PUBLIC HEARING AND
REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
CATOOSA COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING
Chairman Clark called the public hearing to order and asked Economic Development Director Olney Meadows to present the matter. Mr. Meadows said the Georgia Planning Act of 1989 required all cities and counties to have a Comprehensive Plan, which must be updated periodically. He said the Catoosa County Plan must be completed and adopted by the end of February 2008. Mr. Meadows turned the podium over to David Howerin from Coosa Valley Regional Development Center, who coordinates the joint Catoosa County and cities of Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold Plan. Mr. Howerin said the Comprehensive Plan covered a number of topics such as population, economic development, housing, natural and cultural resources, community facilities and services, intergovernmental coordination, transportation and land use. Mr. Howerin said the February 2008 update would be a partial update and some of the things that would be covered would be a quality community objective analysis of the cities and county by identifying issues and opportunities across those major areas he had outlined. Mr. Howerin said they would also do a future development map.
There were no citizen comments and Chairman Clark closed the public hearing at 9:10 a.m.
The regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners was held at on Thursday, January 4, 2007 following the public hearing in the Catoosa County Administrative Building, Ringgold, Georgia.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG AND INVOCATION
Commissioner Marks gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Clark called the meeting to order, and the following Commissioners were present: William H. H. Clark, Chairman; Ken Marks, Commissioner, District One; Robert Winters, Commissioner, District Two; James F. Emberson, Commissioner, District Three; and Dewayne Hill, Commissioner, District Four.
SET THE AGENDA
Chairman Clark called for changes to the agenda and the agenda was amended as follows: Additions: Renewal of Lease with North Georgia Community Action for Boynton Precinct; Staff Trip to Baltimore; Ratify Appointment of Phil Ledbetter to Replace Jane Everett on Family Collaborative; Annual Support Agreement and License Agreement for Munis® Software; Maintenance Agreement with Duplicator Supply for Copier in Tax Commissioner’s Office; Renewal of Line of Credit for SPLOST Projects and Authorization to Draw on the Line of Credit; and Legal Advice for Executive Session.
Remove: Financial Report
The Board unanimously approved the amended agenda.
MINUTES
Chairman Clark called for corrections or approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of December 19, 2006 and the joint called meeting of December 21, 2006. There were no corrections and the minutes were approved as presented by unanimous consent.
AMINISTRATIVE-FISCAL MATTERS
APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR FOR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS County Attorney Patty said the Board had traditionally followed a rotation process in election of the Vice-Chair and if the Board continued that tradition, it would time for Commissioner Marks to be the vice‑chair. Chairman Clark made the motion that Commissioner Marks be the Vice-Chair; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Winters, and the Board unanimous elected Commissioner Ken Marks as Vice-Chair for the Board of Commissioners for 2007.
COUNTY MANAGER REPORT County Manager Brown said due to the holidays he had very little to report:
o Engineering for the sewer in Meadow Green subdivision was ongoing;
o Blevins Acres engineering should be finished within the next two weeks and would then go out for bid; and
o Contracts were being drawn up on West Chickamauga Basin pump station
There was no old business.
UPDATE ON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Mr. Meadows recommended everyone read the Comprehensive Plan and as many as people as possible participate in the updating of this document. He said he would like to think in years to come this would be the document that would be used, rather than placed on an obscure shelf. He said there would be future public hearings relating to this plan update.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONER REPRESENTATION ON BOARDS County Attorney Patty said the Board needed to make appointments to the North Georgia Community Action Board, the E-911 Board, and the Board of Health, replacing former Commissioner Gracy. Chairman Clark said the commissioners had talked among themselves, and he made the motion that Commissioner Winters be appointed to the North Georgia Community Action Board; Commissioner Emberson to the Catoosa County Health Board; and he (Chairman Clark) be appointed to the E-911 Advisory Board. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Winters, and the motion carried unanimously.
NOMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVE TO THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES REGIONAL BOARD Mr. Patty said this term was for two years and there were two applicants: Lana Duff, the incumbent, and James Drinnon. Motion by Commissioner Marks and seconded by Commissioners Winters to recommend Lana Duff to the EMS Regional Board. The motion carried unanimously.
RENEWAL OF NORTH GEORGIA COMMUNITY ACTION LEASE AT BOYNTON PRECINCT County Manager Brown recommended renewal of the lease, stating it was an in‑kind contribution to North Georgia Community Action by providing office space, heating, air and telephone for $4,200 per year. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of renewing the lease to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was unanimously approved. [Copy of Lease on File in County Commission Office]
STAFF TRIP TO BALTIMORE County Manager Brown said EPA was holding a meeting in Baltimore pertaining to landfill use and methane gas. He said the subject matter was about how to use a landfill and turn it into a profit maker once it was closed and how to use methane gas. Mr. Brown said the cost would be under $2,000 and he recommend the approve the trip for Mr. Meadows and Commissioner Winters. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of approving the staff trip to Baltimore to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was unanimously approved.
