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Wednesday, April 12, 2017 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has a download of the agenda and accompanying information for this meeting. This includes items listed on the agenda such as the Medical First Reponse License and the property being decided on Bottoms Road. Monthly information from Animal Control, Coroner, Fire Department, Grady, Library, Magistrate Court, McIntosh Trail CSB, Planning & Development, Registrar, Superior - Juvenile Court, Tax Assessor, and the Water Authority are included as well. [Note from the Editor: This is about as transparent as I can imagine for county government!]
All 5 commissioners were present along with County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye to take the minutes, County Manager (CM) John 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))
a. Minutes of the March 28, 2017 Regular Monthly Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.
Jo Ann Wrye - Jo Ann has been with the county for five years and received her pin for her service. CM Hanson praised her service and said that she was nominated for employee of the year last year with ACCG and helps out with both citizens and is responsive to the commissioners as well. Jo Ann said that it was nice to be able to come to work and enjoy your job. [Note from the Editor: I appreciate Jo Ann's work too. She is very helpful when I call or email. She's also quick to take care of potential problems or point me in the right direction when I ask for help. A member of the press can't always say that about government entities and those who work in them. Thanks Jo Ann!]
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 ............................................................................................ $2,732,459.21
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $4,475.82
BOC – Jury Account………………………………………………………………$0.00
Cash Reserve Account ........................................................................ ….....$506,154.11
Pike County CD Special Revenue funds………………………………………….$0.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $16,383.02
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $24,775.72
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $43,639.51
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $14,026.84
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $434,236.24
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $20,639.14
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................... $23,011.50
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 ...................... $661,177.46
L.M.I. Grant (DOT) ..................................................................................... $577,372.62
c. County Manager Comment
CM Hanson said that it has been a busy couple of weeks with the budget. More on this later in the meeting.
He said that the county is moving equipment out to the Jonothan’s Roost Road. They are replacing a culvert in the county now, but that is next on the list. The ditching program is a continuation of SPLOST and the roads on the list include Old Zebulon, McKinley, McCard Lake Road, Woodcreek, Strickland , and North Madden Road. He said that these need the most attention and that there is about 174 miles to go.
SPLOST and LOST are both doing well. Both are above last year’s numbers on both compared to last year.
All of the county departments have now been moved.
d. Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Jenkins asked about calcium chloride. CM Hanson said that will based on traffic and degradation of the road. Working on this list. Ditching and crowning of the roads will preclude those that need this.
Chairman Johnson was at the Industrial Development Authority meeting prior to the Commission meeting and apologized for being in a rush to attend the meeting.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
No additional report.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny REZ-17-01 – Marjorie B. Harrison, property owner, and Jesse Armistead, applicant, are requesting a re-zoning of the subject property from A-R (Agricultural-Residential) to C-3 (Heavy Commercial) in order to develop an electrical company office and associated warehouse. The subject property, located off of Bottoms Road and Williams Drive, has approximately 1071 feet of frontage along the northern side of Bottoms Road and approximately 540 feet of frontage along the western side of Williams Drive. The property is located in Land Lots 83 and 110 of the 9th District of Pike County, Georgia. The subject property currently consists of 26.813 total acres and is further identified as a portion of Tax Map Parcel #042 027.
This was continued from the past meeting. Click here to read the write up from the last meeting. Tim Daniel said that even though the Planning Commission and staff recommended denial, he asked for additional information on this. He said that he was looking for ways to help these folks because we need business like this in Pike County. However, he said, our forefathers set these zoning rules in place for a reason and it would break every rule to rezone this. His motion to deny is based upon staff recommendation. 2nd by Tommy Powers. Motion approved (for denial). Property was denied for rezoning. 5-0.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny Council On Aging Proclamation
Motion to approve. 5-0.
b. Discuss/approve/deny Coronal Solar Farm Negotiations.
Rob Morton said that a letter is in the packet that outlines this request. Pilot agreement never went through in the beginning. Asking for the IDA (Industrial Development Authority) to be able to negotiate a bond issuance for development which is what the IDA does. Abatement of taxes over 10 years. 30%, 50% and then 100%. Recommendation to approve the IDA to negotiate on the Commission’s behalf. The bond debt will be paid directly as this goes forward. Recommendation to approve. CM Hanson shows the revenue from this and the abatement and said that this is typical. Consistent of what Taylor County did and around the state. This was addressed with the IDA and was presented to the Commission as soon as it was received. $132 million project. [Note from the Editor: There is a a copy of the letter and the schedule in the county commission packet. See note at the top of this write up to find out how to get to it.]
Property tax is separate from this so they will still being paying this each year. The purpose of the abatement is help with the upfront cost and labor. The project cost is $96 and the rest is labor. This will help bring in revenue to the county. The amount of money coming in each year will rise. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
c. Approve/deny 1st Reading of the Credit Card Policy.
Basically, we have one credit card for the entire county. This would allow the county to have a credit card in each department and each department head would authorize usage according county policy and accountability would be through required usage going through the Commission Office. Looking at being efficient. Motion to approve. Jenkins, Daniel.
