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JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION MAY 4, 2015 7:00 P.M. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the agenda for the May meeting. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice Davis, Vice Chairman; Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Wayne Davis, Member; Adam Mestres, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney; and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Wayne Davis gave the invocation. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS Truck Parking Ordinance This item was for discussion and informational purposes only. Commissioner Johnny Davis expressed a concern for semi-truck parking within the county. Chairman McGraw suggested the board think of a place to allow parking for semi-trucks and maybe the board could possibly get with the City of Louisville to see if they could, together, come up with ideas on a place to utilize for semi-truck parking. The chairman asked the commissioners to keep, finding a place for trucks to park, as a priority. ` TIA Project Update on ROW County Attorney, Dalton Dowdy, presented an update on the TIA (Transportation Investment Act) projects. Mr. Dowdy informed the board a few more landowners had come on board, as far as relinquishing the right-of- way for the work on Hoyt Braswell Road. And they have not closed on any parcels at this time, as he is awaiting documents from the state. NEW BUSINESS DFACS Board Appointment Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to re-appoint Mrs. Earnestine Kemp to the DFACS Board for an additional five years with her tenure commencing July 1, 2015 and concluding June 30, 2020. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Roads Project IGA City of Stapleton County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented information from the City of Stapleton requesting the county’s assistance on a road improvement project on Easy Street in Stapleton. The county administrator presented an IGA (Intergovernmental Agreement) for the roads project in Stapleton and recommended the board approves the agreement. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to approve the LMIG project with the City of Stapleton, as long as it does not cause the county any problems. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. DOC/County Capacity Agreement County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the Department of Corrections/Jefferson County Correctional Institute capacity agreement. According to the document the county agrees to house 190 state inmates at $20.00 per day; the county administrator is recommending the county reduce the number of state inmates housed at the facility. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to table until Tuesday night’s meeting. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. DOT/County Inmate Agreement County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the Department of Transportation/Jefferson County inmate agreement. This agreement allows a certified correctional officer to take out up to twelve inmates Monday through Thursday on a DOT work detail; the county is reimbursed by DOT for the officer’s salary, etc. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to approve the agreement between the Department of Transportation and Jefferson County. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Inmate Work Program IGA County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the Inmate Work Program IGA. This agreement would permit the county to utilize more of the inmate workforce by allowing the cities and the board of education ---PAGE BREAK--- an opportunity to have qualified employees sign three inmates out of the institution on work details. The city would have to provide personnel, equipment, and vehicles to sign the inmates out. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to approve the inmate work program agreement with the cities and the board of education. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Phone/Internet Service County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented information on a (VOIP) voice over internet phone system and high speed internet. This system would allow this office to communicate with other departments within the county by using extension numbers rather than dialing the whole phone number. Each employee would have his or her own extension. Mr. Mestres explained the cost would be approximately $2,200 per month versus the $3,200 the county is now paying AT&T. He also explained there will be a cost for equipment but the service would pay for itself within eleven months. The name of the company is Fast Internet for all with Darryl Davis as the owner. After much discussion, the county administrator suggested a trial run at the commissioner’s office for thirty days to make sure it is the right fit for Jefferson County. Commissioner New made a motion authorizing the county administrator to handle all aspects of changing the current phone/internet service. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items Code Enforcement Officer, Jimmy Kitchens, asked if the new VIOP would affect the software in his office. The county administrator explained that it would not affect iWorks in any way. Adjournment Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING MAY 12, 2015 7:00 P.M. This was the regular scheduled meeting for the month of May. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice C. Davis, Member: Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Wayne Davis, Member; Adam Mestres, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney; and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Johnny Davis gave the invocation. