Jones County Commissioners approved arbitration for the county’s sales ratio study but postponed a decision on an increase in service fees for the health department at their third Tuesday meeting.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the Oct. 15 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Commissioner Sam Kitchens.
Environmental Specialist Maggie Graham brought the question of the rate increases for health department well and septic system services to the commissioners. She explained that the fees had not been adjusted since 2010.
Graham said the intent was to make the fees more uniform across the 13-County North Central Health District. She said the adjustments were not to make money and pointed out the fee increases amounted to 65 percent of the actual cost of the service.
The specialist said, if implemented, the increase would bring in an estimated $5,000 in additional revenue.
Commissioner Daylon Martin said he did not want Jones County’s fees raised to match those of larger counties.
Kitchens said he would like to see a spreadsheet with comparisons of counties of the same size as Jones County and the fees for Houston and Bibb counties.
“I’d also like to say, if we haven’t had an increase in 15 years, we know an increase is due,” he said.
The commissioner made a motion to postpone the decision to get more information, and his motion was approved unanimously.
Chief Tax Appraiser Tony George spoke to board members, requesting to go to the Board of Arbitration for an appeal of the county’s sales ratio study. He said arbitration is an independent board, and counties have been successful in getting movement for their sales ratios.
Martin asked if they would use the same information as in the review appeal.
George said he would show his calculations in this appeal.
“It will be a more fair determination of what the numbers look like based on our internal calculations,” the appraiser said.
County Administrator Jason Rizer asked George if there was money in his budget for the arbitration. George responded that he does not put fluff in his budget for miscellaneous stuff.
Martin made the motion to approve the request, and the vote in favor was unanimous.
Public Works Administrative Assistant Laurinda Mason presented the commissioners with information about the purchase of four roll-off containers for convenience centers. She said they found a better price through the purchasing cooperative Sourcewell using Wastequipe.
Mason said the price would save the county $1,400.
The total cost for the containers was $25,751.
Parks, Golf Course and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger presented his recommendation for the purchase of a tractor to be used for the recreation department. He recommended the purchase of a Ventrac tractor for price of $59,964 from Powerhouse Outdoor Equipment. He said the tractor was designed for use on ballfields, and it includes a power rake for gravel.
“This tractor will take us to the next level,” he said.
Martin made the motion to approve the purchase, and the vote was unanimous. Water Superintendent Brandon Stark talked to board members about the expansion of water lines. He said he received calls from people on McKenzie and Maynard roads and Gregory Drive. He said one of the roads had water service to one residence, which had apparently happened under a previous board.
Stark said there is money in the construction account and asked for the wishes of the commissioners. After a discussion, it was decided to have a work session before the next meeting to talk about options.
Progress for projects
Consulting Engineer Tim Ingram had good news for board members. He reported that three bids were received for the force main project for Griswoldville Park, and Sellers Construction was the low bidder.
The bid was in the amount of $4,413,972, and he recommended the acceptance of the low bid.
Ingram said the bid put the project under budget.
Martin made the motion to award the bid to Sellers, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
More good news was presented by Rizner, this time about the Liberty Park project. The administrator said bids were received for the project for improvements to the park.
He recommended acceptance of the bid from Ogles Construction in the amount of $259,015.
Rizner said the bid amount put the project back on budget.
“We now have sufficient funds to finish the project,” he said.
The administrator said the contractor was aware of the timeline that had to be met to comply with grant requirements and assured him they could meet the timeline. He said the timeline was included in the bid requests.
Kitchens made the motion to accept the bid from Ogles Construction, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
The final item of new business was approval of the annual update for the policy for the county’s 5311 transit service. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made the motion to approve the policy update, and the vote in favor was unanimous.
Comments
Martin talked about the importance of making leadership training available for all Jones County employees, and Vaughn encouraged voters to research the amendment questions on the Nov. 5 to determine if the amendments would be beneficial. Commissioner John Wood said he recently attended Planning and Zoning training in Macon and was pleased to see the Jones County P&Z staff there.
Kitchens said he agreed training was important and he felt the conferences commissioners attend are invaluable.
“I am grateful for Jones County every time I go to these things,” he said.
Weidner said he echoed the importance of training.
“We can learn from the mistakes of others,” he said. “ We learn a lot in classes, but we learn way more from other commissioners.”
