Pool construction bid could come by August
News July 18, 2022
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Among several bid and contract agenda items in July, the BOC heard an update that the engineering is completed and they could call for bids on the county pool by August.
As the county is ready to bid, they currently have the documentation with County Attorney David Clark who said that he has some final touches to do but the county should be able to move forward in the bid process on or close to Wednesday, July 27, 2022.
Clark also informed the Board of Commissioners that the bids will go out in several different sites both locally and statewide including the state procurement website and utilizing the architect to help solicit contractors in addition to the county’s efforts.
The commissioners have previously made statements aiming for Memorial Day 2023 as opening day for the new pool. Also, the BOC’s October Budget Sessions will reveal more about the pool’s future as the board discusses additional upgrades, buildings, the future rec-center, and funding or savings for those potential projects and if they will happen in the coming year.
In addition to the pool, the county also dealt with bids on HVAC and facilities in the July session. The county approved to collect quotes for the Jail air system and the Learning Center but then bid out other systems that needed repair. With changes since the last bid process, the bids came in higher than expected as the county is incorporating them into a computer control system. The county avoided a bid do to requests for pre-payment and went with a slightly higher base price bid. The approved bid was for QT Contracting for $785,777.
The Jail system is still looking for a second quote and the Learning Center was approved for a quote just under $20,000.
Gilmer BOC holds town hall for new pool design
News February 16, 2022
ELLIJAY, Ga. – “I feel real good right now about where we are. We have a very reputable firm that has successfully completed some projects way larger than ours. They’re anxious to get our engineering done, to get to the point that we can put this out to bid. And then they will bid on it as well.” Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlie Paris told those present at a Town Hall style meeting on Thursday, February 10, 2022, that there was progress on the county’s pool design. He spoke about confidence, not only in the design and the firm, but confidence that the county will see more than just this firm bidding on the project as well.
Citizens were also excited to see actual construction as a likelihood in the near future. That near future is anticipated to begin this year.
Current Design for Gilmer’s Community Pool.
The current design that is being engineered, and is scheduled to begin the bidding process sometime in April as Chairman Paris said it might include a special called meeting, includes eight swim lanes that will no be roped off during community usage, but will be roped off for competitions and practice. The designs still includes the diving well that was discussed in January as wo whether it should still be built considering liability costs and extra construction. The diving well is separated from the main competition pool and is eleven feet deep as opposed to the mostly five foot deep pool. That depth comes up to four and a half feet in the middle. There is also two entrances into the pool, one via stairs and one zero-entry ramp.
The design also includes the slide that citizens originally asked for, but the town hall saw many asking for the end of the slide to be removable so as not to interfere or obstruct swimmers in that lane during practices and competitions.
The main focus of the board at this time, as stated in the meeting, is to “get this pool in the ground.” Picking a bid and moving quickly, the board does hope to have the pool open close or on time with the regular opening date of memorial day in 2023.
The board stated this focus as they took notes on comments from citizens on extra needs for the pool including simple things from towel hooks to major needs like bathroom repairs. The board said that smaller things like the hooks could be dealt with after the pool construction is completed. However, they also took note of citizens comments involving things like a chair lift that would need to be confirmed in the designs and anchored in the concrete.
The design also sets the diving well as the furthest from the civic center and the wading pool will be the closest to the civic center. The stairs and zero entry to the main pool will be towards the civic center and bathrooms.
Larry Lykins questioned the board on if they would continue to save the money they have over the past several years for the pool. Until now, the money was continuously saved in order to fund the pool project construction. Several other citizens followed suit with options for continued savings to fund a covering roof and building to enclose the pool or other additional facilities or projects. Paris read items from a letter he had received that requested a retractable roof instead of a closed roof.
The board said that additional funding for a roof or anything else would be a discussion the board would have to make. As it is a budget item for the year, continued plans for additional savings would occur during budget discussions, typically in October.
