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Tuesday, April 26, 2016 – 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
1. CALL TO ORDER .................................................................................... Chairman J. Briar Johnson
All five commissioners are here tonight, County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye to take the minutes, County Manager John Hanson, and County Attorney Rob Morton. Troop 37 is present tonight as well.
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))
CM Hanson asked to add Troop 37 as Invited Guest and Item H Use of the Courthouse grounds by Montgomery Lodge.
5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))
a. Minutes of the April 13, 2016 Regular Monthly Meeting.
Approved 5-0.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Boy Scout Troop 37.
Troop 37 is attending this meeting to earn a merit badge. They were asked if there was anything that they wanted to ask the commissioners. The Scouts did not ask the question, but one of the Troop Leaders asked a question about the use of tannerite in the community and whether there is going to be any address the use through a county ordinance.
Several calls have been made on the large booms that have been heard. The question was asked if it was confirmed that the loud booms are indeed Tannerite and Deputy Laggis said that the Sheriff's Office has responded to calls and it has been the use of Tannerite. The County Manager said that the county has talked about a noise ordinance but have not moved on this because the Tannerite is legal and there has been a problem in other jurisdictions of getting a noise ordinance to hold up in Court.
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 May Revenue/Expenditure Statement and Detail Check Register is included.
Approved 5-0.
b. County Manager Report
▫ Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $2,195,739.28
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $3,943.88
BOC – Jury Account ............................................................................................... $0.00
Cash Reserve Account ..................................................................................... $3,645.79
Pike County CD Special Revenue Funds………………………………..$1,000,000.00
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $21,295.20
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $21,456.25
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $38,804.86
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $14,535.20
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $326,623.51
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $19,356.27
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................... $26,872.74
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011 ...................... $629,795.76
L.M.I. Grant (DOT) ..................................................................................... $388,731.01
c. County Manager Comments.
There are road projects going on right now. Mowing crews are working. The RFP is out on the SPLOST project. These bids to work on SPLOST projects will be opened in May.
The debt validation is ongoing. It will be in the paper next week. 34 roads and streets are on the SPLOST.
d. Commissioner Reports.
Commissioner Tim Guy said that he has had some calls about the ambulance service. He said that Grady has done a good job, but the time will be up for their contract soon. He asked whether this will be bid back out.
County Attorney Rob Morton suggested that this be discussed in Executive Session.
There is a little more discussion in which it was said during this discussion that some employees of Mid Georgia/Community Ambulance have asked whether this would be re-bid. Commissioner James Jenkins said that this was a 5 year contract. He said that all of the bids were in and that they bid on the best bid for the county at that time. He also said that Mid Georgia/Community Ambulance offered to renegotiate after the bids were opened. He said that each of the commissioners are concerned with doing what is best for the county. He said that he thought that if someone was interested in being a part of the county that they would have communicated with the county. CM Hanson was asked specifically if someone from Community Ambulance has approached him about re-bidding this contract, and he said that no one has. It was noted that there is a 60 day clause for termination in the contract and that would be May 1.
Motion to go into Executive Session. 6:43 p.m.
Back into Session at 6:54 p.m.
Note from the Editor: Nothing more was said about the Grady contract after the commissioners came back into regular session, and I more or less confirmed after the meeting that there will be no changing of ambulance contracts at this time. Here are the details of last year's contract so readers can refresh your memories and ending note from the community activist (now owner of Pike County Times) that you expect from me. The county ambulance contract was bid out in May of last year. You can read the article in which Grady was awarded a five year renewable contract for $275,000 each year by clicking here. Everyone had an opportunity to bid on this contract, Grady was awarded the bid, and Grady began working in Pike County on July 1 last year. I appreciate County Attorney Rob Morton handling this the way that he did because this was not advertised on the agenda so the public could be properly advised of a potential discussion at the meeting--and there are members of the public who are interested in this and would want to have a say in it. I don't have a problem with a question being asked in an open meeting, but there are legalities to be considered. Legally, the county can act on something if it comes up in a meeting and it is truly an emergency, but this would not qualify as an emergency and needed to be on the agenda. Luckily, there were representatives from both Community and Grady Ambulance in the audience during this meeting or that REALLY could have been a mess.]
Commissioner Powers asked about Fossett Road. CM Hanson is going to follow up on this.
Chairman Johnson welcomed the Scouts.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
County Attorney Rob Morton explained the Bond Validation that goes with the SPLOST Referendum. A petition has to be filed with Superior Court. The filing has to be signed by the District Attorney because the law demands that. It is intended to be filed on Monday with a hearing on May 20th before Judge Hankinson. This has already been authorized. There is no need for another motion to approve this. After this, CM Hanson can get the financing to work on this. The resolution took care of this.
The City of Williamson is asking Magistrate Court of Pike County to handle their Municipal Court to enforce their codes. They have authorization under their Charter for this and they are allowed to have this service provided through the County per state law. We are in discussion with the City to have their cases heard once a month during an already regularly scheduled meeting. There is a $200 fee for this one day of service plus the training needed to do this. This will require a contract between the City of Williamson and the County. This is so the City can enforce its ordinances for trash, etc.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny alcohol license (Retail – Beer and Wine) for Harish K. Gandotra d/b/a Second Lucky Star (Formerly Mountain View Convenience Store), 3181 Hwy 19 South, Meansville, GA. Applicant has met criteria.
a. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Consider request from Mr. Rakesh Chourasia to refund alcohol license fee for the remaining year. Amount of refund is $474.52.
