COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Jones County Board of Commissioners looked toward the future at their second meeting of the year, considering ways to move forward with road improvements with additional funding that could make that happen.
The Jan. 16 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Chris Weidner, and the prayer and pledge were led by Commissioner Sam Kitchens.
Board appointments were unanimously approved by the commissioners. Development Authority of Jones County members Greg Mullis, Laura Rackley, Mickey Parker and Josh Lurie were reappointed to their positions for four-year terms.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made that motion.
New Business
Bid approval for lighting at the W.E. Knox Center was item one and was presented by County Administrator Jason Rizner. Two bids were received for the project with an approximately $5,000 difference between them. Rizner said the bids were $30,000 more than expected because of an increase in electrical prices. He said contingency funds could be used for the additional cost.
Kitchens stated that he regularly worked with the company Stage Front and recommended it for the project. The company was also the low bidder at $94,699.
The administrator said there were no significant differences in the basic submissions from the two companies. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made the motion to award the bid to Stage Front, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Item two on the agenda was to initiate the TSPLOST process that had been discussed in the previous meeting to fund needed road improvements in the county. Rizner presented a hypothetical timeline for getting the referendum before the voters.
The process began with the vote from commissioners, then meeting with officials of the City of Gray next to discuss projects and negotiate a split for the collected funds. If successful, negotiation with the city would end with an intergovernmental agreement.
The timeline shows the time allotted for that to occur would be mid-April, followed by a notice to the Election Superintendent. The superintendent would then send notice to the Secretary of State, and voter education meetings could begin in July. If approved by voters, TSPLOST collections could begin in April of 2025.
Rizner said there was not time to put the TSPLOST on the spring ballot, but it could be completed in time for the Nov. 5 election.
After the presentation, Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to initiate the TSPLOST process, and it was approved unanimously.
Martin asked about putting package liquor sales on the ballot, and the administrator said that was a quicker process. Vaughn said it has been pointed out in numerous training sessions she has attended that Jones County is losing a lot of tax money because of not allowing package sales.
It was agreed the question of package liquor sales would be placed on the next meeting’s agenda.
Clerk of the Board Shannon Wagner recommended approval of a beer and wine application for the Haddock Food Mart in the last new business item. Martin made the motion for approval, and the motion passed unanimously.
Old business
Jones County Water Superintendent Brandon Stark presented commissioners with bids for generator maintenance. He said four bids were received, and he made the recommendation to accept the bid from J&T Service Center in the amount of $37,435.
Following a discussion about the bids, Commissioner John Wood made the motion to award the bid to J&T Service Center. His motion was unanimously approved.
Rizner presented commissioners with a list for the 2024 Georgia Department of Transportation Local Maintenance Improvement Grant. He said he used information from the recent road inventory report to select the roads for the best use of the funds.
The administrator added that the worst roads in the county were in Districts 1 and 4, and the LMIG funds would total $804,000. Martin asked for equity in the road repairs.
Kitchens said he agreed with the need for equity, but the county had just paid for an unbiased study of Jones County roads.
Consulting engineer Tim Ingram reminded board members the LMIG list is due Feb. 1, and Rizner noted that the list can be amended. Martin made the motion to approve the 10 roads on the LMIG list, with the understanding the list could later be amended. His motion was approved unanimously.
Department Heads
Rizner presented the commissioners with a complete list of the county’s current projects with updates on the projects. Board members were also given sample logos for consideration in the county’s rebranding efforts created by a Jones County resident with graphic design experience.
Emergency Management Director and Jones County Fire Chief Don Graham said the county did not receive the SAFER grant and asked the county to proceed with the hiring of nine full-time firefighters as previously approved.
Citizens comments
Lashunda Whipple of Mountain Springs Road spoke of her appreciation commissioners for the work that had been done on the road, but she stated that the road was still in bad shape.
Judy Gordy also talked about need for improvements on Stallings Road, citing that the potholes were terrible.
The meeting was adjourned to go into closed session.
The next scheduled meeting of the Board is Feb. 5.
