JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Jones County Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Gray for the purchase of water and received good news from the recreation department at their first Tuesday meeting.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the Aug. 1 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Pastor Steve Johnson. The first items on the agenda were zoning requests that were introduced by Zoning Officer Tim Pitrowsi.
With it being the first meeting of the month, zoning requests were first on the agenda. The commissioners unanimously approved a request for a conditional use to allow a trade shop for asphalt paving on Rock Creek Road, rezoning of property from C-2 to C-1 on Highway 49 to allow a dwelling, a conditional use for a personal care home on Lite-N-Tie Road and a variance to allow three lots on a substandard road on Oak Hill Farm Road.
New business
Parks and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger talked to Board members about the 4-H archery team using Haddock Park for practice a couple of nights a week and Sunday afternoons. He said the park is not used a lot and it would be a good use of the park.
Jones County 4-H Agent Savanah Clark said the archery season is from October to May for children in grades 4-12. She explained they would be starting out using standalone targets but would use 3D targets in the future.
Commissioner John Wood asked public works to improve the road going into the park.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to approve the use of the park by the 4-H archery team, and the motion was approved unanimously.
County Administrator Jason Rizner brought a request about tree trimming around the Mattie Wells recreation area on Highway 49. He said Georgia Power approached him about clearing some of the trees for their easements and offered to pay to do so.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to allow Georgia Power to clear the area, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Rizner also recommended approval of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Gray for the bulk purchase of water. He said it was a 10-year agreement and set rates that would start at $3.60 per thousand gallons a month and decrease up to 11,000 gallons.
The agreement states the rates would be reviewed every two years based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. The agreement will be beneficial to the county for future planning purposes and for the city in lower water rates. Kitchens made the motion to approve the intergovernmental agreement, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Board members approved Commissioner Wendy Vaughn as the voting delegate for the 2023 Legislative Leadership Conference in October.
Old Business
Rizner spoke to board members about options to fill the position of Keep Jones Beautiful Director. The position had been funded jointly by the city and county. The administrator gave three options, beginning with combining the role with the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. He said some of the duties, such as landscaping and recycling, previously handled by Keep Jones Beautiful could be handled directly by the county.
He said they could contract with the chamber for other duties that would be spelled out in an agreement for services.
Rizner presented a job description if the commissioners preferred it being a county position, and the third option was to keep it as a joint city/county funded position.
Kitchens said he was concerned with retaining the Keep Jones Beautiful and Tree City designations. His suggestion was to ask for input from the Keep Jones Beautiful Board.
The commissioner made a motion to postpone the agenda item until the next meeting.
Department Heads
Public Works Director Shawn Wood thanked the commissioners for sending employees to training.
Rosenberger said the project for the smaller playgrounds was completed and said Liberty Park is in progress. He said they basically had to start over with the Mattie Wells playground, but that was underway.
The director reported the Jonesco Golf Course was doing well to the extent they were implementing tee times on the weekend. He said they have been registering for flag football and cheerleading and had plans for an adult softball league this fall.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners is Aug. 15.
