County

County attorney: No benefit to Krakeel to retire early

Even if County Administrator Jack Krakeel chose to retire without using the early retirement plan offered by Fayette County, he would still be eligible to draw an unreduced monthly benefit from the county’s defined benefits pension plan, according to Fayette County Attorney Scott Bennett.

Krakeel has been with the county some 28 years, so he would not benefit from the extra credit of 5 years of service being offered to county employees under the early retirement program, Bennett told the Fayette County Commission last week. Read More»

Coweta roadway projects, railroad work set to begin

Get ready for intersection improvement work and road construction activity across portions of Coweta County beginning May 14. And already underway is railroad maintenance work along the CSX line.

The Coweta County Commission on May 3 voted unanimously to approve a $504,752 contract with R.J. Haynie and Associates for intersection improvements to Macedonia Road and Ga. Highway 16 north of Newnan. Read More»

County attorney: Krakeel didn’t ‘game’ early retirement plan

County Attorney Scott Bennett said last week he has conducted an investigation and found no truth to allegations that County Administrator Jack Krakeel gamed the early retirement plan to his own benefit.

Two weeks ago, Fayette County Commissioner Steve Brown asked for an independent investigation into the allegation, which Brown lodged without providing any supporting factual evidence.

The County Commission is expected to consider Brown’s request at its regular meeting Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the county’s Stonewall government complex in downtown Fayetteville. Read More»

F’ville, Fayette eye partial consolidation of services

Preliminary talks underway to see if county might take over city firefighting, water service, inspections Read More»

County manager to retire early under plan he helped devise

Fayette County Administrator Jack Krakeel.

Fayette County Administrator Jack Krakeel announced last week that he intends to retire as of July 1, the date by which a group of long-serving county employees must elect whether to take their enhanced early retirement benefits or remain on staff. Read More»

Senoia asks for recreation partnership with Coweta

Senoia councilmen Jeff Fisher (left) and Maurice Grover attended the April 17 meeting of the Coweta County Commission to propose a city-county partnership with recreation amenities at Leroy Johnson Park. Photo/Ben Nelms.

Senoia councilmen Maurice Grover and Jeff Fisher made a short presentation at the April 17 meeting of the Coweta County Commission to request that the city and county form a partnership to enhance the city’s recreation amenities at Leroy Johnson Park.

Senoia Mayor Robert Belisle in a March 20 letter to commissioners referenced the city’s recently completed 20-year master plan for parks and recreation that recommended increasing the number of active and passive recreation amenities and recreational trails. Read More»

Fayette to decide Thursday on alcohol sales vote in July

The Fayette County Commission is expected Thursday night to formally approve funding for the new public safety headquarters and emergency operations center.

The county has been selected to receive a $1 million grant to construct the emergency operations center, which will be merged with a fire station to replace the county’s fire station in downtown Fayetteville. Read More»

Bid to fix moldy jail approved

The mold problem in the inmate shower areas at the Fayette County Jail should soon be a thing of the past. Fayette County commissioners on April 12 approved a bid to remediate the problem.

Commissioners in October authorized the funds to research and remediate the mold in the various shower areas in the jail. The vote Thursday night awarded Mallet Consulting to serve as the project manager and MC’s Painting to handle the mold remediation and repairs in the shower areas. Read More»

Fayette avoids water bill hike for new equipment

Fayette County water customers won’t be facing a water bill hike to fund $9 million in federally-mandated improvements to the county’s two water treatment plants.

Instead the cost will be covered in large part by savings from a refinancing of the county’s 2002 bond series, which has $15.59 million outstanding and now will have a lower interest rate.

The bonds were authorized by the Fayette County Commission at its meeting March 22. They were rated AA bonds by both Moody’s Investor Service and Standard and Poors, county consultants said. Read More»

Early retirement could save Fayette $1.6 million a year

Fayette County officials are hoping that an early retirement program for 44 employees will save a significant chunk of cash in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

If all 44 qualified employees retire, the county could save more than $1.6 million in salary on an annual basis. But County Administrator Jack Krakeel cautioned the county commission late last month that while some of the positions would be eliminated, others would require that a new employee be hired to take the former employee’s spot, although at a cheaper cost than the retiring employee. Read More»