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Wednesday, April 9, 2014 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
This meeting was attended by all 5 commissioners, County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye, County Manager (CM) John Hanson, and County Attorney Rob Morton.
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))
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
Minutes of the March 25, 2014 Regular Monthly Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS
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.
LOST and SPLOST are down 15 to 18%. What is the TAVT going to do? It looks like we will be up $150- 180,000 with TAVT even if we are down by about $140,000 with LOST and SPLOST so it is better than it appears. We don’t know exactly where it is going. The True Up (where the state makes sure that we get about the same amount with TAVT as we would have with the birthday tax on tags that has now gone away) is going to go away after next year.
It was pointed out that gasoline sales is where Pike County gets most of its sales tax. Discussion of buying in Pike County because spending a dollar here is putting money into Pike County. [Note from the Editor: Discussion about our financials shows that the commissioners--especially Carol Bass--are keeping an eye on how money is spent in Pike County. I appreciate CM Hanson's eye on the numbers as well.]
b. County Manager Report
▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $2,817,795.62
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $1,200.22
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................. $176,491.92
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $30,973.93
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $54,899.69
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $27,201.57
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $20,389.24
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $285,282.05
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $11,424.72
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $236,094.93
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $646,982.68
. County Manager Comments.
The LMIG paving projects are nearly completed. They still have striping to do. Public Works did a lot of prep work prior to paving.
FEMA and GEMA are going to reimburse at 75% of what we spent as long as we get finished before May 15th. We are appealing for sand and gravel because of the language in declaration that did not originally say “Winter Storm” but the reps are putting this in there anyway and hopefully we will get reimbursed.
Old Zebulon Road has a cave in on a culvert. Public Works is submitting this to the DOT. If we can get 75% help on this like the others, it would be good.
Budget Workshops went very well. Appreciate participation and preparation from the department heads.
d. Commissioner Reports.
Carol Bass thanked CM Hanson and staff for their work in the budget process. She praised him for his work and understanding of the budget and the commissioners for choosing him.
Tamra Jarrett said that she has had some calls about roads. She said that Pike County is not unique with bad roads and potholes. She had pictures of Cook Road which was resurfaced about 2 years ago. She brought a piece of the road and a picture of the road for everyone to see. This is a piece of the subsurface from a DOT project. CM Hanson said that we have done some different preparation on the current roads.
James Jenkins praised CM Hanson for his work on the budget as well. He mentioned Hemphill Road. Woodcreek and Milner Roads update: they have material and then the weather came in and they had to work on roads. He said that with a little bit of a breather, he can get this finished up. Woodcreek is first priority. Discussed complaints about big trucks on our roads and the need to enforce the No Thru Trucks on our roads. County Attorney pointed out that the economy has hurt a lot of small businesses. He also clarified that owner/operators are allowed to take their trucks to their homes or on a road if that is where their destination is. Our roads are being torn up by these big trucks. The county is going to follow the No Thru Trucks with our own drivers too. [Note from the Editor: This will cost us money for gas as the trucks have to travel without using our No Thru Trucks roads, but our trucks tear up the roads as much as any other truck. Kudos to all who had a part in this decision because we can't penalize others if we are going to break the rules ourselves.]
Chairman Johnson said that the shoulder of Beeks Road has been destroyed by a logging company. There was a bond that is was put down on this project and CM Hanson and Public Works Director Todd Goolsby are working on it. He also thanked CM Hanson and his staff for extra hours and their work on the budget.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
They are working with CM Hanson as needed and will be going to an ordinance violation trial related to the rescue shelter issue that has already been addressed on Thursday in Magistrate Court.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny the 2nd reading of the annual re-adoption of the Pike County, Georgia Official Zoning Map.
No changes on the map since the last meeting. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny the 2nd reading of the annual ratification of the Code of Ordinances of Pike County, Georgia.
County Attorney Morton said that there was previously an annual update for the code of ordinances and the process was changed to keep it up to date online, on paper, and by thumb drive as well as a clarification on the sign ordinance section, etc. Motion to approve for 2nd reading. 5-0.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input on SE-14-03 – Steven and Karon Sheriff, property
owners and David Jordan, applicant, are requesting a special exception in a C-2 zoned district to
allow for a used car lot on a commercial tract. The subject property, located at 10294 U.S. Highway
19 North, has approximately 289 feet of frontage along the east side of Highway 9. The property is
located in Land Lot 33 of the 2nd District of Pike County, Georgia. The subject property consists of
2.51 acres and is further identified as a portion of Tax Map Parcel #077017A.
Action: Approve/deny special exception request.
