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ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners met in the upper courtroom of the courthouse on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 – 6:30 p.m. for a regularly scheduled meeting. There was a Town Hall Meeting at 6:15 p.m for anyone who wanted to speak to the commissioners about any issues that you may have. The meeting was open to the public was 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.

Commissioners Ken Pullin, Tim Guy, and Tim Daniel were present along with Chairman Briar Johnson, County Clerk Angela Blount, and County Attorney/Manager Rob Morton. Commissioner James Jenkins was not able to attend the meeting.

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))

Motion to approve the agenda. Approved 4-0.

5. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(e) (2))

a. Minutes of the September 10, 2025, Regular Monthly Meeting.

Motion to approve the agenda. Approved 4-0.

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 of October. 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 ..... $1,268,079.31
Fire Dept. Donations ..... $11,659.13
Cash Reserve Account ..... $183,608.00
Jail Fund ..... $20,527.17
E-911 Fund ..... $26,315.22
DATE Fund ..... $21,722.91
Juvenile Court Fund ..... $14,547.70
Residential Impact Fee ..... $316,734.00
Commercial Impact Fees ..... $39,849.07
C.A.I.P FUND ..... $29,390.45
General Obligation SPLOST 2022-2028 ..... $2,917,474.32
L.M.I.G. Grant (DOT) ..... $792,928.36

c. County Manager Comment

Our next meeting is scheduled for a week from tomorrow, and we currently don’t have any business items on the agenda. Proceed or cancel the meeting since we don’t have scheduled business? Motion to cancel the October 8, 2025 a.m. meeting. Approved 4-0.

Flu vaccination is scheduled for tomorrow for employees through the Health Department.

Received at least two inquiries since July about to go drinks. Our ordinance does not provide for this. A majority of other counties do not allow this. The city can pass their own ordinance on this? Correct. State law authorizes it, but it has to be authorized at the local level. Consensus to leave this as is.

Update on roads. Met with Mark Whitley. Melville Brown Road. Road looks great, striping is done, and shoulders are being finished. McKinley Road. Waterline and stormwater will hopefully be done this week. Mr. Ingram had a request about his trees that are not on the right of way (ROW). Trees to be left as is.

Tanyard. Ditching and grading is finishing up. Stormwater piping will be finished and then reclamation for paving will begin. Estimate in late October to begin. Did a great job on Hunter Road.

Old Zebulon Road? Old Zebulon and Woodcreek are in the design phase. Moving forward after McKinley and then Woodcreek in the spring and next summer for Old Zebulon. ROW and utilities for Old Zebulon will be needed.

Appreciate Atlanta Paving Rep being in the meeting.

d. Commissioner Reports

Guy. Short Cut Road. Still getting calls on it. Morton. We have compiled a list of roads for next wave of paving projects to include homes and miles of the road. Will present it for priorities. Shortcut is on that list.

Chairman. Our departments do a great job. Thanked Public Works for getting to work on requests from the citizens quickly.

e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners

Jury Trial scheduled for animal control violation case. Defendant entered a plea so no jury trial today.

Opioid litigation. Received additional documentation.

8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

a. Consideration of Final Appointment to the Impact Fee Advisory Committee.

Christy Byrd. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.

9. NEW BUSINESS

a. Approve/deny renewal of alcohol license (Retail Sales – beer and wine) for Thomas Jason Mask d/b/a/ Frank’s Filling Station LLC, 6764 Hwy. 362 W Concord, GA. Applicant has met criteria.

Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.

b. Authorize Chairman to sign the ACCG-IRMA and ACCG-GSIWCF Safety Discount Verification Form for year 2026.

Detailed lengthy meeting. We qualify for the safety discount. Motion to allow the Chairman to sign document and send it in. Approved 4-0.

c. Approve/deny for Chairman Johnson to sign the proclamation honoring Sunday, November 2, 2025 as Retired Educators Day in Georgia.

Chairman Johnson read the proclamation aloud, and after the vote to approve the proclamation, he took a photo with these retired educators who have given so much and continue to give so much for our community. Click here to read the proclamation. Their picture is at the top of the page with a full size photo available on the Pike County Times Facebook page.

Motion to approve. Approved 4-0. Invited to speak. Mike Beres. Our retired educators gave three scholarships last year and treated bus drivers with snacks as well as helping out with food giveaways as much as possible last year. Staying involved in the community after spending many years in the classroom. Great way to honor them.

d. Consider Tax Refund application from Mitchell Phillips in the amount of $213.29.

Board of Assessors voted last week to refund this amount. The Board of Assessors had an accessory building on the property, and there isn’t one. This has been corrected. Motion to approve. Approved 4-0.

e. Declare Library Books List #4, consisting of 750 books, as surplus property.

Two separate motions. Motion to declare surplus. Approved 4-0. Several books in surplus that haven’t sold in the past so asked for disposal by donation, sale, or discard. Motion to dispose by donation, sale, or discard. Chairman Johnson said that there was a library that had a fire and is looking for donations. Approved 4-0.

f. Consider request from the City of Concord for installation of speed breakers on Concord/Hollonville Road, with all costs to be covered by the City of Concord.

