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
 
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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.

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REGULAR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONTHLY MEETING
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 – 9:00 a.m.
By Editor Becky Watts

Today's meeting was attended by all five commissioners, County Manager Bill Sawyer, County Clerk Teresa Watson, and County Attorneys Rob and Tom Morton.

The meeting was about 43 minutes long and that was a welcome change. There was a lot of discussion between the commissioners and both the County Manager (CM) and County Attorneys at this meeting where there hasn't been nearly enough in past meetings.

1. CALL TO ORDER .................................................................................... Chairman Doug Mangham

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ................................................................... Chairman Doug Mangham

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. 50-14-1 (e) (1))
Commissioner Carol Bass asked that discussion about redistricting be included on the agenda. The County Manager concurred and this was added under New Business.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A.§ 50-14-1(e) (2))
Minutes from the following: June 28, 2011 Regular Monthly Meeting.

5. INVITED GUESTS - None

6. REPORTS – From Commissions, Departments, Committees, County Manager, Attorney

a. Monthly Reports submitted from County Departments and County Authorities, including a Revenue/Expenditure Statement for all departments, and a summary check register.

Discussion: *Commissioner Carol Bass commented on the Library Report. She asked if it had reopened on Saturdays and was advised that it had. Commented on the number of patrons that have been in over the past six months and was advised that the new computers were in and working. She gave kudos to the library and staff. *Commissioner Tamra Jarrett noticed that one of the county's boards held an Executive Session that was not specified why it was being held. The County Manager will address this. *Commissioner Bass commented on the IDA's minutes and asked what the status was of the pipeline where Bill Chamberlain was going to discuss with this with the County Manager. CM Sawyer advised that this is not a reality at least right now. Chamberlain had been asked to find grants for this project but the County Manager advised that the county needs a prospect to tie the pipeline with jobs and that costs need to be tied down better than they are now. *Commissioner Bass asked whether interest expense on the county financials was the Tax Anticipation (TAN) Note. Was advised that revenue fell short $314,000 and that some adjustments are being made to address revenue shortfall. CM Sawyer advised that the revenue for last year was based on a specific history that it has gone down 16 to 18% since then. Said that the budget may have to be amended two or three times this year. Carol commended the staff for seeing that the loss was coming and reacting appropriately. Said that she thought this would help the county hit its target next year. *Commissioner Tamra Jarrett asked a question of CM Sawyer. Said that it appeared that the $5,000 payment to the City of Meansville for its fire department appeared to come out of Contingency during the month of June but was scratched through and then shown as being removed from Fire Department. CM Sawyer advised that the money had been taken from Contingency before the staff member knew where it was supposed to come from, but that the money was supposed to come from the Fire Department and, as the records show, that is where the money came from. [Note from the Editor: Click on the following link to read more about the Meansville Fire Department and this $5,000 check that was issued without a contract. Click on link below to read about the history of Meansville over the past two years.]
http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/meansvillefiredept.html
Commissioner Don Collins said that he received a check register for 6.1.11 through 6.30.11 in his packet that he said he hadn't received before and he didn't see as essential to the commissioner's packets that they receive before each meeting. Said he was "wondering why all of the sudden they were receiving the check register which is a considerable amount of paperwork" and went on to say that he didn't plan to go through every check that is written in the county. CM Sawyer advised that staff was instructed to give this to commissioners unless Commissioners don't want it. Said that it was a process to keep commissioners informed. [Note from the Editor: I was advised in the 6.30.11 interview with the County Manager (on the Meansville Fire page above) that commissioners were receiving check registers every month, but according to commissioners at the meeting, this was the first meeting that they had received this information.] Commissioners Carol Bass and Tamra Jarrett both indicated that they wanted to continue receiving the check register. Motion to approve these minutes. Approved 5-0. [Note from the Editor: Thank you to Commissioners and the County Manager for discussing these minutes in depth when needed today. Our county government appeared to be more open than it has been in a long time, and it is very much appreciated.]

