Gilmer County commissioners plan to ban cryptomining in the county.
The board authorized the county attorney to advertise the change to the ordinance following busy work and regular sessions Sept. 11 and 12.
“What I am proposing is that the cryptomining ordinance begin with section 1 which just says ‘cryptomining is hereby banned’,” said Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris.
Following section one would be the cryptomining ordinance the county previously passed, which would go into effect if the Georgia Legislature prohibits the banning of cryptomining.
County Attorney David Clark was authorized to advertise the changes to the ordinance.
Ambulance purchase
Gilmer County Fire Chief Daniel Kauffman informed commissioners he found an ambulance chassis and a refurbished ambulance box which could be assembled for Gilmer County in the next 90 days.
Commissioners previously authorized the emergency purchase of an ambulance. The county has two which were purchased in the past but are both scheduled for delivery in 2025.
Kauffman was asking commissioners for permission to put a 50 percent deposit, $143,000, down on the purchase. He said this is becoming the industry standard.
Post Commissioner John Marshall said he understood paying for the chassis of the vehicle, but he thought 50 percent was too much.
Commissioners asked Kauffman to negotiate a lower deposit if possible, but affirmed the purchase of the ambulance.
Impact fees
Commissioners have determined their list of county services which should be included in any impact fee study.
At their regular meeting, the list was presented as fire department, jail, E-911, EMS, sheriff, parks and rec, roads and animal shelter.
The list will be given to the county’s contractor to put together an impact fees package.
Personnel handbook
Commissioners continued a discussion about the county’s employee handbook.
Both post commissioners believe the handbook should be approved by the board. Paris believes many of the items in the handbook are day-to-day operation items which are not subject to board approval.
One item brought up in discussion was the sexual harassment policy with Post Commissioner Hubert Parker saying the policy should be approved by the board. Paris disagreed.
At one point during the work session Paris and Parker both said they would put forth their own motions at the regular meeting about how the matter should be handled.
Paris said if any motion interfered with the day-to-day operations of the county, he would disallow the motion.
Later in the meeting, the item was revisited and commissioners agreed to toss the new personnel handbook and work through the old handbook to find a compromise.
Other business
In other business, commissioners decided:
﹣ to extend the digital billboard moratorium until the end of the year to allow the county attorney to continue to work on an ordinance.
﹣ table a spay/neuter ordinance until a way can be found to defray the cost of the surgery for pet owners.
﹣ to advertise a change to the short-term rental ordinance to include language the fire department said should be included by law.