The Jones County Board of Commissioners took care of two appointments for the Central Georgia Joint Development Authority and raised the county’s capitalization threshold at it first April business meeting.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner called the April 7 meeting to order and led the opening prayer and pledge. All commissioners were in attendance with the exception of Commissioner Wendy Vaughn.
Planning and Zoning was first on the agenda with a request for variance to allow an additional home on a private road, Woodland Drive. The only question raised about the request was the location of the access road, which would be Woodland Drive.
Commissioner Daylon Martin made the motion to approve the request, and the motion was passed with a unanimous vote.
The Central Georgia Joint Development Authority had two open Jones County positions on the board. Interviews were previously held for the positions.
Commissioner John Wood made the motion to appoint Evan Pope to the one of the positions, and Martin made the motion to appoint Mason Valier to the other open position. The vote to approve both motions were unanimous.
Visitors
Johnny Mixon spoke to the commissioners about an issue on Tidwell Drive. He said after the road was resurfaced, he has found large rocks in his grass and ditches. Mixon said he was also without water for several hours following the resurfacing.
He suggested charging the paving company for the damage to the water line and stated the rocks needed to be cleaned up.
Marilyn Norfleet was the next speaker. She is running for the position of Board of Education Chairman that will be decided in the May 19 election. The purpose for her visit was to introduce herself to the board members.
New Business
Jones County CFO LaVita Crutchfield spoke to the commissioners about the need to raise the county’s capitalization asset threshold. She said the current threshold is $5,000, and her suggesting was to increase the threshold to $10,000. She said the change would take affect Sept. 1.
Martin asked if the change is consistent with the ACCG threshold, and Crutchfield the ACCG increased its threshold to $10,000 in 2024.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens made the motion to increase the county’s capitalization threshold to $10,000, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Water Superintendent Brandon Stark talked to board members about the possibility of adding a county logo to the water tank on Gray Highway when upcoming maintenance and painting of the tank.
Stark said the addition of a logo would be at a greatly reduced price if done in coordination of the maintenance that is performed on the tanks every five years. The commissioners asked when a decision had to be made about the possible logo. Stark said he was meeting with the company the following morning but could easily start the maintenance process with a different water storage tank.
Board members asked Stark to do that to give them more time to consider their options for the Gray Highway water tank.
Parks and Recreation Director Bert Rosenberger came to the commissioners with a request to waive the formal bid process for the renewal of the lease for Jonesco golf carts. He said there are three companies that normally submit bids, and being able to get quotes and waive the bid process would be much quicker.
Rosenberger said he is considering electric golf carts because the lithium batteries are now under warranty. He said the contracts for the carts are lease-to-own with the option of buying them at the end of the lease.
The director said the county has 50 golfcarts plus two Cushmans.
Kitchens made the motion to postpone the vote to allow time to research the past bids for the carts.
“We don’t want to leave anyone out,” he said.
The motion was passed with a unanimous vote.
County Administrator Jason Rizner spoke to the commissioners about the Safe Streets for All grant agreement. He said the purpose of the grant is to fund a study for vehicular and pedestrian safety in the county.
The grant is being administered by the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, and a vote authorizing Weidner to sign the documents was needed. Martin made the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Rizner presented the 2027 Local Road Assistance Funding that the county received in addition to the annual LMIG funds. The discussion was about what roads would be resurfaced with the additional funds. It was agreed to continue with the next five roads on the list, North Baker, Royal, Crestview Trace, Shoal Creek and Old Town.
Martin made the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
During commissioners comments, Weidner and Kitchens discussed the success of the March 28 Spring Clean Up. Kitchens stated 59 bags that equaled 800 gallons of trash were picked up and more than 1,000 tires.
Weidner modified the trophy, adding Chairman to the District 1 inscription, and Kitchens did not object very loudly. Both agreed it was a successful event and thanked the 27 volunteers who helped.
“It’s awesome when the community gets out and helps pick up,” Kitchens said.
The commissioner said it frustrating because there are trash cans everywhere and no reason for people to litter. He thanked everyone who helped and said he is glad the cleanup is now happening twice a year.
“It’s a good thing and makes you feel good to see the roads when we are through,” Kitchens added.
Weidner said several people helped collect including a group of youth who collected 30 tires. He said that many tires cannot be collected in a day.
“I collected tires on eight county roads, five city streets and the bypass,” the chairman said. “We thank Keep Jones Beautiful who heads it up, and we encourage everyone to help.”
The meeting adjourned following comments at 6:56 p.m. to enter closed session. The meeting reconvened at 7:51 p.m.
Kitchens made the motion to create another clerk position in the P&Z department, and the motion was approved unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned again at 7:53 p.m.
