BOC Chairman's Report

Here is the Board of Commissioners Chairman's Report for the week of June 22, 2009:

Last week I received a letter from the Commissioner and Chief Engineer of the Georgia DOT. The subject of the letter is “Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) and State Aid Grant Programs”. The LARP program is for repaving county roads. State Aid Grant Programs are for improving and widening gravel roads to be paved. I’ll hit some of the highlights from the letter: “the Department will not have sufficient funds in fiscal year 2010 to award any grants” and “2009 LARP was cancelled due to financial shortfalls. Fortunately, the Department’s FY 2010 does include funds to support LARP”. The letter goes on to say that I’ll receive another letter telling me to submit for the LARP and “to emphasize that this letter does not guarantee funding”. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and make sure that all funding opportunities are aggressively pursued, but the tone of the letter isn’t promising.

May was a somewhat quiet month for our Fire-Rescue department. Totals are: 3 structure fires, 3 brush fires, 14 motor vehicle crashes, and 178 medical calls. The new stations are working out very well for improved response time. However, over the weekend we experienced a rash of mechanical problems with the Ford ambulances. I want to thank Pickens County EMS for helping us out several times.

We continue to receive a mixed bag of calls regarding “dust control”. This practice, which is the application of chemicals to gravel roads, was eliminated from the budget this year. We have received many positive compliments about the discontinuance. Comments have ranged from “it stank” and “it killed my flowers” to “it wouldn’t wash off my car”. However, some folks have serious respiration problems and grew to rely on the dust control for easier breathing. We had a “free sample” of another type of dust control chemical, liquefied calcium chloride, which apparently has no residue issues. So far it looks like it would be less expensive also. Unlike the oil like substance previously used, calcium chloride actually improves the chemical composition of the aggregate base in the road and enhances the moisture retention qualities of the road. I recently rode one of the areas that got the sample, and it had that “wet” look and did not put up dust weeks after the application and days after rain. We will look into this closer in the near future, and will probably apply a small amount in the areas where folks have breathing problems and the homes are close to the road.

There is much interest in the golf course with many individuals favoring a change in the management firm operating the course, and many individuals supporting the current management firm. While no decision has been made on the future management of the golf course, it should be noted that the Board does have until October to exercise the annual termination provision, should that decision be made. A workshop will be held later this summer or early fall on the subject at which time the Board will invite informed discussion of the matter by the public. The public should know that we have not let any deadlines pass that would jeopardize the County’s position in handling the matter according to the provisions of the lease.

As always, feel free to contact me by email (mchastain@gilmercounty-ga.gov) or by calling the BOC office at 706-635-4361. Comments can be left on 706-515-2320.