Action Agenda
Board of Commissioners
January 7, 2009
5:00 P.M.
The Board of Commissioners
of Fayette County, Georgia, met in Official Session on January 7, 2009, at 5:00
p.m. in the Public Meeting Room of the Fayette County Administrative Complex,
Commissioners Present: Jack Smith, Chairman
Staff Present: Jack Krakeel,
Scott
Bennett,
Carol
Chandler, Executive Assistant
Karen
Morley, Chief Deputy Clerk
Floyd
Jones, Deputy Clerk
______________________________________________________________________________________
Call to Order, Invocation,
and Pledge to the Flag
Chairman Smith called the Wednesday, January
7, 2009 Workshop Meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
Commissioner
Acceptance of Agenda
Commissioner Horgan moved to accept the
agenda as published and was seconded by Commissioner Frady. No discussion followed. The motion passed unanimously.
ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION:
A. Election of Board Chairman for the
year 2009.
Commissioner Maxwell moved
that the Chairman Jack Smith continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of
Commissioners for 2009. Commissioner
Frady seconded the motion. Some
discussion followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
B. Election of Board Vice-Chairman for
the year 2009.
Commissioner Maxwell moved
to elect Commissioner
CONSENT AGENDA:
Commissioner Horgan moved to approve Consent
Agenda Items 1-13, and Commissioner Hearn seconded the motion. Commissioner Maxwell asked for Consent Agenda
Items 10, 11 and 12 be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion, and
Commissioner Hearn requested Consent Agenda Item 13 be removed as well. Commissioner Horgan amended his motion to
approve Consent Agenda Items 1-9, and was seconded by Commissioner Hearn. No further discussion followed. The motion passed unanimously.
1. Approval of authorization to sign
checks combining any of the following two signatures for transactions exceeding
$5,000: Chairman, Vice-Chairman,
2. Approval of authorization to sign
checks for transactions $4,999 or less: Chairman, Vice-Chairman,
3. Approval of the Chairman and
Vice-Chairman to execute contracts, resolutions, agreements and other documents
approved by the Board of Commissioners.
4. Approval of proposed meeting
schedule for 2009.
5. Approval of Resolution Number
2009-01 appropriating funds necessary for the annual lease payment on the Jail
expansion and Justice Center.
6. Approval of Resolution Number
2009-02 renewing Resolution Number 90-07 which imposes a $1.50 monthly
“911" charge upon each exchange access facility subscribed to by telephone
subscribers.
7. Approval of Resolution 2009-03
renewing Resolution Number 90-03A which imposes a $1.00 monthly “911"
wireless enhanced charge upon each exchange access facility subscribed to by
telephone subscribers.
8.
Approval of staff’s recommendation that the travel
reimbursement rate for 2009 be reduced from $0.4794 to $0.4510 per mile when
privately-owned vehicles are used in lieu of county-owned vehicles for official
county business.
9.
Approval of staff’s recommendation from Department of Fire and
Emergency Services to award Bid #695 for Fire and
10.
Approval of staff’s request to increase the Library’s Donations
Revenue Account by $1,000 and to increase the Office Supplies Expenditures
Account by $1,000, in order to account for the Fayetteville Rotary Club’s
$1,000 donation to the Fayette County Public Library.
11.
Approval of staff’s recommendation to increase the Library’s
Donations Revenue Account by $5,000 and to increase the Other Supplies
Expenditures Account by $1,000 and the Computer Software Expenditure Account by
$4,000, in order to account for Mr. Royal Yates’ $5,000 donation to the Fayette
County Public Library.
12.
Approval of staff’s recommendation to increase the Library’s
Donation Revenue Account by $60 and to increase the Office Supplies
Expenditures Account by $60, in order to account for Ms. Shannon Campbell’s $60
donation to the Fayette County Public Library.
13.
Approval of minutes for Board of Commissioners’ meetings held
on December 3, 2008, December 11, 2008, and December 16, 2008.
Consent Agenda Items 10, 11
and 12: Commissioner Maxwell stated he had asked for
Consent Agenda Items 10, 11 and 12 to be removed from the Consent Agenda
because he wanted a letter to be sent from the Board of Commissioners thanking
those who donated to the Library.
Commissioner Maxwell moved to approve Consent Agenda Items 10, 11 and 12
and to send a letter on behalf of the Board of Commissioners thanking those who
donated to the Library. Commissioner
Frady seconded the motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed unanimously.
Consent Agenda Item 13: Chairman Smith stated that Commissioner Hearn
was not on the Board of Commissioners during the dates the minutes were recorded,
and that was the reason Consent Agenda Item 13 was removed. Chairman Smith then moved to approve Consent
Agenda Item 13. Commissioner Frady seconded the motion. No discussion followed. The motion passed 4-0-1 with Commissioner
Hearn abstaining from the vote.
OLD BUSINESS:
There were no Agenda Items
for Old Business.
NEW BUSINESS:
C.
Staff will present a demonstration to the Board on how an audio
feature can be added to the County’s website.
Executive
Assistant Carol Chandler, Information Systems Director Russell Prince and Chief
Deputy Clerk Karen Morley gave a presentation and demonstration to the Board
regarding new searchable audio features to be made available on the
D. Discussion of the Federal
Neighborhood Stabilization Program designed to assist communities in lessening
the impact of the nationwide foreclosure crisis.
