About The Monroe County reporter. (Forsyth, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2008)
PAGE 6A iReporter February 27, 2008 Joint continued from the front he added that the city had better move quickly. The county has already identi fied four sites for a build ing and has asked an engineer to rank the sites according to their feasibil ity. “If we’re gonna get with them, then we’d better get with them soon,” said Dodd. Monroe County voters approved a new 1-cent sales tax that started in January and is expected to collect $4.2 million over six years for an adminis tration building. Dodd said the city does n’t have any money to contribute, but county commissioners have said they may be willing to lease space in the facility to the city. Councilman Lamar Russell said he likes the idea but said the site would have to be within city limits. Dodd said all four sites are. As talk of working together continued, coun cilman James Calloway suggested city and county officials should meet four times per year to find opportunities to work together. Councilwoman Rosemary Walker said it’s a good idea and that they have done that in the past. Councilman Desi Hansford said it would let voters know they are indeed working together. Council agreed to have city clerk Janice Hall call county clerk Cindy Crowley to set up a meet ing. In other news: • Better Hometown manager Joan Heath said tenants in the new Welcome Center on Lee Street are meeting with neighbors to try to plan how to meet their parking needs. She said the lot behind Grits Cafe may be reconfigured to leave more room for parking. • City public works director Alvin Randall said crews have begun installing new city side walks, starting on Indian Springs Drive. • Randall said the sani tation department will be distributing fliers remind ing residents what can and can’t be recycled. He said people are not follow ing the recycling proce dure. The flier will also be placed in city bills. Only minor injuries in Montpelier Road pile-up Wet roads, combined with teen drivers, led to a four-car accident on Montpelier Road Thursday. All four cars were driven by Mary Persons students. No one was seriously hurt in the accident. The driver of the gold Chevy Malibu, Dennetra Davis, slammed into and upended the black Buick, driven by Jen nifer Tripp. Two other cars, driven by Casey Young and Rachel Hunter, were also involved. Hunter and Tripp were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Witnesses said a yellow Chevy pulled into a drive way and backed out suddenly into traffic, causing the chain reaction. However, police were unable to identify that car. (Photo/Gina Herring) Hire continued from the front Uroce E. Coyle, P.E. EM rijnk ,jji? ™ Wrm)c.<S* W* FlUltO DPT* P fa Ifc. 49 nvnfeg IMi Bral PEtfCwmop i-naLtHh CATf |7SiU,T>*D. IVojMCtPttJMiWj i COfllWlMwx; .'■‘•rt&Ti Irif* Ei re?i«. Prir iL FWWrt - l n.r.:rH-: ft.as. rrm■ j.f<6 aV'rt SqfT£ME ilU E5&UL O^r m 4 psi I.i? 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UU j yic (E rmc ar The highlighted part of this Jan. 30 bill to Monroe County commis sioners from former engineer Bruce Coyle shows the firm charged the county $60 for merely calling and e-mailing about the status of a bill payment. Commissioners hired a new engineer last Tuesday. (Source: Monroe County Finance Dept.) expansion funded by the county’s new 1-cent sales tax. The move breaks with precedent, as each commis sioner has traditionally hired his own engineer for his district, said commis sion chairman Harold Carlisle. Instead, commissioners accepted a proposal from the firm Carter and Sloop to handle all county water projects for a 5.5 percent fee. The one-cent SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) that took effect Jan. 1 devotes $5.2 million over six years to water projects, which would mean about $286,000 for Carter and Sloop. Carlisle said having just one engineer will save the county money and time. But commissioners Mike Bilderback and Larry Evans disagreed. Bilderback said he voted “no” because the county never sought bids for an engineer and didn’t have time to study the proposal before rushing to approve the contract. Carlisle said he didn’t have much time to study the proposal either because he only got it from Don Carter of Carter and Sloop on the afternoon of Feb. 19, shortly before commission ers’ meeting. But he noted that professional services like engineering don’t have to be put out to bid. “Mike’s got to learn he’s gonna lose some votes,” said Carlisle. Carlisle said Bilderback just wants to keep his own engineering firm of Bruce Coyle Engineering, even though that firm bills the county at $160 per hour. Carlisle said one man who does the work bills $60 per hour and that the man’s boss bills the county at $100 for merely signing off on his work. Further, com missioner Jim Peters said in December, Coyle billed the county another $60 merely for the time it took to call and email the coun ty to see why it had not received payment that was due. Carlisle said it’s time for a new engineer. “The SPLOST will give us a lot of money, and we want to have more control,” said Carlisle. “The board needs to have more say so than one commissioner spending money the way he wants to.” He added that Carter and Sloop both live in Monroe County. Bilderback complained that the vote was pushed through without prior warning, and that no one from Carter and Sloop was there to answer questions. He also noted that county attorney Mike Dillon didn’t have time to look at the contract. Asked about that, Carlisle replied: “So?” iunrj Pir rwi a 4 uw p Over i>(f(D N©w & TUs®dl Tnir®s nm Stock! PfF \mi a 4 uw L©©®tt®dlg Id)® Patrol Hoad ° IF©irsyftIh 9 GA (A®ff®ss the sto®®ft Big CM®) OIL CHANGE SPECIAL $4 4.95 FREE OIL |[HUjjfl CHANGE Up to 5 qts. 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