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
 
Online
Welcome to Pike County Times.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.

If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support the only free online newspaper in Pike County. Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. Click here to donate through PayPal. Thanks for supporting Pike County Times.com!

 
 
REGULAR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONTHLY MEETING
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia

1. CALL TO ORDER....................................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson

Chairman Briar Johnson was not able to be here this morning for this meeting though the other four commissioners were present. Vice-Chairman Tommy Powers ran the meeting in his stead. County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye was there to take the minutes along with County Manager John Hanson and County Attorney Tom Morton who sat in for Rob who was in court today.

2. INVOCATION………………………………………………………………………….Frank Winfrey

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 September 29, 2015 Regular Monthly Meeting.

6. INVITED GUESTS

a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.

Sandi Chamblin has served for 9 years. She received her 5 year service pin. Tom Morton said that she is one of the finest registrars that he has had the opportunity to meet and work with.

Kevin Cress has served for 12 years and received his 10 year service pin. Sheriff Thomas praised Kevin with his responsibilities for courtroom security, civil and warrant service, and working with the judges in our district on the behalf of the Sheriff’s Office.

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.

b. County Manager Report

Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................... $489,577.23
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $1,931.32
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................$ 500,269.97
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $22,311.88
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $61,882.69
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $35,645.17
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $15,908.37
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $295,729.96
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $13,448.54
C.A.I.P FUND................................................................................................. $1,895.63
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $602,590.48
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $122,657.15

c. County Manager Comment

Discuss 2016 SPLOST Referendum.

The currrent SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) expires on June 30, 2016. The Courthouse renovation has completed and the debt was paid off first, and the remainder of the 2011 SPLOST is being used on our roads right now. Public Works is working on patching projects now and have addressed some needs already.

SPLOST is a 1 cent sales tax and is not to be confused with LMIG (Local Maintenance Improvement Grant) which is funded by State Motor Fuel Tax and used to improve roads across the state. Pike County must match all LMIG funds with 30% of the total amount. CM Hanson showed commissioners and those in the meeting today how he proposes to use both the LMIG and SPLOST together to get the most bang for our buck here in Pike County.

Background on our roads. Williamson-Zebulon Road is the most heavily traveled road in the county and we are working on it now with LMIG. Roberts Quarters, Patton, New Hope Roads all have around 1,000 to 1,200 cars per day according to 2013 DOT estimates. Concord Road is pretty decent road right now but it is about a 900 car a day road and we don’t want to wait until it is falling apart to address issues. McKinley Road is being redone with 2011 SPLOST funds. Kings Bridge Road has about 1,970 cars a day on the 2013 estimate. Those who drive to Newnan and Peachtree City from Pike, Upson, and Lamar use this route. Tanyard, Shortcut, Howell, and Strickland Road all have issues that need to be addressed so the county is also taking care of our unpaved roads. There will be some patchwork done with SPLOST funds in order to get roads ready to be resurfaced with LMIG funds.

The current SPLOST will end on June 31, 2016. July 1, 2016 would begin this SPLOST if voters give the ok for a SPLOST based on roads during the March Presidential Preference election. $5.8 million is the 6 year SPLOST estimate and this would include the cities with the money being split between the cities and county according to the last LOST numbers. CM Hanson has based this number of $5.8 million on a little less than the amount that the county has brought in during the current SPLOST over the past 12 to 18 months. If there is growth in the economy, there is a real chance that the county can bring in more than $5.8 million, and all of that money will have to be spent on roads in our county. *Please note: This is not an additional tax over what we are paying now. The current SPLOST will end and a new one can be put into place if the voters choose to do this, and it will not cost us anything other than the 1 cent per dollar that we are already paying.

