Board member concerned with raises

Published 7:25 pm Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A Thomas County commissioner thinks raises for county employees should be the first item considered during November budget sessions.

Pointing out that county employees have not had raises in two years, Commissioner Moses Gross said raises should be considered before equipment purchases.

Commissioners will met for three days in mid-November to discuss the 2011 county government budget.

In response to Gross’ call for a look at pay increases during a Tuesday meeting, Commissioner Josh Herring said many local companies have not given raises.

Commissioner Claud Davis said that while there have been no raises, Thomas County government, unlike some governments, has not furloughed or laid off employees.

Not all county employees have gone without raises.

Derrick Ogletree, who was promoted from emergency services co-captain to information systems manager, saw an annual raise recently of $1,400 added to his $56,000 salary.

Also this year, raises of up to $2.13 an hour went to 11 Thomas County Sheriff’s Office employees. Five public works employees received pay hikes of as much as $2 an hour.

In other business at the Tuesday meeting, commissioners:

• Agreed to apply for a Tourism Product Development grant on behalf of Pebble Hill Plantation.

“This grant can be up to $20,000,” Wallace Goodman, Pebble Hill general manager, told commissioners.

The grant would be used to establish a gallery to house the plantation’s world-class collection of sporting art.

The gallery would have lighting, fire protection and humidity control to allow the space to house borrowed art collections, Goodman said.

“There’s no money from the county at all,” Goodman said in reference to the commission’s grant application on behalf of the plantation.

Pebble Hill brings 15,000 to 20,000 visitors to Thomas County annually. The plantation’s website is visited about 900 times weekly.

• Purchased reinforcing steel from Gerdau Ameristeel at Albany for $26,117, the low bid.

• OK’d the purchase of a 2010 Dodge Charger for the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office to replace a wrecked unit. The price is $27,914.

• Approved a low bid of $2.0315 a gallon for 7,500 gallons of ultra-low diesel fuel from Brad Lanier Oil Co. in Albany.