The Banks County Board of Commissioners unanimously denied a request to abandon a portion of CR 176/English Road when it met on Tuesday, April 22.
Judith Hill and Mary Hill Towns submitted a request to the commissioners to have the portion of the road that runs from the Old Highway 441 to the Highway 441 Bypass abandoned. They stated that there is a problem with excessive dumping of garbage on this section of the road. The request stated the sisters own the property that is located on both sides of the road and there are no other houses on this section of the road.
The commissioners held a public hearing on this request on April 8. Several residents turned out at the hearing to speak in opposition to the request.
At the meeting on Tuesday, commissioner Rickey Cain said he had gone out to the road and this was one of the better dirt roads in Banks County. Commissioner Joe Barefoot said there were a lot of people who use this road as a through road and he didn’t think it should be abandoned.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners:
•received a letter of resignation from Tal Martin as a member of the Banks County Development Authority. Commission chairman Gene Hart said he presented the commissioners with the names of Scott Ledford, Stan Stewart and Steve Shi as candidates to serve on the authority. Any action to name a replacement for Martin was tabled until the commissioners meeting on May 13.
•unanimously approved Scott Ledford to fill the expired term of Terrance Dale on the development authority. This is a three-year term.
•approved the annual Youth Deer Hunt to be held on the county farm on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29. Adam Loudermilk, Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement, spoke to the commissioners about this hunt. He said Outdoors Network will be the main sponsor this year. Registration will be handled through the Banks County Extension Office. The commissioners also talked with Loudermilk about the possibility of the DNR planning a hunt for handicapped hunters only at the county farm.
•approved the annual animal foster home agreement contract with Commerce Veterinary Hospital. The contract is effective Dec. 31, 2007, through Dec. 31,2008.
•tabled any action on the bid to modify the front lawn at the recreation department. The commissioners want to cut the hill down at the front of the building and erect a sign. Only one bid was received on this and the board is currently seeking additional bids. This will be on the agenda for the May 13 BOC meeting.
•approved a change order to the renovations at the courthouse dealing with security issues at the entrance to the facility. Anthony J. Turpin, Pieper O’Brien Herr Architects, was given the go-ahead to do the design for a security wall at the entrance to the courthouse. Turpin reported to the BOC that a sprinkler system installed in the entire courthouse facility will not be required by the state fire marshal’s office due to the type of fire alarm system that is being installed. Banks County Administrative Assistant Angela Sheppard and Turpin presented an estimate to the commissioners on an addition to the courthouse. The estimate was presented by Turner Construction in the amount of $515,349 for construction and Turpin said the cost of the architects to design the addition would be $62,170. The commissioners voted unanimously not to pursue the addition.
•Sheppard told the commissioners that the GEFA loan amount for the Yonah-Homer Road water line project will be reduced by $579,953. This is money that was not spent on the project. The total loan amount approved was $2,854,600, the new loan amount is $2,274,646.
•unanimously approved a transfer of the alcoholic beverage license for Sonny’s Bar-Be-Que due to new ownership.
•approved placing $140,929 coming from the development authority into the capital funds account to be earmarked for the development authority to use in the future for land acquisition.
•approved an increase in the amount spent for training for Senior Magistrate Judge Henry David Banks. The amount will be increased from $300 to $600.
•approved an amendment to the purchasing policy. All budgeted purchases with an estimated cost in excess of $10,000 will require solicitation of formal (advertised) competitive sealed bids unless the item is purchased through a State of Georgia contract which was bid by the Department of Administrative Services.
•met in closed session for 10 minutes to discuss personnel. No action was taken.
