Brantley County Georgia

Brantley County Commission January 2012 Regular Meeting

2012-01-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

The Brantley County Commission handled a ½ dozen items in their first regular meeting in 2012. Mr. Don Aycock spoke to the Commission regarding the Senior Citizen Tax situation. He encouraged the Commission to approve the item on the agenda and to install microphones so that seniors could hear the Commissioners while they were conducting the County’s business. Others in the crowd dittoed those comments. The Chairman explained that previous requests had been heeded and that equipment was being researched that could work with the older system. He also explained that changes had to be run by the Superior Court Judges that is the steward over the courtroom. But he/they are usually accommodating.

The consent agenda was modified and then approved by the Commission unanimously. Those items included:
• Adopting the resolution recommending the State reinstate aviation funding
• Adopting the resolution approving the depository of County funds for Constitutional Officers
• Approving the master services agreement for civil engineering services with Roberts Civil Engineering
• Appointing Calvin Taylor to the Tax Assessors Board to Replace Angela Hicks
• Approving the Audit Engagement Agreement with BYRT, CPAs for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013
• Appointing Gary Crawford of the Mt. Calvary area to the Brantley County Airport Authority

The first item on the regular agenda was the continued discussion regarding the Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) requested resolution around speed limits on local State and County roadways. County Manager explained that he had worked with GaDOT and was clearing up a number of inconsistencies in the resolution. The Commission approved the Chairman executing the resolution once the modifications were complete.

The Commission next discussed possibly forgiving the interest and penalties for those demonstrating hardship cases to the Tax Commissioner and working out payment plans with her. Based on the law, on the 90th day that taxes are past due, a 10% penalty of the outstanding balance is added. Interest is also calculated on outstanding sums. If the payment plan is more than 6 months, the penalty automatically applies on the outstanding balance. The Commission reviewed a resolution provided by the County attorney that provided an application process for those hardship cases to complete requesting the Commission waive interest and penalties as long as the contract terms were completed on time. The Chairman requested the resolution be modified to include the interest. It was and was then approved unanimously by the Commission.

The Commission reviewed a proposal to set the qualifying fees for the 2012 election at 3% of the base salary of the position. A schedule of individual fees was provided for the Commissioner’s review. The fees were approved by the Commission.

A letter from the Brantley County Historical Society was reviewed. They requested the use of the old Hoboken voting precinct building which is no longer used and in need of significant repair. The Commission approved the Historical Society’s use of the old building as long as they paid to have it moved.

There being no further business before the board, the meeting was adjourned.

Brantley County Commission January 2012 Work Session

2012-01-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

The Brantley County Commission started the New Year with a dozen items on their work session agenda. The public participation started the meeting with kudos to the Commission for their work in the Schlatterville Recreation Park from an area citizen. He encouraged the Commission to continue the improvements at that facility. Mrs. Dorothy Bolin spoke to the commission regarding the Senior Citizen Tax situation. Tonight she asked that the Commission consider waving the penalty for senior homestead residents that were demonstrating hardship cases to the Tax Commissioner and working to pay their taxes over time as they are on fixed incomes.

The first item on the agenda was the continued discussion regarding the Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) requested resolution around speed limits on local State and county roadways. The Chairman explained that in discussions with GaDOT the County manager had learned that the speed limits provided were those that were on record at the GaDOT offices. Some state roads have changes proposed, but all local roadways are listed with what GaDOT has on file. The Commission instructed the County manager to update the list and to get proposed changes from Commissioners on the State highway modifications and have that ready for review Thursday night’s regular agenda.

The County attorney presented the changes that were made to the Suttles and Associates architectural contract for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project for the Mental Health facility that is to be built near the Brantley County DFACS and Head Start facilities. The commission had already provided the Chairman with permission via a vote in the December meeting. As soon as the contracts are finalized, they will be executed.
The Commission reviewed the resolution from the airport authority requesting that the state reinstate the statewide funding for airports in rural communities. After some discussion the Commission placed the item on the consent agenda but told Airport Authority Chairman Billy Lee that he shouldn’t sit by the phone. The State has severe money problems with expected shortages for this year in excess of $270 million in the budget.

The Commission also placed an item on the consent agenda that allowed Constitutional Officers to use the Heritage Bank as an official depository of County Funds. An item in the audit of the county books in 2011 pointed out the need for a member of the Commission staff (the County Manager or Clerk) to be listed as a signatory on the accounts in the event you have Constitutional Officers transition out of office. The County Manager volunteered to work with the Constitutional Officers on this audit item.

All county files have been transferred from Golden Isles Engineering to Robert’s Civil Engineering in the event assistance is needed as GIEC has moved offices and will no longer be able to service Brantley County. A master services agreement was added to the consent agenda in the event any help is needed with any of these items.

The Commissioners heard a request from the Board of Tax Assessors. One of their members has resigned. So the Commission placed an item on consent agenda to appoint Calvin Taylor to that board.

While Mr. Billy Lee had the floor he also presented the Commission with a possible appointment to the Airport Authority. Mr. Ricky Raleigh is a pilot, has a plane and has contracted with the Airport Authority to build the first hanger consistent with the master plan that has been developed for the airport. Where Mr. Raleigh and his family own a home just south of the airport, their residency came into question in the meeting. The Commission discussed the balance of airport knowledge and participation with residency. The County attorney was asked to review the defining legislation for the Airport Authority to see what the stipulation was on residency. This item was placed on the regular agenda.
The commission reviewed a request from Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) to place excess 2011 funds in the Dounty “capital outlay” account. All VFD funds are collected by the county and placed in individual VFD checking accounts consistent with state law as those funds cannot be mixed with general fund or other monies. In the discussion the Clerk explained that the intention for the request may have been to have 2011 funds listed in the 2012 budget. In the past the Commission has approved these funds on a purchase by purchase basis. No action was taken.

The commission placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the 2012 Indigent Defense Agreement.

The final invoices are in for the Buster Walker Road. The Commission expressed concern over the workmanship on a few places along that road. The County Manager and some Commissioners have met with engineers and members of GaDOT on the road. Where there are some rough spots, GaDOT has approved the road for their portion of the payment as Ricketson Construction met the minimum GaDOT construction standards. The Commission asked the County manager to meet with Ricketson Construction and get a couple of Commissioners involved to ride the road and compare Waynesville with Buster Walker while the contractor is in the vehicle.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the Audit Engagement Letter with BYRT CPAs that had been reviewed and approved by the county attorney. Work closing the 2011 books is already under way.

The Commission discussed that interest and penalties for homestead seniors that were demonstrating hardship cases to the Tax Commissioner and working out payment plans. Based on the law, on the 90th day that taxes are past due, a 10% penalty of the outstanding balance is added. So if a senior homestead owner presented a hardship case and was allowed a 6 month payment plan, the penalty in the 3rd month could wipe out a significant portion of the payments they had made. The Commission generally agreed that as long as all payments were being made on time that the penalty should not be charged. The county attorney was asked to meet with the Tax Commissioner and put together a frame work for Thursday night’s meeting. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

Senator William Ligon Town Hall Meeting

2012-01-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

The City Councils of Hoboken and Nahunta, along with representatives of the County Commission and Board of Education were in attendance at the Town Hall meeting set up for Senator William Ligon. During the meeting, the different groups discussed needs to tax reform, support for industrial development within the cities and counties and the like. The Hoboken delegation requested some assistance with a waver on GaDOT regulations for some inner city streets. With homes over the decades built very close to city streets, it makes it impossible for the Cities to acquire DOT funding for much needed paving and resurfacing projects. The group also discusses challenges with inter basin transfers for water. We have plenty of water in south Georgia but there are perceptions that north Georgia will eventually tap into our water sources for their needs. The team would prefer that they send those businesses south instead of sending the water North. The Senator discussed last years tax reform package and how it attempted to broaden the tax base and shift Georgia away from an income tax and more toward a consumption tax. This broadens the base to include those working in the "cash" or "underground" economy who ONLY pay sales tax. That number is staggering and is growing every year. Many states have made this migration and Georgia has to compete with them for industry and jobs.

Dr. Read Carter, financial director for the Brantley County Board of Education was in attendance and took the Senator to tasks for the $1.6 million in state funding that he claimed was stripped from Brantley County this year. He spoke to the recent debates around a senior citizen tax exemption and explained that they were working on a resolution for the board of education's consideration. He admitted that the BOE needed to help those that needed help. Senator Ligon explained that the state budget is made up of 56% education and 35% medicaid. That is 91%. So if those two are excluded, that leaves 8% of the budget to manage debt and deficits. The state has a $791 million debt to the federal government for shortfalls in previous years. The interest only payment on that this year was $27 million. Dr. Carter challenged the Senator in that revenues had increased at the State level and questioned why that money was not being assigned to education. Senator Ligon explained that where revenues were up this year with increases in the 91% mentioned above, the State originally foretasted to have a $1 billion shortfall in the budget. The increase in revenues will help offset the increases, but will still leave a $270 million deficit this year. He went on to say that he doesn't support and expects no more cuts in education. But stated that the state, counties and schools are gong to have to continue to find creative ways to be conservative just as the families are in these lean times. The Chairman explained that in a statewide comparison using last year's 13.53 millage rate, Brantley County schools were 7th from the bottom in total per student school funding. Senator Ligon explained that the increase in revenues at the state level is a good sign.

The QBE equation for how school funding is allocated across the state was discussed. The Senator mentioned an issue in McIntosh county where inflated property values had caused the equalization money (75% match that the State gives each county for every local tax dollar above 5 mills) to be reduced. He explained that the same could be true in Brantley. The challenge is that all real estate values across the state have fallen so this is a daunting task. The law suit brought on by former School Superintendent Al Hunter never reached any successful conclusion.

The meeting lasted about 90 minutes, much like the meeting last week with Representative Chad Nimmer. Working with the State officials to define priorities and maintain lines of communication is just more evidence that the leadership team in Brantley County is working to make things better.

Representative Chad Nimmer visits Brantley County

2011-12-22T10:12:00.000-05:00

Representative Chad Nimmer came to Brantley County on December 12th to meet with local elected officials to establish legislative priorities for the upcoming 2012 State Congressional session. Most of the Hoboken and Nahunta City Council members (current and/or elect) were in attendance with all but one of the County Commissioners and some Constitutional Officers and staff.

In the meeting the group talked about many items that they would like to see Representative Nimmer to fight for or against in the next session. The City of Nahunta discussed a water tower and possible assistance with other municipal water system improvements. The City of Hoboken discussed ways to bring industry to Brantley County. The group discussed the need for the State to revisit school funding and equalization changes to move the much needed support to the rural schools. The Board of Education was meeting and was unable to attend. But in their absence the group still reminded the Representative that while everyone understands the requirement of prioritization when funds are limited, education has to be a priority. Representative Nimmer explained that recently the State made a payment of $27 million to the government on a $700 million loan. The state has to work on a plan to continue critical services while paying off debt. Sound familiar?

The County Commission also discussed ways to entice industry to Brantley County. One project that was discussed was a joint natural gas pipeline grant application with Glynn County. The Industrial Development Authority has reported that many industries that are
seeking rural industrial sites today require the less expensive fuels like natural gas. Brantley County has 4 lane highway access, CSX rail spur access, Interstates within 20 miles, one port within 25 miles, two other ports within 100 miles, thousands of acres of
available property and many other attractive assets. With the addition of Natural Gas, the county would qualify for many new potential industrial candidates that look beyond Brantley now. The commission also discussed water rights and the proposed legislation to limit transfers between aquifers.

The meeting started with Representative Nimmer explaining to the group some of the items that he expects to see this year. There will likely be some sales tax legislation. Much was attempted last year but failed to get sufficient support. With the election coming in 2012, there was some concern that not much will get accomplished this year.

Meetings of this nature are scheduled with Senator William Ligon for December 20th as well.

Brantley County Commission December 2011 Regular Meeting

2011-12-16T07:18:00.001-05:00

The Commission was again visited by Mrs. Dorothy Bolden and a group of 160 Senior Citizens, a group 8 times the number that attended the Board of Education meetings the previous night. The group came again requesting Board of Education Tax Exemption for homestead residential properties owned by citizens 65 or older. Two members of the Board of Education were in attendance again, Dot Hickox and Theresa Lairsey. Mrs. Bolden again came forward requesting immediate action in the form of a binding referendum for an exemption from school taxes that could be placed on the ballot in the spring of 2012. Henry Aldridge and others got up to speak on the topic as well.

The Commission approved minutes of the November 2011 meeting and a number of items on the consent agenda. These included:
1. An item to appoint Commissioner Greg O’Quinn for another year as vice-chairman
2. An item for the continuance of 911 landline fees at $1.50 per month
3. An item for the continuance of 911 wireless phone fees at $1.50 per month.
4. An item to reappoint Dean Strickland for 2012 as the County attorney.

The first item on the regular agenda included a motion to rescind a resolution establishing a minimum acreage for conservation that the Commission had approved in April of 2011. The tax Assessor’s Board sent a letter to the Commission asking for the action to rescind the resolution as it was actually eliminating the opportunity for some tax payers to file for conservation. By rescinding the resolution all property owners can file using the same state guidelines that everyone else uses. The board passed the motion.

While Mr. Billy Lee had the floor, he also discussed a proposal from the Airport Authority asking the Commission to send a letter to the State asking for the State to reinstate the Aviation funding statewide. The Commission, having not seen the letter or the resolution, decided to review it and place the item on the January agenda.

The Commission voted and approved keeping the Southeastern Bank as the official depository. Requests for proposals went out to the local banks and Southeastern was the only bank to respond.

The Commission discussed the speed limit ordinance as proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GADOT). There was confusion in the information provided by GaDOT as the County Manager had received one input from one member of DOT and some Commissioners had received other inputs. The County attorney and County manager will clarify this with GaDOT and this was placed on the January agenda.

The Commission approved a motion to have the County attorney work with the architects with Suttles & Associates to resolve a couple of points in the proposed contract and empowered the Chairman to execute the agreement once a resolution was reached that met with the county attorney’s approval.

The Commission approved a resolution certifying the SPLOST Election Results for the state.
The Commission also approved a motion naming the new Atkinson Boat Ramp Ava Strickland Lightsey Public Boat Ramp.

The Commission also approved a motion allowing the County manager to move funds between budgets for the Clerk of Superior Court, Cindy Crews. Since the County has held more court than budgeted, the Clerk is moving unused funds from one budget line item to another. Since some funds may have to cross department lines, the Commission had to approve the move. This was not an increase in overall budget. This was just a movement between line items for housekeeping.

The Commission also approved the acquisition of right of way (ROW) for the Caney Bay bridge replacement project.

The Commission discussed the BOE Tax Exemption for homestead properties of senior citizens. The Chairman explained that in discussions with Board of Education Members and staff they voted and instructed the Superintendent and attorney to work with the staff, draft a resolution and bring that to the January meeting for a vote. Commissioner Edgy moved to create a resolution for a binding referendum allowing for a BOE Tax exemption of 50% for all homestead parcels owned by persons over age 65 and 100% exemption for senior homestead parcels where the owner is over 70. He added that any home with an income over $100,000, any home with a commercial business in it and any home owned less than 5 years by the senior(s) would get no exemption. Commissioner Harris seconded the motion.
During discussion it was clarified that the form of validation of household income would be the Federal Income Tax Forms for all senior citizens. Many in the audience objected because they did not have to file income taxes as seniors are not required or felt that their income was not the County’s business. In further discussion the definition of what constituted commercial property was attempted after several minutes of discussion and debate, Commissioner Edgy finally withdrew that portion of the motion.

Commissioner Hendrix explained that he supported helping those making the hard choices but felt that the BOE should be the body dealing with this. And since they had voted to do that, the Commission needed to give them time to do this. Should they choose not to deal with it, he stood ready to revisit the item.

In discussion the Chairman expressed concerns over the approach as well. The percentage approach rewards those with more expensive properties and penalizes those with less expensive properties. Plus the income verification component is going to force all 1,000 plus senior homestead property owners to provide some standardized form of income proof which the Tax Assessor’s Office will struggle to verify. And as income changes it will be up to the property owner to inform the county of a change of income level. Finally with this approach there is no accurate way to measure the exact impact of this exemption.
The Chairman went into detail explaining the way the tax bill process works and the existing credits that most seniors could qualify for that would get them a $10,000 credit or a $185 deduction on their BOE tax bill. The Chairman prefers a proposal adding an additional $25,000 local taxable property value credit for homestead seniors 65 and older who have owned their property for more than 5 years. This would give all senior homestead residential property owners a tax bill reduction of up to $463 and would cost $225,061 or less than one (1) BOE mill. In fact in a comparison of the two approaches (attached), any home with a total value of $150,000 or less would get a LARGER credit under the Chairman’s proposal using a per parcel credit than the percentage approach.

When this first came up the discussion was about helping those not buying medicine, paying their light bill or buying groceries so that they could pay taxes. When the vote was taken Commissioners Edgy and Harris voted in favor of the motion and Commissioners O’Quinn and Hendrix opposed the motion and the Chairman voted no so the motion failed for now. The Chairman explained that should the BOE vote to not take this item up, he would personally bring the item back to the table. He also explained that placing too large of a referendum on the ballot would not help anyone and would force the issue to remain silent for at least a year or more before it could come back up.

The Chairman thanked the Board members for their keeping the discussion civil and on topic. Where these were hard discussions, the Commission was respectful of one another and of the seniors that were in attendance and the meeting.

Brantley County Commission December 2011 Work Session

2011-12-09T13:00:00.001-05:00

The Commission was again visited by about 100 Senior Citizens and organizer Dorothy Bolin to demand Board of Education Tax Exemption for homestead residential properties owned by citizens 65 or older. Two members of the Board of Education were in attendance, Dot Hickox and Theresa Lairsey. Mrs. Bolin again came forward demanding immediate action in the form of a binding referendum for an exemption from school taxes before 1/1/2012. She explained that their numbers had waned due to illness and a basketball game out of town. At one point the names of Commissioners up for re-election in 2012 were requested by Mrs. Bolin. Commissioner Mike Edgy, Ron Ham and Greg O’Quinn raised their hands and gave their names.

The Commission placed a number of items on the consent agenda for next week’s meeting. These included:
1. An item to approve the contract with Suttles and Associates as the architects for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Project for the new Mental Health facility paid for with Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Grant Funds and to be located behind Jerry J’s nest to the Department of Family and Children Services and the Head Start Facility.
2. An item to appoint Commissioner Greg O’Quinn for another year as vice-chairman
3. An item for the continuance of 911 landline fees and 911 wireless phone fees in separate resolutions.
4. An item supporting a letter from the Chairman to the cell phone companies asking for formal audits on collections. A number of people in the audience expressed conflict with the cell companies and getting their 911 fees redirected to Brantley County. The commission explained that this has to be done by the citizen and can be done by customer service.
5. An item to reappoint Dean Strickland for 2012 as the county attorney.

In other work session items the commission discussed the BOE Tax Exemption for homestead properties of senior citizens. The Chairman explained that in discussions with the Commission and the Board of Education Members and staff they had agreed that it would be best for the BOE to take this up and the BOE has agreed to do so in this month’s meetings. The majority of the commission proposed to table the item until the BOE had a chance to take this item up. Commissioner Edgy instead proposed a Regular Agenda item for next week’s meeting of the commission to create a resolution for a binding referendum. In his proposal for the agenda item Commissioner Edgy proposed 50% exemption for all senior homestead parcels owned by persons over age 65 and 100% exemption for senior homestead parcels where the owner is over 70. He added that any home with an income over $100,000, any home with a commercial business in it and any home owned less than 5 years by the senior(s) would get no exemption. Where all other commission members preferred the BOE take this matter up and propose their own resolution, they were willing to allow the item on the regular agenda for next week purely for the sake of discussion.

In discussion the Chairman expressed concerns over the approach. First, he also felt this matter should be left to the BOE. Second, the percentage approach rewards those with more expensive properties and penalizes those with less expensive properties. Plus the income verification component is going to force all 1,000 plus senior homestead property owners to provide some standardized form of income proof which the Tax Assessor’s Office will likely not be able to verify. Finally with this approach there is no accurate way to measure the exact impact of this exemption. In Commissioner Edgy’s approach a senior homestead property owner with a $200,000 property would be taxed on 40% or $80,000 of that value. With the BOE millage at 18.53 this would render them a bill of $1,482 less some current minor state exemptions for most seniors. Their credit would be 50% at age 65 or $741. Another senior homestead property owner with property valued at $50,000 would be taxed on 40% or $20,000. With BOE millage at 18.53 this renders them a bill of $370. Their credit would be $185 at age 65. The credit for the more expensive parcel in the above example is 4 times that of the less expensive parcel. This doesn’t appear to be an approach targeted at helping those seniors who have to make the “hard choices”.

Seniors in Brantley County own approximately $72 million in property taxes. With Commissioner Edgy’s proposal it is impossible to calculate the exact impact and how much of the BOE tax burden would be shifted to those under age 65. But with the digest for senior homestead at $72 million and the taxable digest being 40% of that or $28.8 million, this approach will move between $350,000 and $525,000 of the BOE tax burden to those under age 65 should the resolution pass. This would trigger a 1.1 to 1.5 BOE mill increase to cover the exemption. Putting a referendum on the ballot that voters will not approve does not help those low income seniors that are making the hard choices. Figure 1 below shows the breakdown of senior homestead property values.

Earlier in the process even before the senior movement came demanding relief the Commission discussed a proposal adding an additional $15,000 local credit for homestead seniors 65. This would give all senior homestead residential property owners a tax bill reduction of $278 and would move $248,254 of that tax burden to those under age 65 causing the BOE to increase their millage by about 0.8 mills or reduce their budget by that much.

The real goal should be to help those having to make the hard choices. The property tax credit approach provides the same credit to the taxable property value amount of all seniors which is the most fair and flat credit. Compared to the above example a $200,000 property would still carry a taxable value of $80,000. It would get a $15,000 local credit to the value creating a reduced taxable value of $65,000. This would render a tax bill of $1,204. If the property was $50,000, then the taxable amount is 40% or $20,000 and the local credit is still $15,000. So the new taxable value is $5,000. Their bill is $92.65. The credit in both instances is $278. The $15,000 value can be increased giving a greater flat credit and an increase could be put in place for seniors over age 70.

The execution of this later proposal would leverage existing processes already in place in the Tax Assessor’s office, would not require an arbitrary setting of an income level above which no credit is given and it creates no humiliating task of providing proof of income which will likely not be verifiable. Hopefully the BOE will take this item up and create a fair and balanced credit for all seniors providing much needed relief for those making the hard choices.

In other business the Commission placed items on the regular agenda to:
• accept proposals from local banks for depository services,
• review of the November YTD Financial Reports,
• reconsider the conservation minimum property requirement for CUVA (15  25) as proposed by the Tax Assessor’s Office
• review the speed limit ordinance as proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GADOT)

Brantley County 2012 DOT Resurfacing Projects Announced

2011-12-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) announced last quarter the three resurfacing projects that were chosen based on the conditions of the roads in Brantley County. The Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) funding that replaced the former LARP and State Aid program is funded by the state based on the miles of road in the County.

These funds were used last year to stripe and resurface many roads in the County. The Commission more than once last year used the opportunity to leverage local Special Purpose local Option sales tax to continue a project that was started by the state LMIG program to resurface a road. This allows the County to leverage much more attractive rates that can be negotiated by the state in volume. Attached you will see the announcement from GaDOT.

All roads were tested by GaDOT. Trudie Road in Twin Rivers ranked the worst in the County and all of the 2 miles of that road that lies within Brantley County will be repaved. 1.2 miles Browntown Road was next and will be resurfaced. This connects 32 with Wayne County to the North. Finally Buffalo Creek Drive was next and 3 miles of that road will be paved.

The Commission has worked hard over recent years to leverage Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars, GaGOT funding, grant and local dollars and crews to improve roads throughout the county. Over 13 miles have been or are being paved and more than
that has been resurfaced in the last three years.

2012 Resurfacing Projects

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission.

A Lot to be Thankful For….

2011-11-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

Where did Thanksgiving go? It seems like we take down the Halloween decorations and put up the Christmas decorations. I love Christmas but we don’t need to skip Thanksgiving. Some will tell you it is because the stores want to expand the Christmas shopping season and that may be true.

Sometimes we get hung up on the negative, our frustrations and things we don’t have. That is why I LOVE Thanksgiving, that and Mama Dot’s turkey and dressing. Seriously we need to take a minute and think about what we do have and be thankful. The events on the road in front of my house really put things in perspective. When my wife and children leave now for a long time, they will drive by the painted markings where the lifeless bodies of two young men laid.

I know unemployment is high and we have the tax debate going on the senior exemption. But you don’t have to look too far to find those less fortunate who are living in cardboard boxes or under highway overpasses. On mission trips to Honduras and Haiti in the past we’ve driven through crowds that descended upon us for the small bowl of food we would share until it ran out and maybe that one piece of candy that missionaries are known to carry in their back packs. Their precious little faces are priceless with eyes as big as saucers. And I know we have these same opportunities here at home.

I don’t say this in any way to trivialize the struggles that many are feeling here at home. I know times are hard, jobs are scarce and sometimes the future seems a little bleak. But life is 20% what happens to you and 80% how you respond to it. The Lord has blessed our community with improvements, growth and provision these past years and my prayer daily is that He will continue to do that.

To you and yours, a Happy Thanksgiving…the forgotten holiday.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

The Right to Choose

2011-11-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of months there have been hundreds of conversations regarding taxes, budgets and government spending. It seems you can’t turn on the TV without seeing somebody occupying something and really only knowing one thing for sure, they don’t like the way things are.

