Fourteen (14) minutes.
The most time was spent on the
Wheeler rezoning,
on yet another
Dollar General,
Elections Supervisor Deb Cox personally made her
Board of Elections personnel request,
which is to change five part-time positions for one full-time,
and several Commissioners asked questions about the
Human Resources service contract,
which might result in educational requirements for positions,
and is supposed to survey everybody paid by the county:
but does that include employees of boards with their own millage,
namely the Industrial Authority and Parks and Rec?
They vote tomorrow, Tuesday 11 Feb 2014 at 5:30 PM. Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
Only in the Regular Session.
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Only in the Regular Session.
- Minutes for Approval
- Public Hearings
- Wheeler, Corner of Morven Rd and Shiloh Rd E-A to R-1, Well and Septic, 2.54 acres
Video. Southwestern Hahira, Morven Road. Applicant requested R-1. County Planner Jason Davenport and County Zoning Administrator Carmela Braswell gave the applicant two options, R-1 or R-A. Technical Review Committee (TRC) voted to deny R-1 and approve R-A. GLPC recommended R-A by 4-1 vote (Tommy Willis dissenting).
Commissioner Richard Raines noted applicant wans to subdivide into two lots, and R-A was not consistent with that. Davenport concurred that the lot was too small for that. However, applicant is open to either zoning, although he prefers R-1, because right now he can’t use his property. Interesting definition of “use”: apparently agriculture doesn’t count.
- Brown, Old Lake Park Rd E-A to R-A, Well and Septic, 2.54 acres
Video. Supposedly for family development, but applicant went with a zoning that would permit sale to non-family.
- Dollar General, Madison Hwy and Jumping Gulley Rd R-10 to C-G, County Water and Septic, ~1.4 acres
Video. Applicant (same as in previous Dollar General applications) wants to turn three lots into one. Nobody spoke against at Planning Commission.
Commissioner Richard Raines noted previous complaints about estetics of DG. Davenport said this one was similar size to the one on Baytree Road. Raines said he wanted to talk to applicant. Davenport said he was unaware of any opposition to this application.
- For Consideration
- Board of Elections Personnel Request
Lowndes County Elections Supervisor Deb Cox said she wanted to trade five part-time positions for one full-time position. Commissioner John Page wanted to know budget effects. She said it would save a little money.
Chairman Bill Slaughter asked a question! He wanted to know if there was any other reason than the budget savings. Supervisor Cox said the job has evolved over the last 5-10 years to where it requires a lot of technical ability, training at state level, certification.
So the jobs part-time people were hired to do… are not acceptable for what we need done right now so we’re in a situation where the full-time people are working excessive hours, overtime hours, even, to get the work done because the part-time people can’t do that. It’s hard to get at $7.25/hour person off the street to do what we need them to do. We use systems just like they do over at RDC; manipulate multiple simultaneous systems like Department of Motor Vehicles, criminal databases, other counties’ databases compare and contrast those and make decisions. It’s hard to get a part-time person to do that. And that’s just one example.Chairman wanted to know how long this would satisfy her employment machine. She said for the forseeable future, depending on what the state does.
Maybe it’s for people to get on with letting everyone vote in every precinct, so they can settle on a final number of precincts and stop confusing voters by changing the precincts every year.
- Contract with Condrey and Associates, Inc
Video. The agenda doesn’t say what the contract is about, but Condrey & Associates, Inc. bills itself as “A Human Resources Consulting Firm” and its client list is mostly local governments; here’s who they list as clients in Georgia:
City of Cartersville
Columbus Consolidated Government
Cook County
Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority
City of Forest Park
United Methodist Church, North Georgia ConferenceYep, Human Resources Director Kevin L. Beals said it was to conduct a position classification compensation pay study to update the last one done in 2007.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know the difference between Carl Vinson Institute for Government doing vs. Condrey’s $25,000 fee. Beals passed to the County Manager, who said Condrey’s fee was less than it cost through Vinson Institute; also City of Valdosta used Condrey’s firm extensively; experience and background with our community; other counties and cities; private sector.
Marshall asked about specificity:
Will the job descriptions in essence have more specificity? I know some of them have knowledge commonly associated with I guess it’s my opinion that some require a high school diploma or require a degree or not. Like a degree in engineering or a degree in so-and-so. Would that be included in this study? Beals answered: It would be, based on Condrey’s knowledge across the state, plus he will sit down with each department head and constitutional officer.Marshall said his third question was would it include the entire county, including the constitutional officers, such as the Sheriff’s department, board of elections, etc.? Answer: everybody who receives pay from Lowndes County, which includes the constitutional officers.
What about staffs of funded boards such as VLCIA and Parks and Rec?
Commissioner John Page wanted to know the source of funds. County Manager Joe Pritchard said:
This will be paid for out of contingency.They had seven years to see this coming and they didn’t budget for it?
- Reports-County Manager
Video. No report.
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Only in the Regular Session.
Here’s a video playlist:
Videos: Dollar General, Elections, and Human Resources
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 February 2014.
-jsq
Short Link: