County highlights

The Brantley County Commission discussed/approved the following agenda items during the Tuesday, July 1 work session and the Thursday, July 3 regular meeting.

• ActionPact update: ActionPact Executive Director Diane Rogers updated commissioners about ActionPact’s committment to Brantley County during the Tuesday work session.

ActionPact currently has a HeadStart Program, provides weatherization services, has a Community Care Services Program and has a Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

“We have a service center that we do a lot of that type of thing over by the 911 center,” said Rogers. “We’ve got 42 Head Start children and two weatherization houses totaling 44 children being served through Educational Talent Search. We paid 340 light payments so far this year with the Energy Assistance Program which primarily serves the elderly.

“As of this moment, it’s zeroed out in the federal budget, so we’re not even sure if we can get funding restored. OREMC provides us with a fund each year that helps their customers who are in crisis, and we’ve served 31 households.”

Rogers said changes are coming due to some of the cuts with the federal budget leaving more questions unanswered than answered.

“The Community Services Block Grant funding that we use to keep that service center open is zeroed out, so it’s looking like September 30 will be the last day that will be at that service center next to the 911 office unless something happens in Washington between now and then. We’ll keep you abreast as we find out more information.”

• Purchase agreement with CAMACloud software for Tax Assessors Office: The commission approved the $15,540 purchase price for the CAMACloud software including a budget amendment for the end of the year during the regular meeting CAMACloud is a comprehensive, cloud-based suite of appraisal technologies designed to integrate with various Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) systems, offering tools for efficient mass appraisal and property data management. It focuses on streamlining field and office tasks, including data collection, verification, analysis and improving property data accuracy.

“They (Tax Assessors Office) have 14,000 allocated their budget,” said County Manager Joey Cason during the work session. “This will require a budget amendment for the end of the year, but this is what they use when they’re doing all their mobile appraising and everything that they take out with their iPads and other tools.”

• Resolution remove former County Clerk Rene Jacobs from PrimeSouth bank accounts and add Taylor Sheppard: Commissioners approved the removal of former County Clerk Rene Jacobs from Prime-South Bank accounts and replaced with Taylor Sheppard during the regular meeting.

• Technical Services agreement with Southern Georgia Regional Commission: The commission approved the $11,000 annual Technical Services agreement with Southern Georgia Regional Commission during the regular monthly meeting.

• Amend purchase amount for two washers and two dryers for the Brantley County Jail: Commissioners approved to amend the February minutes to reflect the total price of $38,350 for two washers and two dryers in the Thursday regular meeting.

“There was a down payment which took place in January that was approved,” explained Cason during the Tuesday work session. “Rather than approving the proper total amount in February, we approved the remaining amount of $24,927 and not the entire price. That was my fault it did not get properly quoted. This will fix it. There were no additional tariffs or anything else.

“This is basically what the original quote was, and it will amend our February minutes to reflect that proper pricing tax. The ticket did have taxes on it originally, but our tax accounts payable person made sure we didn’t pay taxes.”

• Adopt signed agreement with Hoboken VFD and Nahunta VFD: Personnel from the Hoboken VFD and Nahunta VFD signed agreements during the Tuesday work session with the County basically mandating an annual review.

County officials adopted the agreement in the regular monthly meeting.

According to the county manger, these agreements will be reviewed on an annual basis. The County already has signed agreements with Waynesville and Hortense.

“Hallelujah,” said Cason. “This is something we’ve all been working on for over a year.

While awaiting signatures, the county manager mentioned Nahunta VFD Bill Bennett was instrumental in notifying the National Transportation Safety Board during the fire fighting of the aircraft fire at the Brantley County Airport in Lulaton.

“He made sure we were in compliance with everything the FAA and the NTSB required of that site,” said Cason. “We were glad they were out there getting that plane put out the hot fire.”

According to Cason, the pilot informed him he had just arrived from Alabama and was head up to Dublin, Ga.

• Quotes for rescue tools for Hoboken VFD: Commissioners approved the Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department’s request Thursday to purchase a new ElectricPowered Extraction from Rescue Systems for $34,840 on their recommendation.

Fire Line submitted the lowest bid of $26,069.50 with MES submitting a bid of $31,242.

Funding will come from the Hoboken VFD account.

“Their request is it to basically go with the higher priced one,” Cason said during the work session. “Their reason is so they can be consistent with all departments inside the county, which would benefit them in training and also on site when we have multiple departments on the same side.”

Electric-powered extraction tools, utilizing advanced battery technology, are increasingly common in rescue systems, especially for vehicle extrication, offering enhanced portability and speed to traditional hydraulic systems. These battery-powered devices eliminate the need for power units and hoses, reducing setup time and improving maneuverability at rescue scenes.

• Turf equipment for Brantley County Recreation Department: The commission approved the purchase of $8,500 for a Turf Tiger top dressing piece of equipment (1.8 cubic yard) for the recreation department in the regular meeting.

“This will be pulled behind the tractor we already have and basically help fill all holes on the infields and outfields of the baseball/softball fields and on the football fields,” Cason explained in the work session.

The bid for the Turf Tiger was one of three received. Mecom supplied a bid for a 2.7 2.7 cubic foot piece for $8,700. The Toro product bid was for $18,866.

• Calvary VFD fire fighter clothing: Commissioners approved the request of the Calvary Volunteer Fire Department to purchase of firefighter clothing from Ten-8 Fire and Safety for $34,090.58.

The money will come out of the annual budget.

• Agreement amendment for the ACCG 401(A) defined contribution plan for county employees: The commission agreed to amend the ACCG 401(A) defined contribution plan for the county manager during the regular monthly meeting.

• Purchase lights for jail cells: Commissioners agreed Thursday to purchase lights for jail cells from Hardtime Products for $62,930 on a request from Sheriff Len Davis.

“This will go back in to where old lights were taken out,” explained the county manager, “and, these will be safety lights. They will not, according to the sheriff, be easy for inmates to damage. They will also provide lighting for both safety of the staff and safety of the inmates.”

Funding will come from the new SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) funds.

• Dive team equipment: The commission approved the purchase of dive team equipment from Wreckreation Scuba for $27,664.92 during the Thursday monthly meeting.

“We now have divers who are certified in open water,” said Cason in the work session. “This will come from the sheriff’s budget capital outlay.”

• New server for 911 system: Commissioners approved the $55,520 purchase of a new server from MLBA for the 911 operating system.

“This will replace the current Dell server that is out of any possible help if it goes down,” Cason explained during the work session.

The funds are in the current capitol outlay line item of the 911 budget.

• Rebuilt engine for ambulance: The commission approved the purchase of a rebuilt Dodge engine with a two-year warranty for $26,260 from Woody Folsom Dodge.

“This particular ambulance has had multiple issues,” explained the county manager during the work session. “It has 148,000 miles and hopefully will carry that truck for a couple of more years.”

Payment will be from the EMS capital budget.

• Semi-annual payment to ACCG for PTSD coverage: Commissioners approved the semi-annual payment of $12,136 to ACCG for PTSD coverage for 164 public safety first responders which includes EMS, Sheriff’s Department, all fire departments and 911.

• Deputy Clerk appointment: Commissioners approved the appointment of Lynn Daniels as the new Deputy Clerk during the Thursday monthly meeting.