TIME AND PLACE OF THE MEETING

The regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners was held Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. in the Catoosa County Administrative Building, 800 LaFayette Street, Ringgold, Georgia.

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Commissioner 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: Proposed Contract with GeoSyntec for the Purpose of Selling Carbon Credits Remove: Hutcheson Medical Center – Bond Refinancing Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the agenda as amended do so by saying aye. By unanimous consent the agenda was approved as amended.

MINUTES

Chairman Clark called for approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of February 21, 2008. There were no corrections and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented.

ADMINISTRATIVE-FISCAL MATTERS

CATOOSA COUNTY RECREATION DEPARTMENT – BID APPROVAL FOR T-SHIRTS Carl Henson, Chief Financial Officer, stated each year the County Recreation Department goes out for proposals for trophies and t-shirts for the season. Mr. Henson said this year the County received 2 proposals from Art Printing Company and HillPro Marketing. Mr. Henson stated Art Printing Company was the low bidder and staff recommends awarding the contract to Art Printing Company. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the contract to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the contract was approved by unanimous consent.

PURCHASE OF BOYNTON RECREATION PROPERTY County Attorney Chad Young stated that the Board previously approved the purchase of the Boynton Recreation Association property for the parking lot, essentially the property was already purchased and the Board would be paying off an owner financed note with it subject to the property appraising for at least the amount of the payoff at $36,000. Attorney Young said the appraisal of the subject property came in at the amount of the purchase price at $36,000. Attorney Young stated the Board would need to make approve the purchase of the property with Boynton Recreation Association’s portion of the SPLOST. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the purchase of the property for $36,000 to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the purchase was approved by unanimous consent.

REPORTS

COUNTY MANAGER REPORT

County Manager Mike Helton reported on the following:

Informed the Board of a meeting today with EPD to discuss the Colbert Hollow Bridge Project.
Informed/updated the Board on the West Chickamauga Basin Sewer Project. Stated staff attended a blast at the site the previous week to witness the processes and effects of the blasting for the project. Stated the citizen complaint regarding the roadways being blocked out of malice was investigated and the company was blocking the road to traffic due to a sizable hole in the pavement. Stated the blast occurred around 11:00 am, the blast did result in a water line break but Catoosa Utility District was on site during the blast and were able to have the water back on by that evening.

NEW BUSINESS

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CATOOSA COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE CONCERNING THE COLLECTION OF FINES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE ORDINANCE County Attorney Chad Young presented the proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance concerning the collection of fines for violations of the Ordinance. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the amendment to the Ordinance to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the amendment was approved by unanimous consent. The Ordinance amendment is as follows:

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CATOOSA COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE; TO PROVIDE FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AMENDMENT; TO REPEAL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES

ORDINANCE # 08-007

The Catoosa County Board of Commissioners (the “Board of Commissioners”) has previously adopted an ordinance known as the Catoosa County Zoning Ordinance (the “Zoning Ordinance”). The Zoning Ordinance contains regulations governing the permitted uses of real property lying within Catoosa County, divides property uses into zoning classifications, provides that certain fees may be charged in connection with the Zoning Ordinance, provides procedures for enforcement and prosecution of violations thereof, and provides for other items.

Section 11.5 of the Zoning Ordinance contains regulations and requirements governing enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance and the prosecution of violations of the Zoning Ordinance. Said regulations include vesting the Zoning Administrator with the authority to collect on-the-spot fines from defendants accused of violating the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance prior to the issuance of a citation for the violation and return of the citation to the appropriate court.

Based upon the recommendations provided by the County Attorney and County Manager, and after receiving public input and comment as required by law, the Board of Commissioners finds that the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance authorizing the collection of on-the-spot fines by the Zoning Administrator is contrary to Georgia Statute, particularly O.C.G.A. §17-4-29, and that it is necessary to amend the existing provisions of the Zoning Ordinance to delete the provisions providing this authority.

