JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Jones County’s 2022 audit results drew praise for county leaders at the third Tuesday Board of Commissioners meeting.
The March 21 meeting was called to order by Board Chairman Chris Weidner, who also led the opening prayer and pledge. All commissioners were present at the meeting.
David Irwin with the accounting and financial services firm of Mauldin and Jenkins presented the audit update. He told board members his purpose was to provide an overview.
Irwin said it is the duty of auditors to issue an opinion, and the county received a clean, unmodified opinion, which is the highest level of issuance. He said in the compliance report, he was pleased to say there were no audit findings.
“This is a complex process, and it’s impressive that there are no findings,” Irwin said. “This speaks to the hard work of your staff.”
The speaker went over the different types of statements in the audit and explained that the fund balance is not spendable cash but the difference between the county’s assets and liabilities.
“Jones County has a strong fund balance,” Irwin said.
He congratulated the board and staff for their stewardship with county funds.
“You’ve done a great job for the last five-plus years, increasing the county’s fund balance,” he said.
Irwin said the water and sewer enterprise fund had also increased its net position.
The other item of New Business was a presentation by Jones County Public Library Branch Manager Julie King, which was a library update for the commissioners. She stated her purpose was give board members an overview of the numerous activities going on at the library and thank them for their support that made them possible.
King said the 25,385 patrons visited the library last year. She said among the 16 libraries in the Middle Georgia Regional Library group, Jones County is one of the smaller libraires, but its numbers are always near the top.
“In the past six months, 25,000 books have come through our library,” she said.
The manager said the library has added a sensitive subjects area to help deal with emotional issues, divorce, ADHD, grief, suicide prevention, special needs and depression, and that section includes 44 children’s books. A grant from Tri-County Round-Up helped fund the area.
She said construction will soon begin on the outdoor reading park with three tables, two benches and shade sails, funded with SPLOST funds. King said the Gray Garden Club is helping with the adjacent outdoor inclusive interactive garden area, and local welder Mark Smith has donated art pieces to the park.
All that is in addition to normal programing that includes Wiggleworms, Teen (decaf) Coffee Corner, STEAM kits Tuesdays, Brunch Buddies for the retired community, teen programing, adult book club, third to fifth grade movie club, teen graphic novel club, adult art classes and craft day.
The manager said the library’s computer lab has 10 or more users a day that are assisted by staff members. She said several organizations hold their monthly meetings at the library.
King attributed the library’s success to its amazing staff and thanked the board again for the additional position that has allowed her to get out into the community.
“We’re becoming a community center, and that’s what we want to be,” she said.
Old Business
County Attorney Ashley Brodie, who attended the meeting via conference call, talked to commissioners about a new class action opioid suit. She said the county can join the suit, and there is no downside.
The motion was made to approve the opioid resolution to join the suit, and it was approved unanimously.
Weidner talked about the Bradley-Wayside water project and the CDBG matching funds required for the project. He noted that before the county’s other approved projects have started, they are already 40 percent over budget.
Commissioner John Wood made his motion for the Bradley-Wayside project at the March 7 meeting. His motion included applying for a $1 million grant and using the Public Facilities Authority to finance the remaining balance.
At issue were components that were hoped could be used in the project that were later determined not to be viable options and significantly increased the price.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made an argument to find a way to meet the need of public water in the Bradley area. He said the county needs a strategic plan to spell out the vision for the county 40-50 years in the future.
“We know we can find the money to do what needs to be done in the county,” the commissioner said.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens said the problem is the water projects are funded by the water department enterprise fund and cannot be funded by the General Fund. He said he does agree the county needs a strategic plan and needs to start working on the plan.
“We need to make time to sit down and come up with our priorities,” Kitchens said.
He pointed out if the county borrows money to get water to other areas, there has to be a plan of how to sustain the county for the five years it will take until revenue would start being received from those customers.
Another question would be the number of years it would take to pay for the project with those customer payments, which would depend on the number of customers.
Kitchens sad there are plans on the books that were talked about 12 years ago.
“We need to utilize our resources now to get the best bang for our bucks,” he said. “We need to treat this more like a business so we can look people in the eye and explain why we made our decisions.”
The commissioner said the work session he is talking about would need to be planned on a Saturday to allow them to stay all day.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn said it’s important for people to know any project will take time.
“Nothing is going to happen tomorrow. We’ve got to have sewer at the industrial park. That’s holding us back. We need plans where we are going to be in the next five to 10 years and stick to it,” she said.
Weidner said the industrial park could be a paying asset that would put the county in the sewer business.
Wood said they were talking about legacy decisions.
“Hindsight is always 20/20, but we have a lot of people in need. I hope we can make good decisions,” he said.
Weidner said he would first like to finish what had already been started. He agreed a work session is needed and he also asked each commissioner to sit down with county CFO LaVita Crutchfield to understand the financial portion of the projects.
Martin said debt is a reality for small governments. He said the commissioners need to be wise stewards of how it is used.
“There are hard and courageous conversations to be had. We need to talk about all the buckets of funds,” he said.
Kitchens said the board needs to figure out its vision and make a plan how to get there. He added that it has to be understood that the Enterprise Fund is a separate fund.
Brodie said she and the bond attorneys needed direction. She said their last directive was to work on funding the project voted on at the last meeting.
Kitchens said the motion was for a $2.9 million project; now it’s a $5.9 million project.
“That’s not going to work,” he said.
The commissioner said that would require a payment of $394,000 from the Enterprise Fund for 20 years, and that would not be possible.
“I’m not doubting the need, but where are we going to get the money?”
Wood said if it could not be done this year, maybe next year. He said the budget for the project had snowballed since it was proposed.
The commissioner moved to rescind his motion, and the vote to rescind the motion was unanimous.
Department heads
John Lowe spoke to the commissioners about future needs of the public works department. Lowe pointed out that the dump trucks and motor graders that are regularly used are over 20 years old.
“It’s something to think about,” he said.
Weidner suggested the county look into leasing companies and asked the issue to be placed on the next meeting agenda.
Animal Services Director Jennifer Allen announced a microchipping event that will take place at Tractor Supply April 1 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. She said the first 100 animals would be microchipped for free. Allen said the event was an opportunity for the department to give back to the community.
Allen also told board members about a check received from the Shop Local fundraiser sponsored by Justin Kelly in the amount of $12,750 to be used for Animal Services.
Wood had more good news for the county. He said he was informed that the Georgia Department of Transportation, following the lobbying efforts of Jones County’s Legislative Delegation State Sen. Rick Williams and State Reps. Ken Vance and Dale Washburn, agreed to cover 70 percent of the cost of the rebuilding of the Union Hill Church Road Bridge.
The formal announcement of the grant is expected soon.
With no business remaining, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is scheduled at 6 p.m. April 4.
