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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ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners will meet in the upper courtroom of the courthouse on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 – 6:30 p.m. for a regularly scheduled meeting. There will be a Town Hall Meeting at 6:15 p.m.for anyone who would like to speak to the commissioners about any issues that you may have. The meeting is open to the public will be broadcast live on Pike County Times' Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pikecountytimes.

Click here to see the documents that have been uploaded with the agenda on the Pike County government page.

1. CALL TO ORDER ....... Chairman J. Briar Johnson

2. INVOCATION ....... Kyle Garner

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 August 13, 2025, Regular Monthly Meeting.

b. Minutes of the August 13, 2025, Executive Session.

c. Minutes of the August 13, 2025, Special Called Meeting.

6. INVITED GUEST - NONE

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 September. Revenue/Expenditure Statement and Detail Check Register is included.
Discuss/Approve/Deny

b. County Manager Report

Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ....... $1,037,261.76
Fire Dept. Donations ....... $11,658.64
Cash Reserve Account ....... $183,600.79
Jail Fund ....... $19,398.59
E-911 Fund ....... $21,439.91
DATE Fund ....... $21,721.80
Juvenile Court Fund ....... $14,547.70
Residential Impact Fee ....... $317,198.11
Commercial Impact Fees ....... $39,849.07
C.A.I.P FUND ....... $35,417.08
General Obligation SPLOST 2022-2028 ....... $2,675,686.35
L.M.I.G. Grant (DOT) ....... $887,313.14

c. County Manager Comment

d. Commissioner Reports

e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners

8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

a. Approve/Deny Public Facilities Authority Development Agreement and Quitclaim Deed for 70 Gwyn Street Zebulon, GA.

b. Consideration of Plat for Road Abandonment – Etheridge Mill Road.

c. Discussion of Pike County Board of Commissioners Live Meetings project overview and proposal.
[Note from the Editor: I sure hope that this is what I think it is -- and that it is for a reasonable amount! It would be wonderful to come to a meeting and not have to FB Live it -- or better yet, be able to watch a meeting if I am sick or out of town!]

9. NEW BUSINESS

a. Consider use of Courthouse Grounds from Noah Keffer with Montgomery Pike for the filming of a scene on Sunday, September 7, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

b. Consider use of Courthouse Grounds from Kacie Edwards for Halloween Trick-or-Treat on Friday, October 31, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

c. Consider one appointment to the Pike County Water and Sewerage Authority to fill an unexpired five-year term, set to expire December 31, 2025. Applicant has met the criteria.

d. Approve/deny Resolution and Amendment to the ACCG 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan for Pike County Employees related to ROTH option.

e. Consider Tax Refund application from Linda Birath in the amount of $545.02.

f. Discussion of Speed Humps on Tanyard Road.

g. Approve/deny change order for curb and gutter on McKinley Road.

h. Consideration of compensation increase for the Pike County Board of Tax Assessors.
[Note from the Editor: This was discussed at the past BOA meeting and is for the actual board members and not for any office employees.]

i. Approve/deny Pike County American Legion Post 197 Veterans Memorial Refurbishment Project.

j. Discussion regarding the establishment of an Advisory Committee for Impact Fees.

[Note from the Editor: I am very pleased to see our county following the rules when it comes to updating our Impact Fees this time around. Of course, we still have the problem of our Impact Fees being changed without following the rules back in 2023.

• Here is the write up from the 2023 meeting in which the vote was taken to make Impact Fees 2 1/2 times the cost of the $2400 that was being paid. The also lays out a ton of open records materials to show an old Paragon report, Capital Improvements Element Reports sent to the state, etc. that the decision was based upon without an Advisory Committee as we are doing here and as we did in the very beginning: www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC1.31.23.html.

