Commissioners Make Decision on CorrectHealth Bill
Business, Community, Police & Government August 18, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Commissioners decided to pay CorrectHealth the additional money required to bring them up to the new contract fee however they will not be paying the additional fee that was requested.
The board also voted to approve the amended intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Board of Education for the proposed aquatic center. They approved a proclamation recognizing the 8U Baseball team for their state championship.
The Board of Commissioners before deciding on the CorrectHealth Bill.
CorrectHealth sent the Board of Commissioners a bill requesting funds to help them break even on the months that the commissioners were bidding out for the service. During those months the commissioners were paying the original contract rate of $22,417.01, they requested at the first work session for the commissioners to meet the first proposed rate of $27,699.67.
To review that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/08/03/board-reviews-correcthealth-bill-for-uncontracted-months/. The commissioners decided it was only fair to pay the money back at the new contract rate of $29,000, viewing that it wasn’t CorrectHealth’s fault they were not under contract for those months.
The board however did not feel that they owed the extra $42,000 because a contract amendment never came before the board. In Dec. when the nursing shortage began affecting the situation, CorrectHealth contracted Sheriff Stacy Jarrard and presented him with two options, cut down on the nursing staff or bring in more contracted services at a higher cost.
Jarrard contacted County Manager Alan Ours and got what he interrupted as an okay to move forward with the higher cost. Ours does not have the authority to approve contract changes so the next action was that it should have been placed on the next available agenda but it was not.
CorrectHealth did send a contract amendment to the board but it was never signed and CorrectHealth moved forward with the contracted services in what they called “good faith”.
John Ritter, Director of Marketing and Business Development came with Jarrard to the meeting to explain why the board should pay the fee.
“I did bring an option where we could have remained revenue neutral by cutting the service, but the client(Sheriff Jarrard) requested no we don’t want that we agreed to move forward and have that extra nurse so we have 7 days 12-hour coverage in the facility and we honored that request, we fulfilled that request, and we paid for that request,” explained Ritter.
The board was unaware of the options and had no opportunity to find additional funding to cover the extra expense. Jarrard asked that the money come out of his budget to pay the company, however after Finance Director Abby Branan reviewed his budget she found no additional funds to cover the fee.
Heard in the clip above is Chairman of the Board Chris Dockery explaining to Ritter his view on how the contract change should have been handled. At this time it is unclear what next steps CorrectHealth may take to get the additional funds.
The Commissioners recently adopted new plans for the aquatic center. The original plans came in way over the budget set aside for the project so the board started the plans over.
After numerous meetings with the community to get their input the board finally settled on a plan that best fits the community’s needs. The Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education had an IGA for the original plans and now that the plans have changed the agreement needs to be amended.
The Commissioners with the 8U Baseball team after the proclamation.
The Board of Education voted to approve the amended IGA at their regular meeting on Aug. 8, to examine that meeting and the plans visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/08/09/board-of-education-approves-iga-with-the-county/. To see what the IGA looks like visit http://lumpkincountyga.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1656&Inline=True, it begins on page 48.
The Commissioners also made a proclamation recognizing the 8U Baseball Team GRPA Class C State Champions. The team was present for the proclamation and also received a Lumpkin County Coin from the commissioners. Commissioner Tucker Greene is one of the coaches for the team.
“I would just like to say thank you for the recognition for that group of boys that you saw before you, I’ve coached a long time and a lot of kids and this was one really really special group, and I was honored to be apart of it and I just thank yall for what yall did for them,” commented Greene.
Project Updates for Lumpkin County School System
Board of Education, Business, Community August 4, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- Chief Operations Officer Greg Trammell presented the Lumpkin County Board of Education with the project updates going on in the school system.
One of the updates Trammell presented for the board to consider was an amended intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners. Superintendent Dr. Rob Brown also presented the board with possible dates for parent conferences for this school year.
Trammell’s update began with Lumpkin County Elementary school. Carrol Daniel Construction estimates that the project is about 50% complete at this time. The roof is mostly complete and the HVAC is about 40% complete.
They are using a more energy-efficient HVAC system known as variable refrigerant flow (VRF). This system is currently being used in the JROTC building at the High school with great success.
Chief Operations Officer Greg Trammell while presenting the LCES updates to the board.
