JONES COUNTY
The pledge of allegiance never sounded better at a Jones County Board of Commissioners meeting than when the enthusiastic voices of a dozen young ball players joined in last week.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the June 20 meeting to order, and the prayer and opening pledge were led by Donald Black.
All commissioners were in attendance, including Commissioner Wendy Vaughn, who was connected via conference call.
The meeting began with the recognition of the special visitors, who were members of Jones County’s 7U Coach Pitch All-Star State Champions. The team won the Little League district championship before heading to Atlanta to bounce back and win it all.
The names of the state champions are Kohen Bell, Marc Earwood, Hayes Hartzog, Bradley Heath, Luke May, Gunner Moody, Mason Pitts, Ben Quick, Dax Sheldon, Jaxon Tate, Christian Tusa and Eli Westbrook.
Each of the champions received a certificate of excellence and a goodie bag from the board.
The first visitor on the agenda was Leonard Chancy, who spoke about his property tax evaluation that increased 21 percent. He stated that the county takes no consideration of property owners’ financial situation when levying taxes.
New business
Jones County Parks and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger talked to the commissioners about the upcoming Independence Day Extravaganza, which will be held June 29 at the Morris Bank Recreation Complex. He asked for the same amount as last year to help pay for the fireworks, which is $6,000.
“We are able to put on a good show without the county being liable,” he said.
The county hires a professional service to handle the fireworks display. The director said the funds are taken from the Jonesco Marketing account.
Commissioner John Wood made the motion, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens asked why the event was held on Thursday evening rather than the weekend. Rosenberger said it was a chamber decision, but the reasoning was that many people would be out of town on the holiday weekend.
The director said other sponsors of the event are First Environmental, Appling Brothers, Tri-Co Go, 1st Choice Heating and Air and Ingram and Associates.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion for Jones County to join the Connect Bibb, Jones and Baldwin grant opportunity. Kitchens asked if the Middle Georgia Regional Commission would be assisting with the application, and the response was yes.
The motion was approved unanimously.
County Administrator Jason Rizner talked to the board about the need to amend the county’s 2022 Master Service Agreement with Tri-CoGo for broadband services. He said with Phase I of the agreement completed, the amendment would be for Phase II of the agreement.
The project is funded from ARPA funds.
Tri-CoGo Chief Operating Officer Greg Mullis said they had passed 15,000 locations in seven counties, and 8,000 Jones County customers have been served.
“We are proud of where we’ve come, but we have a long way to go,” he said.
Kitchens made the motion to amend the agreement, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
The next item Rizner brought to the commissioners was the FY24 Transit Agreement that is in its fifth year with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The administrator said there was a problem hiring drivers, and the pay needed to be adjusted. The service is now handled by the Middle Georgia Community Action Agency. Rizner said there have been complaints of the limited service times with the last trip at 1 p.m., which is due to the driver shortage.
Kitchens suggested a cost analysis was needed and made the motion to approve the fifth year of the agreement. The motion was approved unanimously.
Following a discussion about an issue with a bid that was previously awarded for a project on Homer Roberts Road, Martin made the motion to rescind the bid award. The motion included rebidding the project with changes to the scope of work.
The motion was approved unanimously.
Rizner updated commissioners about a recent Supreme Court decision that may impact the permitting of bridge projects. He said the update was for information only.
The only item of Old Business on the agenda was the beer and wine application for JC One Stop. Martin made the motion to approve the application, and the vote was unanimous.
Comments
Jones County Water Superintendent Brandon Stark reported that there were two huge water main breaks last week that affected River North. He said the system is older, and the issues are known.
Stark said the area is included in upcoming water projects.
