Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
Glynn
County Board of Commissioners
4:00 P.M., Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Third
Floor Conference Room
W.
Harold Pate Courthouse Annex
Brunswick, Georgia
Present:
Committee Members: C. Fendig, D. Hogan, T. Thaw
Staff: S. Kelly, P. McNicoll, G.
Moore, A. Sapp, R. Shell, C. Stewart
Press: M.
Permar, D. Royer
Others: Don Hyers, Cliff, Henry, Uli
Keller, R. Richard, Karl Sanders; Amity House – Charlotte Mullican, Jamie,
Curtis, Debbie Good, Emily Greggs, Angie Heys, Mary Ann Moore; Rape Crisis –
Gail Hutchinson, Susan & Roger Greene, Susan Sloan; Magistrate – Susan
Greene; Safe Harbor – Karen Bugler, Vivian Amason, Bruce Dixon, Jeff Jones,
Gail Kellis, Patti Moxley; District Attorney – Stephen Kelly, Sherrie Boyd,
Lynn Harrell, Jackie Johnson, Paul Jones, Melissa Muhlerwirth, Cheyenne Teston
1.
Consider approval of the Consent Agenda.
a)
Approve the
November 9, 2004 Finance Committee Minutes.
b)
Deny a request by Ms. Eulalia Driggs that
$759.59 paid in penalties and interest on her 2000 property taxes be refunded.
c)
Deny a request by Ms. Sara McEachern &
Teresa Griffith that $2,364.39 paid in penalties and interest on her 2002
property taxes be refunded.
d)
Approve a request to refund Mr. Karl Sanders
$39,010.00 paid on Parcel #04-05014 for tax years 1997-1999, said property is
owned by Glynn County.
e)
Approve the real property corrections to the
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 Digests as recommended by the Board of
Assessors and/or the Chief Appraiser at their November 3, 2004 meeting.
Items 1(b) and 1(d) were pulled from the
consent agenda for discussion. The
following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan
passed unanimously.
Recommend approval of the
Consent Agenda with the exception of items 1(b) and 1(d). (Vote:
3-0-0)
1(b) Mr. Cliff Henry, attorney
for Ms. Driggs requested that the Committee consider approving Ms. Driggs’
request for a refund. He stated that
she had not received the original bill.
Ms. Arlene Sapp, Tax Commissioner’s Office, stated that they had used
the same address for at least three years.
Chairman Fendig stated that it seemed that quite a few property owners
had not received the original 2000 tax rebill and requested that the Tax
Commissioner present a report at the next Finance Committee meeting of the
number of property owners that were required to pay penalties and interest on
the 2000 bills. The following motion
made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan passed
unanimously.
Defer to the next Finance
Committee meeting the request by Ms. Eulalia Driggs that $759.59 paid in
penalties and interest on her 2000 property taxes be refunded. (Vote 3-0-0)
1(d) Mr. Karl Sanders addressed
the Committee and requested that this item be deferred to the next Finance
Committee meeting. He stated that the
amount was not correct and there was a misunderstanding about whether this
property belonged to Glynn County. The
following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan
passed unanimously.
Defer to the next Finance
Committee meeting the request to refund Mr. Karl Sanders $39,010.00 paid on
Parcel #04-05014 for tax years 1997-1999.
(Vote 3-0-0)
2.
Consider authorizing
distribution of the 5% fine monies collected in various courts to all five
Glynn County approved agencies.
Mr. Stephen Kelly,
District Attorney, discussed his Victim’s program and stated that Glynn County
has the benefit of three employees paid for by the Victims fund. He suggested that the budget process would
be a better way to handle the requests for funding.
Ms. Charlotte Mullican,
Amity House, stated that her organization relies on grants for funding. She stated that they provide three services
to Glynn County – care for the homeless, transportation needs, and subsidized
work program for the unemployed. She
stated that the demand for funds has risen and state revenue has dropped. Ms. Mullican then introduced representatives
from Amity house in the audience.
