An advertising issue was the reason a December meeting of the Jones County Board of Commissioners was held in a different venue. The business of the county moved forward, including the internet broadcast.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the Dec. 2 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Commissioner Sam Kitchens.
Planning and Zoning items were at the top of the agenda, presented by Zoning Officer Tim Pitrowski. The first was a request to rezone a property at the corner of Shady Road Plaza and Joycliff Road from R-1 (single family residence) to C-2 (general commercial) to allow a full-service automotive repair and maintenance facility.
The petitioner was not present and had been a no show twice previously. Kitchens made the motion to deny the request, and the motion was approved unanimously.
A variance to allow two additional lots on a sub-standard private road off Firetower Road was approved, following a motion by Commissioner John Wood, as was a variance to allow an additional lot on a substandard road off Lite-N-Tie Road.
The only P&Z item that had an objection was for an additional lot off Thomas Road for the purpose of building a home. The objection was about the possibility of increased noise. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn questioned the petitioner about his plans for the construction and then made a motion to approve the request. The motion passed unanimously.
New Business
Earl Colvin requested permission to place a historic marker, which will be the 12th historic marker placed by Jones County History and Heritage, near the intersection of Watson Drive and Lite-N-Tie Road to mark the former location of Roberts Station.
Colvin said the plan includes a pull-off area to allow motorists to stop and look at the marker. He added that the group is planning for at least one more marker in Bradley next year. Wood made the motion to grant the permission, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Weidner asked Colvin to consider placing a marker at the Jakes Woods property when it is completed.
County Administrator Jason Rizner recommended approval of a resolution required to declare the results of the recent Special Purpose Local Option Sale Tax election. The SPLOST renewal was on the ballot in the Nov. 4 election.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made the motion to approve, and it passed unanimously.
HR Director and Clerk of the Board Shannon Wagner presented a beer and wine license for 3437 Joycliff Road. The said the Jones County Sheriff’s Office reported no problems with the application.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to approve the license, and the motion passed unanimously.
Wagner then talked to the board about creating a lead position at the Jones County Library. She said the position was reviewed through the MAG salary study and was placed at pay grade 106.
Kitchens said he hesitated to create a new position outside of budget time for fear of opening a door. He asked to postpone the item to allow time to look at budget numbers.
The commissioner made the motion to postpone the item, and his motion was approved unanimously.
Wood brought the next item, which was a request for speed limit and children at play signs on Salem Miller Church Road. He asked the speed limit to be placed at 25 mph.
The commissioner said there are currently two signs with different speed limits on the road.
County Attorney Ashley Brodie said the road needed to be checked to find out the correct speed limit.
Wood made the motion to place the signs with the correct speed limit and Children at Play signs on Salem Miller Church Road, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Old Business
Jack Nichols, representing Vulcan Materials Company, asked board members to abandon a portion of Garrison Road for the installation of a new quarry entrance on Highway 49.
He stated that the relocation of the entrance would alleviate the heavy traffic currently on Lite-N-Tie and Garrison Roads.
The representative said Vulcan would continue to maintain the short road remaining that would continue to be used by Vulcan to access the former Peacock offices and building.
After asking several questions, Vaughn made the motion to accept the Garrison Road abandonment. The motion was unanimously approved.
Work on the road is expected to proceed in January.
Rizner recommended the use of the remaining funds in the county’s 2015 SPLOST. He said the amount of the funds was $225,000, and he suggested using the money for upgrades to water tanks and pumps.
He also suggested using the funds for the new curtains needed at the W.E. Knox Civic Center.
The administrator explained the funds can only be used for projects that were included on the ballot to approve the SPLOST funds. Both the projects he recommended met that qualification.
Vaughn made the motion to approve the recommendation, and it was approved unanimously.
Wagner brought the last item of Old Business. She asked for more time to collect information about the memorandum of understanding with the University of Georgia concerning the Jones County Extension Office. Rizner suggested he and Wagner get together with Extension Agent Brennan Jackson and CFO Lavita Crutchfield to go over the agreement.
Vaughn made the motion to approve, and the motion passed unanimously.
Under department head comments, Keep Jones Beautiful Director Mallory Lunsford talked to the commissioners about a date for the next community clean up. She suggested the date of March 28 and noted it was very close to last year’s date.
Board members agreed to the date by consensus.
With no more items on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 6:44 p.m. to go into closed session to discuss personnel and real estate.
The meeting was reconvened at 7:34 p.m. only to be adjourned with no action taken.
