Action
Agenda
Board of
Commissioners
January 12,
2012
7:00
P.M.
The Board of
Commissioners of Fayette County, Georgia, met in Official Session on January 12,
2012 at 7:00 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room of the Fayette County
Administrative Complex, 140 Stonewall Avenue, Fayetteville,
Georgia.
Commissioners Present:
Herb Frady, Chairman
Robert Horgan, Vice Chairman
Steve Brown
Lee Hearn
Allen McCarty
Staff Present:
Jack Krakeel, County Administrator
Scott Bennett, County Attorney
Carol Chandler, Executive Assistant
Floyd Jones, Chief Deputy Clerk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Call to Order,
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.
Chairman Frady
called the January 12, 2012 Board of Commissioners meeting to order at 7:00
p.m.
Commissioner
Hearn offered the Invocation and led the audience in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Acceptance of
Agenda.
Commissioner
Brown moved to accept the Agenda as published. Commissioner Horgan seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
PUBLIC
COMMENT:
David Hall:
Mr. Hall
thanked the Board for promoting free speech before he spoke about his concerns
over how governments are run from the local to the
federal levels. He equated local
developers to the nation of China by saying both are being
sold out to by elected politicians. He mentioned that the Fayette County
Board of Commissions should not participate in the Regional Transportation
Authority since it is a failed business model that loses profits each year and
is underutilized. He added that
every national issue is first a local issue, that he was concerned about the
“good old boy network”, and that local politicians should “always remember the
Lord above and also the Constitution which should be obeyed.” He stressed that the
Constitution should be obeyed by all citizens and not neglected by
politicians. He then implored the
people to listen to the words of the past just before he sang four verses of the
National Anthem. Mr. Hall was asked to end his remarks by the Board in order to give
others an opportunity to speak.
Bob
Ross: Mr. Ross
informed the Board he wanted to talk about transit, its governance, and how to
set policy and planning pertaining to transit. He said the “Transit Planning Group” at
the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) would be responsible for discussing
funding and coordination of transit services, and he recapped how the work was
progressing. He spoke of MARTA’s
operating revenues and expenses, and he noted that it had lost approximately
$500 million in one year. He spoke
about the financial burdens and associated financial losses associated with
transit systems, gave a tongue-in-cheek solution to the issue, and spoke about
the financial expectations of the transit system from a long-term
perspective. He answered questions
from the Board and concluded by saying that while Fayette County may see a good
return of its transit system money during its first ten years, the following
years would come with a real price to pay.
Randy
Ognio: Mr. Ognio
said he wanted to address the poor planning that is taking taxpayers’
money. He said he went to the curb
on Sandy Creek Road, and he wonders why the road was
redesigned to have such a sharp curve that costs taxpayers extra money
for additional signage. He then
spoke of Mr. Dennis Chase’s comments that the County was violating the Federal
Clean Water Act on two separate counts, and he was concerned that it could cost
the County “big money” and that it could affect the drinking water. He asked who was in
charge of these issues and why they do not do better planning. He then spoke about Consent Agenda Item
3 saying that he “laughed at the request” since the information has the water
usage down to a quarter of a gallon per flush. He said most of the low-water toilets
have to be flushed more than once, so the saving is
negated. He next commented about
New Business 1 saying the County should not be a part of the Regional Transit
Committee.
Tom
Waller: Mr. Waller
said he thought David Hall did an outstanding job singing the National Anthem,
and that he saluted those who have personal honor and stood as the song was sung. He
said his family and neighbors have been inconvenienced for the last weeks,
months, and years with the construction of the West Fayetteville Bypass, and
yet, no one has seen a plan concerning when the road will be completely
finished. He thought Fayette County
had the money to construct the road, and that the Bypass should not be a “payday
to payday project”. He requested
that the Commissioners present, on a monthly or a quarterly basis, a plan for
completing the West Fayetteville Bypass so that his family, his neighbors, the
constituents, and the County is not constantly inconvenienced by the inability
of the County to “get something done”.
Dave
Wisniewski: Mr. Wisneiwski said he brought his son in order to show that
anyone can have a say in County government, and he also
wanted to express his thoughts concerning the Regional Transit Committee. He said as an active
voter in Fayette County, he wanted to voice his opposition to the County’s
joining the ARC’s Regional Transit Committee. He thought the timing of the invitation
to join and the upcoming Referendum vote was not coincidental. He said the TIA was a
disaster for Fayette County, that the County will never see a return on the
investment, that the majority of the funds were already slated to subsidize
already failing mass transit initiatives in other counties, and that six billion
dollars would be spent on a short list of projects mostly outside of Fayette
County and mostly away from areas that Fayette County residents routinely
travel. He asked the Board to protect the County’s residents and to save
Fayette County’s money. He closed
Fayette County should be educating its voters right now about the risks it will
inherit if the upcoming referendum is passed.
