Wednesday, April 3, 2002
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Wednesday, April 3, 2002 |
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Fayette says, No thanks, to federal funds for 3 deputies By JOHN MUNFORD
After agreeing they didn't like the strings attached, the Fayette County Commission voted unanimously to turn down an estimated $286,000 state grant that would put three traffic deputies on the road to patrol for aggressive driving violations and impaired motorists. Instead, several commissioners committed to providing the Sheriff's Department with three new traffic deputies if needed in the upcoming budget. "If we need three more traffic cars, I'd like to see the county fund them 100 percent and we control them 100 percent," said commissioner Linda Wells. The grant would have required the county to match $89,000, which includes the salary of one of the deputies and certain equipment such as laser speed detectors which the grant wouldn't cover. After the grant period expired, the county would be responsible for paying all three deputies. The commission's concerns had to do with "reporting" requirements that are attached to the grant. Some worried that the county wasn't in compliance with some of those requirements and it would take at least 90 days to adopt new ordinances for compliance purposes. County attorneyBill McNally said he thought the county met most of the requirements and could adopt the other ordinances if the commission chose to use the grant. Wells, noting that the county watered down its fire code standards years ago to comply with the needs of the Atlanta Regional Commission, said there are other reasons to turn down the grant. "It is to the point where we have to be very suspicious when people offer us something," she said. At the same time, however, commissioners thanked Maj. Wayne Hannah, the director of the traffic division, for pursuing grants for the county. The period for this particular grant is two years, although the clock started ticking several months ago because of delays at the state level. Creating three new positions for the sheriff's department's traffic division will bring it up to the staffing level outlined in county plans from several years ago. Hannah told The Citizen Monday that his 11-man staff doesn't have much time to perform routine traffic enforcement due to other duties such as investigating traffic complaints, patrolling school zones, investigating crashes and escorting funeral processions. If the county funds the three requested traffic deputies, Hannah wants to dedicate them to pursuing aggressive driving violations and impaired drivers. "Following too close is the major contributing factor in motor vehicle crashes here," Hannah said, adding that failure to yield is another significant factor in local wrecks.
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