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Wednesday, June 12, 2013 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
This meeting was attended by all five commissioners, County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye to take the minutes, and both Interim County Managers and Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton. Quite a few people were in attendance at this meeting as well. John Morrison spoke in the Town Hall portion of the meeting which is held 15 minutes prior to the meeting and said that the employees need to get a 2% raise in this year's budget. He pointed out that both he and Commissioner Tommy Powers got a 3% raise in January with their checks that come each month and that the departments in Pike County are doing more with less people and deserve a raise.
1. CALL TO ORDER....................................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson
2. PRAYER………………………………………………………………………………….Ben Maxedon (This will be called an invocation in the future rather than a prayer.)
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 Specially Called Meeting on Thursday, May 23, 2013.
Minutes of the Regular Monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 28, 2013.
Minutes of the Special Called meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 2013.
6. INVITED GUEST
John Barker to present the Board with the Joint Broadband Resolution.
The Pike County Industrial Development Authority has agreed to fund the entire cost of a broadband feasibility study for the county. The cities and the Board of Education have all signed onto this agreement which has no commitment tied to it for future funding. Commissioner Jarrett said that she thinks this is a sensible gesture on the county's part to look into this because it is critical for the citizens and for business. Motion to approve. 5-0.
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.
Discussion that the District Attorney's Office is going to be overbudget. The counties all pay a portion of the cost for the DA's office and the proposed budget has an increase in it. The question was asked if the DA's office is aware that they are going to be overbudget. It was mentioned that CM Morton could contact them if needed. Motion to approve monthly reports, etc. submitted by Friday. Approved 5-0.
b. County Manager Report
▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund - $1,682,053.04
Jury Account - $0.00
Cash Reserve Account - $176,416.99
Jail Fund - $24,940.34
E-911 Fund - $199,228.06
DATE Fund - $18,871.02
Juvenile Court Fund - $22,687.01
Residential Impact Fees - $280,945.60
Commercial Impact Fees - $8,203.90
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 - $345,255.32
PC L.M.I. Grant - $315,362.11
Motion to read the numbers above aloud to the audience. Approved 5-0.
c. County Manager Comments
The DDA Yard Sale was rained out on May 4th so they have asked to reschedule for June 15th. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
The tree on Johnson Road was removed by Public Works.
Update on Cook and Strickland Roads: These roads were repaired with LARP/now called LMIG funds and the DOT let and supervised the projects. Pike County was not involved in this process and has found the work unsatisfactory from November 2012. We will be sending a letter to the DOT asking for the work to be reviewed and fixed.
Scheduling 3rd reading and adoption of budget. [Note from the Editor: Click here to read about the 1st reading of the budget and download a copy of the budget to review.]
Update on potential roof damage: An adjuster and engineer will do an inspection to see if we have coverage.
Update on the Sheriff's Office windows: They were old, cracked, not functional and new ones have been installed. Proposed to be paid for with Impact Fees. Normal procedure for Impact Fees is for a proposed project to be presented before the expenditure, but it was going to come out of a line item that already overbudget so it was suggested to be done through Impact Fees.
- Discuss Atlanta Regional Commission requested funding for MARTA. This wasn't discussed much in the meeting except for CM Morton to say that he recommended not doing this. Pike County Times obtained the paperwork on this to find out exactly what was going on. In March of 2012, the US Census Bureau identified part of Pike County as being a part of the Atlanta Urbanized Area (UZA). That small portion of Pike County is eligible for Federal Transit Administration Section 5307 and 5340 funding though each one is subject to a local match. Section 5307 had $485 available for mass transportation purposes and it would have required a $121 match from the county. The section 5340 funding for planning for mass transit, etc. is $77 with a $19 match. The 5307 program provides grants to UZA's for public transportation capital, planning, job access and reverse commute projects as well as operating expenses in certain circumstances--all of which are supposed to enhance and revitalize public transportation systems in urban areas. The Atlanta Regional Commission and Marta acknowledge that some rural areas do not have mass transit per se, but they are required to offer these funds to Pike County on an annual basis from here on out.
- Prayer Policy update. The county has received a written recommendation from Ben Maxedon about the invocation policy that the county is preparing. No final draft yet, but maybe at the next meeting. Commissioner Bass said that no more than 3 minutes is a long time and said that 2 minutes may be better.
d. Commissioner Reports.
