Commissioners postpone issues to July 30 meeting

Pike County commissioners postponed action on several agenda items during their July 10 meeting, including the county’s prayer policy, the second reading of personnel policy changes and the budget’s capital improvements element.The issues will be discussed again at the Tuesday, July 30 meeting at 6:30 p.m. Commissioners were presented with an invocation policy, guidelines for the invocation and a form to be filled out by those who will give the invocation. ’Before you finalize an invocation policy, I’d like for you to suggest any revisions and present this at the night meeting this month,’ said interim county manager Rob Morton. ‘Ben Maxedon’s suggestions, guidance and wisdom really helped. You just received the form he worked on. We suggest the clerk maintain a list of those who are eligible to fill out the form.’Commissioners discussed repair options for several county buildings damaged by storms in March. Buildings that need roof repair include the sheriff’s office and jail, the water authority building, the library and the senior center. The commission was told insurance will cover some costs but not on all buildings. Members were presented with a project proposal from Thumbs Up Roofing Solutions for review. ’The storms impacted several counties and cities statewide with damage to facilities. The problem with the jail and sheriff’s office roof is that it can’t be fixed with patching and tarring,’ said Morton. ‘It needs to be re-engineered to add pitch to the roof. Because of the units installed on the roof, it’s causing dipping and pooling of water.’ Commissioner Tamra Jarrett indicated she is in favor of bids being sent out that reflect the cost of changing the pitch of the roof. ’In 2006, we spent money on the roof and didn’t get it repaired. Here we are again looking at spending more taxpayer money on something that’s been being repaired for going on 10 years,’ she said.Bids for roof repair to the sheriff’s office and jail will be sent out soon. Commissioner Carol Bass thanked Morton for his work on getting Pike’s insurance carrier to evaluate the buildings. She noted several months ago the county was just going to pay for repairs out of the general fund. The county also:’¢ Held a public hearing to receive input on the capital improvements element but postponed the first reading until the July 30 meeting.’¢ Approved purchase of a refrigerator out of last year’s budget to be placed upstairs in the courthouse and used by all judicial parties.’¢ Authorized the chairman to sign a contract for indigent defense/public defender services in Pike for 2014. ’¢ Approved payment of $175 to Pitts Electric to be paid from SPLOST funds for electrical receptacles at the courthouse.’¢ Approved a request by Concord to use Pike’s chipper if it signs a waiver and uses city employees to retrieve the chipper, operate it and return it. ’¢ Heard discussion about authorizing a Tax Anticipation Note, with Morton noting one was authorized last year but never used. Jarrett suggested applying for the TAN early instead of waiting until the need arises. ’¢ Heard Pike’s fuel reports were handwritten this month because the fuel reporting system went down due to a power outage. Commissioners previously approved purchase and installation of a generator to prevent the issue in the future.’¢ Heard public works director Todd Goolsby is getting specifications together to present to companies for bids on upcoming Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant projects. ’¢ Discussed a potential non-revenue work detail contract for cleaning services at the courthouse and annex. Detainees at West Central Integrated Treatment Facility may work two half days each week.