Watershed plan discussion ends with heated exchange

Barrow County public works director Terry Darragh asked the Board of Commissioners to approve the county’s watershed protection plan for submission to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division as mandated.

The plan establishes rules and guidelines to protect the water quality of Barrow County streams, rivers, reservoirs and aquifers.

“This plan defines some of our best management practices that we were already doing as part of the Unified Development Code,” Darragh said.

The plan provides for periodic water sampling and reporting to show that the county is working to improve the quality of its water through monitoring and code enforcement.

The projected cost of the plan is $84,500, of which $60,000 is already included in the budget as part of current administrative and enforcement functions. The remaining $24,500 would be required for testing and reporting requirements.

Though several commissioners commented on the plan or asked questions, only Dist. 3 commissioner Bill Healan voiced concerns about the actual plan.

After questioning whether the plan did enough to provide assurances regarding the quality of Barrow County water, Healan proceeded to ask a series of questions covering topics including testing, regulations, use of consultants, code enforcement, aquifer recharge areas and wetlands management.

After several minutes of questioning by Healan, a visibly frustrated Dist. 1 commissioner Jerry Lampp said he had a statement to make.

“When I have technical questions, I go to the source and ask the question,” he said. “I don’t wait until I get to a commission meeting to put on a show.”

Later, as the commissioners adjourned to chambers for executive session, a clearly angry Healan could be heard accusing Lampp of taking a cheap shot at him during the meeting.

The board approved the watershed protection plan by a vote of 5-1. Healan was the lone opposing vote.

In other business, the board:

• voted to continue having two commission meetings per month. Chairman Doug Garrison had asked the board if they wished to reduce the meetings to one each month as allowed by the county’s charter. Garrison said the change would reduce costs and eliminate the need for staff to attend extra meetings after regular business hours. Lampp supported the proposal saying he would prefer to have one meeting per month while leaving the other date available for a board work session.

• approved an emergency purchase order for two coolers and a freezer for the new detention center. Assistant Chief Administrator Michael Fischer said some of the items listed in the kitchen equipment budget for the new jail were more expensive and upscale than what was needed. Fischer asked for permission to remove the coolers and freezer from the equipment list in order to bid them out now instead of bidding all the currently listed appliances as part of one package. The coolers and freezers will be custom built and required a lead time of eight to ten weeks just for construction. Fischer said that by approving an emergency purchase order which allows him to immediately seek bids instead of going through the sealed bid process, the county will have a better chance of remaining on schedule with construction.

• approved the purchase of a high pressure jet trailer for line maintenance and emergency blockage removal. The $37,840 piece of equipment was included in this year’s budget. Currently, emergency service is outsourced due to the lack of necessary equipment.

• approved two new job descriptions and pay grades for positions within the fire and emergency services department and a job modification and pay grade change for the county clerk.

• entered executive session for approximately 35 minutes to discuss land acquisition and litigation. No action resulted from the executive session.