Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
Glynn
County Board of Commissioners
4:00 P.M., Tuesday, January 23, 2001
Third
Floor Conference Room
W.
Harold Pate Courthouse Annex Building
Brunswick,
Georgia
Present:
Committee Members: M. Bedner, J. Chapman, and F. Tullos
Commissioners:
Staff: F. Dees, W. Davis, M. Eckert, C. Johnson, R. Guarracino, U. Keller, P.
McNicoll, J. Nazzrie, D. Newbern, J. Pereles, B. Pittman, B. Rogers, R. Rowell,
T. Summerour, and K. Taylor
Press: J.
Others: Marsha Smith
1.
Consider approval of the
Consent Agenda
A)
Approve the December 19,
2000 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes.
B)
Approve a request by Mr.
Thomas E. Mallard that $672.12 be refunded due to his homestead exemption
status being removed from his Property Tax Bill for the last year.
C)
Approve the corrections to
the 1999 and 2000 digests as recommended by the Board of Assessors and/or Chief
Appraiser at their December 20, 2000 and January 3, 2001 meetings.
D)
I move that the Board of
Commissioners declare the attached list of twenty (20) unusable equipment items
surplus and approve disposing of these items at Auction.
Commissioner Tullos pulled item 1(B) from the
consent agenda at the request of Keith Taylor, Assistant County Attorney. The following motion made by Commissioner
Chapman and seconded by Commissioner Tullos passed with a vote of 2-0-0. Commissioner Bedner was not present.
Recommend approval of the Consent Agenda.
Consider approval of item
1(B).
Keith
Taylor, Assistant County Attorney, stated that the amount requested in Ms. Dees
memo to Commissioner Tullos represented ten (10) year’s of homestead exemptions
and that the statute of limitations would allow us to only refund the amount
for three (3) years, which amounted to $388.16. He stated that it would not be legal for the Board of
Commissioners to issue a refund that related to years prior to 1998. Commissioner Tullos requested that the
motion include a request that the County Attorney give the Commissioners a
legal opinion on refunds. After
discussion the following motion made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by
Commissioner Tullos passed with a vote of 2-0-0. Commissioner Bedner was not present.
Recommend approval of
a tax refund of $388.16 for 1998, 1999, and 2000 taxes to Mr. Thomas E.
Mallard.
2.
Consider a request by Ms.
Florence Dees that the County remove the unusable Kardveyer machine at no cost
to the Tax Commissioner’s Office and declare as salvage.
Ms. Dees stated that the machine was no longer
useable and requested that the Public Works Department remove it from her
office at no charge. The following
motion made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by Commissioner Tullos passed
with a vote of 2-0-0. Commissioner
Bedner was not present.
Recommend approval of a request by Ms. Florence
Dees that the County remove the unusable Kardveyer machine at no cost to the
Tax Commissioner’s Office and declare as salvage.
Commissioner
Bedner arrived at this time.
3.
Consider amending the FY01
Budget to provide Superior Court Judge Blenn Taylor, Jr. with 70% of his
current supplement pay after his retirement in December at an annual cost of
$8,400.00.
Commissioner Tullos stated that he had requested
additional background information from the County Attorney’s office and
Commissioner Chapman requested information on the per diem rates that the Judge
would receive from the State for sitting on the bench. Commissioner Chapman was interested in any
amounts the Judge would be receiving in excess of his retirement. The following motion made by Commissioner
Chapman and seconded by Commissioner Bedner passed unanimously.
Defer to the full Board of Commissioners the request to
amend the FY01 Budget to provide Superior Court Judge Blenn Taylor, Jr. with
70% of his current supplement pay after his retirement in December at an annual
cost of $8,400.00.
4.
Consider approving staff to
proceed with Alternative #3 and the development of a representative scientific
sampling solid waste survey of 400 county residences at an approximate cost not
to exceed $8,000.00 and authorizing staff to schedule public hearings, one on
the mainland and one on St. Simons Island to solicit citizen input after the
results of the survey are received.
Ms. Barbara Rogers, Administrative Analyst,
presented the request. She stated that
the Board had indicated at an earlier time that they would like for staff to
solicit public input on solid waste services.
She stated that the staff’s Solid Waste Committee felt that having a
consultant involved in the survey would lend more credibility to it. Commissioner Tullos inquired about the
funding source and Phyllis McNicoll, Finance Director, stated that it would be
paid from the Sanitation Collection Fund.
There is a deficit fund balance in that fund but the Insurance Premium
tax partially funds those operations and that tax revenue was $117 thousand
more than budgeted for this fiscal year.
