Pickens County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, July 20, 2017, to review this month’s agenda.

At the beginning of the meeting the board recognized employee Casey L. Pickett. Pickett has worked for the county in the 911 department for ten years.

The finance report came next on the agenda. For the first six months of the year, the county has a limit of 50% of the budget to spend. Our total expenditures for this time period is at $11,600,457. Only 45.49% of our budget has been spent for the year so far.

The LMIG road schedule for 2018 reappeared on the agenda, the full list has not been posted yet, but roads such as Lumber Company, Hickory Ridge, and Grandview have been mentioned. The total cost for the project would be $455,292, and the state would be matching money from the amount the county puts forth. Board members tabled the issue in favor of further study.

Under new business this month, a request was presented for 4-H funding for a part time assistant. The UGA Extension Office told the board that if the Board of Commissioners (BOC) and Board of Education (BOE) would agree to fund 25% each for the assistant, then they would cover the other 50%. Members agreed to approve the funding as long as the BOE approves their part and should have a solid answer after their meeting.

Sheriff Craig spoke with board members to discuss a capital lease for new vehicles. This would be for 10 more vehicles fully equipped at the total cost of $450,000. BB&T had the lowest interest rate at 2.2% at a three year pay off. Members chose to discuss the vehicles further to find out what type of vehicles would be purchased and to look at all of their options. They plan to revisit the request at next month’s meeting.

The Commissioners did approve the Calhoun water agreement, which allows the county to continue to purchase and sell water with them. The pay is $1.62 per 1,000 gallons, the average water usage from Calhoun is 62% to 70%. The county purchases 360 to 410 gallons of water from them.

Before the meeting adjourned supporters from Protect Pickens Pets spoke to Commissioner Jones to share their comments and questions. To follow this story read “Protect Pickens Pets Confronts Board of Commissioners”.

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