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Long County sets addressing deadline
Commissioners: Residents must meet standards by Aug. 1
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After two years of requesting that residents meet addressing guidelines in the county, Long County Commissioners set Aug. 1 as the final date for residents to meet the standards or have county workers do the addressing and charge the homeowners.

Chairman Bobby Walker brought up the subject in a recent commission meeting. He said the commission had been asking residents to meet the standards for an extended period, and it now was time to put a cutoff date in writing.

Commissioner Cliff DeLoach said the measure is necessary, especially after emergency responders had difficulties locating certain homes during the recent fires in Long County due to a lack of proper addressing.

After a brief discussion, Commissioner Wallace Shaw made the motion that all residents have until Aug. 1 to bring their homes into compliance. For people who don’t meet the deadline, the county will do the addressing itself and bill the residents. According to Shaw, residents who fail to comply will be charged $40, which includes $25 for the labor and $15 for the materials.

DeLoach seconded the measure, which passed unanimously.

He also brought up the cost of trash pickup. Republic Services, which provides trash pickup for the county, is charging different rates for Dumpsters, according to DeLoach, and he said he wanted to know the reason behind it.

Pete Pyrzenski, who is the general manager for the company, said at the meeting that the difference in price is due to several factors: frequency of pickup, distance to residence location, Dumpster contents and container size.

DeLoach said he understands commercial customers being charged different rates based on those variables, but he said residential customers should be charged a flat rate.

After a brief discussion, they decided the company would provide a detailed report to the commissioners and meet with DeLoach and other commissioners to resolve any concerns.

Walker also brought up that the community had voiced some negative concerns about Shaw being covered by the county’s medical insurance, and he said he wanted to clear it up.

Walker said he and Shaw had discussed the matter, and neither saw it as an issue of concern because all county employees and elected constitutional officers are eligible to be covered. 

Shaw said the commission doesn’t need to vote on it because the other constitutional officers also are eligible for coverage. Walker said Shaw only was on the plan for 10 months and no longer is on it.

“It falls back to me. You can’t turn the clock backwards. All we can do from here is go forward,” Walker said.
In other business:

• Walker reported that the current cost of health insurance per employee is less than $500 per month.

• 4-H Program Assistant Lisa Overby asked commissioners to approve the club putting together an education fair in September, October or November. Walker said it sounds like a good idea and planned to meet with Overby to organize the event. 

• The commissioners approved the budgets for the public defender’s office, the law clerk’s office and the Atlantic Judicial Circuit Judge.

• Commissioners reappointed Mattie Anderson to the Department of Family and Children Services board.

• Shaw said a list of all county boards, members and terms needs to be submitted to the commission for review.

• Commissioners decided to look at the effectiveness of a liquid calcium chloride product to improve dirt-road maintenance.

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