Finance Committee Meeting Minutes

Glynn County Board of Commissioners

4:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Third Floor Conference Room

W. Harold Pate Courthouse Annex

Brunswick, Georgia

 

Present:

                        Committee Members:  H. Lynn, U. Keller, and T. Thaw

Other Commissioners:  C. Johnson, D. Hogan

Staff:  J. Bruner, D. Chunn, M. Doering, P. McNicoll, C. Overstreet,  Y. Phillips, B. Rowell, A. Sapp, R. Shell, C. Stewart, S. Trautz, W. Worley

Press:   M. Permar

Others:   Eric Brown, Andy Burnham, Mike Burton, M. Davis, D. Hyers

 

1.      Consider approval of the Consent Agenda.

 

a)      Approve the April 12, 2005 Finance Committee Minutes.  (P. McNicoll) pages 3-5

 

b)      Deny a request from Mr. Jerry House that $248.74 paid in penalties and interest on his 2004 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 6-12            

 

c)      Deny a request from Mr. A. J. Sampson that $159.19 paid in penalties and interest on his 2004 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 13-21          

 

d)      Deny a request from Mr. Ronald & Ms. Terrie Altman that $1,019.82 paid in penalties and interest on their 2004 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 22-27    

 

e)      Deny a request from Mr. Julio Rivadeneira that $573.36 paid in penalties and interest on his 2002 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 28-31     

 

f)        Approve a request from Mr. John Goff that $83.53 paid in penalties and interest on his 2000 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 32-41    

 

g)      Approve a request from Mr. Frederick Munn that $72.70 paid in penalties and interest on his 2000 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 42-53     

 

h)      Approve a request from Mr. & Mrs. De Heinrich that $815.15 paid in penalties and interest on their 2003 & 2004 property taxes be refunded.  (F. Dees) pages 54-63     

 

i)        Approve the real property correction to the 2003 and 2004 Digest as recommended by the Board of Assessors and/or the Chief Appraiser at their April 20, 2005 meeting.  (S. Shaeffner) pages 64-69     

 

j)        Approve the Resolution to amend the FY 04/05 Budget.  (D. Chunn) pages 70-83         

 

k)      Increase the FY 04/05 budget for the County Commission Office by $7,630.00 with funding to be provided by the General Fund fund balance.  (C. Overstreet) page 84

 

l)        Authorize the Community Development Director to submit, pending review by the Office of County Attorney, the 5303 Funds grant application with Georgia’s DOT to secure transit planning funds to support the BATS Unified Planning Work Program.  (J. Peterson) pages 85-87

 

m)   Award the bid for FY05 Audit Services to Karp, Ronning & Tindol, CPAs, Savannah, Georgia, at a cost of $59,900 with funding to be provided in the FY 05-06 budgets of funds receiving audit services and authorize the Chairman to sign the audit engagement letter.  (P. McNicoll) pages 88-89

 

n)      Approve an agreement with the United States Justice Department to continue participation in the Federal Equitable Sharing Program and authorize the Chairman and the Police Chief to sign the new agreement which will be valid through September 30, 2008.  (M. Doering) pages 90-93   

 

o)      Approve the Operating Costs Service Agreement with the Administrative Office of the Courts and authorize the Chairman to sign it.  (G. Moore) pages 94-102

 

Commissioner Keller requested that item (n) be pulled from the Consent Agenda for discussion.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.

 

Recommend approval of the Consent Agenda with the exception of item 1(n).  (Vote: 3-0-0)

 

1(n)   Commissioner Keller questioned the amount of money received from the Justice Department on an annual basis.  Chief Matt Doering stated that this was money shared with the federal government and it varied each year.  He stated that the funds are placed in the Police Seizure fund and used to purchase equipment and fund the local match for several law enforcement grants.  The following motion was then made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw and passed unanimously.

 

Recommend approval of an agreement with the United States Justice Department to continue participation in the Federal Equitable Sharing Program and authorize the Chairman and the Police Chief to sign the new agreement which will be valid through September 30, 2008.  (Vote 3-0-0)

 

2.      Consider authorizing staff to advertise a public hearing for water & sewer rates increases based on Burton & Associates’ Scenario A which would result in a 6.25 percent increase for FY 06.  (B. Rowell and P. McNicoll) pages 103-109

 

Ms. Phyllis McNicoll, Finance Director, introduced Mr. Mike Burton, Burton & Associates, who had been contracted with to perform a rate study for the Water & Sewer Fund.  Mr. Burton turned the presentation over to Mr. Andy Burnham who presented the results of Phase I of the rate study and discussed three scenarios for increasing the water & sewer rates.  After the presentation Commissioner Thaw discussed the ongoing discussions with the City of Brunswick regarding the creation of a Water & Sewer Commission and stated that he would rather wait for sixty days until the Commission is formed before making a decision on raising the rates.  Mr. Burton recommended that the County implement the level plan which would result in a 6.25% increase to County customers even though a Commission is in  the process of being formed.  He stated that this increase would handle the County’s needs until the merger of services takes place in July, 2006.  Commissioner Keller made a motion to accept the option one increase of 6.25%.  The motion failed for lack of a second.  Chairman Lynn made the decision to refer this item to the full Board with no recommendation from the Finance Committee.