District 1 Carol Bass - none.
District 2 Tamra Jarrett said that she and Chairman Johnson attended the joint Board of Education (BOE) and Board of Commission (BOC) meeting last week. She said it was a good meeting and was used to update prominent issues between the two boards. Pot holes on Williamson-Zebulon Road were mentioned specifically. She asked about the (Capital Assetts Program) CAP plan. CM Morton said that he was asked to make changes late yesterday that this will be presented at 5:00 PM.
District 3 Tommy Powers - none.
District 4 James Jenkins - He complemented the courthouse open house and said that it showed a positive side of Pike County.
Chairman Briar Johnson - He thanked those who helped with the open house at the courthouse including Jo Ann Wrye, Teri Totten, Sandi Chamblin, Rob and Tom Morton, Jonathan Smith, Todd Goolsby and David Allen. He said that he would like to revisit discussion about an alarm at the court house through a local company. It is on the agenda later. He said that some have expressed concern about cleaning in the courthouse which could be done through inmate help. CM Morton will check into this for the Sheriff's Office and the West Central Integrated Treatment Facility. He mentioned that the stairs going into the courthouse had no handrail on the right side--that these are the steps that lead to the main entrance into the courtroom. He also said that he received a thank you from the Concord City Council for the work that Director Todd Goolsby and Public Works did on Harris Street in Concord.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
Tom Morton told commissioners that as a practicing attorney in our county, he appreciates the outstanding job of the board has done to bring an old, out of date facility up to the times. He said that the county has given the attorneys and judges eight did working tool and he greatly appreciates the work that has been done. He said that many people spoke about the courthouse with pride after going on a tour and many stayed for the noon ceremony after their tours. He thanked those who helped with this open house and said that the courthouse is not only up to date, but that we kept our the heritage in this county and the people in Pike County that can be proud of the work that has been done.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approval/denial of second reading of Text Amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 150, Building Regulations, Sections 150.01, 150.15, 150.16, 150.17 and 150.18 to include reference to the state adopted International Building Code (as published by the International Code Council) and to correct typographical errors.
Director David Allen specified that changes have been made as directed. Motion to approve the second reading. Approved 5-0.
b. Discussion and approval/denial of proposal from Cintas concerning fire protection at the Pike County Courthouse. David Allen
Director David Allen advised that he had been made aware that Warden Sanders uses this system in this facility and up the information needed to request a proposal from this company. Out of the proposals received, this was the most expensive. [Note from the Editor: This is a continuation from earlier discussion whether or not to pay for offsite monitoring of the courthouse as fire protection, etc. The courthouse has a sprinkler system and an alarm that will sound if there is a fire so someone walking by could hear the alarm, but there was not a way to contact emergency authorities if a fire began after hours. I applaud the commissioners for supporting this proposal because taxpayers just paid almost $3 million in this investment and the sooner you can notify help that it is needed, the sooner that they can get on site and take care of the problem.] Chairman Johnson said that he wants to consider doing this with the local company because it does not require any additional phone lines. Cornerstone requires a $450 set up fee and $299.00 per year to do the monitoring that we need. This cost can be divided between all departments in the courthouse. Commissioner Jarrett said that many people have approached her about this and asked for offsite monitoring of the courthouse in order to protect this valuable asset. It was noted that Fire Chief Randy Snyder recommended off site monitoring as well so they can turn off the sprinkler system and stop flooding in the courthouse after an emergency situation. Commissioner Bass said that she thinks this is a feel good thing and doesn't think it will stop the courthouse if it burns because she thinks that the best chance is the new sprinkler system, but if it makes everyone happy she will support this. She noted that the Spalding County Courthouse burned to the ground with a fire station right across the street from it so these comments are not a reflection on our fire department at all. Commissioner Powers said that his concern is the old wood in the original courthouse that will be hard to stop once a fire starts and that getting a 911 call for a fire at the courthouse may not help but that he will support this if that is what the commission wants to do. Commissioner Jenkins said that this will not prevent the courthouse from burning, but said that the people paid for it and the people want to protect their investment so he will also support this. Motion to have Cornerstone to the outside monitoring on the court house. Approved 5-0.
c. Roof repair at Sheriff’s Department.
