EMS, land use, budget among topics addressed at political forum

The Committee for Shaping Banks Future sponsored the forum which was held at the Banks County High School auditorium. Approximately 40 people attended the citizen-sponsored forum.

Candidates attending the forum include the Post 2 candidates, Ray Holcomb, Neal Pulliam, Ernest Rogers and Fred Wendt and Post 4 candidates Jerry Loftice and Charles Turk. Post 4 candidate Robin Trotter was not present because she was attending a work-related conference.

Each candidate made an opening statement, answered six questions from the moderator and gave a closing statement.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The candidates were asked to explain their understanding of the comprehensive plan.

Rogers: “The comprehensive land use plan is a plan that where you do an overlay of the whole county and you decide what areas of the county that you want as commercial, residential, agriculture or industrial.”

Turk: “The land use plan is a map of the whole county that is segregated for different zonings. We essentially have spot zoning. My stance is that if it doesn’t fit in that area, then it doesn’t need to be spot zoned.”

Holcomb: “The comprehensive plan is a footprint that you would like Banks County to look like. This is a 25 or 30 year plan that you have to submit to the state. It’s a big footprint of the way you would like the county to look.

Wendt: “Banks County’s comprehensive land use plan is a plan produced with the help and aid of professional consultants. The last work done on it was completed in October of last year. It is available on the Bank County website. It has a lot of information in it, including maps and legends to the map. It maps on where development is to be.”

Pulliam: “It’s a map of the county. It has the different zonings — whether it be rural or town. There are areas designated for industry. The zoning areas of the county are a little different story.”

Loftice: “It is a vision of managed growth of our county. If we don’t maintain that vision, we are left behind. It is a way to have development come in on the major arteries of our county so that we can have a tax base to relieve homeowners. If we actively work on this land use plan…it’s an important plan. We all need to take the time to look at it. There is a lot of information there.”

EMERGENCY SERVICES

The candidates were asked to comment on the operation of the sheriff’s office, fire department, EMS services and zoning issues. Their comments include the following:

Turk: “The future of the fire department, the one thing I would like to see changed is that when they train the paid personnel they pull them all from outlying stations into the City of Homer. There is only one reason for outlying stations. They are expensive but it is for coverage. If you pull your personnel from the station over at 85 or at Hollingsworth or Catfish Corner, if you pull all them into the City of Homer and you have a major accident or you have a major med call, you change arrival time from two to three minutes to about eight or 10. That is life or death. Sheriff’s department, I was not in favor of the hiring freeze. There is no need for deputies to work 16 to 18 hour shifts. I’m glad the hiring freeze was lifted. The zoning office, basically the zoning board is the one that is going to deny or accept zoning. Hopefully, we can get and keep people on the zoning board who are interested in what is best for the county. If it doesn’t fit in that spot, it does not need to be rezoned.”

Holcomb: “First of all, the sheriff’s department, we need to make sure they are funded and they are able to protect the citizens of the county in the proper way. EMS does a real good job. We need also need to make sure they are funded in the proper way and have the proper training to do their job. The fire department, I know is kind of a tough issue. I know we’ve had some controversy but some of that seems to have worked its way out over the last few months. I do believe that if it continues to be a problem, we need to look at hiring a professional from outside the county that doesn’t have any ties to anybody in the county and give them the free rein to organize the fire department.

Wendt: “The members of the county commission have no say-so how the sheriff’s department is run. It is under the auspices of an elected official, the sheriff of the county. The can, however, help with the budgeting process as the sheriff brings his needs to the county. There is a negotiation process there. That is part of the process of being the commissioner. In terms of fire and EMS, we are looking for a system based upon the organization that would have a director of the fire department that would be able to work well with both the permanent personnel and those that are volunteers. The volunteers were the backbone of the county’s fire system for many years and still are highly depended on to fight the fires.

Pulliam: “The sheriff’s department is separate but we, as the commissioners, need to support them to bring safety to this county. As we all know, on the EMS and fire department, there has been controversy over it before. I think if the people that hire in the county, if they go through the resumes of those who are qualified, I think it would relieve a lot of things if the paperwork was checked on those who apply.

Loftice: “The future of any department relies on strong leadership. If we have quality leadership in place, everything moves in line. I’m a strong supporter of law enforcement. I think we need to continue to support our sheriff and deputies. We need to give them the praise and accolades they deserve because sometimes it is a thankless position. Fire department, we have our leader in place, let’s let them lead. Volunteers are important in our county. We don’t have enough resources to pay all of the volunteers. We can all work together. We have some good people and dedicated people. Zoning, I saw let’s review everything to make sure we are doing it the right way. If you have a foundation, the building will stand.

