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Wednesday, September 7,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Dawson library, parks, other offices
request more staff for growth needs
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By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Many of the Dawson
County offices that help
residents plan their forever
homes or offer children
sports and other entertain
ment options have one
thing in common. During
the Board of
Commissioners FY2023
budget meetings last week,
these departments asked for
more staff.
Take, for example, the
Dawson County Library,
located at 342 Allen Street
in Dawsonville, and its sat
ellite campus at 145
Liberty Drive, next to Fire
Station 2.
During her Aug. 23 pre
sentation, Chestatee
Regional Library System
Director Leslie Clark point
ed to the uptick in people
visiting the libraries since
the initial COVID-19 shut
downs.
Clark explained how 635
patrons of all ages came
out to the main campus’
June reading and program
ming, exceeding the meet
ing room capacity of 85 at
each event.
In June, the main campus
saw 4,377 patrons, and the
satellite library saw 419,
she said.
“I wanted to really just
show you how this library
is impacting our communi
ty and the service that it
provides with the commu
nity being built up around it
and then [in] the rest of the
county,” Clark added.
To alleviate overcrowd
ing for the summer pro
grams, Clark said the
library system will have to
book morning and after
noon performers, which
would be an additional cost
of $4,200.
Clark requested a part-
time staff position for
$14,563 to allow the
Dawson County Library to
remain open until 7 p.m.
two nights a week.
In August, the library
announced that from Sept.
6-Oct. 25, its hours at the
main campus will be
Mondays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays from 9 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., Tuesdays from 9
a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays
and Saturdays from 9 a.m.
to 2:30 p.m.
Another request was
$12,001 for 3% cost-of-liv-
ing/merit increases for
employees.
Clark acknowledged that
while library staff aren’t
county employees, they are
funded by the county, so
without a budget increase,
it would be “nearly impos
sible to give staff a raise.”
Last year, the Dawson
County Library had to
close for two Saturdays due
to a staffing shortage from
employees leaving for posi
tions that paid more.
While an increase is not
a guarantee an employee
The Dawson County Library is requesting one part-time position
campus can stay open until 7 p.m. two nights a week.
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
Parks and Rec Director Matt Payne speaks to the board at the Aug. 23 budget
hearing.
would stay, it “goes a long
way toward staff retention,”
Clark said.
A wage increase on the
Dawson side would match
an increase given to
Lumpkin County library
employees in that county’s
recently-passed budget, she
added.
Parks and Rec
During the Aug. 23 bud
get hearing, Parks and
Recreation Director Matt
Payne requested a pro
grams assistant position at
$63,105, calling it “his pri
ority.”
“We just need more
nighttime coverage,” Payne
said. “If you’ve been out to
the parks anytime on a
Monday, Tuesday or
Thursday night, you’ll see
that it is off the charts with
the numbers of people
there doing different pro
grams.”
Participation in long
standing rec programs is up
20-25 percent, and that’s
before one considers
the addition of programs
such as lacrosse, high
school basketball and oth
ers, Payne said.
Marshal's office
On Aug. 25, the new
head of the Marshal’s
Office, Angela Byers,
requested funds for two
new positions. One would
be an alcohol license
administrator, a role worth
$68,819.35 with benefits
and equipment. She also
asked for another code
enforcement officer at a
$41,246.40 base salary and
$114,364.99 including ben
efits, a vehicle and equip
ment.
In her presentation,
Byers cited a growing
number of animal control
cases, sharing that most of
the 24,000-plus people in
Dawson County “have at
least one pet.”
Code cases require
meticulous documentation
and a minimum of three
site visits, with five to
seven done on average and
even 20-plus visits for cer
tain cases, Byers said.
“We have 50% more
code cases year to date than
we had in 2021,” she
added.
Dawson County is on
track to process over 500
alcohol licenses by the end
of 2022, and her office is
also responsible for recon
ciling what alcohol and
vape stores have with
what’s in the county data
base, Byers said.
Byers pointed to an
increase also in short-term
rentals.
“We’ve had a 24%
increase year to date in
short term rentals, even
with a change in the ordi
nance and going up on the
[permit] price,” she said.
The marshal’s office has
had 50% turnover in “just
this year,” Byers said,
which limits them when
people are out of the office
or training.
Currently, the office has
a backlog of 63 cases. They
are at a five-to-seven-day
response time for cases
DCN file photo
in its 2023 budget so that the main
instead of a more optimal
three-to-four-day timeline,
save for something like an
emergency dog case that
would require a more
immediate response, Byers
said.
She explained that the
additional staffing would
allow them to get closer to
a same-day response time,
conduct more of those bi
annual alcohol and vape
audits and get donation
boxes under control.
“We all want to get there
[to our goals] and we can
get there,” said Byers, “but
we’re going to need a little
help on the employee side
in order to get there.”
Planning
Planning and
Development Director
Sharon Farrell asked the
board for a full-time
inspector during her Aug.
25 presentation. This posi
tion would have a base sal
ary of $41,248 and cost
$117,256.79 with benefits,
a vehicle and equipment.
Farrell called the current
inspection workload for her
“unacceptable,” and
explained that the 18-20
maximum daily inspections
are rolling over and multi
ple staff are having to
divvy up the additional
workload.
“We’ve had no luck with
[filling] the part-time
inspector position,” Farrell
said. “It’s hard enough to
get a full-time inspector.”
She also explained that
third-party inspectors “are
not as popular up here”
because the cost for those
services is passed on to the
homeowner, and county
personnel would still have
to go out and inspect their
work.
“Our customers pay for
the service (with permit
fees) and expect a level of
service and the busier we
get, that level of service is
hard to maintain,” Farrell
said.
She reasoned the “pres
sure on single-family resi
dential is likely to continue
in the county, with 1,285
vacant plots with addresses
and already platted ‘ready
to go’.”
District 2 Commissioner
Chris Gaines later asked
Farrell for future insight
with expected residential
development.
She explained the
demand, albeit changed, is
there for homes that per
haps have less bedrooms or
are a remodeling project.
“I think, even with higher
interest rates, people need
to find a home,” Farrell
said. “As everyone says,
this is a great place to be.”
The Board of
Commissioners is sched
uled to hold a presentation
on its FY2023 budget as a
whole on Oct. 6, followed
by a series of required
hearings on Oct. 20 and
Nov. 3.
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