Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4D
•Reporter
November 23, 2016
Citizen urges commissioners to uphold zoning laws
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Carriage Drive resident- John
Ricketson urged Monroe County
Commissioners on Tuesday, Nov.
1 to enforce its zoning laws to
prevent a Bolingbroke business
from placing commercial signs
on public right-of-ways or other
private properties.
Ricket-son read the county’s
zoning laws aloud, which stated
permitted uses in resiclent-ially-
zoned areas and did not- include
private business signs.
Ricket-son said, “I’m asking for
a clarification and asking the
county commissioners to show
me in the zoning laws where
off-site commercial advertising
signs are a permitted use under
residential zoning.”
Monroe County administrator
and zoning officer Anita Cauthen
responded that- the matter is
“already under investigation”
by new Monroe County code
enforcement- officer Jeff Wilson
and Monroe County attorney
Ben Vaughn. Cauthen said the
county is rewriting its zoning
ordinance to clarify “gray areas.”
Ricket-son told Cauthen he
didn’t- see anything ambiguous
about the county zoning ordi
nance’s stance on what’s permit
ted in resident-ially-zonecl areas.
He said, “I’m reading black and
white. I don’t- see any gray here.”
Ricket-son explained that- the
owner of Bolingbroke’s Hayslip
Hardware had put up a sign for
his business on a public right-
of-way on Pate Road, several
miles from the business’ location.
Ricket-son said Wilson told the
Hayslip owner about- Ricket.son’s
complaints, and the owner sub
sequently relocated the sign onto
a private residential lot- Wilson
said the owner had permission
from the private property owner
to put- the sign on his land, which
he said was on a residentially-
zoned property but- not- in a resi
dential neighborhood. Ricket-son
said the sign’s location is actually
the first- lot- of a subdivision on a
corner.
Ricket-son replied, “But- even in
that- case then the person who
gave him permission would be in
violation.”
Ricket-son said he’s trying to
sell nearby property, and the
sign is “devaluing my property.”
He continued, “Because if one
person can do this anybody can
just- go over there and just- trash
the whole place. I’m tired of it.
The person should be asked to
remove it. I think that- would
be the logical way. And if they
don’t- want- to remove it, then you
issue a citation, period. It’s very
simple. If the law is not- going to
be the law, why don’t- we just- dis
pense with it?”
Monroe County commission
chairman Mike Bilderback said
he agreed with Ricket-son that
the county’s zoning ordinance
needs to be enforced. However,
District- 4 commissioner Jarod
Lovett said he wanted Vaughn to
weigh in before allowing Wilson
to take action because he said
many of the count/s zoning laws
are outdated.
“I agree with what- Mike’s
saying, but- I’m not- so sure we
have everything written well
enough,” Lovett said. “I wanted
code enforcement-1 understand,
but- those things were written
by these two guys (longtime
commissioners Larry Evans
of District 1 and Jim Ham of
District- 2) in the ‘80s.. . The
credibility of those that- wrote
that I’m not so sure about. .. I
don’t- want- to come up here and
tell you we’re gonna do some
thing that- maybe we can’t- do just,
t-o appease you right- here. I want-
code enforcement- bad, but- if we
haven’t- given him (Wilson) the
tools necessary, it’s not- going to
work.”
Vaughn then said the issue
with the county’s residential zon
ing ordinance is what- it- doesn’t,
say.
“It- doesn’t- say that- you can
not- have an advertising sign on
private property,” Vaughn said.
‘This is a whole long explanation,
but- if it- doesn’t- address it- in the
zoning ordinance, then you can’t,
enforce it. .. The ordinance needs
to be amended to address these
signs so that- it- can be enforced.”
Lovett then told Ricket-son that
the county’s zoning laws are so
vague that- a milk-bottling facility
would be allowable in a residen
tial area in Forsyth. Ham then
noted that- Forsyth used to have
a milk-bottling facility.
“I sort- of like drinking milk,”
Ham said. “I wanna protect that
milk plant.”