Heard in the clip above is Trammell explaining the system to the board. This system was not implemented at the High School this summer because it is easier to just change out existing systems rather than put in a whole new system for the entire school. The board is interested in taking a site visit to see the process at Lumpkin County Elementary School.
Trammell also showed the board pictures of the new flooring at Lumpkin County High School. The new LV Luxury planking that has been installed will not have to be waxed like the old tile and also doesn’t require buffering twice a week. The hope is that it will also help the air filters last longer now that the buffering dust will not be blown into the filters.
It is a very durable flooring. By the time the High School project is completed next summer this will be the majority of the flooring throughout. They also added epoxy over the floors in the bathrooms and that should last forever.
“When you look at what was done and then you think they (Charles Black Construction) did all of that in an eight-week window it’s pretty impressive,” explained Brown.
Trammell informed the board that at the regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 8 he will be bringing them the bid for the new building for the College and Career Academy. The bid he plans to announce will be from Charles Black Construction, they already have the bid for the interior portion of the project.
Plans for the new rec. center.
The Board of Education and Board of Commissioners are currently in an IGA for the commissioner’s original plans for the aquatic center. Recently the Commissioners revised the plans for the proposed center now being referred to as the rec. center. The plans were presented to the Board of Education at their July 18 meeting, to see those plans visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/07/19/policy-updates-sitting-for-the-next-30-days/.
Now the two governments must revise the IGA to reflect the current plans. To review the IGA visit http://lumpkincountyga.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1634&Inline=True, it begins on page 110. This will be voted on by the Board of Education on Monday, and the Commissioner at their regular meeting on Aug. 16.
Dr. Brown presented the board with two dates this school year for early release in order to give parents an opportunity to come in and meet with the teachers. Those dates fall in the middle of both semesters and they are Sep. 23 and Mar. 30.
In addition, he also presented the board with two other dates for early release. Those dates are at the end of both semesters and they are Dec. 16 and May 24. The board will approve these at the meeting on Monday as well.
Policy Updates Sitting for the Next 30 days
Board of Education, Featured News, Featured Stories July 19, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Board of Education is making some policy updates and adding a new policy that will now sit on the table for the next 30 days before they take action on them.
The board also approved three CTAE grants. Chief Operations Officer Greg Trammell presented the board with the current design for the aquatic center the Lumpkin County Commissioners are working on.
The current policies that are being updated are policies on JB student attendance, and IEDA instructed break time. The change to policy JB is to include 4H activities as acceptable absences. The IEDA is to ensure that kids from Kindergarten through Fifth grade must receive recess every day.
The new policy is IKBB Divisive Concepts Complaint Resolution Process. This policy is in response to house bill 1084 which was passed this year. The policy draft is the recommended draft from the State Board of Education, to review the policy visit https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Policy/ViewPolicy.aspx?S=4107&revid=Zplusx78tT6ldw8zZcZjXPX0Q==&PG=7.
The three CTAE grants that the board approved were from Federal, State, and Agricultural Education. The Federal grant is for $54,653. The State grant is for $89,240, and the Agricultural grant is for $20,661. These grants must be spent in accordance with the Perkins Act, state plan, state rules, and Local Plan guidelines.
The design for the current plan of the aquatic center.
Trammell also presented the board with the current design for the aquatic center. This design was presented to the commissioners at the special call work session on July 16. To review that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/07/16/budget-meeting-for-fy23-budget/.
The Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners currently have an intergovernmental agreement for the previous design for the aquatic center. If the commissioners move forward with the new design there will need to be a new updated IGA for this design. This design also calls for a much bigger pool than the original three-lane design and at this time the board of education has made no agreements to heat the larger pool.
Budget Meeting for FY23 Budget
Business, Community July 16, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Commissioners met with Fiance Director Abby Branan and County Manager Alan Ours on July 16 to review changes made to the budget and make a decision what the millage rate for the fiscal year 2023.
Commissioners met with Branan and Ours following their July 5 work session and meeting and set the task for them to try and find ways in the budget to balance it without raising the millage rate or using too much of the fund balance. To review that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/06/29/commissioners-continue-budget-talks/.
Branan and Ours reviewed the budget and spoke with department heads to find areas where they could adjust the budget. Branan found six items to adjust that freed up a total of $561,337. Those items are shifting the Aquatic Center Owner’s Rep from the general fund to the F301 Fund Balance, Removing grant fund cash match, shifting the E911 Communication Equipment from the general fund to the E911 funds, Update P&R Program Coordinator Salary, adjusting various line items, and cutting out the insurance for positions that are vacant.