The Board of Commissioners desires, by this Ordinance, to amend and revise the regulations of the Zoning Ordinance to carry out the purposes set forth herein and further desires to repeal all other ordinances of Catoosa County which conflict with this Ordinance.

BE IT ORDAINED AND RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Amendment to Section 11.5: The provisions of Section 11.5.2, which authorize the collection of an immediate fine by the Zoning Administrator, are hereby deleted in their entirety and the remaining provisions of Section 11.5 of the Zoning Ordinance shall be re-numbered accordingly.

2. Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances: Except as specifically amended herein, all current provisions of the Zoning Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect. Any and all ordinances which conflict in any way with the provisions of this Amendment are hereby expressly repealed.

3. Effective Date: This Amendment shall be effective from the date of its adoption and

shall remain in full force and effect until such time as it is repealed by the Catoosa

County Board of Commissioners.

BLEVINS ACRES PROJECT, CHANGE ORDER #1 – MAYSE CONSTRUCTION County Attorney Chad Young stated the change order was approved the Public Works/Solid Waste Management Authority. Christal Thomas, Projects Administrator, stated the change order is to move a small portion of the proposed sewer line from the rights of way back into the roadway due to a conflict with the gas line in the rights of way. Ms. Thomas said the cost of the change order is $37,236.95. Commissioner Marks questioned if the County was not aware of the gas lines prior to the design. Ms. Thomas said there was a UPC locate called in by the Engineer for the design phase and it was stated there was no conflict. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the change order indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the change order was approved by unanimous consent.

COLONIAL PIPELINE COMPANY – GIS CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT County Attorney Chad Young said Colonial Pipeline has agreed to provide line work data to the County to be incorporated into the GIS in exchange for copies of the County’s data. The confidentiality agreement is mutual between the parties to protect the data from being resold or distributed without permission to outside sources. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the agreement to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the agreement was approved by unanimous consent.

PROPOSED AUDIT OF WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE – CORPORATE COST SOLUTIONS, INC. Carl Henson, Chief Financial Officer, stated the County has workers compensation insurance through ACCG and each year you give an estimated salary by category and they come up with an estimated premium and at the end of the year you report the actual salary versus the estimated. Mr. Henson said the County has never had an outside agency look at the classification of the different salaries and review the rates by classification. Mr. Henson said the firm Corporate Cost Solutions specializes in auditing workers compensation, and there is an opportunity for the County to save some money by approving to perform the audit. Mr. Henson said he recommends the Board approve the proposed audit of the workers compensation to be performed by Corporate Cost Solutions, Inc. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the contract to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the contract was approved by unanimous consent.

AFFIDAVIT CONCERNING NON-ACCEPTANCE OF SUMMIT STREET AS A PUBLIC ROAD County Attorney Chad Young said his office received a request from Grady Wayne Fricks concerning the abandonment of a certain private roadways, one of which is known as Summit Street, across property he owns adjacent to Burning Bush Road and Boynton Drive. Attorney Young stated the property of Mr. Fricks contains in excess of 100 acres and is part of an old subdivision known as the T.G. Shirley Farm. The farm of Mr. Fricks is not subdivided into lots and the roadways do not exist, have never been opened and have never been accepted or maintained by Catoosa County as a public road. Attorney Young stated Mr. Fricks is in the process of selling his existing house, constructing a new house for him and a new house for his daughter. In order for Mr. Fricks to have clear title to all of the property on his farm and to be able to borrow money against the property, it is necessary that he obtain written evidence that Catoosa County has never accepted the roadways and does not consider them to be public roads. Attorney Young said he has prepared an Affidavit confirming that Catoosa County does not consider either of the roadways to be public roads and recommends the Board approve the Affidavit. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Affidavit to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the Affidavit was approved by unanimous consent.