CONSENT
AGENDA:
Commissioner
Brown asked to remove Consent Agenda Items 3 and 4 for
discussion.
Commissioner
Horgan moved to approve Consent Agenda Items 1-8 excluding Items 3 and 4. Commissioner Brown seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
1.
Approval of
staff’s recommendation to adopt two Certificates of Adopting Resolution
pertaining to Fayette County’s existing 457(b) Defined Contribution Retirement
Plan, due to a change in federal law, and authorization for the Chairman to sign
the Certificates contingent upon the County Attorney’s
review.
2.
Approval of
staff’s recommendation to proceed with the purchase of an additional Warning
Siren from McCord Communications, for the countywide Emergency Alerting System,
in an amount not to exceed $35,696, and to authorize the Chairman to sign any
contract or related documents for this purchase contingent upon the County
Attorney’s review.
3.
Approval of
the Water Committee’s recommendation to continue the Metropolitan North Georgia
Planning District Toilet Rebate Program, and to allocate an additional $50,000
to the program.
Commissioner
Brown moved to approve Consent Agenda Item 3. Chairman Frady seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The motion passed 4-1 with Commissioner
McCarty voting in opposition.
4.
Approval of
the Water Committee’s recommendation to authorize Mallett Consulting to conduct a survey to determine the need
for dredging Lake Peachtree, in accordance with the County’s agreement for the
withdrawal of water from Lake Peachtree by the Fayette County Water System, at
an estimated cost of $17,500.
Commissioner
Horgan moved to approve Consent Agenda Item 4. Chairman Frady seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-2 with Commissioners
Brown and McCarty voting in opposition.
5.
Approval of
staff’s recommendation to provide an easement for the Southern Conservation
Walking Trail across county property at Lake McIntosh.
6.
Approval of
the Water Committee’s recommendation to add a change to the Waterline Extension
Policy to either install waterlines on roads and streets with a public
right-of-way or to install waterlines on a dedicated easement that is equivalent
to the right-of-way for a private road or street.
7.
Approval of
the Water Committee’s recommendation to insert an informational flyer into
customers’ January water bills concerning the Parks and Recreation Department’s
Needs Assessment Survey.
8.
Approval of
staff’s request to increase the Library’s Fiscal Year 2012 Donations Revenue
Budget Account and to increase the Library’s Fiscal Year 2012 Subscriptions,
Books and Magazines Expenditure Account by $1,000 to recognize a donation from
the Rotary Club to the Fayette County Public Library.
OLD
BUSINESS:
1.
Consideration
of the recommendation that Mr. Denny Galis be approved
to assist in providing mediation / arbitration services in the event that
agreement for the distribution of local option sales tax revenues cannot be
reached during the mandatory renegotiations by the Cities and the County in
2012, and selection of the County’s representatives on the LOST Negotiation
Team.
Commissioner
Brown moved to approve Mr. Denny Galis, as
recommended, to assist in providing mediation / arbitration services in the
event that agreement for the distribution of local option
sales tax revenues cannot be reached during the mandatory renegotiations by the
Cities and the County in 2012.
Commissioners Horgan and McCarty seconded the motion. No discussion followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
Chairman Frady
moved for both himself in his capacity as Chairman, and
County Administrator Jack Krakeel to represent Fayette County in the LOST
Negotiations with the municipalities.
Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. No discussion followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
Chairman Frady
moved to appoint Vice-Chairman Robert Horgan to serve as an alternative member
to represent Fayette County in the LOST Negotiations with the
municipalities. Commissioner Brown
seconded the motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
NEW
BUSINESS:
1.
Consideration
of staff’s request for the Board’s response to whether or not Fayette County
wishes to be a participating member of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s
Regional Transit Committee.
Chairman Frady
moved for Fayette County to not be a participating
member of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Transit Committee. Commissioner Horgan seconded the
motion. Discussion followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
2.
Approval of a
request from the County Clerk for authorization to file the required Certificate
of Appointment indicating that the Fayette County Republican Party has appointed
Marilyn Watts to the Board of Elections for a four-year term to commence
February 1, 2012 and expiring January 31, 2016.
Commissioner
Brown moved to authorize the County Clerk to file the required Certificate of
Appointment indicating that the Fayette County Republican Party has appointed
Marilyn Watts to the Board of Elections for a four-year term to commence
February 1, 2012 and expiring January 31, 2016. Commissioner McCarty seconded the
motion. Discussion followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
3.
Consideration
of the re-appointment of Kenneth Spaller to the Board
of Tax Assessors for an additional six-year term to commence January 1, 2012 and
expiring December 31, 2017.
Commissioner
Horgan moved to reappoint Kenneth Spaller to the Board
of Tax Assessors for an additional six-year term to commence January 1, 2012 and
expiring December 31, 2017.