The overage will be applied to all funds which are supported by the
Insurance Premium Tax and will be brought to the Commissioners in a future
budget amendment. The following motion
made by Commissioner Bedner and seconded by Commissioner Tullos passed with
Commissioner Chapman abstaining.
Recommend approving staff to proceed with
Alternative #3 and the development of a representative scientific sampling
solid waste survey of 400 county residences at an approximate cost not to
exceed $8,000.00 and authorizing staff to schedule public hearings, one on the
mainland and one on St. Simons Island to solicit citizen input after the
results of the survey are received.
5.
Consider authorizing the
Building Maintenance division of Administration receive funding from the
General Fund fund balance in an amount not to exceed $37,000 to cover
unbudgeted or unforeseen repairs and replacements and $13,000 from Building
Maintenance salary savings be used to make repairs and replacements noted in
Item 4.
Mr. Ted Summerour, Maintenance Engineer, requested a
budget adjustment to fund various items which were not included in the original
FY00-01 budget for the Building Maintenance Division. Mr. Mark Eckert, County Administrator, explained each item
requested and recommended the funding of the following:
Issue #1 Newcastle Storage $
9,960
Issue #2 Compactor – Pate Building Share
2,250
Issue #3 Office Park HVAC design – 1st & 2nd
floors 5,000
Office Park
HVAC – Architectural Consultant 4,400
Issue #5 Utilities for Harrington Fish Scaling Dock 240
Issue #6 Georgia State Patrol items 11,192
After discussion, the following motion made by
Commissioner Bedner and seconded by Commissioner Chapman passed unanimously.
Recommend authorizing the Building Maintenance
division of Administration receive funding from the General Fund fund balance
in an amount not to exceed $37,000 to cover unbudgeted or unforeseen repairs
and replacements and $13,000 from Building Maintenance salary savings be used
to make repairs and replacements noted in Item 4. (Vote 3-0-0)
6.
Consider purchasing one (1)
drag tractor for the purpose of ball field clay preparation not to exceed the
amount of $8,220.00 with funding to be provided by the FY 2001 Recreation and
Parks Budget.
Mr. Wesley Davis, Recreation Director, requested
authorization to use funds remaining from various capital items and savings in
personnel costs to purchase the tractor. He stated that he needed the equipment to prepare ball fields for
baseball/softball season. After
discussion the following motion made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by
Commissioner Bedner passed unanimously.
Recommend purchasing one (1) drag tractor for the purpose
of ball field clay preparation not to exceed the amount of $8,220.00 with
funding to be provided by the FY 2001 Recreation and Parks Budget. (Vote 3-0-0)
7.
Consider authorizing staff
to purchase SCI’s Fleet Management System in the amount of $11,000.00 with
funding to be provided by the General Fund fund balance and purchase the SCI
Work Order System in the amount of $18,000.00 with funding to be provided by
the Public Works Budget.
Mr. Joe Pereles, Acting Public Works Director,
stated that the system that the current work order system is inefficient and
the system it resides on is outdated and will soon be placed out of
service. He stated that the SCI system
will tie into the Financial Management System and the purchase of the Work Order
System and Fleet Management System will eliminate dual entry and labor
associated with that. He stated that
the current Fuel Management is comprised of three separate systems, which is
very inefficient. Commissioner Chapman
inquired about other options for fuel management. Mr. Pereles stated that we could not completely do away with fuel
storage at this time. Mr. Pereles
stated that we would be required to do away with the fuel tanks if we privatize
the fuel system and that would be very costly.
After discussion the following motion made by Commissioner Chapman and
seconded by Commissioner Bedner passed unanimously.
Recommend authorizing staff to purchase SCI’s Fleet
Management System in the amount of $11,000.00 with funding to be provided by
the General Fund fund balance and purchase the SCI Work Order System in the
amount of $18,000.00 with funding to be provided by the Public Works
Budget. (Vote 3-0-0)
8.
Consider awarding the bid
for the purchase of a vacuum truck to Adams Equipment Company, Inc., White
Plains, GA, the sole responsive bidder, in the amount of $185,750.00 with
funding to be provided by the Public Works Capital Budget.
Mr. Joe Pereles, Acting Public Works Director,
requested that Public Works be allowed to retain the current vacuum truck as a
supplemental truck in order to make the operation more efficient. The following motion made by Commissioner
Bedner and seconded by Commissioner Chapman passed unanimously.
Recommend awarding the bid for the purchase of a vacuum
truck to Adams Equipment Company, Inc., White Plains, GA, the sole responsive
bidder, in the amount of $185,750.00 with funding to be provided by the Public
Works Capital Budget. (Vote 3-0-0)
9.
Consider adopting the
attached contract language as standard boilerplate.
