The Long County commissioners made no formal decisions at their work session Tuesday but they explored issues that will come up in the future, including at their Sept. 4 meeting.

The commissioners received a 29-page report from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government showing how all county employees can be classified and compensated with appropriate pay. The institute surveyed each county job and applied local and regional pay scales to set a range of employee pay.

Annual salaries proposed for county workers start at $20,302 and top out at $72,633. Elected officials, temporary part time employees and contract employees are not included.

Cost of implementing the compensation plan for fulltime employees would be $81,000; including part time workers would cost an additional $19,000. Long County’s part time firefighters were surveyed separately; it would cost $31,000 to include them in the compensation system.

Long County’s infrastructure, especially its dirt roads, are discussed at almost every meeting and Tuesday was no exception. The county’s code enforcement chief, John Bradley, presented a list of subdivisions and the status of the roads in each.

The Vickers Hill subdivision was completed in 1996 and has never been accepted for county maintenance, Bradley said. Vickers Hill is considered the worst troublespot, partly because property owners there have filed a lawsuit against the county and the engineering firm of P.C. Simonton and Associates.

Bill Nutting’s Georgia Coastal Land Co. developed the Vickers Hill Subdivision, hiring the Simonton firm as civil engineer on the project. Landowners Randall Klingensmith, Beth Klingensmith, Walter Pelton, William Karriker, James Wine Jr., Chester Bradley and Carl Steen first filed the lawsuit against the county and Simonton in February 2016. John Doe and Jane Doe are also listed as defendants, representing county officials who are not named.

A hearing in the case has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 6 in Long County State Court.

At the end of the discussion of county roads Commissioner Clifton DeLoach asked about the procedure for renaming a road. He said a constituent who had a road named after his wife was now divorced and wanted to rename the road.

Matthew Barrow of P.C. Simonton and Associates Engineering gave the commissioners an update on the planning for a Long County water system. The commission has taken preliminary steps toward getting into the water business.

DeLoach pointed out that the county would have to borrow the money to start a water system. Revenue from the water system will pay towards its operating cost but not generate money for the county’s general fund. He said, “I want to study it a little more.”

Barrow said the commissioners could make the decision in September and two new planned subdivisions would be good candidates for county water systems and the schedule would allow time for that. Last month the commissioners allowed developers of one subdivision to use a private water system when they said provision of water by the county would be too late for their schedule.

Parker can be contacted by email at joeparkerjr@hotmail.com.