This is a refund to the previous owner of Mountain View Store. The new store owner just paid their portion of the year so the county is not losing money. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
c. Approve/deny to authorize Chairman Johnson to sign the Pike County Vietnam Era Veterans Day Proclamation.
This will be read on May 15th at the school. Motion to approve the Chairman’s signature. Approved 5-0.
d. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input in regards to SUB16-02 - Per County Code Section 155.02 (BB)(3), Richard Watkins, property owner, and Ryan McGuffey, applicant, are requesting preliminary plat approval for a new 3-acre lot off a 44.36 acre parent tract on Ga. Hwy. 109 West. The parent tract is zoned A-R (Agricultural-Residential), with approximately 1120 feet of frontage along the northern side of Ga. Hwy. 109 West. The property is located in Land Lot 6 of the 9th Land District of Pike County, Georgia. Parent tract is further identified as Tax Map Parcel Number 071 003A.
Planning and Development Director David Allen advised that the Planning Commission recommended this for approval in the April meeting. This is technically a minor subdivision that could be handled through his Office. However, there was an abuse of the code that said you cannot divide within 3 years of dividing it and it was divided in 2014 so this is coming to the commissioners. This will have to be treated as a major subdivision according to our ordinance. He doesn’t feel like they have abused the rule, but they have been caught up in a rule that was designed to curb abuse 10 or 15 years ago.
No one spoke in favor or against.
Motion to approve the preliminary plat. Second. Discussion: There was an exception for family division of property in the previous law, but then a family was taking advantage of the law 10 or 15 years ago. That is not the case now. Approved 5-0.
e. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input in regards to SE-16-02 – Joseph Lisicia, property owner and applicant, is requesting a special exception in an A-R zoned district to allow for the hosting of special events (receptions, etc.) on his property. The subject property, located at 15046 U.S. Hwy. 19 North, has approximately 297 feet of frontage along the southeastern side of U.S. Highway 19. The property is located in Land Lot 104 of the 2nd District of Pike County, Georgia. The property consists of 9.39 acres and is further identified as Tax Map Parcel #074 096.
Staff and Board of Appeals approved with conditions. Annual business license, signs comply with the Sign Ordinance, not violate litter ordinance, no parking along highway, conform to the overlay ordinance, building permits required, 25 foot buffer required, non-transferable, no residential building there, events over by 10 pm, a decibel meter should be there and not go over a certified amount, and night sky friendly lighting.
IN FAVOR:
Joseph Lisicia passed out info the commissioners and those around the table. Close to the Spalding-Pike line. It is the perfect place for outdoor weddings. This will just provide the property to hold the wedding because he does not have a wedding business. He wants to be a good neighbor and he plans to neighbor with local businesses to provide this service to those who would like to use it. He addressed the decibel level and this depends on how far away distance wise that this be measured because there is a difference between up close and farther away. He said that we hit 91 decibels earlier in the meeting just doing the Pledge of Allegiance and that would have been a violation. He asked for a 50 foot measurement.
Motion to approve with condition. Second. Discussion: Distance is 100 feet by state law already. Who is going to enforce this? We don’t have a noise ordinance in this county, but we’ve got some problems with enforcement and David is not going to be attending each event out there. Either eliminate or set it at 100 feet.
Commissioner James Jenkins modified this to remove the decibel level from the motion. Second. Approve 5-0.
Commissioner Tommy Powers asked about the well on the property. He lived there in the 40’s and his Dad ran a grismill there. Chairman Johnson asked about the stipulation that no one will be allowed there. The owner said that it will be secured.
f. PUBLIC HEARING; To receive public input in regards to SE-16-03 – Geoffrey D. King, property owner and applicant, is requesting a special exception in an A-R zoned district to allow for a private family cemetery on his property. The subject property, located off of Fossett Road, has approximately 1600 feet of frontage along the northern side of Fossett Road and approximately 70 feet of frontage along the eastern side of Harris Road. The property is located in Land Lot 105 of the 9th District of Pike County, Georgia. The property consists of 103.5 acres and is further identified as Tax Map Parcel #044 021.
Board of Appeals on April 21st with conditions that be followed with our ordinance. This is remote property and should not be a problem.
No one spoke in favor or against.
Commissioner Tim Guy asked about the size of the cemetery. About 1/8th of an acre.
Motion to approve with the list of conditions. Approved 5-0.
g. Consideration of further Overlay District requirements on SE-14-03, Right-Away Motors.
The family was there for the Board of Appeals meeting but had a family emergency and could not be in the meeting tonight. This was done 2 years ago. One of the conditions from then was review after 2 years or if goes over 50 cars. Board of Appeals recommends that it stay the same. At most is 10 to 15 cars parked there so not even close to 50. Possibility of another lot working with this car lot to put more cars out there, but it will not be close to 50. Maybe 25.
Chairman Johnson asked about buildings. There is a trailer and office there already. The concern was about the overlay standards with that. Clerical error that says Hwy 41 instead of Hwy 19 and that needs to be fixed.
County Attorney Rob Morton said that this could potentially be a zoning action and that any action on it would have to go through the zoning process. He advised that they can’t take any action on this because they did not go through the public hearing process though the Hwy 41/19 clerical error can be addressed. This would basically stay the same by them not doing anything.
h. Discussion of whether the Montgomery Lodge to use the Courthouse Square on May 21st from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
Motion to adjourn. 7:28 p.m.
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