When Ricket-son and commis
sioners could not- come to an
agreement-, Ham then facetiously
suggested District- 3 commis
sioner John Ambrose, in whose
district- the sign was erected, give
Ricketson $100 for allowing his
property to be devalued.
Cauthen said she would con
tinue working with the Middle
Georgia Regional Commission
(MGRC) on updating the county’s
zoning laws.
Lovett named new
Facilities Authority chairman
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Monroe County Public
Facilities Authority
unanimously approved
on Tuesday, Nov. 1 nam
ing District- 4 commis
sioner Jarod Lovett as the
new chairman, replacing
District- 2 commissioner
Jim Ham.
The Public Facilities
Authority, which includes
all five commissioners, also
approved naming District.
3 commissioner John
Ambrose as vice chairman.
While Ham voted in favor
of Lovett as chairman, he
did not- appear pleased
about- being replaced. Ham
noted that- Monroe County
commission chairman
Mike Bilderback, who was
beaten by Greg Tapley in a
May Republican primary,
would be leaving office
at- the end of the year.
He suggested the Public
Facilities Authority should
wait- until the beginning of
2017 to elect- new officers.
Ham asked Bilderback:
“When do you go out- of
office, Mike?”
Bilderback replied,
“About- two months.”
Ham then asked a second
question: “How bad did you
get- beat- in the election?”
Bilderback responded,
“Sixty-one percent- for the
other guy. Thirty-nine
for me. I don’t know how
that’s relevant- to this.”
Ham said, “If you think
you’re going to get- a rise
out of me, /all go on and
do what- you wanted to do.
Be a child and do the child
ish thing, that’s fine, go
ahead.”
When Ham urged
Bilderback to call for a
vote, Bilderback replied:
“No, this is too interesting.
You gave (District- 1) com
missioner (Larry) Evans a
speech about- how he had
been on the Development-
Authority and he had done
his part- and he had made
a contribution. Now you
wanted to make a contri
bution. If he (Lovett) wants
to make a contribution.”
Ham interrupted, “Have
I said anything about- what,
you wanted to do? I didn’t
say anything. I said call it.
t-o question and go ahead
and vote.”
Bilderback replied, ‘You
brought- up the election. I
mean that- was kind of a
weird thing.”
Ham responded, “Well
some people would think
that- you’re leaving office
in two months, instead
of having this meeting
tonight- it- would be better
to have it- after the first- of
the year where you’d have
somebody that’s going to be
here for four years. When
maybe this Authority actu
ally gets used, it- would be
the ear best- in 2019. That’s
what- reasonable people
would do.”
Bilderback then called
for a vote, and Lovett was
elected chairman by a 5-0
vote.
In other Board of
Commissioners’ news:
• Debbie Harbin of the
Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental
Disability (DBHDD)
Regional Advisory Council
urged Monroe County com
missioners on Tuesday,
Nov. 1 to show support for
the board’s initiatives.
Harbin said the state’s
Regional Advisory Councils
will develop a set- of ques
tions to query their local
communities to gain data
in creating three regional
and three statewide pri
orities. She said the data
collection will allow more
local input- to make it- to
regional and state level
decision makers.
District- 1 commissioner
Larry Evans suggested
Harbin hold informational
sessions or public forums
in the commissioners’
meeting room concerning
DBHDD issues.
Monroe County is part- of
DBHDD Region 2, which
encompasses 33 Middle
Georgia counties.
County to apply for grant to spruce up Juliette park
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Gilda Stanbery, executive director of
the Forsyth Convention and Visitor’s
Bureau, told Monroe County commission
ers on Tuesday, Nov. 15 that she intends
to apply for a grant to make improve
ments to a Juliette park.
Stanbery said the Tourism and
Development team visited Monroe
County several weeks ago and recom
mended upgrading the park. She said
grant assistance is available for govern
ments who implement the group’s recom
mendations.
Monroe County administrator Anita
Cauthen said the proposed improvement-
plan calls for directional signage to the
park and sturdier benches at the loca
tion. Cauthen said the grant, which can
not exceed $5,000, is a 60/40 matching
grant, which means the county would be
responsible for paying 40 percent- of the
costs. Commissioners approved apply
ing for the grant by a 4-0 vote. District 4
commissioner Jarod Lovett was absent
when the vote was taken.
