The Worth County Board of Commissioners held their first scheduled meeting for the month of November on Tuesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. With all board members in attendance, the commissioners made necessary changes and amendments to the agenda, minutes from the October meetings were corrected and accepted. Finally, the board began by hearing from Judge Ralph Powell.
Powell outlined changes he has made while serving as State Court Judge in Worth County including providing court dates for anyone who comes in to court, leaves the jail, or receives a citation. He says this should reduce bench warrants and cut costs for the county. Next, the judge mentioned an issue concerning a court reporter. According to Judge Powell, there has not been a reporter in that court and it is required.
He also mentioned the right of each defendant to have a court appointed attorney. Judge Powell is personally responsible for appointing such council. Additionally, Attorney Jay Crowe has asked to not be appointed as he handles Sylvester’s municipal court and foresees a conflict if the same defendants are transferred to state court. The current budget allows $10,000 for such representation, but the judge says the number of cases at this time is around 1,200 per year with around 100 arraignments per month, and four to seven cases per arraignment. Powell predicts a shortfall in the $10,000 allotted for this purpose.
He estimates that on the 2015 calendar, there will be about 33 days of court that an attorney will need to be present for approximately eight hours per day. This equates to 264 hours of “lawyer time” as Judge Powell says. At $50 per hour, this would cost around $13,000. Additionally, a second lawyer may be needed if there is a conflict with a co-defendant. Altogether, the judge estimates that $14,500 will be needed to cover these costs.
Next, the board heard from members of the Parker family concerning the paving of Parker Road in District 2. The gentlemen explained that the road was first discussed by the county 38 years ago. An agreement was made, but nothing ever came of the project. The discussion of the road was revisited in 1999 and the board agreed to move forward with the project, and all of the preliminary work on the road was completed.
However, the road was later taken off of the list of roads, and after 15 years, no progress has been made. At this, Commissioner Bettye Bozeman stated that there was no money in the budget to resume the project and that Worth residents should vote in favor of T-SPLOST when the tax is put on the ballot in the future. She said the additional sales tax would provide funding for additional road projects. Commissioner Ken Hall from District 2 also spoke on the matter and assured the family that he understood their dilemma. He also stated that he has never seen a list of roads for paving since he began serving on the board.
While Hall admitted that it would be some time before any progress could be made on the road paving project. He also stated that the board needed to uphold their agreement with this family. Ultimately, the board agreed to hold a work shop to discuss road paving projects and create an accurate and up to date list of priorities.
Moving along with the agenda, Commissioner Joe Gaines stated that the county needs to purchase a minimum of two dump trucks. Gaines proposed moving funds from the public works budget and SPLOST funds to pay for the trucks. He said the trucks would cost approximately $156,000 each. Though he said that he did not expect the board to take action immediately, but he did ask them to be prepared to take action at the next meeting.
Gaines also mentioned installing seamless gutters on the health department and the 911 building. At each building, the commissioner says rain water is pooling at the foundation of each building and causing additional problems ranging from a smell to flooding. The cost for both buildings would be approximately $20,000. Mrs. Bozeman also mentioned the possibility of running a ditch to a low spot on the property.
The District 1 commissioner motioned to approve the gutter installation and Commissioner Hall seconded. Hall and Gaines voted in favor of the matter. Bozeman voted against and McDonald abstained as he said he didn’t know enough about it. Chairman Mike Cosby voted in favor and the motion passed.
Next, Commissioner Hall discussed repairs to the county’s fire trucks. He also mentioned selling a 10,000 gallon fuel tank from the landfill. The county will accept bids on the tank. Hall also motioned to hire several part time firefighters at Worth County Fire-Rescue. Both of the motions passed. The bids for the fuel tank will be opened Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Then, Commissioner Bozeman discussed an intergovernmental agreement between the county and the City of Warwick for code enforcement. The board also voted in favor of providing a code enforcement officer for the city.
Finally, Commissioner McDonald discussed a code violation in the southern portion of the county in which a farm had mobile homes used as tenant houses. The landowner sold the homes, but kept the land, and the new owner of the mobile homes is paying the land owner $100 per home per month and renting the homes in what amounts to a mobile home park. The board agreed that this was a violation and should be dealt with.
McDonald also mentioned a discrepancy with the salary of the new clerk at WCFR. Apparently $12.00 per hour was budgeted for the position. However, according to Commissioner Gaines, the captains did not want the clerk making $12.00 per hour while the firefighters were only making $9.00 so they agreed to pay the clerk $10.00 per hour. Commissioner McDonald mentioned that no clerk has been hired for less than $12.00 per hour in the last two years. After a brief discussion, Ken Hall motioned to pay the clerk $11.00 per hour, and the board voted in favor.
Before the meeting adjourned, Mr. Gaines brought up the bricks at the old Holley School and concrete at the landfill that needs to be crushed and repurposed as gravel for roads. The total cost to have the brick and concrete crushed is approximately $90,000. The board discussed moving the debris to the landfill and putting it in a pile to be crushed in the future.
The Board of Commissioners will hold their next meeting on Thursday, November 20, at 6:00p.m.