Under a partnership with Caremark, the program saves people an average of 23 percent on prescriptions. Caremark negotiates the discounts directly with pharmacies.
A national network of more than 59,000 retail pharmacies honor the discount card, including plenty in the LaGrange area, county planner Nancy Seegar told the County Commission on Friday.
The card also can be used when human drugs are prescribed for a pet, she said.
“All we have to do is distribute the cards,” she said. “… I looked for the catch, but I couldn’t find the catch.”
The cards are free because Troup belongs to the National Association of Counties. More than 1,300 counties take part in the program, include 34 in Georgia.
The county will announce details later on how to get a card.
Commissioner Richard English, a board member for the National Association of Counties, said Mitchell County has used the discount program for three years and “it’s been very successful with them.”
In another matter Friday, County Manager Mike Dobbs said some proposals have emerged from a review of fire station locations by commissioners Morris Jones and Ken Smith.
Dobbs said the first priority is moving the Reed Road station to property that would be donated by the school system at Long Cane Elementary and Middle schools. Reed Road’s coverage area was obstructed by the Kia Motors property, which was annexed into the city of West Point.
Another proposal calls for LaGrange eliminating its fire station on West Lukken Industrial Drive and taking over the county’s station at LaGrange-Callaway Airport. Aside from the airport, the coverage area would include 1,200 parcels in the unincorporated area on Whitaker, Fling and West Point roads.
Dobbs said two firefighters that had been included in this year’s budget would not be hired, and another position would go unfilled.
City Manager Tom Hall, who met with the review committee, said the change hasn’t yet been officially endorsed by City Council.
“The concept is that regardless of the political jurisdiction, the closest station is the one that should respond,” Hall said.
Commissioner Buck Davis said he’s “very disappointed” that there are no immediate plans for fire improvements in his district on the eastern side of the county, especially for Callaway Elementary and Middle schools.
“I’m disappointed to see all those children that far from an active fire station,” he said. “I just don’t understand how all of a sudden you come up with this stuff and leave the east side out. It’s just not right. … You leave the east side unattended and take care of the west side.”
Davis said he’s been trying to get a fire station built for five to eight years, adding, “What’s $500,000 for the protection of schools and the people?”
Smith said he “didn’t know we were trying to solve every problem.”
“I would not be in favor of eliminating our reserves to build fire stations when I don’t necessarily think they’ve needed,” he said.
Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe suggested taking up the fire station issue again in 30 days and coming up with the top three priorities.
Also Friday, Dobbs said he has been informed that the GBI crime lab in Columbus is scheduled to close June 30 because of state budget cuts and it would cost $450,000 to keep it open for another year.
The lab serves 19 counties in West Georgia, including Troup. If it closes, the nearest labs would be in Decatur and in Dry Branch, southeast of Macon.
Britt Hayes, assistant finance director for the Columbus Consolidated Government, has been asking counties if they would be interested in donating money to keep the lab open. Dobbs said he hasn’t received a formal request.
Sheriff Donny Turner told Dobbs in a memo that closing the Columbus lab would increase the time and fuel costs for transporting evidence, increase the turnaround time for evaluating evidence because more counties would be using the remaining labs, and scheduling crime lab personnel for court appearances would be more difficult.
“This will increase the backlog of cases in Superior Court,” Turner said.
Smith called it another case of the state shifting its responsibilities down to the counties.
“Everything across the board they keep passing down to the local people,” he said.
He said the state wants to deplete the reserve funds of county governments and school systems.
Troup uses its reserves, which go no higher than $12 million, mainly to operate the government without having to borrow money until property tax receipts start arriving in November.
“For the state to insinuate we should spend it on other items, I don’t agree with that at all,” Dobbs said.
Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.
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