Commission O.K.’s Insurance Policy

The Jasper County Commission moved its meeting to the small courtroom upstairs Monday evening when more than 50 spectators showed up to attend the meeting.

Many of those in the audience were county employees who were concerned about their benefits, as the commission was scheduled to vote on a new insurance package.

In addition to moving to a different location, the commissioners rearranged the agenda to accommodate the large number of people.

Kelly Fox, the county’s insurance broker, said the county’s cost for insurance this year was more than $816,000, and that because of the county’s loss ratio, the premiums are increasing 42 percent.

He then began outlining one option for the commissioners. Midway through that presentation, Commissioner Mary Patrick said to move on because they commission had already ruled that option out, as it would have cost employees a large amount of money—in the neighborhood of $700 a month.
The next option was for a plan similar to what the county has now, but the employee will pay more of his or her dependents cost, and the co-pays will increase. In addition, the deductible will increase.

With that option, county employees will pay $25 to visit a primary care physician, and $50 for a specialist. Typical tests will be included in the co-pay. However, higher priced specialized tests, surgery and some other care would be subject to a fairly high deductible, whereas under the current plan, the employees have no deductible.

After Mr. Fox explained that option, Commission Chairman Carl Pennamon said he can’t see passing on the expense when the county did not give raises. That option however, will cost employees only about $50 per pay period.

The county will continue to pay 100 percent of the employee’s insurance premium, and the employee will be responsible for 50 percent of his dependents’ premium.
The other option is a Health Savings Account (HSA), with a deductible of $2,850, of which the county would fund $1,000. With the HSA, employees would pay the full cost of medical treatment until the deductible is met, then costs would be reimbursed at the rate of 80 percent. This option is generally considered favorable if the employee does not seek much medical care, and particularly for young, healthy employees.

The money in the account—the $1,000 the county funds and any amount the employee funds and does not use—rolls over each year and when it reaches a certain minimum can be invested.

Mr. Fox planned to meet with the employees Wednesday through Friday of this week to explain the options to them, and sign them up.

Many of the spectators who were not there about insurance were there concerning roads.

Brian Upchurch complained about Hodges Farm Road and County Line Road. He talked about the damage to his vehicle caused by the condition of those roads. He said he had been hit head-on three times on Hodges Farm Road.

Dorothy Kellam, a 15-year resident of Concord Road wants to know why the county is paving Pitts Chapel when no one lives there, and not paving Concord where 25 families live. (Pitts Chapel forks at Concord Road.)
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The commissioners have learned that County Line Road from Henderson Mill Road to Rocky Creek Road will be paved under the state’s Local Assistance Road Program (LARP), with the work set for next month. The LARP program only resurfaces already paved roads, and generally only takes care of one or two roads in the county each year.

In regards to work on county dirt roads, Commissioner Alan Cox said that what he was quoted as saying in the newspaper after the last meeting was a confusing statement. He said that when he suggested outsourcing county road maintenance it was merely as a trial, not to prop up a county department if someone’s not doing their job.

“My thought was that if we could do this and do this properly, we could eliminate or seriously cut back the public works department. My intention was to replace that department,” Commissioner Cox said.

He said he talked with three contractors who submitted unit price bids to determine what it would cost to improve Loyd Cemetery Road which a property owner requested at the last meeting, and he said that the road is basically a driveway. They suggested that the Public Works Department (PWD) spray the kudzu that is overtaking the road, and use their chain saws and labor to cut back the brush along the road.

Commissioner Cox then said that James Benton Road, a larger, more widely used road, is deplorable.
Commissioner Patrick said that there was SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) money available, and the county should move forward with the confirmed SPLOST projects, suggested Bullard Road be next. There was some discussion, and commissioners agreed that they need to have a work session on roads.

Chairman Pennamon announced that the county is seeking bids on outsourcing the Emergency Medical Service (EMS). He said they are going to get proposals from two ambulance services. Mr. Pennamon said he wanted to make the announcement while Emergency Services Director Ed Westbrook was at the meeting so he would be aware of the county’s activities.

Mr. Westbrook was at the meeting to explain the Emergency Management Agency performance partnership award, which guarantees the county $5,000 for EMA, and the county could get more money. As EMA director, Mr. Westbrook mentioned that the governor had declared a state of emergency in 17 counties because of flooding, and said that he is keeping an eye on storms and floods here, and would keep the commissioner’s up to date. Mr. Westbrook oversees EMA, fire and rescue services, EMS and 911.