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to amend the agenda by removing the second item (LMIG Projects – City of Stapleton) from the Consent Agenda and placing it as item a underneath Old Business; and moving item a from Old Business to after the Executive Session. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to adopt the minutes. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Chairman McGraw gave the chairman’s report; County Administrator Adam Mestres gave the administrator’s report; EMS Director Carl Wagster’s gave the ambulance report; Jimmy Kitchens, Code Enforcement Officer/Building Inspector gave the building inspector’s report. Jim Anderson, 911/EMA Director/Fire Chief, was absent. Consent Agenda The consent agenda items were: Motion to re-appoint Ernestine Kemp to DFACS Board ---PAGE BREAK--- Motion to approve the LMIG projects with the City of Stapleton (Removed from Consent Agenda) Motion to approve DOT/County inmate agreement Motion to approve a intergovernmental agreement between the Jefferson County and the cities for an inmate work detail Motion authorizing the county administrator to handle all aspects of switching the county commissioner’s office telephone service to IP (VoIP) for a trial period Chairman McGraw read the Consent Agenda items. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS Roads Project IGA City of Stapleton (LMIG) County administrator, Adam Mestres, recommended this project be tabled until the June meeting. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to table the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Stapleton until the June meeting. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. NEW BUSINESS Bargeron Insurance Options for FY 16 Discussion County administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the board with the health insurance cost from William Toulson of Bargeron Insurance Company. To keep a $2,000 deductible with United Healthcare there would be a five percent increase which would be an increase of $50,801. To obtain a $500 deductible there would be an increase of $169,801. After much discussion, Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to allow the administrator an opportunity to call anybody he can make contact with, in order to try to give us a better price. If the numbers come in that he sees on paper that is anything in comparison is lower than this; that a commissioner’s meeting is called Thursday or Friday prior to the Work Session on June 1st. . If everything is good we can make a motion there; we would have to have a Special Call Meeting for insurance. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items Mr. John Peebles asked if they’ve ever considered having one health insurance coverage for all municipalities in the county. Adjournment Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adjourn the Regular meeting and go into the Executive Session to discuss land acquisition and personnel. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Executive Session Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn the Executive Session. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. DOC/County Capacity Agreement Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion, after speaking with Warden Evans, for the County Attorney Dalton Dowdy to contact the Department of Corrections to garner approval for the possibility of reducing the inmate population at the Jefferson County Correctional Institute. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Adjournment Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CALL MEETING MAY 27, 2015 9:00 A.M. ---PAGE BREAK--- This was a Call Meeting to discuss health insurance renewal; it was held at the Jefferson County Commissioner’s office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice C. Davis, Member: Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Wayne Davis, Member; Adam Mestres, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney; and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called the meeting to order. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Insurance Renewal Pursuant to the request made by Commissioner Wayne Davis at the regular meeting on May 12th, County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the following information regarding insurance rates. The plan the county currently has is with United Healthcare and has a $2,000 deductible. Mr. Mestres was able to obtain rates from Blue Cross Blue Shield POS on a policy with a $500 deductible; this plan would result in a savings of $5,648. The following tables reflect the current policy with United Healthcare, and the tentative policies with United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield POS. ---PAGE BREAK--- After much discussion, Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to go with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and try it for a year; if not they will know in six months whether it’s working or not. All the agents, including Mr. Toulson and whoever else out there, he doesn’t care if it is Jesus Christ himself, can come back and give them a better option and everything. If Blue Cross Blue Shield does not work they will know about it in six months and they can change it next year, at least he won’t be stopped by employees on the streets because they can’t or won’t use the insurance. He stated he made that motion last year and he’s making the motion we go with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: William Toulson of Bargeron Insurance stated he represents Blue Cross Blue Shield so he is not knocking them, he just knows as Commissioner Gonice was eluding to, when they went to the school system left United Healthcare for Blue Cross Blue Shield, even though it was significantly lower but they pretty much came in and bought the business, is what they did, because at the next