June 22, 2010
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!
County searching for new County Manager
Highlights of
the meeting include paving Jackson
Lake Rd., bailing out JCWSA, and the County Manager resigning!
Last night during the
June 21st BOC meeting, much to the shock of people attending, the BOC agreed several
times. There were a few votes that all
five of them voted for the same thing. These
included disbursement to the Library from the Impact Fee funds, and the
appointments to the Family and Children Services Board and the Jasper County
Library Board.
But alas, JCWSA was on
the agenda and this time before it passed some stipulations from Comm. Cox were
approved. First every one of JCWSA’s customers
will be charged $25.39
on their tax bill for the Fire Hydrant Tax (but there’s some other
name the county attorney uses). Comm. Cox added that all the brush has to be
cleared and kept cleared from around all the hydrants since JCWSA is using
these tax funds to supposedly maintain the hydrants, and all of the hydrants have
to be checked each year by the fire department and must have at least 45 pounds
of pressure. From the looks of things
this tax is going to run forever and ever.
Comm. Cox said the JCWSA didn’t
have to have new customers to support themselves; all they had to do was keep
adding water lines and hydrants. The
vote as usual was 3 to 2 with Cox and Patrick against the tax.
Also passed last night was the paving of Jackson Lake
Rd. on the one and a half miles from Hwy 212 to Holman Rd.
Of course the $151,773.18 they need to
get the county part of the job done is going to be found “somewhere.” It was no surprise Comm. Bernard wanted to
use the SPLOST money and the County
Manager recommended that
approach because he had talked to “some commissioners” which really meant one
commissioner. THANK
YOU COMM. PENNAMON, PATRICK, AND COX who stood by their guns and refused to let
the SPLOST funds be used! This money will now either come out of the
Capital Improvement or General Funds and of course Comm. Bernard says he’ll cut
whatever so he can get the money to pay for this road. He ran his campaign on the fact that if he
got elected he would get Jackson
Lake Rd. paved, and everyone knows that’s been his
personal agenda ever since he’s been back in office. Remember that there will be another $88,000
or so paid for by the State under LARP thanks to Comm. Patrick putting Jackson Lake Rd on
the LARP list last year.
It remains to be seen if
the SPLOST money will now be used to maintain or improve any of the remaining
roads on the SPLOST list. During citizen
comments the BOC was asked just why they couldn’t agree to move forward. Even Comm. Pennamon made some comment after the Jackson Lake
Rd. vote that maybe the BOC could move on to other things now. Everyone is tired of hearing about Jackson Lake Rd. as
if it is the only road in the county.
The TWG would like to
know just what is the role of the County
Attorney?? It seems that he has his fingers in everything. He’s
going to check into everything, adds to the conversation as if he’s the 6th
commissioner, and write up everything and get back to the BOC. It seems he has to coach the chairman on how
to conduct the meetings as well, especially public hearings. How much are we paying him to be involved in every
item of county government? We thought he
was hired to advise the Commissioners, not to run the county. Maybe since the County
Manager handed in his walking papers
last night the county
Attorney should apply for
both jobs.
Yes, that’s right. The County
Manager that was just
hired resigned last night.
His letter was read by Comm. Hill and said he was retiring from public
service. Guess we’ll see who the three
amigos come up with next. Comm. Hill
said the county would be advertising for a County Manager
and CFO as one job. Just like Comm. Cox
and Comm. Patrick wanted before to save the county money. Don’t you wonder how long it will take this
time? What was it something like 6
months the last time to find a County
Manager?
With all the items on
the agenda it was hard to believe the meeting was over before 8:30. Comm. Hill didn’t want any discussion and
just wanted everything voted on. Could
it be because the vote had already been decided before the meeting ever
started?
Mission
Statement:
** To keep the taxpayers of Jasper County, Georgia
informed as to where and how their tax dollars are
being spent.
** To keep the taxpayers abreast of local policies
and laws being discussed and enacted.
** We advocate more open government, less government
spending, and lower property taxes.
