Cties, County Officials Discuss Services

The Jasper County Commissioners sat down with Shady Dale Mayor Larry Champion and Monticello Mayor Bryan Standifer along with Monticello Mayor Pro-Tem Stone Workman and City Councilman David Wease Monday to discuss service delivery strategy.

Also at the table were County Manager Mike Benton, Shady Dale City Clerk Lyn McLaurin, and county attorney David Ozburn.

Commissioners and City Council members had previously reviewed service delivery documents within their own circles, and this was the first time to come together.

The service delivery strategy says who provides what service to the citizens of the county and municipalities. It is renegotiated every decade or so, but the last time this one was actually negotiated was 1999. It was renewed in 2006 with no changes.

The aim of House Bill 489 which mandates the service delivery is to avoid double taxation.

The city of Monticello last week sent a letter to the commissioners and to the city of Shady Dale, outlining what it perceived to be the breakdown, and how they thought it should be, so the process could be expedited.

Many of the items, both cities and the county agreed on, but those causing contention were delayed until after they got through the ones that were clear.

One item the city had included in its letter, which was not part of service delivery in 1999, was Courthouse and juror parking. When county officials asked about it, the city officials said that on heavy court days, court traffic takes all the parking spaces and the merchants are hard to access.

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There was discussion of the new parking area provided by Monticello Baptist Church, and talk of meters or other enforcement of a two-hour limit. Mayor Pro Tem Stone Workman said the county could build a parking deck. They asked where? He indicated that was their concern.

After about 45 minutes of discussion, Commissioner Craig Salmon complained that the city keeps dropping services, why not consolidate. He said he could be spending his time better elsewhere, and left the meeting.

Mayor Standifer said city residents pay county taxes, and they just don’t want to over burden the city taxpayers. Commission Chairman Carl Pennamon stressed that no final decision was being made at that time, so move on.

They began discussing code enforcement which has been a bone of contention for some time. In the service delivery from 1999 each entity provides its own code enforcement and building inspection. The city wants the county to take over its code enforcement, because the city does not have a court in which to prosecute code violations.

The Magistrate Judge won’t hear city cases, as there must be uniformity of jurisdiction. For the county to take over city code enforcement, first the city would have to do away with its codes, so the city would fall under the same codes as the rest of the county. They city officials indicated they were willing to do that.

When 7:10 came, they were heartily discussing code enforcement, almost to the point of arguing. Mr. Workman said they had been meeting over an hour, and were no longer being productive so he suggested they stop there and meet again another time…at the city next time, he said. And, they mentioned meeting in Shady Dale as well.

Before agreeing to stop, Mr. Pennamon said he was willing to sit there as long as it took for them to work things out, not necessarily that night, but overall. The county did have a regular meeting following the joint work session.