County Encounters More Landfill Issues

The Jasper County Commissioners received some disheartening news at their regular meeting Monday.

In the county manager’s update, Karen Degges reported that in preparing to move the next pile of cellulose fiber, a by-product of Georgia-Pacific that was dumped at the county landfill without being permitted, workers had discovered there is much more than ever anticipated.

They were expecting to remove contaminated soil about 12 inches, and begin digging to remove the contaminated soil and fiber and put it where it has been permitted. They have dug 30 feet, and are still not at the bottom of the pile, she said. There is at least as much material to be moved as has already been moved.

The county has been under a consent order with the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) since 2006, but just began moving the fiber last year. In December, using public works department (PWD) employees and equipment, much fiber was moved.

EPD representatives have visited and been very pleased, reported Ms. Degges.

However, when county workers recently moved to the new location, they were astounded by what they found. They have rented dump trucks that can handle the rough terrain, and moved 768 loads last week. Preston Campbell, PWD director, said there is at least double that much still there which must be moved.

The current deadline under the consent order is April 21, but Ms. Degges is hopeful that will be extended. EPD is overall very pleased with the action that has been taken, particularly on top of years of inaction.

“We have shown an abundance of good faith effort, and we are complying across the board,” she said.

Commissioner Doug Luke commented that more has been done in the last six months than the last eight years.

However, at the current rate, it is unknown how long it will take to complete the project, and pulling PWD workers to work in the landfill keeps them from working on county roads which are in dire need of work.

In a work session before the regular meeting, Ms. Degges reviewed the deficiencies in the PWD in relation to doing the job that department needs to be doing, not taking into account this landfill work. Her worksheet showed the PWD needs a full time equivalent of four more employees to keep up with the needs in the county. She also said the county may want to look at contracting out the patching as that requires flaggers as well as at least two workers.

Commissioner Luke commented that, “we are going to have to invest right now as we are losing ground.”

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Ms. Degges concurred, and said it is costing in unhappy citizens, some of whom were at the meeting to learn more about what the county is doing about the roads.

Commissioners discussed the roads and the landfill at length, and instructed the county manager and PWD director to continue to work on roads and the landfill at the same time. Neither will get the attention needed but some progress will be made both places. Ms. Degges indicated that with the April 21 deadline looming, a possible fine of $1,000 a day, she felt the work must continue apace at the landfill.

Commissioners said at least one motor grader and one dump truck must be working on the roads, and for Ms. Degges to work on getting an extension on the April 21 deadline as she and Mr. Campbell agreed the work could not possibly be done by then with the resources in house, and that’s if all resources are used.

In addition, she is to send the commissioners the information she presented so they can study it and consider solutions as they begin the FY15 budget planning.

In other actions concerning the PWD, the commissioners learned that Pittman Construction is ready to move forward with the bridge repairs on Post Road. There will be two detours, one for the first bridge (closest to town) and one for the remaining two.

Construction will begin on a Monday morning, and Tim Knight, the Pittman representative said a week of good weather is all it would take per bridge. The county agreed to provide the detour signage, as a cost savings, but does not yet have it in hand. The county is hoping to borrow some from neighboring counties. Mr. Knight said he would provide the county with the specifications for exactly what’s needed.

The work was originally planned for when school was out, but Pittman is ready to start. The public school has been notified. Jerry Williams, transportation director, was at the commission meeting, and he said that it will affect about six buses, but the longest extension of bus time for students will be about 20 minutes each way.

Also concerning PWD, the state’s allotment of LMIG grant has come in. LMIG . is a state program to help counties with road projects, and Jasper has several selected. The county’s engineering firm will put the projects out to bid, then the county will determine what can actually be done based on the costs that come in.

Alcovy Shores

During the public comment session of the meeting, Cathy Johnson spoke to the board and said that she had just learned that h Alcovy Water Authority appointments were on the county agenda.

She expressed concern that authority members are also the paid personnel working for the authority. The board members are governing themselves she said, and she felt like that is a conflict. She aid she has several issue with it. She said she didn’t know it was on the agenda until very recently, and that may be why more residents didn’t come.

Board appointment for Alcovy Shores Water and Sewer Authority (ASWA) was on the agenda, but discussion revealed those appointments aren’t usually up until August. (A review of past years did not show a clear pattern of what month the four year terms renew.)

There was much discussion about the situation, as the county apparently is working on a document that would show every member of every board and authority in the county. ASWA was contacted about that. Then it came up that board members would soon need reappointing.

Juanita Gazaway, treasurer and contract employee for the authority explained how she came to be in the position. Commissioner Craig Salmon said he the water issue in this county has got to die sometimes. He suggested an independent investigation into both ACSA and the Jasper County Water and Sewer Authority (JCWSA).

In an effort to bring the meeting back onto the appointment, Commissioner Luke suggested that the county advertise for persons wanting to serve on the ASWA for two weeks, and in May the county commissioners can make the appointment. Until an appointment is made, current members serve.

Bids

Bids were opened Monday for the extension to fire station number 3, Monticello, and came in more than double what was anticipated. The fire department wants to extend the building to have a training room and offices for the EMS director and fire chief.

The low bid was $128,500. Emergency Medical Service Director James Gregory and Fire Chief Jarret Slocumb asked to re-bid just the shell of the building, rather than a completed building, and the electrical service moved. Commissioners approved that request.

They also spent considerable time discussing the drainage issues at the fire station, and agreed to further investigate the cost of repairing that before putting an addition in place.

Bids were also opened for the fire rescue pumper that was planned for the the most recent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Mr. Slocumb recommended the commission accept the bid from Fireline E-One for $268,002 for a completed, equipped, delivered vehicle. Mr. Slocumb said that vehicle has a 10 year warranty, and the company has a service facility is in Winder.

He also said that the current pumpers the county has are all Firelines, and the four bought in 2000 are all working well.

Southern Emergency Products submitted a bid of $259,403. However, that included only a five year warranty, and its nearest service facility is in northwest Georgia near Chattanooga, Tenn.

The county manager is to look into financing options, then they pumper will be ordered. It will take 210-240 days for delivery.

Sheriff’s Vehicles

Sheriff Donnie Pope came before the commissioners with a request to purchase four vehicles from SPLOST funding. The money is included in the SPLOST.

The sheriff has a plan to continue replacing cars annually, hopefully using SPLOST funds. He and the county manager worked on a plan that shows a “worst case scenario” cost to the county if a new SPLOST doesn’t pass.

Sheriff Pope said he has 14 vehicles with over 150,000 miles. He said no capital outlay funds have been used for cars since 2008. He stressed the need for planing a regular schedule of replacement.

The commissioner approved the purchase of the first four vehicles, realizing that if SPLOST does not bring in what is anticipated, future purchases may not be possible. According to the figures put together by the sheriff and county manager, the worst case scenario from these four is that $4,200 would have to be budgeted in 2018 if the next SPLOST does not pass.

Other Action

In other action at Monday’s meeting, the commissioners:

• Approved the budget calendar with numerous meetings scheduled between now and June 2.

•Learned Jasper is in line to get an agriculture agent at the county Extension office in August.

•Took no action on the political action policy that was revised recently. That lack of action resulted in the coroner resigning Tuesday.

Public Comments

During the public comments portion of the meeting, commissioners heard from:

•Charles Forsythe who quoted the law on constitutional officers, in relation to the discussion at the previous meeting about county employees being allowed to also hold elected office.

•Mary Patrick who talked about road acceptance. She said that roads built during the subdivision boom of 200-2004 should not be accepted unless they comply with certain standards. She said one of the developers from that period recently purchased a 173 acre subdivision of Long Piney Road. She asked if taxpayers will foot the bill while developers make money.

•Eddie Usher who is a property owner who has been paying taxes on a plat that he has in his name, that he has recently learned someone else also owns. He is interested in getting his property taxes refunded.

•Kasey Hall, Jasper County Extension Chairman, who invited the commissioners to the UGA Extension exhibit at the ACCG conference they will be attending this weekend.

At the end of the regular meeting, commissioners went into closed session with the sheriff to discuss pending litigation, and with the county manager to discuss personnel