Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
Commissioners approve road work
BOE looks at tech improvements
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
For the first time in a
decade, Barrow County's
government will spend more
than $1 million to maintain
county roads and bridges
this year.
The Barrow County
Board of Commissioners
on Tuesday night approved
county manager Randall
Dowling's recommendation
to add 15 road and bridge
maintenance projects to
the five projects previously
planned for work through a
state grant.
Darrell Greeson estimates
the cost of all 19 projects
to be about $1.2 million.
The Georgia Department
of Transportation is pro
viding almost half of the
money through its 2014
Local Maintenance &
Improvement Grant of
$525,686 to Barrow County.
The rest of the funding will
be local.
Bridges will be repaired
on Boss Hardy Road. Old
Thompson Mill Road,
Manning Gin Road,
Robertson Bridge Road,
Covered Bridge Road and
Hancock Bridge Road.
Jackson County’s govern
ment is to contribute $40,000
for two of the projects,
according to a list obtained
by the Barrow Journal.
The road maintenance
work — mostly patching
and paving — will be on
Nunnally Road, Dunahoo
Road, Bethlehem Church
Road. Dooley Town Road,
Patrick Mill Road, Atlanta
Highway, Carl-Bethlehem
Road, Jackson Trail Road,
Thurmond Road, Davis
Drive, Creekwood Road,
Creekwood Court, and Hazel
Moon Road.
Some other roads also will
receive fresh striping.
Greeson said the last time
the county spent this much
money on road maintenance
was during the administra
tion of Eddie Elder, who
was chairman until his death
in 2004.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Tuesday
night, the Barrow BOC
approved:
•a special use permit for
the home-based operation
of a tree service at 1100
Jefferson Hwy. After receiv
ing strong opposition from
neighboring property own
ers, the BOC attached sev
eral conditions to the permit.
They require the owner
Chad Faulkner to park in his
back yard all of the vehicles
associated with his business;
to have no accessory struc
tures within 25 feet of his
property lines; to have no
outdoor storage of materi
als; and to remove within
30 days the mulch, logs and
tires currently stored on the
property.
A fifth condition states
that if Faulkner violates
the county’s regulations for
home-based businesses, both
his permit and his business
license would be revoked.
•an additional $50,000 for
Tusa Consulting Services
II, LLC to evaluate ongoing
problems with the county’s
new emergency radio sys
tem. As of March 12 the
county had paid Tusa just
over half of the originally
contracted fee of $25,000.
With $75,000 now ear
marked for the company's
services, the county will
have $643,054 in remaining
funds for the radio system.
•the use of $36,500 in con
tingency funds for Sutton
Consulting’s work on ser
vice delivery strategy nego
tiations.
•the use of $5,000 in con
tingency funds for Oliver
Porter's privatization feasi
bility study.
•a construction contract
of $412,175 to Po Boys
Plumbing Inc. for the con
struction of a wastewater
pump station, force main
and a gravity-sewer line to
serve development around
the future interchange of
highways 316 and 53.
Future users include
the Sims Academy of
Innovation and Technology,
Lanier Tech, the planned
cultural arts center, and the
county's planned industrial
park. The total project cost is
more than $700,000, but the
county received a $300,000
grant from the Appalachian
Regional Commission to
cover almost half of it.
•a contract with Gruber
Enterprises of Toccoa for
building plan review and
inspection services that can
not exceed $61,300 annually.
The company already has
provided the services on an
interim basis.
Director continued from 1A
The BOC also agreed with
the administration’s rec
ommendation to eliminate
Harper’s three-year-old posi
tion of senior animal control
officer, which had a salary of
almost $35,500, and instead
to elevate a part-time kennel
tech position to full time to
better handle the front desk
control officer through the
National Animal Control
Association. Felts said
Harper also has completed
additional training in animal
cruelty investigations.
"His development of
the Helping Animals With
Kindness Program provided
the framework from which
the current volunteer pro
gram was developed,” Felts
wrote. "He has an excellent
service record with the coun
ty and achieved a clean back
ground review."
By Alex Pace
alex@ mainstreetnews. com
The Barrow County Board of Education
is considering technology improvements at
Statham, Bethlehem, Auburn and County
Line elementary schools with the help
of Title I funding. The system receives
$10,000 for technology improvements at
each of the qualifying schools.
Improvements to SES include the
purchase of 24 laptops with a bid from
Virtucom of $13,752.
AES will be installed with 15 interactive
whiteboards. Nisewonger placed a bid for
the project of $11,985.
