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Editor Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor(@)pikecountytimes.com
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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Wednesday, September 11, 2024 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
Town Hall Meeting at 8:45 a.m.
ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners will meet in the upper courtroom of the courthouse on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 – 9:00 a.m. for a regularly scheduled meeting. There will be a Town Hall Meeting at 8:45 a.m. for anyone who would like to speak to the commissioners about any issues that you may have. The meeting is open to the public will be broadcast live on Pike County Times' Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes.
[Note from the Editor: It will be nice when our county joins so many of the surrounding cities and counties to record and broadcast its meetings in a central place so citizens who cannot attend the meetings can watch at their convenience. Especially those who do not have a Facebook account because there are a lot of people who don't have Facebook.]
Click here to see the documents that have been uploaded with the agenda on the Pike County government page.
Commissioners present were James Jenkins, Jason Proctor, Tim Guy, and Tim Daniel. Also present were Commission Chairman Briar Johnson, County Clerk Angela Blount, and Interim County Manager/County Attorney Rob Morton.
1. CALL TO ORDER ....... Chairman J. Briar Johnson2. INVOCATION ....... Keith Ford
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))
a. Minutes of the August 27, 2024, Regular Monthly Meeting.
b. Minutes of the August 27, 2024, Executive Session.
6. INVITED GUEST
a. Employee Recognition for service to Pike County.
• Christy Blount – Joint Board of Elections and Registration
5 years. We appreciate your service. You've done an outstanding job.
• Billy “Dewayne” Cook – Pike County Public Works
15 years. Chris Goodman. June 2009 as a motor operator, then dump truck, then a mechanic, and now he runs a motor grader. He’s an asset to the county.
• Jamie Strickland – Pike County Sheriff’s Department
Could not attend today.
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.
Discuss/Approve/Deny
Motion to approve the reports. Discussion. Jenkins the Board of Elections has done a great job with their report. Approved 5-0.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ....... $676,862.66
Fire Dept. Donations ....... $11,503.50
Cash Reserve Account ....... $18,085.56
Jail Fund ....... $32,405.89
E-911 Fund ....... $41,486.86
DATE Fund ....... $32,006.00
Juvenile Court Fund ....... $13,746.25
Residential Impact Fee ....... $333,008.44
Commercial Impact Fees ....... $13,227.80
C.A.I.P FUND ....... $122,359.07
General Obligation SPLOST 2022-2028 ....... $2,318,074.71
L.M.I.G. rant (DOT) ....... .$244,644.51
c. County Manager Comment
Provided a copy of the Code Red Contract. Asked for a motion for the contract to be signed. Motion for the Chair or CM to sign the contract. Approved 5-0.
Made aware that the audit was finalized and sent to the state. We are obligated to finish this audit within 6 months to be completed by December. Letter of engagement from the state to do this. Motion for Chair or CM to sign the letter. Approved 5-0.
Received a letter from the City of Meansville asking the county to work with them related to paving. The county could do the paving with the cities providing the materials. The City has provided a written request for including Milner Road with them covering the costs the next time that paving contracts go out.
Other items. Status of Building and Grounds. We have completed the work and are ready to move into the Extension Building. Look for an open house soon.
Also finished the kitchen in the Senior Center.
They are doing an outstanding job. Chairman Johnson. Road Department and Building and Grounds reports are outstanding.
d. Commissioner Reports
Johnson. Today is 9-11. He asked to hold a moment of silence. We were attacked 23 years ago today about now.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners
Will be attending the County Attorney training in Athens tomorrow and Friday morning. Department heads are aware, and he is available by phone, text, and email. [Note from the Editor: Commissioners finally getting CM reports, and the CM letting the commissioners, department heads, and constitutional officers know when he will be out of the office is something that has been sorely lacking for a long time. I really like seeing this kind of communication!]
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - NONE
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Re-appointment to the Pike County Board of Assessors.
Board Member Parrish Swift is required to get training within a certain period of time, but the training is only provided periodically, and it has a waiting list. One of our assessors has not been able to get that training. Alternative from the state is to reappoint Swift to the Board of Assessors and restart the clock on training since he has not been able to take the training. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Consider appointment(s) to the Public Facilities Authority.
Two at large positions open. Received an application from Jack Hancock. Well experienced in these issues and been an attorney for authorities, etc. Recommended his appointment. Motion to appoint Jack Hancock. Approved 5-0.
Also asked to reopen the applications to try to fill the other position. Motion to reopen the acceptance of applications. Approved 5-0.
c. Accept Final Audit Report for FY 2022-2023 and Communications Letter.
Had presentation from the draft at the last meeting. Were still waiting for more info. The final audit has been sent to the state. Wanting to wrap this up. Motion to approve the final audit report and communications letter. Approved 5-0.
Click here to read the communications letter: FY2022-2023CommunicationLetter.pdf
Click here to read the 2022-2023 Audit: FY2022-2023Audit.pdf
[Note from the Editor: Paragraph below is from the County Manager Report.]
Made aware that the audit was finalized and sent to the state. We are obligated to finish the next audit within 6 months to be completed by December. Letter of engagement from the state to do this. Motion for Chair or CM to sign the letter. Approved 5-0.
