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December 9, 2015
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
1. CALL TO ORDER....................................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson
2. INVOCATION………………………………………………………………………….Frank Winfrey
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE...................................................................Chairman J. Briar Johnson
All commissioners were present except Commissioner James Jenkins. Also present were County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye, County Manager (CM) John Hanson and County Attorney Tom Morton.
4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. § 50-14-1 (e) (1))
Two items were added to the agenda at the County Manager's request. 9e. to consider renewal of the alcohol license for Mountain View Store and 9f. to approve the GDOT Radar List for Pike County.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the November 24, 2015 Regular Monthly Meeting.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.
James C. Fox was recognized for serving 5 years at the Sheriff's Office and awarded his 5 year service pin. CM Hanson said that he’s a good man to serve and protect our citizens.
Jeffery L. Boyt was recognized for 10 years of service to Pike County and awarded his 10 year service pin. CM Hanson said that he has seen Officer Boyt in the cold pouring rain directing traffic. “You can always depend on him and he always does his job professionally.”
Helen R. Carter was recognies for 16 years of service to the county as the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent for Pike County and awarded her 15 years service pin. CM Hanson said that she has served the county for many years and if anyone needs any help with crops on small farms or any of the consumer sciences, she is always ready and willing to help.
Cynthia Foster has worked in the Tax Commissioner's Office for 17 years and was awarded her 15 year pin. Greg Hobbs said that she has continued to serve and help the citizens in our county even while she was going through some tough times. He said that she excels at what she does and has one of the most important jobs at the Tax Assessor's Office.
Patricia Maxedon was recognized for serving the county for 25 years in the Tax Commissioner's Office and awarded her 25 year service pin. Tax Commissioner Donna Chapman said that Patti is an asset to the county and that she is dependable and dedicated in every way as she takes care of the citizens of the county.
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.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $1,436,011.48
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $3,942.97
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................. $589,484.84
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $16,550.65
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $66,374.71
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $35,088.41
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $15,926.18
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $314,975.53
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $13,992.16
C.A.I.P FUND................................................................................................. $1,895.63
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $550,996.38
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $122,660.51
c. County Manager Comment
2011 SPLOST projects have been advertised. 2016 SPLOST is on a roll. LMIG is ongoing. There is striping going on in the county along with the Williamson Road project. Other roads include Cook, McKinley, Old Meansville, Buchanan and the Pike side of Carver road.
Praised the Chamber and the IDA and said that he enjoyed the Economic Update meeting.
The Georgia Forestry report shows how they help our fire department and our region. We needed an old water truck and they let us acquire it for $200. Thanked Chief Ranger Jeff Kenerly for helping with this.
The big Christmas tree is on the square. Harriet Pryor will soon be 101 years old and this was her dream to share it on the Courthouse square. CM Hanson asked our guys if we could do it and they said we can do it. She came up yesterday and saw it. It was on her living room with ornaments many years ago and she planted it outside. It is now 42 feet tall. It will be decorated with lights only since ornaments would likely blow away.
The Trails Grant is going to be applied for that the Woerners spoke about in a prior meeting. Click here to read about it. The proposed trail will be 1 mile and ¾ through an old county road on a farm. The application is due on December 18, 2015 and will cover everything that is needed through Parks and Recreation and will cover all expenses.
He said that he appreciated the attendance of the Economic Update breakfast and said that it was a good meeting.
Received the annual report from the Georgia Forestry, a lot of people do not realize what they do for us and tip my hat to them. We also have some budget amendments we will be talking about in the meeting today.
d. Commissioner Reports
Tim Guy – Hamilton and West Curtis Roads were calls that he received for work.
Tommy Powers – He has had some calls on roads.
Briar Johnson – Melville Brown is in pretty rough shape. Next meeting is January 13th. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
Rob is in trial today. Tom said that he is playing backup quarterback today. We have a Council on Aging that began in 1979 under Twin Rivers as a non-profit. The entities that are involved in it now are Pike and Spalding Counties. The charter calls for reps from Zebulon and Griffin. There are 8 on the Board of Directors. Patricia Beckham is on the Board as our representative. She is very faithful to attend at every meeting. There has been a complete overhaul of the Council on Aging. Pike and Spalding took over providing hot meals to citizens. People are living longer and the services there have substantially expanded because the county has taken over the food part of this program. New bylaws were prepared and changes will be taking place in the new year. The City of Zebulon has appointed Tom Morton as their representative and there are monthly meetings in Griffin.
Pike County Transportation Committee has not met this year. Lack of quorum has been a problem too. Pike County is on a direct route from Savannah west to Alabama and Tennessee so the long range program would involve widening Highway 74 and make a wider corridor for trucks. The Savannah Seaport funding was approved in 2015, but it is a long range project. He is looking to work with the County Manager on getting this group active in the upcoming year. This could bring more truck traffic through our area 10 or 15 years down the road. It could possibly even bring more industry to our county in upcoming years. He said that we need plan for this now.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny renewal of Alcohol License (Retail Sales-beer) for Jack Park, d/b/a The Cedars Golf Course, 13080 Hwy. 18, Zebulon, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
b. Approve/deny renewal of Alcohol License (Retail Sales-beer) for Jack Park, d/b/a The Pines Golf Course, 3094 Reidsboro Rd., Williamson, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
c. Discuss/approve/deny 2016 LMIG Project.
We are required to designate the projects that we intend to do though it will still need approval from the state. We plan to do all 3 of them. New Hope Road, Sheperd Road, and Jonathan’s Roost. These are resurface projects. Roberts Quarters is on the SPLOST and it will be done in conjunction with these roads. This may change if the SPLOST does not pass.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
d. Discuss 2014-2015 year-end budget amendments.
The County Manager walked through a few things with the commissioners. Motion to sign the year end budget amendments. Approved 4-0.
e. Approve/deny approval of Alcohol License (Retail sales – Beer) for Rakesh Chourasia d/b/a Mountain View Store, 3181 Hwy. 19, South, Meansville, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
f. Approve/deny GDOT Radar Listing for Pike County.
Click here to check out the radar detection list.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
12. ADJOURNMENT: 9:48 a.m.
Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.
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