PRINT
E-MAIL STORY
NEWSLETTER SIGN UPBarrow County Board of Commissioners
Feb. 9 Agenda
7 p.m. session
Welcome
1. Approval of Jan. 26 & Feb. 1 minutesPublic Comments on Agenda Items
2. HR Director Norma Jean Brown1) Detention Officers Pay
2) Temporary Assistance - Elections
3) Recommendation for Temporary
work at Highway Pay for Interim
Elections Supervisor Katie Ferm
3. Quentin Streetman – Winder Moose Lodge #262 Presentation to Firefighters 4. Project Development ManagerBob Hohe - Archer & Lovell Invoice
5. Commissioner Ben Hendrix- Discussion of Planning &
Zoning Department
6. Interim Fire Chief John Skinnerand 911 Manager Kathy Wallace
- CAD Upgrade - E911 Service
7. Sheriff’s Office Detention DivisionCommander Mike Katsegianes -
JLG Lift Purchase - Barrow
County Detention Center
8. Coroner David Crosby1) Budget Amendment
2) Additional Deputy Coroner
9. Executive session - Litigation& Personnel
ebanks@barrowcountynews.com
Barrow County Coroner David Crosby has run out of money for conducting drug tests, and he’ll go to the Board of Commissioners Tuesday to ask for a budget amendment.
That’s one of the three budget amendments the board is scheduled to consider at the meeting.
Four months into the fiscal year, the coroner’s office has depleted its funds for drug tests, Crosby said.
"We need more money for professional services, just due to an increase in drug cases," he said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations takes four to six months to return tests because of staff cuts, so the county has been outsourcing lab work to a private company that turns around tests in two weeks, Crosby said.
"We’ve had such a demand that we’ve used our funds up pretty quickly," he said. "We knew it (the number of cases) was going to be high, but we didn’t know when it would run out, when we were doing the budget. We had to settle to save money, but now we’re out."
In fiscal year 2009, the coroner’s office was budgeted $10,900 for professional services, but only spent $3,187. This fiscal year, the department was allocated $5,100, but is already down to $137, according to the county.
Operations Development Manager Bob Hohe said the budget amendment for the coroner’s office will take money from reserves.
He said the other budget amendments coming before the board, including one to pay the bill for the internal investigation, will also have to be funded by the reserves.
Archer & Lovell’s invoice comes to $42,487.26, for the internal investigation the Board of Commissioners hired attorney David Archer to conduct.
Archer spent more than 160 hours on the investigation of claims of racial and sexual discrimination and harassment. The county agreed to pay him $250 per hour, as well as mileage from his Cartersville office and other expenses.
Archer found no evidence or corroboration to the claims of state or federal violations, although he did find commission Chairman Danny Yearwood violated a county policy. He recommended Yearwood and Lyn Clement, director of community and county development, attend sensitivity training.The Board of Commissioners has not taken any action on the report that was released Jan. 27, but is scheduled to discuss it again in executive session at Tuesday’s meeting.
The third possible budget amendment the board is scheduled to consider would increase the pay for detention officers to that of deputy detention officers – a difference of $3,163 – after they receive their Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) certifications.
"In the past, up until this year, Barrow County has always automatically taken the detention officers pay up to the minimum of deputy detention officer at the sheriff’s request," Human Resources Director Norma Jean Brown wrote in a memo.
She said three employees would be immediately affected by the change, and two more in March.
"One of the issues we are having is after …Barrow County sends them to POST for certification, they can then go anywhere else to work and make deputy’s pay," she said.
She also estimated the cost to hire and train public safety employees is in excess of $7,500.
Brown said if the board approves the detention officers’ pay increase, a budget amendment would be required because the department is at 25 percent of its budget for salaries.
Planning and zoning department
Commissioner Ben Hendrix has requested an agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting to discuss the planning and zoning department – one area that was particularly hard-hit by the reorganization last year.
"Now that we’re in the new year, and after we had all that with the reorganization, I just want us to talk about the department and what’s on the horizon over the next few months and year," Hendrix said. "It’s just a chance for us to brainstorm about where we are and where we ought to be."
He said he doesn’t have any plans in the works and people shouldn’t read into his motives for requesting the discussion of the department.
"It’s good to have a general discussion," he said. "As I find a topic I think the board would be interested in, or a subject area that might need to be discussed, it might benefit from an overall discussion, whether it lasts one minute or several minutes."
ć
