Determining which roads to repair first and a new southside precinct for the Sheriff's Office emerged as early priorities discussed at the 2011 SPLOST oversight committee Monday evening.

The meeting was the second for the volunteer group that oversees spending of funds collected from the 1-cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that was approved last year.

The finance committee estimated about $1.04 million to $1.1 milllion will be collected monthly for a total of about $75 million over six years. The tax goes into effect in April but remittances will not come back from the state for three months.

Finance committee chair Fred Straub explained the funds would first go to the level 1 project of finishing the renovation and expansion of the Rockdale Jail, many parts which were left off from the 2004 SPLOST funded expansion due to cost overruns. That project, which affects both city and county, is estimated to cost about $2.5 million.

Other projects would likely not see funding possibly until October, said Straub.

Transportation chair Mike Houchard said the committee was still determining which roads to put on the resurfacing list and Straub reiteriated that the water committee would recieve the list of roads to coordinate pipe repair with road resurfacing. Transportation has about $10 million in bonds it can begin projects with and water has about $3 million in bonds to begin pipe repairs.

Sheriff's Office committee chair Charles Staples reported that his committee determined the establishment of a southside precinct emerged as the most urgent issue. The overall SPLOST committee voted to recommend the Board of  Commissioners move to purchase property for the precinct as funds become avaialble.

Rockdale Fire and Rescue Department Chief Cedric Scott, speaking on behalf of committee chair Bill Hughey, gave more detail on the moving of Fire Stations No. 2, from Troupe Smith Road to land the county owns on Cowan Road and Ga. Highway 20. Some of the possible uses discussed including being used for storage, said Scott. When asked why it would be used for storage when it was on a flood plain, Scott replied, "That's a good question... Those are just options that are on the table... Those are the things we're going to be talking about when we sit down."

The committees' next tasks are to form a prioritized list of projects and the projected costs for those projects.

The next SPLOST Oversight Committee meeting will be on May 23, 6 p.m., at the JP Carr Center, 981 Taylor Street.