Lorri Smith Is County Manager

The Board of Commissioners (BOC) for Jasper County voted to hire Lorri Smith as County Manager at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Ms. Smith has been working in the role as interim county manager since Greg Wood was fired in August.

This decision came after a public hearing was held and the ordinance passed that had previously stated that the county manager must reside in Jasper County. This requirement was removed in order for the vote to be taken in the regular meeting.

In the public hearing, Skip Nowetner commented that “although I have nothing against Lorri, I don’t understand why we can not find someone qualified for this position in this county. We’ve had three previous managers from out of town and you see where that got us. I just can’t believe that there is not one local, especially with one of the highest unemployment rates.”

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After the public hearing ended, and old business complete, a motion was made and seconded. Before the vote, Commissioner Bruce Henry said, “I am strongly in favor of keeping our positions in Jasper County, the only exception being with Lorri Smith. I’ve been watching her work for the previous year and a half and she does a great job.” Before the vote was called, County Attorney, Jim Alexander told the board that this could be changed back at any time if that was their wish.

The board also looked into the previously voted on issue of time clocks for each department. This resulted in the county purchasing nine time clocks at the price of $3,582 to be implemented into the current system. The time clocks that were purchased for the county were not compatible with the system that was to be used where a central computer, in the HR office would store the data.

In order for the time clocks to be effective, new clocks would have to be purchased, priced between $775 and $1775 depending on which model the county preferred. The total for the new purchase and for the clocks to be programmed totaled about $13,805.

Commissioner Doug Luke asked how many county employees used the clocks, to which Ms. Smith told him 56. This was the number of employees, 114, minus the 58 that are constitutional officers. The commission voted to return the purchased time clocks for a full refund, and to seek further information before moving forward.

The board heard from Kelly Fox of Fox and Yoeman’s Insurance, the company that currently manages the policies for the county. Mr. Fox presented two options for the BOC coming into the renewal year, regarding and informing about healthcare reform that began January 1, 2013.

Mr. Fox informed the board that July 1 was the renewal date, and that moving forward in 2014 and offering insurance to employees could not exceed 9.4% of that employee’s gross income. He told the BOC that they were currently in compliance at no cost to the employee today. He said that this could continue through the next year.

He said that if the BOC chose to do otherwise, the benefits that the employee receives is directly related to their income. The coverage that is provided and the payments for healthcare would also be based on income in this scenario.

Mr. Fox recommended that the BOC continue with their current health plan in order for him to gather further information moving forward. The BOC decided through consensus to stick with the current plan, and Mr. Fox.

Commissioner Henry asked “What increase do you see if we renew?” Mr. Fox said that currently the county plan was with ACCG-Blue Cross/Blue Shield. He said he’s seen up to about a 25% increase, but the average was about 10%, which is what the county could expect. He said that he is not opposed to changing carriers to prevent an increase. He said that he has already seen that Humana will come in around current or less, and that Coventry was aggressive as well, and that was an option.

The BOC had a visit from Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat during their meeting on Tuesday and signed a proclamation promoting “Seuss on the Loose” day March 2. Seuss on the Loose is a literacy campaign that the FERST Foundation is using to promote literacy in children. A representative from the foundation requested a banner be hung on the courthouse for approx. 10 days, and that was approved.

There was much discussion about check signatures, and Ms. Smith told the commissioners that there was going to be a new interface developed and put to use that the commissioners would have access to, which included the check along with the invoice. This would give each commissioner ample time to review checks and invoices before signing them at the monthly meeting.

Commissioner Craig Salmon said that some of the public had been skeptical and that the commissioners were going to do their due diligence to make this aid in accountability.

Commissioner Luke said that they were not going into this blindly, issuing checks to individuals. He was appreciative to have the invoices available for the BOC to review and approve.

Commissioner Luke also asked the BOC to look into putting speed bumps on Meadows Road. He said that he had been contacted and that there was a concern with the speeding issue for years. He presented a copy of a petition from that community. The BOC agreed to get with the Sheriff’s Office and Public Works and move forward.

The BOC had nine boards to appoint individuals to, and did so Tuesday. The vacancies filled include, Jasper County Water Authority, Clinton Currie and Bill Whitten; Planning and Zoning, Julie Richardson; Aging Service Advisory Council, Betty Maddox; Upper Ocmulgee River RC&D, John Hooseline; Library Board, Glenn Newsome, Mary Camp, Kristy Burton and Melba Bridges; 911 Authority Board, Sanda Carter, Jeffery Lee, Sr. and Julie Richardson.

Also, on the Board of Appeals, Miriam Pope and Charles Green; Jasper County DFCS, Bonnie Walsh, Michelle Raynor, and Mary Alice Carter. The BOC still needs to fill three vacancies on the Recreation Board, four on the Appeals Board, and four on the Aging Service Advisory Council.

• The BOC passed a policy that enabled a waiver for dumping at the landfill in emergency situations. They set a cap at $500. Applicants could apply for after a hardship (fire/storm damage) and had to be approved by the BOC.

• Commissioners had the first reading of a disorderly conduct ordinance and approved the advertising and the second reading for March.

• Approved a community garden at the Senior Center that will be maintained by the Monticello Presbyterian Church and the Busy Bees at the center.

• Signed two yearly agreements in coordination with the Georgia Forestry Commission. One was for the mutual use of equipment in light of a disaster under their lease agreement, and a memorandum of understanding which lays out the responsibilities of each department in the event of a wild fire.

The agreement was also that Jarrett Slocumb, fire chief represent the county in these matters. Russell Fowler was on hand for the GFC.

• Signed the EMS consultant agreement for technical and billing at a cost of $3,150 annually.

• Accepted the low bids of Yoemans Chevrolet, for a patrol vehicle, and Interceptor for the equipment package for a total of $32,092.40, combined. Sheriff Donnie Pope was in favor of this recommendation.

• Accepted the bid from Sinclair Motor Sports for a Polaris Ranger to be paid through a Firewise grant.

• Voted to put out a request for bids for mulching 1500 acres of greenspace, and for the cleaning contract that includes the Extension Office, the Courthouse and Southern Crescent Technical College.

• Placed three vehicles on the surplus equipment list.

• Tabled the discussion of acquiring the old Washington Park School for March.

In a work session before the business meeting the BOC heard from Preston Campbell, of Public Works on roads. Ms. Smith presented a road evaluation sheet of roads across the county and their conditions.

Many of the commissioners agreed that the county needed to move toward being proactive rather than reactive. They discussed equipment that was needed and also being purchased, including two additional motorgraders which will make four countywide.

Mr. Campbell told the BOC that the biggest complaint that he got was that once a road was graded, there were two-three loads of gravel placed on the roads, and citizens don’t think that is enough.

He said that the gravel budget was $150,000 for the year and each load of gravel costs $200 and only covers about a tenth of a mile of road. With 396 miles of dirt road in Jasper County those numbers fall extremely short.

There was much discussion about cutting on the right of ways, as it is currently doing four times a year.

Many of the commissioners wanted to know if there were enough employees trained/certified to run the equipment and how they went about being trained.