A few months ago the Brantley County Board of Education, at the request of the Superintendent and his staff, voted to increase their millage from 13 mills to 18 mills which is a 38% increase. There is no arguing that the State and federal government have failed in their obligation to provide educational services to our children as they shift more and more burden to the local tax payers. And perhaps the BOE should have been going up a little over the past years. Hindsight is always 20-20 as they say.

The one thing is for sure. This large increase has come at a time when people around the globe are hurting, scared and uncertain of their future. Unemployment is at all time high. The nation’s credit rating has been downgraded and economies around the world are stumbling.

Initially the BOE told the Senior Homestead property owners that were at their meeting demanding permanent and total exemption from BOE taxes that they would have to “go see the County Commission” if they wanted an exemption. In conversations with over 25 different people from over a dozen different agencies the Commission and their attorney have determined that this is not the case and in fact is not even the common practice. Just last year the Brantley County Board of Education passed a local resolution allowing for all Board of Education posts to be elected through the nonpartisan election ballot. That resolution became State law. This allows voters to cast a vote for BOE members no matter if the voter chooses the Democratic or Republican primary election process. That was a good thing. That same process can be used by the BOE to call for local legislation for tax exemptions.

The Constitution and Code Sections for the State of Georgia requires that any tax exemption from Ad Valorem property taxes be placed on a local referendum or vote of those in that taxing jurisdiction. So the proper process would be for the BOE to pass a local resolution in their meeting if they so choose to do so. This resolution would call for a binding referendum for the voters of Brantley County to have the opportunity to vote YES or NO on the BOE’s proposed exemption. The vote of citizens is final.

In closing, with all the positive things going on around the County, I hope and pray that this negativity does not totally darken the sparks of progress that we see for 2012. The BP Station is coming back online, Varns Wood products are expanding, the Southern Ionics group will bring its mining operations to Brantley, the Foodtronics group is expanding even farther than expected and there are many other potential opportunities in the works. I'd also like to personally thank all the voters for approving the SPLOST! This allows the current and future Commissions to continue making the kind of progress that has been made over the last 3 years. The good Lord has richly blessed our community and I pray He continues to do so. To Him goes the glory.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

Brantley County Commission November 2012 Regular Meeting

2011-11-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

The Commission welcomed about 200 Senior Citizens to the November regular meeting to discuss possible Board of Education Tax Exemption for homestead residential properties owned by citizens 65 or older. Two members of the Board of Education were in attendance, Kerry Mathie and Dot Hickox. A group of school teachers and administrators were also on hand to see the discussion first hand. A few citizens spoke during public participation about the challenges facing some seniors on fixes incomes. Dorothy Bolden came forward again demanding 100% exemption from school taxes before 1/1/2012. Others came forward and discussed their challenges. One member came forward to talk about his road on Whispering Pine Loop.

The Commission approved the minutes to the October meeting and approved the amended consent agenda and regular agenda next.
The Commission approved the following items on the consent agenda by vote of 4-0.
1. Approved off premise beer and wine license for Tejas J. Patel, d/b/a/ “Minit Mart” Central Avenue Extension (formerly T&R)
2. Approved off premise beer and wine license for Tina Marie Paten, d/b/a “Popwell’s Grocery”
3. Awarded bid for 2011, 2012, 2013 audit to BYRT, CPAs, Waycross, with language in the contract financial penalties if the audit is not delivered on time
4. Adopted resolution appointing County Clerk Dale Halligan as ACCG County Legislative Coordinator
5. Approved and executed contract for Inmate Medical Program with Blue / Cross Blue Shield, through ACCG
6. Adopted resolution for 2011 update of the short term work program
7. Reappointed Chad Scruggs and Pat Evans to the Recreation Advisory Committee
8. Change regular County Commission monthly from the second Tuesday to the month to the first Thursday after the first Tuesday of the month starting in January 2012. This placed the work session and the regular meeting closer together and better sequences the county meeting in concert with city and board of education meetings.
9. Approved lease agreement between the County and Concerted Service, Inc.

Much to the disappointment of the decently mannered crowd, the Commission opted to table item #1. This was the local legislation exemption from school board taxes for senior citizens with homestead properties that are used only for residential purposes. One commissioner explained that Jeff Chapman former State Senator had explained to him the Board of Education could pass a resolution crediting seniors from School taxes. The chairman had provided an analysis and alternatives to the Commission and due to the absence of one Commissioner, recommended that the item be tabled until the December work session which will be held at the Courthouse at 6pm December 6th. This would allow more time for the analysis. Nothing can happen until the Atlanta Legislative Session starts in mid January 2012 so there is time and this is too big of a decision to rush.

The discussion the chairman wants to focus on includes the need to help those who are on fixed incomes that have to make the hard choices. The discussion does not need to focus on who has children in school and who does not. The Chairman’s proposal is an extension of the current State plan. The current process is as follows. A property value of $100,000 has a taxable value of 40% or $40,000. The current state exemption for 65 year old homestead property owners is a $2,000 reduction in the taxable property value. So the taxable value is reduced to $38,000. The figure 1 below shows the current homestead properties and the exemptions they receive in Brantley County.

Where the leaders of the senior groups are demanding total exemption from board of education taxes, the seniors in the county own $72 million in property which carries a $28 million taxable value. This represents roughly 10% of the taxable digest. Figure 2 below shows the breakdown of seniors and the property values.

The Chairman’s proposal includes adding an additional $15,000 credit for homestead seniors 65 or older for both board of education taxes and County Commission taxes. The real goal is to help those having to make the hard choices. This approach works to help those and provides the same credit to the taxable property value amount across the board to all seniors which is the most fair and flat credit. This compares to a percentage which provides more of a dollar credit to the top income seniors v.s. those on lower incomes that are the focus. Those with more expensive properties will receive the same credit and will pay on the property value above the exemption. In the above example, a $100,000 property would still carry a taxable value of $40,000, it would get a $2,000 state mandated credit and then a $15,000 local credit to the value creating a reduced taxable value of $23,000. If the property was $500,000, then the taxable amount is 40% or $200,000, the state credit is still $2,000 and the local credit is still $15,000. So the new taxable value is $183,000.

The execution of this proposal would leverage existing processes already in place in the Tax Assessor’s office, would not require an arbitrary setting of an income level below which homestead seniors would get exempted while those above that level would have to pay 100% of their taxes and it creates no humiliating task of providing proof of income and researching same placing more burden on an already struggling system.

The impact of this approach is fairly straight forward to measure as the County has the list and property values for those of age 65 or older based on current exemptions. Figure 3 below shows the current millage rates, these existing property value credits for those properties, the proposed new property credits for those parcels and the average per parcel credit. This means that the average senior’s board of education tax bill would be lowered by approximately $259 if the BOE millage stayed at 18.53 and their county tax bill would be lowered by approximately $297 if the millage stayed at 20.34. This represents a total tax credit of approximately $556 per parcel.

When you remove these exemptions from the digest and recalculate the county tax millage rate, figure 4 below demonstrates that the millage rate for the county would go from 20.34 to 21.39 or a 1.05 mill increase. This proposal has been provided to the superintendent so that his team can review the impact to the school collections due to the new exemptions. Were the digest to increase or the commission be able to trim from next year’s budget, this could likely be managed with little or no increase in the County millage rate.

In other business the Commission approved reappointing Greg Strickland and Jill Tornabene to the Development Authority.

The Commission reviewed the application from Paul Minchew for a special event alcohol license for the Hortense Off Road Park. Commissioner expressed both concern over the vast complaints that have been heard from the neighbors around the park and understanding for Mr. Minchew wanting to come before the Commission and get a license when others alleged to be selling beer at the park do not have a license. In a split decision the vote failed and the license was not granted.

A letter was read to the Commission that was provided by Mary Gibson on behalf of the Airport Authority. In that letter Mary expressed her appreciation for the support the airport has received from state and local boards and agencies. She singled out a number of members that were instrumental in helping her get the airport to where it is today. In the closing paragraph, Ms. Gibson resigned her position on the Airport Authority. The County would like to thank Ms. Gibson for her years of service and unwavering commitment to the Airport. The Commission approved the acceptance of her resignation.

Brantley County Commission November 2012 Work Session

2011-11-02T13:00:00.001-04:00

The Commission welcomed about 130 Senior Citizens to the November Work Session to discuss possible Board of Education Tax Exemption for homestead residential properties. The room was overflowing at the normal place of the work session, but the official meetings cannot be moved without 24 hours prior notice by law. Several citizens spoke during public participation about the extreme hardship that the 38% increase that the Board of Education had enacted was causing Senior Citizens in Brantley County. One resident spoke of his wife who had cancer and all the expenses that they were experiencing. Many others survive completely on Social Security and are having to make hard decisions on whether to buy medicine, pay the light bill or pay their taxes.

The Commission moved the BOE Tax exemption item to the top of the agenda. The Chairman had provided the analysis from the data that one Commissioner had worked with the Tax Commissioner and Tax Assessor to generate. The below table represents the current exemptions utilized by some homestead citizens of all ages. Based on this information there are about 893 properties are already earmarked with some exemption for senior citizens over age 65. Of that total, 840 properties (94%) are denoted for homestead property owners age 65 or older with less than $10,000 in total household income.

For a detailed explanation of the State of Georgia homestead property exemptions, you can visit the web site Georgia Department of Revenue.

An analysis of those individual properties for those reporting to be age 65 or older is included below.

93% of all properties reported for citizens over age 65 were valued at $200,000 or less. So, all evidence points to the situation that a significant number of seniors are in a position to have more of a tax burden than they have the ability to support.

One Commissioner proposed a BOE Tax Exemption for seniors over age 65 at 50% of BOE taxes and over age 70 at 100% of BOE taxes. Some Commissioners felt that there should be some income level used in the equation as there is a small number of seniors who have sufficient incomes to pay their taxes. And some Commissioners expressed concerns over putting all of the responsibility for this loss of $368,000 in tax burden on those under age 65. But the Commission generally agreed that the seniors on fixed income had to have some help and quickly. The discussion centered around some legislation that would be approved by the Commission by the end of the year, submitted by representatives as local legislation in January, approved at the will of the legislature and if at all possible with an effect date of as early in 2012 as legally possible. Since no consensus could be reached, the Commission put the item on the regular agenda and will work on this next Tuesday in the courtroom of the County Courthouse at 6pm.

In other items, the Commission:

1. Placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the off premise beer and wine license for “Mini Mart” (formerly T&R on Central Avenue) brought by Tejas J. Patel.

2. Placed an item on the consent agenda to approve an off premise beer and wine license for “Popwell’s Grocery” in Popwellville as the establishment had changed hands.

3. Placed an item on the consent agenda to award the bid for Audit Services to the current county audit firm and asked the County manager to add some language creating financial penalties if the audit is not delivered on time.

4. Placed an item on the consent agenda to appoint County Clerk, Dale Halligan, as the ACCG County Legislative Coordinator.

5. Placed an item on the consent agenda to instruct County Manager, Parrish Barwick, to complete the insurance application for inmate medical services, which is medical insurance if an inmate has to go to the hospital and runs up a big bill. The contract with the current on site doctor and nursing staff is not affected by this.

6. Placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the short term work program completed by the County Manager to complete the planning requirements for the Commission.

7. Placed an item on the consent agenda to reappoint Chad Scruggs and Pat Evans to the Recreation Board.

8. Placed an item on the regular agenda regarding appointments to the development authority. Gary Strickland and Jill Torebene have expiring terms.

9. Discussed the tax bill timeline. Bills are being received by citizens in the mail. They are due by January 20th but the escrow and larger land owners and companies will likely pay prior to year end. The County will keep the 2012 revenue separate from 2011 revenue to be able to measure 2011 performance independent of 2012 revenue.

10. The County manager gave an update on the road paving project which are coming to a close. Buster Walker has the final portion of paving and surface treatment plus some other finishing touches. The road crew has two small crews working through key areas to unstop culvert pipes. The Commission discussed the SPLOST vote and encouraged those in attendance to support the SPLOST to keep building roads and recreation facilities and to keep County taxes from increasing. A significant portion of the SPLOST goes to make jail payments, $648,000 per year or approximately 2.5 mills of taxes. This represents $3 million over the SPLOST. Should the SPLOST currently being voted on not pass, the Commission would have little alternative other than increase taxes to pay for the jail facility. While the jail is making $450,000+ per year, it also carries a $1.2 million operating budget and a $648,000 payment totaling $1.88 million annually. The SPLOST helps offset those expenses.

11. The Commission discussed changing the regular County Commission meeting from the second Tuesday to the First Thursday after the work session. So each month the first Tuesday would be the work session at 6pm at the county office and the first Thursday after the first Tuesday would be the Regular County Commission meeting at 6pm at the Brantley County Courthouse. An item was placed on the consent agenda to approve this with the start date set for January 2012 meetings giving the County plenty of time to advertise.

12. An item was placed on the consent agenda approving the Concerted Services Lease for their facility. This is an annual housekeeping item.

13. The County received the annual report from the Development Authority for review.

14. The Commission discussed a request from Paul Minchew for a “special event” alcohol license that would allow them to sell a “Bacardi Rum drink with fruit juices” at the Hortense ATV Off Road Park November 18th and 19th at the show. Commissioners expressed concerns over complaints from the neighbors during events at the Off Road Park. But as many in the crowd and some Commissioners reported wide spread drinking, etc. at the park during events, the Commission did not want to punish Mr. Minchew for wanting to do things appropriately, as some in attendance had heard rumors of alcohol being sold at the Off Road Park out of vehicles. One person in the crowd did report that there had been a heightened presence of security at the last two events and that the lawlessness and recklessness seemed to be better. This was placed on the regular agenda.

15. An item was placed on the regular agenda to discuss the recent comments by members of the Airport Authority where baseless accusations were made regarding the accountability for funds from the One Georgia Authority Funding of the Airport expansion project. In an analysis completed by the County Clerk, all deposits and checks were reviewed and listed in detail with a reconciliation provided for the account. The communications issue with the One Georgia Authority was discussed and it was evident that in initial dealings with the OGA, certain members of the Airport Authority were less than cordial with certain members from One Georgia so key OGA personnel made the decision to work directly with the Commission office throughout the project to avoid further frustration or confusion. All funds are and have always been accounted for and any agreements that were executed in writing between the state agency(s) and the county are available for review at the County Commission office. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

16. Finally the Commission entered a closed session for a legal matter after which they took no action and adjourned.

The next meeting of the County Commission will be Tuesday November 8th at 6pm at the Brantley County Courthouse.

Brantley County October 2012 Meeting

2011-10-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

The meeting was called to order and the floor was opened for public participation. Dorothy Bolan from Central Avenue presented the board with a request representing over 50 senior citizens that the Commission adopt a resolution that be turned into local legislation exempting all senior homestead property owners from paying School Board Property taxes. This would not include commercial properties or non-homestead properties. Raymond Russell addressed the board after her asking the Commission for support of her proposal and that they please keep the seniors in mind as they look at fees and taxes.

The Commission started by approving the minutes of the September 2011 Commission meeting.
The County auditors gave their presentation of the 2010 Audit. A summary of major expenditures and revenues was reviewed with any deviations explained. The primary topic of discussion when comparing 2009 to 2010 was the line of credit. In 2009 the Commission had a line of credit to borrow funds to operate with which totaled over $3 million dollars. In 2010 the County took out a LOC that was a fraction of that amount and only used $250,000 that was repaid before the end of the year with 2010 dollars. This was a huge accomplishment for the leadership team. The auditors review opportunities for additional internal controls that could help make the process even more accountable. There were not significant deviations or issues in the Commission accounts. The Commission passed the audit with flying colors.

The Commissioners approved the Tax Commissioner moving one person from full time to part time. The Tax Commissioner has the money in the budget to fund the position through the end of the year and the full time head count is budgeted in the 2012 budget. The Tax Commissioner’s office is in dire need of more assistance with increased traffic and increased collection efforts under way on past due taxes for real and personal property. Hats off to Tax Commissioner Mrs. Pat Tompkins and her team for a job well done.

The Commission reviewed a recommendation by Tax Assessor Board Chair Mr. Billy Lee and his counterparts to reappoint Stephanie Watkins to the Tax Assessor Board for another term.

The County Manager, Parrish Barwick gave the Commission an update on several projects. The intense rain that has been badly needed to relieve the drought is causing some issues with roads around the County. The road crews are responding to calls and working to make repairs. The paving of Buster Walker has been slowed because of the rain but should be completed in a few weeks. The vendor portion of the boat ramp construction is complete. The County will plant some grass, level some dirt and work on the access road to the boat ramp once the rain damage is repaired on the main roads around the County. The grant for the Waynesville Nature Trail/Recreation facility has been awarded and we are waiting on the permits and the final paperwork. Work on that can start as soon as the approval comes from the State and County resources available. The recreation update showed that over 80 children are participating in soccer, 105 in cheerleading and 185 in football. There was some confusion with the football and the decision to not use the new fields for this season. Where the new fields were irrigated, the stand of grass was insufficient to play football out there this year. Soccer is much easier on the turf so soccer is being played at the new facility.

The Commission voted to create a Grant Funds line item in the General Government department to track grant funds in and out of the budget. Some of the line items in the audit discussion had revenues that were above budget and expenses that were above budgeted amounts because of grant funds and expenses that flowed through the regular budget. Having this revenue and expense item will help separate those less predictable funds from the annual budget.

The Commission approved trading in the 1994 Caterpillar front end loader for a new model. There is a significant maintenance event needed on the near 18 year old tractor. Several prices were received from the usual suppliers. The best deal offered the County was a Caterpillar trade in. They offered $22,000 in trade leaving, $107,000 to lease at a cost of $1900 per month. The first payment is due in 12 months and those funds are budgeted in the 2012 operating budget for the road department under capital expenses.

The Commission voted to ratify the previously set millage for the unincorporated area at 20.34, the incorporated at 22.56, each fire district at 1.25 mills and the State millage at 0.25. The Commission also voted to accept the Board of Education’s millage of 18.53. The Commission has no alternative but to approve the BOE millage, as this is purely a ministerial review of the millage as defined by State law. The School Superintendent indirectly provided this code section to the Commission via previous meetings.

The subject of Caney Bay Bridge was discussed in an open meeting. One property owner is not willing to sell or donate their property for the badly needed road repair project. After reviewing alternatives of how the County could build a cheaper bridge with local funds that wouldn’t require the 0.348 acres from the property owner, the Commission voted unanimously to have the attorney use any and all means necessary to acquire the property and move forward with the State bridge project as designed by DOT ASAP. This was not something that any Commissioner wanted to do, but all felt that the greater good would be served in this manner.

The route for the Raybon Road East road widening and paving project was discussed next. One Commissioner had asked Commissioners to discuss not taking the path from Raybon East, to Gilman to Smyrna Church Road. Instead the ommissioner proposed to take the full and direct path for Raybon East so that the pavement matches with Knox Road. The Commission approved this change and instructed the County manager to have the survey and deign groups change the scope of this project to reflect the Board wishes.

Raybon Road East

Chief Henry Edwards of the Waynesville Volunteer Fire Department came before the Board asking that the WVFD be allowed to use $6,000 of previous year’s funds to manage expenses for this year. Each fire tax district has an independent checking account as tax money collected for a fire tax district cannot be used for another fire district. So in years where they have been frugal, it leaves funds in the bank which are carried forward as a surplus. In this case these surplus funds were added to the budget. The Commission unanimously approved the measure.

One Commissioner asked to discuss Buffalo Creek Road. The lines on the road are very hard to see at night especially if it is raining. The Commissioners discussed that the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) funds that are allocated to the County by the State every year were designated by the Commission last year for primary resurfacing on 3 roads as ranked by the DOT inspection team. These were (in order of need) Trudie Road, the portion of Browntown Road that was not resurfaced in the last paving and Buffalo Creek Road. All three of these projects are being let by GaDOT at this time. They will be completed in the spring and summer of 2012, if not before. For this reason it wouldn’t make sense to restripe Buffalo Creek Road. The County Manager was asked to get with GaDOT and get a time line for completion on each road.

The Commission also approved a proclamation making November 6th Retired Educators Day. Counties all over the State are passing similar resolutions to honor the many educators that mentored so many of today’s leaders, business men and women and others.

The Commission approved a tax write off for the property owned by the County Commission for $235 for the boat ramp property. Since the County owns the property there should not have been a bill produced.

The County next discussed the issue of senior homestead exemption from Board of Education property taxes. The Chairman had provided an analysis some weeks ago for the Commission to review of how different versions of this exemption could be handled based on his research with other counties. He likewise provided a potential view at the impact of the local legislation on the collection efforts for the BOE, should the Commission choose to enact this. He explained that in discussions weeks ago with Senator William Ligon and representative Chad Nimmer, they both explained that they stand ready to take up any local legislation adopted by the County Commission. Since the majority of property taxes are paid by corporation and larger land owners, this exemption would not cause a significant collection issue for the BOE. The Commission asked the attorney to review the authority that the Commission had to enact such local legislation, provide some alternatives based on what other counties are doing and to have this distributed to the Commissioners before the November work session. No action can be taken until the general assembly comes into session in Atlanta in January. So the Commission will work to decide on a path forward in November and December. Should they approve a draft, it will be ready for consideration in January 2012.

After the executive session for personnel and legal matters, the Commission approved a motion to have the County attorney notify Larry Cohen’s attorney that his claim had been reviewed and would not be accepted.

Ronald E. “Ron” Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

2011-10-08T18:54:00.000-04:00

Commissioners and members of the Southern Regional Commission were in attendance in September to receive a grant check for $467,179 for the construction of a new Public Health - Mental Health facility to be constructed in the area adjacent to the Department of Family and Children Services and Head Start facility behind the Heritage Bank and Jerry J's Family Restaurant in Nahunta. The application for the grant was filed over a year ago and the process began. Since that time the Southern Regional Commission has worked with Brantley County and the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in Atlanta to walk the grant through the process. County Manager Parrish Barwick, County Clerk Dale Halligan and the staff have worked diligently to provide all the necessary documentation and back material to work toward this wonderful day.

The Commission and staff have worked diligently to bring more grant funds to Brantley County by leveraging the United States Department of Agriculture, Georgia Department of Community Affairs (GaDCA), Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other agencies to provide funding for new ambulances, police cars, road construction equipment, boat ramps, public health facilities and much more.

Hats off to the team at Brantley County for a job well done!

County Commissioners Training

2011-10-08T18:40:00.000-04:00

County Commissioners attended state mandatory training in Atlanta this week and have the opportunity to meet with legislative subcommittee members and Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) staff members to review the legislative priorities for counties representing a united front to the legislators. The process of defining this platform takes thousands of hours from commissioners all over Georgia that serve on a variety of committees on items from tax matters to environmental matters to public health and safety. The central message throughout all platform statements is that there is no "one size fits all" for Georgia counties. What works for Dekalb and Tift and Lowndes does not necessarily work for Charlton, Brantley or even Glynn.

The real blessing is that by coming together as one body through ACCG, the counties have a unified voice at the capital and have a far greater impact on legislation that determines each counties future.

Brantley County State of the County (chairman's corner)

2011-09-25T21:02:00.000-04:00

As the County enters the final quarter of 2011 we need to take a look at where we are against our financial and project goals.

The County is in line to finish the year at or under budget. This is that time of year when accounts start getting lean and there is a perception that we have to "start watching every penny". The truth is that the team watching every penny in the first 8 months of the year is what allows the County to get through this last quarter at or under budget.

The annualized revenues are in line with budget when you take an average of $450,000 in monthly revenue and add the $648,000 insurance premium payment that the county will receive in October. Expenses are in line with budget when you back out those one time annual payments that have already been made from the annualized figures. Every month we print and distribute the monthly expense and revenue detail among county officials and department heads. These figures are scrutinized. Every member of the management team, County Commissioners, Constitutional Officers and all department heads are asked to review the numbers and make adjustments in spending where necessary. This summary is posted in the legal organ so that the Brantley County Citizens are able to see the monthly and year to date spending and revenues of the county. When many of us ran one plank in our platform was "Transparency". We vowed to shine the light of day on the county process of revenue and expenses from both budget and collection perspectives. In the last 2.5 years, articles like this, monthly publications, the www.BrantleyCounty.org web site and many other initiatives were undertaken to enlighten the tax payers on the actions of the county. When everyone has the all information and we can have honest, open and civil discussions and debates over the direction, we can make progress. This is one of the primary reasons that Brantley County has made the progress that it has in these last 30 months.

Today we are not borrowing money to make payroll as we were in the Spring of 2009 when we were forced to borrow $3.2 million to operate. We have moved the financial numbers out in front of the public. We have launched capital improvements with the use of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), capital outlay and grant dollars like 13 miles of road paving or resurfacing, the new recreation park near Lulaton, the new boat ramp in Atkinson, the new $8.5 million Sheriff's Office and Detention Facility, improvements at the courthouse and St Illa office complex, the airport, the Waynesville Recreation project and much more. We've worked to support our employees and to hone our staff so that we have a qualified team to serve the citizens of Brantley County. The team has worked with the cities of Hoboken and Nahunta to try and share services and lower costs for the tax payers and hopefully more of that can come to fruition. With the one cent SPLOST extension on the ballot in November voters will have to opportunity to equip the current and next commission to continue the progress that has been made in these last 30 months and to continue to make jail facility capital payments which are $648,000 per year. Otherwise those jail payments would place more burden on the tax payers and nobody wants to see that happen.

I would like to make one correction. In last weeks letter I mistakenly noted an $8000 state homestead tax exemption and that number should have been $2000. There was a bill to increase that last year that I thought passed but I was made aware after the article ran that this did not pass. My apologies for the error.

Take time today to thank the good Lord for His blessing on our County and especially for the rain. Through His continued blessing, Brantley County will continue to make progress.