If the SPLOST passes, CM Hanson envisions the following for 2016: Roberts Quarters Road ($445,632.75) and Patton Road ($334,462) are at the top of the SPLOST list. $99,225 will be allocated for an equipment purchase and $135,000 will be toward unpaved repairs and surface treatments. CM Hanson said that Director Todd Goolsby and his staff has worked on the numbers on our roads and have been accurate on our estimates so he is confident that we can work within the numbers that are in this presentation. Hanson said that there are big dollar roads coupled with smaller roads based on numbers that we are expecting to come in. He said that LMIG dollars come in annually so we are going to work with the two lists together so we can do more than one road at once. Our dollars will go further if we do more than one road at a time so this makes sense. We are already committing about $300,000 out of our budget each year to match with the Georgia DOT will be allocating to us each year so there won't be any big changes with our taxes on this either. New Hope Road is our recommended 2016 LMIG road along with Howell and Jonathan’s Roost Road. Hanson said that we are looking to match GA DOT each year with about $300,000 from our budget to the state’s LMIG dollars that will come to about $450,000 starting next year. He said that we are doing our work right on these roads by patching what needs to be patched and going down to the base and building it back up where that is needed too.

Hanson explained how LMIG is going to be matched with from SPLOST and said that we can do what is on this list by using money wisely and not ask for any more money than we are already doing. There won’t need to be any budgetary changes to do any of this. He also pointed out that if the county gets a bond on 75% of the money that we are expecting to come in, we can save money by getting work done on more than one road in the county at one time and save against any potential costs of construction going up as opposed to doing a little at a time as the money comes in.

If we pay as we go, we get $5.8 with the county getting $4.3 million over the next 6 years. If we decide to do a debt obligation, we can issue bonds or a straight debt amortization where we make monthly payments so we can start immediately, we could borrow up to $4,350,000 as we need it and pay it back as we go. We could do all of the Roads for Roberts Quarters through Eppinger Bridge Road and possibly do several roads in one summer in one shot. He asked what’s it going to cost us versus not borrowing? What will cost of construction cost if we wait? It will cost us 14 ½ to 17% higher at the end of 6 years if costs go up a little each year as they are prone to do. If we bid together, it will be less if we do 12 roads. *Please note this side note: The asphalt plant in Griffin has been closed for the past 2 years so we have been going a much longer distance to get our asphalt too.

Hanson told commissioners that 2 3/4 to 3 1/4% on borrowing equals about $370,000 to $450,000 in interest which would be less than what we would pay if construction costs go up each year as they have done traditionally. He also said that we could be wise with our funds and come out cheaper and have more money to do roads. He reiterated that the final estimate for this SPLOST is with no growth AND only borrowing 75% of what we are looking to gain overall from SPLOST. Questions that closed out his presentation were: Do we want to write the referendum with or without a debt obligation? Do the cities want to participate in the SPLOST and do they want to participate in a bond referendum? If the cities participate in the bond referendum, the cities will be responsible for their own debt. The cities met with the County Manager in a 1 p.m. meeting today in order to discuss the possibility of being a part of the 2016 SPLOST.

Click here to read the 2016 SPLOST Referendum Proposal. Click here to read more about the 2016 Proposed SPLOST Referendum.

d. Commissioner Reports

Tim Daniel has had a lot of road calls and advised the Public Works has said that they will be making a circle to take care of the entire county after all this rain.

Tim Guy said that he has had road calls and specifically on a section of Brazier Road.

Tommy Powers said that he road about 45 miles of roads this week. He said that Public Works is doing all that they can do and commended him for the work that they are doing.

James Jenkins went to an ACCG meeting and said that he is proud to be from Pike County where we are not dealing with problems like other counties. He said that building is up for Pike County this year so that shows that there is economic growth. He said that if growth continues at the same rate, we will have more than a 2% growth that will help for county infrastructure as well as quality of life.

e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.

County Attorney Tom Morton advised that Rob is in court today so he could not attend. He said that intergovernmental agreements that have been drafted and they meet the law as well as the proposed upcoming SPLOST.

8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

9. NEW BUSINESS

a. Consider request from Jimmy Vincent of the Montgomery Lodge #31 to use the courthouse grounds on November 14, 2015 from 6:00 am until 4:00 pm for a fundraiser.

Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.

b. Approve/deny resolution to adopt the revised Capital Improvements Element 2014 Annual Update as transmitted on August 26, 2015 and approved by the Department of Community Affairs in September 2015.

Director David Allen said that the DCA made some review comments that will be addressed. This has not changed since August of this year when the commissioners looked at this. There were several projects that haven’t been done yet. The Sheriff’s Office and Recreation Authority both have money that needs to be used. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - None

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None

12. ADJOURNMENT

Motion to dismiss. 10:00 a.m.

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.]

10.14.15
Top