County Commission Has Spirited Meeting

Monday’s regular Jasper County Commission meeting was rather lively, with the county attorney being called a liar, citizens speaking out for and against the same zoning issue, the sheriff being summoned, and some heated debate between a commissioner and the Tax Assessor chairman.

During the agenda comments portion of the meeting—a time given for citizens to comment on items that are on the agenda for that day’s meeting—commissioners were warned about conflicts of interest; taken to task on the make-up of the committee to form the Comprehensive Plan; told the water supply study done for Jasper County was merely a plagiarized copy of the one done for Newton County two years earlier, and taken to task, again, about managing growth.

Once the citizens had aired their agenda comments, public hearings on zoning requests were held. The first one was a request by David A. Morrison to rezone 85 acres at County Line Road and Rocky Creek Road from agricultural to residential.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval. Mr. Morrison’s attorney, Dan Greer, said the request conforms with the future land use plan, and that part of the acreage has already been rezoned. All the surrounding area also has been rezoned, he said. “All we’re asking is to make his land zoning consistent,” said Mr. Greer.

Mrs. Mary Patrick questioned County Commission Chairman Russell Bennett about his relationship with Mr. Morrison. She contended he should not vote on requests by persons he has a business relationship with. Mr. Bennett’s livelihood is made by grading roads, and his company has done work for Mr. Morrison.

Mr. Bennett said that it was not a conflict, because he merely has the option to bid on the work.
{{more}}
Jack Bernard said he also thought it was a conflict of interest.

Jerry Lazar objected to the rezoning, because he is for a stay of rezoning until a new land use map is in place.

He had commented during the agenda comments that, “this county is being sold down the river…there should be no more [rezoning] approvals until the plan goes through.
Lou DuFrense, vice-president of the Jasper County Homeowners Association, said that she attends commission meetings in other counties, and usually the county attorney is consulted about the question of a conflict.

W. Dan Roberts then began to answer, saying there would have to be a basis for the conflict. At that time, the meeting got heated with several people expressing their views. The speaking out and arguing escalated until one audience member, Jerry Lazar, called the county attorney a liar. (Mr. Lazar later apologized for his outburst, and said he wanted to retract his accusation that Mr. Roberts is a liar.)

Mr. Bennett rapped the gavel on the stand calling for silence and sent the county administrator to call the sheriff.
More Concerns

Wilma Parrott who lives in the North Alcovy subdivision echoed the sentiments of a neighbor, Jim Hauther, who had expressed extreme concern about the traffic hazards on County Line Road and Henderson Mill Road, and the huge influx of homes.

She said she’d like to see traffic control addressed before “we go helter-skelter building houses. I think this many houses is out of line.” She went onto say that she appreciated the new water line and understood the need for it.

Francis Cason said he would like the county to require access roads, perhaps recreation areas, and to limit the number of one-way roads being built. Mr. Bennett said an amendment to the zoning ordinance would be needed to do that. Mr. Cason suggested the zoning people be instructed to address the issue.

At the close of the public hearing, Mr. Greer again addressed the commission, and said the courts have determined that a direct pecuniary interest must be shown for it to be a conflict of interest.

After the public hearing portion was closed, Commissioner Greg Wyatt, whose represents the district and the area in question, said he agreed there were some road concerns. He talked a little about the process of getting a road resurfaced. He said he thought the county could put a four-way stop sign up at the intersection of County Line Road and Henderson Mill Road, and that might alleviate some concerns.

Mr. Wyatt recommend the zoning be approved, and the other commissioners agreed. Mr. Bennett, however, abstained, saying he would wait until the county attorney had a definition of conflict of interest, and could determine if there is one.

During the agenda comments, Ray Gardner, apparently anticipating the hue and cry about the possible conflict of interest issue, had said that we elect the commissioners to represent the people, and he wants his commissioner to represent him…not to abstain and have no voice.

The next rezoning went a little smoother, although the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended denial, and the Commissioners passed it unanimously. It was a matter of splitting 8.29 acres on Friendship Road into two lots.

Since the Future Land Use Map shows it as agricultural, Planning and Zoning denied the request. However, Commissioner Carl Pennamon pointed out that the entrance to that road is a high density area of population, because there are several small lots that were lots of record before the county adopted a zoning ordinance.

Because of the high density population further up the road, Mr. Pennamon said he did not think they would be setting a precedent by allowing the change.

He also asked the Planning and Zoning Commission to look at that area and see if the whole area should be changed to rural residential.
New Fees

The final public hearing was a text amendment that will increase fees for rezonings, some of them significantly. Currently all rezonings are handled for a fee of $150. The commission recommended going up to a graduated scale, depending on the size of the acreage to be rezoned.

Lots from zero to 5.99 acres would cost $250; those from six to 24.99 would cost $500; 25-49.99 would be $750; 50-74.99 acre lots would cost $1,000, and lots 75 to 100 acres would cost $1,250. Rezoning requests for more than 100 acres would cost $1,250 plus $100 per acre over 100, with a maximum fee of $2,000.

In 2003, the 12 rezonings generated $1,800. At the increased fee level the county would have generated $7,193.