Ronald E. "Ron" Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

Boat Ramp Construction

2011-09-25T20:57:00.002-04:00

The public boat ramp at Highway 82 in Atkinson on the Satilla River is well under way. The first portion of the boat ramp is called a "push slab" as it is poured at the water's edge and then "pushed to the appropriate location as defined by the DNR approved design. This was installed this week. The rest of the ramp and the area around the ramp will be completed in the next week or two, depending on weather and inspections.

The area around the boat ramp will be prepared for truck and trailer parking and the access road will have some slight enhancements to ensure access in all but the extreme river levels. Over time, the County will work to provide some access to bath and shower facilities and "washout" facilities to clean boats after leaving the river. These will have to be completed after the next SPLOST extension is approved as funds for recreation for this SPLOST have been exhausted.

These boat ramp facilities are a testimony that the County Commission understands that many Brantley County residents experience recreation though our greatest natural resource, the Satilla River. With a very generous donation from Doctor Wade Strickland, some SPLOST dollars and by the County's hard work acquiring State Grant funding, these facilities are made possible. Over time, these assets can be expanded. But you the citizen are going to have to help "monitor" the facilities and report those who would vandalize them. Some will shamelessly damage what can otherwise be a wonderful place for families to enjoy what has become very limited
access to the Satilla River.

Thanks to the Strickland family and all those who worked without pay to make the grant funding possible. Many thanks to the County staff and crews who have completed a significant portion of the work to hold down costs.

Ronald E. "Ron" Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

September 2011 Budget Hearing & Regular Meeting

2011-09-15T12:08:00.001-04:00

The County Commission started the evening on September 13th with a budget hearing at 5:30pm. After some review, the Commission approved the millage rates that had been outlined in previous sessions and advertised on the County web site and in the local papers. The County millage rate was lowered slightly from previous years to 20.34. The Fire Tax millage rates for all individual fire districts and for the County wide fire tax district were kept the same at 1.25.

The County was presented the school board millage of 18.0 with a bond payment millage of 0.53. This represents a 5 mill or 37% increase. The County Commission has no authority over the School Board Millage rate and merely approves the millage as a matter of age old technical procedure. Some Commissioners expressed concerns over the impact of the increase on seniors who are on fixed incomes. The Commission, having no alternative, approved the Board of Education millage rate.

In the regular meeting, the Commission handles a ½ dozen agenda items. The first was the request of a transfer of an on premise beer and wine license for Blueberry Hill. The facility has changed hands but not had a lapse in service. The Commission unanimously approved the change in ownership.

There were two garbage appeals for residents that failed to receive service for part of last year. The County manager had been asked to look into the situation. The Board, after much discussion, moved to have the County manager come up with a balanced credit for both of the appeals for the number of days that they did without the service and work with the Tax Commission and the citizens to bring closure to this issue.

The group unanimously approved the cancellation of the October work session. Many of the Commissioners will be out of town for training and for the legislative update from the Governor, Presidential Candidates and legislators in Atlanta on October 3rd and 4th.

The County's group health insurance was discussed next. The County Manager has worked diligently with a new agent from Jay Smith Lanier to acquire a proposal from Blue Cross and Blue Shield to save the county $230,931 dollars. At this meeting, the former agent provided the same proposal from Blue Cross and Blue Shield with a 1% lower commission (3% instead of 4%). Where the new group had saved the County almost ¼ of a million dollars, the old agents were attempting to propose the same deal and take the business for a savings of $13,600. The Chairman recommended and the majority of the Commission agreed, that this is not the way that business should be done in Brantley County. The Commission voted 4 to 1 to use Jay Smith Lanier as the new agent doing business with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. On the same topic, the Commission voted unanimously to leave the insurance premium percentage split at 75% - 25%, with the County paying 75% of the premium and the County employee paying 25%.

The Commission also approved the annual contract for the Traylor Business Services group, who assists the Tax Assessor’s office with the evaluation of commercial property in Brantley County.

The County Manager provided an update on the Boat Ramp construction at highway 82 West and the Satilla River in Atkinson. The primary “push” slab has been poured and will have to cure for 7 days. Then it will be “pushed” into the water. Nichols Construction came to the County Manager and explained that the ramp really needed to be 10 feet longer so that there was at least 4 feet of water to float a boat at extremely low levels. The extra cost was only $600, as Nichols did it for the supplies. Next week the slab will be pushed in and the remaining slab will be poured. Over the next few weeks, the bank and area at the top of the ramp will be completed.

The County manager also updated the road paving projects, explaining that all current paving projects were completed, except Buster Walker Road, which will be completed in coming weeks. The survey and preliminary design work for the next round of roads to be worked on is being completed as time and funds are available. They will be ready should the voters approve the renewal of the SPLOST in November 2011.

The Commission had an executive session for legal matters after which they took no action.

Budget Hearing

2011-08-19T19:46:00.000-04:00

The Brantley County Commission met Thursday to review the revenue and expense budget for next year. The Chairman recommended to the Commission that they remove the road “user fee” or flat tax that had been previously adopted at $75. By removing that fee on every non-exempt parcel and pre-bill mobile home, the Commission simply moved the revenue of $996,000 from the fee from that revenue line item to the ad valorem tax revenue line item. The Commission agreed to do this. Once the revenue from car tags, mobile home tags and timber taxes was increased as the ad valorem tax rate used to calculate those taxes was increased, this set a millage rate of 20.34 down from the 20.45 millage rate for the previous year. The Commission voted 5-0 in support of the revenue changes.

The County Commission reconsidered the new road user fee due to confusion over the user fee and concerns over voters coming out against the SPLOST that is up for renewal this fall. The SPLOST isn’t a new tax, it is an extension of the same penny that is collected today that has paved over 13 miles of road, produced the new recreation park and made jail payments of $648,000 per year on the $8.5 million jail facility. There were also concerns that the increase that the BOE was discussing will cause a significant tax increase that would wipe out any savings for tax payers that could be generated by the levy of the proposed road user fee.

The changes recommended by the Chairman, which were consistent with a request from Sheriff Robert Thomas, also included the removal of three new deputies, their cars and benefits from the Sheriff’s department budget. The Sheriff’s overtime budget was placed at $125,000 which was $30,000 less than requested and consistent with historical levels. Finally, the two security officers were placed back in the courthouse budget to provide security and protect the courts and Tax Commissioner and Tax Collector from unruly patrons that have been on the rise in recent years. New security cameras have proven helpful but in a real emergency, they would only provide a good picture of the assailant.

In discussion, one Commissioner expressed serious concerns about the Commission being blamed for overtime in the Sheriff’s Department due to fact that they would not increase the number of deputies. Other Commissioners supported the request from the Sheriff and stated that where the Commission could lower the funds for overtime, only the Sheriff and Chief Deputy have immediate administrative control over the overtime in that department consistent with all other County departments and constitutional officers. There were also concerns about the courthouse security officers having spare time on their hands at the courthouse on days when Probate, Magistrate, Juvenile, Superior Court or Tax Appeal hearings are not in session or during major payment collection periods for mobile homes in the Spring, Ad Valorem taxes in the Fall and car tags daily. From discussions with the Sheriff, the Chairman explained that the deputies will be monitored at the courthouse and should they have idle time, they will be assigned to other duties but will be available to return to the courthouse when called. The Commission voted 3-1 in favor of the recommendation with the Chairman also supporting the objective.

Finally, the Chairman recommended that the Commission revisit the fire tax. Originally the fire tax for one fire district had been increased to 1.9 mills. With some changes in the loan structure on fire substations and vehicles, the Commission was able to keep the Hortense fire tax millage at 1.25 as well. So there were NO TAXES INCREASED by the County Commission this year and NO NEW USER FEES levied.

Immediately after the County Commission met, the Brantley County Board of Education met and raised their ad valorem tax by 38% or 5 mills from 13.53 mills to 18.53 mills. With the County Commission setting their millage at 20.34 and the Board of Education setting their millage at 18.53 the combined millage rate will equal 38.87 or 13% higher than last year due to the BOE increase of 5 mills.

Road Meeting

2011-08-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

The Brantley County Commission & County Manager met with the county engineer, the county surveyor, representatives from the OREMC power company, the Brantley Telephone Company and others to review the current status of the many road paving projects that are being completed with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds from the current one cent sales tax collections. These funds can only be used for capital project (construction) for items that were chosen and approved by the voters on the referendum.

In the report, Mt. Calvary is nearing completion with only some work to be complete. Waynesville Road has been completed. Buster Walker road is being coated with soil cement now that the Georgia DOT has finally approved the clay - cement recipe. That concrete and coating will be completed in the next 2 weeks with Georgia DOT testing to take place as the cement behind the installers reaches
one week of age. Once GaDOT approves the hardness of the concrete, the surface treatment will be completed which will take another week. This should put Buster Walker at completion in late September.

The school crossing signs at the Atkinson Upper Elementary School were in place and flashing for the start of school last week. GaDOT is requiring the contractor to dress up a couple of items that should be finished soon but the sign is in place and working.

The team reviewed the preliminary work completed on some roads by the county surveyor. These will be reviewed by the County engineer. If no changes are needed, the Right of Way plats for property needed will be delivered to the County attorney for deed preparation. The first roads being reviewed include Raybon East, Saddle Club, Baker Creek, Britt Still and Knox Road. Others will follow.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

Brantley County August 2011 Regular Meeting

2011-08-11T16:46:00.000-04:00

Prior to the regular meeting of the Commission in August, a Public Hearing for the Comprehensive Plan/Short Term Work Program was held. The State requires one public hearing for public comment for the plan that was presented at the work session a week prior and made available for public comment.

In the August Regular Meeting of the Brantley County Commission, the Commission approved several items on the consent agenda which included:
• replacing Joe Dixon on the Planning Commission with Sydney Lee. Mr. Dixon’s term had expired and per the by-laws he has to come off for at least one term. The Commission expressed their gratitude for the excellent service that Joe has provided. He brought great balance of common sense and experience to the Board.
• approving a resolution supporting the local launch of a National Association of County Organizations' (NACO) supported Prescription Discount Card Program for Citizens. More information about this can be acquired from the County Commission office.
• approving the Solid Waste Management Plan.
• approving the appointment of Richard Thornton to the Regional Development Commission.
• allowing the Nahunta VFD to dispose of one inoperable fire truck.

The first item on the regular agenda was the Comprehensive Short-Term Work Program. This was the item discussed and provided for public comment in the public hearing prior to the Commission meeting. The resolution supporting the Program was approved by the Board.

A request from the Tax Assessor’s office to acquire $10,000 in additional part time service for the remainder of the year was placed on the agenda at Billy Lee’s request at the start of the meetings. Mr. Lee explained that with the new forms going out to over 13,000 individual property owners, the extra help was absolutely necessary in order to keep up with time lines required by the State and the County. The Tax Assessor’s office is fortunate enough to have a level II State certified property appraiser that had in depth knowledge of Brantley County. Where it is Mr. Lee’s hope that not all of these funds will be needed, he is budgeting for 24 hours per week for the remainder of the year. After significant discussion and debate, the Board approved the measure.

Finally the Commission discussed the resolution to create a County wide tax district in the unincorporated area of the County that would allow the levy of a $75 Road User Fee on all non-exempt parcels all pre-billed mobile homes. This fee and other changes had allowed the Commission to lower the County M&O millage rate by 15.11% this year to 17.36. This reduction would save citizens money on car tags, mobile home tags and timber sales. This fee would not generate “incremental revenue” for the County. The revenue that would have been generated through property taxes, car tags, mobile home tags and timber sales, would have been lowered and a $75 fee would have been added.

Last year, the County millage was 20.45 and the school millage was 13.53 for a total of 33.98. With the County Commission proposing to reduce the millage to 17.36 due to this shift in revenue from ad valorem taxes to the flat tax, this would have reduced the combined millage by 9.1%. So, if citizens add up all the taxes they pay for car–truck-trailer tags, mobile home stickers, property taxes and timber sales and multiply that number by 9.1%, that is what will be saved with the Commission’s proposal. Subtract the $75 road user fee (or fees if they own more than one parcel) and that is the “net savings”.

But, as many have said, nobody’s taxes are going down this year because the Board of Education is going up 32% or to at least 4 mills on their millage rate. That would put the combined millage for 2012 at 34.86 if the BOE was at 17.53 and the County was at 17.36. With 2011 combined millage at 33.98 and proposed 2012 at 34.86, property taxes, car tags, mobile home tags and timber taxes would still increase 0.88 mills or 2.5% plus folks would pay the additional $75 road user fee. That sounds pretty bad.

With this in mind, the County Commission is considering removing all the confusion and the new road user fee which has conspiracy theorists and some wishing to deflect from their own increases working over time. If the County Commission removed the road user fee from the current budget and placed that revenue back in the ad valorem tax line item, the County millage will come to around 20.35 mills, down slightly from last year. Should the School Board levy the 17.53 mills that they have approved at this point, that would create a combined 2012 millage of 37.88 or an increase of 3.9 mills or an 11.5% increase over 2011’s combined millage of 33.98 with no $75 user fee.

So, the 2012 proposals being discussed now from the county commission’s perspective:
1. Combined Millage 34.86, 2.5% increase due to BOE, plus County $75 user fee
2. Combined Millage 37.88, 11.5% increase due to BOE, no $75 user fee
The resolution agenda item was tabled, all scheduled County Budget Public Hearings have been cancelled and a called budget meeting for August the 18th is being scheduled to review the alternatives.

Brantley County August 2011 Work Session Meeting

2011-08-05T12:30:00.000-04:00

In the August Work Session of the Brantley County Commission, the Commission heard from existing Insurance Broker Fred Walker regarding his service and he introduced a representative from United Health Care. She discussed the service that the County had been getting with UHC and answered questions regarding renewal rates.

The Commission next discussed the replacement of Joe Dixon on the Planning Commission. Sydney Lee had attended some of the meetings, according to the County Manager, and expressed an interest in serving. The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to appoint Mr. Lee to replace Mr. Dixon.

Next, the County Clerk brought an opportunity to the Commission to support the local launch of a National Association of County Organizations’ (NACO) supported Prescription Discount Card Program for Citizens. The County would not participate in the program and there is no liability or responsibility for the program. The program claims to provide discounts of 24% and more. There is no charge for the program. The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the resolution supporting the program.

The County Manager presented the Comprehensive Short-Term Work Program. The Commission had a previous opportunity to provide input. A public hearing will be held prior to next week’s regular meeting for input and the item was placed on the regular agenda.

Next, the County Manager presented the Solid Waste Management Plan. After reviewing the plan, the Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the resolution adopting the plan.

The Commission then reviewed a request for the Commission to forgive 2010 property taxes that were levied against a parcel that had been purchased by a non-profit organization, the Brantley County Civic Organization. The Commission does not have the ability to forgive the $121 in property taxes. The Commission can only forgive interest and penalties. After some discussion, the Commission took no action.
The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to replace Mr. Marvin Peeples as one of the County’s representatives on the Regional Commission. Due to illness, he’s been unable to participate in the meetings for many months. An item was placed on the consent agenda to appoint the new Development Authority Executive Director to the position.

Next, the Commission discussed three garbage fee appeals from citizens that had not received service for some portion of the year. One had already been handled by the Code Enforcement department. The County Manager will review the others and report back at the regular meeting.

The Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department brought a request to surplus an old vehicle that can no longer be placed in service. All parts and equipment were salvaged from the vehicle. The Commission placed an item on the agenda to allow the surplus of the vehicle. Any item worth more than $500 has to be approved by the Commission.

The Commission discussed the resolution creating the $75 road user fee that will be placed on all non-exempt parcels in the County and all pre-billed mobile homes. A pre-billed mobile home is one that the resident owns but pays someone else for parking it on their property. This fee and other changes have allowed the Commission to lower the County M&O millage rate by 15.11% this year to 17.36. This will save citizens money on car tags, mobile home tags, timber sales and all other taxes that are calculated using the ad valorem tax. Where some real estate developers have complained about the fee, the reduction in the County millage will offset the $75 fee for most residents. This fee will not generate “incremental revenue” for the County. The revenue simply moves from the local effort or tax revenue to revenue from other sources like jail boarding fees, ambulance fees and other income items. For a complete review of the approved budget, visit the
County web site at www.BrantleyCounty.org.

Finally, Commissioners discussed overtime. Where this has been in check for some time, some departments are experiencing high overtime volumes that need to be monitored. Reports will be distributed to department heads and constitutional officers for their review.

2011-07-12T20:37:00.002-04:00

Brantley County has completed an update of the Brantley County and the Cities of Hoboken and Nahunta's Solid Waste Management Five-Year Short-Term Work Program which is on file in the County Commissioners' Office and at City Hall in Nahunta and Hoboken. The plan will be adopted by the Board of Commissioners on August 9, 2011, 6:00 PM, at the County Courthouse.

Hortense VFD Substation Construction‏

2011-07-09T17:46:00.000-04:00

The Hortense Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) substation on highway 110 North on property donated by Enoch Smith is almost complete. Some equipment is in use at the station and the basic function of the substation is in use. The Georgia DOT permits were recently acquired for the ramp that leads directly out onto the State highway. That ramp is now in place and the concrete will be poured in
coming days to complete its construction.

The completion of this station will help residents in the Atkinson and Hortense areas. The fact that the Hortense and Waynesville VFD departments have substations within 5 miles of each other will also allow for special automatic aid agreements to be put in place that will help lower both departments ISO ratings.

All of these efforts and investments made via the fire tax funds collected by the County, will provide lower ISO ratings to virtually all of the residents in County. Residents in the Atkinson, Raybon and Hickox areas have already reported lower hazard insurance premiums for their homes. If you haven't checked with your insurance carrier, it might be a good idea to put them on notice that improvements are possible in place or at least forthcoming.

Waynesville Substation on Central Browntown Road‏

2011-07-09T17:40:00.000-04:00

The Waynesville Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) substation in the central portion of Browntown Road on property donated by Eddie Hunter is coming along nicely. The outer shell of the building is complete. The electrical, concrete apron and fixtures inside will be installed in the coming weeks.

The completion of this station will help residents in this area, as well as those residents near the original Browntown station. Once the central Browntown Road station is complete and inspected, the fact that it is within 5 miles of the Waynesville Main Station will allow the ISO rating of the central Browntown Station to be lowered. With that central Browntown station being located within 5 miles of the original Browntown station north of 32, this will allow the ISO rating to be lowered at that station as well.

This will potentially provide lower ISO ratings to virtually all of the residents on the east side of the river in the Waynesville VFD District. Residents in the Atkinson area have already reported lower hazard insurance premiums for their homes. If you haven't checked with your insurance carrier, it might be a good idea to put them on notice that improvements are possible in place or at least forthcoming.

Brantley County July 2011 Commission Meeting

2011-07-09T17:31:00.000-04:00

In the regular meeting of the Brantley County Commission, the team approved the minutes of the June 2011 meeting and dove straight into the regular agenda. Since the work session had been cancelled due to the July 4th holiday, there was no consent agenda.

The first item on the agenda was Krista Hale who wanted to discuss animal control inside the city of Nahunta. She lives in the Nahunta Housing Subdivision and is concerned about there being so many stray dogs in the neighborhood. Her young son is terrified of dogs and has a disability that causes her great concern. The Commission explained that this topic has been discussed many times in the past. The challenge is that when the County gets involved, the clock would start clicking on these animals the day they would get picked up. If they weren’t adopted, the process does not end well. The cost of the process puts it out of reach for the County at the moment. It was suggested that she reach out to Max’s Animal Rescue in Hoboken or the newly formed BARC team that is now meeting in Nahunta. Both are private efforts that are under way to deal with stray dogs and cats.

The County Manager presented an updated copy of the Saddle Club agreement that has the changes that were discussed in the last meeting. They were minor changes. The Commission approved the new lease unanimously. The Saddle Club is working to migrate their corporation back to a non-profit. The County will work with Loren Lane and their team to bring this to closure.

Next Carey Lamb, Chief Tax Appraiser, came to the Commission to discuss the Homestead Tax local legislation that the Commission enacted some time back. The TA came asking for clarification. For those people who have businesses in their homes, the TA was asking how the homestead tax exemption language should be interpreted and was asking if the Commission could clarify the language. The existing exemption is framed in local legislation so it was approved by the State legislature and the language cannot be modified. During the discussion, the Commission all agreed that the “intent” of the legislation was to freeze home values for local homeowners who had filed homestead. There was no discussion about homes with commercial enterprises in them. The County attorney will search OCGA 48-5-40 to see if there is any help in clarifying the homestead definition. The TA will research counties around us that are believed to have the same legislation that Brantley has to see how they interpret these situations. One alternative is to replace the current local language with a more straight forward “home stead tax credit” that would be a straight dollar deduction set annually by the Commission that would be used to reduce the taxable value of homestead property. This would eliminate all of the interpretation about property values and property usage and provide a clearer more manageable credit process. More discussions are scheduled for meetings this year. Nothing can be done until the legislature meets next January.

The Commission next approved the move of the Hoboken voting precinct from the current little grey building next to City Hall to the newly constructed Hoboken Community Center down Raybon Rock Road opposite the Hoboken Elementary School. The Commission also approved $27,000 for the construction of office space for the Voter’s Registrar at the St. Illa motel. This will create about 1,380 square feet of office space at just under $20 per square foot, which is a good price. These funds will all come from budget funds for construction at the St. Illa or unused capital outlay funds from the courthouse. Mrs. Christine is in need of more space and more parking for early voting and the associated equipment needed for same. All of this is available at the new location. Since the move will have to be registered with and approved by State and Federal Agencies, the process has to get under way while she is in between elections.

The County approved a resolution adopting the FAA flight approach restrictions for buildings in the general flight plan and approach for the new Lulaton Airport.
The Commission also approved the annual contracts for the Satilla Community Services Annual Contracts for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Services for Inmates at the County jail.

The Commission had three appointments to the planning commission for positions coming up in August 2011. The Commission voted to replace Gary Johns who has to come off as he’s served two consecutive terms with Mark White. They reappointed Jamie O’Steen who will be starting his second consecutive term and will have to come off on the next rotation. Joe Dixon who has to come off for the same reason in the by-laws will be replaced in the August meeting after conferring with the Planning Commission.

The County Manager gave his update. The Waynesville Road project is complete with the final bills being processed and DOT reimbursement funds are also being processed. Buster Walker and Mt. Calvary Road have had the clay installed and both contractors for each are waiting on the GaDOT testing labs to report back with the percentage of soil cement that will need to be used to mix the concrete as the base layer on the roads. Then the surface treatment can be installed with grassing and striping which will complete the projects. The roads are also getting asphalt installed at critical intersections where large trucks and high volumes of traffic will be twisting and turning. The first projects that the County completed showed that problems could arise in these areas. So to be proactive, these areas received asphalt. For the same reason (extensive school bus traffic), the entire section in front of the Upper Elementary School in Atkinson was installed with asphalt.
Speaking of Atkinson Upper Elementary, the new School Crossing Lights have been installed on Highway 110. The OREMC representatives working on the project have filed for the GaDOT permits to install the electrical lines on GaDOT right of way. Once this is approved, the lines will be installed and this project will be complete. The Commission worked hard with local and State agencies to ensure that these lights were installed prior to the next school year starting in August and it appears that this objective can easily be met.

The County Manager explained that the DNR permit comment period for the Atkinson Boat Ramp project will end Friday July 8th. The County will then be able to move forward with the construction of the boat ramp. The Commission has polled and will continue to poll multiple contractors that the DNR has approved to work on this project. The best proposal received to date is approximately $27,500, with the County completing some items to keep the costs down. The Commission approved the County Manager and Chairman to move forward with this proposal if none better can be found once the County is ready to move forward. The goal is to get the boat ramp in while the river is down and prior to October, which is the deadline for the grant funds to be dispersed. An extension is possible, but the river will rise in the fall so the County has to get to work

The County Manager explained that the County had “heard through the grapevine” that the Waynesville Nature Trail Grant would be awarded to the County, but no formal notice has been received. No progress can be made on that project until October 2011 anyway, due to restrictions on the grant process. Commissioner Edgy was going to see if he could get something formal on the grant award, as he’s been working on this heavily from the start.

The County approved a letter to be issued allowing the release of E911 addresses and their associated GIS data. The County’s E911 database was established as a “private database”, according to 911 Addressing Committee Chairman Billy Lee. He explained to the Commission that if a letter were drafted to the consultants that assisted with the addressing, they could distribute the County's E911 addresses and their associated GIS data to Internet search engines and navigation companies. This will allow Brantley County addresses to show up on “Google Searches” and “Tom Tom” style navigational systems. A letter will be provided and a time line for distribution will be requested.

The formal SPLOST referendum was presented by the County Attorney. The language was consistent with the motion approved earlier by the Board. The County Manager and Clerk had worked with the County Attorney to draft the resolution that will, when approved, provide $4.2 million dollars to build and pave more roads, $800,000 for Recreation and $3 million to continue to make the payments on the new $8.5 million jail which carries a payment of $162,000 per quarter or $648,000 per year. Were the SPLOST to not pass, the local budget would have to be increased by $648,000 per year or approximately 2.4 mills to make jail payments. So let’s keep those sales tax dollars in use.

The Commission discussed the jail water bill which was rumored to have topped $8,000 last month. A letter was delivered to the City of Nahunta Mayor and Council members explaining a compromise that the County would like for the City of Nahunta to entertain. Since the City has performance issues with the sewage treatment facility, the County is offering to install its own septic tank and purchase water from the City at a predetermined per gallon rate. This would allow the City to be compensated for their treatment expenses to the water and allow for some revenue from the County, but the County would no longer pay for sewer services as they would have their own septic system. At the going rate, the payback on the cost of a septic system for the jail would be reached in a few months. The County Manager was asked to reach out to the City Clerk to check the status on this discussion. The Chairman had talked previously with the Mayor and another Council Member who supported the initiative. Hopefully an agreement can be reached that is beneficial for everyone.

