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Tuesday, August 31, 2021 – 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse, Main Courtroom, 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia
Courthouse Doors on East/South Sides open at 6:00 p.m.
Town Hall Meeting at 6:15 p.m.
www.pikecoga.com/novusagenda has an online agenda and accompanying information for this meeting. 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 during the morning meeting only.
[Note from the Editor: I came in during the end of the Town Hall Meeting, but here is the gist of it.]
CDBG Grant discussion was underway. There are many questions about the Concord Hilltop. There are holes in the roads that are damaging vehicles, and one person asked why others got a pipe under their driveway and she didn’t. There was a packed house with several leaving when the meeting began.
Who filled the pothole? Who will look at where the water is pooling, etc. If they don't fix it with the grant, who will fix it?
The meeting began about 5 minutes late. Commissioners James Jenkins and Tim Guy have joined the meeting by Zoom. Commissiomers Jason Proctor, Tim Daniel, Chairman Briar Johnson, County Clerk Angela Blount, County Manager Brandon Rogers, and Attorney Rob Morton present in person.
1. CALL TO ORDER .................................................................................... Chairman J. Briar Johnson
2. INVOCATION………………………………………………………………………..Silent Invocation
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 11, 2021, Regular Monthly Meeting.
b. Minutes of the August 11, 2021, Executive Session.
c. Minutes of the August 18, 2021, Special Called Meeting.
Motion to approve all three. Approved 5-0.
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 in 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 ........................................................................................ …$2,957,562.10
Fire Dept. Donations ........................................................................................ $6,420.11
Cash Reserve Account ....................................................................... …......$307,954.74
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $34,039.53
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................. $135,196.76
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $52,140.97
Juvenile Court Fund ....................................................................................... $12,223.23
Residential Impact Fee ............................................................................. $1,066,653.70
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................. $179,956.82
C.A.I.P FUND ............................................................................................... $38,232.31
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2016 ................. ..$2,002,283.33
L.M.IG. Grant (DOT)………………………………….………………….…..$1,909.94
c. County Manager Comment
Talked about the Christmas parade. Wants to set a date. Dec 11 or 12. Looking at a Saturday parade. Consensus for Saturday, December 11, 2021. Businesses around the square were approached and all were in favor of this. Motion to hold the parade on December 11 with a rain day of December 12. Approved 5-0. No time set yet. Probably be an afternoon similar to what has been done in the past.
Calls regarding the opening of a package store in the county. This would have to go to the ballot as a referendum. Some other things would happen first. Does the Board want to move forward with this? Morton was asked what the commissioners wanted to do with this. Do you want to go before the voters? Consensus for the voters of the county to decide this.
Update on the state re: mileage allowance. .555 cents per mile now. .56 cents per mile per the state. Motion to allow that change. Approved 5-0.
CDBG Grant discussion. This has already been discussed.
d. Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Jenkins asked if we are short on Public Works employees. County Manager Rogers said that we are currently down to about half of the staff due to involuntary sickness.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners
Opium litigation update. We approved the plan for a bankruptcy plan. This is a request to accept their plan. Motion to accept the plan. Approved 5-0.
County was contacted about the BOC supporting documentation for the schools and Board of Education qualifying as a Purple Heart Participant. This is a letter of support for them. Motion to approve the signing of this letter of support. Approved 5-0.
Not going to be here for next Wednesday’s meeting.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny J. Joel Edwards Public Library position title from Library Assistant to Library Youth Services Assistant.
This was brought up at the previous meeting. The Library Board has made the recommendation that the BOC make this change. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny the Second Reading of the Pike County Code of Ordinances to Chapter 154 Environmental Review.
This was discussed months ago and the decision was made to eliminate this and the Zoning Administrator Jeremy Gilbert require this environmental report from the developer. Motion to approve the 2nd reading. Approved 5-0.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider two appointments to the Pike County Planning Commission Board to fill a three-year term, set to expire August 31, 2024. Applicants have met criteria.
Applicants are John Morrison, Jenna Overton, Doyle Smith, current member William Smith, and current member Brannen Wright. Brandon Rogers discussed with the Planning and Zoning Administrator Jeremy Gilbert recommended reappointing Brennen Wright and appoint Jenna Overton. Rogers recommended reappointing William Smith and appointing Jenna Overton. Commissioner Proctor wanted to reappoint those already on the Board: Smith and Wright. 4-1 with Jenkins opposed. Chairman Johnson thanked everyone who had applied.
b. Consider use of Pike County Concord Fire Station from John Hanson with Pike County Republican Party for Vote Pike County on October 16, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Rogers gave some additional info. Restrict the areas that can be used to the concrete parking lot adjacent to the street. This is not going to be the primary location. They have another location in the city and this is a back up for that.
Tim Daniel made a motion to postpone this until Wednesday because some things have come up that he needs to look into between now and then. Several people had questions this afternoon that he cannot answer today. Lots of texts came in the past couple of hours asking questions about safety, etc. Motion to postpone is approved 5-0.
