Commissioners Get Updates
The Jasper County Commissioners got an update on road work, the 911 authority, work at the landfill, zoning, and other items during Monday afternoon’s work session.
County Attorney John Nix has tendered the resignation of his firm, but Maddox, Nix, Bowman and Zoeckler will represent the county until June 5, by which time presumably a new attorney can be selected. Mr. Nix updated the commission on the Hwy. 380 project, saying plans are moving forward even though the right-of-way issue has not been completely resolved.
He said the environmental study is in review, and nearly complete, and that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) plans to begin right-of-way acquisition on July 1, 2007. The road would be let for contract a year later.
He said there are people at GDOT who would gladly come to the commission meeting and discuss the status of the bypass. The project is moving forward, said Mr. Nix.
He also reiterated what his colleague had said about the Hwy. 11 project—road work necessary before the new high school can open. He urged the commissioners to move forward with the work, as they had agreed in the SPLOST proposal. When cost figures are in hand, the county can go to GDOT and seek assistance with the project.
Ronnie Payne who introduced himself as “acting chair” of the 911 authority asked the county to consider decreasing the number of people on the board. He explained the history of the board, and the current challenge to get a quorum for an 11-member board which meets quarterly.
County Manager Greg Williams and Attorney John Nix are going to research options. The number of members of the authority may be decreased or it may be changed altogether to merely an advisory board. In that case, the 911 employees would become county employees. Mr. Williams will report the findings to the commission.
Mr. Payne also updated commissioners on the EMS/fire consolidation proposal. He said the last time he addressed the commission, he was sent to find out how the fire fighters felt about the proposal. He reported he received overwhelmingly positive approval for the plan.
Commissioners suggested Mr. Payne get with Ed Westbrook, Emergency Services Director, to set up a public hearing to explain it to the citizenry. Then, it could be brought back to the commission for action.
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Public Works Director Larry Thurman presented a printout of the calls that department has answered, as well as outlining the road maintenance and repair that is taking place. He said the roads currently are in pretty good shape.
He explained that the weather plays a big part in how busy PWD is and what roads require attention.
Mr. Thurman went on to say that the county has not paved a road since 1995, and does not have the equipment to do so. He said they can patch and maintain, but to do new paving is out of the question.
Mr. Thurman and the commissioners discussed the possibility of putting weight limits on the roads so they wouldn’t deteriorate so quickly.
Mr. Thurman assured commissioners he was aware of the problem roads in the county.
Ken Tillman reported that some minor work needs to be completed on the sanitary landfill to have the cap complete. He said in another month or two, maybe three, the capping will be complete.
He said that he is still waiting for the permitting on the new C&D (construction and demolition) landfill. He said he has talked with people at the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and they said they will get to it when they can.
Mr. Tillman said he was told that Jasper’s permit was at the top of the list a few years ago, but since Jasper did not take action then, the state is not going to do any favors to speed the process up now. It will probably be another two months before the site suitability study is complete, said Commission Greg Johnson.
Mr. Williams said he had been looking at the use of cell phones in the county, and felt like a revamp is in order. He plans to contract with Verizon for all phones, putting them on one plan to reap savings.
Commissioners again discussed engineering services. Commissioners say they are looking at doing $9.5 million in road work, so an engineer is needed. Chairman Jack Bernard wants to hire an engineer who can look over the SPLOST road projects, as well as facilitate a complete road plan, and help with specs and such to improve current road not expected to be paved any time soon.
Mr. Williams is to produce a report indicating approximate costs for hiring an engineer to work for Jasper County, and the cost to contract with a firm to do the work needed.
Mr. Bernard said everyone in county government works in its silo, saying each department stands alone and says “not my problem” to things not directly under their purview. He said he doesn’t want to hire an engineer or firm expressly for SPLOST projects, thereby overlooking the need for a complete road plan.
“There’s a problem here, he said, you can’t sweep it under the rug. If we don’t hire an engineer I want to know who is going to develop a road plan,” said Mr. Bernard. “We need to see the dollars and cents on how it’s going to get done.”
Commissioner Johnson asked if the county hired an engineer, as an employee, could he be paid with SPLOST funds. Mr. Williams said, no. There is some provision whereby a small portion of that salary could come from SPLOST, but it would be a very small portion, he said.
On the topic of animal control, Commissioner Johnson said that he thought animal control’s role was to respond to complaints. He said he didn’t think animal control officials need to go out picking up pets, even if the pet is not under the direct control of its owner, as the ordinance says.
That led to much discussion of what is considered a nuisance and what is not. Only picking up animals that are complained about would not effectively control the animal population, they agreed. There was much discussion about persons being responsible pet owners.
Before the meeting began, Francis Cason reiterated his comments that the animal control person should have some public relations skills, and some public education needs to be done.
Others commented pro and con about animal control and what they perceive is happening and what they desire to happen.
Commissioners discussed the county’s zoning ordinance with Planning Director Chris Anderson. The county received a letter from the Regional Development Center in February outlining some 35 deficiencies in the ordinance. Commissioner Bob Yarbrough asked why the commission was just now aware of this letter. Commissioner Johnson asked if anything had been fixed yet.
Mr. Anderson replied that he didn’t know that it is worth fixing. “It’s fairly functional,” he said.
The letter from the RDC said that information had not been received from Mr. Anderson in spite of requests. Lee Carmon who wrote the letter said that numerous terms throughout the document are not defined or are vague and the ordinance is poorly organized. Some sections are simply confusing.
The county attorney said he thought perhaps Jasper could get some professional planners to help write an ordinance that would reflect the community’s goals and be very different from the current one. He explained how many local ordinances came into being and suggested it might be time to think outside the box and come up with a unique plan.
The other alternative is to “put 35 band-aids” on the existing ordinance, and continue operating with it. A full overhaul would probably take a year, agreed Messrs. Anderson and Nix.
Other topics of discussion at the work session included:
•Indigent legal defense costs. Mr. Williams said he had contacted Butch Moore, the man in charge of the public defender office for the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, and he is willing to come make a presentation. Commissioners told Mr. Williams to have him come to the next work session.
•Water. Commissioners wondered aloud why the Jasper County Water and Sewer Authority is not aggressively seeking funding for pipe across the bridge on the Ocmulgee River. A new bridge is being built, and the pipe, or at least the hangers for the pipe should be installed now.
Then the county could purchase water from Butts County and, according to commissioners, they could serve the development they want to serve at a much lower cost than laying pipe all the way down Jackson Lake Road.
Juanita Gazaway spoke during the general comment portion of the meeting and wanted to know how the JCWSA project affects Alcovy Shores. She said Alcovy already has lines and customers in the area that JCWSA plans to serve. What safeguards does ASWSA have that their customers will remain intact, she asked. Mrs. Gazaway is not on the Alcovy Shores board, so it was not clear if she was speaking for them or just as a consumer. Her husband, Butch, is an employee of the Alcovy Shores system.
During the general comment segment of the meeting, Mary Patrick told the commissioners they keep talking in circles and never get anything done. She went on to say that they can’t expect to make any progress with the roads if they keep cutting the public works department.
Before the regular meeting, the commissioners had a called meeting to consider the Andrea Appling employment appeal and to consider the county attorney’s resignation. Mrs. Appling’s lawyer was unable to be there and asked for an continuance which they granted. The matter is to be heard at the close of the regular meeting on May 1.
The commission went into closed session for a quarter-hour or more to discuss “personnel,” although no evidence was presented in open meeting and no action was taken when the meeting reopened.
