Enhanced 911 and Used Road Equipment on the Way

In a called meeting Tuesday night, the County Commission approved the EMA Director and E911 Board’s recommendation for enhanced 911 equipment. The project will focus on improvements to the current recreation department field house and office at the existing baseball fields. The plan is to purchase and install new “enhanced 911” CAD, telephone and radio equipment in that center and migrate the offices of EMA-911 to that location from the ancient facility where they are today. All equipment, services and salaries will be paid utilizing E911 fees that are collected and dedicated to the operation of these facilities. This eliminates ANY burden on the general fund and the tax payers of Brantley County. Once this equipment is installed, the $1 fee on cell phones will be collectible by Brantley County. This will more than provide the funds needed to pay for the equipment and operation of the department. This new equipment and facility is slated to be operational by August 1st of this year.

The new equipment that is now on order will provide dispatchers with an instant map of a caller’s location when a call comes in. Daytime photography will provide EMS, Fire and Police Personnel with an “all sides view” to plan their arrival. The equipment is very user friendly and easy to operate. This enhanced photography will be made available to all departments in the County. With this new mapping system, the Tax Assessor and Tax Commissioner will be able to get a view of all property in the County that is 10-20 times better than the aerial photography that is in place today. The photos can be updated as much as every other year if the County chooses to budget for that reasonable expense.

The Commissioners asked the current counsel to be in touch with former counsel so that the process of condemnation can begin on the property needed to pave Waynesville Road and Buster Walker Road in Waynesville. With the new school coming online in August, this critical artery must be paved and soon. The Board also discussed the creation of “county paved roads” as other surrounding counties are doing now. With this process, the involvement of the State is limited and the process can be streamlined and made far less expensive. One county reported that they were able to pave an 18’ road with a 26’ bed for only $250,000 per mile. The cost to pave a State-sponsored road is $1 million per mile roughly and those funds have all but evaporated in the current economic environment. This is driving the Commission to look at alternatives. There is about $1 million in the SPLOST account for paving roads today.

The Commissioners voted to purchase two used dump trucks that were presented to the Board and a tractor with a low boy that can be used to haul any of the County’s equipment. A meeting is being held today to discuss trading in the D7 at the landfill for a smaller crawler with a 5 point tilt blade and trading in the rubber-tired excavator for a large backhoe. These two proposed pieces of equipment are far more portable and versatile and could be used all over the county. The funds for all of these purchases will come from funds in a special capital outlay account that was set up when surplus equipment was sold last year or from SPLOST dollars. None of this money will come from the general fund. This equipment is badly needed and especially now with our roads so ravaged from the rain and floods. The Commissioners agreed to lift the furlough on the road department employees temporarily so that they can service the over 200 work orders for road repair that have been called in over the last 3 weeks. The County hasn’t been this far behind in work orders in years and will have to have all hands on deck to dig out from under. The three new positions that were approved last week will be run in the paper this week and applications taken through sometime next week. Contact the County Commission office if you are a certified heavy equipment operator or interested in one of the two labor positions.

The Commission also voted to allow the Road Department Supervisor to allow the Heavy Equipment Operators to start work "at their equipment". With this change, the road grader operators can call in their clock in/out, just as the deputies do, when they get to their road graders or leave them in the afternoon. This will save at least one hour per road grader per day and improve on the utilization of County equipment and manpower.

The Commission also voted to have counsel work with the Airport Authority to draft a lease so that the airport facility would be leased to the Airport Authority for a period of just less than 50 years. This will enable the Authority to manage the airport, while the property remains with the County. This was fundamentally agreeable by all parties, with the details forthcoming in the lease. This will be taken up at the May work session if the draft can be prepared by that time. The Commissioners agreed to allow the Airport Authority to use the office formerly occupied by a Code Enforcement Officer in the County office building. This will provide them with an office for files, etc. and access to the meeting room in the County office.

The Commission also voted to require the Planning Director (who is also the County Manager) to attend the Planning Commission meetings, having him and his staff prepare the notes and the handouts for the Planning Commission and County Commission when that is needed. This relieves the burden from the Planning Commission and the County will no longer pay the $50 fee monthly to volunteers that were providing this service. This is in no way a negative reflection on the Planning Commission or any member of that group. They spend countless hours combing legislation and ordinances for surrounding counties, and counties similar to Brantley, providing alternatives for county ordinances for planning and zoning. Many thanks to the Planning Commission for a job well done.

BTC video by Robby Thomas

Commissioners Continue to Drive Revenue & Provide Services

In the meeting of the Brantley County Commission on April 14th, the tone was consistent - drive revenue, reduce spending, while still maintaining the basic services that are required for the taxpayers.

