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Wednesday, July 9, 2014 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
All five commissioners are present along with County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye, County Manager (CM) Hanson, and County Attorneys Rob and Tom 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 June 24, 2014 Regular Monthly Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS - 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.
Commissioner Bass commended Commissioner Jenkins on the finding revenues from the vending machines that is now bringing $1,900 to the county and CM Hanson for selling surplus items for the county and raising over $29,000. She also asked commissioners if they wanted her to carbon copy them whenever she sends an email with financial questions to the CM. They said yes.
b. County Manager Report
▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $2,236,037.28
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $1,200.42
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................. $176,520.69
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $33,689.80
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $28,004.06
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $29,060.00
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $17,274.43
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $260,855.85
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $11,426.59
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $284,266.06
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $253,298.51
c. County Manager Comments.
FEMA notified GEMA that they are not going to count our storm damage because FEMA wants photos before and after the storm; CM Hanson told the GEMA rep that we have $258,000 in expenses and that he is frustrated with this process. He said that we have $300,000 regularly budgeted and we are about $200,000 over budget so it shows that it is not regular budget items on cleaning up the roads. He said that the county spent hours putting together what was required as well as riding around with a FEMA rep and then they send a one line email denying our claim. Commissioner Bass pointed out that there was a monetary amount required when we signed on with GEMA and noted that they ought to follow through with the promises of their program.
He said that Employee Appreciation Day went well and thanked everyone who participated.
CM Hanson said that the count will probably be about $500,000 to $750,000 short on our $5.4 million SPLOST. He also advised that we are looking at how many roads we can repair from the rest of the money that will come in from the SPLOST revenue. [Note from the Editor: Shop in Pike and support the county through sales tax revenues.]
West Fossett should be open before the end of the week. Old Zebulon has the basic work done and we are waiting on the DOT now. The county had to pull away from patching that was being done for these repairs but said that the county is going back to patch work next week. Cook Road is where they are working.
d. Commissioner Reports.
Commissioner Bass said that it was nice to see employees and thank them for their service and thanked CM Hanson and his staff for putting this together.
Commissioner Jarrett commended Jonathan and Sonny for the set up and take down on the Employee Appreciation Picnic. She also commended the CM for being on top of the complaints on Cook Road.
Commissioner Powers said that the Employee Appreciation Picnic was very nice and thanked CM Hanson and his office for setting this up and even having Fun 101.1 Radio there at the courthouse.
Commissioner Jenkins echoed the comments of the other commissioners about the Employee Appreciation Picnic. He asked about a year to year comparison on the SPLOST. Commissioner Jarrett said that we could make a report and highlight our businesses here in Pike County and what they are doing for our county.
Chairman Johnson said that he has heard positive things and got some phone calls over the weekend with people saying thank you. He also commended David Allen for his reports on animal control each month. There were 28 complaints last month. Thanked him for his work.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
County Attorney Rob Morton said that his staff enjoyed the Employee Appreciation Picnic even though he could not attend due to a prior scheduled commitment. County Attorney Tom Morton said that they received notice this week that there have been 2 deaths this past week of first responders. OSHA has initiated a review of this with a possible safety review that we may have to comply with if it is adopted over the next year. County Attorney Rob Morton said that citizens can still call 911 and get through to the Sheriff's Office.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny 2nd Reading of the revised Solar Farm Ordinance, Chapter 166.
Planning and Development Director David Allen went to the smaller solar farm in Thomaston which is 2 to 3 acres max. It was on the edge of a residential neighborhood. He said that he didn’t hear anything there over the cicadas, birds, etc. He and CM Hanson also went to another small one in Meriwether yesterday and they heard a small buzz less than an air conditioner there. The CM said that most of the noise at the big one comes from the inverters that are about 500 or 600 feet apart at Social Circle so you typically only heard one at a time. He said that at 40 feet or so, they could hear noise. There were 16 inverters that he counted on Google Earth on 180 acres. Commissioner Jarrett said that topography played a part in the noise. She said that the noise from the one on the ground was annoying and it sounds like you’re close to an indoor air conditioning unit but that the sound dissipates as you get further from it. She was worried that the panels made the noise. They stood across the road from the one that was in the air there and didn’t hear it over the birds and the cars. There was skimpy tree coverage there. Discussion about the noise from the inverters: Mr. Casey said that the design of the inverters can be centralized and not near the property line. CM Hanson suggested putting in to the ordinance something that regulates how far the inverters have to be from residences. Commissioner Bass said that the 100 foot buffer on the panels should be fine. Consensus for inverters to be 250 feet from the property line because they cannot control how close someone builds a structure to the solar farm. A variance can be applied for if needed. There