Members of a Jones County neighborhood came to the Board of Commissioners looking for help with streetlights that no longer work, leaving the streets filled with senior citizens in the dark.
Chairman Chris Weidner called the Jan. 7 meeting to order. One of the first items of business was to postpone the three zoning items on the agenda until the next meeting.
For board appointments, Stephen Saunders was reappointed to the Historic Preservation Commission for another three-year term.
Residents of the Sunset Neighborhood Club were on the agenda as visitors. Myrna Bell was the spokesperson for the group and expressed concerns about the darkness of the streets of McCrary and Arletha Drive and Bethune Avenue.
Bell said there are 20 families who have lived in the neighborhood for the past 30 years. She said the residents had been paying for the streetlights, but they can no longer afford to pay for them. As a result, the streetlights have been cut off, and their neighborhood is dark.
She said the senior citizens who live on the streets are from 60-80 years old. One of the other residents in attendance added that ambulances have problems finding the addresses because of the darkness.
Bell said the residents are all lifelong taxpayers and were hoping the county could help. She was not asking for all the streetlights to be on and only asked for three, a streetlight on every corner.
Commissioner Daylon Martin, who represents the area, said the problem is the county does not pay for streetlights in neighborhoods.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens said he would reach out to Georgia Power and other agencies to try to find help. He said traditionally streetlights are provided in cities.
During Citizens Comments at the close of the meeting, Bell came back to reiterate her request. Bell said, after hearing all the money the county was spending, she did not understand why they could not get help with the streetlights.
New Business
County Attorney Ashley Brodie assisted board members with the process of the election of a vice chairman. Commissioner Wendy Vaughn nominated Kitchens, and there were no other nominations.
The vote to re-elect Kitchens as vice chairman was unanimous.
Capt. Travis Douglas with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office spoke to board members about the purchase of five 2023 Dodge Chargers for the department. He said the cost of the cars are $35,000 each and emphasized that the cars are extremely difficult to find, especially at this price.
After a lengthy discussion, which included the suggestion that maybe the department should purchase more than five, Douglas’ request was unanimously approved.
The motion was made by Kitchens and included the option of the purchase of five additional vehicles.
Consulting engineer Tim Ingram presented the commissioners with the Georgia Department of Transportation list for the 2025 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant program.
The list consisted of 10 roads that had been the result of the 2023 road inventory study of the county’s paved roads. The cost to repair and repave the 10 roads was just under $3 million, but it was agreed to take the LMIG funds’ $749,260 and the county match of $224,778 and go as far as possible with the $974,038.
Martin made the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
The first three roads on the list are Wyan Avenue, Graham Woods Circle and Kent Road.
Old Business
Jones County Water Superintendent Brandon Stark presented a project to run water lines to residents on Mackenzie Drive. He said there are six residents on the road, and five were guaranteed water customers.
Stark added that three new homes were under construction that would also be water customers.
Martin made the motion to approve the project with the condition that the residents make a deposit on the tap fees. The motion was approved unanimously.
Department heads
Assistant Public Works Director Laurinda Mason reported that the department was preparing for winter weather predicted for the weekend.
Stark gave board members an update about the Graham Road water project. He said that project was on schedule and 50 percent complete. He said the Overland Way water tower construction would begin during the week, and the pilot study for new water meters had begun.
Jones County Emergency Management Director Karen McMichael said the possibility of winter weather for the weekend was being closely monitored.
County Administrator Jason Rizner said Tri-CoGo had approved the agreement with the county, and the HB 581 advertisements and meetings had been planned.
The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners is Jan. 21.