Commission Proposes 17% Reduction in County Millage Rate

2011-06-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

The Brantley County Commission started the process of lowering the millage rate in their first 2012 Budget Hearing this week. After 2 1/2 hours of working through 35+ departments and Constitutional Officer Proposed Budgets, the Commission had lowered the millage rate to approximately 17 mills from 20.45 mills in the 2011 Budget. This represented a 17% reduction in the millage rate in one year, based on the 2010 Tax Digest.

In 2009, when three of the current Commissioners took office, the County millage rate was 22.08. A County M&O net millage rate of 17 mills puts the County Commission portion of the millage back to pre-2005 levels, which represents a 23% reduction in millage between 2009 and 2012. The table below shows tax values since 2005.

CLICK ON TABLES TO SEE THEM IN FULL.

When this team was elected, they vowed to pay off the operating debt, lower the millage rate over time and make improvements leveraging Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), capital outlay and grant dollars. The operating debt has been retired. Over 13 miles of roads have been or are currently being paved, with Buster Walker and Mt. Calvary currently under construction. The new Satilla Fields Recreation Park is open to the public. Also, the County M&O millage rate has been lowered every year since 2009. There have been bumps along the way but the team has taken them in stride and continued to make progress.

There are two more budget hearings and things could change during any of those meetings and right up until the budget, digest and millage rate are approved and set in August. Once the actual Tax Digest is available, the real credits for Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) roll back and Insurance Premium roll back are available, the final numbers can be calculated. You see, the amount of money collected in Local Option Sales Tax and Insurance Premium Tax are deducted from the millage rate as credits.

A copy of the proposed draft of the 2012 budget is available at the County Commission office behind the Dairy Queen.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

Junior Police Academy Draws Huge Crowd

2011-06-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

The Brantley County Middle School Gym was filled with 56 Jr. Police Academy Graduates and hundreds of brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents June 17, 2011. Sheriff Robert Thomas and his team of over two dozen support staff members for the 10th Annual Junior Police Academy worked the entire week with these youngsters. This staff includes some Brantley County Sheriff’s deputies, investigators and other staff. It also included a Chief Magistrate Judge, State Patrol Officer and a variety of others who unselfishly volunteered their time all week.

During the week, the Academy was home to over two dozen law enforcement and first responder teams. Groups from Waycross S.W.A.T, Ware Correctional K-9 Drug Search, EMS, Fire Departments, Georgia State Patrol - Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, GSP Helicopter Support, GBI Bomb Squad and many, many, more worked with the 56 young men and women to let them see the world through the eyes of these different agencies. So many times the only image that youth have of these agencies is when they happen to find themselves on the wrong side of law enforcement or first responders.

Cadets learned techniques for securing suspects and experienced driving through the course on golf carts and then tried with goggles that gave the effect of driving under the influence. Then they learned that about safely operating 4 wheelers from Southern Outdoor Sports. The experienced the way first responders approach an actual wreck with live actors and real crashed cars courtesy of DePratter Wrecker Service. They learned proper firearm techniques with B-B Gun loading, handling and firing. The Waycross Bomb Squad provided a demonstration of how they use computer operated robots to handle packages and at the end they detonated the package to end with a real bang.

The team was tired and the kids were wired but graduation came off without a hitch. The five different teams came in marching in perfect stride heeding the calls of State Patrolman Ray Strickland who worked with the teams this week. Afterward Laura Kelly, who plays a major role in helping organize the entire event, had a huge spread of cake and cookies and all kinds of goodies.

Hats off to Sheriff Thomas, his team and the over 35 individuals and different departments that helped make this 10th Annual event a huge success.

Brantley County Commission June Regular Meeting

2011-06-15T12:12:00.002-04:00

The Commission managed a wide variety of items in the June 2011 Regular Meeting at the Brantley County Courthouse. The Commission approved the following items on the Consent Agenda by unanimous vote.

. Approved request from Waycross Cable Company, d/b/a Mediastream, to transfer cable franchise to James Cable, LLC

· Approved seat belt policy in all county vehicles with an effective date of May 16, 2011

· Approved appointment of Ms. Evon Griffin to Planning Commission to replace Michael White

· Approved annual contract with Ware Correction Institute for Inmate Work Detail

· Approved annual Rental Agreement between the County and Technical College System of Georgia (Adult Education Building)

· Appointed Charlie Summerlin to Airport Authority to replace Jack Cathcart

· Approved the annual grant for Family Connections

· Approved the GaDOT contract for the replacement of the Caney Bay Bridge

· Approved the lease of one vehicle for EMA with $15,000 paid from grant funds and one vehicle for the Tax Assessor’s office with $6,000 coming from their budget funds.

· Approved the resolution allowing for the collection of E911 funds on prepaid cell phone sales per Department of Revenue mandate.

On the Regular Agenda the commission covered the following items.

The application by Joanie Marie Cox for an “On Premise Beer and Wine License” was discussed. A motion was made and seconded to approve the request. In discussion, the Commission reviewed the history of the applications for this location in Raybon called the “Rack Shack”. Christian Cox, who is still operating the facility, had previously applied in his name, but concerns by the Commission caused him to withdraw the application and reapply in his wife’s name. The facility was constructed too close to a local resident even though the ordinance had been reviewed with and provided to Mr. Cox prior to construction. In a previous Commission, Mr. Cox did have the neighbor come to the meeting and speak on his behalf and provide a notarized statement in support of the facility. With all things considered, the Commission voted 3-2 to deny the application.

The Commission rescinded a previous May 10^th motion to add Jimmy Woodard to the Georgia Forestry Commission and passed a motion to appoint Johnnie E. Crews to that Commission.

A discussion on an Airport Resolution restricting the height of structures within flight path was next. The draft resolution as recommended by the FAA that was discussed at the work session and again in the regular meeting will be used to develop a draft ordinance for Brantley County. This will be presented in the July Work Session.

An agreement with the Brantley County Saddle Club to lease property just east of the Schlatterville Recreation Park was discussed next. They wish to build a rodeo and livestock facility for Brantley County citizens and school students. Letters of support from the high school and others have been provided to the Commission. The lease has been a topic of conversation for over a year. The Commission worked through requested edits tonight with the Saddle Club and counsel. After some modifications, the new draft was approved by the Commission unanimously. The attorney will work with the County Clerk to update the draft and signatures will be acquired.

The Commission next discussed the appointment to 7 Rivers RDC. The position was vacated when Jeannie Boland resigned as Development Authority Executive Director. Commissioner Greg O’Quinn volunteered to take on this role. His appointment was approved unanimously.

The Commission agreed to move the July regular meeting to Thursday July 7^th at 6pm at the County Courthouse and cancel the work session which would have normally been July 5^th, the day after Independence Day. Along those same lines, the Commission voted to change the time of all future Work Sessions to 6pm on the second Tuesday of each month.

The closed session was removed from the agenda.

Hortense Volunteer Fire Department Substation Update

2011-06-09T20:13:00.000-04:00

The construction of the Hortense VFD

substation on 110 North is nearly complete.

The apron is being formed and poured for

the main entrance this week.  Once

construction is complete, the HVFD team will

equip the substation and schedule the proper

ISO inspections so that this station carries

the same ISO rating as the main HVFD station.

This will dramatically lower homeowners

hazard insurance premiums for their homes

for anyone within 5 miles of this new facility.
 
When the County commission agreed to make

the investment in new substations for our

VFD teams throughout the County, a plan

was developed in coordination with Skip

Starling, ISO consultant, such that the

facilities were located at the proper locations

for the maximum benefit for not just that

one VFD district but for the whole County.

All departments were invited to the planning

session and the locations were selected,

properties located and donated by generous

citizens in Raybon, Hoboken, Waynesville,

Atkinson and High Bluff and the plan came

to life.  There is a lot more to having a VFD

substation approved for ISO than just

building a building.  Water sources have to

be located, the VFD substation has to be

equipped with the right vehicles and

equipment for the structures and citizens

"in that area". Ensuring that each

independent department has a substation

that is within 5 miles of their neighboring

substation allows for "automatic aid"

agreements that also help lower ISO

ratings.  And of course these substations

have to have firefighters allocated so that

there are sufficient volunteers with the

right training, which has to be documented,

to achieve certification.
 
Where there is a solid financial goal of

lowering homeowners hazard insurance

premiums with these investments, that can

only come when the certification agency has

inspected and insured that the location of

that substation will have the facility,

equipment and properly trained firefighters

to reduce the response time to a residence

or business in the event of a tragedy.  If you

haven't considered volunteering for some

role in the Volunteer Fire Department in your

area, you should.  There are support persons

who respond and provide much needed

supplies (food, drink, fuel, etc) and other

roles on up to the firefighters themselves.

This is "our community".  If we work together

we can continue to make it better.
 
A special thanks to all those men and women

who serve in the ranks of the VFD and the

Forestry. With the dry weather we are

experiencing now, we all know that a major

fire is only one spark or careless cigarette

butt away.

June 2011 Work Session of the Brantley County Commission

2011-06-08T09:51:00.002-04:00

The Commission started off the June 2011 Work Session by working with their guests from the Nahunta City Council. The joint session of the Nahunta City Council and County Commission centered on the discussion of the upcoming SPLOST extension referendum slated for the November ballot. Remember, this is not a NEW tax. This is an extension of the same one cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that is paying for the $8.5 million jail facility, paving 13.5 miles of roads currently and recently built the majority of the new Satilla Fields Recreation park near the Georgia Forestry. After much discussion, both groups agreed to keep the City of Nahunta’s percentage of the Road portion of the SPLOST the same as in the past SPLOST referendum, 13.5%, even though the City’s population was somewhat less than in past years where SPLOST referendums were defined. The City agreed to define a priority list of road projects and work with the County to coordinate the projects to stretch the SPLOST dollars. The County developed a similar relationship with the City of Hoboken. The attorney explained that since there was a “level 1” priority project on the SPLOST, that a formal intergovernmental relations agreement (IRA) would not have to be in place as previously believed.

A discussion on the beer and wine license for the “Rack Shack” in Raybon was discussed. The applicant, Joanie Cox, had completed the application that was previously completed in Christian Cox’s name. The change was made as there were issues with the previous application. No physical changes have been made to the facility. This was placed on the regular agenda.

An item was put on the regular agenda to reconsider a previous motion to add Jimmy Woodard to the Forestry Commission, replacing Johnnie Crews in the place of Mr. Woodard.

The team discussed a resolution adopting the FAA’s definition of construction limitation within a defined area around the airport. The current airport engineering plans has a proposed resolution and there is more information available through the FAA. The Commission instructed the County attorney to prepare a standard resolution so that the County could adopt the FAA’s normal restrictions. Until the County has zoning in place, the FAA would still have jurisdiction over enforcement. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

At the request of the Airport Authority, the Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to replace retiring Jack Cathcart with Charlie Summerlin.

After a discussion about the Dangerous Dog ordinance, the Commission. on advice of counsel, decided to leave the ordinance as is.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda approving the transfer of the Waycross Cable Company Franchise to the company purchasing their company. This was not an extension. They were merely transferring the existing franchise under the current terms to the new owners.

The Commission placed a new seat belt use policy on the consent agenda. During a routine review of insurance initiatives this item came to light.

The Commission again reviewed the lease with the Brantley County Saddle Club for Schlatterville. Mr. Lane had some questions about the language. A handful of items were discussed and some modifications were made. A new version of the agreement will be available for the Commission’s review at the Tuesday regular meeting. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

An item was placed on the consent agenda to approve Ms. Evon Griffin to the Planning Commission. Mr. Mark White’s name was also up for consideration. The Board knew they would have more openings this summer and will reach for Mr. White and others at that time if they are still willing to serve.

An item was placed on the regular agenda to discuss an appointment to the Seven Rivers RCD. There were some questions about the appointment and no volunteer names were currently available.

An item was placed on the consent agenda to renew the Ware Correctional Institute – Inmate Work Detail at the same rate as the previous year.

An item was also placed on the consent agenda to renew the rental agreement between the County and the State Properties Commission for the Adult Education Building.

The County manager reported that on June 1^st the County actually received the Approved Permit to erect and operate the flashing school zones signs on 110 South at the Atkinson Upper Elementary School. The County Manager and engineers have researched approved contractors, contacted those in our area and delivered them RFQ packets to acquire quotes for service. The design of the crossings by the contractors has to be submitted to GaDOT for approval and then the erected system has to be approved by GaDOT prior to operation. The goal of the Commission is to have this in place before school starts but, with so many agencies involved and the normal delivery of equipment under consideration, this could prove to be a challenge. The Commission has vowed to move this along as swiftly as possible. The application for this crossing was filed last summer.

The County manager gave an update on various projects. The courthouse parking lot is almost complete. The city storm water sewer drains from each direction under the street to the courthouse. This caused every small shower to bring several inches of water bubbling up underneath the parking lot at the courthouse. Once proper drainage was installed, the GaDOT was able to clean the pipe under Highway 82 from the courthouse to the canal by Jerry J’s, the water seems to flow like it should. Though with the drought, it has not been well tested.

The County manager explained that the DNR permits were also in this week for the Atkinson Boat Ramp. The permit has a 30 day comment period where ads are run in the paper to allow environmental concerns to be logged with DNR. In parallel with this comment period, the County manager will request quotes from DNR and EPD certified construction companies that can install boat ramps in the flood plain. We have through the end of October to utilize the grant funding and an extension is not out of the question.

The County manager also updated the Commission on the Satilla Fields Recreation Park. The construction of the building is complete. A net is has been specified and quotes are coming in so that this device can prevent foul balls from harming someone in the stands. The football/soccer fields are shaping up and will be ready to play this fall. Some concrete footers will be installed and the same bleachers from the baseball fields will be relocated. Some restrooms will be installed at the football fields, as the ¼ mile trek from the football field to the restrooms at the baseball field is a bit much for the little ones and their parents and grandparents. This will be a modest facility for bathrooms only and the existing sewer system will be used. It was designed with this in mind. One tournament was held this past weekend and more are being scheduled for July and August. Contact the recreation department for more information.

All departments have submitted their budgets for the 2012 budget cycle and these are being consolidated. The first budget hearings are slated for later in June. The Tax Assessor’s office is working to get the tax assessment notices out to all of the 13,500 plus parcels in Brantley County. These documents are very confusing and citizens need to remember that the assessment notice IS – NOT – A – BILL! Many other counties have experienced enormous confusion when these were mailed and, by definition of the law and the process that Atlanta dictated, the estimated tax amount will NOT BE what you will be asked to pay in the fall, as it was based on last year’s millage rate and next year’s millage will likely be less. If this is the case, the estimates will be overstated.

Finally, the Commission discussed the $6,000 water bill at the Brantley County Jail facility. The Sheriff and Commission have discussed putting in their own sewage septic system for the facility. It would not require a sewage treatment pond. It would require multiple 100’ drain lines and larger tanks than normally used for homes or businesses. But, the EPD has explained that based on State law, the City would need to approve the County installing its own system for the jail. Since the City has called complaining last week and this week about inmates at the jail flushing items that clog the lines, they may be willing to do this. This activity causes the City maintenance problems with the sewage lines. The County has offered the City to continue to use the water and pay a standard commercial rate per gallon for water and to implement a sewage system. More discussions are planned on this. The water/sewer bill at the jail in the first three months averaged less than $1000 per month. Last month it was 6 times that amount. The County wants to be a good neighbor but they want to do what is best for the tax payer too. An adequate sewage system for the jail could be paid for in 4 to 5 months by offsetting the water bill.

Memorial Day

2011-06-04T18:39:00.000-04:00

A good crowd of mostly older Veterans and families of Veterans were in attendance at the annual Memorial Day Ceremony held at the Brantley County Courthouse to honor those who sacrificed and gave all for our country and for the freedoms we enjoy. Bruce Davis provided musical entertainment, along with Wyatt Blount who played taps as the colors were raised and then lowered to half mast. The guest speaker was a decorated Veteran from the Air Force who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan with Marine and Army infantry units. He testified to the valor, honor, pride and sense of Patriotism that he saw demonstrated on a daily basis in those theaters.

As is tradition, the laying of the wreath at the monument at the base of the flag pole where the colors fly sealed the event. Bruce led the group with God Bless America. All speakers and all present seemed confident that the good Lord Jesus set the original example for one who gave His life so that others could live, and it is through His blessing that this nation and our County have enjoyed the progress that we have seen and the ability to endure the hard times. It was a truly wonderful event.

Thanks to Frye Funeral Home and all the many groups and individuals who worked to make this ceremony a reality. Remember what Memorial Day is all about. It is more than hot dogs, hamburgers, going to the river, pool or beach. It is about honoring our men and women in all branches of the military and civil service that have laid their life down in the name of God, honor and Country. God Bless America........

New Waynesville VFD Substation at Atkinson Upper Elementary School‏

2011-05-26T19:38:00.001-04:00

The new Waynesville Volunteer Fire

Department Substation at the Atkinson

Upper Elementary School has been

dried in. The WVFD team will be working

in coming weeks to complete construction,

equip the building and start the certification

process.

Brantley Commissioners Meet with Hoboken Council Members on 2011 SPLOST

2011-05-14T10:38:00.001-04:00

The Brantley County Commission met with the City Council of Hoboken on May 12^th in the new Hoboken Community Center in a called special session to talk about the proposed SPLOST extension in November.

The Commission has approved a SPLOST extension referendum for the November 2011 election time frame when the voters will have the opportunity to support the extension of the same 1 cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for more road paving ($4.2 million), jail payments ($3 million) and recreation ($800,000) funding. This is NOT a new tax. This is an extension of the same one cent SPLOST that has allowed the County to pave Boots Harrison, Satilla Church, Dude Circle, Mt. Calvary, Waynesville, Buster Walker, Baker Creek Phase I, Wainright Loop, the courthouse parking lot, resurfacing of Oak Grove and more. A part of the process to prepare for the election includes meetings with the city councils to work out the details of their portion of the SPLOST.

In SPLOST referendums of the past, the funding for roads has been shared with the cities based on their population in comparison to the population with the County. The SPLOST funds that are transferred from the County to the cities have to be spent for road construction and maintenance items. The city of Hoboken has historically received 7% and the city of Nahunta 13.5% of the funds collected toward the road portion of the SPLOST.

In the meeting tonight, the County Commission and the City of Hoboken agreed to keep the percentage the same at 7% and to allocate those funds for road construction and maintenance in the City of Hoboken. The City Council will prepare a priority list for road paving, resurfacing, striping and general buildup or repair of city streets. A copy of this will be provided to the County.

The two governments further agreed to bundle the road projects in the City of Hoboken with County road projects to allow for economies of scale to stretch the SPLOST dollars as far as possible. When the County lets a bid for a paving project, which could include a project of ½ million dollars or more, they will also work through the list from Hoboken and add the city streets to the bid. This will help drive the cost down for city projects. Adding the city streets to large County projects will get the city a better price on the same job. The more you buy the cheaper they get. The Hoboken council will assign priorities, will have the opportunity to change those priorities and will have the opportunity to complete other repairs outside paving, resurfacing and striping.

The County attorney will work up the first draft of the Intergovernmental Relations agreement and provide it to the City of Hoboken Mayor, Clerk and Council for review. Once the language is satisfactory to the City of Hoboken and the County Commission, each body will approve the language in their respective meetings.

This is a great example of how the City of Hoboken and the County are able to work together to make the best and most economical use of tax payer dollars. This kind of positive image in government is exactly what Brantley County needs to continue to make the kind of progress that has been made over the last two years.

Meetings with the City of Nahunta are being scheduled.

Brantley County Commission May 2010 Regular Meeting

2011-05-11T10:19:00.000-04:00

The Brantley County Commission. in its regular meeting at the courthouse on May 10, 2011 handled a wide variety of topics.

In public participation, Billy Lee of the Brantley County Airport Authority reported on a hugely successful grand opening of the newly extended and lighted Brantley County Airport. A large crowd was in attendance, along with over 15 aircraft. The group enjoyed a sky diving presentation and delicious refreshments provided by the Waynesville Volunteer Fire Department. Mr. Lee also asked to be placed on the agenda so that he could discuss some airport business with the Commission.

Chief Altman of the Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department approached the Commission about the old EMS building being used for training and meetings of the Volunteer Fireman’s Association.

James Segui approached the Board to complain about his neighbor’s vicious dogs. They have jumped the fence and gave chase to his wife and him in their own back yard. Repeated attempts to work with the neighbor have failed and he asked the Commission to consider a leash law and changes to the vicious dog ordinance. He and others would like to see the vicious dog ordinance modified so that the ordinance would come into play “prior” to someone getting bitten or mauled by a dog.

At the start of the meeting, the following items were approved as outlined on the consent agenda.

· Approve the re-appointment of Lawanda Flowers to Department Family & Children Services Board

· Approve the re-appointment of Winell Bowen, Jeff Thomas, Ellen Lane, Sissy Smith Baxley and Frank Bullard, III, to the Library Board

· Approve the re-appointment of Jimmy Woodard and Dan Moody to the Brantley County Forestry Commission Board

· Approve the re-appointment of Leola Bunkley to the Satilla Community Service Board

· Approve and enter into the Maintenance in Lieu Agreement with the State of Georgia, DHR-Dept. Family & Children Services Board

· Approve the re-modeling of the previous Atkinson Volunteer Fire Dept., Station on Highway 82 East to house a unit of the EMS, which will be moved from Waynesville to Atkinson with budgeted funds.

· Approve a joint project with Danny Bennett to place milled asphalt on Williams Road, with the County paying one-half the cost and Mr. Bennett paying one-half the cost, estimated to be around $4,250.00 each and to pay for this expenditure from the SPLOST road account

· Approve the County entering a lease-purchase agreement to purchase two 1992 fire engines for the Nahunta VFD, Inc., at a purchase price of $35,000 each, along with $10,000 to purchase large diameter fire supply hose and attack lines for a truck they currently have no hose for; loan amount will be $80,000, to be financed over a 5-6 year period

On the regular agenda, the County approved a 10-year intergovernmental agreement with the Development Authority that established 0.286 mills to be dedicated for funding of the Industrial Development Authority. This isn’t an increase and only locks in the current budgeted amount of about $75,000 annually for the Development Authority. The Commission is dedicated to expanding Industry in Brantley County, bringing jobs, and an Industrial Tax base to help shift the tax burden from the residential tax payer.

The Commission has decided to not pursue the Bond approach and “pulling forward” funding from the SPLOST extension if the voters approve it in November 2011. Then the Commission approved a new SPLOST motion for a total of $8 million dollars with $4.2 million dedicated to road construction, $3 million dedicated to making jail payments of over $648,000 each year (representing 2.3 mills of taxes) and $800,000 for Recreation.

The Commission discussed allowing the Firefighter’s Association to use the old EMS building in Nahunta for training and meetings. The County Manager explained that there are Constitutional Officers and County Departments using a good portion of that building for storage. The question of exactly how much of the building is available was asked. The County Manager will assess what is available and the Chairman will meet with members from the Firefighter’s Association to discuss how much room is needed and the structure of an agreement.

The Commission discussed the vicious dog ordinance. Commissioners agreed that it would be good to modify the vicious dog ordinance so that vicious dogs could be dealt with PRIOR to someone getting hurt if it can be done legally. A leash law for the entire County, animal control officers and facilities to manage stray dogs and cats is outside of the County’s financial capabilities. It was reported that some citizens are working to form an animal adoption group to help find homes for stray animals. The County attorney was asked to research what other counties do to manage the problem with vicious dogs prior to someone getting bitten or mauled. He will report back in the June Work Session.

Airport Authority members Billy Lee and Mary Gibson asked the Commission to adopt the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) airport flight path restrictions as a County ordinance so that property within the flight path of the airport would be subject to height restrictions to accommodate instrument landings in low visibility conditions. It is in these times that pilots are landing on the newly lighted runway with little or no ability to see the obstructions that could cause a crash. For this reason the FAA establishes restrictions on the height of structures within the flight path. The County attorney was asked to work with the Clerk and the Airport Authority to define an ordinance and or resolution that could be considered at the June meeting.

The County went into an executive session for personnel and land acquisition. After the executive session, the Commission came out and took no action on the personnel matter. The Commission did approve a motion allowing the Chairman to sign a purchase contract with GaDOT.

Commission May 2011 Work Session

2011-05-04T10:23:00.001-04:00

The Commission started out the May 2011 Work Session meeting with public participation. They heard a complaint from a Waynesville resident about a vicious dog in their neighborhood. Three neighbors came to the meeting to express their desire for a leash law or some ordinance that eliminates stray dogs and cats in Brantley County and places responsibility on residents to fence their yards.

The Commission discussed the appointments to several boards. The following items were placed on the consent agenda for the regular meeting:

· Reappoint Mrs. Lawanda Flowers to the Department of Family & Children Services Board

· Reappoint Mrs. Winell Bowen, Jeff Thomas, Ellen Lane, Sissy Smith Baxley & Frank Bullard III to the Library Board

· Reappoint Jimmy Woodard and Dan Moody to the Forestry Commission Board

· Reappoint Mrs. Leola Bunkley to the Satilla Community Services Board

The Commission placed an appointment to the Planning Commission Board on the Regular agenda so that a person who’d previously discussed being on that board could be contacted.