• Shannon Mullinax addressed commissioners in the Town Hall Meeting on February 8, 2023 to advise the following: "....the impact fee for Pike of $6775.99 for residential homes is the 3rd highest in the entire state. Only 3rd behind the City of Milton and the City of Sandy Springs. Of 159 counties, only 22 in the state of Georgia impose residential impact fees... The information is provided by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation... When a municipality enacts impact fees, State law requires that a Development Impact Fee Advisory Committee be established consisting of 5 to 10 members, with at least half of the membership consisting of representatives from the development, building or real estate industries..." Her comments are included verbatim on my page, and she ended by saying, " I, along with many people here today would like to request that the vote to increase the impact fees to $6775.99 be rescinded and the Commission go about a review of the impact fees in a proper and legal way." www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC2.8.23.html

• There is discussion of an Impact Fee study on March 13, 2024 with a ton of information including open records that prompted this to be included in my write up: "... laid out an argument that the increase to the residential impact fee schedule was "haphazard and inappropriate." They also requested that the January 31, 2023 motion to approve the increased fee schedule be reversed and the Board of Commissioners follow its ordinances and procedures for a change to impact fees which includes the forming of an Advisory Committee and two public hearings which was not done before the new impact fee schedule was implemented..." pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC3.13.24.html

• Teresa Watson spoke at the April 10, 2024 Commission meeting and told commissioners that Pike County's Impact Fees of $2204 being changed to $6676 were some of the highest in the state. www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BOC4.10.24.html

• Click here to read "Henry County Impact Fees Dismissed and Refunds Ordered in Court Ruling" Courtesy of The Henry Reporter which includes a timeline where Henry County adopted their Impact Fees back in 2003 and then changed them in 2022 without establishing a new Impact Fee Advisory Committee among other things. Henry County was sued and lost their case on February 4, 2025 which ordered them to halt their impact fees and ordered refunds.

My opinion on this hasn't changed. If we didn't follow the rules -- and the loss of this lawsuit by a neighboring county says that we DID NOT -- we need to stop what we're doing immediately, go back to the old amount for Impact Fees until things are done correctly, and refund the overage that we have been collecting on Impact Fees. FULL STOP. Enacting an advisory committee now isn't going to correct the error -- or actually now a deliberate action because it has continued for two years and not been addressed. Will it cost the county some money? It will. Is it the right thing to do? I think so.]

k. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input regarding SUP-25-04 - Clyde A Amerson III, owner and applicant, requests a special use permit to allow for the sale of bulk spring water and the shipping and transportation of the spring water from property located at 527 Lifsey Springs Road, Molena, GA, 30258. The subject property is further identified as Parcel ID 059 019B and is in Land Lot 27 of the 8th District. The property consists of 6.96+/- acres. Commission District 2, Commissioner Tim Guy.

l. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input regarding REZ-25-09 - Colwell-Turner Profit Sharing Plan and Trust Owner, and Shannon Mullinax applicant, request a rezoning from AR (Residential Agricultural) to C-3 (Heavy Commercial) for property located at 9762 US Hwy 19, Zebulon, GA 30295. The property consists of 3.33+/- acres in Land lot 224 in the 8th District, further identified as parcel ID 066 051. The request is for a new commercial development that is proposed in two phases and will consist of retail shops and office/warehouse uses. Commission District 1, Commissioner Tim Daniel.

m. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input on the notice of proposed property tax increase.

n. Adoption of the 2025 Millage Rate for Pike County.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - NONE

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION

a. County Manager Rob Morton requests an Executive Session to discuss the possible acquisition of real property pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-14-3 (b)(1).

12. ADJOURNMENT

Agenda subject to change.

[Note from the Editor: If you appreciate being able to read information from county meetings for free on Pike County Times, please make a donation to Pike County Times through the PayPal link at the bottom of the page or by check to Pike County Times at PO Box 843, Zebulon so I can justify the amount of time that I am spending away from family. It may not seem like much but sitting in a meeting and then typing it up takes a lot more time than you might imagine! Thanks for reading Pike County's only FREE newspaper.]