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From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – Even though the Sumter County Board of Commissioners (SCBOC) could not meet at the Sumter County Courthouse for its monthly work session on Tuesday, April 13, the SCBOC was still able to conduct its April work session Tuesday night by way of video conferencing. One of the decisions the SCBOC made at that meeting was the approval to begin the procedure for closing Renecker Road.

According to Sumter County Department of Public Works Director Jim Littlefield, the closure of this road will be beneficial to the county and the general public because no one currently lives on that road and hasn’t lived on that road for numerous decades. According to Littlefield, the county has been maintaining a road that is hardly used and that nobody lives on. For these reasons, he recommended to the SCBOC that it approve the commencement of the procedure to close the road.

In Littlefield’s opinion, the county is wasting taxpayer money by maintaining a road that no one lives on. By closing the road, Littlefield believes that it will benefit both the county and the general public. There are railroad tracks that run along side the road that are owned by Norfolk Southern. Littlefield said that he plans to send the railroad company a certified letter describing the county’s plan to begin the process of closing the road. He also plans to put an ad in the Americus Times-Recorder notifying the public of the county’s plans regarding the road. Littlefield went on to say that the SCBOC will hold a public hearing in either May or June so that citizens can express their opinions one way or the other regarding Renecker Road.

A motion for approval to begin the procedure of closing Renecker Road was made by Commissioner George Torbert and Commissioner Thomas Jordan seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the approval passed unanimously.

The SCBOC also voted unanimously to approve an amendment to an agreement with Cirilian, Inc. and its successor, CivicPlus, LLC. Sumter County Parks and Recreation Director Tim Estes told the Americus Times-Recorder that his department uses Cirilian’s registration software, but that CivicPlus, LLC, had bought out Cirilian, Inc. Being that Cirilian was billing the SCPRD on a monthly basis and CivicPlus bills annually, Estes said that a new contract had to be created.

A motion to approve the amendment was made by Commissioner Jordan and seconded by Commissioner Torbert. A vote was taken and the approval passed unanimously.

The SCBOC also approved an ordinance to amend section 6-34 of Article II of Chapter 6 of the Sumter County Code of Ordinances. This ordinance governs off-premises sales and for the purpose of authorizing a licensee for the consumption of beer and/or wine on the premises to sell beer and/or wine in its unopened package to customers for carry out purposes or through a drive through window and for other lawful purposes. Commissioner Torbert made a motion to approve this ordinance and Commissioner Jordan seconded the motion. The SCBOC voted and the approval passed unanimously.

In his report to the SCBOC, Sumter County Sheriff Eric Bryant let the Board know that things are going well at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO). Colonel Bryant stated that there have been no confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus at the jail facility, but they did have a couple of scares in personnel. Colonel Bryant went on to say that the SCSO is going to start issuing citations to those people who do not practice social distancing. He stated that his department is getting more and more calls about people gathering in large groups and that they had to respond to four incidents last weekend in which people were gathering in large groups.

The SCBOC’s regular meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, April 21, will also be a virtual meeting. It will begin at 6 p.m. and it is open to the public. For those who would like to tune in, they can dial 1-929-436-2866. Once that number is dialed, dial the Meeting ID number: 91509284253. Once the Meeting ID number is dialed, dial the password 676143.