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Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.
Courthouse Annex, 79 Jackson Street, Zebulon, Georgia
This meeting was attended by all of the commissioners as well as County Manager (CM) John Hanson, County Clerk Jo Ann Wrye, and 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 August 25, 2015 Regular Monthly Meeting.
6. INVITED GUESTS
a. Employees to be recognized for their service to Pike County.
Vera Hammond was recognized for 14 years of service in Pike Superior Court. Pam Thompson praised Vera for her hard work, her smile, her dedication, and willingness to help people even if it means going into old documents in boxes that are not easily accessible and making sure that people get what they need.
Jamie Strickland was recognized for 16 years of service. He was praised for his dedication because the county only has 3 people in investigations and they handle over 400 cases a year. The Sheriff praised him for always doing his job without complaint even when it means coming in during the middle of the night for an investigation or helping out with the jail when needed there.
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.
CM Hanson asked commissioners if they would like to hear the first report from our new ambulance service from a representative of the company, and they said yes. Michael Coleman presented the first report to the county for Grady/South Georgia Ambulance. They are thankful for the opportunity to serve here. They have hit the ground running with their busiest day answering 13 or 14 calls. They are posted at Station 2, Zebulon, and Molena and trying to move trucks to cover a larger area if needed. If Zebulon goes on call, the Molena truck comes to Zebulon.
911 is dividing calls into emergency and non-emergency with this system. The dispatcher can give instructions to person on the call before the first responders can arrive. This is a way to help the person on the line to give some help until help can get there. He praised the 911 Center for taking this on.
They are in the Concord Station during the day right now as well and possibly looking at building crew quarters there. CM Hanson said that they like the location on Concord Road because of its easy access to other parts of the process. He is looking into a possible agreement for this. If no bunk quarters built, we will still look at maybe staying there during the day.
There were few comments from the commissioners. Commissioner Johnson said that there were some complaints about the time in the beginning, but said that after the first couple of weeks, what he has heard has been positive. It was pointed out that GPS doesn’t work here and that they are learning the roads.
They have done follow up calls with some in the community after some of their calls. They want to make sure that they are providing a great service to the community and that they love what they do. They are at the Senior Center on Thursdays and Freshway on Wednesdays. CM Hanson said that they are working well with the Fire Department too. They are also working with the Lions Club to help build a ramp for someone who needs it.
Motion to approve reports. Approved 5-0.
b. County Manager Report
Update on County finances for the following funds/accounts:
General Fund ............................................................................................ $1,207,481.19
Fire Dept. Donations........................................................................................ $1,931.25
Cash Reserve Account................................................................................. $500,251.47
Jail Fund ........................................................................................................ $22,311.06
E-911 Fund .................................................................................................... $68,161.84
DATE Fund ................................................................................................... $35,601.64
Juvenile Court Fund....................................................................................... $16,592.71
Residential Impact Fee ................................................................................ $299,475.22
Commercial Impact Fees ............................................................................... $13,448.01
C.A.I.P FUND............................................................................................... $11,277.23
General Obligation SPLOST Tax Bond Sinking Fund, 2011...................... $568,947.92
L.M.I. Grant (DOT)..................................................................................... $157,819.08
c. County Manager Comments.
Public Works has been working on McKinley. They are finished the east end and working on the rest of the road toward Highway 19. They are hauling asphalt out of Bolingbroke instead of Tyrone now because it saves about 30 minute per load. They did 17 loads in one day instead of just 9. It wasn’t their intention to do the entire road, but it was needed. They are learning as they go. We will be doing patches throughout the rest of the county. McKinley is a base issue with the road and needed a whole lot of work.
Williamson-Zebulon Road is going to be a big undertaking. They will basically tear the road down to the bottom and start from scratch. 2 ½ weeks. Somewhere in October—hopefully be working the week that school is out. Asphalt will take about 4 days. The entire road will look like a dirt road as they go down to the base and then begin to asphalt. Local traffic will be allowed, but there will be detours for those who don’t live there. It will be $71,000 to widen the road, and this would be a good idea both financially and common sense to do while we are there. The county will get with the media to let the people know what is going on. This is our highest trafficked road in the entire county. If we can endure a couple of weeks of this, we won’t have to deal with this road again for a long time.
