County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. Will the canning plant be open this summer?
A. Yes it will.  The school system, in response to demand and passage of the SPLOST sales tax, will nurse it back to health this year and hopefully next year the county will be able to provide a new location as a co-op project between the school system and county government through the SPLOST sales tax. The canning plant should open around July 4th.

Q. When will the farmer’s market start this year? 
A.  We have been receiving a lot of calls on this. It will open on June 21, again in the parking lot on the back side of the courthouse.  There has been a keen interest from the public in growing gardens this year and we hope as a result, that the quantity and variety of products available this year will be larger.  We all know that with the cost of groceries going up so much, the opportunity to have fresh vegetables and fruit available locally will really be an asset.

For those who may not know how to prepare some of the vegetables “mountain style”, we hope to have some literature available this year to give you a primer on how to prepare certain items to achieve the most taste and enjoyment.  We look forward to seeing you at the farmer’s market next month.

Q. Why is the county road department patching our roads with tar and gravel and only doing it on part of the road?
A.  We answered this last year, but this process is being utilized to seal cracks on the road to prevent water from seeping into and under the pavement and causing premature deterioration of the roadbed. (You may not be able to see these cracks by just riding down the road, but they are there)  In past years, we did not have a vehicle capable of  spreading tar only on selected sections of the roadway, but our new tar distributor vehicle, through computer controls, only places the tar, which subsequently only places gravel, where it is needed, thereby avoiding the cost of placing patching material  all the way across the highway.

Q.  Will the tar and gravel patching be smoother than asphalt?
A.  When patching with asphalt alone,  you usually have a small  bump at each end of the patch, however, with this method, once the loose gravel wears off, you can hardly feel the difference, other than the sound.  The only negative part is that the road does not have the uniform color appearance and it is obvious where the patches are.  However, this method is saving the county hundreds of thousands of dollars and because of that, we feel that looks must take a back seat to function and cost savings at this time.

Q. Will the county be utilizing asphalt on any of our roads?
A.  Yes. We still do patching with asphalt when the damage is more severe.  When and if the cost of asphalt does take a price drop, we will be in a position to cap (pave over) many of these patches and we will then have a road section that will last many more years.  In the mean time, these temporary patches significantly increase the life of our roads.   We will also be resurfacing several roads this summer with asphalt.

Q. We want to thank the county for providing the new prescription drug cards. Do you know how many people are utilizing them?
A.  We do not know now, but will receive a report from the insurance company in a few months.  This past week a lady came in our office and said she had been in court all day and saw one of the drug card displays in the courthouse and took it home with her.  That night she became ill and had to make a late visit to doctor and the drug store.  She said the card saved her $15.00 and she just wanted to thank us for providing the service.  While this was a relatively minor savings, there are many cases when they can save much more.  The cards are free, (cost absolutely nothing), and are a service provided by Union County Government and the National Association of Counties, of which Union County is a member.

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