An additional discussion involved pool management. Lykins presented the idea that the pool needed a dedicated position for pool management and usage. He suggested it is going to be a lot busier and is going to have more requests for usage. He told the board that this could need a dedicated person for complete management of the pool instead of making it additional duties for someone already working on other things.
Discussion continued on possible swim meets and the funding that these competitions could bring to the county through the school swim team and other options. Along with that, citizens asked why there was no commitment from the school or other entities who will benefit from the pool. Chairman Paris noted that when the board was considering locations for the pool, before the returned to its current spot, the city of East Ellijay committed to purchasing property to donate to the county at the city’s cost.
Though the location fell through, they did commit to the purchase.
Citizens still asked why the school wasn’t funding or aiding in funding the project. Paris commented, “As far as the Board of Education, that’s something you would have to ask the Board of Education.”
Many citizens thanked the board for continuing progress on the project and not letting it fall by the wayside. Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson also said she was proud of the county for taking the initiative to put away funds and begin funding the pool earlier on. This process began before her election to the board with former Post 2 Commissioner Travis Crouch and former Post 1 Commissioner Dallas Miller.
Gilmer discusses possible new designs and costs for pool project
News January 31, 2022
ELLIJAY, Ga. – With little progress or interest on the county’s pool project from engineers and construction bids over the last year, the county has been looking to find reasonings for the project and adjustments that could help the project move forward to completion this year.
In a Special Called Meeting, the Board of Commissioners discussed the topic as Chairman Charlie Paris notified the board that recent inquiries have pointed to the diving well as a major issue in the pool. Both in construction and in use, the diving well produces certain liabilities for the county. A new proposal based on these findings would change the pool from its original design to a simple rectangular “competition style” pool with eight lanes and that is it.
Additionally, the county is still looking at an additional wading pool with mushrooms and other water features in it. But Paris said that many of those the county has spoken to about the designs have called the diving well a “bad idea.” Many have offered other features in place of the well, Paris noted water basketball as something that was mentioned, but any ideas offered have specifically focused on removing the diving well as a feature. Designs do still include the slide as well.
Paris also mentioned to the board that persisting on the diving well feature was a possibility if the board as a whole wished to continue. He said that he was told, “It would cost an additional quarter of a million dollars and liability insurance would become very difficult.”
Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson recalled that she too, had discussions earlier in the project about the diving well with Cherokee County. She also noted the square footage usage of a pool design either way. Ferguson said that that facility has other functions as well and it was a beautiful facility, but she also noted that in her talks she discovered the facility never breaks even financially and always costs the community to operate.
Speaking of costs and lanes, Post Commissioner Hubert Parker mentioned an option to go with six lanes and include the diving well to accommodate less of an increase in costs. He noted that he wanted to accommodate the swim team while also looking at the pool as a community pool first and foremost. He went on to add that his thoughts were that diving is very popular and would be used widely.
Parker also noted other entities with community pools with diving wells. Parker and County Attorney David Clark noted a few together including the city of Calhoun, Fannin County, and Dawson County.
Clark also noted that engineers have spoken about the liability costs but no specific number has been presented to the board with regards to the increases. The county did also approve an increase in Hotel/Motel Tax and Clark noted that TPD (Tourism Product Development) projects could include costs for the pool construction.
The county approved a a design to be engineered to specifications for eight lanes and a diving well. With increasing costs, considering eight lanes and a diving well, considering what engineers have spoken to about the construction of the pool, considering the preparation work for the pool and stabilization for the ground to support the pool, Paris told the board that a rough guess on costs could exceed $2 million.
With the design approved, however, specific numbers and costs for the pool project will come after the engineering is done and the project is bid for construction.
Gilmer still has no bids for pool project
News July 12, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners is reporting another round of advertisements for their ongoing pool project with no official bids.
Despite receiving no bids, the county has gotten interest in the project with contractors questioning and discussing the advertisement. Project Manager Loy Jarrett shared with the the board and the public that many of those showing interest declined to submit a bid as they are very busy with projects currently. He went on to add that the advertisement held a completion date by Memorial Day in 2022.