Rogers: “I have the highest respect for all of these departments. The sheriff’s office, the firefighters and anyone who puts their life on the line, I have the most respect for them. The sheriff has the control of the sheriff’s department and how it is operated. The commissioners only have the budget part of it to handle. I feel that the county has to budget the sheriff’s department to provide them with they need to operate and keep the county safe. With fire and EMS, good leadership is the heart of any department. The paid personnel and the volunteers, I believe any issue that comes up, they can work through it. Both sides have to work toward the center. You have to work on what is best for the county. The planning and zoning board, I think they’ve done a great job. They have some great personnel. They put a lot of hours and time that people don’t realize.”

ANIMAL CONTROL

The candidates were asked to comment on animal control. Their comments include the following:

Holcomb: “That is a hard question to answer because we don’t have an animal shelter in the county. We might need to look into some sort of private animal control for the county. It is a very hard thing to enforce. It takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of time. I don’t think that we have the proper facilities at the present to take care of the animals.”

Wendt: “I have encountered a lot of people who are concerned about the problem of loose dogs and other animals that are out running wild. I know it is something very important for the county to address. Money is a real problem and it’s getting worse. I’m afraid we won’t have any money to do it by ourselves. However, there are ways to work through this with a partnership with another county. Stephens County, to our north, also does not have county-wide animal control. It’s one of things that we could talk to talk to Stephens County about a joint partnership to have an animal shelter. Another way is perhaps to use a private concern to answer calls.

Pulliam: “I know it would be a great expense to get an animal shelter. I’ve given out 2,800 cards. I’ve knocked on that many doors and talked to people. I have not had a dog try to bite me at any of those homes. I’m not familiar with the problems of dogs. I think we should talk to other counties — Stephens and maybe Jackson. I think we should get something in a central location. It will take a lot of people to run.”

Loftice: “The first thing I say is to keep your dogs at home and make sure you have them vaccinated. It is a problem. It is expensive though. We’ve got to do something about it. If we can work together with another county, that is a great idea. We do need to look at animal control. Let’s do what we can. Let’s come up some ideas on how we can best venture into this.”

Rogers: “Animal control has been an issue for several years. Animal control, when I was in office before, we were looking at three-quarters of a million to get it started up and that was eight years ago. I would say it would cost a million dollars to get one in operation now. Right now, the county can not afford it. With the budgets they way they are right now and everything getting cut back to a shoestring budget, I just don’t see any time in the next two to three years doing it. I’d love to see it happen but I’m being realistic. I think the best thing we can do is to get a private company that we could set up so that the citizens could call.”

Turk: “As far as animal control, Hall County just opened up their shelter. I think Banks County has some kind of agreement with them. That is an option. Right now, with the way the budget is, I agree with a lot of the other candidates, I don’t see where we can get a dog pound facility any time soon.”

IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS

The candidates were asked how they would improve communications between citizens and county officials. Their comments include the following:

Wendt: “I have proposed that the county develop a method by which county citizens can communicate with the county via electronic means by telephone or by email or even by letter. Comments and questions can be responded to based on someone monitoring the sources of this information. I would furthermore seek to get an agreement with the newspaper in order to publish some of these that are of general interest.”

Pulliam: “Communication is the only way people have to understand each other. We have to rely on the people of the county to come in and let us know problems they have. If people have a problem it needs to be made known what the problem is. We need to address it. We need to get back in touch with the people.”

Loftice: “First of all, my name is listed in the phone book. All you have to do is give me a call. If that doesn’t work, I will meet you wherever. That should be the mindset of any commissioner in Banks County because we are public servants. We have not only hear what you are saying, but we have to listen to what you are saying. We need to make ourselves available. The citizens need to go to the county meetings and be more involved.”

Rogers: “Every department head should have a phone number you can call. You should be able to call them direct and get your answers from them. If you have a problem, you should call the commissioners and it should be checked out. I will call you back. You have to get your information from the citizens. The citizens also need to be more involved in county government. They should come to the meetings.”

Turk: “The main problem I hear is that when they call, all they get is a recording. It is such a hurdle with the way the phone system is to just know who to talk with. Especially people moving in who don’t know exactly who to talk to.”

Holcomb: “Every commissioner should have a listed phone number and email address through the county so citizens can email them questions. I think there should be a little more openness in the commission meetings as far as citizen input. The website has a form you have to fill out at least one week ahead of time. That needs to be shortened. I know you have to control the meetings but there does need to be a little more openness.

BUDGET

The candidates were asked how to handle budget needs to address future growth. Their responses include the following:

Pulliam: “First of all, right now at this time, there is nothing I can do about the current budget because it is already set anyway. Therefore, we would have to wait until the next fiscal year to know. At that time, we would go in a different direction to do whatever it takes to finance the budget of the county.”