Fayette
County Administrator Jack Krakeel reported that Fayette County was informed by
the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) shortly before the holidays
about a federal grant program that is going to be administered through the
Georgia Department of Community Affairs designed to assist local communities
with respect to the foreclosure crisis that has been impacting communities
across the County, and he gave further information about the federal grant
program. Mr. Krakeel emphasized this was
the first opportunity he has had available to present the information to the
Board, but there is a very limited time to take, since applications for the
grant are due to the DCA no later than January 15, 2009. He added that the Fayette County Board of
Commissioners would be required to hold a public hearing that would need to be
advertised five days in advance. Some
discussion followed. The consensus of
the Board was to authorize staff to begin the process of applying for the grant
by advertising a public hearing on Wednesday, January 14, 2009.
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
There was no
Administrator’s Report.
ATTORNEY’S REPORT
Sports Lighting Contract: Fayette County Attorney
Scott Bennett reminded the Board that it previously awarded a bid to Ozburn
Electric to install or repair lights at Kiwanis Park Field 7 and at McCurry Park Softball Field 3 at a
total cost of $179,856. He said the
County had all the bonds, the insurance requirements had been satisfied, and
the contract was ready for the Chairman’s signature. Commissioner Horgan moved to authorize the
Chairman to sign the contract with Ozburn Electric for $179,856. Commissioner Hearn seconded the motion. No discussion followed. The motion passed unanimously.
Modification of the
McIntosh Trail Community Service Board’s Ground Lease Agreement: Fayette County Attorney
Scott Bennett reminded the Board that it has previously approved a Ground Lease
Agreement with McIntosh Trail Community Service Board that is doing business as
Fayette Community Health. He said the
attorney for the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board had not reviewed the
agreement prior to the Board’s approval, and he has asked for the Ground Lease
Agreement to be modified with respect to insurance. He explained that the McIntosh Trail
Community Service Board is a creation of the State and therefore they rely on
State insurance for all of their property.
He said the Board asked the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board to
list the County as insured under their insurance policy, but their attorney has
replied that the request cannot be granted under State policy and asked if the
Board would allow for the grounds to be insured as leasehold interest and the
County would maintain the ground as owner.
Mr. Bennett said he thought there was limited liability to the County
since all construction, maintenance and responsibility were being turned over
to the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board.
He recommended approving the modification to Ground Lease Agreement
since he did not believe there was much exposure to the County. Some discussion followed. Commissioner Frady moved to amend the Ground
Lease Agreement as presented by the
Personal Care Homes: Fayette County Attorney
Scott Bennett reminded the Board that discussion took place during the December
3, 2008 Workshop Meeting regarding Personal Care Homes that were prompted by
citizen complaints. He stated that
research was conducted to determine what regulations can be imposed on Personal
Care Homes to ensure that they are operating legitimately by providing needed
service while preserving the residential character of the neighborhoods in
which they are located. He described the
research findings and how the County can utilize those findings to
regulate Personal Care Homes. Some
discussion occurred. Mr. Bennett said
the next step he wanted to draft two ordinances, one for occupational tax and
one for business license, before sending them to the Commissioners for their
review and suggestions. He added that
the County would be required to hold public hearings pertaining to the zoning aspects
of the ordinance, and suggested that the Planning Commission may have ideas on
this issue. The consensus of the Board
was to draft the proposed ordinance changes in a legal format and distribute it
to the Board for its review. Chairman
Smith added that he wanted to hold off on public hearings in order to give the
Board an opportunity to review the proposed regulations.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
GDOT Recommendations for
the FY 2010-2013 TIP: Director of Public Works Phil Mallon presented a document entitled
GDOT Recommendations for the FY 2010-2013 TIP to the Board before
explaining that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) recently
completed a study that took over one year to complete in order to prioritize
and evaluate projects throughout the entire state that are either sponsored by
the GDOT or are receiving state funding.
He said the GDOT sent comments to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
approximately December 1, 2008 about what projects should remain high-priority,
should be delayed, or should have funding cuts.
He reported that the ARC compiled the information for all the counties
in its jurisdiction and sent out a database memo on December 19, 2008 to its
counties. He said the document that was
presenting was a summarized version of the information provided by the ARC, and
then briefly discussed the items on the document. He said a meeting would be held on January
12, 2009 with representatives from the ARC, the GDOT and other transportation
agencies for the purpose of allowing
Request from GDOT and ARC: Director of Public Works
Phil Mallon reported to the Board that due to the potential economic stimulus
package being spoken of at the national level,
GEMA Grant: Public Safety Director
Allen McCullough reported that Public Safety received notification this week
from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) that Fayette County
Emergency Management Agency was awarded $25,000 in a grant that the County
applied for earlier to be used toward the purchase of additional severe
weather warning sirens.
BOARD REPORTS
Welcome to Commissioner
Response to the
STAFF REPORTS
There were no Staff
Reports.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive
Session.
ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Hearn moved to
adjourn the January 7, 2009 Wednesday Workshop Meeting and was seconded by
Commissioner Horgan. Chairman Smith
welcomed Commissioner Hearn to the Board of Commissioners. The motion passed 4-0 with Commissioner Frady
not present for the vote.
The Wednesday, January 7,
2009 Board of Commissioners Workshop Meeting adjourned at 6:23 p.m.
_____________________________
Floyd L. Jones, Deputy Clerk