The board did debate whether they should rerun the advertisements with a completion date. However, the county is not rerunning the advertisement at this time. While this was considered and even thought to possibly have an effect on the bids, other considerations by the board pointed to current costs of supplies and continued fluctuations in those prices. Rerunning the advertisement without a completion date still might not get bids due to the instability of prices.
Chairman Charlie Paris also indicated he wants to see completion sooner rather than later. However, the board as a whole said they want to consider all options and possibilities.
A couple of those possible options on a path ahead could include the county operating as its own general contractor hiring each crew and overseeing the project by themselves. Another option is hiring a construction project manager.
From the public, a suggestion was made to scale back the project to a smaller scale so the county could have something and then added onto later.
Paris noted that a pool like this isn’t something you can put in and then just expand. The county also decided on the current size based on requested uses from swim teams utilizing lanes for competition and practice to some looking for classes like water aerobics. However, the county did discuss the subject as a possibility, whether it scaled back size or just features.
Rebidding could see a halt until at least next year if the county decides to follow other paths or simply wait until some of the contractors are not so backed up, but another possibility could see the county rebidding in the next couple of months.
The county did offer more news in the regular session to point them down the path toward rebidding the project sooner rather than later. Paris noted that the county had been in contact with a commercial pool builder that showed some interest. Paris said that talking further with the company and as they gain more information, the board could reconsider paying for one more round of bidding if given assurances that this company would bid. This way, the county would know they would be getting some kind of bid from at least one company.
County Pool construction receives no bids
News June 11, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – After four weeks of advertising and spreading the word, Gilmer County has not received any bids on the county swimming pool project.
The county has continued to hit snags and delays in the pool project, and got another delay this week as Commissioner Paris reported this week that the county has not received any bids for the project. As such, they are continuing the advertisement with a new date set for July 6 to end the accepting of bids. That new date also comes with a minor modification to the advertisement.
Chairman Paris said in June’s Work Session that there was concern over some wording in which the county states they wanted the project started “as quickly as possible.” Paris said that the wording could cause issue with some companies that may have other projects lined up in the immediate future. He went on to say that the county has changed this to saying that the want the project completed and ready to open on Memorial Day of 2022.
Setting the completion date is also setting hopes that with an accepted bid, Gilmer County citizens could be returning to the water by early next year. Memorial Day has been used as the regular opening day for the season by the county pool in the past.
Paris said that the project has been a new experience for him as he has usually found companies lined-up for work on projects like this, but now, the funding is available, but he cannot find bids for the project.
In a separate previous statement and several different meetings over recent months, Paris has noted issues with Gilmer County being able to find workers for certain areas. Public Works is still looking to fill available positions related to road crews. Solid waste has had openings. Now, the issue arises with bid packages for the county’s project.
Gilmer is not immune from the national news of staffing issues from local businesses to major corporations. However, the county is relying on the possibility that the lack of bids has less to do with this issue, and more to do with timing. Thus the extension of the bid process and change to the advertisement’s wording.
During the meeting, when speaking on the bid extension, Paris said, “We’re hopeful.”
River Park changes continue with county and Georgia Power
Featured News, Featured Stories, News May 12, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – River Park in Ellijay has been uplifted and changed numerous times with upgrades over recent years, from the massive facelift to the playgrounds to upgrades to the walking path and ballfield relocations.
Those changes are continuing this summer as previously approved projects are continuing their progress towards completion. One of those projects includes Georgia Power updating the underground utilities. In February 2021, FYN reported that the county was discussing an easement for excavation and subsequent repairs to areas of the park to install underground utilities.
At that time, County Attorney David Clark noted the county would be making some minor changes to the agreement before returning it to Georgia Power for final approval.
