“Let’s make some hay,” was the sentiment near the end of the called meeting Friday, November 1 of the Ware County Commission.
During the Commission Comments section of the agenda, Commissioner Timothy Lucas suggested, after visiting the Coffee County Airport, the commission could contract someone to cut hay on the Waycross-Ware County Airport. It sparked a long discussion about requirements the grass must meet to make hay from how tall it has to be, to obstacles at the airport, etc.
Commissioner Jerry Pope texted Airport Manager Frank Bartanowitz, who replied in a text the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT) will not allow it. He also said former County Manager Scott Moye texted it has been tried, and the hay must be mowed daily per FAA regulations.
Pope said farmers would get frustrated and quit making hay because of all the restrictions.
Lucas asked, “Well, how does Baxley do it?” He then added in frustration, “I was just trying to bring something to the table to keep that burden (mowing grass) off the airport.”
Chairman Elmer Thrift liked the idea and said, “Let’s look into it, talk to some hay people and bring it back (at a later meeting). Let’s find out what the rules are and what they have to do to be able to cut it.”
Commissioner Sammy Hendricks said if the county could do it, it would save about $88,000 per year.
After a discussion on changing Beverly York’s title from “Senior Accounting Supervisor” to “Finance Director,” Pope read another text from Bartanowitz on the subject of the hay: “I just hung up with Georgia DOT and that’s not approved. Douglas will be getting shut down with hay. They can thank Commissioner Lucas for that.”
In response, Hendricks sarcastically said, “I’d like to thank Frank for calling DOT.”
Lucas said, “That’s right. He’s the one who called DOT, not me.”
When contacted later about growing hay at the Baxley Municipal Airport, Manager Van Mills, laughed and said, “No, we do not grow hay. We’re in a swamp and have a hard time growing grass.”
Returning to the discussion of York’s title, Commissioner Leonard Burse, asked Human Resources Director Theresa Young for information concerning the title change.
“We don’t have an established Finance Director position, but that would be up to you (commission) if you’d like to create one,” Young said. “Then we do the research and figure out what the requirements would be for that position and we can implement it.”
In other business, commissioners unanimously approved resolutions dealing with the 2024 millage rates for the county and Ware County Board of Education.
The county adopted a rollback millage rate at 11.736, a drop from the current 13.826 mils. A tax rate of one mil represents a tax liability of one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value.
The rate for the school board will be 14.0 after a rate of 15.064 last year.
The also approved a resolution for employee safety incentive pay of $125 for full-time employees and $65 for part-time employees to be paid on December 6.
The approximate amount for all employees is $45,000. This amount includes constitutional officers and the commissioners.
The money is paid due to a discount received on workers comp insurance premiums. This year, the county received a “refund” in the amount of $61,991.