Commissioner Hearn seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The motion passed 4-1 with Commissioner
Brown voting in opposition.
ADMINISTRATOR’S
REPORTS:
Fayette County
Public Library Closed on January 13-14, 2012: County
Administrator Jack Krakeel reported that the Georgia Library System will be doing a major update to the PINES computer /
information system that libraries utilize for multiple functions associated with
their services. He said this major
update was slated to begin on the morning of Friday,
January 13, 2012, and that most, if not all, of the libraries would be closed
Friday and Saturday for the upgrade since they will not be able to provide
functional services to the public.
He informed the Board that he authorized the closure of the Fayette
County Public Library for that purpose, however the library’s staff would report
to work since the furniture and shelving for the new addition to the library had
arrived. He said that during the
two-day closure, staff will start stocking the
library’s new addition with new books and periodicals that will be housed in
that section. He emphasized that
the closing is for Friday and Saturday, that notification of this closure was on
the internet, and that normal operations would resume Monday, January 16,
2012.
COMMISSIONERS’
REPORTS:
Chairman
Frady: Chairman Frady
noticed that, with regard to people who work for the County, the military does
not throw people out of service except on occasions when they retire, nor does
the military take a twelve-year member who has faithfully served, throw that
person out, and replace that person with a junior member. He said, similarly in county government,
he could not see throwing people out who know what they are doing, but instead
those people usually are given promotions and they are
retained so you can keep operations going.
He said there was no one on the Board that could take over the job that
those who work for the County are doing.
He said that this needed to be taken into consideration when personnel
matters are discussed, since it is possible to “personnel yourself out of
business”. He added that the most
expensive move that can be made is to replace a good
person with a bad person, since that bad person will not know what they are
doing for ten years.
Commissioner
McCarty: Commissioner
McCarty reported that he agreed with why Commissioner Brown did not vote to
reappoint Mr. Spaller, however, at this time, Fayette County does not have any other system in place
to use. He said his vote was based on the current system. Chairman Frady replied that the current
system was that the County has good people who have volunteered to stay, and, if
Mr. Spaller were to be
replaced, the County would certainly advertise the replacement.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION:
Property
Acquisition and Litigation: County
Attorney Scott Bennett informed the Board that it needed to address Property
Acquisition and Litigation issues in Executive Session. Commissioner Brown moved to recess into
Executive Session to discuss Property Acquisition and Litigation issues. Commissioner McCarty seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
The Board
recessed into Executive Session at 7:48 p.m. and returned to Official Session at
9:04 p.m.
Executive
Session Affidavit: Chairman Frady
stated that issues of Property Acquisition and Litigation were
discussed, and that the Board gave instruction on the litigation
issue. Commissioner Brown moved to
authorize the Chairman to sign an Executive Session Affidavit stating Property
Acquisition and Litigation issues were discussed in
Executive Session. Commissioner
Hearn seconded the motion. No
discussion followed. The motion
passed 4-0-1 with Commissioner McCarty absent for the
vote.
Resolution
2012-01: County
Attorney Scott Bennett reported that as a result of the
Board’s direction in Executive Session, he had two resolutions that required the
Board’s formal adoption. He said
the first resolution, Resolution 2012-01, would authorize the Chairman to
execute the necessary deeds and documents to effectuate
a land-swap with the City of Peachtree City on the road access to Lake McIntosh
Dam and its amenities’ facilities.
He asked the Board to approve the Resolution authorizing the County to
conduct the land-swap and to execute the deeds the following
week.
Commissioner
Brown moved to authorize the Chairman to sign Resolution 2012-01. Commissioner Horgan seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
Resolution
2012-02: County
Attorney Scott Bennett informed the Board that Resolution 2012-02 concerns an
easement that is currently owned by Fayette County
across from the airport. He said
one of the biggest reasons for Resolution 2012-01 was to get the County off of the airport’s property. He said he prepared Resolution 2012-02
in order to authorize the Chairman to execute the necessary deeds and documents
to Quick Claim the County’s interest in that easement back to the Airport
Authority after the County has received the deeds from Peachtree City that give
the County access to McIntosh Dam through the alternative route. He asked the Board to approve Resolution
2012-02 in order to authorize the Chairman to execute deeds (upon receipt of the
deeds from Peachtree City) as specified in Resolution
2012-01.
Commissioner
Brown moved to authorize the Chairman to sign Resolution 2012-02. Commissioner Horgan seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner
Brown moved to adjourn the January 12, 2012 Board of Commissioners meeting.
Commissioner Horgan seconded the
motion. No discussion
followed. The motion passed
unanimously.
The
Board of Commissioners adjourned their meeting at 9:07
p.m.
______________________________
Floyd
L. Jones, Chief Deputy Clerk