Now, the easement returned to the Commissioners with a change requested. That change that has been going back and forth involves protections for the civil war memorial in front of the civic center. Chairman Charlie Paris said today that the plan does involve some above ground equipment. In the original plan, one of these spots was very close to the memorial. The new plan has the equipment moved. However, Paris said its not enough as he has requested that Georgia Power move it further away from the memorial in order to preserve the site.
Paris said that Georgia Power could have an answer by tomorrow’s meeting. It was originally reported as citizens could be seeing construction at the park and mistake it for construction on the pool. The pool project has seen constant delays and stoppages over the last year as the county officially halted the project early in the COVID-19 pandemic in order to reassess finances and the economic effect of the virus. In March of 2020, the pool project halted.
Then the Commissioners returned to the project in early 2021, but saw another delay as the engineering firm became quarantined in February. But after the short delay, with specifications set, the county approved advertising for bids on the project.
Now, the county is amid the advertising window and accepting bids. Members of the board are considering holding a Special Called meeting in the last week of May as another item may need attention as well. While the board did not officially set a date today, they did say they would be discussing dates.
With the pool construction back in full swing and Georgia Power also seeking to upgrade equipment on site, River Park is continuing its climb in upgrades and renovations through this summer as citizens are continuing to visit the park for sports, training, and personal healt
County approves advertising for bids on new pool
News February 15, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Engineering reports are completed and in the hands of the Commissioners for their pool project.
The project saw a delay early this month when COVID hit the engineering firm causing a major quarantine. However, with the specs and the firm working alongside Project Leader Loy Jarrett and County Attorney David Clark, reports indicate that Gilmer could be bidding out the project as early as mid-March.
Commission Chairman Charlie Paris said that the advertisement will have to be open for four weeks as it is a public works project, which means bidding would last into May. Citizens could see the county awarding the bid in their May Regular Meeting.
One change to previous designs came with modifications to move the diving well to the right side, from the center. That is moved to the right hand side when viewed from the civic center.
One point of note that Post Commissioner Hubert Parker put forth was to inform citizens that the progress is underway and while the designs are in, the finalization of the bid package is being undertaken as a part of the same project with the firm.
With that, citizens could be seeing physical progress on construction in May or June after that bid process is completed, awarded, and the contracted company begins the project.
The county was looking to a special called meeting towards the end of February to look at final approval for advertising the project for bids and a few other items. However, with optimistic news coming on the day of the Regular Meeting, the Commissioners did move forward with approving advertisement of the bid package upon completion.
With that approval, the next step is to wait for the advertisement period and bid openings before citizens will know which company will be actually building the new pool.
Pool project hits another delay with COVID
News February 2, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Reports during a special called meeting of the Gilmer Board of Commissioners (BOC) indicate that the county’s pool project hit another delay this month.
Loy Jarret reported to the board that the engineering firm the county is using has been hit by the COVID virus. Due to this, at least a two week delay is coming to the pool construction project.
According to Jarrett, a large portion of the project is finished but the firm is now awaiting recovery and quarantine periods to end and for the firm to reconvene in order to finish the project. This means Gilmer will also see a delay in the promised 3 weeks originally promised. This could come closer to 6 weeks now.
The board is hoping to have the engineering finalized in February before returning to scheduling on the project which has been plagued with delays and issues including many from the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak and resurgence.
The pool project is attempting to continue under conditions after a major delay saw the Commissioners halt the project completely after demolition of the old pool last year. The commissioners, at that time, wanted to wait and see what the virus outbreak, quarantines, and self isolations would do to the county’s economy.
In the same area of the county, at River Park, the commissioners also approved an easement for Georgia Power to begin excavation and subsequent repairs to areas of the park to install underground utilities. According to County Attorney David Clark, the county will be making some minor changes to the agreement before returning it to Georgia Power for final approval.
With that, citizens could be seeing more immediate construction work in the area of River Park stretching through different areas. This construction work is not a part of the pool project, but rather Georgia Power performing this installation.
Gilmer calls Special Meeting for Millage Rate
News July 20, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – The Millage Rate is one of 5 items on the agenda this week during a special called meeting of the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners to be held on Friday, July 24, at 10 a.m.