Clarified Hwy 19. Board of Appeals recommended approval with conditions because it is in the overlay district though it is existing and has been dormant for 7 or 8 years. It has an existing building and existing lot. Overlay requirements are not going to be required now, but if it grows over time, the BOA will address that at a later time. Director David Allen said that they injected common sense into this application because it is not a new development which would trigger the overlay requirements.
Mr. Jordon spoke and advised that this would be a small lot and there would be no changes to the property at this time though they have agreed to make improvements as the business improves.
Steven Sheriff said that he has owned the property for 8 years. It was changed over to C2 in the past because he wanted to have an office on the property. He did have an office on the property at one time, but the economy put an end to that. He said that Mr. Jordon is a Pike County resident who wants to use this lot had a good business plan and Mr. Jordan’s family is supporting him on this. Mr. Sheriff said that property is supposed to be used for its best purpose and it already has a building, lot, and a lighted sign and that Mr. Sheriff is trying to make a successful business that will bring in tax dollars for the county.
Mr. Sheriff said that he might have been remiss but said that he doesn’t remember the overlay district being passed or getting a letter about this. He said that this is still rural Pike County and had a problem of sorts with the overlay requirements like paving the entrances, etc. but said that there have only been a couple of businesses opened on this stretch of road and 2 are for sale now. He asked the commissioners to give Mr. Jordon a chance to open this business.
No one opposed.
Public Hearing was closed for commission discussion. Commissioner Carol Bass asked for clarification about the overlay district. This is an extra layer of requirements on top of existing properties. County Attorney Morton said that this was passed after anticipation of growth and is like laying a transparency on top of the commercial corridor. This was to affect future development and is similar to the sign ordinance being passed and was designated to affect potential growth in Pike County. The parking lot will be required to be paved and the driveway paved if the business grows to over 50 cars or has two years of success based on the conditions from the overlay district. It will be reviewed after two years regardless. If he is selling 50 cars at a time, he will be able to afford to pay for the overlay requirements. There was a lot of discussion back and forth about this and Commissioner Bass praised the BOA for using common sense on this application. This would go back to the Planning Commission or Board of Appeals and Director Allen if a building permit is required for a new building.
Motion to allow Mr. Sheriff to address an issue. Approved 5-0. He said that most people who own a used car lot do not work on cars on the lot. Director Allen said that one of the conditions is that he does not do repair work on the property.
Motion to allow with conditions set forth by the Planning Commission and Appeals Board. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny continuation of a 75% discount on non-residential Impact Fees; first approved in March 2012.
It’s been 2 years on this and this is the 2 year review on commercial and industrial development fees. It was lowered to encourage business. Director Allen said that this has applied to 4 businesses and doesn’t think that it has been directly responsible for development here, but it certainly hasn’t hurt. Commissioner Jarrett said that she sees the benefit of continuing this. Motion to continue the 75% reduction for another 2 year period. 5-0.
c. Approve/deny request from Christy Hammons of IDA to apply for a one day alcohol license with the state. This is for their May 15th Business 2 Business Membership Appreciation Event that will be held at Chestnut Oak.
Motion to approve 5-0.
d. Consider request from Timothy Guined from Meansville Fire Department to use the courthouse grounds for Give Burns the Boot on Saturday, April 19, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Motion to approve 5-0.
e. County Manager to present the FY 2014/2015 budget to the Pike County Board of Commissioners.
The process has been a department making a request and going through this line item by line item with the CM after which the CM made a recommendation, then the public workshop where this was done again. The road conditions have been a major issue this year and will be in the upcoming year as well. CAP program is going to start up this year. 2% increase for the employees is included in this budget. It is $64,000 for the employees only—-no elected officials, commissioners, or CM. CM Hanson also wants to meet with department heads if any changes are made to their budget requests to ensure that everyone understands what is being done.
He praised the department heads for their hard work on this budget. He talked about a building and grounds department for the roads next year to free the Public Works Director to work on roads. We have SPLOST and LMIG projects coming up. Commissioner Jarrett praised Director Allen for his report on Animal Control. Looking at a total recommended budget of $9.3 million with increase of $726,797 with roads being a large reason of the increase. Insurance figures are not known yet. County Attorney Morton said that CM Hanson wants to have an additional meeting with department heads after the budget is approved to insure that everyone understands what is going on and there are no misunderstandings. [Note from the Editor: Thank you to CM Hanson for handling this budget process in an open, efficient, and professional manner.] Motion to accept the 1st draft of the 2014-2015 budget as presented to commissioners by CM Hanson. (This is not an approval because we have public hearings, etc. before final approval.) Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)
Commissioner Tommy Powers praised Director Allen, CM Hanson, and County Attorney Rob Morton for their hard work and made the motion to adjourn.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
12. ADJOURNMENT: 10:11 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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