The reason behind removing the grant fund match is due to never having used it in the past. Removing that frees up $50,000 by itself.
The department heads along with Branan also came back with a few suggestions to increase revenue for the budget. These include increasing ambulance and animal shelter fees, placing a freeze on four positions, removing the Yahlooa Creek Park turfplane treatment project, and delaying the airport project within safety means until 2024.
The positions that were suggested for freezing are currently vacant and have been for some time. Those positions are a custodian, real property appraiser, and two road maintenance workers.
The increased fees for the animal shelter are coming from an increase in rabies quarantine, rabies vaccine, cat adoption, and offense fees. Most of the increases are between $5 and $10 from what they currently are.
The turfplane treatment is more of an improvement project rather than a necessary maintenance project. The commissioners also talked about exploring other community-based options to move forward with this project.
Total increases from the measures are $491,139.00. With these changes, the expenditures are $26,444,891 and the revenue gap is $12,788,612. To review these figures with the original budget Branan proposed visit https://www.lumpkincounty.gov/635/2023-Budget.
Coroner Mark Cox came before the board to request an increase to the coroner’s salary in the new budget. To review that request in full use the link above.
To bring the coroner’s salary up to the average of the counties surrounding namely Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, and White would be a $9,000 increase. This is on top of the $5,000 that the state-mandated all elected officials received beginning Jan. 1. In total that would bring the coroner up to $30,000.
The commissioners agreed that to place the extra $9,000 to bring up the salary into the budget. They did not do anything with the deputy salary feeling that was up to the coroner to decide how those positions should be paid.
They also gave directions to Ours to check and verify if the state is responsible for giving the Librarians a COLA increase. If they are not then they are willing to add another $12,069 into the budget for that increase.
The current millage rate for unincorporated is 9.389 and for incorporated it is 11.556. The rollback option for the coming year is 8.157. Due to the rising inflation and high fuel cost, the board felt that the best course of action was to keep the millage rate at what it currently is and use $1 million out of the fund budget to balance the remainder of the budget.
The two special tax districts the reservoir and planning have their own millage rates. The reservoir is 0.206 and the planning is 0.452. That is a rollback for the reservoir from the previous year. Currently, the school board has not received their millage rate so it is not yet clear what the total millage rate will be.
Heard in the clip above is Chairman of the Board Chris Dockery explaining why they are moving forward with using some of the fund balance to finish balancing out the budget. There is also the chance that they will not need to use the entire $1 million during the fiscal year.
Ours also presented the commissioners with the new plans for the Aquatic Center project. The new plan is to have a gym with indoor courts for basketball, pickleball, and volleyball. There are six outdoor pickleball courts with room for bleachers.
There are two waterslides, a splash pad, and an eight-lane 25ft pool. Around the outside of the pool, there will be room for a bubble if the money is raised for it and if the school system decides they are still willing to pay to heat the pool.
The new design for the aquatic center.
The current price for the project from Carroll Daniel Construction is $11,878,556. The next steps are for the construction drawings to take place which should take up to 45 days. Carroll Daniel will also need to go ahead and order the steel as soon as possible since current wait times are six to eight months.
The commissioners could take action at the next regular meeting on July 19 to move this project forward. They have not received the cost for the FF&E yet and that could be anywhere from $716,000 to $1 million. Staff is currently working on those numbers and the commissioners suggested working with the School System’s Chief Operations Officer Greg Trammell for additional support on getting the numbers down.
“I feel like we fought for what we have right here and the reason we fought for this was because of the kids in our county and what we can provide for them,” commented Commissioner District 1 Tucker Greene.
ACCG Worker’s Compensation Program Gives County A Check
Business, Community July 6, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The ACCG Worker’s Compensation Program presented Lumpkin County with a special cash distribution check at the work session on July 5.
The commissioners also discussed the Quality Tire Scrap Tire Recycling Service agreement at the meeting. They also discussed the change in the per-ton fee for the transfer station.
The ACCG check presented to the county is for a total of $56,442.00. The check is Lumpkin County’s share of a $6 million special cash distribution program. The board of trustees voted to approve that a portion of investments and underwriting gains should be returned to counties that had been members since 2015.