The other items include the Swimming Pool, Vehicle Financing Documents, a Review of Roles and Responsibilities of the Board of Commissioners, and disposing of Surplus Real Property.
Agenda for Gilmer County’s July Special Called Meeting
Property taxes and the millage rate are set into the agenda discussing a “Resolution Authorizing the Advertisement of the Rollback Rate.” Set at 6.898 mills last year by adopting the rollback rate, the county went through discussions over both the Millage Rate and the 1.5 mills Bond Rate.
Last year discussion came from then-commissioner Dallas Miller and Citizens Joene DePlancke over the Bond Millage. After refinancing bonds in previous years, Holden said in August of 2019 that the 2020 payment is expected to total just over $4 million. Still, discussions were made about, specifically, about the .5 mill on that bond payment millage rate to cover the payments.
As discussions will move forward with the Millage Rates for County and the Board of Education, who each have their own rates, the county approve its rates and awaits the BOE to set their rate, before final approval of both rates together can come in August, if the county follows the same schedule as previous years.
The swimming pool has been put on hiatus since near the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak as the Commissioners look to see what financial fallout would come from the shutdowns. However, discussions have started up again this month as the Board of Commissioners look for Bid specifications to begin the next step in the project.
The project got as far as the demolition of the old pool before stopping. The commissioners approved finishing that stage before coming to a full halt.
The bid process could start as early as next month with authorizing to advertise, however, to reach that point, obtaining the proper specifications is the current hurdle. Some discussion came during their regular July meeting voicing their disappointment that the designers of the pool came with estimates but are not going to deliver bid specifications. Paris said, “It surprised me that they couldn’t give us those specs…”
Disposing of Real Property is the other new business on the special meeting agenda. Agenda items like this sometimes do not specify a specific property in case multiple properties need to be discussed. However, an earlier copy of the agenda stated disposing of the former Planning and Zoning office as at least one of those properties.
Commissioners update pool and code enforcement in April
News April 13, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Nearing the end of demolition at the old pool site, the Board of Commissioners is moving forward with replacement of the foundation in preparation of the currently “on hold” project to construct the new pool.
Reports indicate, according to Chairman Paris, that there is a total of eight feet of “bad soil” under the old pool’s footprint that needs replacing before it can support any structure there. Paris said that the county needs to dig out the older soil and replace it with a combination of new soil and, mostly, stone.
The county has estimated $52,000 to replace the soil and is set to move forward without before they come to a full stop on constructing the new pool. Paris said a major note of their investigations, however, is that they have confirmed the site as a viable location. A determination they have been anticipating for months since deciding to demolish the old pool site for use as the new pool.
Another major note of change came from the final approval of an amendment to Chapter 1 “General Provisions” of the Gilmer County Code.
This item has run the three-month process and has reached final approval with the change allowing Code Enforcement to leave citations on people’s doors when unable to make contact with those people directly.
The change will be placed into effect now, and when code enforcement attempts to deliver citations to people for code violations, they no longer have to physically deliver that citation into people’s hands. Instead, the new change will allow them to place the citations on the door and have them enforced as such.
Also in the meeting, the commissioners continued a resolution to grant authority to the Tax Commissioner to waive Interest and Penalties as they have in recent years past. Approved for another three-year term, the resolution does not require waiving but just grants the authority to the Tax Commissioner.
They continued with a renewal of the contract for the ETC Service Agreement providing broadband at the courthouse. Worked out two or three years ago to support cloud back-ups and the traffic needed at the courthouse, the Commissioners approved a continuation of the contract.
Pool design changes again with approval to begin bidding
News March 6, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer’s pool has undergone another edit in the weeks since the last meeting where the design was debated at length.
While the last meeting ended with no actual approved design, certain topics were presented as priorities in the pool by citizens and organizations and some of the aspects were left to be “worked in” to the pool by the design team at Premiere Pools & Spas. The design changes allow for a few changes in operations and accommodations, according to Gilmer Commission Chairman Charlie Paris.
