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Wednesday, October 24,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Dawson BOC agrees to wait on approval of 2019 budget
Dawson County Board Of Commissioners Work Session Agenda - Thursday, Oct. 25
1. Presentation of LED Lighting Proposal for Library- Leslie Clark
and Michael Middleton, Dawson County Public Library
2. Presentation of Request to Reallocate Supplement Lunds- Public
Defender Brad Morris
3. Presentation of $750,000 Community Development Block Grant
to Board of Commissioners and Request to Accept Grant to Assist with
Construction for New Senior Center at Veterans Memorial Park- Senior
Services Director Dawn Pruett
4. Presentation of RFP #320-18 - Inmate Pood Services- Purchasing
Manager Melissa Hawk
5. Presentation of RPP #324-18 - Auditing Services- Chief Pinancial
Officer Vickie Neikirk
6. County Manager Report
7. County Attorney Report
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
After the third and final
public hearing, the Dawson
County Board of
Commissioners voted
Thursday night to table a
vote on the 2019 budget for
two weeks.
Commissioners proposed
several changes as well as
asked finance and human
resources to track down
information to help with
their decision making on
certain items.
District 4 Commissioner
Julie Hughes Nix said she
would like to consider com
bining a front office recep
tion position with a public
information specialist for the
county, and asked the
finance department if she
could get numbers on how
much that salary would cost.
Nix also asked that the
board consider removing the
recommended cost of living
increase for supplementary
employees, an amount of
around $4,300.
“We have not paid that
since 2006 and I would like
the board to consider not
starting that,” Nix said.
District 2 Commissioner
Chris Gaines said he would
like to remove the proposed
full time fire training officer
job and replace it with over
time amounting to $15,000
for the emergency services
department, which would
allow for current employees
who are certified to conduct
training to do so in addition
to their normal shifts. The
change would result in a
savings of around $46,000.
The fire training officer
was one of 10 positions
Emergency Services
Director Danny Thompson
requested and the only one
that Chairman Billy
Thurmond has allocated in
his proposed budget. There
are currently 28 frozen posi
tions in the department,
which are positions that
were not refilled after
employees left or were pro
moted out of them.
Thompson said he would
be willing to try Gaines’
proposal and see how long
the $15,000 would last.
“Give me six months, I’ll
look at the trend of how
we’re doing to say ‘yep this
is going to work or this
might not work and we
probably need to revisit at
some point down the road,”’
Thompson said. “But I'm
always willing to try to work
and make the dollar stretch
as far as it can be.”
“If we can make it work
with the $15,000 instead of
the $61,000 and still offer a
high level of service, I think
it's something that should be
considered,” Gaines said.
Gaines also said he would
like to see the recommended
asphalt budget for the public
works department decreased
by $25,000. If approved the
change would still be an
increase of $25,000 over the
2018 asphalt budget.
Public Works Director
David McKee said that the
amount that would then be
allocated, $205,000, would
be enough to rehabilitate
two miles of road.
“We can make that work,
we are very very fortunate
that we have SPLOST VI,
which as you know 67 per
cent of is allocated to public
works and roads and infra
structure, so yes we can
make that work,” McKee
said.
Gaines said he would like
to see the savings from his
previous suggestions used to
increase the county’s 401 (k)
match to 5 percent from 4
percent, which would cost
an estimated $105,000.
“My goal behind that is
as we’ve heard, we try work
to be as competitive as we
can in the marketplace with
our neighbors and to try to
keep and retain quality
employees and that would
be just a benefit that we
might want to consider
looking at,” he said.
Gaines also suggested
allocating $2,000 to Good
Shepherd Clinic, a free
medical clinic serving
Dawson County. The clinic
requested $2,000 in 2017
and was not allocated any
funds, and did not make a
request in 2018.
“They’re not looking for
funding their everyday
needs, it's a small piece of
their overall budget, but
what it does is it shows a
commitment from the coun
ty that we’re engaged and
we’re invested in that orga
nization that does a lot for
the community,” Gaines
said. “When they go after
grants the grants ask who all
is involved, who all is invest
ed in your organization, and
they would like to be able to
say that the county is finan
cially invested in their opera
tions.”
