County issues citation against pool owner

A Grady County pool owner appeared before the county commission to seek fairness in the enforcement of county codes regarding fencing around swimming pools.
Tonya Schafer, a resident of Midway Road, told commissioners she had been issued a citation by Code Enforcement Officer Larry Ivy for not having a fence around her pool.
A fence was placed around the pool during the construction, but after it was permitted and signed off on by code enforcement the property owner removed the fencing.
Ivy told the board Tuesday night he was responding to a complaint by a citizen.
“I do not have the time to ride all over the county looking for code violations. I received a complaint and I  followed through on the complaint in accordance with the code,” Ivy said.
Ms. Schafer said her concern was that she not be “singled out” and she stated that she was aware of 15 or 20 pools in the county that do not have fences around them.
“I just want to be treated fairly,” she said.
District 3 Commissioner Charles Norton, who represents Ms. Schafer, said he agreed with the pool owner and commented, “I’m up to here with regulations.”
Norton questioned the county’s responsibility to enforce code once the construction has been permitted, inspected and approved.
“Every one needs to eat out of the same trough. If everybody is required to have a fence, everybody should have a fence,” Norton said.
Ivy explained if an alteration is made in violation of code it is his responsibility to enforce the code and he does so based on complaints.
“Personally, I don’t care if you put the fence back up or not, but you hired me to enforce the code. I received a complaint and I handled it as a complaint,” Ivy added.
No action was taken by the board regarding the issue Tuesday night.
In other action Tuesday night, the board:
•Rejected a second request from Chief Magistrate Larry Bearden for use of an office on the south end of the first floor of the courthouse that was previously approved for use by State Court Judge Bill Bass Sr. Commissioners Elwyn Childs, Charles Renaud and Charles Norton voted to deny the magistrate’s request for the additional office space while Chairman Bobby Burns and Vice Chairman Al Ball vote in favor of the request. “Maybe if we moved the magistrate’s office to the jail that would settle all of this,” Commissioner Norton commented.
•Approved a bid of $4,250 per day for clipping the shoulders of county roads as submitted by M of Tallahassee. County Administrator Rusty Moye recommended the county approved the one day’s work to evaluate how much shoulder clipping can be accomplished for the $4,250 charge. “We need to see just how much can be done in a day and then sit down and review this because it is a lot of money,” Moye said. The pilot project will take place on McCraeville Road.
•Authorized the chairman to execute documents which will include Grady County with the other counties in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit in applying for $289,926 in a Justice Assistance Grant from the federal government. County officials are hopeful the grant will be approved and $60,000 would be available to defray the additional personnel costs of the sheriff’s office in the local war on illegal drugs.