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JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 7:00 P.M.` This was the regular meeting for the month of September. It was held at the Jefferson County Multipurpose Complex (Old Armory). Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice C. Davis, Member; Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Wayne Davis, Member; Jerry Coalson, County Administrator; Chris Hutchings, Interim 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. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Reports Chairman McGraw presented the chairman’s report and welcomed the new County Administrator, Jerry Coalson; County Administrator, Jerry Coalson, presented the administrator’s report. OLD BUSINESS FY 2019/2020 Budget Amendments The county administrator reviewed the following budget amendments for fiscal year 2019/2020 and answered questions from the board regarding the aforementioned budget amendments. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to approve/adopt the FY 2019/2020 budget amendments. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes County Administrator, Jerry Coalson, reviewed the following request from Elections Superintendent, Susan Gray regarding the purchase of ballot drop boxes. The request also included the installation of cameras at the sites. The cost of the boxes is $4,208; the cost of the cameras is $3,272 which is a total cost of $7,480. The county administrator said they would see if the purchase qualifies for reimbursement via the CARES Act. Mrs. Gray was also in attendance to answer potential questions from the board regarding the request. Mrs. Gray stated she received a call from the camera company and instead of the cameras costing $1,500 they would be $1,000 each. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to approve the purchase of ballot boxes and cameras for Absentee Ballot drop off sites. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Tax Commissioner Office Upgrade The county administrator presented the following information on upgrades for the tax commissioners office. These upgrades would make the office safer for the employees and customers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Tax Commissioner, Nancy McGraw was in attendance at the meeting to field questions from the board. The county administrator said Mrs. McGraw initially looked at having a kiosk building outside, which is reflected below, but had since opted for a drive-up license tag transport system. Mrs. McGraw said she was still awaiting pricing and was not ready to make a presentation at this time. The county administrator said they would potentially have all the information and be ready to present for a bid at the next meeting. Appointment of Voting Delegate The following information is from the ACCG regarding the appointment of a 2020 voting delegate from Jefferson County. The appointment of a voting delegate allows the county to have a voice in the upcoming adoption of the 2020 Policy Agenda. After reviewing the information below and an ensuing discussion. The chairman appointed Commissioner Johnny Davis as the voting delegate for Jefferson County. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to accept the chairman’s appointment of Commissioner Johnny Davis as the 2020 Voting Delegate for Jefferson County. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Clerk’s Office Indexing Proposal County Administrator, Jerry Coalson, presented the following information on behalf of Clerk of Court, Anne Durden, regarding the indexing of documents in the clerk’s office. The bid presented was from Kofile a company specializing in digitizing and preserving information within local governments for employees and citizens. The clerk of court also advocated for the system stating it would help lessen the traffic in the office and would help citizens obtain information when the courthouse is closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The information provided to the board for review on the aforementioned system is reflected here. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to approve for purchase the Kofile indexing system for the clerk of court’s office. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner Wayne Davis asked where the funds would be coming from. The county administrator stated the money for the system would come from the general fund, with the potential for reimbursement via the CARES Act. Commissioner New asked how much the system would cost. The county administrator said it would be $68,000. The clerk of court said during her first term, the cost of indexing was added to the budget and they did quite a bit of indexing during that time. She stated they did not do as much in the last four years, however it was a part of her budget every year until the previous County Administrator, Adam Brett, ask that no additional funds be added to the budget for items such as that because of the COVID scare. She went on to say, since the entire courthouse has experienced a shutdown and not allowing the public in, this would be an ideal way to continue to provide services and access to documents without them having to come into the courthouse. Commissioner New asked, once the courthouse is open to the public again, they would still be able to utilize the aforementioned system. Mrs. Durden stated they would. Commissioner Johnny Davis expressed a concern for the system being hijacked because it will be online. Mrs. Durden said thirty years of records are already online and all of their internet runs through the state and they have never had a breach and it has never happened through the Superior Court Clerks Cooperative and there are some clerk of court offices that have their records scanned from the ---PAGE BREAK--- 1800’s. Mr. Coalson said it was cloud based also; Mrs. Durden said they have approximately five backups, each vendor has two or three backups and the Clerk’s Authority has backups as well. The motion was unanimously approved. Hadden Pond Road Guard Rail The board discussed placing guard rail on Hadden Pond Road near a pond located on the road. The chairman said the road is right there at the pond and he felt the county should visit having a guard rail placed there. He also said the proximity of the pond to the road presents a safety issue prompting him to have the road department staff place caution signs in the area. The chairman stated they would look into placing guard rail on Hadden Pond Road. Mutual Aid Agreement with City of Swainsboro Emergency Services Director, Jim Anderson, presented the following mutual aid agreement with the City of Swainsboro. The letter and the contract are shown here and outlines the agreement between Jefferson County and the City of Swainsboro. Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to approve the Mutual Aid Agreement between the City of Swainsboro and Jefferson County. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Funded Short Term Disability County Administrator, Jerry Coalson, presented information on the county funding short term disability insurance for all full-time employees. Jefferson County currently funds long term disability for all full-time county employees with each employee having the option to purchase short term disability. This plan would allow all county employees to have short term disability coverage as outlined in the agreement below. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to approve the funded short-term disability for full time county employees. