County commission sets qualifying fees for sheriff, commissioners, other offices

Routine business and regular reports characterized the January meeting of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, January 10, at 7 p.m. All commissioners, Divenski Lee, Donna Hardy, John Howard, Jerry Stover, and Chairman Sam Moore were in attendance as were County Administrator David Tyler, County Attorney Charles LeGette, and a good number of visitors.

With various county officesup for election in 2008 the board approved qualifying fees for each officeat 3 percent of the respective salaries. Those fees are as follows: for Wilkes County Sheriff, $1407.54; for Wilkes County Tax Commissioner, Clerk of Court, Probate Judge, and Magistrate Judge, $1,229.03; for Coroner, $108.00; for Surveyor, $10.00; and for two seats on the Board of Commissioners (Districts 1 and 2), two seats on the Board of Education (Districts 3 and 4); and chairman of the Board of Education, $72.00.

LeGette reported that Dolly Mitchell was seeking tax relief for an error on her 2006 tax bill. Her homestead exemption had been inadvertently dropped and she paid $239.08 more than was actually due. LeGette said that the tax commissioner's officeconcurred and that Mitchell was indeed entitled to the requested tax credit. The commissioners approved the request.

Tyler reported that for the month of October, Local Option Sales Tax revenue had been received in the amount of $70,650.61 and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue had been received in the amount of $106,997.81. He also reported that the semi-annual pro-rata correction revenues had been received for the two taxes in the amounts of $1,408.94 and $2,167.84, respectively.

A new statewide registration for cable and video franchisees made it necessary for the county to adopt a resolution in order to continue to receive its fivepercent portion of those revenues. The resolution was adopted unanimously.

The annual Section 5311 resolution providing for Georgia Department of Transportation Transit was adopted without opposition.

Hardy reported on progress being made locally in Georgia's Work Ready Program and urged participation in this weekend's free assessment which will measure abilities in three different areas. "Even if you already have a job, you might want to do something else in the future," she said and explained that the assessment report would be something to add to a resume that would be recognized by employers nationwide.

"We've got about 25 of the inmates at the Pre-Release Center scheduled to take the test tomorrow," she said. "This [the Pre-Release Center] is turning into a pilot site and we will probably end up with 90-95 percent of the inmates evaluated and ready to go into jobs when they get out."

The Work Ready initiative is being kicked off in about three-fourths of the state's counties, according to Hardy, and Wilkes County's budget for the program comes from a $35,000 state grant.

The free assessment is open to the public this Saturday, January 19, at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive

High School beginning at 9 a.m.

Tourism Director Ashley Barnett reported that revenues from the hotel/motel tax for the past two months have been "wonderful" at around $7,000. She also reported on upcoming events including birthday celebrations for Rev. Martin Luther King, the annual observance of the Battle of Kettle Creek, and a planned event to honor legendary sportscaster Ernie Harwell.

EMS Director Blake Thompson said that his department had been "real busy" but more importantly, he reported that Stephen Godwin and John Clemmons had just graduated from paramedic school as the top two in their class at Augusta Tech.

The commissioners unanimously approved a resolution proclaiming February 15 as "Ernie Harwell Day" in honor of the Washington native's lifetime of achievement in sports broadcasting.

Tyler reported that the CSRA Regional Development Center, in conjunction with the USS Georgia Return to Service Committee, is participating in a statewide effort to move the flagthrough all 159 Georgia counties and sign an officiallog entry tat will become a permanent part of the ship's records. Wilkes County will honor the flagin a brief ceremony at 3 p.m. on February 7. The USS Georgia will return to service as a guided missile submarine (SSGN) following her conversion from a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) at a ceremony to be held March 28 at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia.

The next regular meeting of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners will be at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 14, with a work session beginning at 1:30 p.m.

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