Loftice: “We have to realize that growth is coming so we need to tighten our belts. Economic tough times are not over yet. What we have to do is we have to look at all departments and see where we are spending our money and where we can cut our money. We have to make sure we are getting a day’s work for a day’s pay and that we are getting the most for our county government. It is our job to oversee this and make sure that we trim the fat. We’ve got to make sure we are not wasting resources. We have to make sure we manage it positively. We need to work with our citizens so we can avoid that dreaded three letter word, taxes.”

Rogers: “First of all, you have to cut out all excess spending in every department. You can take SPLOST fund for any capital projects you need. That could be equipment, cars for the sheriff’s department, trucks for the fire department or anything as far as equipment or capital expenses. By doing that, you can take some of the burden off the taxpayers. Another thing we need to work hard on is industrial development. They pay a larger percent of taxes for what they actually receive from the county. By getting industrial development in the county, that will take a lot of the burden off of the farmers and the residents of the county.

Turk: “There are two ways to fund — property tax and sales tax. We need three to four (large businesses) over there on the 85 corridor, it would give us a $2 million base. That would help the land owners. If we could get a big retail store…sales tax is where the money is. If we can get another SPLOST, we can look and see what we need SPLOST to go to. We’ve got to get some businesses in and some industry and some retail. The sales tax is where it is. That way we can keep the property tax as low as we can.”

Holcomb: “I know that sales taxes are at an all time low right now and counties are struggling. We need to have quarterly meetings with our department heads and make sure they are within budget. We need to make sure our money is being spent wisely. Employees are one of our most valuable assets and I certainly don’t advocate laying anybody off but we may have to look at furloughing as some other counties have done. Most of all, the county has to live within our means.”

Wendt: “Banks County has several funding sources that they use to support the budget. Property taxes and sales taxes do fund most of the budget. However, we also have fees, fines, licenses and we can also get grants and sale equipment. All of those go in the same pool. I also have a proposal that I pledge to cut my own salary by 10 percent. I also request voluntary cuts by the other top officials of the county. There is also another business in the county that pays us fees. That is the Waste Management business. Currently, we are getting a very low fee for the dumping that is one there. We should enter into serious negotiations with them to increase the fees so that they match more what other counties and municipalities are getting.”

FUTURE GROWTH

The candidates were asked where they see future growth potential in the county. Their responses included the following:

Loftice: “Along our major arteries. We are looking at the mall area. We are looking at 441 North. We look at the Martin Bridge area. I think it is time to really buckle down and go after that as fast as we can. Growth is coming and you better be ready for it. Right now, is a downturn but growth is on the way. We have to be ready for the future. Not only do we want to bring businesses in but we have to keep them.”

Rogers: “The future growth of Banks County is going to have to be retail, commercial and industrial areas of the county. We have several locations in the county that are prime locations. We have the Martin Bridge Road area. We have the industrial park down at 85. We also have the Southern Railway. All of these areas are ideal areas for industrial growth. We’ve got to make things a little easier for industrial businesses to come in. I don’t think the county has done everything it can to draw industrial businesses in. I would like to have the planning board, the IDA board, the chamber of commerce, the CVB and the commission board all sit down and discuss our zoning, our regulations we have on industrial businesses and see what we can do to make it more desirable for a business to come to this county.”

Turk: “The growth is going to be at the Martin Bridge cordior. Right now, there are funds in the state to help put in water lines and sewer lines and gas lines for counties that have surrounding counties that are building but they are not. We have a couple of counties that have done a good job getting industry in. Let’s talk to them and see what we are missing. We want it but we are not anywhere prepared for it right now. We need to work with the different boards to try and get some businesses in here.

Holcomb: “I see 85 and the 441 corridor as the big potential for growth. We’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to develop our infrastructure to make sure we have water and sewer to attract industries. We also need to look at some kind of incentives for these big companies such as tax breaks and relief. We need major industry and higher paying jobs. We also need to look at the north end of the county on 441. There is a great potential there.”

Wendt: “I like the others see the same areas primarily because that is where industry would like to develop their businesses. We have to match it with our land use plan to make sure that is where our development areas should be. We need to have our infrastructure in place so it is ready for the businesses to come in. We thing that is hurting us as much as anything is the turnover on the commission. We’ve had five different chairmans of the commission in the past 12 years. The chairman is the leader of the county. He is the one that makes the contacts. He is the one that works with state government on business develop. Every time we change the chairman out, we get someone new in who has to learn the ropes and doesn’t know the people and we go back a step. It’s a real difficult situation.”

Pulliam: “The first thing is that we are going to have to get some grants and we are going to have to spend some money. On Martin Bridge Road, that is a great spot. We have interstate 85. But are we ready? Do we have the output on that waterline? Can we produce what a company asks for? We need to check into that and see that we are ready to support an industry. We need to get ready on the sewer system. It is not in place. For us to grow, we are going to have to get off of our haunches and go out and find people who want to come into here. We are going to have to make it attractive enough that they see a future here.”