Carriage Drive resident John Ricketson
also urged commissioners t-o ban glass,
such as beer bottles, at county parks like
those at- Juliette and Popes Ferry. Lovett
said he supports Ricketson’s proposal and
said commissioners will evaluate what,
state parks do to ban glass usage before
making a final decision.
In other Board of Commissioners’ news:
• Monroe County Commissioners
unanimously approved on Tuesday,
Nov. 15 writing off uncollectible bills for
Monroe County EMS in the amount of
$148,522 from 2011-15. Commissioners
also unanimously approved on Tuesday,
Nov. 15 tabling a request by Monroe
County tax commissioner Lori Andrews
to grant write-offs for non-collectible tax
bills in the amount of $53,037. At county
attorney Ben Vaughn’s recommendation,
commissioners requested additional infor
mation from Andrews, who was not- in
attendance at the Nov. 15 meeting, prior
to a decision.
• Monroe County Commissioners unan
imously approved on Tuesday, Nov. 15
contracting with All Seasons Tree Service
for the removal and grinding of a total of
six trees at the Bolingbroke fire station
and Bolingbroke post office.
With a bid of $5,500, All Seasons won
the low bid over competitors Montpelier
Tree Service and Gray Brother’s Tree
Service.
• Monroe County Commissioners unan
imously approved on Tuesday, Nov. 15
contracting with a certified public accoun
tant to review the county’s finances prior
to them being available for audit-
Monroe County administrator Anita
Cauthen said the auditor is a government
accounting specialist who is available to
start in December at the cost- of $95 per
hour. Monroe County commission chair
man Mike Bilderback said the purpose of
the hire is to eliminate some of the nega
tive findings identified by the county’s
auditing firm Mauldin & Jenkins in the
past several years.
Commissioners to buy
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Monroe County Commissioners
tabled on Tuesday, Nov. 15 a
revised contract, with UniVirtual
Solutions of McDonough for the
county’s information technology
(IT) services in 2017.
UniVirtual representative
Daniel Merck said he was offering
the county an alternative proposal
to minimize monthly spikes in IT
bills. Monroe County administra
tor Anita Cauthen said Monroe
County currently pays UniVirtual
an average of $9,000-$ll,000 per
month. Merck said his new pro
posal would include everything
as being inclusive in the primary
contract, cost., except, for ‘large
projects”, which he labeled as
projects requiring over eight, hours
of work. Merck said any large
projects needed to be approved
would be presented in advance to
Cauthen so that, the county could
budget, ahead of time.
Monroe County commission
chairman Mike Bilderback said
he’s concerned that, the county’s
IT costs have not. decreased even
after the county made numer
ous purchases of new computer
hardware several years ago.
Bilderback asked Merck to
explain why costs remain high.
Merck responded that, it’s new
software purchases that, are driv
ing up the county’s IT expenses,
particularly at. the Monroe County
Sheriffs Office related to its new
radio system.
“The sheriffs office is a great,
example,” Merck said. “They have
a lot. of needs there, and those are
resolved as a project-1 think that,
is what, is driving the cost. up...
We’re a support, base now. What’s
driving up the cost, is additions.”
Merck said UniVirtual has
charged Monroe County fairly and
said the county has considerable
IT needs with 180 total comput
ers, 21 servers and 18 network
devices.
Bilderback said of the county
government.: “It’s not. a mom and
pop shop anymore.”
District. 1 commissioner Larry
Evans asked if it. would reduce
costs for some employees to share
the same computer. Merck said
he’s not. aware of any employee
that has a computer that does not
need it. to perform his job.
“If you are going to share a com
puter, you’re just, going to increase
their time it. takes them to do
their job,” Merck said. ‘I’m not.
sure it. will really save money. The
price you’re paying for a computer
is very minimal. It’s only a few
dollars a month per computer.”
