Fire protection and fire for celebration: Pickens County BOC Meeting

After approval of August 26th’s “Minutes”, there was little business to discuss at what
an audience member described as Pickens County Commissioner Robert Jones’s “new
record” for the shortest meeting ever held at around seven minutes.The brief official business discussed in September 23rd’s regular Commissioner’s
Meeting included a report from the Director of Utilities for the Water Department, Larry
Coleman.

Accommodations are being made for the new 500 gallon water tank as scheduled.

The yearly total for new water connections is 20, which is 30 percent less than 2009 and
70 percent than 2008.

The 2010 water loss is at 13 percent as compared with an 18 percent loss in 2009.

Campbell said, “With a reduction in the water loss and a reduction in the staff that we’ve
had, the Pickens County water community is under-budget.”

“This is the first time…,” said Deborah Watson that nothing was on the consent agenda.

The only new business discussed was a presentation from Carl Malier of the Georgia
Forestry Commission.

Malier presented Jones with a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for Pickens County
with hopes of a signature.

The plan is one of 143 the commission hopes to have enacted by 2012 and the 18th
completed by Malier.

The plan is to act as a supplement to the current Hazard Mitigation Plan—the wildfire
portion—and was created with heavy consultation with local authorities such as Fire
Chief Bob Howard.

“We have gone out and identified where urban interface areas are. These are places
where development is in danger or could be a danger…fire is also a double-edged
sword, if a structure burns it could also set a forest fire. We look at these areas and try to
rate them as far as extreme hazard, high hazard, medium hazard, and low hazard,” said
Malier.

“This was conducted over about the last year. It also contains a copy of our latest fire
plan for Pickens County,” he added.

Jones agreed to go over the plan with the County attorney confirming that the plan
serves only as a recommendation to the county, but did not however sign it. The plan will
put nothing into action and no financial burden on the county.

An announcement for the burning of the mortgage for the Pickens County Administrative
Building and the new Pickens County Jail will be held today at 2:00 PM, September 24th,
2010 in front of the Pickens County Administrative Building to celebrate the complete
payment of both facilities.

A copy of the “Minutes” from each Monthly meeting is made available online at the
Pickens County website — click here.