This is the second time that the ACCG has given money back to counties in the State of Georgia. The first time was back in 2019 and that was a total of $4 million. To understand more about why the ACCG gives back this money visit https://www.accg.org/story2.php?id=1545. At this time the Lumpkin County Commissioners have not stated how they will use the funds.
The next item that was discussed was the Quality Tire Scrap tire recycling service agreement. This agreement is for the tires that come off county-maintained vehicles. The agreement guarantees a rate of $170.00 per ton for the next 12 months.
The county scraps approximately 600 tires per year. The state requires the tires to be scrapped through a State-approved tire recycler and Quality Tire Scrap is the closest recycler that meets that standard.
By entering into this agreement the Lumpkin County Commissioners will be able to receive grant funding to hold a “Scrap Tire Round-Up Program”. The county has done this program in the past collecting two to three tractor-trailer loads of tires. They do impose a limit on how many tires can be brought by citizens or the number would most likely be much higher.
This is already planned for in the budget as a reoccurring fund line item under the Fleet Department budget. That total budget is $2,000.00.
Mark Robinson has requested that the commissioners approve a five-dollar increase to the per ton fee at the transfer station. The increase would be from $50 to $55 if approved by the commissioners.
The request for the increase is due to the rising fuel cost and a need to stay competitive in the market. This will not affect the price per bag and it also has nothing to do with recycling.
Development Authority Director Rebecca Mincey also provided the board with an update on how the broadband infrastructure project is currently going. Mincey has been working on this project for months to review some of the prior requests she has made of the board for the project visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/03/16/the-board-to-seek-bids-for-inmate-health/.
Heard in the clip above is a portion of the update Mincey provided. Mincey went on to explain the process of descoping the NTIA grant and informed the board that she hopes in August to be able to provide a new CD450 for the new budget for the NTIA portion of the project.
The Development Authority will also be hosting an open house for the citizens on July 11 from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m. This will give citizens an opportunity to see if their address falls into the area that the project will be working on and also give them an opportunity to preregister for the broadband.
County Manager Alan Ours also gave an update on talks for the aquatic center. He has met with the architect for the project and Carrol Daniel’s construction and provided them with the key areas that were discussed in the work session on Jun. 28.
They will be going back and making the adjustments to the plans and he will be meeting with them again on July 13. He then should be able to present a new budget for the project to the commissioners at their July 16 work session and get further direction from them at that time on how they wish to proceed.
“We’ve got to do what’s in our means but the trap I want to avoid is that we talk about something this month and then we have to wait a month for another meeting, we make some little minor change then we have to wait another month for that change to come down the pipe. If we need to have special call meetings to expedite this process I’m more than willing to make myself available as needed,” stated Commissioner District 2 Bobby Mayfield.
Commissioners Continue Budget Talks
Business, Community, Police & Government June 29, 2022
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.- The Lumpkin County Commissioners continued budget talks with County Manager Alan Ours and Finance Director Abby Branan.
The commissioners also heard from the public on the plans for the aquatic center during their work session prior to the regular meeting. They also approved the contract with Flock Flacon Safety Cameras for the sheriff’s office use.
Prior to meeting with Ours and Branan to continue talks about the budget, the commissioners heard the request from Coroner Mark Cox for a pay increase in the new budget. Currently, Cox and the deputy coroners are the lowest-paid in surrounding counties, including Dawson, White, Fannin, and Gilmer. Cox asked for an increase to $30,000 to $35,000 from the current $16,000 half of that would go to the deputy coroners.
The data for the coroner’s salaries, population, and the number of calls per year for all neighboring counties.
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Chris Dockery did the math on the average salary including Lumpkin in the with the other four and found the average to be $23,518. Lumpkin County’s Coroner is also the busiest coroner out of the five counties and one of the only ones not tied to a funeral home.
“I definitely think the coroner’s salary and the deputy’s salary is low compared to other counties, but jumping almost all the way up to Hall county’s salary I don’t know if that’s visible or realistic,” commented Commissioner District 4 Jeff Moran.
The coroner’s request was added to the budget talks with Ours and Branan. To maintain the same level of service and not raise the millage rate staff and the commissioners have to find an extra 1.9 million dollars in the budget. They are able to use some of the fund balance to meet that number but that is also not an option they like.
