Commissioners Discuss Work Plan
The Jasper County Commissioners met Monday primarily to briefly review the Capital Improvement Element (CIE) of the Short Term Work Plan, part of the county’s comprehensive plan, but also to briefly discuss helping Jasper County Water & Sewer and for an executive session.
The commissioners refused to say why they were going into the closed session, only to cite the law and say it was for one of the reasons allowed. Typically the commissioners say whether it is for personnel, attorney/client privilege, or land acquisition, the only legal reasons to meet behind closed doors.
After the closed session, commissioners signed an affidavit saying the reason for the meeting was consultation with the attorney and future acquisition of real estate.
They agreed to have Commissioner Carl Pennamon meet with the county attorney and Frank Sherrill, engineer for the JCWSA, to try to hammer out an intergovernmental agreement. The county had been talking about doing the billing for the JCWSA, but when they received the “deliverables” Monday, apparently JCWSA would gladly allow the county to do more.
Mr. Sherrill said they put together a laundry list of what must be done, and the county can choose and pick what elements it can help with, indicating the authority will find someone else to do what the county doesn’t choose to do.
Commissioners also briefly discussed a proposal by Robert Jordan to do the research to see where the county line is on Pitts Chapel Road going into Newton County. There is a bridge across a waterway, and there is no clear document showing where one county ends and the other begins. Commissioners agreed to ask Newton County to help pay that cost.
County Manager Karen Degges presented the commissioners with a copy of CIE of the Short Term Work Plan through June 30, 2013, and said it needs to be updated. The plan is supposed to address the needs the county anticipates in the next five years. One item that immediately drew the commissioners’ response was the generator at the jail. They confirmed with Sheriff Donnie Pope, who was at the meeting, that the generator is in good shape and he does not anticipate it costing the county anything in the plan period.
The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the plan on December 29, then forward it to the Regional Development Commission. Once completed satisfactorily, it will be forwarded to the Department of Community Affairs for approval. Until that happens, the county is not eligible for many grants and loans it might could otherwise get.
