TIME AND PLACE OF THE MEETING

The regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners was held Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. in the Catoosa County Administrative Building, 800 LaFayette Street, Ringgold, Georgia.

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Commissioner Dewayne Hill gave the invocation, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Clark called the meeting to order. The following commissioners were present: William H. H. Clark, Chairman; Ken Marks, Commissioner District One; Robert Winters, Commissioner, District Two;

and Dewayne Hill, Commissioner, District Four. The following commissioners were absent: James F. Emberson, Commissioner, District Three

SET AGENDA

Additions: West Chickamauga Basin Sewer Project Change Order – Arcadis; Recommendation to Approve Joining the Chamber of Commerce; and Resolution for Appointment of Department Heads Remove: None. By unanimous consent the agenda was approved as amended.

MINUTES

Chairman Clark called for approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 6, 2007. There were no corrections and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented.

ADMINISTRATIVE-FISCAL MATTERS

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH CITY OF RINGGOLD – RAIL VIEWING PLATFORM County Attorney Chad Young presented the Board with the proposed intergovernmental with the City of Ringgold for a rail-viewing platform. The City of Ringgold is requesting that the County enter the agreement by which the County will donate the land for the rail-viewing platform and the City will construct the platform at their expense. Mr. Young stated the agreement does also contain a termination clause which in the case of the County deciding the property is needed the County may terminate the agreement and would be required to reimburse the City of Ringgold for the money spent to construct the platform. Mr. Young stated the agreement is for 50years. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Intergovernmental agreement do so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the agreement was approved by unanimous consent. [Agreement on File in Commissioner Office]

QPUBLIC CONTRACT FOR HOSTING GIS DATA County Attorney Chad Young presented the contract between the County and Qpublic for the purpose of hosting GIS data on the web. Attorney Young stated the additional cost for hosting the GIS data on the site would be $3000 annually. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Contract do so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the contract was approved by unanimous consent. [Contract on File in Commissioner Office]

RINDT-MCDUFF CONTRACT FOR GROVES/TOWNSEND ESTATES SEWER PROJECT County Attorney Chad Young stated the Board of Commissioners previously approved the proposal from Rindt-McDuff Associates for the engineering for the Groves/Townsend Estates sewer project. Attorney Young stated the form contract submitted by Rindt-McDuff had a few provisions he requested they change, which has now been completed and he is recommending the Board of Commissioners approve the contract. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the contract do so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the contract was approved by unanimous consent. [Contract on File in Commissioner Office]

WEST CHICKAMAUGA BASIN SEWER PROJECT CHANGE ORDER - ARCADIS County Attorney Chad Young presented the change order request from Arcadis for the West Chickamauga Basin Sewer Project. Mr. Young stated the change order is for the pump station portion of the project and is due to a stretch of 100ft. that must be underground for power to get to the pump station. Mr. Young stated the Public Works Authority approved the change order not to exceed $9000 and recommends approval by the Board of Commissioners. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the change order not to exceed $9000 do so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the change order was approved by unanimous consent.

REPORTS

COUNTY MANAGER REPORT Mike Helton, County Manager, reported on the following:

· Staff completed and submitted a solid waste management full cost report as required by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

· November 13, County Manager met with Bob Peck, Economic Development Authority Chairman, to discuss history related to the Board and present and future issues regarding Economic Development

· November 8, County Manager met with Denia Reese, School Superintendent, discussed the sharing of information for current and future projects in hopes to enhance communication efforts in the future, and will continue to meet quarterly.

· Submission has been made to ACCG for the Georgia Excellence Award.

· November 14, County Manager met with 2 City Managers and Martha Eaker, to discuss the possibility of streamlining various procedures between the entities.

· Crematory at Animal Control almost complete, training for staff will be in December, fee schedule will be submitted soon.

· Added Catoosa Fire and Rescue to monthly Department reports.

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

APPEARANCES

Bobby Riddle, Resident, lives at 394 Elizabeth Street in Catoosa County, said he wants to ask a few questions, approximately a year ago the City of Ft. Oglethorpe annexing property off of Mac Smith Road at that time the County did not agree that it was legal for the City to do and the Commission voted unanimously to file a lawsuit. Since that time Mr. Ridley stated he has gone up against the City several times regarding annexations of other properties and right now they are trying to annex about 20 acres of property right next to him. Mr. Riddle stated he has testified before the City’s Council that a lawsuit was going to be filed and now his credibility is being questioned because it has never happened. Mr. Riddle said his question is where is the lawsuit, and what is the County going to do with it. County Attorney Chad Young stated the authorization given to his office to file a lawsuit was given at the last meeting, before that there was some negotiations about a 3^rd party neutral giving an opinion and those did not work out. Attorney Young stated there were issues about annexation going back almost a year ago regarding the Patel property and at one point the property was not annexed by the City, it was voted down. Attorney Young stated Attorney Skipp Patty is handling the lawsuit and has written a demand letter on November 6, to the City Attorney/City Manager Ron Goulart that the property be deannexed. To his knowledge no action has been taken, so Mr. Patty is moving forward with the lawsuit and is in the process of preparing the documents to be filed.

COMMISSION COMMENTS

Commissioner Ken Marks said he would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday, and it is great to see the young adults from Lakeview’s Civic Class at the meeting. Mr. Marks said it is nice to see young people take an interest in their Government.

EXECUTIVE SESSION Chairman Clark said the Board would go into executive session for the purpose of legal advice and personnel. The vote was taken by roll call and the Board unanimously voted to go into executive session for legal advice and personnel matters at 6:20 p.m. The Board voted unanimously to come out of executive session at 7:18 p.m.

ADMINISTRATION MATTERS

Chairman Clark stated the item regarding the Chamber of Commerce has been dropped from the agenda.

RESOLUTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF DEPARTMENT HEADS County Attorney Chad Young stated the current status of the County’s Ordinances require that the County Manager get the approval to hire Department Heads with his recommendation pursuant to the Board’s instruction he will be preparing an amendment pertaining to that for the Board to consider later. Mr. Young stated the Board of Commissioners need to consider ratifying the County Managers hiring of Ann Cain as Department Head of Human Resources, and the promotion of Donald Brown to the position of Department Head of Zoning/Stormwater/Building Inspection/Codes Enforcement. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of ratifying the County Manager’s hiring of Ann Cain and promotion of Donald Brown do so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the actions were approved by unanimous consent.

ADJOURNMENT There was no further business, and the Board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 p.m.