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AMERICUS – On Tuesday evening, May 16, the Sumter County Board of Commissioners (BOC) held its monthly regular meeting at the Sumter County Courthouse.

One of the things that was discussed at the regular meeting was a proposed easement from Georgia Power at 114 Pecan Road for the purpose of replacing an existing power pole. Patrick Cook of Georgia Power explained the process to the BOC at the meeting as to how this would work and the BOC did not see any problem with it. However, it was decided that County Attorney Hayden Hooks should look over the proposed agreement before any ruling or approval is to be done concerning the matter.

There was also a discussion considering the approval of a 15-passenger van for Sumter County Fire and Rescue. Commissioner Clay Jones asked SCFR Chief Jerry Harmon how much the new van would cost and Harmon estimated that he believed that it would be somewhere in the $30,000 range. Commissioner Jesse Smith expressed his concern that purchasing a van at that expense would be wasting taxpayers’ money and he mentioned that SCFR got three to five new trucks last year.

Harmon replied to Smith that he understood his position, but that he didn’t have the money to repair the existing van that SCFR has. After further discussion on the matter, no ruling was made as far as approving the purchase of the new van.

There was also a discussion on approving a Superior Court Public Defender agreement for the period of July 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. County Administrator Rayetta Volley stated that she, along with Hayden Hooks, were waiting to see what the BOC thought about the $32,000 increase that was included in the proposed agreement. Waddell stated that the BOC would need to go through the budget before it made any decision on whether to approve this agreement or decline it.

In addition to the aforementioned items, the BOC also discussed an approval of surplus items at Magistrate Court. Volley stated that when she met with Attorney Hooks, Hooks told her that the BOC has to try and make every effort to get rid of the items and that putting those items up for auction on govdeals.com would be one of the ways to do it. “In the event we couldn’t sell the items, then we could destroy the items through throwing them away out to the dumpster,” Volley said. “But we would have to make an attempt to try to sell them.” Waddell made a motion to surplus the items from the Magistrate Court. Commissioner Jesse Smith made a motion for approval and Commissioner Clay Jones seconded the motion. The BOC voted and the approval passed unanimously.

The BOC also had a discussion on an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) for Maintenance of Unpaved Sumter County public roads. Volley told the BOC after meeting with Hooks that if the BOC is going to do an RFQ, it should be for items that are over the $100,000 threshold. “For example, when we did the salary study, that would be something that is under the $100,000 threshold, so it’s recommended because it would be a low risk, that we would just do an RFP (Request For Proposal) for something of that nature,” Volley said. “I also got a better understanding of an RFQ. I was thinking that that was more like a resume, but an RFQ needs to be more specific, so for the compensation and salary study, I was not as specific as I should have been, so I would like the Board to disregard that one and we go back and look at it at a later time.” Volley went on to say that on the RFQ for the unpaved roads, she only received one RFQ and asked that the BOC proceed and move forward with the next step of doing an RFP (Request for Proposal).

Waddell made a motion to approve Volley to move forward with the RFP for maintenance of unpaved Sumter County public roads. Commissioner Smith made a motion for approval and Commissioner Jim Reid seconded the motion. The BOC voted and the motion to approve passed unanimously.

The BOC also approved an agreement with John Simmons & Sons for Grading and Earth Work Services, with the amount of $622,777.50 to be paid from bond funds. Commissioner Smith made a motion for approval and Commissioner Clay Jones seconded the motion. The BOC voted and the motion to approve passed unanimously.