JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Jones County Commissioners agreed to fund a majority of the special requests made by department heads for the coming year using several different sources.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the Aug. 15 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Pastor Olanda DeShazier of Mt. Salem Baptist Church.
All commissioners were in attendance.
The first item of New Business was the award of a bid for the water expansion project on Homer Roberts Road and Highway 49. Consulting engineer Tim Ingram presented the bid from Sellers Contracting Services and explained the company was the only bidder.
Ingram said it was the second time the project was put out for bid. He said the county got a good price for the project, and it was $600,000 less than bids received last year.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to award the bid to Sellers Contracting Services in the amount of $4,537,116, and the vote to approve was unanimous. County Administrator Jason Rizner said the project would be funded with bonds.
Public Works Director Shawn Wood talked to board members about the need for a motor grader. He recommended a lease purchase of a motor grader currently in stock through Caterpillar. Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to approve the lease purchase to be paid from the public works portion of 2021 Special Purpose Local Option Tax funds. The motion was approved unanimously.
Rizner spoke to commissioners about the need for a space needs utilization study that was brought up at the previous meeting. He said the study would look at space needed for elections, 4H, EMA and purchasing.
The administrator said BTBB already has much of the information due to the company’s work on the courthouse renovation project. Martin said he wanted to be sure the commissioners would get the information back.
“I’m not a fan of paying for a study and not using it,” he said.
Kitchens said the purpose of the study would be to present options. The commissioner made the motion to approve the study by BTBB. The motion was approved with a vote of 4-1 with Martin opposed.
Rizner then talked about the need for a new van for 4H. He said the county used the van a couple of months ago to travel to a meeting and realized improvements were needed, including air conditioning.
He said the van is not part of the county’s enterprise program for replacing vehicles.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn spoke about the safety of vans. She said in her capacity as Jones County High School Transportation Director, vans are not safe for transporting students.
Vaughn suggested looking instead at a small passenger bus that would provide more space and would not require a CDL to drive.
Kitchens made the motion to postpone the item for additional information, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Rizner went over the budget items and projects resulting from the commissioners’ Aug. 4 budget workshop. Board members prioritized requests from department heads at the meeting.
Utilizing money from the contingency fund, water fund, operating budget and SPLOST funds, all the projects that received more than one vote from board members could be covered.
Kitchens made the motion to fund those requests, and the vote to approve was unanimous.
Weidner said he received a call from a Twiggs County official with a need for help with a road that was blocked. He said Jones County was glad to help, but he asked the board to approve a mutual aid agreement for the counties surrounding Jones County if another emergency were to arise.
“We need to be good neighbors,” Weidner said.
Kitchens said the county has mutual aid agreements for fire and weather and should be happy to help with road issues.
He made a motion to approve a mutual aid agreement, and the motion was approved unanimously.
The only item of Old Business was a discussion about the Keep Jones Beautiful position that is currently vacant. Rizner suggested an agreement with the Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce to create a full-time position with the two part-time positions of Executive Director of the Chamber and Keep Jones Beautiful director.
Chamber Chairman Amber Ayers said she believes the joint position would be a good resolution and help to attract qualified candidates. Ayers said each position is 20 hours, which combined would be a 40-hour position.
Kitchens said it was important to continue the affiliation with Keep American Beautiful and Tree City. Following the discussion, it was agreed to revise the contract for the joint position and bring it back for consideration.
Comments
Water Superintendent Brandon Stark asked the commissioners about water tap rates for new construction. Rizner said it would be put on the agenda for the next meeting.
Shawn Wood thanked the board for approval of the motor grader. He said the department is on track to break a record for completion of work orders.
“The system is being used as it needs to be,” he said. “We are collecting a lot of data.”
The director said he plans to start giving the administrator a monthly report.
“I look forward to sharing the information to the commissioners and the public,” he added.
Rizner said the board approved agreements with Georgia Power to trim trees last week and he received two more locations. He asked if that approval would cover the new locations.
After reviewing the wording of the approval, County Attorney Ashley Brodie said the original approval was sufficient.
Greg Mullis, Chief Operating Officer of TriCo-Go, said he was excited that they were at the point to put fiber in the ground for extended projects that includes county facilities.
“This wouldn’t be happening without our partnership,” he said.
Mullis said they had a press release about the projects but asked if the county would like to have a groundbreaking.
Brodie said it would be nice to show the public were the grant funds are going.
Kitchens said he supported a media push.
Vaughn asked where the project would start. Mullis said permits had been filed for Nature’s Walk and Hidden Lakes. He said they hoped to start there this week and get to the Public Works department.
“Thank you for your trust in us and our partnership. We have a warehouse filled with materials, so we don’t have to wait,” he said.
Rizner said he and Mullis would get together and coordinate the event.
The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is scheduled Sept. 5.