One of the major, and most obvious, changes is the connection of the two pools into one through a walkway. Paris said, “There are a couple of advantages to this. The first is we can get by with one filtration system rather than having to have two separate… Also, we can get by with one heating system rather than having to have separate heaters both pools.”
The connection will make the one solid pool 160 feet long according to the preliminary plans presented during the meeting. The swim lanes will be 75 feet while the wade in / splash area will reach 73.5 feet at its widest point.
Paris went on to say, “The push behind this particular choice to connect these two pools is, in addition to the cost savings, this provides a better segway into the senior aerobics and any other type of activity like that that requires a varying level of depth depending on how tall the individual may be.”
This does still include the diving well and zero-entry point from previous meetings and designs but changes a few other key points noted from last month. Since it will no longer be two separate pools, the splash area will not grade down in the same direction as the lanes. The splash area will also not reach 4 feet deep, but instead only reach 3.5 feet deep with it continuing deeper into the pathway connecting the pools. The recreation pool will not be 5 feet deep the whole length, but instead rise to a 4.5 feet deep area in the middle, the same area swimmers will be on as they walk through that pathway.
While these items changed from the last meeting, no specifics design had been approved until today. In today’s meeting, not only did the item reignite the debate over the pool, the county, roads, and TSPLOST, but it did also finally see the formal adoption of a design as the Commissioners move towards bidding the project out for construction.
Paris did also say it is starting to look like the roof over to enclose the pool will be pushed as a return project next year. This has, however, been stated as a possibility and a part of the county’s plan in previous meetings as they attempt to see how far they can go in the project with the money available.
However, the meeting did see a restart on citizens debating the county’s funds and usage. Joene DePlancke specified her concerns and summed up what she called a general feeling amongst citizens as “pool vs. roads.”
She pointed to concerns about the county’s provision of a pool and school usage versus Board of Education financial support for the pool. She also noted that the county is looking at a possible major road project out Yukon Road with the construction of Clear Creek Elementary. As far as shared usage, Paris and Gilmer Parks and Recreation Director Kevan White noted that the county and rec sports do access and use school facilities like the basketball courts and football fields similar to how the school swim team would use the Recreation Pool. Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson also added that adult tennis programs use the school’s tennis courts.
DePlanke voiced other concerns about funding saying she wants the pool but the project alongside TSPLOST elections is creating the tension of a “pool vs. roads” division.
Paris, and later echoed by Ferguson, noted that much of the management in the county and government is a balancing act.
Paris said he hears the people who say that you shouldn’t build a pool and use all the money for the roads. But he also hears families and others saying they want to have the pool. He noted several equipment purchases for the road department and an equipment shed to help maintain it. He said that much of this progress is slow and he is continuing that process to improve the roads while balancing the wants and needs of all the departments in the county.
He said that the TSPLOST specifically is an option and he doesn’t personally care if it passes as he sees the progress that has been made and the path towards continued growth in that department. With Gilmer’s financial situation and its efforts to continue growing that, as evident by a much larger reserve for the county, he asserts that the progress will be made either way, with TSPLOST making it much faster.
Paris said much of the sentiment, in his opinion, on roads has changed significantly through the recent election process over Dallas Miller’s vacant seat in 2019. Many candidates “hammered” on the topic of roads during that campaign and it became a bigger issue. Paris said he has people call and talk about the need for better roads and immediate action but also how they don’t want a TSPLOST.
Ultimately, with an approved design and move to bid, the progress on Gilmer’s pool is taking steps forward this month. These designs are now what they will use to have engineering performed and construction to begin in the near future after the current demolition of the current pool ends.
Capital spending halted amid shutdowns including pool project
News March 16, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – During the Board of Commissioners’ work session today, Chairman Charlie Paris spoke in the citizens wishing to speak section addressing concerns and a specific email from the weekend including Capital spending.
