By Taelor Rye
Dodge County Manager Bobby Peacock reported to the Dodge County Board of Commissioners at the November 2 meeting that, coinciding with the need for a new ambulance – as discussed at the last board meeting – the county has opened bidding. A new ambulance, as Peacock stated, “would cost close to $150,000.00,” so the savvier option would be to have the box from an old ambulance mounted to the back of a new vehicle. In the case of a 2016 Ford E450 with a V10 engine, the cheapest of three bids came at the price of $76,075.00. Commissioner Brian Watkins added that Telfair County has invested in a Ford F450 rather than an E450, noting that this pickup option would be easier to work on and would generally have a cooler engine due to more available room. Rather than moving forward with the options already in place, Peacock and the board decided to take a bit more time to look into the option of an F450.
Peacock also initiated discussion on the Dodge County Board of Tax Assessors’ personnel policy, as their policy deviates from the county’s general personnel policy, applicable to other Dodge County employees other than elected officials. County attorney John Harrington stated that, because the tax assessor’s office falls under legislation rather than constitution, it generally would fall under the county’s general personnel policy. Harrington also said that it may not be a good idea to have multiple personnel policies for similarly created bodies under one government. Watkins stated that the board should write the office a letter stating that their policy should align with other county employees’ policy.
Dodge commissioners defer ambulance plans
Eastman City Councilman Milton Johnson came to the board of commissioners to propose an intergovernmental agreement between Eastman and Dodge County based on the discussion from the Eastman City Council’s discussion on Monday, October 26. Johnson stated that a department head for building services had to step away for personal reasons and that the city council has voted to contact the county to see if someone from the county could do the city’s building inspections for full pay. Right now, Johnson said, this is only a temporary solution until the city can step back and look at the long-term horizon for what might be better for members of the city. Otherwise, the cost of the inspections would be driven up due to hiring a third party to complete the inspections. Johnson did clarify that his request was a skeleton proposal in that its details are not fully fleshed out: “I think this might be a good solution from an eagle’s view, but we still need to get in the weeds to see how it’d hash out.” Johnson stated that he hopes for inspections to begin at the beginning of 2016.
Henry Whitfield from Middle Georgia State University (MGSU) approached the board to remind board members of the MGSU town hall meeting this Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Eastman aviation campus in the Eastman Room. Charles Williams from the development authority echoed Whitfield’s reminder and added that the Chamber of Commerce will host a similar event for Georgia Military College (GMC) at the chamber at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10. Williams highlighted GMC’s interest in offering education for incarcerated individuals through the Second Chance Pell Grant.
The board’s next meeting will take place on Monday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.
Henry Whitfield from Middle Georgia State University (MGSU) approached the board to remind board members of the MGSU town hall meeting this Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Eastman aviation campus in the Eastman Room. Charles Williams from the development authority echoed Whitfield’s reminder and added that the Chamber of Commerce will host a similar event for Georgia Military College (GMC) at the chamber at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10. Williams highlighted GMC’s interest in offering education for incarcerated individuals through the Second Chance Pell Grant.
The board’s next meeting will take place on Monday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.
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