BES improvements include 15 desk
top computers with Williams Electronics
placing a bid of $11,160. CLES improve
ments will be the most costly, with the
recommended purchase of 20 iPads, and
91 iPad minis, costing $52,779. The board
is also considering a system-wide increase
in bandwidth, which will require enhanced
infrastructure to support the new capacity.
The system was awarded an $87,000 grant
from the state for that project.
AHS AND WHBS TENNIS COURTS
Also at the work session, the board heard
from director of facilities Joe Perno about
plans to make improvements to the tennis
courts at the two system high schools.
The tennis courts at Winder-Barrow
High School will be repaved and resur
faced. The courts at Apalachee High
School will be repaired for damage and
subsequently resurfaced. There will be a
fifth court added.
Perno recommended a bid from Sunbelt
Asphalt, from Auburn, of $178,507, for the
two projects. The projects will begin at the
start of the summer and will be completed
before the next school year.
CALENDAR MODIFICATION
The BOE is considering modifying
the school calendar previously approved.
Students would have a 176-day school year
and staff a 180-day year under the plan.
Modifications were made in order to
better offset inclement weather days.
In the spring of 2015, January 19,
February 13 and 16, and March 13, will be
set aside as holidays and possible weather
make-up days. March 16 will also be a
possible weather make-up day. If unused,
the day will remain a teacher planning day.
Open house for the upcoming school
year will take place on Wednesday, July
30. The elementary schools will have
open house from 8-10:30 a.m.; the middle
schools will have open house from 10:30
a.m. until 12:30 p.m.; the high schools will
have open house from 12:30-2:30 p.m.
OTHER BUSINESS
Also at the meeting, the board:
•considered bid for 14 passenger buses.
12 will be 72-passenger buses and two will
be 48-passenger buses.
•heard a report about the need for a
replacement maintenance truck. The board
previously approved the purchase of a van
replacement but that kind is no longer
made. The board is considering purchased
a pick-up truck from the state.
•discussed a bid for the furniture, fix
tures and equipment in the Sims Academy
of Innovation and Technology. Contrax
Furnishings placed a bid of $700,351.
BOE continued from 1A
He also said the board is too large for its
district.
"Having nine for a county this small is
too many,” said Dunn. “Gwinnett County
has five and Dekalb County is dropping
their's from nine to seven.”
But not all BOE members agreed with
the idea.
Vice chairman Mitch Churchill said the
large number of board seats allows for
comprehensive decision-making.
"In my time on the board, I've never felt
like we’ve played politics,” said Churchill.
“[It] has always been a very open board.
It’s impossible to play politics because
we have nine different people, with nine
different views.”
Dunn also asked the board to consider
imposing term limits on board members,
allowing them to have only two consecutive
four-year terms. Dunn thinks that without
term limits, new candidates will be less
likely to run, unable to beat a veteran board
member.
“You might find somebody with some
fresh ideas that would be a great candidate
to serve on the board, but they know they
won’t have the chance,” said Dunn.
But board member Lynn Stevens dis
agreed, saying the board member's terms
are never unchallenged.
“We have term limits,” said Stevens.
“They're called elections.”
No action was taken on the proposal.
and other clerical duties. The
additional cost for the kennel
tech’s salary would be about
$8,600.
“The additional cost to
upgrade the Kennel Tech
position would be more than
offset by the savings derived
from not filling the Senior
Animal Control position
and would increase the level
of service to citizens,” said
human resources director
Charlie Felts in a March 19
memo to the county man
ager.
The animal control depart
ment has been without a
permanent director since
the May 2013 resignation
of former director Missy
Burrell. She had worked for
the department for 11 years
and became director in 2011
after former director Jimmy
Terrell resigned from the
post.
But after Terrell was hired
under contract to review the
department’s performance,
Burrell abruptly walked
away.
After she left, Terrell was
tapped as interim director.
Late last fall he recommend
ed a law enforcement col
league, Bobby Tribble, for
the permanent position. The
BOC approved Tribble as
the new director, but after a
newspaper investigation of
his employment background,
Tribble quit on what was to
have been his first day on
the job.
The human resources
staff then launched a second
search for a new director and
received seven applications,
Felts said.
But in the end, county
officials went with Harper,
who not only applied but had
proven himself during nine
years with the department.
Harper began working
for Barrow County Animal
Control as an animal control
officer in May 2005. He was
promoted to senior animal
control officer in July 2011.
While working for the
county, he also became the
department’s only employ
ee to obtain national certifi
cation as a certified animal
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