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JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CALLED MEETING OCTOBER 1, 2019 10:00 A.M. This was a called meeting to discuss the plans for the Ogeechee Crossing Park. 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 Brett, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Johnny Davis gave the invocation. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS Ogeechee Crossing Park Masterplan Mary Charles Howard a landscape architect from Field Study South, Inc. presented the following plans for the Ogeechee Crossing Park to the board for review and approval. Anne Floyd from the CSRA Regional Commission was also in attendance. Mrs. Floyd will apply for a grant on behalf of the county to fund the project Mrs. Howard, after much discussion and review, answered questions regarding the plans for the park. The following resolution to apply for the grant application was submitted to the board for adoption/approval. Mrs. Floyd asked what type of permits would be required; Mrs. Howard said she would provide a list of permits needed. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to move forward with and adopt the resolution authorizing the grant application for the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Sponsorship Plan for Disc Golf The county administrator presented the following information on the tentative sponsorship plans for disc golf at the Ogeechee Crossing Park. He reviewed each plan with the board. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to move forward with the Disc Golf project at the Ogeechee Crossing Park. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items There were no public comments on the agenda items Adjournment Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Attest: ---PAGE BREAK--- County Clerk Mitchell McGraw, Chairman Gonice C. Davis, Vice Chairman H. G. Thomas New, Member Johnny A. Davis, Member Charles W. Davis, Member JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION OCTOBER 7, 2019 7:00 P.M. The purpose of this meeting was to prepare the agenda for the October meeting. 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 Brett, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney: and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance; Commissioner Gonice Davis gave the invocation. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Regional TIA Project Discussion Corbett Reynolds, District Engineer; Todd Price, Preconstruction Engineer; and Eric Wilkerson, TIA Regional Coordinator, provided information to the board regarding the expansion of US 1. This was for informational purposes only. OLD BUSINESS There were no Old Business items. NEW BUSINESS Abandoned Houses – Mr. Johnny Davis Johnny Davis a resident of the Rufus Wren Subdivision expressed concern for abandoned houses in the aforementioned subdivision. The county attorney addressed Mr. Davis’ concerns regarding the abandoned houses explaining there were probably ten dilapidated houses left. Some of the house had title issues, with some of the owners having moved away and/or are deceased leaving the county with no means to make contact. Library Board Appointment The county administrator presented the following letter received from the Jefferson County Library System Director, Carol Taylor, requesting an appointment to the library board as a replacement for Mrs. Sharon Fleming. This appointment will be Commissioner Wayne Davis’ appointment. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to appoint Betsy Milburn to the library board for a term of three years. Mrs. Milburn term will end June 30, 2022. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Development Authority Appointments for Louisville and Wrens The county administrator presented the following document from the Jefferson County Development Authority regarding appointments to the aforementioned board from the City of Louisville and the City of Wrens. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to reappoint Paul Arrington as the City of Wrens’ appointee and Billy Valduga is the City of Louisville’s appointee on the Development Authority Board. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Zoning Change Request The county administrator presented the following request from the Planning and Zoning Board regarding a zoning change. The requested change is Map and Parcel number 0073-011, which is currently zoned as RA to C2. The reason for the requested change is to convert this lot to a sales lot for metal and wood buildings. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner New made a motion to approve the request submitted by the Planning and Zoning Board, which is to change map and parcel number 0073-011 from RA to C2. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items There were no comments on Agenda Items. Executive Session There were no executive session items. Adjournment Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Attest: County Clerk Mitchell McGraw, Chairman Gonice C. Davis, Vice Chairman H. G. Thomas New, Member Johnny A. Davis, Member Charles W. Davis, Member ---PAGE BREAK--- JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 15, 2019 7:00 P.M. This was the regular meeting for the month of October. 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 Brett, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney; and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Chairman McGraw called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Johnny Davis gave the invocation. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to amend and adopt the agenda; the additions were as follows: NEW BUSINESS, item F, Pineland Easement and item g, Veterans Cemetery Resolution. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to forgo all reports with the exception of the chairman and county administrator’s reports. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Proclamation Honoring Retired Teachers in Jefferson County Chairman McGraw presented Jefferson County Retired Educators President, Carolyn Huntley with the following proclamation honoring retired educators and declaring November 3, 2019 as Retired Educators Day in Georgia. Mrs. Huntley along with other members of the Jefferson County Retired Educators graciously accepted the proclamation and thanked the board for bestowing such an honor on their organization. The August and September minutes were inadvertently omitted from the agenda. Chairman McGraw gave the chairman’s report and County Administrator, Adam Brett, gave the county administrator’s report. Consent Agenda Appointment of Betsy Milburn to the Library Board ---PAGE BREAK--- Reappointment of Billy Valduga and Paul Arrington to the Development Authority Zoning change of Parcel 0073 from RA to C2 Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt/approve the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS 911 Radio System Emergency Services Director, Jim Anderson, presented the board with the following information regarding the tentative purchase of a radio system for 911. Emergency Services Director, Jim Anderson, and County Administrator, Adam Brett, as shown in the proposal, recommended items one through four, which consisted of the following: Item Number Item Cost 1 Subscriber Check and Firmware Installation $20,000.00 2 Microwave Link Enhancement $8,800.00 3(a) FCC Coordination Fee $650.00 3(b) Retune or Replace Multi-coupler $2,280.00 4 Mototrbo SLR8000 Repeaters $58,212.00 5 Advanced Power Monitor $13,882.00 Total $103,824.00 Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to accept the recommendation and purchase the Motorola radios which consists of items 1 through 4. