JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Jones County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement that would create a joint full-time position with the Chamber of Commerce and hopefully attract qualified candidates.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the Sept. 5 meeting to order, and the opening prayer and pledge were led by Pastor Judy Gordy of New Hope Worship Center.
All Jones County Commissioners attended the meeting.
The joint agreement was presented to the commissioners by County Administrator Jason Rizner as the first item of old business. The agreement would combine the part-time positions of Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and the Keep Jones Beautiful Director to create a full-time position.
Both positions have been vacant for several months, and the consensus was that the individual part-time positions were not drawing candidates. Rizner has been in discussion with the Chamber Board of Directors because of the common goals of the positions.
The commissioners had expressed the importance of maintaining the county’s affiliation with the Keep America Beautiful and Tree City organizations.
The agreement includes the county’s $20,000 annual contribution to fund the position in exchange for the planning and execution of beautification activities in accordance with Keep American Beautiful and Keep Georgia Beautiful guidelines.
That includes four community clean-up events, a Tree City planting event and education campaigns.
The county also agreed to a total of $10,000 for beautification activities.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to approve the agreement, and it was approved unanimously.
Zoning
Zoning requests were first on the meeting agenda. The first petition was for a conditional use to allow metal siding on a dwelling on Five Points Road. The property consists of 89.93 acres and is zoned Agricultural-Rural.
Commissioner John Wood made the motion to approve the conditional use, and the vote was unanimous.
The second and final request was for a variance to allow an additional lot on a private road located on Posey Drive. The property consists of 49.27 acres and is zoned single-family residential.
Wood made the motion to approve, and the vote was unanimous.
New Business
Chief Tax Appraiser Tony George talked to board members about filing an appeal with the state concerning the county’s 2022 sales ratio study. He said acceptable sales ratios are from 36 to 34 percent and the study dropped Jones County to 32.9.
George said he did a deep dive into the numbers and found discrepancies. He said the drop in the county’s ratio could affect public utility revenue.
“What they used were not reflective of our current market,” the appraiser said.
George said the county and Board of Education can initiate an appeal, and the tax assessors would be their representatives. He said the Board of Education has already sent a letter for an appeal.
“A letter from the county would show we are on the same page,” he added.
George said, out of 159 counties, 51 percent were under the acceptable ratio. He said he did not know what the state did this year, but it was something different.
Wood said it is imperative for the county to appeal, and it was important to show a unified front with the Board of Education.
Kitchens said he was disappointed that commissioners had heard nothing about this until now.
Wood made the motion to write the appeal letter and overnight it to the state. The motion was approved unanimously.
Public Works Director Shawn Wood talked to the commissioners about the need to separate the lease agreements previously approved for three mowers. He explained that, due to a production issue, one of the mowers needed to be on separate lease.
After short a discussion, Martin made the motion to approve the separate leases, and the motion passed unanimously.
Weidner spoke to the board about the need for guidelines for new construction on Gray Highway.
“We need better curb appeal,” he said.
The chairman said there is a lot of interest in the community about future development. He said Development Authority members suggested requiring brick instead of block for future construction.
Kitchens suggested looking at the city’s guidelines for consistency.
“So far, we have depended on developers to have a vision. We don’t want to tie their hands, but we need to hold them to something presentable,” he said.
Martin said the JDA wants the corridor to look nice from Griswoldville Park to Gray, but he would like it to look nice across all corridors.
“I don’t want one side to look different. We need to be good stewards,” he said.
Weidner asked how board members wanted to move forward.
Kitchens said guidelines and streetscapes are two different things.
“We need to be able to tell developers what we want to see,” he said.
Martin said some areas have tried, but the county needs to provide resources to help.
Weidner said he likes the idea of it going countywide so all routes look good, and Kitchens said they need to look for grants and work with the city.
Other Old Business
Rizner talked about the purchase of a new van for 4H. He said there were options under the state contract that could be added to the county upgrade program.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn also had numbers for small buses that she said are safer than the vans.
Rizner said the current van was purchased from the transit program, and the county did not have a lot invested in it.
Wood suggested looking at putting air conditioning in the van they have, and Weidner said that could be researched.
Martin made a motion to research the cost of an air conditioning unit for the van. The motion passed unanimously.
With no more business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the commissioners is scheduled Sept. 19.
