Up to 5,000 people attend July 4th extravaganza
The bid to construct a mountain bike trail on county property near the Mattie Wells Community Center was awarded at the first Tuesday Commissioners meeting, getting one step closer to the project becoming reality.
The July 5 Jones County Board of Commissioners meeting was called to order by Chairman Chris Weidner, and Commissioner Sam Kitchens led the opening prayer and pledge.
Planning and Zoning was the first item on the agenda and was presented by Zoning Officer Tim Pitrowski. The request was to rezone property on Highway 49 from C-2 Commercial to R-R Rural Residential, and Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made a motion to grant the request. The vote to approve was unanimous.
Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Johnson thanked the commissioners for the county’s support of the June 30 Independence Day Extravaganza held at the Morris Bank Recreational Complex.
The director showed a short video of the event and concluding fireworks. She said people came to the Independence Day celebration from Twiggs, Baldwin and Jasper counties. She said the attendance was 2,500 in 2021, and this year’s attendance was estimated at 4,500 to 5,000.
Johnson said the food trucks at the event sold out.
“When I left the complex, I noticed that all the restaurants in Gray were full. This brings money into the county,” she stated.
Weidner said he had to park on one of the exit roads of the recreation complex because the parking lots were full.
“There were a lot of different things going on before the fireworks for families and kids. It was a free community event, and I thank parks and rec and everyone else who made it happen,” he said.
Johnson asked that the commissioners add their support of the event to their annual budget.
New business
Jones County IT Director Will Harp spoke about the bids received for rewiring the data cabling at the Government Center. The bids ranged from $58,247 to $37,400. The director said he was pleased with the response to the bid requests with 11 bids received.
Harp recommended awarding the contract to the low bidder, Five Points Infrastructure and Services out of Atlanta. He said he checked the company’s references and received good recommendations.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to award the bid to Five Points Infrastructure and Services in the amount of $37,400.
Jones County Library Branch Manager Julie King was on the agenda to request that a part-time position at the library be changed to full-time. King explained the increase in library services and patron participation.
“We are thrilled with the numbers, but we can’t continue without another full-time person,” King said.
She noted that the numbers match those of the Shurling Library that operates with four fulltime staff members.
Jones County’s Summer Reading registration numbers exceeds the numbers for libraries in the entire Middle Georgia Reginal Library system, including the Washington Street Library.
After several questions and suggestions, Martin made the motion to approve the request to move the part-time library position to full-time, and the motion was unanimously approved.
Parks and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger brought up an issue with a $50 security deposit required for the rental of county pavilions. He asked the board to do away with the deposit because it is simply not worth the effort it takes to process it. He said the process included filling out a W-9 for each deposit and then submitting the paperwork to issue a refund.
The director said the $50 was not enough to make a difference if the pavilion was damaged. He went on to say, however, that there had not been any damage reported.
“We haven’t needed the security deposit since I’ve been here,” he said.
Rosenberger emphasized his request was just for the pavilion rentals.
Kitchens asked if the county would be moving toward putting the rental process online. County Administrator Jason Rizner said there is a program for registrations, and it could be possible to use a credit card hold for the deposits. Kitchens said he agreed with doing away with the pavilion deposits for now. He said the flip side of that is to encourage the use of credit cards. The commissioner made the motion to remove the deposit for pavilion rentals and look for a better alternative.
The motion to approve was unanimous.
Rizner talked about a resolution in support of the upcoming program for Jones County Animal Services, Shane’s War, a campaign to encourage the adoption of shelter animals. The campaign will run during the week of July 18.
The resolution stated that all the animals in the shelter during that week were pardoned.
Kitchens made the motion to adopt the resolution, and it was approved unanimously.
The administrator also presented the Memorandum of Agreement between Jones County and Central Georgia Technical College. He pointed out that the agreement requires the county to provide a $20,000 grant to support the adult education program.
Rizner added that CGTC pays the county $32,000 in rent for the building that houses the program. He noted that Jones County comes out to the positive with the agreement.
Kitchens made the motion to approve the agreement, and it was approved unanimously.
The next item brought to the board was a grant agreement pertaining to the dog and cat sterilization program. The administrator said the grant is through the Georgia Department of Agriculture and is in the amount of $5,000 to be used for the spaying and neutering of Georgia dogs and cats.
Rizner said the funds for the grant comes from the sale of license plates. Martin made the motion to approve the agreement, and it was approved unanimously.
Rosenberger presented the recommendation for the bid award for the mountain bike trail on county property near the Mattie Wells Community Center. The bid of $233,799.25 to design and construct the trail was from Single Track Trails.
The director said, although there was but one bid, references about the company were very favorable.
The scope of work for the project is the construction of a multi-use (biker, hiker) trail that will be constructed on the 2.12-mile-long loop on the property. The trail will have features that include a wooden pedestrian bridge, puncheons, rock gardens and wall rides.
When making the motion to award the bid to Single Track Trails, Martin added that the project had been eight years in getting to this point.
“I’m ready to get this done,” the commissioner said.
The motion was approved unanimously.
Rizner asked board members their preference for the upcoming budget process. He said it could be done in increments or during an all-day session with department heads as had been done in the past.
Martin asked if the extended session was necessary.
Kitchens said CFO LaVita Crutchfield and Rizner do a great job with preparing the budget, but he suggested the all-day event might be beneficial to the new commissioners.
Vaughn said it might also be beneficial to the newer department heads.
Kitchens said that was a good point.
“I know the first year I was a commissioner, it really helped me, and we have a lot of commitments that are big ticket items,” he said.
Weidner said he liked the way it had been done for the past couple of years.
“We have it on a Saturday and knock it out,” the chairman said.
Board members agreed to the suggestion by consensus, and Rizner said he would start working on a date for the session.
All the old business items on the agenda were postponed, and the final new business item was the second reading and approval of the Historic Preservation Commission memorandum. The memorandum expanded the composition of the commission from three members to five.
The members are also required to attend one educational training session per year pertaining to historic preservation.
Commissioner John Wood made the motion to accept the second reading and approve the updates to the Historic Preservation Commission. The motion was approved unanimously.
Comments
The only department head comment came from Rosenberger, who announced that new carts had been received at the golf course.
A citizens group led by Shirley Reed of Ruby Drive asked the commissioners to repair two existing speed breakers on Ruby Drive and for the addition of two more. She presented pictures of cars drag racing on the street and had a petition with 52 signatures.
Martin asked that the request for the speed breakers be added to the next agenda to be voted on by the board. Rizner said the repair of the existing breakers was easy and did not have to wait for a vote.
Wood asked that the lighting of the Jonesco Clubhouse and parking lot be reviewed due to safety concerns.