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner New told the emergency services director, he wanted them to go to the area where the radios work the least to see how well they work; once the radios are installed, he wants them to go back to the same location to see how well the radios would work. He said that would convince him the board didn’t just throw away $100,000. Commissioner Johnny Davis explained there were probably locations less than one hundred yards from this building where he would experience the same thing. Commissioner New said he’s not talking about where they don’t work, but where they work but not at 100%. Mr. Anderson explained he was not able to communicate with the 911 center yesterday from the parking lot with a handheld radio, but today he could. Commissioner New said that was not unusual, they could put in a $3,000,000 system and still have the same thing happen. Chairman McGraw said the people from Motorola came in and looked at the Gold Cross tower in Wrens; the problems they saw are listed above. After much discussion, Commissioner Gonice Davis said he was under the impression they were going to purchase items 1 through 5…he stated it would make more sense to purchase everything at one time. Commissioner Wayne Davis stated he would revise his motion. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to purchase radios from Motorola for the 911 center at a cost of $103,824, which includes items 1 through 5. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. ---PAGE BREAK--- Chicken House Ordinance County Attorney, Dalton Dowdy summarized the following Chicken House Ordinance as the final reading and adoption. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the Chicken House Ordinance. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. RV Park Ordinance County Attorney, Dalton Dowdy, summarized the following RV Park Ordinance as the final review and adoption of the aforementioned. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to adopt the RV (Recreational Vehicle) Park Ordinance. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS 2020 Striping Project The county administrator asked the board members to submit a list of roads for striping consideration to next month’s work session. EMT Training Discussion Emergency Services Director, Jim Anderson, summarized the following information regarding an EMT Training class for volunteer firefighters. Mr. Anderson recommended the board authorize the class and if he received enough interest he would proceed. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner New made a motion to allow the emergency services director to reach out to the fire chiefs to ascertain interest in the class. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Sheriff Vehicle Replacement The county administrator summarized the following information on the sheriff’s request to purchase three new vehicles to replace older ones in the sheriff’s department fleet. The cost for each vehicle is $32,588 which makes the total for three $97,764. Commissioner New made a motion to approve the sheriff’s purchase of three new vehicles for his department. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. LMIG EEE (Education, Economic Development, and Emergency) Application for BOE (Board of Education) ---PAGE BREAK--- The county administrator summarized the following information regarding the LMIG application to the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Board of Education. This is in addition to the Acel/Decel Lane at the Jefferson County Middle School. Commissioner New may a motion to approve the LMIG EEE application to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. CDBG Grant Contract for Service Center The county administration summarized the following five bids received for the renovations at the service center. MMI submitted the lowest bid at $548,700.00. The county administrator recommended the board award the contract to MMI Construction, pending attorney review, as they had the lowest bid. The administrator informed the board, as a point of reference, that MMI was the same company to complete the portico at the courthouse. Because there was a significant difference in the amount of the bids, the board expressed trepidation. The chairman wanted to make sure the bid was accurate and there wasn’t anything in the contract which would enable the company to ask for more money if they have in fact underbid. The chairman said he wanted to make sure they didn’t leave something out. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to accept the bid from MMI Construction Company for the amount of $548,700.00. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Pineland Easement The county administrator summarized a request submitted by Pineland for an easement for an approximate 10x10 square for the purpose of erecting a utility pole on the back of the service center property. The purpose of the pole is to send internet across the road to Thomas Jefferson Academy. Commissioner New made a ---PAGE BREAK--- motion to allow Pineland Telephone Cooperative an easement to place a utility pole on the back of the service center property. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Veterans Cemetery Resolution The CSRA Regional Commission asked the board to adopt a resolution authorizing a veteran’s cemetery in Augusta, Georgia. Commissioner New made a motion to adopt/authorize a resolution in support of the Regional Commission Veteran’s Cemetery in Augusta. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Scheduled Public Comments There were no scheduled public comments. Public Comments on Agenda Items Melissa Nelson from the House of Faith Robert McNair made comments regarding agenda items. Executive Session No Executive Session. Adjournment Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Attest: County Clerk Mitchell McGraw, Chairman Gonice C. Davis, Vice Chairman H. G. Thomas New, Member Johnny A. Davis, Member Charles W. Davis, Member