District 1 Commissioner
Sharon Pausett asked
finance to determine how
much it would cost for the
Dawson County Satellite
Branch Library to stay open
for the hours that the depart
ment requested during bud
get hearings this summer.
The library board asked
for hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday-Thursday instead
of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays
and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursdays, and asked for
two part time staff positions
to be able to work those
hours at an expense of
$25,500.
Pausett also said she
wanted to discuss the rec
ommended new position of
an additional part time
Magistrate Court judge.
“I had lots of comments
from people that they don’t
see that that’s needed and I
had talked to (Chairman
Thurmond) about it and got
an entirely different perspec
tive,” Pausett said.
Thurmond’s wife Lisa
Poss-Thurmond is the
Dawson County Chief
Magistrate Judge.
Thurmond said the law
requires the Magistrate
Court to have a judge on call
for all of the 8,760 hours in
the year.
“You can make a compar
ison of that to the coroner’s
office, the coroner's office
must have a coroner avail
able to answer a call every
hour of every day of every
week of every month of
every year,” he said.
“(Magistrate Court) are one
of few departments in the
county that have 24/7
responsibility. When they
leave their office at 5
o’clock, they don’t just go
home like everybody else
does and be off.”
Voting Schedule
For the General Election
of November 6. 2018
Voter Registration Deadline:
October 9th (new and changes)
Advance Voting:
Oct 15 - Nov 02, 2018 - Mon - Fri 8am to 5pm
Saturday - Oct 27, 2018 - 9am to 4pm
At Board of Elections office - 96 Academy Ave
- Note: Absentee by mail ballot applications for elderly/disabled/military need to be
requested at the first of each election year, in order to receive ballots, by mail, for
the remainder of that year.
All Polls will be open Election Day from 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
1. ) WEST precinct - at Fire Station #6 on Hubbard Rd
2. ) CENTRAL precinct - at Board of Elections office, 96 Academy Avenue
3. ) EAST precinct - at Fire Station #2 on Liberty Drive (next to Tractor Supply)
If in question about your voting location, and/or to view a sample ballot you may visit
“My Voter Page” @ http://www.mvp.sos.aa.gov/MVP/mvp or call the Elections &
Registration office at 706-344-3640
~ It is strongly advised to familiarize yourself with a ’sample ballot. There are several
offices for vote. All is located on our website and in the office for voter convenience.
(No voting on Monday prior to all elections).
’’Saturday voting is the same day as the Mountain Moonshine Festival. Plan accordingly.
;
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VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA CHAPTER 970
NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS
ANNUAL MOONSHINE FUNDRAISER
51st Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival
October 26-28,2018
VVA 970 members have tickets for sale
Tickets $5.00
GRAND PRIZES
Tickets $5.00
Firman Power Generator
$650.00 Value
7500 Running Watts
MUZZLE LOADER
THOMPSON CENTER ARMS
OMEA Z5 50 CAL. RIFLE
2 Rounds of 50 Sporting
Clays & 1 Golf Cart Rental
619 Sporting Hill Drive
Dawsonville, GA 30534
7771 \ ■
2 HAND MADE
ADIRONDACK CHAIRS
$200.00 + VALUE
AMICALOLA PROPANE DAWSONVILLE,-
$300.00 PROPANE HEATER
AMICALOLA AERIAL ADVENTURES ZIP LINE
PASSES - $200.00
YOUR DONATION HELPS US TO SUPPORT VETERANS AND OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY
ALL PRIZE PACKAGES VALUED AT $100.00+
• Restaurant Gift Cards • Vehicle Service Vouchers
• Local Merchant Gift Certificates • Tickets for local Attractions and Events
ALL PRIZES AWARDED DURING THE MOONSHINE FESTIVAL
Moonshine Festival Community Partners
DawsonCounl
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ityNews!
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DAWSON
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Dawsonville, GA 30534
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