 

3.      Consider awarding a contract to Underground Excavating, Inc. to perform sewer rehab & replacement work in the Five Neighborhoods per IFB #00509 for the lump sum amount of $3,270,275.10, contingent upon funding approval by the Glynn County Finance Department.  (D. Hyers) pages 110-117

 

Mr. Don Hyers, Carter Goble Lee, presented this item and Commissioner Thaw questioned where the funding would come from.  Mr. Hyers stated that partial funding was in the Revenue Bond.  Mr. Marshall Davis, Carter Goble Lee, stated that there had been a question of how many manholes would need to be rehabilitated and how many replaced.  Chairman Lynn emphasized that there would be no change orders.  Commissioner Thaw made the point that Carter Goble Lee was not charging a fee for this project and thanked them for their dedication.  Mr. Ray Shell, Utilities Manager, recommended that the County spend money for a long term fix and accomplish less rehabilitation rather than complete the project but do a less than acceptable job.   The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Keller passed unanimously.

 

Recommend awarding a contract to Underground Excavating, Inc. to perform sewer rehab & replacement work in the Five Neighborhoods per IFB #00509 for the lump sum amount of $3,270,275.10, contingent upon funding approval by the Glynn County Finance Department.  (Vote: 3-0-0)

 

4.      Consider awarding a contract to Metal Craft, Inc. in the not to exceed amount of $116,249.00 to perform all work associated with re-roofing the existing Harold Pate Building per Invitation to Bid #00510 with funding to be provided from Facilities Maintenance Capital program and General Fund fund balance.  (D. Hyers) pages 118-140

 

Mr. Marshall Davis presented this item and recommended awarding the contract to Metal Craft.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.

 

Recommend awarding a contract to Metal Craft, Inc., in the not to exceed amount of $116,249.00 to perform all work associated with re-roofing the existing Harold Pate Building per Invitation to bid #00510 with funding to be provided from Facilities Maintenance Capital program and General Fund fund balance.  (Vote 3-0-0)

 

5.      Consider that the development of the SSI Village master plan be exempted from competitive bidding and be awarded to PBS&J pending approved funding.  (U. Keller) pages 141-142

 

Commissioner Keller presented this item and Commissioner Thaw stated that there is funding from other sources of $75,000 but questioned what would happen if there is an overrun in the project.  Commissioner Keller stated that the project would be limited to $125,000 or the amount available and that the County’s portion will be no more than $50, 000 if budgeted.  Mr. Charles Stewart, County Administrator, suggested that there should be a memorandum of understanding between all parties.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.

 

Recommend exempting the development of the SSI Village Master Plan from competitive bidding and award the contract to PBS&J with County funding to be limited to $50 thousand, pending approved funding in the FY 06 budget.  (Vote 3-0-0)

 

 

6.      Consider awarding the bid for the Engineering Services for Saint Simons Island Water & Sewer Master Plan to Applied Technology and Management, Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida in the amount of $237,790 with funding for the project from the Saint Simons Island Capital Construction Fund Balance.  (J. Bruner) pages 143-145

 

Mr. Jim Bruner, County Engineer, presented this item and stated that this project is a part of the new EPD Consent Order.  Mr. Ray Shell stated that the EPD deadline is May, 2006.  The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Lynn passed unanimously.

 

Recommend awarding the bid for the Engineering Services for Saint Simons Island Water & Sewer Master Plan to Applied Technology and Management, Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida in the amount of $237,790 with funding for the project from the Saint Simons Island Capital Construction Fund Balance.  (Vote: 3-0-0)

 

7.      Consider adopting the proposed FY 05-06 addendum to the contract between the County and the Golden Isles Visitors Bureau as presented by staff and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement.  (P. McNicoll) pages 146-150

 

Ms. Phyllis McNicoll presented this item and stated that the addendum presented to them is the same as the current year’s addendum.  Chairman Lynn stated that he would like the change the Fireworks amount from $10 thousand to $15 thousand.  Commissioner Thaw made a motion to direct staff to negotiate the split between the County and Visitors Bureau to 50/50 and to increase the firewords amount.  He then rescinded his motion.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.

 

Motion to defer this item to the next meeting pending negotiations by the County Administrator.  (Vote: 3-0-0)

 

8.      Consider approval of the FY 2005-06 contract for D. Ray James Prison Inmate Work Detail with Cornell Corrections in the amount of $35,700 and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement, subject to the County Attorney’s approval. (C. Stewart) pages 151-158

 

Mr. Will Worley, Assistant County Attorney,  stated that he had reviewed the contract and there were several changed that needed to be made.  Commissioner Keller questioned whether it would be possible to expand the contract to include Beach clean-up.  Commissioners Thaw and Lynn were not in favor of that change.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.

 

Recommend approval of the FY 2005-06 contract for D. Ray James Prison Inmate Work Detail with Cornell Corrections in the amount of $35,700 and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement, subject to the County Attorney’s approval.  (Vote: 3-0-0)

 

9.      Request that Chairman Lynn identify the Finance Committee items which should be included as consent items in the Commission’s Meeting Agenda.

 

Chairman Lynn identified all items except #2 as consent items.  Item #7 was deferred to a later Finance Committee Meeting.