This request is being made for section within the city limits, but because it continues from Magnolia Farm into the county, they are asking for the county’s permission. Commissioner Daniel said that he doesn’t think that the county should have a say in this. Morton. State code addresses this back to a 1973 DOT map that identifies certain roads as state, county, and city roads. We won’t pay for this, but they want our blessing on this. The presumption is that the city owns the road, but we don’t know that for sure. Motion to give consent on them to make their decision on this. Approved 2-2. Motion fails with Pullin and Johnson against. Pullin. Motion for a reconsideration of the vote. 2nd. Approved 4-0. Motion to approve the consent. 3-1 with Johnson opposed. Motion passes.

g. Consider approval of the West Road Culvert Replacement project, including designation of SPLOST as funding source.

Culvert appears to be failing. Motion to approve at a cost not to exceed $17,000 with SPLOST funds. 4 foot culvert now. Will put in a 6 foot culvert. Approved 4-0.

h. Consideration of speed limit reduction on Carver Road.

Received a request from a resident whose wife was in an accident around this location. Asked for a reduction to 35 mph. Morton advised that need to speak with the Sheriff’s Office to be sure that meet all state regulations there. Discussion that 45 mph will be more appropriate. Motion to reduce from 55 to 45 mph. Approved 4-0.

i. Discussion of request for tree removal on the right-of-way along Melville Brown Road.

About 20 trees adjacent to the resident’s property. Public Works Director inspected the trees that are in good health and in about the same location as other trees on the right of way on that road. Motion not to remove the trees on this road. Discussion. Has Commissioner Jenkins been made aware of this? Yes. Approved 4-0.

j. Discussion of the FY 2026 Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) Program.

2026 application. We have done some thorough research on previous submissions. We are recommending approval of Friendship and Cook Roads. With our 30% match, our requirement will exceed the amount required by the state. The sooner we get it in, the sooner we could be awarded funding. Motion to authorize signature of application. Approved 4-0.

k. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input to consider the proposed road abandonment of Liberty Park Road.

Received notice that they want to withdraw their request for abandonment. Can move forward with the public hearing or discontinue. This road may need some work in 5 to 8 years. $175,000 at the time with a full depth reclamation for the heavy work at the concrete plant because it was made for residential. Motion to accept the request to withdraw the request. Johnson asked if this would be a problem down the road if we don’t go forward with the hearing. Morton. It won’t matter. Thanked those who helped with putting evaluations on this. Approved 4-0.

l. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input to consider the proposed road abandonment of Etheridge Mill Road.

Received a request for the proposed abandonment. Has been ongoing for some time. County road. Submitted public notice and advised property owners of this request. Received a letter of objection from Wabash on this.

Invited anyone to speak whether for or against.

Lauren Benz. Newnan attorney. On behalf of Wabash. Strongly opposes. Daily commute to keep from going onto the major thoroughfare. Closing will cause an issue with access for emergency services as well as for regular daily commutes. Wabash has large deliveries from north and south that will be affected by closure of the road. There is ingress and egress that will be affected. All 100 employees there will be forced to use Hwy 41 or use another way to go to work. It’s not in the public’s safety or interest to close this road. Read state law for abandonment, and this does not satisfy legal requirements. Click here to read this letter.

[Note from the Editor: I highly recommend reading this letter. It is very well written and addresses the legal aspects of closing this road from state law. The safety aspects of this road as were mentioned by Commissioner Pullin are a big concern for those using that road too. The newspaper advertisement can be viewed on the county website at www.pikecoga.com under the Resources tab for this meeting.]

Becky Watts. Concerned with the precedent that is being set if we give away a county road.

David Paulson. This road keeps me off of the highway. Appreciate you keeping the road.

Closed the public hearing.

Pullin. Safety aspect of this has been addressed by those who have been speaking about this. Would like to stop this process at this point, but we have to figure out how to make this section of road safe. There are tractor trailers parked off of the side of the road, and the road is in bad shape. Motion to stop the abandonment process of Ethridge Mill Road. Approved 4-0.

m. PUBLIC HEARING: To receive public input regarding REZ-25-10 – Mt. Gilead Baptist Church Owner, and Bloom Pediatric Therapy Applicant requests a Rezoning from AR (Residential Agricultural) to C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) for property located at 14686 US Hwy 19, Griffin, GA. 30224. The property consists of 1.77+/- Acres in Land Lot 89 of the 2nd Land District, further identified as Parcel ID: 074 103. The Request is to convert the existing house into an office for Pediatric Therapy Practice. Commission District 4. Commissioner James Jenkins.

Morton. There shall be no consideration of this tonight because our code requires the applicant to be present at the meeting. Planning and Zoning Director Gilbert. This will have to go back through legal advertising. They were advised that there would be a follow up meeting. Question on who pays for this.

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

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - NONE

12. ADJOURNMENT

Agenda subject to change.

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 p.m.

[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.]