During his time speaking, Paris announced that he will be “putting the brakes” on capital spending in the near future. While he did say he wasn’t pointing to anything specific being cut yet, Paris noted that he wanted to look closely at the budget with the understanding that much of the Capital spending is based on estimates from the SPLOST.
Paris said, “I am really concerned with all of this social distancing, all of these shutdowns that are going on, as to what that might translate into in terms of our SPLOST revenue.”
Pointing to the emptiness that Gilmer County has seen recently and people staying home after urgings from health agencies and government.
While some things are already underway, Paris said he will complete these projects. Some things that could be pushed back include the lift stations project from public works. Paris said he doesn’t know when or how far he might look at pushing these items, but the major note from his explanation came when he said that the county will complete the project of demolishing the old pool and will stop there.
Paris said, “Most of you know that I’ve been in a big hurry to get this thing bid out and get it going. I just can’t, in good conscience, continue that without knowing what’s coming.”
Paris said that the pool project is funded through a separate account, but he is concerned that revenue may drop so much that those funds would be temporarily needed somewhere else.
While these projects are major notes, Paris is looking at all budgets with an eye towards the future, not to cut directly, but, according to Paris, to hold off for a little while until they know more.
One citizen, Joene DePlancke, has been a large voice on the issue in recent months, especially on the financial status of the county and their disbursements. DePlancke said she had sent the commissioners and email over the weekend and was prepared to speak further in the meeting on fiscal responsibility. Instead, she thanked Paris on his stance and willingness to listen and respond to the economy and to the needs of citizens.
The county is still taking care of debt service, and DePlancke warned commissioners that the market will have effects on Gilmer and has already has.
Gilmer’s pool design debate
News February 20, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – With the bid for demolition awarded and proceeding, the county is starting to look closer at the projects designs and details as they prepare to take the next step towards construction of the pool design in the coming months with bids for construction.
However, a Special Called Meeting this week saw the BOC revisiting the design aspect of the pool. Many things have changed since the plans for the pool were presented to the county. While the county approved a proposal in June 2019 to have Premier Pools & Spas be the pools designed and a design was presented, County Attorney David Clark has recently informed the Commissioner that no actual approval or adoption of the design was given.
So, in preparation of bidding out a design for engineering and construction, the Commissioners set to discussing that design this week. The largest topic debated this week became the depth of the deeper end of the smaller “splash” pool. While plans originally had the deepest section of this at 2.6 feet, according to County Commission Chairman Charlie Paris, aerobics and therapy classes need this to be 4 feet deep.
The county went through discussions on several design changes and ideas, debating pros and cons of each. Some of these included combining the two pools, making part of the lap pool more shallow for this, creating to “L”s on the pool similar to the county’s old pool, and simply altering to splash pool. The discussion also grew to include general changes to the aquatic center idea for the county including covering both pools and heating both pools for year round access.
The project has also seen other changes, Paris confirmed after the meeting that placing the pool in the same location as the old one would obviously not allow for the full recreation center originally planned and designed. However, he did say this hasn’t killed that idea, but rather forced it further down the line to possibly placed elsewhere. Regardless, the county is focusing on the pools design at this time.
Considering all of these changes, the options will be sent to Premier to redo the pool design, through the numerous discussions, the Board will be sending the changes and are expected to be ready for the March meetings. Current understanding is that while the pools will still be separate, the “Rec Pool” and the “Zero-Entry Pool,” as the county decide to call the main pool with lanes and the smaller, shallower pools respectively, will see other changes.
The Rec Pool will be 5 feet deep instead of previous reports of four feet and, at one time, four feet in the middle and five feet on the ends.
The Zero-Entry Pool will slope down for nearly half of the pool and have a four feet deep area for aerobics and activities. It will also be squared off instead of the rounder shape in previous designs.
While these changes are the understanding from this special called meeting, nothing is finalized until the design is brought back before the county in March and approved.