Chuck Giddens of Giddens Consulting reviewed his proposal for switching out the phone service at the Courthouse and what he referred to as the sheriff’s complex, which would include the senior citizens center, animal control, and PWD. The cost to the county for the full changeover would be about $86,000.

The change would cut down on the number of DSL lines the county pays for, and the county would get a higher speed internet access. In addition, his proposal includes firewall and virus protection of the county’s’ computers. In addition, he said, the county could block sites that employees did not need to go to.

Commissioner Patrick suggested that they do just the Courthouse area first, then pay for it, and when it was paid for, proceed with the sheriff’s complex. Commissioner Cox asked the chairman to look into the cost of a loan to pay for the improvements. He is in favor of the change, but wants to be sure it will pay for itself. Chairman Pennamon said that the county clerk had already begun pursuing interest rates.

Commissioner Cox said to Commissioner Patrick, “I know you’ll probably talk to her first thing in the morning…” asking her to follow up on the interest rates.

According to the presentation, the could will save some $2,000 a month over what it’s paying now, so they want to be sure the change will pay for itself, and see the time frame. Chairman Pennamon questioned if the current system works, without commenting on whether he was in favor of the new phone system.

The commission reached a 2-2 stalemate on changes to the curbside pick-up proposal presented by Commissioner Cox. Mr. Cox said that Steve Edwards with Advanced Disposal System (ADS) had worked hard with him, and they hard reached a compromise. The plan is to keep the participation level high enough to maintain the current price, but allow a few exceptions.

Commissioners Cox and Patrick voted in favor of the changes, and Commissioners Pennamon and Charles Hill opposed the changes.

The commissioners agreed to look at adopting a purchasing policy for the county when they next meet. The county does not have a defined purchasing policy, and apparently no guidelines for bidding. They discussed the fact that departments do not advertise for bids, but the county does, and the commission office also opens bids. The discussion came about because of the treatment of recent bids by the recreation department in an effort to get an irrigation system for the ball fields.

The group discussed the county recreation board, and Commissioner Patrick suggested a joint meeting.
Commissioner Patrick said she had talked with the county’s auditor, Mark Hardison, and there was some $2.3 million worth of changes to be made to the budget, indicating that the county was that much shorter of funds than originally thought. She said that the bank reconciliations had not been done since February.

The commission agreed to employ Mr. Hardison to complete “agreed upon procedures” to get the county’s books up to date.

Commissioner Patrick said that the pipes the county had purchased to fix Lane Road were not secure, and were down in the creek Tuesday morning.

During a work session before the regular meeting, the commissioners discussed zoning ordinance amendments, with a lot of attention to home occupations. There was some opposition to the tack shop that is opening on Goolsby Road at Hwy. 11, and commissioners are questioning if it really fits the regulations. They want to change the regulations to prevent similar situations. They also agreed to ask Code Enforcement Officer Raymond Rogers to go re-measure the tack building, because if it is in excess of 2,000 sq.ft., including porches, it is too large, and the Home Occupation license would be revoked.

They discussed minor subdivisions, and road requirements for those subdivisions containing not more than four to five lots. When the commissioners were discussing presenting their suggestions to P&Z, it was recognized that proposed changes would have to be advertised. Commissioner Patrick said that P&Z has already advertised possible amendments.

They reviewed their county manager job description and ordinance and made changes.

Commissioner Patrick said she had reviewed the Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority (JCWSA) financial statements for April, and it did not show the county owed any money to the authority. The May statements did not either, she said.

In June, JCWSA discussed it at their meeting, and the statements showed the county owed some $27,000. The county voted, 3-2, to pay the authority the indebtedness in August. Now, she said, the authority is saying the county owes it $49,806. “I think it’s just the manipulation of financial statements,” she said.
In other action, commissioners:

• Heard from Cheryl Nowetner with the Taxpayer’s Watchdog Group about the polls it has been conducting.

•Heard from resident Tim Barr about the condition of his road—Wicker Road.

•After the hour long work session and two and a half hour regular meeting, the commissioners went into closed session, ostensibly to discuss personnel and litigation.

* Were unable to approve the mintues from the Sept. 8 meeting because the clerk was out on vacation, and they weren’t available. No one appeared to be taking minutes at Mondays’ meeting.