is a minimum size of 50 acres for a solar farm too. Discussion about the 6 month abandonment clause and the possibility of a 6 month extension. Commissioner Jarrett liked the 6 month abandonment that could be done in office with Public Works Director Allen. Commissioner Bass and Chairman Johnson said that they would be ok with the 6 month abandonment and 6 month extension if a good faith effort had made been made on this and it would go before the Zoning Administrator rather than coming back before the Board of Commissioners. Discussion about chemical use on the weeds and wanting to be sure that it doesn’t get into our water supply. Consensus to write something into the ordinance that says all applicants have to be compliant with all local, state, and federal environmental mandates. There is an extra buffer in our ordinances already around water like Elkins Creek. Attorney Rob Morton said that the penalty section will track state law with fines, etc. (OCGA 15-10-60) Discussion about the bond of $5,000 an acre and what bond options should be available for those who want to build a farm like this. County Attorney Morton said that we need to have enough on the bond to be sure that if a company goes belly up, the county would be able to clean this up with the money on the bond. The county wants to have enough bond money to take care of a cleanup if a business goes belly up. CM Hanson pointed out that the bank and private investors are involved and that this does not involve county funds. This is unknown territory for us, but we have gotten the numbers in our ordinance from somewhere else and we can adjust our numbers for later if we find that it is too aggressive at a later point in time. $900,000 bond for 180 acres does not seem excessive for a multi-million dollar investment. Commissioner Jarrett asked that the ordinance say that the solar farm shall provide a local point of contact as well as the owner of the property to the county in case of emergency. She emphasized that they should be in charge of doing this and not the county trying to keep up with this. [Note from the Editor: This was a long but necessary discussion. I commend the commissioners for taking the time needed to be sure that covers what we need for the county.] There have been a lot of changes and the commissioners had a consensus to see the changes prior to approval so this will be back on the July 29th meeting.
9. NEW BUSINESS
Discussion about the next two items. This is basically to accept the reports of another committee. County Attorney advised to open up a public hearing and accept the reports on each of these.
a. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input regarding ERC-14-01 – Southeastern Real Estate Development, LLC, property owner and applicant, is requesting to allow for a veterinary facility on the subject property. The subject property, located at 6225 U.S. Hwy. 19 South, has approximately 628 feet of frontage along the western side of U.S. Highway 19. The property is located in Land Lot 231 of the 8th District of Pike County, Georgia. The property consists of 4.58 acres and is further identified as Tax Map Parcel #068 108.
Action: Per Code Section 154.05, Acceptance/Denial of the Pike County Environmental Review Committee’s June 19, 2014 report concerning ERC-14-01.
The Environmental Review Committee met on May 27th and their only concern was that the septic system be adequate for this facility. This will come back before commission at a later meeting for final approval. It has already been before the Planning Commission.
Public hearing: None spoke on this.
Motion to accept the report from the Environmental Review Committee including their recommendations. Approved 5-0.
b. PUBLIC HEARING: to receive public input regarding ERC-14-02 – Sheila F. Everitte, property owner and Sheila F. Everitte and Elaine Cooper, applicants, are requesting to allow for a recycling center for metal on the subject property. The subject property, located at 1407 U.S. Hwy 19 South, has approximately 292 feet of frontage along the westerns side of U.S. Highway 19. The property is located in Land Lot 206 of the 8th District of Pike County, Georgia. The property consists of 1.99 acres and is further identified as a portion of Tax map Parcel #084 024C.
Action: Per Code Section 154.05, Acceptance/Denial of the Pike County Environmental Review Committee’s June 19, 2014 report concerning ERC-14-02.
Environmental Review Committee met on this and made some recommendations on this which included some rezoning conditions on size and requirements on recycling of batteries. This will go to the Planning Commission before it comes to the commissioners for final approval.
Public hearing. None spoke on this.
Motion to accept the report from the Environmental Review Committee including their recommendations. Approved 5-0.
c. Approve/deny sealed bid(s) for resurfacing Hollonville Road.
There were two bids. The first from CW Matthews, Marietta GA for $593,960.41 and ER Snell, Snellville GA for $583,259.18. This is for resurfacing of Highway 18 down to Zebulon-Hollonville Road. Discussion that the DOT resurfaced Cook Road and we have had a lot of problems with this DOT project. Commissioners wanted to be sure that neither of these companies had anything to do with the work that was done on Cook Road. Commissioners were advised that the county asked the DOT to follow up with the contractor on Cook Road but apparently we have no recourse on this. CM Hanson assured commissioners that we will have recourse with whoever works on this road because we will have a contract with them. The funds to pay for this project are coming from LMIG. This will be a fall project that we have to pay a 30% match on this. Motion to approve the low bidder contingent upon review to ensure that it meets our specifications. Approved 5-0.
d. Approve/deny to remove “Employee of the Quarter” from the Pike County Code of Ordinance.
We are looking to formally remove this from our ordinance in a 1st reading because it is a part of our ordinances and its removal is required to keep our ordinance book clean. We will be going to use this $1,000 ($250 for one employee each quarter) and use it for an employee picnic each year. There is a possibility of 2 functions because it has only cost about $500 for the employee public so far though we are waiting for the final figures to come in. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person): None.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION – None
12. ADJOURNMENT: 10:23 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.