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Wednesday, June 10, 2015 – 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
All five commissioners are present along with 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 May 26, 2015 Regular Monthly Meeting.
b. Minutes of the May 26, 2015 Special Call Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.
Kay Landers works in the Commission Office. She was praised for her dependability through changes in leadership in that office including her help to County Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton as they stood in the interim County Manager position twice for Pike County. They relied heavily on her when they were in that position. Kay was awarded her five year service pin.
Cathy Ruffin- Been with the county for 12 years and has been awarded with her 10 year pin. She has been here since before there was a 911 office when there was only one line coming in. Cathy was praised for her patience and dedication at the 911 office and it was noted that her relationship with co-workers is so good that they often call her when there is a problem and she is second in the command structure.
b. Recognize Sonny Gwyn for his years of service on the Board of Health.
Sonny Gwyn served 41 years on the Board of Health as the Chairman. He was praised as always professional and always informed. Several spoke about Sonny and thanked him for his service and dedication. CM Hanson presented his award and thanked him for his service to the county. Sonny said that he is proud to have served the county, and it’s been a pleasure, honor and distinction. Tom Morton also congratulated him and commended his wife, Annie Mae, for running their business so Sonny could get out and do all that he has done for the county. He also commended Sonny and Annie Mae both for their service to 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.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $2,792,232.85
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $1,881.00
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................. $500,188.51
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $21,197.35
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $22,488.89
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $36,050.51
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $15,815.60
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $268,185.89
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $13,446.34
C.A.I.P FUND............................................................................................... $19,201.23
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $387,412.19
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $157,798.76
c. County Manager Comments.
CM Hanson said that there is a letter of support for the Middle Georgia Community Action Agency. This letter of support from the commissioners allows them to continue serving our county with assistance for power bills, etc.
As we move forward with road repairs, we received a letter from the DOT Chairman for our region regarding our request for assistance to help widen King’s Bridge Road. This was denied. CM Hanson said that this is a regional road that serves people from many counties and not just Pike and that he will continue asking for assistance with widening this road because the width of that road is a problem. The traffic count is higher there from Highway 362 because it is a cut through road and that there are significant drop offs from trailer usage on the shoulders of the road. It is also in our program to resurface as well.
The initial contract for Grady has been received.
d. Commissioner Reports.
Commissioner Daniel rode out to Cook Road to check out the repairs on the road. He said that there has been a learning curve on using the equipment, but you can look and see where they have improved with their work on that road. They are going to go back and fix the bad spot where they first began. This will be finished up soon. McKinley Road is next and New Hope Road is on the list too. Most of the areas will be short run patches in the county, but there was significant work on Cook Road. [Note from the Editor: Pike County has not planned for the future and done significant work like this on our roads in the past 15 years that I've been attending meetings. This Zipper machine does amazing work and I applaud the county commissioners for approving the purchase and our Public Works employees for learning how to use the machine and getting our roads fixed up!]
Commissioner Guy said that Flat Shoals Road needs to be looked at.
Commissioner Powers asked CM Hanson about the application of calcium chloride to our dirt roads. CM Hanson said that he and Public Works Director Todd Goolsby discussed this last week. The dirt side of McKinley Road will have to be ditched and given a good crown before calcium chloride can be applied. He is pricing this to get a good cost for the county.
Commissioner Jenkins commended the follow up on the Kings Bridge Road, said that Ward Road needs ditching, and that Melville Brown needs work.