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner Gonice Davis asked if right now the employees have an option to choose short term disability? The chairman said the employees had an option right now but with the funded disability all full-time employees would have short term disability. The county administrator said if you have a pre-existing condition it is automatically covered under this plan. Commissioner Johnny Davis said he wanted to make sure he understood the portion of the policy reflecting how much an employee’s salary would be if out on short term disability. Interim County Administrator, Chris Hutchings stated the employees would receive 66.67% of their salary for 22 weeks, with the disability starting after thirty days. The motion was unanimously approved. Contracts for Ogeechee Crossing Park The county administrator presented the following DNR (Department of Natural Resources) contract for the Ogeechee Crossing Park. The contract can be seen in its entirety below. ---PAGE BREAK--- After reviewing the contract, Commissioner Wayne Davis made a motion to approve the DNR contract for the Ogeechee Crossing Park. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. IT Service/Emergency Services Emergency Services Director, Jim Anderson, presented the board with two bids for IT (Information Technology) services. The bids were from Pineland Cogentes and Zoom Telecom, LLC, the fee schedule for both are outlined here. The director recommended Pineland Cogentes. The county attorney said the cost for Zoom is $16,800 not $6,800…the one was inadvertently cut off when the page was copied. Commissioner Johnny Davis asked that the emergency services director speak to the commissioners individually, thereby allowing the board to understand the service he is requesting. Jefferson County Administrative Complex Commissioner Johnny Davis presented the following plan designs for the old Louisville Middle School building. The proposal would allow for the majority of the county offices to be housed in one location. The offices included in this proposal were the administrative offices, transit, senior center, building department, elections, information technology, and emergency services. ---PAGE BREAK--- This was presented only as a discussion item and did not allow for a vote. Scheduled Public Comments Food Pantry at Louisville Middle School Diane Flournoy presented the following request to the board regarding the Food Pantry at the old Louisville Middle School building. Vernetta Loyd spoke on behalf of Ms. Flournoy. She submitted a letter from their group regarding the changes they wanted at the old Louisville Middle School Building. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to allow the letter to be a part of the official minutes. The motion died for lack of a second. Revitalization of Church Cemetery on Friendship Church Road Lisa Sessions presented the following request to the board regarding a church cemetery on Friendship Church Road. Lisa Sessions requested help from the county and/or anybody in attendance at the meeting for help in the revitalization of the cemetery on Friendship Church Road. ---PAGE BREAK--- Public Comments on Agenda Items Ms. Diane Flournoy made comments regarding the Louisville Middle School building. Commissioner New made a motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Executive Session Commissioner New made a motion to leave executive session and reconvene the regular meeting. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Commissioner New made a motion to amend the agenda to add discussion of truck repair. Commissioner Johnny Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Public Works Director, Ken Thomas, explained to the board one of the county’s pickup trucks sustained damage to the frame when inmates placed concrete pallets on the back of the truck. The hop made contact with three companies; R & R Truck of Augusta’s bid was $30,000, the second company out of Columbia SC would not bid because they did not want the job, the third and final company was Macon Truck & Trailer and their bid was $3,000. The road superintendent recommended the bid of $3,000 from Macon Truck & Trailer. Commissioner New made a motion to accept the road superintendent’s recommendation and have Macon Truck & Trailer repair the frame of the pickup truck. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. The motion was approved with a vote of four to one. Chairman McGraw, Commissioners New, Gonice Davis, and Wayne Davis voted yes. Commissioner Johnny Davis voted no. 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 Davis, Member Charles W. Davis, Member JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CALLED MEETING SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 6:00 P.M. This was a called meeting, held to discuss the jail pod renovation at the Law Enforcement Center. It was held at the Jefferson County Multipurpose Complex (Old Armory). Those present were as follows: Mitchell McGraw, Chairman; Gonice C. Davis, Member; Tommy New, Member; Johnny Davis, Member; Jerry Coalson, County Administrator; Dalton Dowdy, County Attorney, and Bonnie Wells, County Clerk. Commissioner Wayne Davis attended via teleconference. Chairman McGraw welcomed guests and led the pledge of allegiance. Commissioner New gave the invocation. ---PAGE BREAK--- Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to amend the agenda by adding as item b, Update on Pricing for Drive Through Lanes – Tax Commissioner. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Commissioner Johnny Davis made a motion to adopt the agenda. Commissioner New seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Jail Pod Renovation Bids for qualifications were previously sought for the pod renovation at the Law Enforcement Center. This company would solicit bids for the project from various vendors. The board received only one bid, that bid was from Allstate Construction Group, Inc. Sheriff Gary Hutchins was in attendance at the meeting and his recommendation was to go with Allstate Construction Group, Inc. The budget for the jail pod renovation is $350,000. Commissioner New made a motion to go with the sheriff’s recommendation and accept the bid from Allstate Construction Group, Inc. Commissioner Gonice Davis seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Update on Pricing for Drive Through Lanes Tax Commissioner, Nancy McGraw, presented information on the purchase of a tag transport system for the tag office’s drive through and presented two bids. The bids were from CBSi for $49,112 and Southern Banking for $67,000. The tax commissioner opted to go with the lower bid from CBSi, this would be a total of four lanes for the drive through. Commissioner Gonice Davis made a motion to purchase the system from CBSi for $49,112. Commissioner Wayne Davis seconded the motion. Discussion: The county administrator said the resources for this project will come from COVID funding. The motion was approved with a vote of four with one abstaining. Commissioners New, Gonice Davis, Johnny Davis, and Wayne Davis voted yes. Chairman McGraw abstained from voting, citing a conflict of interest, as the tax commissioner is his spouse. Public Comments on Agenda Items Wells had comments regarding the tag transport system at the tax commissioner’s office. Adjournment Commissioner New made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Gonice 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 Davis, Member Charles W. Davis, Member