Ms. Gail Hutchinson, Rape
Crisis, informed the Committee that they had suffered significant reductions in
state funding. She said the 5% fine
money would be used as a grant match.
Commissioner Thaw questioned the amount of United Way funding received
by Rape Crisis and Ms. Hutchinson replied that they received $10.9 thousand in
the prior year and $22 thousand last year.
Ms. Hutchinson then introduced representatives from Amity house in the
audience.
Ms. Susan Greene,
Magistrate Court, stated that the amount requested would provide a salary
increase for herself and would fund an assistant for the Hispanic Community
outreach. Commissioner Hogan questioned
whether any services were received from Gateway and Ms. Greene stated that she
does referrals to Gateway. Ms. Mullican
commented that her agency gives more support to Gateway instead of receiving
support from Gateway.
Ms. Karen Bugler, Safe
Harbor, stated that hers is the only residential agency servicing child abuse
victims south of Savannah. She said
that the 5% funding would be used to supplement fund raising for non-grant
funded children’s expenses. She said it
would go directly to food and clothing.
Safe Harbor does not receive United Way funding. Ms. Bugler then introduced representatives
from Safe Harbor in the audience.
Chairman Fendig discussed
his goal to work on the Social Infrastructure in Glynn County. The Committee agreed that the DA and
agencies need to work together and directed Mr. Kelly to lead a group to
develop a plan to work together.
Chairman Fendig emphasized that Mr. Kelley will take the leadership role
in this program.
Mr. Kelly then introduced
representatives from the District Attorney’s Office. The following
motion made by Commissioner Hogan and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed
unanimously.
Defer this item to the 1st Finance
Committee meeting in January 2005.
(Vote 3-0-0)
3.
Consider awarding a change
order to Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung Inc. in the amount of $8,580.00 to
provide design required to change the 42” storm water detention system to a 15”
system including all effects toward any associated design component.
This item was pulled from the Finance
Committee agenda and will be heard at the next Finance Committee meeting.
4.
Consider issuing a change
order to ISE in the amount of $214,870.00 to provide for all required upgrades
to the existing Water, Sewer, Storm Drains and Paving Systems at East Beach per
ISE Proposal Dated November 9, 2004.
Mr. Ray Shell, Utilities Manager, presented this item and
stated that the change order requested by ISE was for the design and
construction administration fro the new scope of the East Beach project. He stated that the request of $214,870 was
well below industry standard fees for work of that volume. The
following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan
passed unanimously.
Recommend
issuing a change order to ISE in the amount of $214,870.00 to provide for all
required upgrades to the existing Water, Sewer, Storm Drains and Paving Systems
at East Beach per ISE Proposal Dated November 9, 2004, conditioned upon ISE
acknowledging that this change order is in lieu of and in settlement of any and
all claims they have for any additional fees for work done to date on this
system. (Vote: 3-0-0)
5.
Consider exercising the
second year option with Southland Waste Services with a 2% increase in fees to
provide:
|
Service
|
Proposed Fees
|
|
Drop-Off Center Operation
|
$243,454.00
|
|
Pier, Village and Molok Pick-Up
|
$ 43,696.80
|
|
Dumpster Service for County Facilities
|
$ 39,873.76
|
|
Office Paper Recycling
|
$ 1,560.00
|
Ms. Phyllis McNicoll, Finance Director, stated that this
was the annual renewal for services provided by Southland Waste Systems for the
County. Southland’s original bid was
for a 2% per year increase for each service for four extension years. The
following motion made by Commissioner Hogan and seconded by Commissioner Thaw
passed unanimously.
Recommend
exercising the second year option with Southland Waste Services with a 2%
increase in fees to provide:
|
Service
|
Proposed Fees
|
|
Drop-Off Center Operation
|
$243,454.00
|
|
Pier, Village and Molok Pick-Up
|
$ 43,696.80
|
|
Dumpster Service for County
Facilities
|
$ 39,873.76
|
|
Office Paper Recycling
|
$ 1,560.00
|
(Vote:
3-0-0)
6.
