Finance Committee Meeting Minutes

Glynn County Board of Commissioners

4:00 P.M., Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Third Floor Conference Room

W. Harold Pate Courthouse Annex

Brunswick, Georgia

 

Present:

                        Committee Members:   C. Johnson, U., Keller, T. Thaw

Other Commissioners:  D. Hogan

Staff:  P. Christian, F. Dees, M. Doering, P. McNicoll, D. Newbern, B. Rowell, A. Sapp, C. Stewart, S. Trautz, W. Worley

Press:   T. Dickson, L. Nobles, M. Permar

Others:  Tom  Metz, George O’Brien

 

 

 

1.      Recommend approving the August 1, 2006 Finance Committee Minutes.

 

The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Keller passed unanimously. 

                                                         

Recommend approving the August 1, 2006 Finance Committee Minutes.  (Vote:  3-0-0)

 

2.      Consider approving a $49,600 federal grant contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of purchasing a Police patrol boat and other equipment. The Chairman is authorized to execute grant contract documents. 

 

Police Chief Matt Doering discussed the grant which has been awarded by the Department of Homeland Security and must now be accepted by the Board of Commissioners.  He stated that the 19 ft boat will replace a 25 ft. cabin boat which is not usable and is not adequate for the needs of the Police Department.  He stated that the SCBA equipment will be used by the Special Operations Teams to accompany EMA or Fire as needed.  The digital radios that have been approved will be an upgrade to the current radios.  He stated that this is a 100% grant and no local cash match is required.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously. 

                                                         

Recommend approving a $49,600 federal grant contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of purchasing a Police patrol boat and other equipment. The Chairman is authorized to execute grant contract documents.  (Vote:  3-0-0)

 

3.      Consider authorizing staff to hold a public hearing September 7, 2006 and adopting a new Environmental Health fee schedule by resolution. 

 

Mr. George O’Brien, Environmental Health Manager, presented this item and stated that this would be the first fee adjustment in ten years.  He stated that the current fees do not reflect actual costs of performing the work.  Commissioner Keller questioned how many employees the agency had and Mr. O’Brien stated that they have 2.5 employees in the field and they have job openings for three additional employees.  Commissioner Johnson requested a report of annual revenues with a detail of the number of permits, reviews, investigations, etc. that were performed.  He also requested a comparison of the fees to other counties of similar size.  Commissioner Thaw also requested that the number of past due accounts also be included in the report.  The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Keller passed unanimously. 

                                                         

Defer the fee increase request from the Environmental Health Agency to the September 5, 2006 Finance Committee meeting.  (Vote:  3-0-0)

 

4.      Consider establishing the solid waste collection fee for CY 07 at $125.

 

Ms. Becky Rowell, Assistant County Administrator, presented this item and stated that the solid waste collection fee needs to be set by September 1, 2006 in order for the Tax Commissioner to mail tax bills on September 15, 2006.  She stated that the calendar year (CY) 2006 rate is $107 and would increase to $116.58 if Southland had not cancelled the contract.  This increase includes the normal 2% annual increase plus $0.62 per customer per month for fuel increases.  Since a RFP has been issued  the actual fees will not be known until the RFP process is completed.  Based on anticipated additional increased fuel costs and the possibility of a new vendor, staff recommended that the fee for CY 07 be set at $125.  Mr. Charles Stewart, County Administrator, informed the Committee that the current charges for the City and Jekyll amount to approximately $180 and $160, respectively.

 

The following motion made by Commissioner Thaw and seconded by Commissioner Keller passed with Commissioner Johnson voting against the motion. 

                                                         

Recommend holding a public hearing to establish the solid waste collection fee for CY 07 at $125 and send this item to the August 17 Board of Commission meeting.  (Vote: 2-1-0)

 

5.      Receive a report on the Altamaha Training Wall Project.

 

Mr. Charles Stewart presented this item and stated that has attempted to locate a vendor that would be suitable for the project and that Georgia Tech has expressed an interest.  The County has $40,000 budgeted but it is anticipated that the cost of the study will exceed that amount.  He stated that the construction is funded in Splost 5 but the study will be required before the work is contracted for.  The County has received the necessary concurrence from the US Corps of Engineers and the DNR.  The following motion made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously. 

                                                         

Recommend authorizing staff to issue a Request for Proposals for the Altamaha River Hydrology Study and send this item to the August 17 Board of Commission meeting.  (Vote:  3-0-0)

 

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

 

Commissioner Johnson identified item 2 as a Consent Agenda item.   Items 4 and 5 will be placed on the August 17, 2006 agenda as General Business.  Item 3 is deferred to the September 5 Finance Committee meeting.