, Sections 157.01 through 157.14 to the Pike County Code of Ordinances.
The Planning Commission recommended approval. The Commissioners have the final say on this and appeals will be brought before the Pike County Superior Court. No one spoke on this. Motion to approve. 4-0.
e. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on proposed amendments to Chapter 156, Zoning Code, S- 2 Sensitive Land – Watershed Protection Ordinance, Sections 156.293 and 156.296. David Allen will address.
ACTION: Approval/denial, on first reading, of amendments to Chapter 156, Zoning Code, S-2 Sensitive Land – Watershed Protection Ordinance, Sections 156.293 and 156.296 to the Pike County Code of Ordinances.
Planning and Development Director David Allen had a map hanging up to show where this watershed is located. Most is in Upson but it does come into the south part of Pike County. When this was updated in Spring of 2011, the Potato Creek Watershed was not defined. This is now included. No one spoke on this. Motion to approve. 4-0.
f. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on continuation of Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Section 156.023(J) Sliding Payment Scale for Certain Invalid Building Permits for New Construction of Dwellings, per stipulations imposed by Pike County Board of Commissioners on April 14, 2010. David Allen will address.
ACTION: Approval/denial, on first reading, of continuation of Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Section 156.023(J) Sliding Payment Scale for Certain Invalid Building Permits for New Construction of Dwellings, per stipulations imposed by Pike County Board of Commissioners on April 14, 2010.
This policy was implemented in Spring of 2010 and is required to come up for review every 2 years. The Planning Commission reviewed this and recommended approval. Director Allen advised that there are no changes to this section of our code and County Attorney Rob Morton advised that since the commissioners are not changing or creating law, this could be done by resolution with the first reading rather than having a second reading before adoption. No one spoke in the Public Hearing portion of the meeting. Motion to approve. 4-0.
g. Approval/denial of request of Planning and Development to add an electrical inspection fee to the Planning and Development fee schedule for powerless buildings.
When a building has been without power for a months, many electrical companies will not approve turning the power on without a permit number. This will basically be the county checking a property for any problems that used to have power but has been without it for a period of time and then providing the permit number for a $50 fee rather than the normal $75 that is charged for a new permit. Motion to approve. 4-0.
h. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on SE-12-01 – Wanda Hadley, property owner, requesting a Special Exception in an A-R zoned district for a petting farm as a special events business – Tax Map Parcel #076 034.
ACTION: Approval/denial of SE-12-01 – Wanda Hadley, property owner, requesting a Special Exception in an A-R zoned district for a petting farm as a special events business.
The Board of Appeals recommended approval with conditions: have to get a business license, sign will have to meet requirements, state requirements for animals will have to be met, and it can only operate during daylight hours of 10-7 p.m. The daughter of the property owner spoke and advised that this would be for special events, birthday parties, and other special events to help recoup the cost of running the farm. Children will not be allowed in the farm itself. They will be abiding by USDA licensing. There would be goats, sheep, rabbits, and a mini-horse which are all there on the farm now. There were no questions from the Commissioners.
Public Hearing:
IN FAVOR: John Morrison said that he was at the BOA meeting and said that no inflatables were mentioned but sees no reason to make this a requirement. No one spoke against it.
Some questions were asked about CUVA and the owner was advised to contact the Tax Assessor's Office to ensure that this type of business will mess up her CUVA. County Attorney Morton asked that the 4 conditions above be a part of the motion and stated that there was no prohibition on inflatables. Motion to approve with 4 prohibitions: have to get a business license, sign will have to meet requirements, state requirements for animals will have to be met, and it can only operate during daylight hours of 10-7 p.m. Approved 4-0.
Commissioners did j. before i. because it had already been read before realizing that they had skipped one. The County Attorney advised that this would be fine.
i. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on SE-12-02 – Felker W. Ward, Jr., property owner, requesting a Special Exception in an A-R zoned district to continue the use of two (2) campers for recreational use – Tax Map Parcel #042 029.
ACTION: Approval/denial of SE-12-02 – Felker W. Ward, Jr., property owner, requesting a Special Exception in an A-R zoned district to continue the use of two (2) campers for recreational use.
Director Allen said that we have had a couple of similar instances that were approved. This is for continued use of campers during hunting season with a power pole that is already there. Motion to approve. 4-0.
j. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on SE-12-03 – Terrell A. Moody and Sherri J. Moody, property owners, requesting a Special Exception in a C-2 zoned district for a human cremation system – Tax Map Parcels #077 018 and 077 019.
ACTION: Approval/denial of SE-12-03 – Terrell A. Moody and Sherri J. Moody, property owners, requesting a Special Exception in a C-2 zoned district for a human cremation system.
This is for one 28 by 16 foot crematory on the rear of the building. There is adequate room and it cannot be seen from the highway. There will be no noise or fumes. The closest crematorium is down by Callaway Gardens. Director Allen advised that the Board of Appeals approved this with the condition that it is for one unit only. Moody Funeral Home will have to go back through the Special Exception process for additional units.
