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Wednesday, May 16, 2012 – 3:00 p.m.
Commissioners Meeting Room
This meeting was attended by all five commissioners, County Clerk Teresa Watson, County Attorneys and acting Interim County Managers Rob and Tom Morton. This meeting was attended by many department heads and some members of the public.
1. CALL TO ORDER ............................................................................. Chairman Doug Mangham
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ........................................................... Chairman Doug Mangham
3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - (O.C.G A. 50-14-1 (e) (1))
During the discussion of approval of the agenda, it was noted that the Chief Magistrate requested in writing to speak at this meeting prior to the meeting. Motion to allow the chief magistrate to speak as requested. Motion failed 2-3 with commissioners Jarrett and Collins voting in favor and the rest against. Commissioner Bass said that she wouldn't have a problem with all of the department heads speaking but was concerned with being at a very long meeting. Acting CM Rob Morton suggested that he could meet with Judge Callaway-Ingram on Friday about her concerns. Judge Callaway-Ingram advised that Friday would be fine but that she wanted it "on the record that the budget for magistrate is not sufficient."
4. MINUTES – May 9, 2012 Regular Monthly Meeting and May 9, 2012 Budget Public Hearing.
The County Clerk provide minutes of the past regular called meeting to commissioners but commissioners decided to wait until the next regular called meeting to approve these minutes.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Courthouse Update with Ben Carter, Carter Watkins Associates Architects.
Mike Cartner from John W. Spratlin and Son and Director of Planning and Zoning, David Allen, gave a summary of the courthouse. Concrete has been poured, trusses start next week, and studs are going up in a couple of weeks. The court room should be finished in the next 24 hours. Mr. Cartner said that the project is progressing along nicely. The ceiling in the courtroom has holes that need patching and they will carefully remove the flakes of paint. 19 windows have been taken out and replaced. They're looking at the paint job on the door that was previously mentioned. If commissioners want it to look like new wood, the train will have to be replaced. The contractor needs to determine what the commissioners expect since they cannot say and off the old paint because of lead flakes. Mr. Morton asked Mr. Allen to consult with the contractor about the commission's concerns and presented at the next meeting. He said that the process used to convey concerns about the courthouse works since this problem was brought to the attention of the contractor at the last meeting, and commissioners were told " if anything is wrong, we'll fix it".
b. Approval/denial of transfer of $11,747 out of Contingency to Public Works for upgrade to above-ground fuel tanks pursuant to State Fire Marshal Plan.
This is required by the State Fire Marshal plan. Commissioner Collins asked if this would be a secure as the one we had before. Public Works Director Todd Goolsby advised no, but there will be advanced with a lock, a key reader system as before, and it does have a camera for security. The previous system was underground. Motion to approve. 5-0.
c. Approval/denial of transfer of $19,000 out of Contingency to Public Works for purchase of a used roller from United Rentals (three quotations solicited).
This was on the agenda last time but we only had 1 quote. This will be a substantial savings to the county. Motion to approve. 5 - 0.
d. Update on GEC recommendation for additional wells pursuant to EPD direction.
Discussion about the wells that the EPD is requiring at our landfill. County Attorney Rob Morton that he spoke with the EPD representative who sent the April 3 letter to the county and was advised that all work is required but that someone can go to Atlanta on behalf of the county and ask for further explanation if desired. Commissioner Collins said that he thinks it's worth a visit to talk to him because the county has been paying a company to monitor the landfill for 20 years and we were told that we were one step away from closing the landfill and that hasn't happened. He also said that we ought to explore every possible solution to this problem before paying $30,000 for new wells. He even suggested getting split samples from another company. If there is no way out of this, we can face at that time. Commissioner Jarrett asked if there was a deadline and was advised no, but that it was time sensitive. Motion to authorize the acting county manager and Commissioner Collins to meet with this EPD representative. Commissioner Jarrett asked that a meeting summary be given to commissioners expeditiously after that meeting. 5-0 approved.
e. Approval of group health insurance carrier and plan.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia PPO plan is the recommendation for Pike County. It would save the county $91,335. Motion to approve with a single option. Discussion: Commissioner Jarrett said that many places had a working spouse rule that may benefit the county. If a spouse is working at another place of employment that offers Health Insurance but they choose not to accept it and take insurance through Pike County, they could tap on for an additional $100 per month in premiums to help cover dependents. Attorney Rob Morton said that the county could follow as policy if that's what they wanted to do, but it would not affect self employed workers. It would only affect workers were eligible for Health Insurance somewhere else. More discussion about the logistics of a plan such as this. It was not part of the motion. Motion to go Blue Cross Blue Shield single option PPO for insurance in Pike County. Approved 5-0. Motion to stay with current dental and vision plans as recommended. Approved 5-0.
f. Approval of recommended changes to FY 2012-2013 Budget Ordinance.
