RINGGOLD, Ga. – Catoosa County will pay its interim manager about $1,800 a week to help find his replacement.
The County Commission voted Tuesday to approve a contract with Billy Beckett, whom the Association County Commissioners of Georgia recommended as former manager Mike Helton’s temporary replacement. Beckett has worked in local governments throughout the state since 1978 and is now semi-retired, traveling to different areas to fill in the gaps when a municipality needs an interim manager.
According to the contract, the county will pay Beckett $60 an hour – nearly $25,000 total for the next three months. He is supposed to work 30 hours per week unless the county commissioners tell him he can work longer. The county also will give Beckett $1,000 a month for living expenses because he is working about 130 miles from his Peachtree City home.
Jim Cutler
The Catoosa County Courthouse is located in Ringgold, Ga. Beckett started work on July 1, six days before the commissioners officially approved his contract. He is scheduled to stay here until Sept. 30, unless the county finds a permanent replacement before then. If the county doesn’t have a manager by the beginning of October, the commissioners can offer him a new contract.
Beckett said his primary job is to help the commissioners find a new manager. He will hold a called meeting with the elected officials later this month to discuss job requirements – such as what degrees the candidates need to hold, how many years of experience they need to have and how familiar they should be with Catoosa County.
Beckett will then place a job ad on the Association County Commissioners of Georgia website.
“It’s really about whatever they want,” Beckett said. “It’s not about what I want.”
Helton resigned as county manager last month to join the sheriff’s office as a detective.
Courthouse Construction
The county will pay an extra $71,000 for the continued expansion of the courthouse.
According to a change order request submitted June 29, the contractor needs more money to buy a fireproof beam in the 911 center and to repair handrails, among other items. The county is paying for this construction to expand the courthouse, giving the clerks more room to store court documents – a commodity that will consistently increase as more people get arrested and divorce their spouses.
The original contract, which was approved last June, estimated that the expansion would cost $740,000. The commission then approved a change order in January adding another $50,000 to the process. Now, with this second contract order, the expansion will cost the county $860,000, assuming there are no more surprises.
Construction Consultants are building the expansion, and Ross Andrews Architecture is overseeing the project. Andrews expects the work to be finished by Oct. 19, though he concedes rainy days and busy days in the courtroom could push the completion date to the end of the year.
Looking at the list of items the contractor now needs to buy, Commissioner Jim Cutler questioned why they weren’t in the original estimate last year.
“Shouldn’t all of this have been bought?” he asked. “The fire beam? How do you miss that?”
Added Chairman Keith Greene: “We have concerns. We’re a little frustrated.”
The commission then unanimously voted to approve the change order.
Lawsuit settlement
The commission agreed to settle a civil lawsuit against the developers of The Meadows, a subdivision on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road near the state line.
County Attorney Chad Young said the developers were supposed to finish a road after building The Meadows. They didn’t do that. But now, the county has agreed to pay for the “base work” on that road if the developers will cover the cost of the “topping” of the pavement.
Young said the second part is the more expensive element, costing about $100,000. The base work, meanwhile, should cost about $25,000.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com.