PUBLIC HEARING:
IN FAVOR: Mark Whitley lives on McKinley Road close behind Moody Funeral Home. He said that he met with and received information from the Moodys and is comfortable with the crematorium but did ask for the limitation of only one unit. No one else spoke for or against this.
Motion to approve with stipulation for one unit. 4-0.
Update 5.3.12
k. Overview and presentation of the FY 2012-13 Budget to the Board. Click here for budget calendar.
County Manager Sawyer presented the summary of the budget to the Board. He said it was a workable budget and was made to reduce or keep taxes in line while still providing services. Finance Officer Kay Landers read through each line item in the budget. It was noted that there is a public hearing on May 9th at 1 p.m. Click o the budget calendar above for the additional budget hearing dates in May and final adoption date in June. The original budget for last year was $8,583,115. This year's proposed budget is $8,541,881--a reduction of $41,234.41.
When it came to the recreation part of the budget, CM Sawyer said that he did not recommend bringing the Pike County Parks & Recreation Authority into the county as a department. He also said that he was confident that this expenses in this budget were in line with no tax increase.
After the rest of the budget was completed in this reading, Commissioner Jarrett asked if a motion was needed on recreation because a motion had been made on it previously. County Attorney Morton advised yes. Motion to amend the agenda to discuss this. Approved 4-0. Motion to follow the recommendation of the County Manager to not bring in Pike County Parks & Recreation as a county department. 4-0
9. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)
a. A representative of the Pike Soccer Association desires to address the Board to publicly voice their mission statement and detail operational and fiscal responsibilities associated with their organization.
When his name was originally called, Mr. Don Bohensky was not present so the Board moved on to the next section on the agenda. A motion was made to allow him to speak 4-0 after Ms. Walker and Mr. Clark spoke. The motion was approved 4-0.
Mr. Bohensky was advised that the commissioners are not taking over the Rec Authority at this time, but he asked to speak regardless because Pike County Parks and Recreation has voted to absorb the soccer association in order to take over the management responsibilities. He read their mission statement and commitment to organized soccer for youth in Pike County for the past 23 years through volunteers. He stressed fiscal responsibility and said that they don't ask the county for funds to run the sport and have a well-organized system for the sport. He said that if the vote stands, it will take away from the Rec Authority's primary responsibility which is to provide them with a safe place to play. He said that they are dedicated to maintaining their independent status and cooperative status with the Rec Authority. He asked for the support of the commissioners and taxpayers in the county for their independent status and advised that they plan to go before the Rec Authority next month to ask them to overturn their vote to take over the soccer association.
b. Joy Walker desires to address the Board regarding the SPLOST Courthouse renovation project.
Ms. Walker compared the cooperation of the BOC and the Downtown Development Authority which rebuilding of the west side of the square into beautiful businesses to the Courthouse renovation project which is a cooperation between the BOC and taxpayers to bring about improvements to the Courthouse square. She said that as the head of the SPLOST committee, as she spoke to people, she told them that it would cost between $2.5 and $3 million to do it properly because they didn't know exactly what it would cost and that people responded by voting for this project. She praised the commissioners for making improvements that needed to be made and said that it was showing the people that it was being done right without cutting corners so people can be proud of it when it is done. She said that it's stood for 115 years and if we do this properly, it will be around for another 115 years. She said that the citizens expect fiscal responsibility from the Board and that means using the money wisely including doing things that will cost now that will save us money down the road. She said that the Courthouse is the Level One project so it gets finished first for whatever it costs to do it properly.
c. Robert Clark desires to address the Board regarding business licensing, time of year for tax collections, programs and events for the Edwards Senior Center.
Mr. Clark received his business license renewal in December (been in business for 28 years) but was told when he went in to pay it that they couldn't collect the money for it until after the first of the year. He said that because of circumstances beyond his control, the bill didn't get paid until after they received a late notice on it plus a $9 fine and he didn't think that was right. He then said that regular property taxes were difficult for a lot of families to pay around Christmas and suggested that paying in the middle of the year or even twice a year would be more reasonable. Mr. Clark also advised the commissioners that there are programs at the Senior Center in Zebulon for seniors as well as some upcoming events for seniors and families to come by and enjoy. After he spoke, CM Sawyer said that he had a legitimate complaint and that someone would respond to that complaint within 30 days.
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 7:29 p.m.
a. County Manager requests consultation with the county attorney, or other legal counsel, for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a county officer or employee as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(6); germane to Administration.
Back into session at 7:44 p.m. Motion to accept the resignation of County Manager Bill Sawyer and thank him for the service rendered over the past two years and included in this motion is moving immediately to start an ad same as the last one with ACCG and local newspapers starting tomorrow to find a new county manager. Approved 4-0.
Motion to adjourn. 7:45 p.m.
11. ADJOURNMENT