Then he said that there is an ambulance that the county owns at one of the fire stations and asked about it. John Hanson said that it is basically there for now and that he doesn’t know of any purpose for it now. It has equipment on it that was donated and it was given to the county when Randy Snyder was the fire chief. Fire Chief O'Barr said that it was going to be a first response type truck with restrictions on transport, but we don’t have licensing on it. Plans are now to keep it as a first response truck to supplement the ambulance service. They are going to work with Grady to get appropriate licenses. It is fully stocked but not in use right now. The IV fluids and drugs are not on the truck at this time. It is dependable, but we would have to have a state inspection before we could use it. That shouldn’t take long after Grady comes in. We do have EMT’s to staff it if needed. Commissioner Powers asked whether it is worth the dollars that will be spent in order to have this. If all three of their trucks are out for some reason or there is a long response time, this is a way to get the equipment there as well as responding to a disaster. Chief said that the cost is manageable with just fuel and maintenance. There may be some costs down the line if we go with a first response program. There is a lot that has to be put in place before we go forward with a program. CM Hanson said that past Chief Snyder felt like we could have helped someone until the ambulance could get there. Mid Georgia worked with the county for obtaining grants, etc. and worked with our fire department in the past.
Commissioner Jenkins said that he got another complaint about the Recycling Station. CM Hanson met with Wayne Harper last week and there will be a follow up on this soon. He said that Wayne has been down-staffed for a few months. There will be some specific things done in writing before the county renews the contract. There has been no charge to the county for the operation of this facility this since the contract was put in place in 2008. Nothing has been renewed or discussed since that time. This will be further discussion before renewal though. CM Hanson said that there have been a lot of calls and concerns about the service out there.
Chairman Johnson toured the Senior Citizens Center last week. He did not know about the services that were available to citizens over 60. He said that he was very impressed.
He also attended Vintage Days at Candler Field last week and saw tags from not just Pike County but several out of state tags. He voiced a concern about widening the road to Candler Field. CM Hanson said that we have looked at this for work in the future.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
None.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input on SE-15-06 - James Quentin Evans, property owner and applicant, is requesting a special exception in an A-R zoned district to allow for a trailer / camper to be used on his property for personal recreational use. The subject property, located on Chapel Hill Road, currently has approximately 773 feet of frontage along the eastern side of Chapel Hill Road. The property is located in Land Lot 25 of the 2nd District of Pike County, Georgia. The property consists of 49.73 acres and is further identified as Tax Map Parcel #062 043.
ACTION: Discuss/Approve/Deny
Director of Planning and Development David Allen said that it came to their attention several months ago because the camper was out there. The owner lives in Cumming and does hunting and repairs on the property and wasn’t aware of the requirements but wanted to make this right. He went to the Board of Appeals on May 21st and they recommended approval.
IN FAVOR: James Evans said that the property was originally purchased by his father 30 years ago and is planted pines and wildlife. It is recreational place for just his family. He said that the trailer makes it nicer for those who come down to work on the property and hunt. He appreciated the commissioners’ consideration of this request.
No one spoke against.
Commissioner Jenkins asked how long the permit will last. Director Allen said that this permit runs with the land. Chairman Johnson asked about whether it would affect neighbors. No, but it is visible from the road. It is a camper and not a trailer. There has been some vandalism out there that has cost him some money.
Motion to grant the special exception. Approved 5-0.
b. Continue discussion about upgrade from CSI to Harris after Harris bought out CSI and will no longer be offering quick support on CSI financial softward
Postponed this from the last meeting. Click here and scroll down to section 9a to read the discussion from the past meeting. CM Hanson asked for proposals from other companies who are serving other counties. One company quoted $56,565 to do the conversion with a $9700 annual maintenance fee and the other quoted $73,872 with a $9600 annual maintenance fee.
It is $10,652 for the upgrade with the current company that we have, and when CM Hanson discussed the current service with this company, they brought down the $25,000 annual maintenance fee to $13,500 per year. CM Hanson asked that we convert to Smart Fusion with Harris and said that he can work on any problems or concerns that we have in the future. Commissioner Jenkins pointed out that we would not have had this savings if commissioners had not stopped this process at the last meeting so CM Hanson could discuss this further with the county. This will be a significant savings to the county.
Motion to approve the conversion with Harris. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn 9:53 a.m.
Agenda subject to revision.
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