County Attorney Rob Morton advised that obligation for narrow banding came to light on Monday night. The state requires that all radios with the sheriff's office, fire department, and EMA, and EMS go to smaller frequency by January 2013. The sheriff's office is already in compliance but Pike County fire and EMA radios are not in compliance. There is a potential for fines up to $16,000 per day after the deadline. The county has received an estimate by one of the few companies that do this narrow banding. The amount is $3000 if the repeater in Concord can be modified and $11,000 if it cannot and must be replaced. He advised that this was not in last week's budget. There's also a problem where the $1950 cost for narrow banding for the SO was not placed in the correct line items. This needs to be corrected as well. It would take three months to complete the last of the required narrow banding.
Motion to amend the agenda to include this for discussion. Approved 5-0. Motion to authorize $3000 or up $11,000 from contingency to pay for the last of the required narrow banding out of this year's budget. Approved 5-0. Motion to pay the $1950 out of contingency from this year's budget. Approved 5-0.
Discussion about the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Meansville. Payment was supposed to have been made by January 2012 that it has been researched and the payment was not made. Last year it was taken contingency. Past CM Bill Sawyer sent a text to Fire Chief Mike Grant and said to make sure that Meansville gets paid. In the copy of the signed agreement related ISO, the county agreed to a yearly cost of $5000 [with the use of this money specifically for the City of Meansville Fire Department]. Commissioner Powers made a motion to include this on the agenda. Approved 5-0. Motion to take this $5000 a contingency for this year. Approved 5-0.
The commissioners review the entire budget all at once rather than going by line item. And the board of commissioners office, there was a proposal to start out with a part of employee with the possibility of going full time after Martha retires. Ccommissioner Bass made a motion to see if the office can function with Joanne absorbing this responsibility but set aside the salary plus FICA and insurance in contingency in case they cannot. Approved 5-0.
In the Tax Assessor's budget, Christy Cook is working for her Appraiser I certification and will be paid according to the certification. This is not a raise. Motion to pay employee as Appraiser I. Approved 5-0.
Discussion of the fuel consumption in various departments. County Clerk Watson tracked actual fuel consumption for this year to come up with an estimate for next year and increase fuel in each department after comments from last week's budget meeting.
During discussion about the capital outlay lease for Public Works [from the past meeting], Commissioner Jarrett advised that she is comfortable with this after speaking with Public Works Director Goolsby. County Attorney Rob Morton asked that commissioners contact him or Tom Morton as interim county manager so they can contact the department for discussion like this so there is no appearance of interference in a department. He said this is what Commissioner Jarrett did and it worked nicely.
During discussion about the sheriff's office budget, commissioners were advised that a significant effort has been made to show insurance under each department instead of under the commissioner's office budget. Commissioner Bass asked how many vehicles there are in this department. County Attorney Morton said that he was advised that this information was given to the previous county manager but he has not been able to locate it. He said he will follow up on it. Commissioner Bass said that she is worried that there may not be enough in the budget for gas.
During discussion of the County Extension Office, the commissioners considered adding a part time secretary that the state would pay 50% of the salary and there would be no benefits. Motion to add $5250 to this budget for our portion of the secretary position. Approved 5-0.
Gas and diesel will be revisited for all departments to ensure that we have enough budgeted for next year.
Discussion of the fire department bought a motion by Commissioner Powers to put the $5000 budgeted for the city of Meansville fire department each year under Pike County Emergency Services so it can be tracked accordingly. [Note from the Editor: Commissioner Powers advised after the meeting that his intent is for the fire department to get $305,000 instead of $300,000 in their operating budget. This way PCES will not be penalized for the $5000 by subtracting $5000 from the amount that they have to work with in their budget each year.] Approved 5-0.
Discussion of Emergency Management Agency (EMA) budget. EMA receives a $5000 GEMA grant each year. The intent was to use last year's grant of $5361 and this year's grant of the same amount to possibly acquire a mobile command unit. However, this is a matching grant and this amount is not in this year's budget. Recommendation to add this so we can plan for it each year per discussion with the previous county manager. Motion to add $5361 to the EMA budget under Capital Equipment. Approved 5-0.
Commissioners discussed the revenues budget. There was some concern about LOST revenue based on the recent house bill that has gone into affect. Motion to look into the sale of property to be sure that $10,000 in revenue is accurate. Approved 5-0.
Discussion about Shawn Shoats and restitution to the county. He has paid $86.00 this year. County Attorney Morton advised that the county will continue to receive restitution through his probation.
Commissioner Powers asked if all raises have been taken out of the budget. He was advised that all raises have been removed.
Commissioner Bass said that the county has come a long way from the county manager having to ask all department heads if they would rather have 11 furlough days or lose paid holidays to where we are now.
6. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 5:03 p.m.
Click here for more from the 5.9.12 budget meeting.
Agenda subject to revision.