Mr. Ralph Guarracino, Purchasing Agent, presented
this item and Mr. Keith Taylor voiced his opposition to the standard
boilerplate, stating that it would be too restrictive if the state law
changed. Mr. Mark Eckert, County
Administrator, suggested that the motion be made to not have a standard
contract. After discussion, the
following motion made by Commissioner Bedner and seconded by Commissioner
Chapman passed unanimously.
Defer to the full Board of Commissioners and
direct staff to provide a recommendation concerning the adoption of contract
language as standard boilerplate. (Vote
3-0-0)
10. Consider continuing the cost-per-copy program and exercise the right to
extend the current contract with Ron Herrin Copiers for an additional year at
$0.0171 per copy with funding to be provided by each user’s operating
budget.
Mr. Ralph Guarracino, Purchasing Agent, informed the
Committee that this has been a very successful program with very problems and
with good response from the vendor. The
following motion made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by Commissioner
Bedner passed unanimously.
Recommend continuing the cost-per-copy program
and exercise the right to extend the current contract with Ron Herrin Copiers
for an additional year at $0.0171 per copy with funding to be provided by each
user’s operating budget. (Vote 3-0-0)
11. Consider rejecting all the bids that were received on January 9, 2001
for construction of the Altamaha Park Fishing Pier and that the project be
evaluated to determine cost reductions using the existing pier design.
Mr. Dick Newbern, Grants Administrator, requested
that the staff be allowed to develop updated specifications if the Corps of
Engineers agrees to the process of driving pilings from land instead of a barge
as the current specifications require.
After discussion, the following motion made by Commissioner Bedner and
seconded by Commissioner Chapman passed unanimously.
Recommend rejecting all the bids that were
received on January 9, 2001 for construction of the Altamaha Park Fishing Pier
and that the project be evaluated to determine cost reductions using the
existing pier design and direct staff to develop updated specifications. (Vote 3-0-0)
12. Consider accepting the application for the continuance of the Scrap
Tire/Education Grant and present to the Glynn County Board of Commissioners for
approval under the consent agenda for the next regularly scheduled Board of
Commissioners Meeting on February 1, 2001.
Ms. Brenda Pittman stated that year three of the
grant is for $72,000 with a local match of $18,000, to be paid from the General
Fund. Mr. Mark Eckert, County
Administrator, stated that he supports this grant and has seen good results
from it in the past. After discussion
the following motion made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by Commissioner
Bedner passed unanimously.
Recommend accepting the application for the
continuance of the Scrap Tire/Education Grant in the amount of $72,000 and the
expenditure of $18,000 in matching funds to be paid for out of the General
Fund. (Vote 3-0-0)
13. Consider authorizing the County Administrator to reassign the Public
Works Administrative Analyst to the Utility Management Office without adding an
additional space.
Mr. Uli Keller, Administrative Analyst, stated that
the Public Works Administrative Analyst is responsible for all Solid Waste
Contracts and has oversight over the solid waste services as well as the KBGIB
contract. With the establishment of the
Utility Management office, the responsibility has come under the Utility
Manager. Staff therefore requests the
reassignment of the Administrative Analyst to the Utility Management office
with no increase in staff. After
discussion the following motion made by Commissioner Bedner and seconded by Commissioner
Chapman passed unanimously.
Recommend authorizing the County Administrator
to reassign the Public Works Administrative Analyst to the Utility Management
Office without adding an additional space and to transfer the budget for the
position from Public Works to Utility Management. (Vote 3-0-0)
14. Discuss a called meeting for the purpose of recommending awarding the
bid for the construction of the Public Safety Complex.
Mr. Ralph Guarracino,
Purchasing Agent, stated that the bid opening for the Public Safety Complex
construction has been delayed until January 25, and staff therefore requests a
called meeting in order to stay on schedule with the project. Commissioner Tullos agreed to hold a called
meeting on February 6, 2001, for the purpose of recommending awarding the bid
for the construction of the Public Safety Complex. He stated that it would be a one item meeting.
15. Consider approving the dates and time on which the Finance Committee
will meet in the year 2001.
Commissioner Tullos explained that staff had
requested that the Committee increase the regular meetings to two per month, to
be held on Tuesday in the week prior to each Commission meeting. After discussion the following motion made
by Commissioner Bedner and seconded by Commissioner Chapman passed unanimously.
Approve the dates outlined in Option 1 as
scheduled meetings for the Finance Committee for the year 2001. (Vote 3-0-0)
16. Request that Chairman Tullos identify the Finance Committee items which
should be included as consent items in the Commission’s Meeting Agenda.
Commissioner Tullos identified items
1,2,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13, and 15 as consent items.