County O.K.s New Zoning Ordinance

The Jasper County Commission approved a new zoning ordinance at its mid-month meeting Monday evening, after determining the areas in question are basically unchanged from the old ordinance.

Commissioners agreed they would begin work immediately on text amendments to remedy the problems they have with it. County Attorney James Alexander pointed out that a zoning ordinance is always a work in progress.

The action comes some two years after the county was informed that its zoning ordinance had so many problems that it would not likely withstand a court challenge.

The last commissioners contracted with Town Planning & Associates to rewrite the ordinance. When the rewrite was almost complete, a concerned citizen, the late Francis Cason, reminded commissioners that the plan called for a citizen’s review committee. That committee was formed, and spent much of last year reviewing the ordinance.
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The ordinance was presented to the county commission last December, but that board contained three lame duck commissioners, and they were urged to delay action and let the new board vote on it. The ordinance has been further reviewed this year, and the architectural standards added, but the commission had not been ready to accept it.

Commissioners heard from several individuals Monday about the ordinance, including Lynn Short who said the county had not properly advertised the ordinance and had no right to pass it.

Chris Batchelor said that he was against anything that further limited personal property rights. He questioned why the code enforcement officer could cite him if he has a junk car in his yard, but that another person is allowed to build a home on top of a cemetery, in violation of state law and not be questioned.

Commissioner Ronnie Payne expressed concern that large lots could not be subdivided, even for family members, without appropriate road frontage. For example, he said he had 100 acres, but he could not give his son 10 acres on the back side of his property to build a home, because it would only be accessible across his dam.

Commissioner Charles Hill had tried previously to help a family who inherited 100 acres and it was to be divided equally, and the only way it could be done is to put a road in. He was not happy as that was not addressed in the ordinances.

Don Broussard with Town Planning pointed out that those examples were the same in the old and new ordinance. It was after that realization that commissioners agreed to go ahead and adopt the new ordinance.

In the motion to approve the ordinance, Commissioner Mary Patrick said that the architectural standards should be adopted as “guidelines.” As the ordinance is written, builders would be required to follow the standards, and commissioners were hesitant to do that. The architectural standards were not studied as thoroughly as the rest of the ordinance.

Mr. Broussard pointed out to the commissioners that the new ordinance is 75 pages, compared to the old one that was 111 pages.

The ordinance was approved with Commission Chairman Carl Pennamon, Vice-Chair Mary Patrick and Commissioner Alan Cox voting in favor. Commissioner Hill was opposed, and Commissioner Payne abstained.

The action on the zoning ordinance came after a public hearing that was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The commissioners met at 5 p.m. for a work session, then called the regular meeting to order at 6 p.m. Two public hearings were held during that meeting, including one on a text amendment to the zoning ordinance. That text amendment allows a tack store in the agricultural zoning district as a special exception.

After hearing from people in favor of the text amendment and those against it, Commissioner Cox said that he had read the list of what is allowed with special exception in the agricultural district, and felt a tack store was much less invasive that many other possible uses.

The people who spoke in favor of the text amendment were basically speaking in favor of the applicant, not the amendment. Those speaking against the amendment included neighbors Lint Jordan and Billy Connelly. Mr. Jordan, the adjacent landowner to the applicant, said his family has owned the property and lived there for 400 years and it was zoned agricultural and that is what it should be. He stressed he wanted to be a good neighbor, but he is opposed to allowing a commercial use.

Mr. Connelly said that he was opposed because it amounts to spot zoning. “I see this as an effort to circumvent the zoning law,” he said.

The text amendment was adopted with a 3-2 vote with Commissioners Hill and Pennamon voting against.

No one spoke for or against the new official cell tower ordinance, and it was unanimously adopted.

Commissioners voted to approve the “annual on-demand construction services” bids that were presented by Larry Kaiser with Collaborative Infrastructure who oversees the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) road projects.

Then, the commission voted to authorize the chairman to sign a contract with DeKalb Pipeline for a maximum of $571,616 to complete the work on Pitts Chapel Road.

Both votes passed with four commissioners voting in favor and Commissioner Patrick abstaining.

The commissioners looked at the bids on a tax anticipation note that were requested from the local banks. Bank of Monticello was able to offer the county a five percent interest rate and a $250 loan fee, substantially less than McIntosh’s 5.5 percent interest rate and $1,000 loan fee.

The paperwork made it clear that the McIntosh bid was a line of credit, meaning the county would only be charged interest on what was actually used. The Bank of Monticello bid was not clear. Commissioners agreed to go with the lower bid from Bank of Monticello, if indeed it is on a line of credit. If not, the commissioners would have to look at it again.