Update 7.15.11:

b. County Manager Report: CM Sawyer than gave an update to Commissioners on the status of the Meansville Fire Department, Pike County Emergency Services, and the status of an agreement with Pike County Government. CM Sawyer said that in December of 2010, he went to a Meansville City Council Meeting and was given a tour of the Meansville Fire Department after the meeting. In January of 2011, CM Sawyer, then-Interim Fire Chief Randy Snyder, Commissioner Tommy Powers, and Commission Chairman Doug Mangham went to the Meansville City Council Meeting to invite Meansville to join the County Fire Department. Said that after several months and several interim meetings, it became evident by June of 2011 that Meansville was not going to join the Pike County Fire Department. Click here for history. Said that up until 2008, Pike County had given $5,000 to the City of Meansville to help the Meansville Fire Department with repairs and maintenance. Said that the Commission stopped that practice before he got here to Pike County. Thought that in these depressed economic times that they probably needed the funds for repairs and maintaining equipment. Said that he met with Fire Chief Mike Grant to ask if he had a problem with giving them the $5,000 for repairs and maintenance but said that the decision to give the $5,000 to the City of Meansville was his decision alone. Said that there are two agreements being discussed: automatic aid (fire vehicles automatically come to help in the county if we have a fire in the county) and mutual aid (they respond when we call them). Said that an agreement has not been executed, there has been discussion to bring an agreement to the Meansville City Council at Mayor Gayle Burden's suggestion. Said that he thought it was politically in the best interest of the county to put this behind us and that the check for $5,000 was issued in hope that lives can be saved and to ensure that lives and property in Pike County are offered the best protection. Said he believes it was the right thing to do. He apologized to Commissioners and said that he did a poor job of explaining his actions to all of the Commissioners. Said that he was going to try to do a better job of communicating with the Commissioners in the future. [Note from the Editor: Thank you to CM Bill Sawyer for this update to the public and to commissioners. His apology to commissioners was well-received. Hopefully communication with all five commissioners will not be a problem in the future.]
• Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:

General Fund - $174,150.64* (previous report $356,812.29 plus $220,000 for the fire fund) *Said that there is a deposit for $155,675.90 (from taxes) that will go into the General Fund today.
Jury Account - $0.00
Cash Reserve Account - $432,547.42 (previous report $432,435.42)
Jail Fund - $25,528.63 (previous report $25,527.51)
E-911 Fund - $9,971.76 (previous report $106,508.34)
DATE Fund - $12,201.92 (previous report - $13,497.10)
Operational Fire Fund - $3,545.06 (previous report $19,545,13 + $220,000 in interest bearing account above that is going into next year's budget.)
Juvenile Court Fund - $27,817.13 (previous report $27,777.46)
Residential Impact Fees - $309,932.08 (previous report $305,061.09) [Funds needed for the library parking lot and ADA requirements will be taken out of this fund this year equal roughly to $40,000.]
Commercial Impact Fees - $12,115.33 (previous report $12,114.33)
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund - 2006 SPLOST - $20,237.42 (2006 SPLOST - $17,221.04 in previous report.*) Current SPLOST - $6,112,76 (previous report $112.50) (*Funds from 2006 SPLOST will be split up and sent to the cities.)
Grand Total in all Pike County accounts: $1,030,615.09 (previous report $1,536,724.21) [Note from the Editor: This grand total includes all accounts including some that are encumbered--accounts such as the Jail Fund, Commercial Impact Fees, etc. where the money must be spent according to specific purposes.]
• County Manager Comments - No other comments.

Update 7.16.11:

c. Commissioner Reports:

District 1 Carol Bass: Asked where the money had come from that was being deposited today. Was advised that it was from taxes. Asked if it was appropriate to ask about the Weiss plea deal since the county is paying for this trial. County Attorney Rob Morton advised that a blind guilty plea has been entered and that the judge is conducting sentencing at this time. CM Sawyer advised that Pike County be paying up to $100,000 on this death penalty trial. Said that there is a contract with the state defense team that is in addition to court administration and other costs. Commissioner Bass said that she appreciated the comments about Meansville Fire Department. Said that he did a good job when he "manned up" on that.

