Drought, wind causing problems

National media reports over the past few weeks have been detailing drought conditions throughout the southeastern United States. And Jeff Davis County is included in a wide swath of south Georgia and north Florida classified as D4 (Exceptional Drought).
D4 is the highest drought rating with other areas of the southeast classified as D3 (Extreme Drought), D2 (Severe Drought), D1 (Moderate Drought) and D0 (Abnormally Dry).
Those dry conditions, combined with high winds are continuing to cause headaches for the Jeff Davis County Fire Departments.
At last week’s County Commission meeting, Fire Chief Charles Wasdin reported that his department had 91 calls in January, 92 in February and 105 in March. Most of the calls were for brush fires. In April the call level continues to outpace calls from the previous year.
“People just need are compounding fire fighting efforts, as Wasdin explained there was one brush fire his department was fighting and the wind changed directions three times while firefighters were trying to bring the blaze under control.
There is still a burn ban active in the county and Wasdin said the Jeff Davis Forestry Unit will not issue burn permits until the county receives an inch of rain.
He talked about station 8 located at Towns Bluff, saying the station would need to be closed in, and a bay added. A contractor estimated it would cost around $24,000.
County Clerk Arianna Lara said there will be an upcoming vacancy on the Election Board and the board approved to seek people interested in serving on the board.
Lara said she received four applications for a vacant spot on the Tax Assessors Board. Applications were received from William Wasmund, Robert Standard, Rebecca Waters and Daniel Ellis. The commissioners voted to appoint Waters.
County Administrator Jayme Crosby addressed the board at last month’s meeting they approved to deed the old jail to the Downtown Development Authority. She mentioned that the board wanted to take in sealed bids for the buildings and carport. Commissioner James Emory Tate wanted to make known that the bids for the kitchen building would not include the equipment inside. The board agreed to move the carport to the Road Department. Chairman Ricky Crosby recommended getting the building appraised before taking sealed bids.
John Nail and Tony Sicori of Ryland Environmental updated the board about new equipment brought into the county. This new equipment can hold more trash. Nail mentioned that the equipment has a big claw to pick up the trash out of the cans so they don’t have to move the cans. Commissioner Rob Stone requested for Ryland to push the containers closer to ramp walls for safety reasons. Nail said at sites that don’t have a ramp they can put shorter containers for people to access them easier. Both discussed the fact that people outside the county are coming to throw trash at the dumpsites and the attendants need to turn them away.
Crosby said the county is 83.3% percent of the budget and department heads are starting to bring in budgets and currently working on them.
Commissioner Stone discussed Fisher Road that the county stopped maintaining years ago and it has been grown up for years. Citizen James Wright spoke with the commissioners last month wanting the county to resume maintaining the road.
Commissioner Ricky Crosby discussed the trash pickup proposal presented at last month’s meeting. County Administrator Crosby said the proposal was very expensive. The board wants to receive more bids from other companies.
David Desousa addressed the board about the trash containers at the landfill. He is concerned about the safety of citizens when the containers are not pushed close to the ramps.
The commissioners met in closed session for 15 minutes to discuss personnel and litigation.