City Is Divided on Probation Service

During their regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening the city council entertained a presentation by Police Chief Bobby Norris and Jackie Bell Smith which informed them that the JAG Probation Service has relocated from city offices to the sheriff’s office, thereby creating difficulties for the persons within the city limits to meet reporting requirements.

In order to alleviate this situation they said they had researched other probation services and recommended the council consider offering a contract to CSRA Probation Services, Inc., who had agreed to open an office in the city complex.

A detailed presentation of the standards of excellence of the recommended company was provided to the council, and after much discussion, Councilperson Randy Strozier made a motion to accept the contract to CSRA after contacting JAG to dissolve their contract. (The original contract with JAG required them company to maintain an office in the city.) The motion was seconded by Councilperson Larry Thurman and a vote was called by Mayor Bryan Standifer.

With Councilperson Cornell Williams being absent, the vote was a tie with Thurman and Strozier voting for, and Mayor Pro tem Bobby Jacobs and Councilperson Katherine Alexander voting against. The mayor broke the tie with a “yea” vote and the motion was carried.

Other actions taken by the Council included:

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•Council unanimously approved a proposal by a representative of Advanced Disposal Services to extend the current contract for two years and agree to a Consumer Price Index rate increase in three years with a cap of 2.5 percent. Without the contract extension, prices would have increased in Junuary, 2014.

•Voted unanimously to approve the Short Term Work Program as proposed by the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission to support Jasper County’s effort to complete Perimeter Road, continue to support the Chamber of Commerce and continue support of Economic Development.

•Approved on a split vote of two “nays” by Strozier and Thurman, and two “yeas” by Jacobs and Alexander, broken by a tiebreaker vote of “yea” by the mayor, to provide an additional $37,900 in new fees resulting in changes to the Sidewalk Project, which is due to begin in 2015. Although council members had reviewed the project each step of the way, there was much discussion about aspects they did not remember previously approving.

•Agreed to hold a meeting today, Oct. 10, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss employee realignments and pay raises of three percent for fully vested employees at a cost between $43,000 and $46,000, and to be voted on at the next regular monthly meeting. This issue has been discussed several times both during budget discussions and since the fiscal year began in July.

•Heard a positive report from Chief Norris on the progress and results of a task force to eliminate drugs and gang activity from Funderburg Park, in which he listed many related arrests which have been made, all of which have been reported weekly in The News. He did indicate, however, that additional funding is needed to outfit the task force. The task force is working with Sheriff Ezell Brown of Newton County. He also reported the collection of $17,086 in fines for the month of September.

•City Manager Tim Sweezey reported the new Family Dollar store is due to open in one month. The building is going up on East Greene Street, across from Hamilton State Bank and Dave’s Barbecue. Cagle Development is in charge. (Repeated phone calls by The Monticello News to Mr. Cagle have been deferred, saying he is not available, and he has not returned any calls.) Information on applying for jobs is posted on the current Family Dollar store on West Washington Street. Also, construction is underway for the Norton Packaging building in the industrial park. The Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to place many new signs in the city, and more importantly the DOT has begun work on Hwy 16 from Ingles to the Square. Mr. Sweezey said he and staff are working on the removal of several dilapidated buildings and repairs to others.

•Approved the appointment of Heather Suwinki to the Historic Preservation Commission.