The Commission discussed an intergovernmental relations agreement with the Development Authority. The Commission’s desire is to provide dedicated funding for economic development. The only longterm solution to relief the tax burden on the residential tax payer is to grow an industrial tax base in Brantley County. During the discussions, it was made clear that this was not about “increasing” the funding for the development authority. The goal is to establish the current level of funding over a 10 year period that gives the Development Authority some leverage to attract industry and jobs to Brantley County. The budget for the DA in 2011 was $78,000. This represents 0.286 mills, based on last year’s digest. The basis for the agreement would allow for 0.286 mills to be dedicated to the DA for a period of 10 years in exchange for the services. This is not an increase in millage or in the budget, but this will allow the DA’s budget to grow as the digest grows. This item was placed on the Regular Agenda.

The Department of Family and Children Services Annual Maintenance in Lieu Agreement was placed on the consent agenda. This is the annual support contract for the amount of $208,680.

The County Manager updated the team on the status of the Buster Walker, Waynesville and Mt. Calvary Road Paving Projects that are currently under way. The right of way, ditch and dirt work is complete Waynesville, as well as the base clay layer. A hold up with the Department of Transportation testing facility has cost the project about 3 to 4 weeks, but the contractor is working to get back on track. The soil cement base layer should be starting soon. The Buster Walker Road is also shaping up nicely. Both of these projects are slated to be completed in early summer. The Mt. Calvary Road project is well under way, with completion also expected in early summer. He reported that there is over $900,000 in the Road SPLOST account to complete these projects with some payments already made and state reimbursements due.

The courthouse parking lot was discussed. The County Manager explained that the contract had been struggling to get appropriate compaction rates with the soil, as it was too wet. After 10 days of drying, the recent rains caused more issues. The Commission instructed the County Manager to work with the engineering group and the contractor to come up with a solution that brings the project to closure without sacrificing the construction criteria. He explained that they have a solution and will begin work on it on Wednesday.

The Commission discussed the SPLOST extension and bond referendum that the Commission voted last month to place on the ballot in November 2011. The team has reviewed all the information that was provided by the bond counsel and felt that there wasn’t sufficient savings to move forward with the bond referendum for the next road projects. And the “pre-payment” of the jail produced no sizeable benefit based on the way the lease was defined on that facility.

The County Clerk will review the motion that was made on the SPLOST from the last meeting and if that motion needs to be redone to remove language about the bond, that will be discussed in the regular meeting. The meeting with the city of Hoboken on the next SPLOST has been scheduled.

The County Manager updated the Commission on the recreation projects next. The Satilla Fields Project Phase I is coming to a close. One safety issue was discussed. The netting for the concession and bleacher areas needs to be installed. The Commission had been working through channels to get the netting from surplus military items to save money, but those resources have fallen silent. The original netting quoted with the fencing was $14,000. The County Manger has found a different source that can provide a similar product for only $8,000. The Commission placed an item on the regular agenda to discuss this and asked the County manager to bring alternatives to the regular meeting next week.

The boat ramp was also disused. A copy of the plans was reviewed by the Commission. The permits for the construction have all been filed and should be approved in July so that construction can start. The project will need to be completed in October to meet the grant deadlines.

The County financial reports were reviewed. The County general fund has approximately $2.9 million dollars in the account as of May 3^rd. With anticipated revenues and spending levels consistent with the 2011 budgeted amounts, the County will be able to get through the year without borrowing funds to operate.

The Commission discussed moving EMS from Waynesville to Atkinson. Last year when the decision was made to move the distributed EMS stations to more centrally located positions, the Calvary Station was moved to Hoboken and the Waynesville Station was slated to be moved to Atkinson. Some improvements need to be completed to the Atkinson Station to allow for 24x7 living accommodations. The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to allow the County manager to use budgeted funds to complete this process in the same manner that the Main Nahunta EMS and Hoboken EMS stations were completed. This proved to be an economical yet reliable solution.

The County Manager presented the Commission with another offer where a company or individual was willing to split the cost of paving the road to their location. Mr. Danny Bennett in the Central Avenue area has offered to share in the $8500 that it would cost to pave the road in front of his duplex properties. The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to split the costs of paving this portion of road with the property owner.

The Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department brought a proposal to the commission to replace one truck that has been removed from service and to purchase another truck with funds they have budgeted for 2011. One truck is a 1500 gpm pumper and the other is a 1250 gpm pumper. The price is $35,000, with a request to increase the hose and connectors on one of the trucks to the larger size for $10,000. With fire tax monies available for the unincorporated and incorporated areas, the VFD will be able to pay for the trucks over two years. The Commission placed this item on the consent agenda.

Next, the Commission discussed the “split billing” concept for property taxes. The Commission discussed this last year but the software company was in the middle of making large scale system-wide changes to support new laws and was not in a position to make those changes or even quote the expense to provide that functionality. The Commission has asked the Tax Commissioner to go back to Manitron and place a formal request for the functionality. The goal here is to split the tax bill between the County portion and the Board of Education (BOE) portion and separate those payments over 4 to 6 months to spread the payment over multiple revenue cycles for the tax payer.

Nahunta VFD

2011-05-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

The Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department brought a proposal to the Commission to replace one truck that has been removed from service and to purchase another truck with funds they have budgeted for 2011. One truck is a 1500 gpm pumper and the other is a 1250 gpm pumper. The price is $35,000, with a request to increase the hose and connectors on one of the trucks to the larger size for $10,000. With fire tax monies available for the unincorporated and incorporated areas, the VFD will be able to pay for the trucks over two years. The Commission placed this item on the consent agenda.

Hortense VFD Substation Construction

2011-05-04T09:54:00.002-04:00

Mike Carver of the Hortense VFD reported these photos of the Hortense VFD Substation construction on 110 North, just south of the highway 32 intersection. The foundation is complete and the steel is going up now. The Commission, in conjunction with the VFDs across the County, put together a program last year that allowed for substations to be built in key areas linking main stations to substations within 5 miles. These also will link each department so that they have a station within 5 miles of their neighboring department. This will better distribute fire equipment about the population in Brantley County and, in time, reduce the ISO ratings across the County as these stations come online, are inspected and receive the proper ISO certifications. This lowered ISO rating is already saving homeowners around the County as much as 20% to 30% on their homeowners insurance.

Congratulations to the Hortense VFD for their progress in their area. Stay tuned for more updates from Hoboken, Waynesville and Nahunta as other substations come online.

US Rep. Jack Kingston Visits Brantley County Airport

2011-04-19T19:49:00.001-04:00

Today, April 19, 2011, US Representative Jack Kingston visited the recently reopened Brantley County Airport. Representative Kingston expressed great pride in being the first US Representative to land at the newly renovated Brantley County Airport. Airport Authority Board spokesman Billy J. Lee was on hand to welcome Jack as his plane landed and he visited with onlookers. Mr. Lee explained the project and some of the challenges presented as issues arose with the contract group that had been originally contracted to extend and rebuild the runway. But in typical Brantley County fashion, the team hunkered down and worked through the issues, completing the project and protecting a vital Brantley County asset. Mr. Lee gave credit to Ms. Mary Gibson and other members of the Airport Authority, previous and current Commissions and many others who have worked to support the airport project. Mr. Lee even had on had the large cardboard check for $2.9 million which represented the Air Georgia Grant that Brantley County was awarded to fund the project.

Not only was the project completed, but the next phase is underway with requests for quotes (RFQ) for the "Fixed Base Operator" (FBO) construction and services out for proposals. With this next step, the County, through the airport authority, will lease some of the property at the airport to a private company who will build and pay for the hangers, main terminal building, fuel island and other facilities that will be located at the airport. The selected company will operate these facilities and use the revenue that they receive to fund their business. With hangers very crowded in all lighted airports surrounding Brantley County, there are high expectations that airplane owners will come to Brantley County to hanger their planes.

There are also plans to build a Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) Substation at the airport. A discussion is also under way to attract one of the helicopter "life flight" groups to hanger their aircraft at the Brantley County Airport. This will help potential candidates by allowing them to hanger the helicopter and and position them more central to Southeast Georgia. This will be a huge plus for Brantley County.

Also at the airport today were representatives of the various Brantley County Volunteer Fire Departments. They ushered in a line of fire trucks that were gained through Federal Grant Programs. Representative Jack Kingston was instrumental in helping the various fire departments acquire these trucks over recent years. Jack spent a good deal of time with the volunteers and expressed his continued support for our volunteers.

The Brantley County Airport "Grand Opening" will be Saturday May 7th from 10-2. The Airport Authority is finalizing the schedule. Some speakers will be available. The Volunteer Fire Department will be on hand selling plates, drinks, etc. The Airport Authority is working to finalize the schedule for the 9th. There will also be a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on that day.

Congratulations for a job well done to all those who played a part in this phase of the project, and a heartfelt and sincere "Thank You" to Representative Jack Kingston for all of his support in the past and for his pledge to support Brantley County moving forward.

Satilla Fields Grand Opening!

2011-04-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

Saturday will be the grand opening at the Brantley County Recreation Park - "Satilla Fields". Located just 3 miles east of Nahunta and south of Highway 82 on Baker Creek Road, next to the Georgia Forestry Department, the park will have plenty of parking, free food and lots of fun.

The program will start at 9:30 - 9:45. There will be bounce houses for the kids, free hot dogs and Cokes and more. Come join the celebration of the first new recreation park in Brantley County in many years. The first regular games will start at 10 am.

Remember that the park was paid for majorly with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars.

A special thanks to the Recreation Director and staff, the Recreation Advisory Board, the County Manager, the Road Department Team, previous and current commissioners and countless others for their hard work and dedication that made this great park possible.

Come and join in the celebration. Rumor has it that some County commissioners and other select elected officials are all taking turns in the dunking booth.

Brantley County Commission Meeting – April 2011

2011-04-13T07:23:00.000-04:00

The Commission started the April meeting by approving eight (8) items on the consent agenda. The items included:

· Approving the selection of Grant Services Consulting as the contractor for the Hazard Mitigation Plan at a cost of $17,250, funded from grant funds.

· Approving the Safe Roads and Right of Way ordinance.

· Approving the contract with Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging-Home Delivered Meals and Congregate Meals.

· Approving the closing of three entrances to the Courthouse, once the parking lot paving project is completed. The entrance from the new parking lot on the South side of the courthouse will be used by citizens. Other entrances will still serve as employee entrances and emergency exists.

· Approving the appointment of Commission Chris Harris as an ex-officio member of the Development Authority, replacing Commissioner O’Quinn.

· Approve the acceptance of one acre of land from Robert Johns, off High Bluff Rock Road, to be used as a Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) Substation.

· Approving a request from the Hortense VFD to use $20,000 from the 2010 fund balance for that fire department.

· Approving Georgia Power’s proposal for the parking lot lights at the Courthouse, with an upfront cost of $3,750 and a monthly charge of $110.

The Development Authority Chairperson Peggy Bowers addressed the Board at the start of the meeting. She updated the Board on the search for a new Executive Director. She explained that they were discussing with their attorney about the implementation of an employment policy and some other items that the DA has discussed recently in association with filling the position. The DA has a goal of posting the position, accepting applications and selecting a candidate for a start date around the 1^st of June 2011. She also explained that the DA will be working on the marketing campaign for Brantley County and is seeking input from the Commission. The DA will also be hosting training for DA members and Executive Directors from all over the State. This was a program put together by Jeannie Boland prior to her departure.

The request from the Tax Assessors office to add a full time position was the next item on the agenda. The Commission expressed their understanding over concerns of the impact of new legislation that will require the TA office to send a property evaluation to every parcel owner with anticipated tax amounts on the notice. But, given the absence of budgeted funds to cover a full time head count increase in the TA office, the Commission agreed to extending the part time funding for the office through the end of the year and increase that amount to a total of $9,000 for FY 2011. With $3,000 already spent, this leaves the TA office with $6,000 to fund the part time position for the remainder of the year.

An item for a beer and wine license for the “Rack Shack” was removed at the owner’s request.

Chuck Connors from the Brantley County Historical Society addressed the Commission next. His group is working with the Clerk of the Superior Court, the Probate Judge, the local Funeral Home Director and others to accomplish three objectives. First, the group is trying to develop a process that identifies anytime someone is buried in a cemetery on private property. Second, the group wants to establish a process that persons burying loved ones in cemeteries on private property need to follow to ensure that those loved ones are accounted for. Finally, they are working to get assistance with cemeteries that have been abandoned or forgotten. The Commission discussed the requests and was insistent that the County could not spend tax dollars on private property. The State law protecting burial sites states that the burial site is not the property of the land owner. The Commission asked the County attorney to review the law and to prepare some alternatives for the Commission for next month.

The Commission reviewed a survey of the proposed site for the Brantley County Saddle Club just east of the Schlatterville Recreation Park. The Commission also reviewed the lease put together by the County attorney and reviewed by the Saddle Club. The Commission then approved the lease at the proposed location for a term of 5 years at a rate equivalent to what they are paying today. The County surveyor will prepare a plat that will serve as the attachment to the lease. The lease will automatically renew, as long as both parties meet their commitments.

The Commission next discussed the SPLOST renewal. After much discussion, the County approved placing the SPLOST on the election calendar for November 2011. The makeup of the SPLOST referendum will consist of a 6 year SPLOST that will total anticipated $8 million with $3 million allocated to make the jail payments, $800,000 for recreation and $4.2 million for improvements and construction. The language will allow the Commission to sell bonds to bring funding forward to take advantage of lower pricing for road construction today. An analysis will be completed that 1) defines any opportunity to prepay the jail lease payments to reduce interest and 2) compares the interest that would be paid on possible bonds for the first 3-5 road projects that could be brought forward against the potential savings on road construction projects. If there isn’t savings there, then the bond referendum isn’t the right approach.

The Commission went into executive session for personnel, after which they took no action.

Brantley County Commission Work Session April 2011

2011-04-08T15:03:00.001-04:00

The Commission started with an update from the Tax Assessor’s office. TA Board Member Billy Lee explained that the complete County review for mobile homes was complete, those bills had already been mailed by the Tax Commissioner’s office and they are due in May 1. All parcel “splits” are now updated on the local computer and in Q-Public, the TA website that citizens can use free of charge, a service started last year by the TA board with support from the Commission. There is very good synergy in the TA office, with some cross training taking place to fill critical positions. Senate Bill 346 was discussed and the concerns that this bill will cause a lot of confusion and anxiety on the part of the public. The bill will require that the TA office send a property appraisal notice to every property owner with an anticipated tax bill amount on it. This will be based on last year’s millage rate and current property appraisals. The entire state wide computer system that most TA offices use is being overhauled to print new documents jam packed with information that could be confusing at first. The requirements will definitely cause a significant increase in the number of visits and calls to the TA office.

The part time position that was approved by the Commission earlier this year has been ½ used, but the time limit imposed when that was passed has expired. The TA board came before the Commission to ask that the part time position be increased to a full time position. Where they have made much progress this year, the office fears that the demands of SB346 will cause delays in the digest and budget process. The Commission placed this on the regular agenda.

The Commission next heard from representatives from Morgan Keegan and Jim Panell, who represent a bonding company and financial advisory firm. The Commission is considering placing the SPLOST on a November ballot and if the desire is to bond a portion of the SPLOST to bring road construction funds forward to take advantage of good pricing that the County is getting on road construction projects, this would have to be included in the language for the ballot. Other processes would have to be completed in the summer in order to get ready for a fall election. Work and intergovernmental relations agreements would have to be struck with the cities for their participation in the SPLOST. With all of the progress paving roads in the County and the fact that the jail payments are made using SPLOST funds, the Commission is hopeful that the voters will renew the SPLOST. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to approve the funds for an update of the County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan by way of a grant for $25,000. The County will have to match the grant, but this can be done with in kind services so the County is not out of pocket for funds on this. The program is critical for the County and required by the state per the EMA director.

The Commission discussed a beer and wine license from Christian Cox for the “Rack Shack”. An application had been previously denied, as the facility was too close to a local resident. Mr. Cox reapplied with a certified letter from the resident explaining that he had no issue with the County awarding Mr. Cox the license. There were some questions as to other information required on the applicant so the County placed this item on the regular agenda.

Chuck Connors from the Brantley County Historical Society asked the Commission to consider some process to help document when someone is buried on private property. He also brought a request for assistance in cleaning up some of the cemeteries that have become run down. The County has the ability to participate with prison labor or other services to help clean up cemeteries that have been neglected, but handle them on a case by case basis.

The County reviewed an ordinance prepared by County Attorney, Dean Strickland, that would make it illegal to set up yard sales, flea markets or other retail facilities in the right of way and roads of the County. The issue was brought to light in previous meetings by organizers of the Big Z event and other events in the County that see people creating safety hazards and traffic jams when they use the County right of way close to a major event like that to take advantage of the increased traffic flow. This makes a busy location somewhat dangerous. The Commission placed this item on the consent agenda.

The Commission discussed a request from the Brantley County Saddle Club in association with the Middle School and High School FFA programs and rodeo associations in the school systems to provide a place for their activities. The County manager will get the County surveyor to carve out a piece of property east of the Schlatterville Recreation Park to be leased for these activities. A draft lease was reviewed and will be discussed in the regular meeting on the regular agenda.

The Commission took up a request to name the bridge over Mill Creek on Schlatterville Road “SGT Charles E. Hickox Memorial Bridge”. A local resident came in objection to the changing of the name on the bridge. She explained that about 5 or 6 years ago when the roads were being named, her family had lobbied the Commission to change the name of Schlatterville Road to “AJ Strickland Road” in honor of a family member who had been very active in the community and too was a veteran, but the Hickox and Gunter families lobbied the County to change the name of the road back to Schlatterville Road and they did just that. So, they do not feel that the request for the bridge name should be honored, as they were not able to have their family member honored some years ago. The Commission discussed some alternatives and took no action on the item.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to renew the contract with Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging for home delivered meals. This is a critical service for many of our home bound citizens.

The Commission discussed an item to close the east, west and north entrances to the courthouse once the new parking lot is complete. The metal detector will be relocated to the south entrance on the side with Highway 82 along with the new parking lot. The Sheriff has security personnel at training that will be ready in about 60 days to take their post. The security at the courthouse has been a concern for many Constitutional Officers and the Commission since taking office. The new security cameras that were installed in January keep detailed footage of all movements inside and outside the courthouse for months. This system has helped as courthouse visitors know that they are being watched and recorded, but the metal detector moving and new security personnel will help protect the Judges, Clerks, Tax Assessor and Tax Commissioner groups in the courthouse. Personnel in the courthouse will be able to scan in and out of the north, east and west doors with a badge, freeing up the south entrance for visitors. This item was placed on the consent agenda.

The Commission accepted a request from Commissioner Greg O’Quinn to be replaced on the Development Authority Board as an ex-officio member. There is a part of the defining papers on the Authority that prohibits two members from working for the same company. Commissioner O’Quinn was replaced by Commissioner Chris Harris. This item was placed on the consent agenda.

The warranty deed from Mr. Robert Johns of the High Bluff area was placed on the consent agenda. He is donating property for the new Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department Substation. This is part of the County wide expansion of fire service that will over time lower the ISO ratings for the vast majority of home owners in the County. This will lower home owners insurance significantly once the plan is fully implemented.

The Commission approved a budget amendment for the Hortense VFD to use $20,000 in unused funds from previous years to complete the inside of their new substation on Highway 110 North just south of Highway 32. This also included the purchase of some radio equipment and other items. The VFD tax money is collected and deposited into a separate checking account for each of the fire departments. Unlike general fund items, fire tax money must be used for that purpose. So when the departments are frugal in some years, they have the ability to use these funds in later years as needed if it is approved by the Commission.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to purchase the lighting for the new courthouse parking lot for $3,750 with a monthly fee of $110. The alternative was a much higher monthly rate (over double) which carried no upfront costs. The Commission felt that was short sighted and placed the item on the consent agenda for the lower monthly fee. Courthouse construction funds are budgeted to cover this item.

The County manager explained with the City’s new water and sewer bills now going to residents and businesses that the County’s water/sewer bill for the jail last month was $4,077. Last year, the Chairman attended the City Council meeting when this was discussed. After that meeting and at budget time the utility line item for the jail was increased to help cover this expense. Likely that line item will have to be increased this year as well.

The new “Satilla Fields” recreation complex is nearing completion, with the grand opening scheduled for mid-April. The restrooms and concession stand building is nearly complete and other improvements for dugouts and bleachers are being pieced together. Since the SPLOST dollars have been almost depleted, the Commission is reusing some of the bleachers and other equipment from the fields in Nahunta to hold down expenses. These can also be relocated to the football and soccer fields when those sports are in season. We’ll do what we have to in order to get through these first years. Signs are being sold by the recreation department that will be installed on the big fence along side Baker Creek Road coming into the complex. The 4x8 sign will be $500 for a 2 year sign with a $100 annual renewal and a 4x4 sign will be sold for $250 for 1 year with an annual renewal at $100 as well. These proceeds will go toward other items that are needed for the new park.

The road projects were discussed. The Waynesville Road project is well on its way to completion. The project had been held up for weeks by the Georgia Department of Transportation as the equipment was broken that was needed to complete the test to define the right clay mixture for the road. A new device was found this week and those numbers were calculated and provided to the contractor. The contractor will start installing the clay next week. Buster Walker Road progress is ongoing. Finally, Mt. Calvary Road construction is under way as well. All three of these roads will be completed this spring or summer. It is in the spirit of, and with the recent memory of these projects, that the Commission is hopeful that the voters will renew the SPLOST should the Commission vote to place it on the ballot this November.

Satilla Fields is Taking Shape

2011-03-26T14:50:00.001-04:00

The Satilla Fields Recreation Park near the Georgia Forestry on Baker Creek Road is really coming to a completion. The baseball/softball fields are ready, the football and soccer fields will be ready before the fall and just this week the restroom, concession and scoring building at the center of the complex started taking shape. This is being managed closely by the County so that we complete the project with the funds we have remaining in the Recreation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), capital outlay and other funds.

Some signs will be sold for the outside fence, so if your business is interested in one, please call the Recreation Director's Office, which is located at the park, or the County office at 462-5256.

Remember, the SPLOST proceeds make projects like these possible.

Ronald E Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

Press Release by Brantley County Airport Authority

2011-03-25T09:26:00.005-04:00

The long awaited opening of Brantley County Airport is now a reality. The first flight into Brantley County Airport was two weeks ago and there have been more since. In fact, pilots have been able to use the airport following the runway completion, including runway lights, proper safety markings, and apron tie-down locations.

The Brantley County Airport Authority, the airport operator, is planning a grand opening (ribbon cutting ceremony) on Saturday, May 7, 2011 as a full day event. There will be food and fun for everyone. An invitation is extended to all interested parties and a special invitation will be sent to all of who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this reconstruction project a reality. Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s AirGeorgia Grant program gave the momentum needed to make the renovation project come to life. Brantley County received a $2,923,406.00 grant with some local matching funds and it now has an excellent facility to promote general aviation and associated businesses in southeastern Georgia.

BCAA (Brantley County Airport Authority) will immediately issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) seeking bids to contract with a professional aviation company to provide aviation services such as an FBO, fuel farm, hangars, etc.

Anyone interested in bidding on any or all services needed at the airport may do so by contacting the BCAA website to retrieve necessary RFP information.

Future plans include more hangers, flight instructor for pilot training, and more industrial and/or aviation related industry sites.

Issued by Brantley County Airport Authority Members:
Mary Gibson, Chairperson
Billy J. Lee, Vice Chairman
Sonny Stokes, Secretary
Jack Cathcart, Member
Andy Hickox, Member

Brantley County Commission March 2011 Regular Meeting

2011-03-09T17:04:00.002-05:00

The Commission started off the meeting presenting Mrs. Peggy Justice with a Resolution from the Georgia State Delegation recognizing her continual educational service of Fifty-Three (53) years. Mrs. Justice and family members were in attendance for the presentation. She is a wonderful lady who deserves recognition for her years of unselfish service.

The Commission approved the following items by approving the Consent Agenda:

1. Adopted a resolution approving the submittal of an application to obtain Fy2011 Community Development Block Grant Funds for Public Facility Improvements (Facility for Satilla Community Services); Board Members declaring that there was no conflict of interest;
2. Approved the purchase of two (2) Striker Power Lifts for the Emergency Medical Service at a cost of $6,000 each;
3. Reappointed Andy Hickox to the Airport Authority;

On the Regular agenda, the Commission started by discussing the Dump Truck Bids. The Board had placed an item on the consent agenda to award the bid for the dump trucks that will be purchased via USDA grant and loan proceeds to Yancey of Blackshear for International trucks. The County had received an objection from Freightliner of Jacksonville, Florida. The International trucks were $4900 more expensive, but Commission members, during the work session, cited concerns over getting service and parts from Jacksonville. Plus, there was an additional fluid that is now required on the Freightliners (and many other diesel trucks) that is not required on the International. The Commissioners also expressed concerns over new and extra routine operation and maintenance costs and procedures. There was a concern about one of the specifications but it did not apply to the International, as it has a different environmental system than the Freightliner. The Board voted to continue with the purchase of the International dump trucks. The USDA will provide $50,000 in grant funds and finance the remainder at lower interest rates than the County has seen on these types of purchases before. Once these are operational, the County will likely liquidate one of the older trucks. The funds for the payment of the dump trucks are budgeted in this year’s Road Department Budget.

Glenna Strickland came before the Commission asking for assistance with issues at the Big Z event that is held twice annually at Twin Oaks Park in the Calvary Community. The concern is for those folks that use the County right of way (right up to the edge of the paved road) for flea markets or yard sales on the day of the event. It causes public safety issues with the inability to exit the road should there be an accident or other need to use the right of way (ROW) for its intended use. The Board asked County attorney, Dean Strickland, to review the local ordinances that were in place and if there was nothing in the State or local code that addressed this issue, please provide a draft to the April Work Session. Private security is provided at the event and the local law enforcement is used to assist with traffic on the public roads around the event.

