Jones County Commissioners took care of business in a calm, uneventful meeting last week, which has not been the norm lately.
Chairman Chris Weidner called the Feb. 18 meeting to order, and Commissioner Sam Kitchens led the opening prayer and pledge.
The appointment of Green Berry Moore III to the Ocmulgee Circuit Public Defender Council was one of the first items on the agenda.
The first item of new business was a visit from John Newberry, who serves as the attorney for the City of Gray. His business with the commissioners, however, was not related to the city.
Newberry was there on behalf of James Leroy Davidson. His client owned property that had been taken by the county in 2000 to construct a road.
The attorney said a remnant of that property that was not needed for the road construction was never returned to Davidson, but he has been paying taxes on it for the past 20 years.
His request was for the county to give Davidson a quit claim deed to the remnant property.
After listening to the request, Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to return the property to Davidson with the quit claim deed, and the motion was approved unanimously.
County Attorney Ashley Brodie said she had no idea what the county paid Davidson for the property taken for the road in 2000, but she felt sure that what he had paid in taxes since far exceeded that amount.
Jones County Chief Financial Officer Lavita Crutchfield presented the next agenda items. She requested approval of a financial resolution to invest a portion of the county’s capital reserve funds.
Crutchfield said the current rate for the proposed investment is 4.3-4.5%, which would yield the county $217,000 per year with the investment of $5 million.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made the motion to approve the resolution for the investment, and the motion to approve was unanimous.
Commissioner John Wood spoke to the board with concerns about proposed rumble strips by the Georgia Department of Transportation on Highway 11. Wood said the rumble strips would be a detriment to Jones County’s Scenic Byway. He said the highway is used by runners and bikers, and the rumble strips would be a safety concern for them.
In addition, he said the strips would be a noise pollution nuisance. Wood requested the county send a resolution to the GDOT to communicate those concerns.
“We are proud of having one of 15 scenic byways in the state,” the commissioner said.
Wood made the motion for the resolution, and it was approved unanimously.
Old business
Clerk of the Board Shannon Wagner brought an error in the term date for Board of Tax Assessors Chairman Leigh Stanford to the commissioners. She said the correct dates were Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. Wagner said the confusion was due to the term limit of board member Stanford replaced.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to correct the dates, and it was approved unanimously.
The final item was a request from Wagner, in her role as Human Resources Director, to pay county employees who worked the during recent winter storm overtime for the hours they worked while the county offices were closed.
Wagner said some of the workers even spent the night to make sure the roads were safe. She presented the board members with a list of the requested payments.
Kitchens made the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is Scheduled March 4.
