Pike County Times
The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor@pikecountytimes.com
 
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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.

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REGULAR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONTHLY MEETING
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 – 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia

All 5 commissioners are present with County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye to take the minutes and Rob Morton acting as Interim County Manager (CM) and county attorney. The room is probably about half full of citizens and county personnel.

Rob asked to remove item 9b because it needs additional work before it can be presented. Motion to approve. 5-0.

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 August 13, 2013 Special Called Meeting.
Minutes of the August 14, 2013 Regular Monthly Meeting.
Minutes of the August 14, 2013 Special Called Meeting.
Minutes of the August 15, 2013 Special Called Meeting.

6. INVITED GUESTS
Rob Morton to introduce the part time Administrative/Accounts Payable Clerk, Jennifer Gilow.

There was a panel interview of the final five applicants and it was a unanimous decision. Jennifer Gilow will be able to back up all three positions as well as having experience with transcription so she can help with meetings if needed. Jennifer was at the meeting and was presented to commissioners and the public. She will begin work next week.

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. There are no Department reports as they will be provided during the first Board meeting of August. Revenue/Expenditure Statement and Detail Check Register is included.

Rob walked through a couple of changes and clarifications in the reports to the commissioners. The machine in the Sheriff’s Office does cost the county every year, but this is a revenue maker for the county (with reimbursement coming to the general fund for the county) because the machine belongs to the county. There were several items that he walked through including where the commissioners approved taking $22,000 from the Jail fund to offset expenses prior to help with offsetting salary line items there. The commissioners are learning about the in’s and out’s of these revenue/expenditure reports--including the refund to the county for the Director of Planning and Development turning in his cell phone to the county so he can use another cell phone as well as learning about any negative numbers that showed up in the reports. They are also checking a larger than normal bill with Southern Rivers for the Senior Center. It was almost double what it normally is so it is being investigated. [Note from the Editor: I am impressed with the knowledge of the commissioners already on these numbers and express my thanks again to commissioners for the extra time that they are spending keeping an eye on our tax dollars.] Motion to accept the reports as read. 5-0.

b. County Manager Report

The Pike County Commission received a certificate of recognition for being a valued worksite by West Central Georgia Workforce Development Corporation for participating in the intern program. He thanked Jo Ann for her efforts in this program as well.

▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund - 1,037,876.55
Jury Account - 0
Cash Reserve Account - 176,446.96
Jail Fund - 30,352.61
E-911 Fund - 247,059.59
DATE Fund - 21,106.49
Juvenile Court Fund - 21,503.86
Residential Impact Fees - 284,090.07
Commercial Impact Fees - 8,204.56
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 - 307,132.82
PC L.M.I. Grant - 335,388.83

c. County Manager Comments.

The Sheriff notified the county that some of our deputies have left the Sheriff’s Office for other employment. Some of the replacements have to be trained so there may be some overtime needed for training which will effect the overall budget.

Part-time custodian has been advertised.

Anticipate a proposal from Liberty for our phones and DSL so it can be compared to that of AT&T.

Old Lifsey Springs Road has been delayed because of the rain but will be finished soon.

Workshops have been conducted for all of the departments on the new changes for the county employees with the Personnel Policy.

September 9th is the beginning date for roof repairs. All should be done within a 2 week period depending on the weather.

d. Commissioner Reports.

Commissioner Tamra Jarrett – The county has been provided with a list of vehicles for salvage and surplus. The county will work through this process. Prefer to allow county citizens to bid on these items because they paid for them. Commissioner Bass said that it was found during the tagging process that there are a lot of items that county offices said that they didn’t want or need some items, and these items could be produced for this as well if the offices could be asked to produce them.

She also asked what percentage of the county has been mowed so far? This is an ongoing effort with two crews taking care of the northern and southern sections. All spots have been mowed this year, but the rain has made this a hot topic again. Public Works is mowing around the county and addressing the dangerous spots and complaints as they arise too.

Chairman Johnson attended the 3 Rivers meeting in Turin last week. The 74 Corridor from LaGrange to Macon has been recognized as a freight route. This is probably 15 to 20 years out but the DOT is looking at this. He also welcomed the new employee.

e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.

None.

8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Update 8.30.13

a. Discuss Patterson-Pope invoice with Carolyn Williams.

Superior Court Clerk Carolyn Williams could not attend the meeting due to health issues with a family member; however, she met with Mr. Morton twice and has given documentation on this. The minutes from the April 10, 2013 BOC meeting show where $1,872.15 for locking doors in the vault area was approved. Some of these files are mandated by law to be confidential and there was a problem in the past that has made this absolutely necessary. There was a bid process that was presented earlier this year with four bids. The board approved the expenditure of $1,872.15 from SPLOST in the April 10, 2013 BOC meeting but that was never spent. This amount plus $500.87 equals the $2,318.02.Motion to take it out of the Superior Court budget instead of SPLOST. Carol, James. Discussion: Commissioner Jarrett asked about the figures from the past meeting. The revised invoice is for $2,318.02, but $1,872.15 was approved to be paid for out of SPLOST during the past meeting. Commissioner Bass said that there was a discussion to stop taking money out of SPLOST earlier this year so the original $1,872.15 would come out of SPLOST and the remaining amount would come out of the Superior Court budget for repairs and maintenance that has money in it that hasn’t been spent. Motion to approve the $1,872.15 from SPLOST funds and the remaining $500.87 from the Repairs and Maintenance portion of the Superior Court budget. 5-0.