On the Consent Agenda the Commissioners voted to:

1. Increase EMS fees to make them consistent with other counties surrounding Brantley County.
2. Adopted the first Tuesday at 4pm at the Commission office as the time of the Work Session.
3. Allowed employees to take off more than 4 hours for furlough if their supervisor agrees.
4. Appoint Dr. Tannis Sloan to the Board of Health.
5. Renewed the Annual Nutrition Contract - Home Delivered & Congregate Meals.
6. Agreed to support the proclamation for Donate Life Month (April).
7. Agreed to reinstate the practice of building borrow pits for the dirt on private landowners property with the appropriate soil testing and permitting in place. A list of willing participants is on file at the office.
8. Agreed to disperse the FEMA Funds of $28,802.96, as requested at the Fireman's Association, to Atkinson, Nahunta and Waynesville VFDs.
9. Changed the name of Evergreen Road to Evergreen Way to eliminate confusion and duplication.
10. Authorized the County Manager to assist the Chamber with moving to their new location and to make necessary modifications to the old Chamber office so that the records can be moved from the Courthouse Hall into safe storage that is close by.
11. Allow the Nahunta VFD to use rooms 15 and 16 at the St. Illa complex to move equipment from the old City of Nahunta Fire building so modifications can begin May 1 to move EMS into that building ASAP.
12. Remove all fire vehicles from the Travelers Insurance so that there is no duplication insurance and unnecessary expense.
13. Adopt a resolution drawn up by council that ties the Magnolia PD to the recently approved Subdivision Ordinance.
14. Adopt a standard Fire Service Contract that each Fire Department will need to execute.

On the Regular Agenda, the Board handled a wide variety of issues.

The request for a beer and wine license for "Alice's Place" was tabled as the County Manager was unavailable to report on their ability to meet the local ordinance for these types of establishments. Plus, the newly elected Commissioners had just received said ordinance and wanted some time to review it themselves before making such an important decision. This will be on the May Work Session Agenda.

The request for the County to adopt "Idlewild Lane" was tabled, as the County Manager and Road Department personnel had not yet provided a report as to whether the road meets all county specifications prior to a road being adopted. This will be on the May Work Session Agenda.

Where the Board is very interested in the fuel system that was demonstrated by Tommy Banks of Lewis Raulerson Oil "Fuel Lock", they postponed any decision until the May meeting. This system would cost the county no money, would have discounts built in based on cumulative purchases across all locations and would allow the identification of who purchased the fuel, what County or VFD vehicle the fuel went in to, the odometer reading of the vehicle and a wide variety of other information. Monthly reporting would be made available with the bill and could easily be dispersed to department heads to ensure proper oversite.

The President of the Fireman's Association came before the Board with a well prepared and well thought out request that the County remove the VFDs from the purchase approval process. The purchase approval system was put in place to curtail spending, with a goal of minimizing the shortfall in the general fund. Since all "fire taxes" collected are deposited in a different fund and can "only" be used for fire protection, they have no impact on the general fund. Mark also expressed that the fire departments had been very good stewards over the years of the taxpayers money and that they had all learned how to stretch the dollars a long, long way. The other concern is that sometimes these repairs must be made in a very timely manner and there isn't time for lengthy approvals. Where the Commissioners had implemented an emergency approval policy that was working fine for EMS and Sheriff, they certainly understood the President's concern. After a very productive discussion, the Board voted to remove the "approval process" from the communication and to just ask the VFDs to send in the same purchase request form as a communication of forthcoming expenditure. The County has to have the ability to forecast revenues and expenses and this will help. This was a good compromise.

The Commissioners reviewed the two bids for contract inspection services, as one had been withdrawn. The award was given to Harris Company who bid $50 per inspection trip, which included mileage. The Board discussed the need to review the fees for building permits, to make sure that appropriate collections are made to cover the expense of the inspection process. Having this contracted at a flat rate will help improve the budget process which is underway for 2010 for the Code Enforcement department.

The Commissioners tabled the Agenda items for a Purchase Request System, Tire Disposal Fees and DOT's request to move dumpsters on 32 and 110, as the County Manager was unavailable to give a report on these items. Mr. Madray was out due to illness.

The Commissioners discussed the need for additional jailers for the Sheriff to house prisoners from other counties. When the new multi-million dollar facility was designed and built, the County had plans of holding prisoners from other counties and using those revenues to offset the cost of Brantley's Sheriff Department. In the 2009 budget prepared by the County Manager and approved by the previous board, there is $496,000 in the Revenue Section for fees from holding prisoners from other counties. The Sheriff has requested one additional jailer per shift and one floater (a total of 5) in order to hold up to 60 more prisoners. The average rate for a prisoner is $60 per prisoner per day. That is $420 per prisoner per week. Brantley has the capacity to hold at least 50 additional prisoners at this time. Fifty hosted prisoners at $420 per prisoner per week would generate $21,000 per week, or $1.1 million per year, to help offset the operation of the Sheriff Department and Jail. If the County can only reach 1/2 of this goal, this represents over 1.3 mills of taxes after you remove the cost of the new jailers. The Commissioners agreed to hire the 5 new jailers, so that Brantley County can begin hosting other counties prisoners as soon as possible. Applications for these positions are available at the Brantley County Sheriff's Department and interviews will begin after a notice is run in the papers next week.

