JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Water issues in a Jones County neighborhood were front and center at the Board of Commissioners last week, but this time it was about too much water.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the April 4 meeting to order, and Rev. John Haney led the opening prayer and pledge.
Planning and Zoning was first on the agenda. There was but one request, and it was for a private recreational vehicle campground. The property is on Cheehaw Trail, and the petitioner said it was for the use of family and friends only, not for profit.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to approve the request, and it was approved unanimously.
All commissioners were at the meeting, but Commissioner Wendy Vaughn attended via phone conference.
The question of a board appointment for the River Edge Community Service Board remains an open issue. Kitchens expressed concern because it appeared Jones County, which previously had two members on the board, was being reduced to one member.
Weidner said the current chairman of the River Edge Board was agreeable to meet and discuss the issue, and he would schedule that meeting. Kitchens asked for a copy of their bylaws.
Visitor
Sandra Gardner was on the agenda to speak to commissioners about issues of flooding on Whitaker Road on behalf of her neighborhood. She had a petition with signatures of people who lived on the street, requesting the county’s help with the flooding.
Gardner said homes had been damaged, and the senior citizens who make up half of the residents had to pay to have their property cleaned up and repaired after the flooding.
She said in 2006, when Preston Hawkins was board chairman, a big pipe was put in to help stop the flooding. Gardner said it worked until 2012, when the flooding started again.
The speaker said she has lived on Whitaker Road for 18 years and asked the commissioners to fix it.
Gardner said she sent videos of the flooding to Weidner, and she had pictures made for each commissioner.
Weidner said he went to the property after receiving the videos and five houses on the street are in a natural drain. He said he agreed 100 percent that the problem needed to be fixed.
“You gave us the history, and that helps us. The storm drain needs to be cleaned out and the culverts repaired,” the chairman said. “We know we’ve got to fix it.”
Kitchens said after the last storm in the county, 37 roads were closed due to flooding.
Commissioner John Wood said this problem is happening in all districts. He suggested cleaning out the culverts and drains preemptively.
“We need to think about having a crew to do this in the future,” he said.
Commissioner Daylon Martin said he remembers the storm drains having to be cleaned a few years ago.
Kitchens said the board should immediately give the direction to clean the storm drains and repair culverts.
Weidner told Gardner she would receive a heads up when the work is done.
New business
Jones County Water Superintendent Brandon Stark said bids for 10 fire hydrants were received by three vendors. The low bidder was Macon Supply at $37,092, and he recommended award the contract to the low bidder.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to award the contract to Macon Supply and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Consulting engineer Tim Ingram with Ingram and Associates presented the details of the next agenda item, a GEFA loan for the industrial park sewer project. Ingram said the county has $1.4 million available, and an additional $3 million is needed to finish the project.
Weidner said this is one of the many projects the county has started but not finished.
The loan amortization schedule shows the annual payment for the loan would be $253,256, and 2015 SPLOST funds would cover the payment for 2.76 years.
Martin made the motion to proceed with the loan, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Rizner and John Lowe talked to board members about motor graders. Rizner said the county has two surplus motor graders that could be used to rebuild one of the new motor graders.
Lowe said the county has six motor graders and only two motor grader operators. The county has job openings for two more operators.
Kitchens made the motion to surplus the two motor graders, and it was approved unanimously.
The final new business item was a beer and wine license for the 49 Chevron Minit Mart. Clerk of the Board Shannon Wagner said the required checks were fine, and approval of the application was unanimous.
Old business
A letter received by the chairman stated that the Georgia Department of Transportation had approved Jones County’s request for funding assistance for a new bridge on Union Hill Church Road. The letter stated the GDOT would commit to funding 70 percent of the hard-bid bridge cost.
The letter went on to say the funding grant was in addition to the county’s annual Local Maintenance Improvement Grant. The total cost of the project is estimated at $689,468, and the amount the GDOT committed toward the project was $557,890.
State Sen. Rick Williams and State Rep. Ken Vance assisted in securing the funding.
The remaining cost to the county is $298,000, and the board voted unanimously to use the funds from the county’s construction project fund to pay that remaining cost.
Kitchens and Vaughn gave the date of this year’s Community Pride Cleanup, which is May 20 from 8 a.m. to noon. Kitchens and District 1 volunteers had dominated the event, but Vaughn and volunteers from District 3 rallied to win the event and trophy in 2022.
In addition to the countywide trash pickup, secure document shredding, tire disposal and electronic recycling will also be available.
