The called commissioners meeting on Tues., Nov. 12th resulted in the hiring of a new county attorney. Attorneys Toney Rowell and Jennifer Dorminey Herzog from Hall & Booth of Tifton will begin as the county attorney effective immediately.
Rowell has been an attorney of 24 years and has served as the county attorney in Ware County for three years, in Tift County for five years and in Coffee County for eight years. Rowell was part of a firm in Atlanta who opened a Tifton office in 1999.
Herzog graduated from law school in 2006 and has been with this office since graduation. Rowell and Herzog both have governmental experience and believe in being service-oriented and want to help Worth County in any way possible. The attorneys do no work under contract. If at any time the board is not happy, they can be dismissed.
The rate for Rowell is $175 an hour and Herzog is $150 an hour. The rate usually remains the same for 24-36 months and is a written, signed agreement.
The attorneys’ office does have other attorneys which can assist with different needs of the county. Rowell will have someone in the office assigned to handle the volume of deed work required by the county.
Rowell recommended that Herzog immediately obtain a list of all issues that currently need addressing and indicated they would prioritize them and make a plan to get things in order and handled.
John Merritt presented the list for the 2014 LMIG Road projects. There are about 25 roads that will be on the list. Some of the roads include, but are not limited to, Massey Airport Road (313 & 82), Red Rock Road (313 & Woodcrest Road), Quail Rise Road, Ramble Road, Woodcrest Road (82 to Red Rock Road), Woodcrest Road (Red Rock Road to Jewel Crowe Road), Camp Osborne Circle, Story Road at Camp Osborne, Medders Road, Doe Hill Road, Finley Road and Poulan-Shingler Road (Woodmill Road & Ephesus Church Road). Merritt recommended several times that he escort each commissioner around these areas to look at the roads. Chairman Mike Cosby stated DOT should be consulted before deciding which roads to include and in what order they should be completed.
Cosby said he doesn’t think roads with 500 or 1,000 feet would be allowed. Merritt feels the roads with less damage need to be repaired first to prevent them from getting in worse shape. He said a hole patcher would be great for the county, but the cost is $78,000.
Holiday hours for the Courthouse will be Nov. 28-29, 2013 for Thanksgiving and Dec. 24-25, 2013 for Christmas.
The board re-visited the rental fee for Healthplus to use the Worth County Community Center and agreed to allow them to pay $200 for the light bill and the deposit would be refundable if the building was cleaned.
The next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 21, 2013 at 7 p.m.