End of addition.
d. Probate Court sick leave approval.
Probate Judge Ginny Blakeney. One of her employees has been working part-time for the past 5 years and wants her to work full-time. This would include sick leave, vacation, etc. She is trying to work well with others even though her employees don’t fall under our purview. Motion to approve benefits as requested by the Judge. Approved 5-0.
e. Approve/deny use of American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA. Funds to purchase EMA Vehicle.
Previously approved the purchase of the vehicle through a loan. The issue is that we have not budgeted for the debt service. This has to be paid off within a year. This is not allowed by ARPA with a loan, but an outright purchase is as well as the outfitting of the vehicle. Additional grant funds will be allocated toward future expenditures. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
f. Discussion of the interview process for the Public Works Director Position.
Asked to receive the 18 applications and identify the top 5 for interviews. Needs direction on the process of interviewing. Because this is a department head, the commissioners have to approve this appointment by the CM. Can do interviews in Executive Session. Discussion. Do we need to wait until a day meeting, night meeting, or a called meeting? How about we go with the top 3? Provide them to CM Morton and will interview them at the night meeting.
g. Consideration of UGA 4-H position.
Penny Cosper retired. She was the education agent under county parameters. UGA was going to provide us with a UGA agent position with a contribution from the county. The amount is less than we had budgeted for Penny’s position. There are sufficient funds for this. Recommendation to approve this. Discussion. UGA is paying the insurance. Brooklyne Wassel. Asked UGA for help to make this a longevity position rather than a revolving door. This person will have TRS and benefits as an employee of UGA. Motion to approve. Motion for approval. Approved 5-0.
h. Open sealed bids for the 2024 Pike County Paving Projects.
3 bid packages for August 6 bid request. Watering Hole Pass, Roberts Quarters, Pedenville, Sandefur, and Chapman Roads.
McLeRoy Paving. $645,691.20 for all projects. Additional $191,350 for triple surface on Roberts Quarters on the dirt part of the road. Add the two together.
Discussion. Didn’t think that we did triple surface anymore. Is Tanyard triple surface? Yes. Goodman. I was recommended not to do that anymore. It was optional. But Tanyard has had issues with triple surface. [Note from the Editor: The current interim county manager did not put this bid together, and commissioners did not give direction to include triple surfacing any of our roads. It did not sound like the commissioners were in favor of going with this in the bids either. These bids will be reviewed by Interim CM Morton and Roads Superintendent Goodman to make sure that the comparison is apples to apples before the next meeting.]
Piedmont Paving and Grading. Newnan. $634,509.78 for all asphalt. Triple surface $490,058.23.
CW Matthews. Marietta. $789,736.33. Included with total bid.
Motion to review and then provide recommendation at the next meeting. Approved 5-0.
i. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input on the notice of proposed property tax increase.
20 minutes to speak.
Reminder that this is a requirement for a possible increase. Another at 11 a.m. And another at the night meeting at September 24.
Cherry Thomas. Is there any way to cut the budget rather than raising the millage rate?
Darryl Pitts. Talked to commissioners about information that he had obtained from county offices. Just from a year: August 1, 2023 to August 29, 2024. 114 houses built. Businesses came in during that year too. Impact fees on resident Residential were $664,047.02 and Commercial were $49,359.56 with Total fees $1,016,259.30. Growth is good for some, but it's a hindrance to others. He's worried about people 70 and 80 years old. Went to Tax Commissioner Chapman’s office and looked at businesses in this county. Everyone pays their fair share is what we are being told, but the businesses have not seen an increase in 4 years. I’m hoping that y’all will roll taxes back some. Growing this county many be fine to some, but with some, it’s gonna hurt. In the special called meeting, CM Rogers was talking about ARPA funds being used on this to not raise taxes. Why wasn’t that caught before now if it couldn’t be used?
Closed the public hearing.
1. Board discussion of proposed millage rate.
Night hearing on the 24th. Final discussion then and will have to set the millage rate. Proctor. Can we use ARPA to purchase two tractors? Morton. 3.2 million balance in the funds that are available. When we adopted the budget, we included the use for 1.5 from fund balance that included cash accounts. 4 million to 2.5 million reduction if we use current budget funding. Maybe identify SPLOST and LMIG projects and use the ARPA funds for our portion. 25% is about $4 million suggested for fund balance. Went with option 3. Still dipping into fund balance with this. $1.5 million. We’ll be facing the same issue next year. Just because we have an increase in the digest doesn’t mean an increase in taxes. Bottom line. We are tapping into our fund balance to cover our budget. We have tried to have a lean budget for the past several years.
Proctor. Pike County Federal Seizures Fund, etc. Morton. Law Enforcement uses. Proctor. Opioid. Can we pay McIntosh Trail out of that? Morton. Possibly.
Morton. We heard you loud and clear at the last meeting and are doing our due diligence on this.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - NONE
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. Interim County Manager Rob Morton requests an Executive Session for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the position of the executive head of an agency, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(b)(2), germane to personnel.
Executive Session. 9:57 a.m.
Back in Session. 10:21 a.m.
Motion to adjourn. 10:21 a.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Agenda subject to change.
[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.]