RED CROSS BUILDING USE AGREEMENT County Manager Mike Helton stated Red Cross has approached the County to request the use of building space in conjunction with the County’s local emergency planning. Mr. Helton said the Maintenance Department has researched various office and storage space locations and it has been determined the best option would be to allow the Red Cross to use the bottom part of the lodge building. Mr. Helton said he is requesting the Board’s permission to have the County Attorney draw up a building use agreement with the Red Cross so that their will be some terms of the building use in case something were to happen. Mr. Helton stated no fees would be exchanged and the County will receive the benefit of having the Red Cross in the County and assisting the County in the local emergency planning. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of allowing the Red Cross to use the building to indicate so by saying aye. There were no opposition and the building use was approved by unanimous consent.

APPEARANCES

Cherise Miller, Resident, said she does not know what can be done about it, and it was mentioned to her recently that the County’s Trans-Aid program, which is a wonderful program, with gas prices rising will Trans-aid’s budget have to increased in order to compensate for the gas prices, she has heard some people say that only 1 or 2 people are riding 1 bus at a time to go to long distance places that would require a lot of gas, and she wonders how the County could increase the number of people riding the buses and get the moneys worth out of the gas that is being used.

Chairman Clark stated Mary Pentecost is the Director of the program and she would be able to explain the program in better detail to Ms. Miller. Chairman Clark said that so many of the people that need to go to the hospital live out in the country and there is no one to pick up between here and there and between here and the hospital.

Commissioner Winters stated the County Manager and his staff are currently working on some various options and improvements to the programs offered by Trans-aid.

Bobby Riddle, Resident, wanted to tell the Commissioners he appreciates the help that they gave them at the last meeting regarding the problems at West Chickamauga Basin.

COMMISSION COMMENTS

None

EXECUTIVE SESSION Chairman Clark said the Board would go into executive session for the purpose of legal advice. The vote was taken by roll call and the Board unanimously voted to go into executive session for legal matters at 9:27 a.m. The Board voted unanimously to come out of executive session at 9:56 a.m.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

PROPOSED CONTRACT WITH GEOSYNTEC FOR THE PURPOSE OF SELLING CARBON CREDITS County Attorney Chad Young stated the proposed contract with GeoSyntec for the purpose of selling carbon credits offsets from the landfill was tabled by the Board in September of 2007 over some concerns with the contract language. Attorney Young said GeoSyntec has resubmitted the proposal in 2 phases that they would charge the County a flat fee of $16,000 to assist the County in selling all carbon offsets from March of 2007 through February 2008 and would charge the County a flat fee of $14,000 to assist in selling carbon credits from March 2008 through the end of 2008. Attorney Young said the big concern the County had before was the County did not have control of when to sell and at what price, the contract now gives the County complete control over when to sell and the price to sell at. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the contract to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the contract was approved by unanimous consent. Attorney Young stated there are also some older credits from 2003 and 2006 that staff would like the Board to authorize to send out an RFP to see if a broker or third party could sell the credits. Commissioner Marks made a motion to approve authorizing staff to send out the RFP. Commissioner Winters second the motion. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor to say aye. There was no opposition and the motion passed by unanimous consent.

Christine Kinsey, resident, said she would like an update on the status of the West Chickamauga Basin Project. She stated last week she was without water again due to the blasting. Chairman Clark said the Board had a presentation at the start of the meeting that would have answered all of her questions. Ms. Kinsey said the Westside School received no phone call or notification that they would lose their water, which resulted in problems at the school. Commissioner Winters said the Board has no way to tell when a water line might be damaged. Ms. Kinsey said she was told they would be notified when blasting was going to occur and the residents received no notice and it is getting out of hand. County Manager Mike Helton said he has received no call from anyone with the school system complaining about the issue. Ms. Kinsey said there is live dynamite lying out clear as day where children can get to it, and no signage or warnings regarding it. Ms. Kinsey further discussed problems and issues she is having with the project.

ADJOURNMENT There was no further business, and the Board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 10:20 a.m.