Both Road and Rec Departments received verbal reprimands from the Board of Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday, August 23^rd.

Charles Collins, Fannin County Road Superintendent, did not show up to deliver his Department Head report to the Commissioners.  Nor did any other representative show up to speak.  The Road Department has not given a public report for the past couple of meetings.  Post-Commissioner Larry Joe Sosebee called Mr. Collins over the weekend to remind him to give his Department Head report at the meeting.  Mr. Sosebee told attendees that the Road Department needs to explain what is going on where in the county so that residents can adjust accordingly.

Post-Commissioner Earl Johnson took the opportunity to rail against the Road Department’s neglect to follow Commissioners’ guidelines.  Mr. Johnson said that the other departments show up at every meeting and those department heads are no less busy than the Road Department.  He went on to say, “The road department seems to think that they can do whatever they want to do.  Sometime this has got to stop.”  Mr. Johnson was also referring to the Road Department employees’ use of vacation time to increase their weekly work hours in order to receive overtime pay.

During Fannin County Recreation Department Director John Scalera’s report, the Commissioners gave the first indication of their displeasure with Mr. Scalera.  Post-Commissioner Johnson told Mr. Scalera to not develop any more new programs for the department until the current ones are going in the right direction.  “I want to protect the programs we already have,” said Mr. Johnson.  Next, Post-Commissioner Sosebee lectured Mr. Scalera about leaving grounds-keeping machines in places easily accessible to young children and others.  Earlier in the year, some machines were vandalized, costing the county thousands of dollars.

During Public Commentary, two Fannin residents expressed displeasure with how Mr. Scalera has handled the travelling soccer teams.  Both residents represented parents and players on the team.  The mother of a player said that the teams tried to resolve issues with the Rec Department before bringing these to the Commissioners.  However, with the onset of fall soccer season and the problems that occurred during the spring season, she felt compelled to speak.  In spring, the travelling team almost forfeited two games because the Rec Department hadn’t prepared the fields for the tournament.  Also, the Rec Department isn’t providing enough field space for the team to practice.  She wants the Commissioners to hold the Rec Department accountable for having fields ready for tournaments.  Commission Chair Bill Simonds asked her to send the home schedule to the Commissioners so they can ensure there is not a problem.

In good news, everyone there learned about the success of the youth travelling soccer team.  The team was promoted from Classic IV to Classic V status because of their undefeated season.  Also, the team is competently beating Atlanta travelling teams whose members have to pay upwards of $1,000 to join.  Registration for Fannin’s travelling team is only $65, the same amount as for every county sports program.  She added that the travelling team has contributed to the success of FCHS and FCMS teams.  Each one went to championships this year.  Several kids from the travelling team have gone to college on full athletic scholarships because of their soccer ability.

Andy Jones, one of the coaches for the team, also spoke about problems with the Rec Department.  Mr. Jones and several other parents had to line the field and move the goals for the first game of spring season because the Rec Department had not done what it said it would do.  Mr. Jones also said that the Rec Department had not provided the uniforms before the start of the season.  “What is the $65 fee going for if not for uniforms,” asked Mr. Jones.

Mr. Simonds said that he hated to hear what is going on and we will look into it.  Mr. Sosebee said that we will start tonight.  After the meeting, the Commissioners went into Executive Session to discuss personnel and real estate.  Mr. Scalera was called into the meeting as well.  After 30 minutes, the Commissioners returned and said that no action was taken in Executive Session.