Treutlen Board of Commissioners Amend Contracts and Fill Board Seats

The Treutlen County Board of Commissioners approved amendments to a Heart of Georgia Altamaha Region Commission (HOGARC) contract, amendments to its community work program and filled seats on two county boards during their regular meeting on March 2.

HOGARC representative Chad Sharp presented the Board with an updated contract amended to better reflect the guidelines set by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. According to Sharp, the DCA is “very picky” regarding their standards and the language describing those standards, necessitating the amendment.

“All it’s saying is we’re going to adhere to their standards and policies,” said Board Chairman Phil Jennings.

Commissioner Joey Powell offered a motion to accept the amendments to the contract, which passed unanimously.

The board considered a second amendment to its community work program, spurred on by the ongoing development of a joint comprehensive plan with the city of Soperton. 

Treutlen County voted on implementing a community work program a few years ago, which is now primarily operated by the Treutlen County School System. Rather than make any alterations to the existing program, the proposed amendment would instead update the language present in the new comprehensive plan to reflect the program’s implementation.

“This is just updating that to show that we did start a community work program,” said Jennings.

Commissioner Cali Hollis offered a motion to approve the amendment, which passed unanimously.

In county board appointments, the Treutlen Country Development Authority’s board saw a seat open following the departure of Izell Stephens Jr. The development authority recommended Ken Hughs as a candidate to take the seat. 

However, the board expressed some confusion regarding the required number of commissioners on the development authority board, stemming from an inability to receive the development authority board’s by-laws on the matter. Commissioner Hollis offered a motion to appoint Hughs to the board regardless, which passed unanimously.

Later in the meeting, County Attorney James Garner received the relevant by-laws, which stated no commissioners were required to be on the board, but the number of commissioners on the board could not exceed one.

Commissioner Rodney Meeks also offered a motion to appoint Donna Young to the position of chairman of the Treutlen County Board of Assessors, following a recommendation by previous chairman Chris Kight. The motion passed unanimously.

Commissioner Thalia Gillis offered a motion to blanket approve a new batch of business license applications, which passed unanimously. According to Jennings, two of the licenses were from businesses attracted to the county by Ken Hughs.

The board also discussed potentially providing a list of businesses in Treutlen County on their website in the future. 

In non-action items, Meeks suggested the board could seek quotes to add new handicap parking spaces to the Treutlen County Courthouse, after a disabled resident reached out to the commissioner regarding difficulty entering the building.

Meeks also suggested adding tracking devices to county devices, vehicles and equipment. According to him, the tracking devices would allow county officials to track down stolen or mislaid property, as well as encouraging responsibility  and accountability among county employees regarding vehicles. 

He cited several calls he had received regarding “wives in cars” as a reason for the increased accountability, which Jennings also described as a “fun saga.” 

“I think if you had the ability to pull it up, see where it was live on a map, you would potentially catch some things that we hear about, or dispel rumors when we hear about things like that, too,” said Jennings.

In addition to tracking equipment’s physical location, the devices could also be used to monitor the status of county vehicles, such as if a car is idling. According to Meeks, information such as this could be used to improve efficiency and save on costs.

Jennings also stated the county planned to expand by utilizing its access to I-16, necessitating the reexamination of older ordinances restricting the use of land next to the interstate.