The Barrow County Board of Commissioners at a regular meeting Tuesday night will take up some issues potentially affecting every taxpayer in the county. CFO Rose Kisaalita will clarify how close was her original $1 million projection of additional FY2011 reserve funds to the final audited figure. Also on the agenda will be a presentation by two bond attorneys who will discuss additional revenues that would be generated by refunding the county’s 2005 General Obligation bonds. There is a possibility that the revenue could be used to help offset some of the $3.75 million cost of meeting the January 2013 federally deadline for narrow-banding the county’s emergency services radio communications. But the legality of changing the use of 2012 SPLOST funds has not been discussed in public.
The BOC also will vote on whether to accept amendments the Winder City Council made to an intergovernmental agreement for the consolidation of dispatching services. The BOC approved an original agreement, but the amendments say Winder would not pay quarterly contributions to the county unless the 911 Center adds and continues to employ four additional communications officers.
Other items on the agenda include:
• Formation of a committee to search for a county manager who would begin work in January 2013.
• A discussion of the county’s invoicing and payment system for ambulance fees.
• A request by Project Adam, a non-profit organization specializing in the prevention of and treatment of chemical dependency, which wants to occupy the water department’s building after it relocates to a new site off Highway 211.
• The nomination of Commissioner Isaiah Berry’s to the District 4 seat on the Barrow County Airport Authority. He reportedly had planned to nominate former commissioner Norma Jean Brown, but the agenda does not list the name of his nominee.
• A request by District Attorney Brad Smith to use $12,000 in annual Drug Abuse Treatment and Education funds for a drug education program that was developed last year as part of the Drug Court Federal Grant. The grant stopped funding the program on Feb. 29.
• The appointment of Shirley Segars to the Community Services Board.
• The declaration of March 17 as St. Baldrick’s Foundation Day in Barrow County. The foundation is dedicated to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers.