Update 9.23.13

9. NEW BUSINESS

a. Discuss Public Works Impact Fee.

There had been a request to research other funds or revenues to help offset expenses for the General Fund. The Impact Fee Fund was researched and on June 25 there was an amount given but it did not deduct the $10,050 for a guard rail out of Public Works or the Old Lifsey Springs Road repair amount. There was a recommendation to correct the discrepancy of $26,919 from last year’s expenses out of Contingency with $10,500 for the guard rail and take $16,689 for Old Lifsey Springs Road out of Contingency funds for this year rather than using Impact Fees. $46,543.49 is in the amount in Contingency. The county has up to 60 days is used to make changes to the prior year and close the books out. Motion to follow the County Manager’s recommendation. 5-0.

b. Discuss and/or approve/deny Exempt position in the County Extension Office.

c. Discuss and/or approve/deny LMIG bids.

This has been advertised. There are 3 sealed bids that were received by 5 p.m.

Piedmont Paving: Sullivan Road - $225,000, Twin Oaks - $127,076.80, Dripping Rock Road - $198,987.45, and Ethridge Mill Road - $57,514.10. Total 608,578.45 for 5 miles of road.

CW Matthews Contracting: Sullivan $169,488.77, Twin Oaks $91,390.12, Dripping Rock Road $143,307.13, and Ethridge Mill $40,646.51. Total $444,832.53.

ER Snell Contracting, Inc: Sullivan $168,735.60, Twin Oaks $94,333.40, Dripping Rock $140,904.65, and Ethridge Mill $40,670.75. Total $444,644.40

CM recommendation to open the bids and allow the CM and Public Works Director Todd Goolsby to review the bids to ensure that we are comparing apples to apples. Chairman Johnson opened the bids. It appears that all have submitted the required paperwork. Motion to receive the bids and accept the recommendation of the CM at a later date.

d. Consider three appointments to the J. Joel Edwards Public Library Board to fill a three-year term set to expire August 31, 2016.

There are only three applicants and there are three seats open. Motion to accept the applicants and appoint Monique Pierce, Bobby Adams Jr., and Peter Potter.

e. Consider bids and bid award for landfill monitoring.

The county has hired a consultant related to this process and they are supervising this bid process as part of their duties. In a letter dated August 16th, there were 3 bids received along with a bid tabulation by the consultants. Consultant recommended Advanced Environmental Management at $7,798. Motion to accept the bids. 5-0. Motion to accept the recommendation of the consultant for AEM at $7,798. 5-0.

f. Consider abandonment of 80 feet of right-of-way for Pinecrest Farm Subdivision at Harden Road deeded December 14, 1989.

A title search was done to see if the county owned the right of way on this road. CM Morton said that the county does not have to move on this tonight. There is a plat showing this in a previously platted subdivision on Harden Road. However, while it was deeded to the county in 1989, the county is not maintaining this property as part of our county road system. Planning and Development Director David Allen said that a citizen has approached the county about acquiring this property as a private road. Director Allen said that the first step would be to start the process to abandon this road and it is a long process. Commissioners want to review this and discuss it at the next meeting. Motion to postpone this until the September morning meeting. 5-0.

g. Discuss bulletin board of Pike County events on our website.

The county has received a request for a bulletin board for local events through the county website. Similar to the Chamber’s website. There was a lot of questions. Who would maintain that? That would have to be maintained by the webmaster and it shouldn’t cost the county any more money. How could this be done? Who would approve it? CM Morton said that the County Clerk could act as a liason on this. This is a good idea but it could be labor intensive. The commissioners wanted to get some more information on this before acting on it.

h. Approve/deny contract between Board of Assessors and Traylor Business Services, Inc. related to personal property audit services.

There is a contract that was reviewed by the Board of Assessors and they recommended approval. It is an annual contract to perform the audits that give us our values in the county. Motion to approve as long as it does not exceed the budget amount. 5-0.

i. Discuss establishing an official form and fee pertaining to the registration of dangerous and vicious dogs.
Click here to read HB 685 passed in the 2011-2012 session which defines--by state law--the definition of "dangerous" and "viscious" dog as well as the county's jurisdiction and ability to enforce these definitions. This legislation bases its definitions of dangerous or viscious upon the actions of the dog and NOT upon the breed of the dog.

