Brandon Rogers is new county manager

Pike County commissioners appointed Brandon Rogers as county manager and accepted ambulance contract bids for review during their Wednesday, Aug. 12 meeting. Rogers has been serving as interim county manager since June and one of the finalists for the job when former county manager Ron Alexander was hired. Commissioners approved a contract with Rogers through the end of June 2022 with a salary of $83,000 and use of a county vehicle. Commissioners also opened sealed bids for ambulance service in Pike and accepted them for review without selecting which service to approve. AmeriPro EMS submitted a bid of an annual charge for one year for $635,000, a three-year bid for $660,000 and five year for $700,000. Veterans Medical Transport submitted a bid for an annual charge of $400,000 (total cost to be $745,068 with earnings expected to be $344,000). AMR submitted a letter with no bid. Rogers said Grady submitted a letter stating they will not re-bid and if commissioners move forward with awarding a bid to another company, they will exit. The county also:’¢ Awarded a bid for McLeroy to replace the culvert on Concord Road. McLeroy’s bid was $13,000 higher than the lowest bid but commissioner Jason Proctor said he felt like a local company will be more accountable if anything goes wrong. Commissioners voted 4-1 to award the bid to McLeroy with commissioner Tim Guy opposing. Rogers said the Georgia Deparment of Transportation approved $21,500 in funding for the Concord Road repairs. ’¢ Approved use of courthouse grounds for American Legion Post 197 to host the Pike County Patriot Day Observance Day on Sept. 11 and the POW/MIA Recognition Day on Sept. 18 with use of inside the courthouse lobby in case of inclement weather. ’¢ Heard from Rogers that a request for proposal has been sent out for auditing services and the bids will be open at the Aug. 25 meeting with the contract awarded at the Sept. 9 meeting. ’¢ Heard from Rogers that there are 1,037 property appeals this year, compared to less than a hundreds appeals in previous years. He said he will meet with Greg Hobbs and develop a plan on how to manage the appeals. He said at least 250-300 appeals will have to be satisfied before a digest and millage rate can be set.