Commission Discusses Fire Hydrants

Jasper County Commissioners had a work session on the Fire Hydrant District analysis and discussion before their meeting Monday evening.

The discussion on the fire hydrant analysis apparently stemmed from a letter received by District 4 Commissioner Craig Salmon from the U.S.D.A. The letter, in essence, says the county could be held liable for the bonds that the Jasper County Water Authority has if JCWSA defaults.

At the least, the county’s bond rating would likely be affected. The JCWSA has missed one payment, and may miss another. The county did not collect the special fire district tax in 2009, and is now collecting an extra $2.99 a month to makeup for that but it will take a dozen years for the shortfall to be alleviated.

County Manager Karen Degges suggested the county to go ahead and pay JCWSA the funds owed, then the county would recoup the money over the next 11 years. She said the county does not have a cash flow problem, and the JCWSA does.

Commissioners spent about 30 minutes in the work session discussing the issue, but the letter did not come to light to everyone until the regular meeting. At that time, after much discussion and on the advice of the attorney, commissioners agreed to seek an intergovernmental agreement between JCWSA and the county before paying anything.

Commissioners also spent some time discussing roads, and in particular the 2014 LMIG (Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant) roads. That is a program through which the state pays to pave so much road in the county. There are five roads on the list, and the commissioners authorized the county manager to have the engineer proceed with getting bids on the roads to determine what can or cannot be done. They did not say which roads they are.

They also discussed contracting out pothole patching, and agreed to get a list of the worst roads in each district that need patching to the county manager this week. Then she will proceed with getting bids for the patching work.

In other action at Monday’s meeting, commissioners:

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•Approved a bid from SteelCo for an expansion to Jasper County Fire Station #3 which is on Hwy. 212 next to Jasper County Primary School.

•Heard from Kent McCormick about a change in landfill engineers. The company the county has been using has split, and so the same people will do the work, but the check will be written to a firm with a different name.

•Agreed to bid the roof replacement for Fire Station No. 1, on Jackson Lake Road.

•Agreed to change the recreation fee structure to provide a small discount for the second and third child in a family playing recreation sports.

•Commended the County Manager for the receiving the Award of Financial Reporting Achievement.

•Approved several budget amendments.

•Approved the transportation contract with Northeast Georgia Regional Commission for the Older Americans Center.

•Agreed to change the county employee deductible to $1,500, up from the $1,000 it was last year, but down from the $2,500 they had agreed to previously.

•Shared concerns about various roads and how to handle road projects.

•Agreed to be the fiscal agent for a grant for Thomas Persons Hall.

•Approved the minutes of two meetings from June, 2013, and the current check register.

At the end of the meeting, commissioners went into closed session to discuss personnel.