Commissioners Start to Clean Up

The Gilmer County Board of Commissioners is hitting its spring cleaning early. The Commissioners made motions referring to litter, surplus equipment, and a possible event involving tires in conjunction with Earth Day as well as a new benefit to County employees.

One major change came as the Commissioners discussed a change to their litter ordinance. Receiving input from county courts saying the current ordinance was “unenforceable,” the Commissioners discussion eventually turned to the State Code. Officially voting on Thursday, February 9, the Commissioners decided to repeal their County Litter Ordinance.

What this means for Gilmer, according to Commission Chairman Charlie Paris, is the County will be enforcing the State Code in that place and will not be maintaining a County Ordinance over it. However, the Commissioners did leave a section in the County’s Books for the Ordinance should a future Commission ever find need to create one again.

In line with the idea of cleaning up litter and trash, the County is set to officially declare an event, likely in April, for a Free Tire Collection event. The Board is also moving forward with applications for a Grant for three trailers worth of tires to be collected. Excluding commercial tire operations, people could bring tires from their home or found elsewhere to the landfill on Tower Road to freely load onto the trailers for disposal. Originally estimated to cost $1,375 for one trailer, the County would be reimbursed for that cost should the Grant be approved.

During their Wednesday Work Session, February 8, the Commissioners continued began a process to approve a disposal of Broken Office Equipment. Discussion quickly arose for incorporation of “broken, surplus, and obsolete equipment” from all the county’s departments to begin a more comprehensive clean-up. Citizens have also suggested the Commissioners advertise and allow citizens to find equipment or items they may want before the County moves forward with general disposal.

One new change for the Commissioners came from a proposal by Mike Brumby, Director of Whitepath Golf Course, in their work session. The proposal offered an additional benefit to county employees in the form of a reduced cost membership to Whitepath Golf Course. As an addition to the county’s benefit package, full-time employees will will no receive 1 membership to be used by them or an immediate family member, or a full Family Membership, at half the costs. Likely to increase traffic to the course, the new benefit was approved by the Commissioners.

Additionally, the Board has also approved returning Paul Nealey and Chairman Charlie Paris to the Resource Conservation and Development Council. The approval came at a 2-1 vote with Dallas Miller the dissenting vote stating he could not see a benefit or reason to continue supporting appointments to the council. On the other side, Chairman Paris stated that while he may not see an immediate benefit either, as long as the council existed, he wished to maintain a presence to ensure the county’s interests on it.

For more on the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners, view their February Work Session and Regular Meeting below:

Work Session

 

Regular Meeting