The insurance carrier has been contacted about roof repair on several facilities in the county including the Sheriff's Office. CM Morton said that he believes some of the issues are over and above hail damage but will wait until after the evaluation to make a determination on what to do with this. Specifically, the AC units on the roof may have caused some areas with pooling of water on the roof. The previous cost to fix the roof was $12,000. Once the issue is assessed, the county can get three written quotes to fix this if the total is under $24,999. If the amount is $25,000 or more, three formal quotes will be needed. This can be paid from the Jail Construction Fund or Impact Fees.
d. Authorize AT&T phone line repair from SPLOST if contractor does not pay.
Mike Cartner told the commissioners to send him a bill on this and that Spratlin and Sons, Inc. would pay for it.
e. Repair of Old Lifsey Springs Road. Originally it was said that the DOT would pay 100% of this $36,869 project. However, the DOT is treating this like a LMIG project (formerly known as LARP where they provide state money for road and bridge improvements) and the DOT will find 2/3 cost at $20,000 and the county will match the remaining $16,869 from Impact Fee funds. Motion to spend $16,869 in Impact Fees to fix this road. Approved 5-0. This does not change the current LMIG list of roads, bridges, etc. that are currently slated for repair. This money is from emergency funds from the DOT. This expenditure will leave $8000 in this Impact Fee account.
8. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny of Tax Refund/Relief Application of Terry Adams in the amount of $395.42 (for years 2010, 2011 and 2012) due to error in county records.
State law says that if an error is found on the part of the county, the taxpayer is entitled to a refund. Motion to approve the refund of $395.42 based on staff recommendations. Approved 5-0.
b. Consider one appointment to the Pike County Family and Children Service Board to fill a five-year term, set to expire June 30, 2018. Applicants have met all criteria.
Clark Mitchell Turner, Jr. and Claude Hollis applied for this position. Motion to appoint Clark Turner. Approved 5-0.
c. Consider three appointments to the Pike County Parks and Recreation Board to fill a three-year term, set to expire June 30, 2016. Applicants have met all criteria.
Chuck Brasfield, Kelly Kee, Jacob Clay, Arthur Jett, and Timothy Shirah applied for this position. Motion to appoint Jacob Clay. Approved 4-1 with Chairman Johnson dissenting.
Motion to appoint Chuck Brasfield. Approved 5-0.
Motion to appoint Kelly Kee. Approved 5-0.
d. Consider approval/denial to move $47,758.03 from Contingency to Litigation Disputes line item 100-13-1530-521202-000.
This is in reference to case involving Magistrate Court that when all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. There is a $96,000 in contingency that commissioners must approve this budget adjustment to pay for attorney's fees out of contingency. Motion to move $46,758.03 from contingency to the litigation disputes line item. Approved 5-0.
e. EMPG Grant and related bids.
Three bids have been received to take care of hooking up the generator that will run during emergency situations when there is a power outage. This will enable the county gasoline pumps to run during emergency situations as well as enabling Public Works crews to take care of damage in the county such as downed trees, etc. and Sheriff's Deputies to stay on the roads with their cars using county gas which is bought in bulk and costs less than that at area gas stations. Pitts Electric is the low bid. Motion to accept bid from Pitts Electric to wire this generator. Approved 5-0. This is a matching grant in which the county pays 1/2 cost of the $30,000 grant. The grant was for a generator and its installation.
f. Health Department air conditioner unit. The AC unit went out yesterday in the vaccines and medicine section of the building and needed to be repaired immediately. Public Works Director Todd Goolsby obtained three bids and worked on an emergency basis. The low bid was $2350. This is not a budgeted item according to the county manager, however the county provides salary support to the Health Department and he asked that this be paid out of contingency. Motion to approve the expenditure of $2350 to repair this air conditioner unit. Approved 5-0.
g. Auditor's Agreement. CM Morton provided the commissioners with a letter of engagement from our auditor. There is no increase from last year and it remains the same as last year at $37,575. A commissioner noted that the auditor went over this amount by $975.00 this year. Motion to approve the contract for $37,575. Approved 5-0.
9. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 10:12 a.m.
a. Interim County Manager requests Executive Session 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 applicants for County Manager.
Back into session at 10:54 a.m. No motions were made in response to this Executive Session. CM Morton said that he forgot to address the issue of the check for furniture in his report. He said that he wanted commissioners to be aware of this and that no action was necessary on it. Motion to adjourn.
11. ADJOURNMENT: 10:55 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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