County manager seeks volunteer applicants for well-mitigation committee; staff to coordinate joint RFP for certified well driller

Interim County Manager Miss Diamond told commissioners she has placed applications for a proposed well-mitigation committee on commissioners’ chairs and asked the board to decide how it wants to select members. She said the county has received 17 applications so far and the application window will remain open until the board’s next meeting unless the board gives alternate direction.

"I've placed before you at your chairs the applications that we received for the well mitigation committee," Diamond said. She recommended commissioners select three committee members and consider an alternate; Diamond also said the committee will require a mitigation manager, which could be a new hire or an existing staff member depending on workload.

Diamond said county staff also must coordinate with neighboring Bryan County to issue a joint request for proposals for certified well drillers to respond to emergency well issues and to create a published list of certified drillers for property owners. She said the county should begin well-registration outreach and aim to issue registration forms to property owners by March 1, and recommended closing the application window at next Tuesday’s meeting to allow time for review.

Commissioners confirmed the application window would close at the next meeting and asked staff to return with recommendations for committee members and a draft process for registering wells and issuing an RFP for emergency drillers. County attorney and staff reiterated that commissioners should not serve on the mitigation committee; staff said at least one staff member should be included to report to the board and that the board could appoint an alternate member to the committee if desired.

No formal vote was taken; staff will return with a recommended candidate list and draft RFP language for the board’s review.