The Dawson County Board of Commissioners could change its meeting schedule in an effort to make meetings more efficient and productive.

Dawson County Commission Chairman Billy Thurmond proposed restructuring the BOC meetings at the March 28 work session which would reduce the number of regularly scheduled meetings from four to two.

Currently, the BOC has four meetings per month, with voting sessions on the first and third Thursdays and work sessions on the second and fourth Thursdays.

The county is required to hold two regularly scheduled meetings each month.

The proposed meeting structure would be consist of a work session at 4 p.m., an executive session at 5 p.m. and a voting session at 6 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month.

Items discussed at the 4 p.m. work session would not be voted on at the 6 p.m. voting session that same evening. They would be voted on at the next scheduled meeting in order to allow commissioners and citizens two weeks to consider the proposed items.

Thurmond said limiting the number of meetings would allow for the meetings to be more efficient and save revenue in personnel and legal costs. It would also allow citizens who attend the public meetings to receive more information at one time.

“(Citizens) may not mind leaving their house and driving all the way up here and spending 10 minutes with us and then hitting the road again to go back, but looking out for them I’d like to give them as much information all at the same time as possible so that they have a full day’s worth of information,” Thurmond said.

SPLOST VI projects for FY19 discussed

The commission heard from Public Works Director David McKee about upcoming SPLOST VI projects approved for FY19.

As of March 28, the county has collected $23,474,408.35 for SPLOST projects.

Collections for SPLOST VI began in July 2015 with 85 percent of collections going towards county projects and 15 percent allocated to the city of Dawsonville.

County projects approved for FY19 amount to $7.5 million.

Approved projects include: $800,000 for the rehabilitation of the multiuse field and pavilion at Veterans Memorial Park; $700,000 for vehicles and equipment for the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office; $1,315,000 for the Sweetwater Fire Station project; $72,000 for fire truck payment and $186,881 for partial fire truck payment; $2.5 million for the construction of the Public Works Complex; $700,000 for the Culvert pipe replacement program; and $145,000 for computer replacement.

Alcohol Licensing Administrator position requested

Planning & Development Director Jameson Kinley also came before the board requesting approval for an  Alcohol Licensing Administrator to serve in the Fire Marshal’s Office.

Currently the Marshal’s Office consists of two code compliance officers, with one officer handling animal control and one handling code enforcement.

Kinley said the additional position would act as a dispatcher which would allow both code compliance officers to be in the field proactively addressing code violations.

The main responsibilities of the alcohol license administrator would be to handle the alcohol licenses for the county which includes licenses for businesses and pouring permits for the county and the city of Dawsonville.

Kinley said that more than 50 storefronts sell alcohol and that the office’s database consists of more than 1200 active alcohol permits for sellers, distributors, pouring permits and special purpose business licenses, all of which must be evaluated annually.

“The Alcohol Licensing Administrator would be solely in charge of alcohol permitting that currently takes a large portion of time by our officers,” the request reads. “This would also allow the Marshal’s Office to have an in-office person to answer phone calls and act as a dispatch for better service to Dawson County citizens.”

The salary range for the position is $17.00 to $26.35 per hour. Kinley requested the board approve $58,169.48 for salary and benefits.

Other items to be voted on at the April 4 voting session include: a special event business license application for MLH Farm/Uncle Shuck’s to have a corn maze, sunflower maze and Christmas tree farm at its new location; presentation of land use resolution update; an application for the 4-H Rabies Clinic; a request for the creation of general fund contingency in the 2019 budget; board appointment for the Board of Tax Assessors; presentation of pay schedule for Constitutional Officers; and a three-party agreement between Dawson County, Dawsonville and the Dawson County Humane Society for animal control enforcement.

The voting session will be at 6 p.m. April 4 in the second floor assembly room in the Dawson County Government Center at 25 Justice Way in Dawsonville.