Mr. Billy Lee of the Brantley County Airport Authority came before the Board asking for the approval of the resolution and RFP that was presented at the work session. In this resolution, the County is giving the Airport Authority the right to submit a request for proposals (RFPs) so that independent companies can bid on the processes of leasing the a portion of the airport for the purpose of building a terminal, fuel Island, hangers, etc. The County nor the Airport Authority would spend ANY MONEY for this construction. The winning proposal will provide their own funding and use the revenues from their operation to pay for their construction. The Airport Authority will have other opportunities to lease facilities at the airport as well.

The Commission discussed the Saddle Club and the opportunity to work with them to provide a facility for equestrian events throughout the County. Lorne Lane came before the Commission on the topic. The County attorney had researched the item at the Board’s request and found a process that Ware County and other counties use to work with entities like this. The Clerk and Attorney were instructed to put together a package for the April meeting for the Board's review.

The open records policy was again discussed. The County attorney explained that there are a number of laws being debated at the legislative level that are referenced in this policy. He advised that the County might consider waiting until after the session to review the policy to see what laws are changed that are referenced in the policy lest it be found outdated or obsolete. The Commission tabled the item until after the legislative session.

The Commission discussed the renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) in a November election. In the current SPLOST the voters previously approved $4 million for payments on the jail over 5 years, $2.5 million for road, street and bridge improvements and ½ million for recreation. The Board discussed options with the potential funding on the next SPLOST. The Board agreed that the focus needed to remain on making jail payments and paving roads and discussed alternatives with the recreation funding. Should the voters approve the next SPLOST, the Board discussed letting bonds to bring funding forward to take advantage of these slower economic times that are allowing the Commission to stretch Road SPLOST dollars further than normal. In the April meeting, a bond attorney and bonding company will meet with the Board to review the process and see if this is a direction that the Board wants to go should the voters approve the next SPLOST.

The Commission voted 4-0 to extend County Manager Parrish Barwick’s contract by two years effective September 29th of this year.

The County manager gave an update on the current road construction projects. The County teams are making repairs to Randall Crews and the Dewey Road, which have issues remaining from the fire from last week. Likewise, contract teams are working on Buster Walker installing three (3) six foot culvert pipes that will manage the water through a lower section of that road. For this reason, the road will be closed off some in coming days. The Waynesville Road project is still underway and will be coming to a close this spring. The certification from Georgia DOT came in on the Mt. Calvary Road showing that there were no wetlands issues. Work will begin there in coming weeks.

The County manager gave an update on the recreation park. The concession stands are well under way, so that bathrooms and concession stands will be ready for mid April play. The County approved the purchase of bases, pitching mounds, bleachers, some portable fencing for little league play and a commercial grade lawn mower to keep up with the 4 new baseball and two new football/soccer fields. The score boards will be provided by Coke. as they have been in the past.

The County approved the closing of the old Atkinson Volunteer Fire Department checking account with those funds transferred to Waynesville Volunteer Fire Department as they took over that region. The amount was $1,852.08.

After a brief executive session, the Commission approved the County attorney responding to an ante-litem notice.

BTC Video by Robby Thomas

Brantley County Commission – March 2011 Work Session

2011-03-02T20:16:00.002-05:00

The Commission was given an Airport Project update by Billy Lee of the Airport Authority. Mr. Lee explained that the runway project was coming to a close. The paving, lighting, marking and other primary improvements to the widening and expansion to 4,000 foot runway are complete. There is a very small punch list that the team developed in the final check out this week with the authority, contractors and engineers. The next step is to submit a request for proposal (RFP) for a fixed based operator (FBO) to come in, lease some property from the County, through the Airport Authority, so that the FBO can build a terminal, fuel island, hangers, etc. This lease will help drive revenue for the County. The sale of fuel at the fuel island will help drive sales tax for the County. Commissioners asked Mr. Lee what the FBO process would cost the County and his response was nothing. The company will lease the property from the County for a multi-year contract and they will incur the capital expenses of the aforementioned improvements. The item was placed on the regular agenda.

Two year long discussions about ways the County can work with the Saddle Club were revisited. The major sticking point is the insurance, liability when events are NOT in progress and the public’s use of the property. The new County attorney explained some of the legal challenges. The Chairman requested the representatives from the Saddle Club contact the Clerk and set up a meeting with the County attorney, one of the Commissioners and the Chairman to see if we can get to the bottom of this. The item was placed on the regular agenda.

The draft open records policy was reviewed in detail. The County attorney spoke to the hundreds of open records that the County has responded to over the past 18 to 24 months. The policy helps define the procedure for all departments and agencies within County Government and makes sound recommendations to the Constitutional Officers on ways to standardize their process. The Policy makes clear the person in charge of records for each department or agency, a standard form to document each request, the communication between departments of the other records agents to streamline requests and other such items. The item was placed on the regular agenda.

The bids for the dump trucks were reviewed next. After much discussion, the Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to purchase two 2012 International 7500 6x4 18 yard dump trucks from Yancey Truck Center for $94,965.47 each. The USDA loan grant program will be used for this purchase, which has been in the works for over six months. The USDA has preapproved Brantley County for $50,000 in grants funds so the two dump trucks will cost about $69,965 each. The funds for the payments were budgeted in this year’s budget.

The Commission approved placed a CDBG conflict of interest resolution for the Mental Health CDBG grant on the consent agenda. This just declares that no Commissioner has any conflict with any part of the grant process or the transaction.

The renewal of the SPLOST was on the agenda. The Chairman explained that the Commission has a great deal of documentation, meetings, inner governmental agreements, postings, etc. to get in place prior to a possible November election. The existing SPLOST is scheduled to expire in 2012, so this fall is none too early to let the voters consider the next SPLOST. The Board will consider the definition of the next SPLOST. The jail payments will likely dictate much of the next SPLOST, as they have the last SPLOST. The Commission discussed possibly selling bonds on the SPLOST, as the school board has done on many occasions. This would allow the Board in 2012 to bring the SPLOST money forward, if the voters approve it. This would allow the Board to continue to take advantage of the low costs of projects in the current economy and stretch SPLOST dollars. Many road projects are getting completed for 60-70 cents on the dollar. The item was placed on the regular agenda.

The County manager discussed extending the County manager’s contract, which expires in September of this year. The issue of a 2 or 3 year contract extension was discussed and the item was placed on the regular agenda. All agreed that the County manager has played a crucial role in the retirement of operating debt, the increased efficiency of our local government, including the selection of key personnel. His experience has proven extremely beneficial for Brantley County.

The Commission placed the purchase of two used electronic stretchers on the consent agenda. The funds for this are in the budget. The number one injury among EMTs and Paramedics is back and shoulder strain. These units will help eliminate that with the two remaining units. One unit was purchased last year.

The County Manager gave an update on the road paving projects. There is a very large pipe that completely crosses the road that will have to be installed next week so the road will be closed for a day or so.

An update was also given on the Satilla Fields Recreation Park. The block work is complete, rough plumbing and wiring are being completed and framing will start next week. The goal is to have restrooms and concessions working by the start of baseball the 2nd week of April.

February 2011 Regular Meeting Summary

2011-02-12T16:20:00.001-05:00

The Commission handled a variety of issues at the regular meeting in a little over an hour.

Mary Gibson asked to be added to the top of the agenda for the Commission meeting. During her time she expressed concerns over the reduction in the airport budget both in the previous and current budget years. Commissioners explained that she wasn’t alone; almost every department’s budget was reduced. After some exchanges with board members, the chair asked her to get to the root of her appearance. The Executive Director asked that the County Commission reinstate $53,000 to the airport budget for items at the airport that are not included in the grant. The Commission asked for a detailed list of needs prior to the next meeting for consideration.

Chief Henry Edwards of the Waynesville VFD delivered a status report. Britt Brinson with Standards and training came by on February 8 and now Waynesville Station 3, the Atkinson Station, is now compliant as a WVFD station. WVFD is using two bays and EMS is using 2 bays. The Buster Walker substation will be moved to the Browntown Road location. Station 5 will be a 36’ x 60’ station at the Atkinson Upper Elementary School. He also made recommendations for action on certain vehicles. Three trucks formerly used by AVFD will be retained by WVFD. The old aerial truck will be liquidated. One older truck will be returned to Forestry andnd one truck and 4,000 gallon tank will be transferred to the Nahunta VFD. Three trucks purchased by AVFD with fundraising money were retained by them and will be removed from the County insurance. One tanker truck was transferred to the road department to use working on roads. Finally, some former members of the AVFD have expressed concerns to the Chief over the location of their personnel records which contain sensitive information. The recommendation was for those to be returned to the County or the WVFD. The Commission supported these recommendations.

The Commission also declared one of the old cruisers as surplus equipment and transferred title to the Board of Education.

Items 3 and 4 were postponed to the March meeting to give the Commissioners more time to review and communicate with the appropriate parties.

Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department came forth with a request to use some of their accumulated fire tax dollars to make their substation payment for this year. Each fire tax district has a separate account where special fire tax funds that are collected for that district are kept. At the end of the year, those funds do not revert back to the general fund as most other accounts do. Since Hoboken has been frugal in years gone by, they had accumulated enough money to make their payment this year and still have operating funds and some equipment funds for this year. The Commission approved the request as it caused no increase in tax dollars and helped the fire department meet their obligations.

The County manager gave an update on the recreation projects. Work is underway on the concession/restroom building that the County is subbing out themselves at Satilla Fields, the main recreation park. The Commission agreed to a fee of $5,000 to be paid to contractor Joe Dixon, who is assisting the County with the value engineering and management of the project so that the $260,000 building can be built for the $160,000 left in the Recreation SPLOST account. Joe’s locating the used oven, hood and fire system saved the County over $15,000 on that one purchase, which is more than the fee. The team is working hard to have everything ready for play on the baseball fields in March. Grassing and other activities are also underway. The boat ramp project is underway. Some bush hog mowing has been completed, the field survey has been complete and the draftsman should have the documents to the engineers by early next week. GIEC will complete the design and submit the application for permits to DNR. The permit process can take 4 to 6 months. No work can begin until the permits are in place on the boat ramp. The last check for the timber from the property for the Waynesville Recreation property came in. A total of just over $13,000 has been received from timber sales. This will help pay for blocks and fencing once the nature trail grant verdict is in. That verdict will come in later this fall.

The Tax Assessor group came forward requesting a new vehicle, as one of theirs has over 300,000 miles on it. The County manager had acquired vehicle costs on the State contract. The Commission approved the requests for purchase of a Ford Explorer 4x4 at a cost of $24,958. The TA group has budgeted funds for this expenditure and have actually made the request for the last 2 years and the Commission postponed the purchase until the County’s operating debt was paid off. The Commission approved the purchase.

The Emergency Management Agency (EMA) has $15,000 in grant funds set aside for the purchase of a new vehicle and have applied for another $5000 for this year. The Commission approved the purchase of a similar vehicle for EMA, but asked the County manager to check possibly purchasing a truck and camper combination to see if that might be as functional and save some money.

The Commission reviewed a resolution prepared by the County attorney on the use of user fees. In the last two budget cycles over the last two years the Commission has discussed the use of user fees to help offset ad valorem taxes. In an example, were the Commission to levy a $50 road user fee on populated parcels in Brantley County, that would generate around $500,000 or about 2 mills of taxes. The legislation requires that the Commission reduce the ad valorem tax rate by an amount equal to that anticipated. This is the same way that the LOST and Insurance Premium Roll Backs are done today. This levy would be treated as any other tax or fee. The Tax Commissioner would be charged with its collection through normal tax collection procedures. A ceiling of 50% of the local effort is proposed, so that no more than ½ of the local effort could be raised through the use of new fees defined in the legislation.

The Commission also saw a presentation of the asphalt zipper. This equipment is used in a variety of way to improve old paved roads that need repaving or dirt roads that need soil cement, rocks, clay, sand, crush and run or other materials mixed, leveled and compacted. Many counties are starting to use this approach to bring dirt roads up to a point where paving can take place on top of the mixtures. A trial of the equipment will be scheduled and more consideration given after the County has seen it in action.

Finally, the Commission voted to hire Dean Strickland as the new County attorney on a 3-1 vote. Dean Strickland, Vince Settles, Tom Lee and Kelly Brooks submitted proposals for the service and Mr. Strickland was the lowest bid.

Boots Harrison Road Paved with SPLOST Dollars‏

2011-02-08T20:18:00.003-05:00

The Brantley County Commission continues its paving projects with the paving of Boots Harrison Road off of 32 near Popwellville, using internal labor and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars. Contractors completed the paving of the road this week. Shoulder work, grassing, markings, etc. are yet to be completed. This project has been completed with the County's own road department performing the preparation in the way of clearing, grubbing, pipe installation and base material installation. The road was then bid for paving and finishing with Seaboard Construction winning the bid, which will be paid from SPLOST funds. The external cost of this road was significantly lower than other projects, as the County completed a significant portion of the work. Since this road had no Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) funding support, the County was able to build it with a 60 foot right of way, which was less intrusive on the community, while providing adequate access to the homes. Had this been a major connector or a road with significant heavy through traffic, that would have been less of an opportunity.

The County is dedicated to stretching the SPLOST dollars and renewing the SPLOST this fall so that the road paving progress can continue.

Brantley County Makes Strides in Protecting Natural Resources

2011-01-26T09:21:00.006-05:00

There is a write-up on Brantley County in this month's Coastal Management News, which is put out by NOAA. The article is on page 5. Check it out!

January 2011 Regular Meeting

2011-01-12T10:26:00.003-05:00

The Commission handled a variety of items during their first meeting of 2011, that lasted a little under an hour.

On the consent agenda the Commission approved items to:
• Appoint Commissioner O’Quinn as Vice Chairman for the Year 2011,
• Approve Seeking Proposals for County Attorney Services,
• Approve the adoption of Resolution for Continuation of E-911 Fees for landline and cell phone,
• Approve Appointments of Pat Dyson and Linton Herrin to the Development Authority Board,
• Approve Appointment of Commissioner O’Quinn as Ex-Officio Member of the Development Authority Board,
• Approve Part-time Real Property Appraiser Position in Tax Assessors Office thru March, 2011, 24 hours per week; Cost not to exceed $6,000,

On the regular agenda, the Commission adopted a resolution keeping Southeastern Bank as the depository of County funds and providing authorization to sign checks.

The paving projects that have been recently bid out were discussed. The low bid for the parking lot on the South side of the courthouse was Ricketson Construction at $107,892.15. This bid was approved by the Commission, with funds for the project coming from SPLOST funds. The low bid for the Mt. Calvary paving project was Littlefield Construction for $223,758.62. This bid was approved by the Commission, with funds for the project coming from SPLOST funds. An analysis of current projects and remaining Road SPLOST funds was provided by the County Manager and the Chairman. County Manager Parrish Barwick explained that there is currently $2,567,000 worth of projects in the queue, including the Mt. Calvary and Courthouse parking lot. With the current balance in the Road SPLOST account, remaining SPLOST funds to be collected and DOT funds available for the Waynesville Project, Buster Walker and Mt. Calvary, these funds total approximately $2,720,000. With projects to date coming in at or below budgeted amount, the Commission is confident that all the projects in the queue can be completed, leaving about $240,000 in the SPLOST account. Some of these funds will be dispersed to the cities and some will be spent on Raybon East for rock and paving.

The Airport Executive Director moved funds around in her 2011 budget and made arrangements for the final payment for the attorney’s fees so this item was removed from the agenda.

The County Manager explained that plans were underway for the County to contract out the different pieces of the concession stand and bathroom building at the Satilla Fields Recreation Park that was constructed using Recreation SPLOST dollars, capital outlay funds and County employees. With the County purchasing the materials and managing the project, the building can be built for less than the $160,000 remaining in the Recreation SPLOST. The permitting process is underway by Golden Isles Engineering for the new Boat Ramp project on Highway 82 East in Atkinson. The County will be clearing some brush and doing some cleanup work in preparation for that construction. The area will be closed off during construction for safety reasons. The grant to better define the 100 year flood plain as requested by the FLUTAC committee and Planning Commission was also discussed. This has to be reviewed and completed by Monday so the County and consultants will have to move swiftly to meet this deadline. The Grant for the Walking/Nature trail at the proposed Waynesville Recreation Park is also due at the same time. These have been put together and are under review. Illness and schedules have made it difficult to get everyone together to finalize these so that they can be submitted.

The COLA raise for County employees was discussed next. The proposal discussed at the work session to pay a $500 bonus and day off with pay in lieu of a 3% across the board raise was found to be illegal. The County Manager gave the Commissioners an in depth analysis of the comparison of a number of alternatives from the $500 bonus to $0.40 per hour raise to the 3% raise across the board. Commissioners settled on an $832 raise for all full time salaried employees and a $0.40 per hour raise for all hourly employees. This will not include Commissioners or Constitutional Officers.

The Commission discussed utilizing the March Special Election to ask the voters to approve the next SPLOST referendum so that the cost of the election is shared by the City of Nahunta for the Nahunta precinct. Unfortunately, the timing will not allow this to happen. There is a mandatory 10 day interval between the adoption of a referendum and notification going to the cities. The referendum would have to be at the printers next Tuesday, which doesn’t allow for the ten days. The Commission can take this up later in the year. The SPLOST collections run for 50 calendar months, or for the specified amount of defined dollar collection. With the anticipated changes that the legislature “may” make to sales tax collections this session, the SPLOST collections could accelerate bringing the SPLOST collections to a close sooner than expected. The calendar months end in 2012, so a renewal in 2011 is not grossly premature.
This will be taken up by the Commission at a later time.

The Commission next approved the Public Defender’s Office Budget and 2011 indigent Defense Agreement Renewal.

The Commission discussed filling the vacant 911 department head position. Tim Crews is currently serving in that capacity temporarily. The position is vacant and the salary for that position is budgeted, so filling the position is budget neutral. The Commission approved the County manager putting that position out to be filled.

The Commission went into executive session for Personnel, after which they took no action.

Hortense New Fire Station

2011-01-08T17:48:00.004-05:00

The Hortense VFD has broken ground on its new fire substation positioned on 110 North, just south of Highway 32. The property, donated by Enoch Smith of Smith Land Sales, has been cleared and dirt is being moved in. The metal building company that the County has contracted with to build the 5 new fire stations using USDA grant and loan money, has reviewed the site and provided the needed amount of fill dirt. The County inspectors have reviewed the site for septic and well locations. In coming weeks, neighbors should be able to see the building coming up and Hortense expanding its coverage.

This effort was undertaken by the Commission last year in an effort to reduce the response time for emergency services and to drive down the ISO rating for citizens homes, which has proven to save many home owners as much as 40-50% on their annual homeowners insurance.

Congratulations to Mike Carver and the team at Hortense Volunteer Fire Department.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

2011-01-07T18:57:00.002-05:00

The County Commission has exchanged property with a land owner adjacent to the County courthouse to gain more frontage on the side street facing the courthouse.

For now, the ride share will be enlarged with some new fencing and rock. The property is a prime location should the County decide down the road to build a County courthouse annex to consolidate services at that location.

The County would like to thank Coach Pryce Brooker and his family for their cooperation in the exchange. This property was exchanged in kind with no payment for the property.

Ronald Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

January 2011 Work Session

2011-01-05T09:21:00.004-05:00

In the first meeting of the year, the Commissioners handled a baker’s dozen of issues in a little over an hour.

First, Commissioners Brian Hendrix and Chris Harris were welcomed to the team. Next, was a discussion on the appointment of a new Vice Chairman. It was recommended that Commissioner Greg O’Quinn serve as the new Vice Chairman. The Board placed this on the consent agenda.

The Board also placed an item on the consent agenda to go out for bids for legal services.

The Board placed an item on the regular agenda to discuss the depository for County funds. The County Clerk was asked to put together a list of fees and interest rates that are currently in place with Southeastern Bank and what is offered by the Heritage Bank.

The Board placed resolutions for the wireless E-911 and the wired E-911 telephone services for the County on the consent agenda. The County manager was asked if the issues that had been brought to light at 911 were being addressed. He explained that the company CallWorks had met with himself, the Chairman and others before Thanksgiving. The company that originally provided the software had been acquired by Callworks. Their focus was to get a patch installed to resolve the major issue which was installed after Thanksgiving. Then, a major software release would be available in late January that would provide some enhancements and resolve other lingering issues. This will also allow the company to get all their clients on a common software “release” system which will be better for all customers.

The Board next discussed the 2010 financial picture. Where formal reports are not yet available, the Chairman reported the County Manager had delivered the check and paid off the line of credit balance which was about $250,000. All of that money had come from the General Fund which was the account where all of last year and previous year’s monies were kept. The Money Market account had been used to house all of this year’s tax money and none of that was used to pay off the debt. So, Brantley County starts 2011 owing no debt for operational needs. This was a huge accomplishment for the whole leadership team including Commissioners, Constitutional Officers, Department Heads and staff. Financial reports will be available at the regular meeting and this item was placed on the regular agenda.

The 2011 COLA raise for all employees was placed on the regular agenda. Commissioner Edgy suggested that the County give each employee a personal day off with pay and a $500 bonus in December instead of giving a standard 3% raise across the board. The goal in this approach would be to help those with lower pay rates in these hard economic times and save the County about $60,000. With a percentage raise approach, the more your salary, the higher your raise. The Board had previously discussed a $0.45 per hour raise instead of a percentage raise which has a similar affect. But, that approach got complex when dealing with salaried personnel. The other Commissioners didn’t object to the bonus idea, but wanted to see the numbers and an analysis, so the item was placed on the regular agenda. The Clerk and the County Manager will prepare the numbers for review.

Next was a discussion about the two vacancies on the Development Authority. In previous talks with the Development Authority Board Chair and Executive Director, two names were offered and others petitioned. An item was placed on the consent agenda to appoint Linton Herrin to one of the vacant positions and Pat Diason to the other position.

Next, the Board took up a discussion of the remaining $17,231 in legal fees that the Airport Authority has remaining on their debt to Attorney Wright for work with the bonding company and airport vendors. The Airport Authority Director will prepare some proposals for how these funds can be paid from her 2011 budget and bring them to the regular meeting. The total for engineering and legal services paid in late December and early January will total approximately $60,000. The legal fees are supposed to be reimbursed by the bond company, Berkley, based on language in the bond, but the engineering fees are the County’s responsibility.

The County manager reported on three items next. The concession and restroom building at the new recreation park was first. The only way to complete this with the remaining funds is to manage it in-house and have the County purchase materials. The Waynesville Recreation Park Nature Trail Grant was discussed. A multi-year vision of the park prepared by Jamie Osteen was viewed by the Commissioners and DNR. The grant will have to be put together quickly and significant changes will have to be made to the design, but Jennifer Kline felt like the County had a better than average chance to get a $100,000 grant which would be 50-50 with the County’s match coming from in kind services and very little money. That kind of grant, along with the timber sale, would allow the park to come together over the coming years. Next was the timeline for the Atkinson boat ramp. The DNR has released the area for work but only those certified in State boat ramp projects can work on that part of the project, and anyone performing work in the area has to be briefed on species of animal and plant life to avoid damaging.

The paving projects were discussed. Dude Circle and Satilla Road punch list items are complete. The Waynesville Road project is plugging along with some OREMC power line work to be done around the beaver pond area. In the spring, this project will pick up speed. The Buster Walker clearing and grubbing is well under way and will be completed in coming weeks. The Boots Harrison base work is complete and will be finalized once Seaboard Construction is ready to move in. The mile plus that has been under construction on this road should be paved in coming weeks. A total out of pocket cost for this mile of road will be compiled for the Board's review. The County lacks one parcel of ROW on Mt. Calvary, which Commissioners are working through. The Raybon East project survey will be completed so that ROW can be acquired and the road crew can start on that project once some general backlog of road items is cleared from the holidays. The bids for the parking lot on the South side of the Courthouse are due in later this week and will be taken up at next week’s meeting. Bids for Mt. Calvary are due in January as well.

Open records requests and records retention were discussed. The Commission had reviewed a proposal by counsel last year on a formal procedure to open records requests. The Clerk was asked to contact the County attorney and ask him to revive that document for review. This item was added to the regular agenda. The records retention policy from the Georgia Archives that was adopted by the Commission several years ago was also discussed specifically as it pertains to emails. The section that pertains to emails makes it clear that it is the “content” of the email that dictates the retention mandate. There are emails of a transient nature that need be stored no longer than their useful life. There are others that, due to their content, are required to be stored for a number of years. The Chairman had communicated a suggestion to Commissioners and constitutional officers where they develop a folder system both in their email folder for the email and on their hard drives so that emails and attachments received and sent can be stored by content (i.e. budget, personnel, road dept, EMS, EMA, Dev Auth, VFD, etc). This would allow for an easier search and group archive when that time comes. This would allow for more timely responses. Above all, the County should be forthcoming with information and not give the indication that the County is attempting to hide anything and certainly follow the standards set forth by the records retention policy.

The Tax Assessor (TA) board Chair Billy Lee and Chief Appraiser Carey Lamb gave the Commission an update. The Tax Assessor’s office has nearly completed the GIS work with Southern Geographic Solutions. Citizens using the TA web site which is available from the County web site at www.brantleycounty.org should have seen a significant improvement in the quantity and quality of data. A plotter has been relocated to the TA office allowing them to print new high resolution graphic maps of County parcels with 2007 flight/aerial data. The cost of the maps is still being defined but will probably be around $15-$20 based on what counties around Brantley are charging. The new computers that were approved last month are in and operational, helping to improve productivity and morale in the office. The new property appraiser, Sean Chapman, is on the job and adding tremendously to the team’s efforts.