The Commissioners discussed several road department items next. The Board discussed the shortage of manpower in the Road Department. There are 29 employees in the Road Department, but when you remove the vacant positions, Shop, Landfill and other assignments including supervisors, there are only 14 employees trying to maintain 640+ miles of dirt road. This simply isn't working. So, the Board voted to hire one Road Grader operator and two labor positions, with one of those to be assigned to the Shop. Where the Board did discuss the concern of sending mixed signals with their furloughing employees and now increasing head count, there are basic services that they simply must provide. If the roads are not passable, EMS, VFD and Sheriff Deputies can not provide any of those services. With this, the Board felt the action was warranted. In line with operating more efficiently, the Commissioners voted to return the Road Department to Monday - Friday 8 to 4:30 operation, with the regular 30 minutes for lunch. This will allow school buses to get their run complete and ensure that we have road work ongoing throughout the week. This also eliminates the situation of having one shop employee on Monday and Friday. The Board also voted to purchase a dump truck from the Capital Outlay account, which was funded through an equipment sale last year. They also empowered Linton Herrin and Charlie Summerlin to work with Ray Griffin and Richard Johns to develop an overall plan for needed equipment (Dually Trucks, Dump truck, Trailers, selling the D7 at the dump and purchasing a smaller tractor with a 5 point tilt blade, etc.) that would work with an overall plan for how to greatly improve County roads. The Board recognized a need for the pipe crew to get the culvert pipes repaired and cleaned out so that roads are cut in 1/2 after bad rains.

The Commissioners also reviewed some information that was provided on possibly farming out the mowing of County roads. The numbers provided by a local contractor interested in providing this service were around $175 per mile. With approximately 90 miles of county maintained roads, this equates to about $21,100 per mowing which would have to happen at least twice per year. The County Manager was not available to provide the cost the County currently invests in this process, with two laborers working during the Spring and Summer months to perform this, with the cost of fuel, equipment purchases & repairs, etc. So, this item was tabled until May.

The bids were opened for the E911 equipment for Radio, Dispatch and CAD services, equipment and installation. Those will be reviewed in detail by a subcommittee, with a recommendation brought to the April 22nd called meeting.

The Commissioners reviewed several names for the Tax Assessors Board and decided to appoint Mr. Billy Lee to the Tax Assessors Board.

For more information stay tuned to this web site or watch the BTC video below.

BTC Video by Robby Thomas

Appointments to Boards

There will be a number of appointments to Boards in Brantley County in coming months. If you are interested in serving, please contact the County Commission office with your contact information and qualifications, as well as the name of the Board where you are willing to serve.

For a complete list of the Boards throughout the County, please see the below link.

Appointments to Boards

Brantley County Applies for $270,000 Disaster Relief

Brantley County Emergency Management Association (EMA) Director Billy Lartz met with GEMA and FEMA representatives this week to tour the flood-ravaged community. With the Satilla River at near century record levels, they didn't have to travel very far to find roads washed out, pipes collapsed and homes flooded. Local sportsmen ferried State, Federal and Local EMA personnel up and down the river. With the river within inches of covering highways 82 and 15, several homes and county roads are under water.

While a tour of local roads, farms and homes was being completed, the County Commissioners and staff went to work assessing the damages and estimated the recovery effort that lay ahead. Using a process consistent with other counties in the area, and with the participation of State and Federal representatives, the County requested $270,000 in disaster relief funding from these agencies.

For more information on the flooding and damage to the community, stay tuned to this website or visit the BTC streaming video link below.

BTC Streaming Video by Robby Thomas

County Tallies Back Taxes

In reports posted on the Official Brantley County Web site, Pat Tompkins, Tax Commissioner, has reported some $2,982,822.16 in back taxes owed for Real Property, Personal Property and Mobile Home Taxes. The reports posted provide only name, year of tax owed and amount owed. If you or someone you know is listed on one of the reports, please contact the Office of the Tax Commissioner to arrange payment or initiate the process to refute the amount owed. The contact methods are listed on the border of this page.

Mrs. Pat is researching the possibility of implementing the ability for taxes to be paid via credit or debit card both in the Tax Office and via an online portal. With many property owners living out of the county, this would accelerate the collection process and minimize the amount of work necessary in the Tax Office to collect the payments. In a time when overtime is being eliminated and employees are being furloughed to hold down expenses, this approach will allow technology to reduce the burden to the taxpayers to get their taxes paid.

Given the current financial status of the county, there is a dire need for back taxes to be collected or for property to be levied upon and sold. Every effort is being made to drive down debt by reducing expenses and increasing revenues.