Variances, special exceptions and text amendment would be $250, and subdivisions would be $4250 plus $20 per lot.

Charles Forsythe said he opposed the new rate schedule because he felt it’s inadequate. He said as the need for services grow, the cost will fall on all the taxpayers, not just the new people moving in.

He was told that the fee schedule was in conformity with other counties. He said to control development they should be higher. Gail Lazar spoke in favor of the new fee schedule.

Commissioner Charles Hill said he saw no problem with the new schedule for developer but thought they might be a little steep for individuals.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new rate structure. In addition, the members of the Planning and Zoning Board will now be paid $75 per meeting.

Bear Creek Advisory Group
Fred Meyer was to give an update on the activity of the Bear Creek Advisory Committee. He said that the attorney, Kirby Atkinson, had sent a letter saying he could not have a full report until after March 12. He also mentioned contacting Georgia Power about the possibility of Jackson Lake as a water source.

Mr. Bennett said he had talked with officials of Georgia Power and they had not yet gotten back with him.

Mr. Meyer said he had reports from two subcommittees and would let those chairpersons talk.

Mrs. Mary Patrick is the chairman of the funds subcommittee. She distributed and explained an amortization statement of what the Bear Creek Reservoir would cost Jasper County based on the numbers put forth in the proposal from Newton County.

She said that we would pay less continuing to buy water from Newton County, without having an interest in the reservoir, than it would cost us to go in with them on the reservoir. Mrs. Patrick admitted many of her numbers were speculative, but they were based on the proposal from Newton County.

Ken McMichael of the needs subcommittee spoke. He said it is hard to predict the water needs for the future, but touched on some of the research he is doing. He has talked with other counties about what they use now, and what their outlook is.

Then, Mr. McMichael reviewed a letter with the commissioners. The letter was from July, 2000, and it was from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Army Corps of Engineers concerning the Bear Creek project. The letter says “the permit for the project, as currently proposed,” should be denied.

It says that as presented the plans may not meet some peak demands several years down the road.
The letter cites several possible adverse environmental impacts, including the water downstream, which is a concern that has been raised by those who live on Jackson Lake.

The letter also encourages Newton County to consider regional needs. Everyone studying the issue has said it would be practically impossible for any municipality or government working alone to get the required permits, and regional cooperation is being encouraged. That is part of the reason Newton County sought Jasper.

“In summary,” the letter said, “EPA finds that based on the information available, the applicant has not conducted an adequate alternatives analysis, has not documented all of the direct and indirect impacts of the project and does not propose an adequate compensatory mitigation plan for the project.

“For these reasons EPA has determined that this project does not comply with the guidelines and we recommend that a permit for the project as proposed be denied.”

(Newton County subsequently withdrew its request for a permit from the Corps of Engineers.)

Mr. McMichael closed his remarks by saying he would like the scope of the committee to be broadened.

Tax Assessors

James Harrell, chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors approached the commission about “perceived interference” by the commission with the tax assessors.

The assessors had agreed to hire some workers from tax offices in other counties to work on Saturdays and get the revaluation information into the computer. The contract with the reval company said that Jasper County would input the data.

Mr. Harrell said that they realized a few weeks ago that they were not going to be able to get all the work done on time.

Apparently, one or more commissioners was not happy with the plan and stymied the operation. Mr. Pennamon said that they could not discuss it at the last commission meeting because it was not on the agenda. But, he said, he didn’t understand why the local employees weren’t getting a chance to work overtime, also.

Mr. Pennamon also expressed concern about the security of the system, and mentioned past problems where “hackers” had gotten into those computers and caused problems. Mr. Harrell and Mr. Pennamon debated for some time. Mr. Harrell reminded Mr. Pennamon that the commissioners were not to interfere with that office, and said he felt they had.

Mr. Harrell told the commissioners that they had re-thought their plan and thought they would bring in the local people, if they are interested and team them up with the out-of-town people who are experienced with the new system. That way the seasoned personnel can help our people and with more people working the data will be input even faster.

Other Action
In other action at Monday’s meeting, commissioners:

•Approved the proposal from the regional Development Center to develop the Jasper County Comprehensive Plan. The RDC cannot begin working with Jasper on the plan until July 1. The plan will take several months to complete.

•Approved a “working document” implementing collection procedures for the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) billing in order to collect more bills.

•Agreed to accept the bid from Wildfire Industries to be the cleaning service for the county buildings. The company will begin work in April.

•Tabled action on signing a contract with Morgan County to serve as a temporary animal control facility to address the immediate animal control needs of the county. Morgan County has not presented Jasper County with a contract yet, and they are waiting to receive it.

•Agreed to advertise for bids for the septic tank system at the Jasper County jail. The plans are now complete, and the county can move forward. That project has held up a couple of other projects that will be able to proceed.

•Voted to close out two Community Development Block Grants.

At the close of the meeting, Mr. Gardner told the commissioners he though they should look at the conservation policy. A lot of property owners in Jasper County are in the conservation program when they don’t have a bona fide agricultural use of their property.