The TA group is starting the process of riding the ENTIRE County in search of mobile homes that have no stickers and have possibly gone without paying taxes. They will leave a door hanger on any trailer not properly displaying a sticker. Taxes and penalties may apply to these. They will also be identifying trailers that are dilapidated and in need of removal or destruction. This process has never been done in Brantley County before.

Chief Appraiser Carey Lamb closed with a review of Senate Bill 346. This legislation will require that a property value assessment notice go to every parcel owner in Brantley County. This represents over 13,000 mailings. In the past, the law only required that property owners be sent a notice if there was a change in property value or ownership. With the new law, every property owner will get a property assessment notice every year with an “anticipated tax amount” on it. Since no budget for the County or school board will be set in June when the notices go out, the previous year’s millage will be used. A larger concern is that right now no credits, deductions or exemptions that some property owners receive will be included in this estimate tax bill amount. So, in many cases, this estimated tax amount will be wrong. The statewide computer system that many smaller counties, like Brantley, use for the Tax Assessor’s office has no way to accept the exemptions. A reprieve from this portion of the law is being requested by many counties until the software can be updated so that tens of thousands of dollars aren’t spent to send bad information to property owners but this reprieve is unlikely. Other changes in SB346 were also discussed.

The Commission placed an item on the consent agenda to allow the Tax Assessor’s office use up to $6,000 for part time help so that they can catch up the records in their office and get the digest out on time this year. In the budget process later this year, manpower for the TA office will be taken under advisement.

Chairman’s Corner

2011-01-01T18:34:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!!!!

After 24 months of digging, scraping, saving and collecting...we’ve made it. Thursday at 4pm the County Manager, Parrish Barwick, took a $250,000 check out of this year’s tax account to the bank in Waycross and paid off the line of credit completely. That left just a few thousand dollars in the general fund account which holds only this year's tax money. All checks have been posted and written for this year’s bills.

In a separate money market account, we have all of the money that Tax Commissioner, Pat Tompkins and her team have collected for next year’s taxes and operations. Hats are off to Mrs. Pat and her team for all their hard work. And hats off to everyone for driving revenue at the jail and EMS and for everyone who helped hold down costs. As of this writing, Brantley County owes NO debt for operating capital and we did NOT use any of next year’s tax dollars to pay off that debt. We need to come in next week and get everything finalized, but we have made it.

Now we start the process of continually operating under a balanced budget while driving costs out of the system to help drive down the burden on the tax payers.

Part II of the story is while "WE" (all Commissioners, Constitutional Officers, Department Heads and Staff) eliminated millions in debt in 2 years, the leadership team has also:
• Started paving 13 miles of roads all over the County with SPLOST dollars,
• Got the traffic light in Atkinson installed two years ahead of schedule, eliminating a huge safety issue in our community,
• Used our road department to improve and prepare roads for paving,
• Launched the new jail that is paid for with SPLOST dollars and staffed it to hold other county's prisoners, which yields $50,000 a month in revenue today,
• Nearly completed the new recreation facility, Satilla Fields, using our road department and SPLOST dollars,
• Launched a new Boat Ramp and Camp Ground project at the river in Atkinson on 82 using a major local donation, SPLOST dollars and grant funds,
• Upgraded police vehicles, buying more cars for less money using USDA grant funding and lower interest rate financing,
• Upgraded road equipment like graders, dozers, dump trucks and support vehicles for less money by using USDA grants, loans and government surplus,
• Upgraded ALL ambulances using grant funding and budget funds, upgraded the main station for EMS in Nahunta and implemented a distributed strategy for housing EMS about the County to reduce their response time,
• Launched a County Web Site to bring transparency to County Government and ease of access to meeting summaries, access to all departments, detailed financial reports and much more,
• Launched Web Sites dedicated to the Tax Assessors and Tax Commissioners offices for the public to access records and to eventually pay tax bills online,
• Started Digitizing over 4,500 parcels that were backlogged for over 5 years in the Tax Assessors' Office, importing them into the online and County computer systems,
• Worked with the Tax Assessors group to upgrade computer systems and incorporate other underutilized equipment into their office,
• Launched enhanced E911 systems, equipment and processes that, while all these need fine tuning, are allowing Brantley to move forward and are driving revenue to make the department more self sufficient,
• Launched house to house garbage and eliminated decades of dumpsters, dumpster diving and all the mess and expense that went along with them,
• Redefined the fire tax districts and started the process of significantly expanding coverage with 5 new substations to eventually drive down homeowner's insurance premiums by lowering ISO ratings,
• Launched efforts with the Development Authority to bring industry to Brantley County by fully funding the Development Authority and working as other counties do to attract industry,
• Revived the stagnant Airport Project.
• Cleaned out the halls and refurbished the courthouse with a new roof, carpet, security system and fixed the clock, plus a new parking lot is in the works,
• Traded for property across the street for more parking and/or a courthouse annex one day to expand the courthouse footprint and consolidate services at that location.
• Built and equipped the new records room outside the courthouse,
• Acquired property from the Board of Education for, and assumed the commitment to, the people of Waynesville to erect a satellite recreation facility in Waynesville similar to the one in Schlatterville,
• And much more…….
Part three of this story is that through all of this the Commission has been able to lower the millage rate each of the last two years. While tax bills went up because the Governor canceled the homestead exemption tax credit, we controlled everything within our power. It is worth noting that this was accomplished in one of the worst economic environments of our lives.

Unless we run into cash flow issues from tax money being slow to come in, we should be able to go through the year without having to borrow any money for operations. But, we'll take it one step at time. Congratulations to everyone for their hard work and dedication. 2011 is going to be a good year.

Looking forward, my recommendation to the Commission is going to be to focus on bringing closure to the projects we have in the process and hold off on launching a lot of new projects this year. If that be the Board’s desire, we'll still have a very busy and productive year.

Above all, we need to thank the good Lord for his blessing on our County, our community and our families. It has been a year with great challenges and still we have been very blessed and to Him goes the glory!

Happy New Year!

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission.

December 2010 Regular Meeting

2010-12-17T09:10:00.003-05:00

The Commission started the December meeting with some much deserved award presentations. First, the families of the two servicemen for which County bridges were named this year were recognized. The resolutions naming the bridges and photos of the bridges were presented to members of each family by Mr. Linton Herrin and Mr. Charlie Summerlin, who were instrumental in pushing the naming of these bridges through the process.

Next, Commissioner Summerlin and Herrin were recognized for their years of service. Each was presented a plaque by the Chairman on behalf of the Commission, Constitutional Officers, staff and Citizens of Brantley County.

During public participation, Lydia Johns Burch came forward asking for the County to repair/replace the Bethlehem Church Road Bridge, which was condemned by Georgia DOT several months ago. The Commission has discussed this on a couple of occasions. Where some citizens are inconvenienced because of the bridge being out until GaDOT can make repairs, there are two paved roads that can be traveled to get around the bridge. The County has focused its priorities and limited funds on rebuilding and/or paving roads that will allow people to get to work, school or church and back home again during the wet season. All Commissioners agreed if funding was limitless, they would be willing to make the bridge a priority.

The Commission approved the following items on the consent agenda after removing the approval of a resolution authorizing installment payments on ad valorem taxes:
• Appoint Betty Jo Morgan to Board of Elections
• Re-appoint Sylvia Wingate to Board of Health
• Adopt Outdoor Watering Ordinance Mandated by the State of Georgia
• Approve application for USDA Grant-Purchase of New Ambulance
• Approve Pictometry Renewal Flight of County
• Approve Placing White Ford Bridge Road on the paving priority list

The Board accepted the property from the Board of Education off Waynesville Road and relieved the BOE of their contractual responsibility to rebuild a recreation park that was once where the Waynesville Elementary School is today. The Board accepted a proposal to have the timber cut off the property, consistent with a contract that the vendor has with the BOE, who bid the timber off earlier in the year. The proceeds from the timber sale will be placed in the recreation capital outlay account. This will go toward fence and blocks when the Commission starts on the recreation park in the future. A new culvert was placed on Waynesville Road to access the property for timber removal. The Commission also approved the submission of a DNR grant for a nature trail at the location to help with funds for the park. Commissioners will meet with Jennifer Kline of the DNR to review the submission of the grant ASAP. The Commission also approved the coastal incentive grant award agreement for the Atkinson boat ramp.

The Board also accepted a small parcel at the corner of the Atkinson Upper Elementary School where a new VFD substation is to be built in January. An agreement was also approved by the Commission where the VFD site can share the septic services of the BOE.

The Commission approved the purchase of a used commercial hood for the new recreation concession stand for $3,800. This equipment was quoted in the recent bids for as much as $18,000. The bids for the recreation concession and bathrooms were rejected by vote of the Commission. The engineers and County manager are working on ways to value engineer (find ways to build it cheaper) the project and report back in January.

The Commission appointed Andrew Altman as the new Dog Control Officer. He will work with the County Manager to transition from Mr. Buglino. The Sheriff and County Manager are working on the concrete and fence for a dog pen at the jail so the trustees could assist with any dogs that have to be retained for a period of time

The Commission approved the minimum bid for paving of Boots Harrison Road. The bid by Seaboard Construction for $72,800 was awarded. The bids for Raybon East were tabled until the County road department has that road ready to pave next spring.

The contract for professional services to update the solid waste 5-year short term work program for Brantley County was approved by the Commission.

The Commission discussed the legal fees and engineering fees for the airport and their dealing with the bonding company. Some Commissioners felt that the $42,857, which was mostly legal fees, was excessive and was spent on counsel that the Commission had instructed the Airport Authority (AA) not to hire. The County attorney, Tom Lee, explained to the Commission that while he didn’t know about the total bill for the second attorney the AA hired, he felt the attorney did provide a good service and the project was moving along. He also explained that all legal fees were reimbursable by the bonding company and that Attorney Wright had offered to negotiate that point with the bonding company free of charge. While most of the Commissioners were not pleased with the actions of the AA, the fact was that they had hired an attorney who had provided services and was due payment. One Commissioner expressed deep concerns and asked that the Commission take some action in the future to see that this DOES NOT happen again. Attorney Wright originally charged $300 per hour and later reduced the rate to $175 per hour, which was the amount he and AA Director Mary Gibson had agreed upon. No contract between Mr. Wright and the County or AA was provided for the Commission’s review. The Commission agreed to the AA Director’s request to use $26,332 from the AA budget and $16,525 from the capital outlay budget to put toward these expenses for legal and engineering services. This will leave a deficit of about $9,000 which will be held over and paid out of the AA budget next year. They have 2011 funds budgeted for legal and engineering services.

The Commission had an executive session for personnel, after which they took no action.

Road Project Meeting Update

2010-12-10T15:31:00.003-05:00

In Thursday’s Road Meeting, the status of the following Projects was discussed:

Waynesville Road; All pipes are in except the two long ones. Those will go in when the earth work is ready. The ditch work is coming along the majority of the project with the hold up at the Beaver Pond due to OREMC needing to move some utility poles. The engineers will discuss the timing with them today. Littlefield will keep a crew dedicated to this road until completion, which is slated for early April.

Buster Walker Road; Clearing and grading is under way. The bid for road construction, base and paving was approved in a called meeting last week to Ricketson Construction. They have been given a notice of bid award and have 14 days to respond with the appropriate documentation. The goal is to have the paperwork and contracts through legal by the first of the year so that they can move in during February when the clearing and grubbing is complete, unless that is completed ahead of schedule.

Boots Harrison; The County’s road department is almost finished installing the base material and bid packages for paving are going out this week. This is a little over 1 mile of paving.

Satilla Church; The road is completed with a punch list of items having been reviewed with the contractor and completed by the contractor. Final payment paperwork is due in after engineering approval corrections have been made.

Dude Circle; The road is almost complete. The contractor has to finishing grassing and seeding the ditches, installing some rip rap around the ditches where needed and the striping has to be completed. The County will scrape the existing pavement between the rail road and the new pavement so that striping will reach out to the rail road as there are no markings on this older section of road.

Mt. Calvary; The final parcel of right of way is to be acquired this week. The bid packages will go out this week and have a due date in early January.

Courthouse Parking Lot; A review of the proposed plan and drainage survey was completed and there are a couple of concerns that were reviewed and eliminated in the meeting. The bid packages are out and due back in January 6th. This will add about 54 new parking spaces to the South side of the courthouse and improve access to the courthouse all around. This project also fits into new security measures that are underway at the courthouse. There will be plenty of green space and lighting in the parking lot.

Countywide Striping Project; The GaDOT project to stripe Caney Bay, Riverside, Raybon West and Old 259 are under way with the hand painting portions having been started in recent weeks. The project will be put on hold during the holidays and be completed by March of 2011. The County will be working on shaving accumulated dirt off the side in some places along these roads (called clipping) in order to clean off the surface that is to be painted. This also helps reduce hydroplaning.

Recreation Concession and Scoring Building; The final item at Satilla Fields, Brantley County’s new recreation park, was discussed. The Commission reviewed the two bids that were received at the last meeting. While no action could be taken, an action item was placed on the consent agenda to throw out the two bids as they were over $100,000 above the amount of money the County has in Recreation SPLOST to complete the project. The interested have been asked to value engineer the project, breaking the construction into individual components, itemizing and prioritizing the items so that the base building could be built and added on to later.

Surveying and Engineering; Other roads on the priority paving list were discussed as some surveying and engineering will continue on these roads. The County’s crew has been instructed to start work on Raybon East once Boots Harrison is complete.

December Called Commission Meeting

2010-12-08T08:24:00.003-05:00

The Commission tackled a handful of issues in a called meeting on December 7, 2010, prior to the regularly scheduled Work Session held monthly at 4pm at the County Commission offices.

Airport Authority Director, Mary Gibson, came before the Commission asking for Task Order 6 to be approved. This task involved acquiring of right of way for the instrument approach for the new airport. Environmental assessments and engineering work must be completed. This ROW is needed for clearing, utility rerouting and other such activities to clear the path for arriving or departing aircraft. The Commission approved the task order.

County Engineer Ray Richard provided the results of the Buster Walker Road construction bid process. Ricketson Construction Company was the low bidder. After a review of references and recent work completed in neighboring counties, GIEC was prepared to recommend Ricketson. The Commission awarded the bid to Ricketson for $1,187,657. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) will provide $300,000 toward the project. The remaining $887,657 will come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPOLST) dollars for road construction. Richard reported that the clearing and grubbing had begun on Buster Walker Road. This is being completed by another firm who has until Mid February to complete that process.

After a short discussion, the resolution supporting the Development Authority’s work with Foodonics was tabled until next week’s regular meeting. Since the Development Authority had not completed the negotiations yet with the company, complete details were not available. The Board discussed passing a more generally supportive version of the resolution, but decided to wait until next week when hopefully the company and the DA have completed their negotiations and the DA has had time to take action on the matter. Each Commissioner expressed the need and desire to drive industry and to bring jobs to Brantley County. The Chairman went on to explain that while a 10 year tax abatement program would result in about $750,000 in offset taxes and the company paying 100% of the taxes at the end, during that same time frame the 40 new jobs would generate over $3,900,000 in net payroll to the local economy. Once the DA has the final numbers the Board will take the item up again.

The Tax Assessors Office came before the Board announcing that Sean Chapman had been hired to fill the vacant property appraiser position. They asked for some part time help, 3 days per week 8 hours per day for at least the first 3 months of 2011. They also requested 3 new computer systems with a budget of $4,500. With the new mapping software, other software and increased parcel counts, etc., the older computers simply can’t keep up. The Commission voted to allow the County Manager to work with the Chief Appraiser on the computers and tabled the part time help until the January 2011 meeting. The Commission wanted to see how the year wraps up financially before the decision is made on part time help. Since the TA board didn’t plan to bring the part time help on until January, they were fine with this schedule.

Regular December Work Session

The Commission heard a report from the County Attorney, Tom Lee, on the acquisition of property from the Board of Education. The Commission has been negotiating for over 18 months with the Board to acquire some property on Waynesville Road that the school owns which is separate from the school site on adjacent property across Tyson Road. The 15 acres more or less is slated to be donated to the County with the timber on it. The plan is for the County to use the property in the future to build a Waynesville Recreation Facility. This has been a long standing issue that the Commission made a priority once the three new Commissioners came on board. Cutting the timber will provide some funds to get started with. Utilizing County employees, much of the work can be completed to hold down costs. A second piece of property that is slated for approval for transfer from the BOE to the Commission is the less than an acre at the southeast corner of the Atkinson Upper Elementary school. This will be the future site of a Waynesville VFD substation. Since it is less than an acre, the County will have to work out with the BOE to use their water or drain field, as the property isn’t big enough to house both. The County Attorney was asked to work out a memorandum of understanding or an intergovernmental agreement with the BOE attorney to resolve any issues with the County health department. The Chairman and Superintendent had discussed the issue, so the attorneys simply need to formalize this for approval.

The County Attorney also reported that that the work with the cell companies had proven beneficial. Over 600 accounts have been redirected to Brantley County from surrounding counties. Accounts typically carry more than one phone so this will result in tens of thousands of dollars in sales tax and E911 fees being redirected to Brantley County. There were 34 accounts that are still in dispute.

The Commission discussed a resolution allowing for partial billing. Ad valorem Tax legislation that was passed last year made it mandatory for counties to pass this type of resolution if they should ever want to do partial billing in the future. With this approach, the County would send out a partial bill in June and December of each year spreading the tax burden so that it didn’t all hit at Christmas. An analysis of county cash flows showed that implementing partial billing would not negatively the County. This was placed on the consent agenda.

A list of names was discussed to fill the vacant Dog Control Officer. The issue of the County not having a place to properly quarantine dogs that need such action because of their biting a person was also discussed. The County Manager will work with the Sheriff. In the past, a discussion took place between these two about building such a facility at the jail and letting trustees manage any quarantined animals. This will be revisited during the holiday. This was placed on the regular agenda.

Positions on two boards, the Health Department and Board of Elections were also discussed. Sylvia Wingate and Betty Jo Morgan were names respectively submitted for each. These will be verified and placed on the consent agenda.

The County Manager updated the Board on a number of items. An outdoor watering ordinance that has been mandated by the State was placed on the consent agenda. The completion of a USDA grant application for an Ambulance was placed on the consent agenda. The approval of a new flight of “pictometry” to update the 2009 data that is on file today. The flight and purchase won’t actually happen until later in 2011 but has to be scheduled now as part of their overall flight plan. This data can be used by the Tax Assessors office, the E911 dispatchers, fire, rescue and other offices in the County. The cost of the flight is $37,000 and will be paid over a three year period.

The bids for the concession stand, bathroom, and score keeper building at the Satilla Fields Recreation Park were reviewed. Since the low bid was over $100,000 more than the County has remaining in the SPLOST account for recreation, all bids were thrown out. The County Manager will look at ways to “value engineer” the building to drive the cost down and look at ways to use the County's purchasing power, internal or inmate labor, etc., to drive the cost of the building down.

The placement of White Ford Road on the County’s paving priority list was put on the consent agenda.

The resolution supporting the Development Authority’s efforts to bring jobs and industry to Brantley County was placed on the regular agenda.

A closed session for personnel was placed on the regular agenda.

Chairman's Corner

2010-12-07T08:16:00.001-05:00

The County continues to focus of cutting costs and driving revenues to, Lord willing, get through this year without borrowing any money from next year to operate. At this point we've had to pull $250,000 off of the line of credit to manage "cash flow" issues over the next 23 days. With some anticipated grant funds, the CSX settlement of previous years Tax Appeals complete and their payment on the way, some unassigned sales tax revenues coming on the 15th and our other regular deposits, the County should be able to pay this back from 2010 tax dollars and make it through 2010 without borrowing money from next year's tax dollars to operate. THIS WOULD BE A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT for the entire team if we pull this off and a wonderful blessing from the good Lord.

We have a couple more payrolls and bills in December that have to be paid. But, if the County could start 1-1-2011 with zero debt from 2010 operations, that is a HUGE contrast from the $3.2 million that we had to borrow in January 2009 and weren't sure if that was going to carry the County through the end of the year. A lot of this has come from back taxes, a lot from holding costs in line, from driving revenue by normalizing fees and hosting prisoners for other counties. It has taken every department head, every staff member, every Constitutional Officer and every Commissioner to keep this focus.

The real story is that the team has accomplished all of this while starting over a dozen road construction projects, a new recreation facility, Satilla Fields, and other improvements around the County. Through the use of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars, all of these improvements are possible with debt being paid back and the Commmission being able to lower the ad valorem tax rate for two straight years. Also, don't forget that 45% of that SPLOST goes to make the payments on the new $8.5 million jail facility. These payments total $162,000 per quarter or $648,000 per year. If it weren't for the SPLOST dollars, those payments would have to come from tax dollars which, based on last year's millage, would be an additional 2.48 mills. So, the SPLOST really helps the County make progress and hold down ad valorem taxes. The one cent goes a long way.

With the Christmas Season upon us, it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle. Remember to slow down and spend time with your family and friends. Tell them how special they are and remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Merry Christmas

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission.

Brantley County Millage Rate Set

2010-11-19T08:35:00.001-05:00

The Brantley County Commission met in a public hearing and then in a regular business meeting to approve the millage rates for next year. Once again, the Commission lowered the millage rate. This year, the millage rate was lowered by 1.28 mills. See the “Millage Rate Summary Sheet” on the left column of this page for details. The Tax Commissioner will work tomorrow to get the documents out to the State. With the current timeline, the bills could go out around the week of the 29th. This would give taxpayers the opportunity to pay their bills prior to the end of the year for the income tax advantage in 2010, if they so desire. The final due date will likely be some time in January 2011 and will depend on when the bills are actually distributed.

One common question is why the County millage rate is higher in the cities of Nahunta and Hoboken than the County millage rate in the unincorporated County area. The County receives insurance premium tax money only for residences in the unincorporated areas of the County of about $658,000 annually. This revenue has to be “backed out of” or “rolled back from” the millage rate in the unincorporated areas where those funds are collected. That is the law. Since the cities get the insurance premium tax money for homes and businesses inside the cities, the County has no control over those revenues and no legal right to roll those millage rates back. The cities are not bound by the same “roll back legislation” that the County is. The local option sales tax revenue is collected and “backed out” of both the cities and the unincorporated millage rates.

The County Commission local effort, which is the funds needed to operate above expected revenues and amount of money requested from the local tax payers, totaled $5,498,472 for 2011. The millage value was $268,935, which came to a millage rate of 20.45 in the County areas outside the cities. When you add the insurance premium roll back of 2.28 to the base millage of 20.45, the incorporated millage rate totals 22.73. The Board of Education local effort totaled about $4,100,000 based on last week’s paper. With a Board of Education millage value of about $305,000, this yielded their millage rate of 13.53. The difference in the millage values has to do with exemptions that the County has to use, which the school board does not. The fire tax millage rates were all kept at 1.25 mills to fund the volunteer fire departments throughout the County.

When this group of elected officials joined those in office two years ago, they pledged to pay down the debt, keep the millage rate steady, or lower it if possible, and to make progress leveraging SPLOST and grant dollars. The millage rate has been lowered for two years in a row, up to this point the County has borrowed no money to operate in 2010, there are currently eight roads being paved with SPLOST and GaDOT dollars for a total of 12-13 miles in the paving process and the new recreation park built almost exclusively with SPLOST and capital outlay dollars will launch in the spring. These considerable achievements have and will continue to take the consistent effort and cooperation of the entire Brantley County Management Team. This team consists of the County Commissioners, Constitutional Officers, Department Heads and all County staff. With God’s continued blessing, Brantley County will continue to improve.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

Brantley County Commission November Regular Meeting

2010-11-10T16:46:00.003-05:00

In the regular meeting of the Commission, the Development Authority Executive Director, Jeannie Boland, and a representative of the Southern Regional Commission presented a project to define opportunity zones in Brantley County. In the latest assessment from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), Brantley County went from a tier 1 to a tier 2 county. When manufacturing companies come calling on counties in South Georgia, the tier status defines what type of State employment tax credit per new job created those companies receive. By process the opportunity zone project, there is a very high likelihood that Brantley County could return to tier 1 status. This yields the companies an increase from $2,500 per job to $3,500 per job. After the presentation and some discussion, the Commission approved a draft contract with the Regional Commission to complete the application process subject to the attorney’s review. By getting the application filed by December 31st, any jobs created next year may benefit from the increased State employment tax credit. The bottom line is that this process will help level the playing field with surrounding counties and bring jobs to Brantley County.

The Commission discussed Raybon Road East next. During public participation, a resident on that road who had reached out to the Chairman and met with the County Manager also addressed this item. The Commission was cautious to not over commit SPLOST funds with so many road projects currently under way, but a motion was passed by the Commission unanimously to have the road department take on the Raybon Road East project after they complete Boots Harrison. The route was modified so that it passes through Gilman Road and to Satilla Church Road coming out on Highway 82 near Goose Hill. The project would be completed with a minimum of right of way as the road has sufficient width and drainage, with a few exceptions. Once the dirt work is completed on the road, it will be let for base and paving. In a separate motion, the Commission voted to put Britt Still Road back on the paving list. No work will be done on the road until it comes back before the board. Petty Crossing was also discussed. With the logging that has taken place on that road, there are bushes and small trees leaning out on the road. It is so bad that 2 cars have difficulty passing on what is normally a very wide thoroughfare. The County Manager will get the road department to trim this road. If there are issues with the road bed itself, the logging company needs to return the road to the state it was in prior to logging.