District. 4 commissioner Jarod
Lovett said he wants to make a
cost, comparison of each of the
past, three years since UniVirtual
took over the county’s IT ser
vices before deciding whether to
approve Merck’s new contract..
Commissioners then voted 5-0 to
table the contract..
However, commissioners did
make one IT change at. the Nov.
15 meeting. At. Merck’s recom
mendation, commissioners unani
mously approved buying a new
e-mail server at. the cost, of just,
over $13,800 that, would block
junk e-mails and shorten the
length of county e-mail domain
names.
Despite voting to approve the
measure, District. 2 commissioner
new server
Jim Ham said the new server is
so expensive he sees now why
Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton used a private
e-mail server instead of a govern
ment-approved one while U.S.
Secretary of State.
Ham said in jest, in reference to
Clinton’s presidential defeat, on
Nov. 8, ‘You’ve got. to be careful
with those e-mail servers. It. done
cost, somebody a job two weeks
ago.”
Bilderback said he supports the
reduction of spam e-mails.
He said, “It’s just, time wasted
going through those e-mails... If
you spend 10, 15 minutes a day
and multiply that, by a year. I
mean that’s a lot. of time to go
through junk e-mails.”
When a discussion arose about,
the count/s amount, of band
width, Ham said he’s seen a citi
zen sitting out. in a truck in the
parking lot. at. the county commis
sioners’ office using the county’s
WiFi for free. Ham said he finally
approached the truck after he’d
seen it. parked several times to
make sure the citizen wasn’t, going
to blow up the county office. Ham
said once he saw the citizen didn’t,
have a gun, he didn’t, mind the
citizen using the county’s internet..
Ham said to Bilderback: “I
thought he was going to kill you,
Mike. I was trying to save your
life.”
Bilderback responded sarcasti
cally: “I appreciate that. I’m glad
you think it’s worth saving.”
Commissioners then voted 5-0 to
buy a new e-mail server.
Ham quipped following the vote,
“I quit, eating Spam when I was
16.1 don’t like Spam.”
EPD imposes drought
restrictions on Monroe
BY RICHARD DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr. net
Monroe County was notified by the Georgia Environmental
Protection Division (EPD) on Thursday that it has imposed Level 2
Drought Response on country residents.
According to an EPD release, during a Level 2 Drought Response,
outdoor landscape watering is only allowed two days a week deter
mined by odd and even-numbered addresses. Even-numbered
addresses and properties without numbered addresses may water
on Wednesday and Saturday between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. Odd-
numbered addresses my water on Thursday and Sunday between 4
p.m. and 10 a.m.
According to the release, prohibited outdoor water uses include:
washing hard surfaces such as streets and sidewalks, water for
ornamental purposes like fountains, the use of fire hydrants (except
for firefighting and public safety), non-commercial washing of vehi
cles, non-commercial pressure washing and fundraising car washes.
According to the release, the following activities are allowed under
Level 2 Drought Response: irrigation of personal food gardens may
be done at any time of day, irrigation of new and replanted plant-,
seed or turf may be done at any time of day for 30 days after instal
lation, drip irrigation or irrigation using soaker hoses may be done
at any time of day and hand-watering with a hose with automatic
cutoff or handheld container may be done at any time of day, gen
eral landscaping watering may be done between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m.
on the designated days.
Two days prior to the EPD notification, Monroe County commis
sioners unanimously approved on Tuesday, Nov. 15, allowing the
county’s water department- to implement whatever future restric
tions EPD demands.
Monroe County water department head Bentley Cox said, “People
right now who’ve got a sprinkler system on a municipal system
need to turn it off. That’s the worst, thing they could do right now.”
Commissioners also unanimously approved on Tuesday, Nov.
15 Cox’s recommendation to allow county water customers to buy
Servline water loss insurance that- would cover the cost of lost- water
if customers have a leak that- causes their bill to be at least- twice as
much as normal.
The agreement- is pending review by county attorney Ben
Vaughn.
County customers will not. be required to buy the insurance, but
those that do so would be charged an additional $1 to $2 per month
on their water bills. Cox said he also recommends county customers
keep their backflow preventers, installed by the county with water
meters, in place.