Jones County Commissioners celebrated the Jones County Youth Track and Field Team to begin their second meeting in May.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the May 21 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by UGA Extension Coordinator Brennan Jackson.
All Jones County Commissioners attended the meeting.
Commissioner Daylon Martin introduced the guests of honor, who were six members of the Youth Track and Field team. He said both the boys and girls teams finished in the top 10 in the state.
The members of the team who placed in the top of the competition were Ava McClendon, first in the 400, second in the 200 and state champion for the triple jump; Travis Miller, first in the 100 and 200 and state champion in the 100-meter dash; and Anderson Whiting, state champion in the javelin throw and first in shot put.
District champions include Bonita Hill, Chase Jackson, Skyler Horton, Gabriel Vinson, Kennlee Hill, Shelay Buchanan, Morgan Ragins, Kassidy Rowlings, Renee Mathews, BJ Reid, Dominic Aracri, Kynlee Aaron and Addison Martin.
Other team members who also placed in the competition are Carmen Corbin, Ryleigh Lamar, Zoey Coley, Madisyn Gibson and Kenneth Lassiter.
For board appointments, Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to reappoint Thomas Coleman to the Region 5 EMS Council for a three-year term.
The first New Business item was a resolution to proceed with the Tanyard Trail Project. Matt Ingram with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission presented the resolution and stated that the county’s match for the funding grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources would be $65,015.
Ingram explained the resolution is the second level in the process to receive the DNR Recreation Trails Program grant that will provide funding for the trail’s construction, trail maintenance and trail education.
Kitchens made the motion to approve the resolution, and it was approved unanimously.
The next two items of New Business were postponed. County Administrator Jason Rizner asked the resolution to place the Transportation Special Purpose Sales Tax for Jones County on the ballot in November be delayed due to a new law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp.
Rizner said the new bill would allow TSPLOST collections to be extended another year, allowing the collections to extend to six years. He said the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Gray would need to be redone.
The administrator said, based on the timeline for getting the referendum on the ballot, the process was still in good shape.
The only item of Old Business was the second reading of the Utility Availability ordinance presented by County Attorney Ashley Brodie. The ordinance basically requires the connection to available utilities by new construction.
Kitchens made the motion to approve the second reading and adopt the ordinance. The motion was approved unanimously.
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Commissioner John Wood gave an update of the Union Church Hill Road Bridge replacement. He said all the permits had been approved, and they were waiting for the geotechnical report to start the bidding process.
Kitchens talked about the installation of the new lighting and sound equipment at the W.E. Knox Center for Jones County Arts. He said the improvements will make a big difference for the kids performing in the stage productions.
“I appreciated the board for funding those improvements,” he said.
Thom Williams brought concerns about the increases seen on the tax assessments recently received by property owners.
Kitchens said the increased assessments were a concern to board members also. He explained that commissioners would have the opportunity during their budget process to lower the millage rate, and that could offset the large increases.
Kitchens said that would take place in August. He said a meeting with the chief appraiser May 7 is available on YouTube and contains a lot of information about the current situation and how the process works.
The meeting was adjourned to go into closed session to discuss personnel.
The next meeting of the Jones County Board of Commissioners is scheduled at 6 p.m. June 4.