RATIFY APPOINTMENT OF PHIL LEDBETTER TO REPLACE JANE EVERETT ON FAMILY COLLABORATIVE County Attorney Patty said effective December 31, 2006 Mrs. Everett resigned and the Family Collaborative Committee appointed Phil Ledbetter to replace Mrs. Everett, effective January 1, 2007. Mr. Patty said because the County acted as fiscal agent for that organization, there needed to be a resolution from the Board ratifying Phil Ledbetter, which would authorize the Finance Officer to make the payment related to this position. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of ratifying the appointment of Phil Ledbetter as the Director of the Family Collaborative to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition and the appointment was ratified.
ANNUAL SUPPORT AGREEMENT AND LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR MUNIS® SOFTWARE Chief Finance Officer Henson said Tyler Technologies, Inc. provided the general government software and asked the Board to approve the agreement in the amount of $11,198.25. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of approving the agreement to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition, and the agreement was unanimously approved. [Copy of Agreement on File in County Commission Office]
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH DUPLICATOR SUPPLY FOR COPIER IN TAX COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE Chief Finance Officer Henson presented a maintenance agreement for the office of the Tax Commissioner in the amount of $300.00. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of approving the agreement to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition, and the agreement was unanimously approved. [Copy of Agreement on File in County Commission Office]
RENEWAL OF LINE OF CREDIT AND AUTHORIZATION TO DRAW ON THE LINE OF CREDIT Chief Finance Officer said in 2006 the Board had opened a line of credit with Northwest Georgia Bank in the amount of $2.5 million in the form of draw notes that were due December 30, 2006 to cover forward financing of select 2004 SPLOST projects. Mr. Henson said the notes were paid off out of the SPLOST Fund on December 30, 2006 and during the period, the County had drawn down $1,250,000 on those projects. Mr. Henson said the line of credit needed to be renewed for the calendar year 2007, and he also needed authorization to draw against that line of credit to repay the County SPLOST Fund. Mr. Henson listed the projects that were authorized:
1. Stormwater. Original amount was $2 million. Requested a line of credit of $1 million to cover the Colbert Hollow Bridge Project and the GIS. There have not been any draws against that project.
2. Recreation.
Ringgold Recreation Project - original amount was $500,000. Requested a line of credit of $200,000 and needed to draw $200,000 to pay for the improvements.
Jack Mattox – original amount was $500,000 and requested line of credit for $150,000; needed to draw $100,000 for paving of parking lot and walking trail.
3. Public Buildings – original amount was $550,000 for courthouse renovation. Requested
Line of credit of $250,000 and needed to draw $200,000.
4. Roads and Bridges – original amount of $2 million to cover excess above LARP. Requested a line of credit of $400,000 and requested a draw of $250,000. This was where it was decided last year to go ahead and complete the paving on all of the 2006 SPLOST projects, because of increases in costs.
5. Retirement of Indebtedness – original amount $1,677,000 for landfill portion of the 2001 bond. Requested a line of credit of $500,000 and needed to draw the $500,000 at this point.
Mr. Henson said the total requested line of credit was $2.5 million and the requested draw was $1,250,000. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of approving the line of credit for 2007 to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition, and the line of credit was approved unanimously. Chairman Clark moved the Board approve the draws as outlined by Mr. Henson and Commissioner Winters seconded the motion. Chairman Clark called for all in favor to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition, and the draws were unanimously approved.
There were no public appearances.
Chairman Clark – Welcomed Commissioner Hill to the Board.
Commissioner Emberson – Also welcomed Mr. Hill and said he looked forward to working with him.
EXECUTIVE SESSION Chairman Clark said the Board would enter into executive session for legal advice. By way of roll call, the Board unanimously voted to enter into executive session at 9:30 a.m. Chairman Clark said there had been no action taken in executive session and called for all in favor of coming out of executive session to indicate by saying aye. The Board unanimously agreed to come out of executive session at 10:05 a.m.
OPEN SESSION
County Attorney Patty said the County had received a recommendation from the Development Authority that a property tax incentive covering eight years be offered for project MSR. He said the tax incentive would not cost the County, but rather delayed the implementation of taxes on improvements constructed on the property. He said the property in question consisted of approximately 20 acres of vacant land and the incentive would be that in the first year after the completion of the construction of the improvements on the property the tax abatement would be 100%; the second year the abatement would be 66%; the third year 66%; the fourth year 33%; the fifth year 33%; the sixth year 33%; the seventh year 33% and the eighth year the full amount of the ad valorem tax would be assessed on the property, based on the improvements constructed on the property. Chairman Clark asked Mr. Patty if he recommended the Board approve this tax incentive for this particular project and Mr. Patty recommended the tax incentive as he presented it. Chairman Clark called for all in favor of approving the incentive to indicate by saying aye. There was no opposition, and the incentive was approved unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT There was no further business to become before the Board, and Commissioner Emberson moved the meeting adjourn. Commissioner Marks seconded the motion, and the Board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 10:07 a.m.
CATOOSA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
William H. H. Clark, Chairman
Ken Marks, Commissioner, District One
Robert R. Winters, Commissioner, District Two
James F. Emberson, Commissioner, District Three
Dewayne Hill, Commissioner, District Four