Discussion: Are we going to give it out to each department? It will be in the charge of each department head. Commissioner Powers said that this turned sour once before and we never got all of our money back. CM Hanson said that the limit of transactions per day and month. The county can ask for alerts on these cards too. Anyone who circumvents this will be held accountable up to firing. CM Hanson said that the county will be watching this closely. County Attorney Rob Morton said that the controls that are included in this policy were not in effect when that incident happened before. There can be parameters on each card depending on need and it requires monthly checks through the department head and the county each month. Chairman Johnson asked about accountability. CM Hanson said that each transaction has to be signed off by the department head and that has to be turned over to the county each month. Approved 5-0.
d. Approve/deny authorization for County Manager to sign Medical/First Response License.
This was discussed in October. The Fire Chief and CM Hanson have met with the state. There is basic lifesaving that can be done right now, but this adds a layer to the what we already provide. This will allow us to work with the medical provider as well and gives us parameters for Standard Operating Procedure. This is in the packet as well. There is no cost for the license. Rob Morton said that the Fire Department has asked for written authorization on this from the County Commission. The policy was approved in October. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
e. County Manager to present the FY 2017-2018 Budget to the Pike County Board of Commissioners.
Landers, Jo Ann Wrye and staff have worked tirelessly on this. All of the authorities and the department heads have worked through this. First draft. May 10 is the first reading. This budget is close to last year and we won’t know our digest until August.
Road Department/Public Works. LMIG and SPLOST roads are being continued. Wilder and Howell Road. Chapel Hill and East Milner are out to bid now.
There are some county changes. Workers Comp, liability and phone system have all been shifted to the County Commission. It makes more sense to do it this way in case it comes in over or under budget so they don’t have to disseminate to various budgets. We are at the end of the conversion on phones to Voice Over IP. This has been a long road. Commissioners have lowered the cost to the county from AT&T because we have lowered the number of lines that they were charging the county for and the county had no idea how many lines there were. We will be charged now only for the amount of lines in each office.
A 5% increase for employees in the county is included. This includes those who didn’t get the 2% last year. If people already got 2% last year, they will only get 5% overall if this budget is approved.
CM Hanson is anticipating a call from Matt Bidwell on insurance. Originally looking at a 12% increase ($89,000) on insurance. The county is trying not to pass this cost along to the employees. Adjustments can be made as we go along in the budget process with this.
The Transfer Station is getting a lot of calls to the county. Prior to 2012, the county ran the Transfer Station aka the dump and recycling center. The county paid out consistently about $200,000 per year prior to the contract in 2012 where the bid was won by Pike Countryside Sanitation. It was a hard department to run and manage for Public Works, and the county has saved over a million dollars because this is being run at no cost to the county. We have to maintain the scales, but they do everything else. There have been some improvements to the building out there that they paid for and Public Works helped with, but it hasn't cost the county a lot of money. CM Hanson said that he has seen some pointed improvements out there. He has discussed the contract out there, and they have asked for a supplement of $15 to $18,000 to help pay for someone to help citizens put out trash.
Animal control is growing by the day. There has been a meeting with the cities and have two of the cities signed on for this and CM Hanson anticipates all five will sign on with the county for animal control by the time this is done. This is going to step up even more. Our animal control officer is doing well. Do not feel she needs to be at the facility but maybe have her own department at some point. Her schedule is pretty much all day long on animal control issues. The county wants to provide the best service to citizens. [Note from the Editor: At this point, animal control will remain as it is. However, at some point, the county will have to anty up and pay for animal control with financial help from all of the cities. An animal control facility will be needed as well. But... one thing at a time. The county is handling the issue of nuisance and dangerous dogs right now. We are doing well with what we are doing and that will be a building block for the next step. Citizens had banded together at one time to put funds toward an Animal Control Facility, but that has largely died down. If citizens want this sooner rather than later, it's time to work with the county and get the funds rolling. It will still cost money to maintain every year, but building a larger facility is going to cost money and we can't do one without the other. And the county can only do so much at a time. I'm a taxpayer too.]
$9,735,672 is the requested amount for the General Fund for this year. ($10,060,790 was requested.) The final approval number for the General Fund was $9,714,764 last year. Looked at last year and this is our first draft. The digest will have an impact on this. This will be uploaded on Novis Agenda after the meeting and will be uploaded after each meeting if changes are made.
Considering a new county-wide assessment with the cost to be spread out over three years. This hasn’t been done in several years. A third party provider could make sure that everything is assessed properly.
Looks like there will be little to no increase from last year because our expenditures will be about the same as last year.
From the Public Notice: The Pike County Board of Commissioners presented the recommended Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget during its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Public Hearing will be held on April 25, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. The public is invited to participate. Public Hearings will be held for the first reading on May 10, 2017 at 1:00 p.m., second reading on May 25, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. and Final Adoption of the Budget on third reading is scheduled for May 30, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. Copies of the DRAFT FY 2017-2018 Budget are available at the J. Joel Edwards Public Library at 585 Highway 19 South and the Commissioner’s Office at 331 Thomaston St, Zebulon, GA. Click here to view the first draft of the budget. Motion to receive this first draft. Daniel, Powers. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person) None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Executive Session at 9:58 a.m. Motion approved 5-0.
a. Consultation with the county attorney, or other legal counsel, to discuss pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings, or other judicial actions brought or to be brought by or against the county or any officer or employee or in which the county or any officer or employee may be directly involved as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-2(1); germane to the Registrar’s Office.
Back into session at 10:06 a.m.
Motion to adjourn. 10:06 a.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Agenda subject to revision.
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