During the Appling County Commissioners meeting held June 16, Commissioner Chairman Virgil Carter asked board members to look at the roads in each commissioner’s district. Carter cited that questions had been raised as to what defines a public or private purpose road and stated that it would be up to each commissioner to make that determination. A listing of the roads in each district was presented to each board member to determine if the road should be a county maintained road or not by the next Tuesday (June 23), when he announced the need for a called work session meeting. Carter also stated that there are over 600 county maintained roads in Appling County and over 200 dead end roads.

“What I’m asking you to do from the depth of my heart as humble as I know how to be, look at this list of roads very carefully and answer this question about each one, each road, before you mark yes it should be a county maintained road or no it should not, “Is the county to maintain this road and is it in the best interest of Appling County citizens in the district I have been elected to serve?”,” said Carter. “If you will answer this question I think we will come up with some pretty good information as to make a thorough study as where we need to go with the county maintained dirt roads in Appling County.”

Commissioner Theodore Wilkerson also requested that the commissioners consider reviewing the pipe policy at the called meeting and the commissioners agreed to the request.

Other business

Bids were opened for a new bulldozer for the county landfill. Industrial Tractor, Yancey Brothers and Tractor and Equipment Company submitted bids. Industrial Tractor bid $235,105.00 with a buyback option of $80,000.00 for a John Deere 750D. Yancey bid $215,588.00 with a buyback option of $87,000.00 for Caterpillar D-6. Tractor and Equipment submitted a bid of 194,600.00 for a Kamatsu with a buyback option of $65,000.00. The commissioners agreed to allow the appropriate county employees to review the bids to make certain the equipment submitted meets bid requirements and report back to the board with their findings.

County Attorney Bob Highsmith opened five bids for exterminating services for county buildings. The low bid submitted was from Five-Star Pest Control, from Waycross, with a bid of $2,400.00 annually. Bid prices ranged from $2,400.00 to $7,200.00 annually. The commissioners approved the low bid upon review to make sure that the bid meets all requirements.

Board members approved a request made by Lewis to purchase a new lawnmower for buildings and grounds.

Manager Lewis reported that FEMA was in the community on June 16 and finished looking at county roadways that were damaged from recent storm activity. He added that he hopes that the county will receive a reimbursement soon.