Full Text
JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 6, 2014 6:30 P.M. This was the first public hearing (reading) for the Current Building Construction Technical Codes, Ordinance Number 002-14. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Wayne Davis, Member: Adam Mestres, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney, and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Commissioner Gonice Davis was absent. Chairman McGraw called the hearing to order. County Administrator Adam Mestres presented information regarding the amendment of the Building Construction Codes and opened the floor for questions. Chairman McGraw closed the Public Hearing. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 6, 2014 6:45 P.M. This was the first public hearing (reading) for the Operational Requirements for Timber Harvesting, Ordinance Number 001-14. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice 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 hearing to order. County Administrator Adam Mestres presented information regarding the amendment of the Timber Operations Ordinance and opened the floor for questions. Chairman McGraw closed the Public Hearing. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION JANUARY 6, 2014 7:00 P.M. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the agenda for the January meeting. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice 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, welcomed guests, presented the newly appointed County Attorney, Dalton Dowdy, welcomed Commissioner Wayne Davis and John Peeples back to the meeting after both had been out and in the hospital. Commissioner New gave the invocation. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to amend the agenda by adding to Roads – Discussion as Item K. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to add as Item L, changing February’s Work Session Time because the board and the administrator will be at the 2014 Capital Connection Conference in Atlanta February 3, 2014. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to add as Item M, Public Works Director, Ken Thomas’ hiring an Operator For The Track Hoe. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS ---PAGE BREAK--- NEW BUSINESS Auxiliary Joint Communications Proposal – T. Neal/McDuffie Co McDuffie County’s Communications Director, Tracy Neal presented information on establishing an auxiliary means of communications during natural and manmade disasters and for public communication via the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) network. Mr. Neal requested a repeater be placed in Jefferson County on the communications tower located at 415 Green Street to support the Jefferson/Glascock Counties and surrounding areas. Mr. Neal’s request also included Jefferson County entering into an Auxiliary Joint Communications Agreement. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to allow William Tracy Neal to utilize tower space and adopt the Auxiliary Joint Communications Proposal. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Resolution to Set 2014 Elected Official Qualifying Fees Elections County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented a resolution to set the 2014 Elected Official Qualifying Fees. The qualifying fees are listed below: Office Base Salary Qualifying Fee County Commissioner Districts 1 & 3 $5,535.00 $166.05 Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the resolution establishing the qualifying fees for the 2014 Elections. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Lease Purchase Agreement/Resolution for County Equipment County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented information regarding a resolution specifying rate quotes provided for county use by ACCG from BB&T; the rates were provided for a lease purchase agreement on county equipment. The amount to be financed is $948,951.14; the pieces of equipment, the interest rate, and terms are listed below. Equipment Amount Rate Term Landfill Compactor $372,768.00 1.98% 52 months Landfill Dozier $328,430.00 1.98% 56 months John Deere 210G Excavator $159,074.14 1.54% 36 months Ford F-250, Ford F-150, Ford Interceptor $88,679.00 1.54% 31 months Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt the resolution accepting the rates from BB&T. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Waste Works Software Upgrade County Administrator, Adam Mestres presented information regarding an upgrade to the WasteWORKS Software used at the county landfill. This upgrade would enable personnel at the county commissioner’s office to not only collect payments for the landfill but it would enable them to post the payments directly into the system. The total cost of the upgrade is listed: Mr. Mestres recommended the board move forward with the WasteWORKS Software upgrade. Commissioner New made a motion to approve and accept County Administrator, Adam Mestres’ recommendation of moving forward with the WasteWORKS Software upgrade. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. ---PAGE BREAK--- Courtroom Renovation Discussion County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the board with a submitted proposal from Carter Watkins Associates, Architects, Inc. for renovations to the county courthouse. The proposal is listed below: The county administrator explained $250,000 had already been budgeted for the renovations at the courthouse and those funds would be coming from SPLOST. He also stated the proposal was preliminary data and if it is approved by the board there would be a formal RFP for a construction manager etc. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to move forward and accept the proposal from Carter Watkins Associates. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner Wayne Davis asked if Carter Watkins would prepare the bid document and also oversee the inspection. The county administrator stated Carter Watkins would be preparing the bid documents and overseeing the bid process. The administrator, again, explained the proposal was just a preliminary step and Carter Watkins would come back before the board at a later date. Chairman McGraw stated he was all for the renovations. The vote was unanimous. Gold Cross Ambulance Contract Discussion After much discussion regarding the Gold Cross Ambulance contract’; Commissioner New made a motion to move forward in obtaining the contract from Gold Cross thereby allowing the board an opportunity to review the aforementioned contract before it was accepted. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a request to amend Commissioner New’s motion by adding the following; once the board is ready to proceed with budget negotiations in June, a clause be placed in the contract to specifically state that at that time the board would sit down and look at what the ambulance proposal is so the City of Wadley would not be left out; the money comes available in July in the new budget year. Discussion: Chairman McGraw stated he would like nothing better than for the City of Wadley to have an ambulance, but the county just didn’t have the money right now, but the board should place it in the back of their minds. The vote was unanimous. JCCI Security System Discussion County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented two quotes on security systems for Jefferson County Correctional Institute. They quotes are from KNINE TECHnologies and Security101. Security101’s bid is $69,013.48 and KNINE TECHnologies’ is $63,329.90. Mr. Mestres explained both systems were IP based but the systems were different. County Administrator, Adam Mestres, explained even though Security101’s quote was higher, his and Warden Evans’s recommendation would be to approve Security101. Warden Evans explained after observing a demonstration of both ---PAGE BREAK--- security systems, Seurity101 out performed KNINE TECHnologies. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to approve the warden and county administrator’s recommendation and purchase Security101’s security system. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion but added the following stipulation: The amount of money budgeted for the camera system ($53,000) come from general funds and the remaining funds come from the prison’s telephone fund. The vote was unanimous. Vacation Time Accrual Discussion The county administrator presented the information below on vacation time accrual: The current set-up for vacation time accrual is on a yearly basis. In essence every full-time employee will get a lump sum vacation time accrual at either 40, 80 or 120 hours every year on their anniversary. This poses several problems for the County, which are outlined below: Employees cannot exceed a balance of 240 hours in annual leave at any one time. As a result, if an employee has more than 120 hours accumulated at their anniversary, they will then lose any additional earned hours. o Example: Jane Doe is a 20 year employee and currently has 200 hours of accrued annual leave. Her 21st year working anniversary was on January 1, 2014 in which she earned an additional 120 hours. Jane will forfeit 100 hours of vacation time. Only earning vacation time once per year is not really beneficial to the employee or the County at large. The employee may need to take a personal day and does not have any time because they still have 2 months before they reach their anniversary. Also, the County tends to have higher compensation liability when accrual takes place as a lump sum. It is proposed for the above stated reasons, that we change our Vacation Leave Accrual Basis as outlined below: Year 1 of Service will be accrued at 1.54 hours every pay period Year 2 through year 9 of Service will be accrued at 3.08 hours every period Years 10+ of Service will be accrued at 4.62 hours every pay period Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to use the time accrued discussion by the hour not to exceed 240 hours in a 365 day work period. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner New asked did that mean everyone would be eligible for six weeks pay period in a year. Commissioner Wayne Davis explained that was not accurate, it was based on the amount of hours each individual worked in a pay period. The vote was unanimous. 2014 CDBG Grant Discussion The county administrator presented information to the board on the 2014 CDBG Grant. His request was for the board to approve moving forward with applying for a second grant for the 2014 year; the amount requested is $800,000; $500,000 for houses and $300,000 for water/sewer improvements. Mr. Mestres stated the target area may change depending on budget. The target area is shown below. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to move forward with the area that is outlined; that any given time it could change but at the present time we would move forward with the area that is outlined above for the proposed grant for the Rufus Wren Subdivision. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Chairman McGraw asked if they could only do that in the Rufus Wren Subdivision? County Administrator explained when the initial grant was done it was stated this would be a multi phased project consisting of two phases. Mr. Mestres explained it could only be done in specific areas and that the cities within Jefferson County had applied for and received the same type of grants. Commissioner Wayne Davis stated the City of Wrens had received a grant previously. Commissioner Gonice Davis stated they have to be in a certain area. Commissioner Wayne Davis also stated one would have to be careful with grants of this sort because if you have three or four house in that area where people live above the mean in the household it would kick it out. Commissioner Gonice Davis stated there were certain stipulations involved with the grant. Commissioner Johnny Davis stated if citizens would come out to Monday night meetings, they would have a better understanding of how the grant works. The vote was unanimous. Development Authority Appointment Chairman McGraw stated he was not ready to make an appointment to the Development Authority Appointment Board. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to table the Development Authority Appointment. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Roads Commissioner Johnny Davis reminded the board to put a list of roads together within their district to the county administrator for the SPLOST funds. Change February Meeting Date The February Work Session is scheduled for February 3rd, however, the board of commissioners and the county administrator will be in Atlanta at the 2014 Capital Connection during that time. Commissioner New made a motion to not have a Work Session in February. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Operator for Track Hoe Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to advertise for an equipment operator and the funds for his salary come from TSPLOST. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner New wanted to know how long was the TSPLOST in effect. It was explained the TSPLOST would be in place for ten years. The vote was unanimous. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items There were no public comments on agenda items. Adjournment Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 6, 2014 6:30 P.M. This was the second public hearing (reading) for the Current Building Construction Technical Codes, Ordinance Number 002-14. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Adam Mestres, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney, and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Commissioner Gonice Davis was absent. Chairman McGraw called the hearing to order. County Administrator Adam Mestres presented information regarding the amendment of the Building Construction Codes and opened the floor for questions. Chairman McGraw closed the Public Hearing. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 6, 2014 6:45 P.M. ---PAGE BREAK--- This was the second public hearing (reading) for the Operational Requirements for Timber Harvesting, Ordinance Number 001-14. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice 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 hearing to order. County Administrator Adam Mestres presented information regarding the amendment of the Timber Operations Ordinance and opened the floor for questions. Chairman McGraw closed the Public Hearing. JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 14, 2014 7:00 P.M. This was the regular scheduled meeting for the month of January. It was held at the Jefferson County Commissioners Office. Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice 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 gave the invocation. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to amend the agenda by adding The Abandoned Housing Ordinance as item c. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to adopt the minutes. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Chairman McGraw presented the Chairman’s Report. County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented the Administrator’s Report. Carl Wagster presented the EMS Report; Jimmy Kitchens, Code Enforcement/ Building Inspector, presented the Code Enforcement Report; and James Anderson, EMA, E-911 Director, presented the E-911 Report. Consent Agenda The Consent Agenda items were: Motion to allow William Tracy Neal to utilize tower space and adopt the Auxiliary Joint Communications Proposal Motion to accept ACCG provided rates from BB&T to lease equipment Motion to approve upgrade to Waste Works Software Motion to move forward with the renovations at the courthouse Motion to approve the purchase of security equipment from Security 101 for the JCCI with $53,000 from General Funds and the balance from the warden’s telephone fund Motion to use the vacation time accrual by the hour; not to exceed 240 hours in a 365 day work period Motion to move forward with the outlined target area for the 2014 CDBG Target Area Motion to not have February Work Session Motion to advertise for equipment operator Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS Resolution to Set 2014 Elected Official Qualifying Fees – Elections County Administrator, Adam Mestres, presented for a second time, a resolution to set the 2014 Elected Official Qualifying Fees. The resolution presented at the Work Session omitted the Board of Education’s qualifying fees The qualifying fees are listed below: ---PAGE BREAK--- Office Base Salary Qualifying Fee County Commissioner Districts 1&3 $5,535.00 $166.05 Board of Education Chairman $4,200.00 $126.00 Board of Education Member Districts 1 & 3 $3,600.00 $108.00 Commissioner New made a motion to adopt the resolution establishing the qualifying fees for the 2014 Elections. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. NEW BUSINESS Final Reading and Adoption of Amended Operational Requirements for Timber Harvesting Ordinance 001-14 Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the Amended Operational Requirements for Timber Harvesting Ordinance – Ordinance number 001-14. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Final Reading and Adoption of Amended Building Construction Technical Codes Ordinance – 002-14 Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the Amended Building Construction Technical Codes Ordinance. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Abandoned Housing Ordinance Commissioner Johnny Davis wanted an update on the enforcement of the Abandoned Housing Ordinance. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items No comments. Adjournment Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.