renewal they went up significantly. And as he eluded to, the networks did get skinnier, a lot skinnier. He has heard of people having to go to different places in Augusta to do blood work instead of going to the one place they had. He has a proposal coming from Humana and Humana has a large network, he appreciates writing this business for as long as he has; whatever they decide, he thinks United Healthcare has taken care of the county as well as far as renewal premiums and plans especially before the Affordable Care Act came into place. Chairman McGraw asked Mr. Toulson if he could get a price from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Mr. Toulson stated he could, but the reason he didn’t was simply for that reason; he knows the troubles others are having. He’s not saying everybody is…you know… Commissioner New asked if we went to the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan will we be able to go the hospital to have our blood work done. Mr. Toulson stated he could not answer that with this plan; he doesn’t know. Chairman McGraw stated the board had a first and a second; he just addressed the county attorney because they had a previous vote, they voted in…County Attorney Dalton Dowdy stated on April 6, the concerns he had from a legal standpoint would be that he thinks the discussion the board has had and the motion that is on the table would be to go with Blue Cross Blue Shield which would be through the ACCG. In which event the commission would potentially be going against the motion made on April 6th where the commission voted to have Mr. Toulson as the insurance broker for the county; so he would need some time to look at it to see what they would be able to do as far as… if they wanted to rescind that vote they could certainly do that; what they are doing today potentially affects what was voted on in April. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to amend what they did in the April 6th meeting. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Chairman McGraw asked the county attorney, so that they were clear, if it were okay to do that. Commissioner New stated if they were going by Robert’s Rules of Order they would vote on the amendment first. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to rescind the motion made on April 6, 2015. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner New asked the county attorney if this were an official meeting like they would have on Tuesday. Mr. Dowdy stated yes it was, the paper had been given twenty four hours’ notice and the paper was present. The motion passed with a vote of four to one. Chairman McGraw, Commissioners Gonice Davis, Johnny Davis, and Wayne Davis voted yes. Commissioner New voted no. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to go with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded. Discussion: Commissioner New said he still thinks the board needs to find out if the hospital will accept Blue Cross Blue Shield and that it would only take five minutes to call and find out. Chairman McGraw asked Mr. Mestres if he had checked to see if the hospital accepts BCBS. Mr. Mestres stated he checked to see on the physicians, but he could not tell them about the lab work. Commissioner New said that was the hospital and that it would only take five minutes to find out. Commissioner Johnny Davis asked what the question was. Commissioner New stated he wanted to know if the hospital accepted BCBS POS. Commissioner Gonice Davis asked if the work session was on Monday. The county administrator said yes the work session was Monday, but in order to have everything processed in a timely ---PAGE BREAK--- manner, if there were going to be a switch the decision needed to be made sooner rather than later. Commissioner Wayne Davis said he had the motion on the floor, if the board wanted the administrator to go call the hospital…the chairman stated Commissioner New was already calling the hospital. After speaking to the hospital Commissioner New informed the board it had to be BCBS PPO whatever that means. Commissioner New asked if that was what the county was going to have. The administrator stated from his understanding this would be the same thing as United Healthcare, which was a POS. The county administrator asked if the hospital said they would not accept anything but BCBS. Commissioner New stated the hospital said they would only accept PPO from Blue Cross Blue Shield. That is the only plan they would accept from BCBS. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to go with Blue Cross Blue Shield and whoever the administrator of the policy is. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner New stated the new plan was with ACCG. Commissioner Gonice Davis stated the carrier would be ACCG and the motion should include which type it is, i.e. PPO, POS, etc. Commissioner Wayne Davis said he didn’t think that should go in the motion because it was the same thing as United Healthcare. Commissioner Gonice Davis said when he was at school there three different plans. The county administrator said the only plan being offered from Blue Cross Blue Shield was POS which is the same as the current plan with United Healthcare and that there were three types of service HMO, PPO, and POS. This plan was a POS plan like the current plan we have from United Healthcare. Commissioner Gonice Davis wanted to know if the employees would be able to choose which plan they wanted. The administrator explained the plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield would be the same as the current plan with United Healthcare. The motion passed with a vote of four to one. Chairman McGraw, Commissioners Gonice Davis, Johnny Davis, and Wayne Davis voted yes. Commissioner New voted no. Adjournment Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.