Some options like are going to be looking at going forward are freezing currently unfilled positions until the economy is better. They are also going to be talking to other elected officials about policies to save gas in vehicles. Gas and inflation are the biggest increases in the budget.
Heard in the clip above is Dockery explaining how the county’s budget is similar to a household budget. To review the current proposed budget without the coroner’s request visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/06/08/board-hears-fy23-budget-proposal/. The budget talks will continue and the final budget will be voted on at the Aug. 23 meeting.
The commissioners also took the time to review the communities input on the new aquatic center. There were many people that came out to voice their opinions on the subject. Their comments boiled down to a few items that they believe the commissioners should focus on.
Leah Smith while addressing the board.
Those items are a bubble to cover the pool to give year-round access to it, and accessibility for those with disabilities. The focus needs to be on pools for the elderly and swim teams such as a therapeutic pool and an eight-lane 25-yard competition pool.
Most of those that came forward offered their services in some way or another to help the commissioners get the project going again. One of those that volunteered time to do research was Leah Smith.
Heard in the clip above is Smith speaking to the commissioners about the need for competition swimming. To get a better idea of what a bubble is visit https://blog.intheswim.com/off-season-swimming-pool-enclosure-options/#:~:text=The%20inflatable%20swimming%20pool%20enclosure,that%20sits%20overtop%20your%20pool.
The commissioners encourage the feedback of the community on this project as they continue to find ways to move forward. The best person to contact is the County Manager Alan Ours and his contact information can be found at https://www.lumpkincounty.gov/182/County-Manager.
The commissioners did approve the contract with Flock Falcon Safety Cameras for the use of the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Jarrard presented the request to the commissioners at the Jun. 7 work session. To review that meeting use the link above.
Sheriff Jarrard addresses the community’s concerns with the new camera system.
The sheriff also address the privacy concerns some citizens had at the meeting. He also mentioned that UNG has been using the system since Sep. of 2021. During a 30-day trial with the system, the sheriff’s office was able to solve two major thefts and assist another county in breaking up a car-stealing ring.
“I think I would fail the community if there is a product out there that I can utilize to help victims by not utilizing that, I am mindful of what they say about the 30 days I know I’m having to have trust in that. I know that law enforcement has to have a reason to go into the system to try to research and we have to have knowledge of a crime that took place to try to come up with a suspect,” explained Jarrard.
What will be featured in Lumpkin’s new aquatic center
Community, News September 29, 2021
LUMPKIN, Ga – In partnership with the Board of Education and the University of North Ga, the Lumpkin County Commissioners continue to make progress on the new Cottrell Aquatic Center for the county.
Groundbreaking on the center began in May 2021 and is expected to be completed and opened by May 2022. Carroll Daniel Construction and Architecture Unlimited are responsible for the project. The aquatic center is located on 7.4305 acres of land that the Board of Education purchased for their new elementary school.
The site plan for the aquatic center.
The county received a portion of the property through an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the board of education. Another IGA between the two governments states that the commissioners are responsible for constructing the roads, utilities, and parking areas on the site.
According to the guaranteed maximum price contract (GMP), the project will not exceed $1,776,102.00.
The aquatic center will have three pools, two sprung buildings, and an outdoor leisure pool.
One pool will be a 50-meter competition pool. There will also be a 25-yd 10 lane multi-purpose pool and a 60ft by 45ft instruction/therapeutic pool. These pools will be used by local swim teams, UNG’s JROTC program, the senior center, and open for public use.
The two sprung buildings, also known as indoor pool areas, will be 200 ft. x 120 ft. = 24,000 sq. ft and 120 ft. x 120 ft. = 14,400 sq. ft.
Outdoor leisure pool and lazy river design.
Finally, an outdoor leisure pool and outdoor decking with pavilions and a lazy river will be available to the public. The estimated annual budget for the aquatic center is $1,314,753.00.
The estimate includes staffing full and part-time, operation supplies, and utilities. For the full-time staff, the expected cost is $402,205.00, and $460,584 for part-timers. The cost of operation supplies is expected to be $244,500.00, and the expected cost of the utilities is $207.500.00.
In the first year of operation, the aquatic center is estimated to bring in $775,000.00, and likely to increase year over year. The revenue will come from admission fees, facility rental fees, lane rental fees, instructional classes, and concessions/resale fees. At this time, the fees have not been announced.