Murray commissioner lists year's accomplishments

CHATSWORTH — Sole commissioner Jim Welch asked people attending the Murray County Rotary Club on Thursday what they believed were the county’s key accomplishments in 2007.

Mark Millican applauded Welch for the decision to expand the county jail. At his meeting on Tuesday, Welch awarded the construction contract to Meco Builders of Chatsworth. The expansion, with an estimated cost of $8 million to $9 million, will double the size of the jail by adding 120 beds. It is being paid for with funds from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

“Why not have a SPLOST?” Millican asked, adding he favors using the funding method to pay for county projects. “It’s just a no brainer to me.”

Welch said during his State of the County address that an electronic monitoring program is saving the county money. Sixteen prisoners are currently monitored by ankle bracelets, which cost $10 a day, Welch said. The cost for housing a prisoner in the Murray County Jail is $35 a day, he said.

Additions at the Murray County Recreation Department will also be funded by SPLOST. The $2 million project will add eight ball fields, an amphitheater and possibly a small water slide at the Hyden Tyler Road facility, Welch said. A construction timetable has not been released.

“A lot more money” will be going into road projects in 2008, Welch said. He did not provide a specific amount. Last year, county road crews paved 20 miles of roads.

The state is beginning right of way acquisition on the Spring Place Bypass, which will begin near New Hope Road and end at Ga. Highway 225. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009, Welch said. He said he hopes to work with officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation to reroute the road to include Mount Carmel Road, the site of a new Murray County High School that is projected to open in the fall of 2010. Even if he is successful in convincing the DOT to reroute the road, Welch said construction of the bypass will not be completed until two years after the new high school is completed.

“We didn’t know where the new high school was going to be until a few months ago,” Welch said.

He said the county is currently looking at ways to improve water service.

“We sent someone to the moon in 1969 and we still don’t have water in some areas of Murray County,” Welch said. “We want to make water more available to our community.”

Officials say there has been little interest from potential customers in the $1.3 million water expansion project for the Little Murray area in the northern part of the county. Out of about 160 potential customers, only six had signed up as of earlier this week.

“We’re about 70 percent complete,” Welch said. “I think we’ll see a lot more people come forward when it’s completed.”

The possibility of a city-county water authority is being studied and the report is expected to be completed sometime this spring.

Welch, who was elected sole commissioner in 2004, said his “No. 1” job is managing money. For the second year in a row, he said the county has not had to borrow money to maintain operations. Last month, Welch approved a $16.2 million budget for 2008, up from $15.3 million in 2007.

“It makes a big difference when you can spend dollars you can collect and not money you borrow,” Welch said.

He said he will be running for re-election this year.

“This isn’t my job,” he said. “I am running it for you until you find someone else.”