[Note from the Editor: I was one of those people because I looked through my agenda at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting was in an hour. My concern is if one group uses it, any group is going to be able to use it because the law is so broad these days that everything fades to gray. Republican Party, Democratic Party, Tea Party, BLM, etc. It's just better not to start that with any group period. I was also concerned about safety with getting the trucks out but learned later that the trucks will be parked at another location so they will be able to easily respond to fires without driving around people around the Jubilee. This motion was withdrawn after the meeting so it became a moot point. It wasn't personal. This was just Pike County Times doing what Pike County Times does. Y'all go ahead and insert an eyeroll here because I'll be doing this on something else later too!]
c. Approve/deny Georgia Smart Communities Challenge MOU.
Rogers was invited to a meeting on Monday with Spalding Pike, Concord, and Woodbury. Partnership with Georgia Tech for guidance on broadband for the next 4 years. Possibly offer additional broadband to the county. Some of the brightest minds in the state working with us. There is no cost unless we want to purchase equipment.
Need letters of support for this. Business leaders who have a problem with internet need to send a letter of support to the county. Only have 48 letters at this time.
The Board of Education does not believe that they can help with funding so hopefully they can help with letters of support. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT
a. David Allen to address the Board regarding Animal Control.
He spoke as the Chairman of the Animal Control Board. Clarified that these are his words and no one else’s.
He read the following letter to the Board. It follows verbatim:
Good evening –
I am coming to you as the recently appointed Chairman of the new Animal Control Board. Let me be clear – my comments tonight are not the words of the Animal Control Officer Tanya Perkins. They are the opinions of many on the Board. So, do not get Tanya in trouble for the frankness of my words.
The past 9 years have seen slow but measured growth in the area of animal control, which remains, in my opinion, a top three problem in the County behind roads and diversifying the tax base. However, to be frank, where we currently stand on animal control is purely based on the past generosity of others. I worked for free with animal control for several years. Tanya is, of course, paid, but is on call 24/7 to put the point where it impacts her private life and family time. The Chandlers, through immense generosity, donated significant funds for the creation of a shelter building. Finally, the Animal Control Board is working on an Animal Shelter Ordinance, for free. If any one of these foundation blocks for animal control was not willing to do what they did, the whole animal control process collapses. It is time for Pike County to quit relying solely on the generosity of others and adequately fund the day-to-day processes of animal control.
I realize that some progress has been made on this front, with the hiring of part-time help and the possible allocation of impact fee funds for animal control. But it is not enough for animal control problems right now, much less the operation of the shelter in the near future. By the time the impact fees are changed and ratified, it may be another year-and-a-half or two years down the road. That may be late and we may lose all of the momentum we have now. Imagine a nightmare scenario, in a world where we can’t get people to work in a Burger King, where no one is willing to handle animal problems in Pike County due to a lack of funding and resources.
Mrs. Ruth Chandler is expecting positive action after her generous donation. These actions involve day to day operations of a shelter and more help for Tanya in animal control. We seem to have money to give to the Rec. Authority for their pipe dreams and even money for the preparation of a Comprehensive Plan update (which can be free), but when it comes to animal control, the wallet seems to close. Fortunately, there is a way to adequately provide yearly operational costs for animal control and the shelter for years to come, without impacting property tax rates. The SPLOST renewal is up for a vote in March of next year, and just as we did in 2012 with a split SPLOST category of courthouse / roads, we can split up this SPLOST renewal. As the Chairman of the Animal Control Board, I am proposing, no begging, for an 85% roads / 15% animal control split with the upcoming SPLOST renewal. It’s not too late to do this. With this SPLOST, there would still be a lot of money for roads, and up to a million dollars of operational costs for animal control and the shelter over the next 6 years. Let us not lose our hard-gained momentum.
He strongly encouraged the Board to consider this for the next SPLOST.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION: 7:16 p.m.
a. County Manager Brandon Rogers requests Executive Session for discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the position of the executive head of an agency, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3(b)(2), germane to county employees.
b. County Attorney Rob Morton requests Executive Session for 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 potential litigation.
Pike County Commissioners conducted five interviews during Executive Session last night. Two were interviewed for the Director of the Pike County Senior Center, and three were interviewed for Fire Chief of the Pike County Volunteer Fire Department.
In the end, the decision for the Director of the Pike County Senior Center was not announced, but a decision was announced for the new Fire Chief of the Pike County Volunteer Fire Department.
Read "BREAKING NEWS: Pike County Commissioners Choose New Fire Chief" by clicking here: http://www.pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BREAKINGNEWSfirechief9.1.21.html
Back in session at 9:57 p.m.
Motion to Covid policy for the county. It will run through Nov 1st for all employees. Employees will be paid up to 10 days for a Covid absence. (with proper documentation) Approved 5-0.
Motion to approve Bobby Wilkerson as the volunteer fire chief for Pike County. Approved 5-0.
Motion to adjourn at 10 p.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Agenda subject to revision.
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