Mayor Fry is going to talk to the county manager about continuing from Reidsboro Road through to 362. CM Hanson said that there are some discussions that need to take place on this. It’s about $197,000 to do this and we don’t have it in our budget now. There would be negotiations on how much the city could contribute as well. If we can do it now, the contractor could do this at the same time as the rest of the road. CM Hanson is looking into all of this and will bring it to the commissioners before any extras are done on this. Question about the rest of the road back toward Zebulon. CM Hanson said that from the City Limits of Zebulon to the highway, it looks like it’s in good shape.
The Development Authority has a ground breaking ceremony tomorrow for Advanced Machine. This has been ongoing since January. He praised the City of Zebulon for moving up some meetings to get this done quickly. There is a lot of talk in the county with possible businesses right now.
d. Commissioner Reports.
Commissioner Guy said that he has reported road washouts to the county manager and that they were handled well and in a quick manner.
Commissioner Jenkins said that he had a comment from a long-term resident who complimented the county for efforts done to clean up the dump and keep it cleaned up.
e. County Attorney Report to Commissioners.
County Attorney Rob Morton said that they have been working with CM Hanson on various documents needed for the county. This includes Superior Court and a sub-lease with Grady.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Approve/deny text amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Sections 156.43 (D)(10) and 156.43 (C), relative to the use of manufactured homes / trailers / campers for temporary living quarters at a construction site.
Director David Allen said that the only one that changes is section a, but he went ahead and added b, c, and d to the agenda. He made the suggested changed from the reading on the 25th. If approved, Director Allen will be able to approve administratively when someone in AR needs this service, but it will remain a special exception in every other section. Motion to approve this text amendment. Discussion: Rob has a concern about campers, etc. on the property after the rebuilding is complete. He still has a concern about the rewording. He suggested going back to the previous language so it is clear. No need for action on b, c, or d. Amended motion to approve with suggested wording from the County Attorney. Approved 5-0.
b. Approve/deny text amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Sections 156.63 (D)(4) and 156.63 (C), relative to the use of manufactured homes / trailers / campers for temporary living quarters at a construction site.
No action.
c. Approve/deny text amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Sections 156.78 (D)(4) and 156.78 (C), relative to the use of manufactured homes / trailers / campers for temporary living quarters at a construction site.
No action.
d. Approve/deny text amendment to the Pike County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 156, Zoning Code, Sections 156.93 (D)(4) and 156.93 (C), relative to the use of manufactured homes / trailers / campers for temporary living quarters at a construction site.
No action.
9. NEW BUSINESS
a. Consider Resolution to adopt the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Pike County Tax Levy and to authorize Chairman Johnson to sign the Tax Levy documents.
Motion to approve as the 2015-2016 digest. Approved 5-0.
b. Discuss/Approve/Deny fee for pouring distilled spirits.
CM Hanson said that liquor by the drink was approved last year. We have had a beer and wine fee for businesses for years for $350 per year. This is different for liquor by the drink. In Spalding, it’s $500 for the prior and $2,000 for pouring. In Barnesville, the pour license is $3,000. That would make it $2,700 for all three. He said that he is looking to be consistent with this and thinks that $2,000 is a reasonable fee. Commissioner Powers suggested $2,500. Motion to go with $2,500 for the license. (Guy, Powers) Approved 5-0.
c. Approve/deny resolution for endorsement to add Industrial Development Authority to the County Property/Liability coverage.
This was discussed for the Agribusiness Authority in the past meeting. The IDA doesn’t have a liability policy on our properties so this would be good for the county to add this and there will be no additional charge to the county for this. If a building was added at a later time, there could possibly be a charge. Discussion that they are working for the county anyway and would be prudent to do this for the county. Motion to approve. Approved 5-0.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT- (Limited to 5 minutes per person) - None
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn. 9:51 a.m.
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