Consider awarding a contract
to Collins Construction Services in the amount of $179,900.00 with funding to
be provided by SPLOST IV tier one overall budget of $2,000,000.00.
Mr. Don Hyers, Carter
Goble Lee, presented this item and stated that the contract would be to provide
demolition, removal and disposal of the Gateway/Winchester Building. Mr. Gary Moore, County Attorney, reminded
the Committee that the County has signed an agreement with the City of
Brunswick which states that this is a $2 million City project. He advised the Committee that there should
be an action taken by the City that acknowledges that the County will spend
$500 thousand of the $2 million budget.
The following motion made
by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan passed unanimously.
Recommend awarding a contract to Collins Construction
Services in the amount of $179,900.00 with funding to be provided by SPLOST IV
tier one overall budget of $2,000,000.00, subject to the City’s affirmation
that the funding will be from the $2,000,000 Oglethorpe Convention Center
project. (Vote: 3-0-0)
7.
Consider awarding a contract to Underground
Excavating, Inc. for water & sewer improvements on S.R. 99 for all work
stipulated within IFB #00491 for the lump sum amount of $977,080.50. Funding will initially be in the form of a
GEFA loan which will ultimately be repaid from developers and SPLOST IV, tier
2.
Mr. Don Hyers, Carter Goble Lee, stated that an
invitation for bid had been issued by the County and three responsive bids were
received. He said that the County’s
engineer, Utilities Management staff, and he had checked references for the
lowest bidder and were satisfied that they were qualified to do the job. The
following motion made by Commissioner Hogan and seconded by Commissioner Thaw
passed unanimously.
Recommend awarding a contract to Underground
Excavating, Inc., Blackshear, GA, for water & sewer improvements on S.R. 99
for all work stipulated within IFB #00491 for the lump sum amount of
$977,080.50. Funding will initially be
in the form of a GEFA loan which will ultimately be repaid from developers and
SPLOST IV, tier 2. (Vote: 3-0-0)
8. Consider purchasing a side-arm mower with
funds to be provided by the General Fund, fund balance at a cost not to exceed
$33,000.
Mr. Joe Pereles, Public Works Director, requested funding
for the side-arm mower from the fund balance since it was not budgeted in the
current year budget. After discussion, the following motion made by Commissioner
Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Hogan passed unanimously.
Recommend purchasing a side-arm mower with funds to
be provided by the General Fund, fund balance at a cost not to exceed
$33,000. (Vote: 3-0-0)
9. Receive a report on the pre-proposal Water
and Sewer Maintenance and Operations RFP meeting.
Mr.
Charles Stewart, County Administrator, informed the Committee that staff had
held a pre-proposal conference for the Water & Sewer O&M RFP. He stated that there were concerns about the
bid opening date, the requirement that the contractor provide vehicles, the level
of the payment bond required, and the requirement that the Contractor pay for
all purchases under $30,000. Mr.
Stewart recommended that the following:
·
Bid opening date be changed to January 18,
2005,
·
Provide an alternative for Glynn County to
furnish light vehicles,
·
Reduce the amount of the payment bond to
$250,000, and
·
Establish a rebatable repair account for
maintenance of infrastructure, equipment, buildings and grounds.
The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by
Commissioner Hogan passed unanimously.
Recommend the Water and Sewer
Maintenance & Operations RFP be amended as follows:
·
Bid opening date will be January 18, 2005,
·
An alternative will be provided for Glynn County to furnish light
vehicles,
·
Amount of the payment bond will be reduced to $250,000, and
·
A rebatable repair account for maintenance of infrastructure,
equipment, building and grounds will replace the $30 thousand threshold for
County funding.
(Vote 3-0-0)
10. Request that Chairman Fendig identify the
Finance Committee items which should be included as consent items in the
Commission’s Meeting Agenda.
Commissioner
Fendig identified items 1(c), 1(e), 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 as consent items. Item 9 will go to full Board. Items 1(b), 1(d), 2, and 3 are deferred to
later Finance Committee meetings.