The same state law that mandated an Animal Control Officer for the county. Planning and Development Director David Allen addressed this. There is no standard form or fee for this and various entities around us do not have a standard procedure and the state has not provided specifics on this. There was an incident in Molena last week that involves a dog that has been classified as a dangerous dog and the owner wants to keep the dog. It will have to be maintained in a particular way to ensure that it will not be a danger to anyone again. He came up with an application for this as well as a certificate that could be used for board review. The fee needs to be high enough to be taken seriously but not to prohibit the owner from keeping the dog. This is based on the actions of a particular dog and NOT for any certain breed of dog. Commissioner Jarrett wants time to think about this. CM Morton said that since there is a pending case in Molena, it needs to be handled as expeditiously as possible. Chairman Johnson said that he would like to see a one time fee to keep a dangerous dog rather than a fee plus a yearly fee to maintain the dog. Commissioner Powers asked how the determination to call a dog dangerous or vicious. Director Allen said that one of the determinations is whether or not the dog is on its own property. The Molena case involved a dog on someone else’s property. Commissioner Powers said he would also like to see a one time fee on this. Consensus to review these documents and make a decision at the next meeting.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person)

[Note from the Editor: I have heard no discussion of specifically paving Harden Road with SPLOST funds. LMI grant roads are listed above and those are paid for with a mix of state funds with a county co-pay. I don't know how this started, but I do know the shape of many of our already paved roads. And if I had to choose between keeping up what we already have and paving a road from scratch, upkeep will win every time. Should I even mention the fact that those wanting to pave this road knew that it was a dirt road when they moved onto it? This discussion was often heated and even got a little ridiculous at times.]

a. William Hatley to address the Board in reference to paving Harden Road.

Mr. Hatley requested that Harden Road be paved with SPLOST funds. He said that there have been 2 accidents there over the past couple of years. He gave incidents that he said showed that the road needed to be paved including what he said was a scare meeting up with a school bus on the road. He said that it is a bad situation that could endanger kids on the road if there is an accident. Mr. Hatley said that one church on the road has pavement and the other doesn't. [Note from the Editor: At one point, Mr. Hatley tried to make this into a black/white issue about churches and who had pavement and who didn't. Hence my comment about ridiculous.] He has a petition that has signatures from many who would like the road paved and said that there were 4 families who did not sign his petition to pave the road. He also said that he doesn’t want people riding horses on the road.

b. Sherry Totten to address the Board in reference to Harden Road.

Ms. Totten specifically bought her property on the dirt road because it was a dirt road and she likes it that way. She also pointed out that Mr. Hatley’s house is for sale and she plans on living here for a long time. She said that people will speed more if the road is paved. She said that she has never seen any problems with school buses and that sharing the road with horses is about the same as sharing with bicycles. She said that he could be thinking of property values rather than safety of people and that paving will increase the volume of cars on that road and everyone should obey the laws and drive carefully on all roads. She ended by saying that she plans on staying and she doesn't want her road paved.

c. Jason Seaton to address the Board in reference to Harden Road.

Mr. Seaton asked about 80 signatures on Mr. Hatley's petition and said that there only 27 houses on the road so 80 signatures is a little high. He also said that Mr. Hatley’s say so holds just as much weight as his own. Mr. Seaton said that Mr. Hatley is resorting to baseless accusations when he talks about churches and pavement. He asked if a church member should have the same say so as property owners? Mr. Seaton said that he wanted accountability on this, and he does not want the road paved.

d. Randall Moss to address the Board in reference to not suing the county.
[Note from the Editor: Mr. Moss sent a handwritten letter to the county which was received on July 5, 2013. In this 8 page handwritten letter, he advised that he was going to obtain his license to practice law and that he would sue Pike County (as well as the state and any other involved entities) for the "circumvention of law and wrongfully taking my granddaughter".]

Randall Moss was not present.

e. Robert E. Adams, Jr. to address the Board in reference to roads.

Robert E. Adams, Jr. said that Hutchinson Road/Jonathan’s Roost Road is deteriorating because Barnstormer’s Grill and other businesses out there. He said that there are about 40 houses out there. He said that traffic to this business is deteriorating the road. He asked who would pay for the road when it needs to be repaired in the future. Even if a business is creating money for the county, there is still a problem that needs to be addressed because this business was approved. He also asked about some other topics and made some suggestions that did not relate to roads.

Motion to allow Patricia Harden Yates to speak. She said that she has witnessed many funerals where the hearse wasn’t able to come into the church because of the condition of the road. She also said that it is not a race issue when it comes to road paving and the churches. She said that Harden Road is a cut through, but it needs to be paved. She said that she has empathy for those who own horses. She said that she would give some land to straighten out the curves if needed because there are ruts and gravel that make it dangerous. She said it needs to be paved.

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 8:07 p.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 County Manager.
[Note from the Editor: I am hoping that this will result in the final 3 names being released for the 14 day waiting period before a County Manager is hired.] Click here to read more about this process.

Public announcement: John A. Hanson has been deemed a finalist. There will be 14 days for investigation and discussion before the final selection can be made. Motion to approve the selection of the finalist John A. Hanson.

Motion to adjourn. 8:25 p.m.

12. ADJOURNMENT

Agenda subject to revision.

[Note from the Editor: If you appreciate being able to read information from county meetings for free on Pike County Times, please make a donation to Pike County Times through the PayPal link at the bottom of the page or by check to Pike County Times at PO Box 843, Zebulon so I can justify the amount of time that I am spending away from family. It may not seem like much but sitting in a meeting and then typing it up takes a lot more time than you might imagine! Thanks for reading Pike County's only FREE newspaper.]

8.27.13
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