JONES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
After a previous month filled with meetings in order to adopt a new budget and millage rate, the agenda for the Jones County Board of Commissioners’ September meeting was brief.
Chairman Chris Weidner called the Sept. 6 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Rev. John Haney.
Commissioners Sam Kitchens and John Wood attended the meeting, and Commissioner Daylon Martin attended via conference call. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn was not at the meeting.
Zoning Officer Tim Pitrowski presented Planning and Zoning items to the board, the first being a request to rezone property on Cheehaw Drive to allow a deer cooler. P&Z Commissioners recommended denial of the request.
Board members listened to the petitioner and a neighbor who was opposed to the request.
Kitchens said the board usually follows the recommendation from P&Z, and he had not heard anything to change that.
Wood made a motion to deny the request, and his motion was approved unanimously.
Pitrowski presented a request to rezone a building on Folendore Road from Agricultural Rural to General Industrial. He said the building is an existing business. The petitioner stated that pallets are made on the site.
P&Z recommended approval of the request. Wood made a motion to approve the request, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Weidner read the names of two board appointments, Freeman Charles ‘Chip’ Brooks for the Development Authority of Jones County and Donald A. Reid for the Historic Preservation Commission.
Both appointments were approved unanimously.
New business
Emergency Management Director and Jones County Fire Chief Don Graham explained the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) offed by FEMA and asked the permission to move forward with the grant application. Graham said the SAFER grant was created to provide funding directly to fire departments to help with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.
He said the grant offers 100 percent of firefighters’ salary for three years. Graham said he spoke with Washington, and the grant would be open for applications in November.
Kitchen made the motion to move forward with the grant, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
The director reported that he spoke with the new Fire Chief of Monroe County and would like to formalize the mutual aid agreement between the counties.
“We are willing to help whenever we can,” he said.
Commissioners agreed to the mutual aid agreement unanimously.
County Administrator Jason Rizner and Consulting Engineer Tim Ingram spoke to board members about funding options for sewer in the county.
Rizner said the county was able to take advantage of money available for water projects but there was nothing available at this time for sewer. He asked the board’s feelings about moving forward with loan applications from GEFA to find out the interest rates.
Weidner said, if the county wants economic development, it must have sewer.
“We need to find out our options,” he said.
Kitchens agreed. He suggested if the county applies for a loan and a grant opens up, the money could be used as matching funds.
Ingram said it would take five to six months to go through the process, and something could open up during that time.
Martin made the motion to go ahead with the GEFA application, and it was approved unanimously.
Old business
Commissioners had the second reading of the ordinance to remove water rates from county code. Currently a change in rates requires a code amendment.
Kitchens made the motion to accept the second reading, and the motion was approved unanimously.
The meeting adjourned to go into closed session to discuss personnel. When the meeting reopened, Kitchens made a motion to restructure the Public Works Department creating a Special Projects Manager and Assistant Special Projects Manager position.
The motion included that those positions would be filled by John Lowe and Sidney Pittman at their current pay, and the Public Works Director position would be advertised.
The vote to approve the motion was unanimous.
At the conclusion of the vote, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the board is scheduled at 6 p.m. Sept. 20.