Pool Demolition Bids approved at BOC
News January 24, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Though short, the Gilmer Board of Commissioners’ Special Called Meeting saw a large step forward as demolition on the county’s old pool is set to start before February 1.
During the meeting, the Board announced Jacob Anderson Co. LLC. as the lowest bidder for the demolition project. Their bid was reported in the meeting at $76,000.
Gilmer County Commission Chairman Charlie Paris said in the meeting that the county has had previous dealings with this company. They were awarded the demolition project of chicken houses on county property.
Additionally, Public Works Director Jim Smith also commented on the company saying even the few smaller problems that were raised with previous projects, he noted an example of mud on the road, were quickly dealt with as soon as he brought them up. Smith went on to say he had nothing but good things to say about the county’s experiences so far with the company.
Moving forward with this project, demolition beginning no later than February 1, 2020, the county will be inspecting the project closely as they look for issues and concerns to address before it starts bidding out the coming construction of the new pool.
Frustrations in BOC over pool project
News December 16, 2019
ELLIJAY, Ga. – County officials are looking deeper into the demolition of the county’s old pool and deciding what to salvage and what to dispose of as they look at placing the county’s new pool project there.
The county is also looking at the plumbing as Maintenance Director D.J. Spagnola said he wanted to be involved with the process as the dig down so that he could look at plumbing for the restrooms and pool project to determine needed fixes and replacements before they move forward with constructing the new pool.
Commission Chairman Charlie Paris said at the December meetings, “Originally, I really wanted to have this done by opening day. I don’t think we’re going to be able to make that… I’m getting really frustrated because it has been seven months now…”
Paris went on to say that most of the county’s time has been spent looking for a location when it started at Clear Creek and then on to River Park. The county began looking for property but came to the conclusion that they didn’t want the old location due to the costs of demolition, a project they could effectively delay until a later date. Now, considering the costs of buying property versus demolishing the old location for the new pool.
The county has almost completely decided on this location for the new pool. However, reservations are still being held as Post 2 Commissioner Karleen Ferguson has said in previous meetings that she wants to see what they find during the demolition before setting the location in stone. She did note that she is for the location, but is just wanting to hold a way out in case they find something big and to consider the price of the demolition.
As Paris said he still wanted to expedite the project to attempt to complete it before the season ends, Ferguson said, “I commend you for the work. We’ve tried different avenues. I think this is too important a project to speed through and rush it anyway… I think it’s better that we have taken the time and we have tried different options. We have considered all options that were possibilities.”
The county is focusing on this location, though, and are looking to get out and receive bids on the demolition as soon as possible.
Major issues to be discussed at final 2019 BOC meeting
News December 6, 2019
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer County is not taking the final month of 2019 easy as published agendas for next week highlight action to be taken on the possibility of a TSPLOST (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) in Gilmer alongside other issues with board and authority appointments, a leftover concrete bid not awarded in November, updates on the 2020 Road Paving List, and 10 zoning requests among other items on the long agenda.
As stated in previous months and special called meetings, the TSPLOST proposal will be a five-year tax similar to SPLOST. However, the TSPLOST will be dedicated to Gilmer transportation needs specifically. This could be usable for equipment purchases, paving, maintenance, and even road crew salary.
Although support was high in the Roads and Bridges Town Hall meetings, others are voicing concerns over another tax added to the county. As opposed to additional millage on property taxes, this TSPLOST would be another one-cent tax added to purchases in the county.
Discussion will be held at both meetings along with opportunities during the “Citizens Wishing to Speak” sections of those meetings. The work session will be held Wednesday, December 11 at 9 a.m., and the regular meeting will be held Thursday, December 12 at 6 p.m.
Along the same topic of roads, the commissioners are set to discuss next year’s paving plans including the 2020 Road Paving list, setting exactly which roads will be covered under the LMIG (Local Maintenance Improvement Grant) and county funding for the year.
Additionally, the monthly update and discussion on the county pool could highlight costs as the county is pursuing bids for demolition of the old pool and preparation for its use as the new pool’s location.