District 2 Tamra Jarrett: Said that she received a call from a constituent about animals on Mountain View Road that the constituent can't afford to feed. Advised that she told them how to get in touch with Friends of Pike County Animals.

District 3 Tommy Powers: None.

District 4 Don Collins: Told the County Manager thank you for prompt attention to a complaint from one of his constituents. Said that he got a call from someone who ran over a stob in his front yard with a lawnmower. Commissioner Collins called CM Sawyer and it was taken care of quickly. Said that he received a thank you call for the prompt attention from his constituent. Advised the other commissioners that if they have a problem to call the County Manager and let him resolve it.

Chairman Doug Mangham: None.

d. County Attorney Report to Commissioners: None.

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

a. Approval/denial, on second reading, of Text Amendment to amend Pike County Code of Ordinances, Title III: Administration, Chapter 38 – E-911 Service, Boards and Charges, to provide for collection and disbursement of 9-1-1 fees from prepaid wireless service.
This was recommended by ACCG. No changes have been made. The fee will be collected started on January 1, 2012 according to the legislation. (The county is already collecting fees from regular wireless. This is just for prepaid wireless.) Motion to approve. 5-0.

8. NEW BUSINESS

a. PUBLIC HEARING: Receive public input on the Capital Improvements Element (CIE) 2010 Annual Update.
[Note from the Editor: I really like the fact that the County Chairman read something advising anyone who spoke exactly what is expected when speaking before commissioners. No personal comments, civility expected, who to direct comments to. This has been done before and is very professional of our Board of Commissioners.] No comments from the public on this. Commissioner Bass advised that the Fire portion of Impact Fees was showing a negative balance and asked whether this was taken care of. Was advised yes. Asked about Caldwell Bridge Road bridge repair and the reimbursement from the Georgia Department of Transportation. CM Sawyer advised that GDOT still owes the county $6,000 or $7,000 on this and that by law, that reimbursement has to go back into Public Works but any overage can be taken in Public Works can be put into the Contingency Fund. Motion to approve. 5-0.

b. Approval/denial of the Capital Improvements Element (CIE) 2010 Annual Update and Adoption of Transmittal Resolution to submit to Three Rivers Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for their review/approval.
Motion to approve. 5-0.

c. Approval/denial of request to authorize County Manager to request bids for parking lot resurfacing at the J. Joel Edwards Public Library.
The County Manager will design this bid. BOC has to authorize the acceptance of the bids. CM Sawyer advised that going to try to get three bids on this. Motion to approve. 5-0.

d. Approval/denial of request to authorize County Manager to request bids for construction at the J. Joel Edwards Public Library to ensure ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance on entrance/exit doors to the facility.
Commissioner Collins asked if this was covered by the last SPLOST (because county-wide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance) was covered in that SPLOST. Asked if there were any funds left for this. CM Sawyer advised that the funds left in the 2006 SPLOST account should be divided between the cities since the last SPLOST did not gain as much funds as was expected. CM Sawyer advised that there are funds in the bank to pay for this. (It is coming out of Impact Fees.) Motion to approve. 5-0.

e. Discussion about redistricting. Commissioner Carol Bass said that redistricting happens every ten years and had not heard anything about it. Said that she had heard that the southern end of the state may lose some seats. Pike County shares a representative with Upson and Lamar County now. Asked if the county needs to discuss redistricting in our county after reading breakdown of voters in Board of Commission and Board of Education. The County Manager and County Attorney outlined the process of redistricting and advised that it was not too late for the county to be involved in discussion about redistricting but that the number of minority voters in the controlling factor in redistricting (these numbers are from the census) and that Pike County has not been advised that we need address any of these changes in our county. CM Sawyer advised that the county has not received any documentation that we have been affected. County Attorney Morton advised that he can review information about redistricting and see if we want to follow up on this but advised that this matter was taken care of this past September.

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

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None

11. ADJOURNMENT:
Motion to adjourn at 9:43 a.m.

Agenda subject to revision.
7.13.11
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