The Commission next took up the issue of missing E911 payments. The EMA director, the County manager and the Chairman have each worked diligently to get the funds that are due Brantley County coming to Brantley County. Based on Georgia law, any cell phone that has a billing address within Brantley County should have all sales tax and E911 fees assigned to Brantley County. Yet daily the Commission hears from citizens that explain that their E911 fees and sales tax dollars are going to one of the surrounding counties. Many report that it takes A GREAT EFFORT to get the cell phone company to correct their error. The Chairman explained his personal experience with this process in a piece in the papers a few months ago where he was given the run around by his provider. The Commission passed a motion to have the County attorney review the code sections and bring back all alternatives up to and including litigation against cell phone companies to ensure that all of Brantley County E911 fees and sales taxes are received retroactively to the point where the County should have been receiving them.

In other items, the Commission advertised for a new dog control officer. This officer is only called into action when a person is bitten by a dog. The Commission also appointed Barry Chesser to the library Board; approved the development of a new sign for the “Satilla Fields” Recreation complex near Lulaton; approved the annual contract for the Clerk of Court for municipal and court records scanning services; approved new board of equalization software that the Clerk of Court needs as that office now manages that board; bids for Exterminating Services, Fire Extinguishers & HVAC maintenance and approved the execution of a resolution for a coastal incentive grant via Jennifer Kline, subject to legal review, that will provide extensive tributary and floodwater information.

Now that the digest information is available, the budgets for each of the individual fire tax districts were rescinded and adopted at the appropriate levels based on the 1.25 mill rate previously set by the Commission and the digest figures provided by the Tax Assessor/Tax Commissioner. These values were Nahunta $86,904.53, Nahunta – City $26,285.94, Hortense $35,267.85, Hoboken $56,836, Waynesville $117,118.64 and Calvary $39,479.35. The County also set the budget for the County wide fire tax district as there are 84 commercial and residential properties that the Tax Assessor was unable to isolate to an individual fire tax district. This was set at $20,415, based on the digest and the 1.25 mills.

Finally, the Commission approved Task Order number 5 on the airport project to be funded from grant dollars provided through the Air Georgia grant. Mary Gibson, airport authority executive director, reported that the airport is at the appropriate elevation and the contractors are working with DOT to define the finishing specifications. The airport and taxi way will be completed in coming months.

BTC Video by Robby Thomas

County Reduces Millage

2010-10-29T09:41:00.006-04:00

In a called meeting to finalize the General Fund Budget and set the millage rate, the Commission lowered the millage from 21.73 last year to 20.45 or 1.28 mills this year. Last year the Commission lowered the millage rate by 0.25 mills.

The Commission set an expense budget of $12,100,202.10, with anticipated revenue from sources other than property tax at $6,224,730.00, setting the local effort at $5,498,472.10. This includes debt repayment of $200,000, in case the County has to borrow money to get through the year. At this point, the County has borrowed no money to operate and things are looking good for the rest of the year, but things have to fall just right. Even with the value of mobile homes, vehicles and timber assets lower by $11 million for this year, the Commission was able to lower the millage rate by 1.28 mills, while paying back the remainder of the $3.2 million in debt that existed in 2009 when three of these Commissioners took office.

The fire department budgets were set as submitted, with a couple of modifications. The fire tax for each of the 5 fire tax districts was set the same as last year at 1.25 mills.

Finally, the Commission discussed the garbage fee. The County pays $10.60 per month per house for garbage collection services. This Commission voted 3 to 1 to set the garbage fee to $127.20, up from the $85 where is has been for years. The savings created by reducing the
millage by 1.28 mills will more than offset the $42 increase on the annual garbage fee which will, as always, be added to the tax bill.

When the majority of this Commission took office, we vowed with the two existing Commissioners to pay off the debt over time, keep the millage rate steady, and lower it as we could and to make improvements with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars. Lord willing, we will finish this year without borrowing any money to operate. For the second consecutive year, we have lowered the millage rate. Eight roads are being, or have been paved, and the new recreation park will be ready for play in the spring. It has and continues to take a concerted effort on the part of the Commission, constitutional officers, all departments and staff to get to where the County is today. There is still a long way to go, but progress is being made.

Ronald E.Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

BTC Video by Robby Thomas

Brantley County Commission October Regular Meeting

2010-10-13T08:47:00.002-04:00

In the Regular Commission meeting on October 12, the Commission handled a variety of items after approving the minutes from the September 2010 meeting.

The first item was a request from current Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department Chief, Billy Lartz. One of the fire engines and some equipment in use in the Nahunta VFD are leased from former members Kenneth and Button Lee. Since their departure they have requested that the NVFD purchase their fire truck and equipment for $20,000. If this doesn’t happen, they may remove that equipment from service. Chief Lartz has teamed up with Calvary, Hoboken, Hortense and Waynesville Fire Departments to organize the equipment needed to replace that on lease from the Lees. Currently Hortense has a fire truck that Nahunta has borrowed, as Nahunta has one out of service. The County manager suggested that the Commission expedite repairing the vehicle that is out of service, bringing the fleet back up to appropriate levels without the Lee’s leased vehicle. The NVFD has no funds to purchase a fire truck, as the finances were left with an $8,000 deficit as reported by the County Manager. After the first of the year, when tax revenues are collected, the NVFD may have funds to procure a truck. Chief Lartz said that he had the commitment of all the Volunteer Fire Chiefs to help in any way they can to bridge the void created, should the equipment be pulled from service.

Commissioners Summerlin and Herrin volunteered to work with the Veterans Association(s) and the Historical Society to select a bridge in Brantley County to be named in honor of our Veterans. They will work with the agencies and report back to the Commission at the November Work Session. The goal is for them to select a bridge and the specific language for the name.

The fire protection agreements between the County and Hoboken VFD and Hortense VFD were renewed without changes. The Commission also voted to purchase a container for the Forestry Department to use to store equipment for $1480. Currently they have some equipment exposed to the elements, which isn’t good.

Commission spending limits were also modified so that the County Manager is now authorized to spend up to $1500 without other approvals. Approvals above that level require the approval of all Commissioners. This is effective immediately. Currently, expense requests are emailed out to the Commissioners and they can either respond digitally or stop by and sign the expense request form.

The Commission discussed courthouse security next. A proposed parking lot for the South side of the courthouse that was designed by the County engineering firm was reviewed. This would add approximately 60 new spaces, including handicapped spaces and appropriate green space to the Southern Face of the Courthouse. The Commission approved letting this project for bids as the project can be funded with Road SPLOST dollars and completed this year. Adequate parking on the South entrance will make it convenient for civilian traffic to travel through that South entrance. The Board has also acquired some budgetary quotes for security equipment. One alternative is to secure the East, West and North entrances, so that only employees can scan in and out of those entrances. In this alternative, the metal detector at the door of the courtroom would be relocated to the ground level at the South entrance (where the Coke machine is now). All civilian traffic in and out of the courthouse would travel through that door and through security. Persons needing to use the elevator would be scanned using a hand wand, then allowed to go up the elevator. The Sheriff would staff this entrance with security. As part of the security equipment for the doors, cameras could be installed at each door monitoring the hallways, the courtroom and overlooking the parking areas. These camera feeds could be recorded and remotely monitored at the 911 facility so that those operators could dispatch assistance if they saw a problem arise. Initial estimates for the security equipment and installation range about $15,000 to $19,000 depending on functionality. These numbers will be fine tuned and brought back to the November Work Session at the Commission’s request. If the Commission is unable to find the money this year, these funds will be budgeted in the courthouse maintenance budget for 2011. Logistically, it makes sense to install this equipment after the South Parking lot is in place, otherwise this could be a significant inconvenience to the citizens parking all over the courthouse. Plus, there are staffing issues to consider. In recent court sessions, when physical altercations have broken out in and around the courthouse, it has become clear for the safety of the employees, security has to be tightened now that the Sheriff’s office is over a mile away.

The County approved the Master Equipment Lease with Musco Financing for 4.4% for 10 years for the lighting of all 4 softball/baseball fields, the football field and the soccer field at the recreation park, financing a total of $467,198. All other spending on the recreation park was paid for by SPLOST dollars and capital outlay funding.

The Commission agreed to enter into a maintenance agreement with Southern Geographic, who is currently completing the geocoding of all County parcels that get updated to the online database, qPublic. This maintenance agreement will allow these property change files to be updated monthly. There may be some accuracy issues, since a mass update of thousands of parcels is about to be completed. If you find issues with the online data, please call the Tax Assessor’s office and make them aware of the situation with the parcel number and issue. Their information is available on this web site.

Other actions taken included the following: Derrick Lane was reappointed to the Recreation Advisory Committee. The agenda item for the Development Authority on Opportunity Zone Applications was postponed to the November Work Session. Another agenda item involving the Work Program for High School Students was postponed to the next Budget Hearing. The Commission approved the Grant for the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The County had an executive session for real estate. After the executive session, no action was taken.

Chairman’s Corner

2010-10-10T21:43:00.004-04:00

The County enters the final quarter of the year in solid financial standings, with many community improvement projects under way which are funded through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars or grant/GADOT funding. Remember that SPLOST funds are collected for a “specific capital expense” and that 1% sales tax revenue can only be used for those purposes. About every four years the community has the opportunity to support a SPLOST referendum. Supporting the SPLOST makes projects like these possible.

A summary found on the left of this web page shows financial figures to date. They demonstrate that expenses are under budget and trending with revenues. When measuring the financial reports we have to watch both cash flow and the balance sheet. Since the reporting system does not show this year’s tax revenue, which was collected prior to January 1 2010, the balance of year to date expenses show us ahead of year to date revenues. But, Monday of last week there was over $400,000 in the general fund bank account with anticipated revenues for the remainder of the year in excess of $1 million.

I share all of this to demonstrate that all departments and constitutional officers are doing a good job of watching expenses and driving revenues. But, we aren’t out of the woods yet. We must remain diligent.

Currently, the County has paving projects under way using SPLOST and GaDOT dollars on Waynesville Road, Buster Walker Road, Boots Harrison Road, Satilla Church Road, Dude Circle and Mt. Calvary. Resurfacing projects have been completed on Oak Grove Road and parts of High Bluff. There is also a restriping project under way for over 30 miles of Brantley County roads, which was funded through GaDOT. The status of these projects was recently reported in the paper. They are on schedule.

The “Satilla Fields” Recreation Park construction project is near completion and has been funded with SPLOST and capital outlay dollars with the exception of the lights. The softball/baseball fields are completed with irrigation and grassing. The football and soccer fields are complete with dirt work and irrigation. The grassing is under way and the fields will be ready for their sports. The architectural plans for the field house are near complete and will go out for bids in coming weeks. The lighting for all 5 fields is being installed and will be complete in a few weeks. The goal is to have all facets of the park ready for the spring.

Construction has restarted on the airport project which was funded through a $2 million Air Georgia Grant. Littlefield Construction is almost complete with the dirt work. Once that takes place there will be a few weeks of idle time while DOT completes testing and provides some of engineering numbers to move forward. Once they make those readings available, the base and paving can be complete. The lighting contractor can complete their modifications during this time as well.

The Tax Assessor’s Office is working on the digest numbers. Once the Commission has those digest sheets, we can complete the budget process, set the millage rate and the Tax Commissioner can get the bills out. Once we have more details on the digest, budget process and time line, we’ll pass that information along. The Commission has the budget very close and will complete that portion of the process quickly once the data is available.

Five fire substations have been, or soon will be, erected with fire tax dollars that will help lower ISO ratings and homeowner’s insurance payments all across the County. Meetings with Skip Starling, ISO specialist, have developed definitive action plans that will assign and reassign assets and resources to make this plan most effective for the entire County.

The County has a $1.2 million line of credit, which we have not had to use to date. The County has anticipated revenues that will fund October’s payroll and Accounts Payable if all departments continue to be conservative. The Governor has ordered the repayment of $18 million in unassigned sales tax revenue that will be spread over ALL cities and counties in Georgia. Some small portion of that will come to Brantley County. Back taxes continue to be collected by the Tax Commissioner and the Sheriff continues housing other county’s prisoners and bringing in $30,000 or more monthly. All of this continues to help pay down the debt.

It has and continues to take a team effort to bring the County’s finances back into line. The Commission vowed two years ago to pay down the $3.2 million in debt over time, keep the millage rate steady or lower it and to make progress with SPLOST & Grant dollars. With the good Lord’s continued blessings, this plan will continue to work.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman – Brantley County Commission

Waynesville's New Free Fire Truck‏

2010-09-24T08:07:00.003-04:00

The free Fire Truck that Waynesville VFD received through a successful grant application will be delivered in coming weeks and should be in service shortly afterward. The truck has a value of over $250,000 and comes at no cost to the County. This is a magnificent asset to help continue the improvements underway for fire protection across the County with new installation of 5 new stations, realignment of existing stations and other efforts under way by each Volunteer Fire Department.

Hoboken VFD Main Station Taking Shape

2010-09-23T21:02:00.002-04:00

County Commission September Road Meeting

2010-09-17T15:45:00.003-04:00

The County Commission met on Thursday in the monthly road meeting to discuss the current construction project. The following projects are under way and will be funded through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds that come from the extra 1 cent that is paid in sales tax throughout Brantley County. When it comes time to renew the SPLOST in 2011, please remember all the wonderful projects that are taking place because of the SPLOST. Without SPLOST, the County would NOT be able to make these much needed improvements.

At this point, over 200 parcels of right of way have been negotiated and acquired by this Commission to launch these road paving projects in 2010. This took the Commissioners and staff many hours of tracking people down in and out of State to get their approval and signatures on right of way deeds.

Waynesville Road
Littlefield Construction has moved in and completed about 80% of the ditch construction between the beaver dam and highway 110. They've completed approximately 30% of the ditch construction between the beaver dam and highway 82. The power company needs Littlefield to complete a small section of the ROW shoulder work so that they can move the power lines. The plan is to complete all dirt work and grass the road for the winter. In the spring, Littlefield will move back in and prep and pave the road. By the time the dirt work is complete, there will not be sufficient warm weather to provide for the paving of such a long section of road using triple surface treatment as required by the State.

Buster Walker Road
The County has received the DOT contract on Buster Walker Road. Golden Isles Engineering has released the request for bids for the grubbing and clearing for Buster Walker as the GaDOT is not participating in the funding of that portion of the project. GaDOT is providing $300,000 toward the building and paving of Buster Walker. The bids are due in by October 12th. At that time, one will be awarded based on the price and recommendation from the engineering firm's review. The County is waiting on the “notice to proceed” from the GaDOT for the dirt work and paving portion of this road. This should be arriving any day now. At that time, that portion of the road construction will be released for bids. The goal is to work that through the winter and have it ready for paving in the spring as well.

Dude Circle
Littlefield Construction has completed the dirt work on this road and is waiting for the soil to pack under the traffic that is on it. In coming weeks, they will install the clay necessary for a solid base on the road and then install the soil cement and double surface treatment. That is basically two layers of tar and two layers of rock. This road should be completed in the next 30-45 days.

Boots Harrison Road
The County has completed the majority of the clearing and grubbing and is working with the utilities to get their equipment into the new space. Once this is completed, the County will start on the dirt work and ditching. Once that is completed, the bids will go out for base and paving.

Taylor Road Area
Every time there is a substantial rain, the area South East of the Waynesville Elementary school becomes flooded and impassible. During this last event, the County took the opportunity to work with the school board to try and put some permanent fixes in place. An old outfall ditch was cleaned out through the area and new pipes were installed in an attempt to get the water away from the road. Thanks to the Board of Education and the neighboring property owners for working with the County to make these improvements. The ditch beside the road is only good for so long and then that water has to “go” somewhere. These efforts also took a significant amount of County resources so the patience of many others during this time was also much appreciated.

Satilla Church Road
Allen Construction has completed the ditching and dirt work on the Satilla Church Road and is installing the clay base. Once this comes back from the lab, so that the proper percentage of concrete to install is known, they can move forward with the soil cement and double surface treatment. There was some pretty major piping and culvert work that had to be completed on this road, but those are done. The plan is to complete this road over the next 45 to 60 days.

Mt. Calvary Road
The County’s engineering firm has completed an alternate design on the road this week. Right of Way deeds have been acquired from over ½ of the property owners. The County has received signed deeds or verbal approval from all but two land owners on the entire western stretch of this project which runs from the bridge to the High Bluff Rock Road. The ROW deeds for the GaDOT portion of the road which runs from the bridge east to the pavement in front of the Mt. Calvary Church, have been in hand for some time. The GaDOT is providing over $25,000 for this portion of the road and that contract is in hand. The County is waiting for the notice to proceed so that bids can be let for this project. This should be in this week. This much needed project is moving forward.

Dogwood Trail
The County has begun improvements to this public road. The Commission voted to fill in the huge holes in the road and allow as much “green space” to remain as possible through this neighborhood and to complete the road as it is platted in the courthouse. On the original plats which created the public road, the 50’ easement runs from Herrin Lake Road all the way through to Church Street. This will allow school buses, ambulances, trash trucks and other municipal service vehicles to access the residents within Dogwood Trail without having to turn around in one of the property owners drive ways. On numerous occasions, ambulances, mobile homes movers and other vehicles have become stranded in this public road. This will also allow law enforcement to better travel the area as there have been complaints of suspicious activity in the area.

Road Striping Project
The County has received the DOT contract and notice to proceed with painting all road markings on Riverside Rock Road, Caney Bay Road, Old 259 and Raybon Road West. This has been bid off by the County’s engineering firm and the low bid awarded to one of the two major companies in the State who can most economically perform this work while meeting GaDOT standards. This work will likely begin in late October or early November. The County will attempt to “scalp” the sides of some roads where the dirt and grass have accumulated so that the shoulder of the road is higher than the actual road itself. This will make the marking project much more successful.

Oak Grove Road Resurfacing
This project is complete.

County Courthouse Security and Parking Lot
The group discussed proposed plans for the parking lot on the South side of the Courthouse that would allow for 60 new parking spaces without impacting the streets on either side of the Courthouse, as the City of Nahunta chose not to work with the County on that project. This also leaves ample green space and has some filtration designed for storm water runoff as a best management practice (BMP). The Constitutional Officers in the Courthouse are concerned about safety. As we have some kind of court (Magistrate, Probate, Superior, Civil, Criminal, Juvenile, etc) now once or twice per week, tempers can flair and that isn’t good. With this, the County staff and engineering firm are putting together some alternatives for the Commissioners to consider improving security at the Courthouse.

September Regular Commission Meeting

2010-09-15T08:55:00.002-04:00

Prior to the Regular Commission meeting, a Public Hearing was held to allow comments on the closing of Lee Cemetery Road. There were no public comments during that session.

In the Regular Meeting, the County Commission approved a motion to abandon Lee Cemetery Road. The residents that own the property on either side of the road have vowed to allow anyone access to the cemetery who asks for it, to visit someone buried there.

The Commission approved an on premise beer and wine license and an off premise beer and wine license for John C. Williams. The Commission made it clear that there was no longer a residence on the property. Mr. Williams will be opening up a restaurant, package store and potentially antique store at this location.

The Commission discussed the final draft of the Future Land Use Plan submitted by the Future Land Use Technical Advisory Committee (FLUTAC) in its final form, along with the storm water ordinance and technical specification sheets. These documents will help serve as guides for future development in Brantley County and will be the basis for the next land use step, which would include phase I zoning.

A presentation was given by the Coastal Regional Development Center on the “Vanpool” program. With this federally funded program, citizens of Brantley County who can car pool with at least 4 other members to a destination inside one of the 9 counties in the Coastal RDC, can make application for a van to use to commute back and forth to work. For more information contact them at 912-262-2833 and ask about the Vanpool program by VPSI.

The Commission approved:
• the 2009 audit that was received from the auditors this month,
• the reappointment of Leola Buckley to the Satilla Community Health Board,
• the County manager entering into an agreement for a new copier at the BOC office and
• the County manager preparing bids and plans to improve courthouse security.

The Commission approved resolutions creating the fire tax districts for Hoboken, Nahunta and Hortense Volunteer Fire Departments and expanded Waynesville’s Fire Tax district so that it extends all the way to the Satilla River, taking in the current Atkinson Volunteer Fire Department. With the formation of these fire tax districts, the fire tax received from residents and businesses within that district will go directly to the individual Fire Department instead of going into a “general fire tax fund” and being divided among those departments equally. The Commission approved a 60 day notification of the cancellation of the Atkinson Fire Department Contract and rescinded the previous motion to purchase a new fire truck for $75,000.

The Commission reviewed alternatives for Health Insurance for employees. With the skyrocketing cost of health coverage, this was a major concern for the Commission. The initial response from the current agency included a 25% increase in the premiums. After going out for bids to multiple agencies, the Commission approved Option #4 of United Healthcare’s plan which included a 15% increase, which can be funded within the budget line item that the board has established for employee insurance in the 2011 proposed budget. Over 15 different alternatives were reviewed for insurance, including some self insurance options. Some carriers would not even bid on the County’s health insurance. The option the Commission chose balanced the need for health insurance with the need to hold down spending as much as possible.

The County manager reviewed the proposed plan for the recreation park center building where bathrooms, concessions and scoring will be housed. In a recent meeting, the County approved the use of a Glynn County firm’s plans that were drawn up for another park. These were modified slightly and will now be sent out for bids. The construction of this building will be funded with the remaining SPLOST funds that are set aside for recreation. The County also voted to name the new recreation park, “Satilla Fields” in honor of the beloved Satilla River. The Commission also approved the surplus sale of the temporary concession stand building that was purchased last year. Finally, the Commission discussed possibly funding the lights for the recreation park through the OREMC’s revolving loan fund. If the OREMC approved the County’s application, and the matter can be worked out through legal, this would cut in half the interest that the County would pay for the lights (4% to 2%). The County attorney will review this with the OREMC attorney and report back.

After a brief executive session, the Commission approved the recommendation of the County attorney to accept the settlement negotiated with US Mulch for $53,000 on 2007 and 2008 back taxes.

BTC Video by Robby Thomas

Work Has Restarted on the Brantley County Airport Project

2010-09-09T17:10:00.003-04:00

Annual 9-11 Memorial Service

2010-09-07T10:17:00.002-04:00

The annual 9-11 Memorial Service will be held at Frye Funeral Home on Saturday, September 11 at 10:00 am. This is a time when we come together to remember the sacrifice of the fallen and their families. The program is always touching and heartfelt. Remember, "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."

Let's come together and remember the events of 9-11, honor those that gave all in the service of their community and country and to stand together indignant to those who would attack our great nation.

God Bless.

Ronald E. Ham
Chairman - Brantley County Commission

More Roads Paved - Grader Operator Training

2010-09-03T09:04:00.003-04:00

In a called meeting specifically to approve Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT), the Brantley County Commission approved contracts for Buster Walker and Mt. Calvary Roads. The GaDOT is providing funds of $25,000+ for the paving of Mt. Calvary between the bridge and the existing pavement, in front of the Mt. Calvary Church. The Commission will use Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dollars from the Road SPLOST to complete the paving project between the bridge and High Bluff.

The contracts were signed on 9-3 and returned to the State. The official "notice to proceed from the State" should be in hand within 2 weeks. This will allow the County's engineering firm to go out for bids for the two projects, which are approximately 2.5 miles each. This will take about 30 days. Once a bid is awarded, it will take another 30 days for documents and contracts to get in order. The clearing and grubbing for Buster Walker will go ahead and hit the bid process, as the State is not participating in that portion of the project. Once this is complete, the utility companies will be allowed to move their equipment while the bid process for road construction is under way.

So within 60-90 days max, work should begin on Mt. Calvary and Buster Walker Roads. The County is currently using SPLOST funds or DOT funds to pave all or portions of Waynesville Road, Buster Walker Road, Boots Harrison Road, Satilla Church Road, Dude Circle Road and Mt. Calvary Road. Other DOT projects include the restriping of Riverside, Caney Bay, old 259 and Raybon Road West. Recently a DOT Resurfacing project was completed on Oak Grove Road.

Road Grader training and certification will be held in coming weeks by Road Superintendent and Special Projects Coordinator, Morris Franklin. In this process, those who operate a road grader, or could stand in for an operator who is out, will be trained on the operation of that equipment. They will be given the ability to demonstrate that they understand that operation, perform using the equipment on a road during the training and then sign off that they have been shown and have demonstrated their knowledge on the correct operation of the equipment and what is expected of them. This will get all of our grader operators on the same page and further improve our dirt roads. This will hopefully become and annual event.

The Commission is working hard to pave as many roads as possible using SPLOST & GaDOT dollars, while maintaining the dirt roads, improving them and providing outfall ditches which get the water away from the road. All of this will lead to better roads for Brantley.

Hoboken VFD/EMS Get New Home

2010-09-03T08:25:00.004-04:00

The Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department and West EMS station are getting a new home in Hoboken, about 3 blocks South of Highway 82, behind Hoboken Building Supply. Varn's Timber graciously donated the property where the new main Hoboken Station will be located. An extra bay was installed to serve as the new home for the West End EMS station that is currently housed in the Calvary Volunteer Fire Department. EMS director Tim Crews felt that the EMS teams needed to be more centrally located to the general population around Brantley, so they will be moved more to the center, so that the outstations are eventually located in Atkinson and Hoboken.

With the Hoboken Station to be "dried in" this week, the men will start building the inside of the station for the Fire Department offices and EMS living/sleeping quarters.

These buildings were purchased for about $42,000 each, turnkey with funds to pay for them coming from the fire tax portion of the tax bill, which is dedicated for fire coverage. By getting all of the Hoboken VFD equipment inside and better organized, including all paperwork etc, this will help lower Hoboken's ISO rating, which will reduce insurance premiums for homeowners. One resident in Raybon has reported that since that substation went in, his insurance premium was lowered by $505 per year. That is substantial.

This is just another example of how the Commission is working to lower homeowner's costs.