The commissioners tabled any action on employee’s uniforms, as County Manager Greg Williams was out and not able to explain the documentation offered. (Mr. Williams was out sick.) County Clerk Betty Moon told commissioners that Raymond Rogers was there, and he had done the research on the uniforms, but commissioners voted to table that item.

Commission Chairman Penanmon left the room for the discussion of bids for jail meals, as his wife, Valerie, submitted a bid from her restaurant, Val’s Red Clay Cafe.
When Vice-Chair Patrick took over, she said that Val’s bid was not valid, as a commissioner has an interest in the business, so that bid was thrown out.

The commissioners accepted the low bid of $10.50 per day for jail meals from Koshy, Inc., pending approval of the sheriff. County Attorney James Alexander told commissioners that the ultimate decision is up to the sheriff. Dave’s BBQ which has been providing the meals on an interim basis bid $12 per day.

Work Session

During the work session before the regular meeting, commissioners were to hear from Giddens Consulting about suggestions on how to improve the efficiency of the computers in the Courthouse as well as the county website. Mr. Giddens met with the commissioners several months ago, and offered a proposal for his consulting. They commissioners have not heard back from Mr. Giddens and he was not at Monday’s meeting.

They were also to discuss curbside pick-up services with Steve Edwards of Advanced Disposal (ADS. The work session was scheduled from 5 to 6 p.m., and Mr. Edwards did not arrive until about 5:45 p.m., and commissioners had already discussed their concerns amongst themselves.

Commissioners agreed the county would begin paying ADS based on the number of cans the county is billing. If ADS wants to bill for more, the burden is on the company to show the county where the additional cans are.

Apparently the county is billing for just over 5,000 cans to be picked up, and paying for 5,200 or more each month.
Commissioner Patrick had a printout of what the county had paid for since August 2008, when the county was paying for 5,131 until now when the county is paying for 5,282. She said the county is billing 5,003.

Mr. Pennamon said that he got a printout from the tax assessors office showing that 5,060 are being billed, and about 70-100 of those have legitimate reasons to opt-out of the service. Therefore, the county’s bill to ADS could drop significantly. Commissioners recognize, however, that some households have two cans and are only being billed for one, and there are probably some at addresses that are not listed on the tax bills as having them.

The county’s animal control officer, Karen Bryant, came before the commissioners to explain her predicament. Currently, she is the only employee, and is required to work seven days a week to clean cages and feed the animals.

She said she looked at the hours the shelter is the least busy, and it is Tuesday and Wednesday. So, she suggested she would come in on Tuesdays and clean and feed, then leave at noon, and not return until 8 a.m. Thursday. Someone else would have to be designated to feed and clean on Wednesday.

Ms. Bryant would remain on call for emergencies, but otherwise would be off a half-day Sunday and Tuesday and all day Wednesday. Commissioners agreed to the plan.

Commissioners heard from Linda Jordan with the Jasper County Water and Sewer Authority, requesting payment from the county from 2008 for part of the funds the authority was entitled to but did not receive last year. In addition, she requested the 2009 obligation.

There was a dispute about whether the county is obligated to pay the funds. Commissioner Patrick said that the Water Authority’s minutes validating the contract say the loan is to be repaid with revenues.

She said, “If a resolution is not spread in the minutes, it is not validated.” She went on to say that the public was told JCWSA was not going to cost the taxpayers anything.
However, the JCWSA feels the county has an obligation to pay for the fire hydrants it has put in place, and that is what the authority understands the county agreed to.

After discussion, the county attorney told commissioners that as he reads it, the county has no legal liability, but does have a moral liability. He said the county is not technically involved but in its attempt to serve the public, it has involvement.

Mrs. Patrick said it was poor planning to start with. She said a lot of the lines run side by side with another authority, which presumably could provide the service to JCWSA customers.

Commissioner Cox maintained that if the county gave the authority the money it is requesting the authority would still be unable to remain solvent.

Mrs. Jordan said their figures show they would be about $6,000 short, which would basically be covered with the installation of two more taps. The authority has maintained all along that the county has an obligation to fund the fire hydrants.

Mr. Cox said if the county is going to consider advanced payment, it has to know that the authority would remain solvent.

Commissioners discussed the landfill tipping fees with Landfill Director Ken Tillman. The amount the county charges is not enough to cover the cost.

Mr. Tillman expressed his concern that if the tipping fee goes to high, citizens will put their trash on the side of the road rather than taking it to the landfill.