CATOOSA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, 800 LA FAYETTE ROAD
April 15, 2008, 6:00 p.m.
The regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners was held Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the Catoosa County Administrative Building, 800 LaFayette Street, Ringgold, Georgia.
County Attorney Skip Patty gave the invocation, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
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; James F. Emberson, Commissioner, District Three; and Dewayne Hill, Commissioner, District Four.
Additions: Smoke-free Campus Designation at Benton Place Campus Remove: Contract for Perimeter Wells at the Landfill; Library Board Report. 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 of April 1, 2008 and Called Meetings of March 27, 2008. There were no corrections and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented.
PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION CONTRACT Chairman Clark made a motion for the County to inform the Foundation for the Performing Arts that it intends to cancel the contract for managing the Colonnade as soon as the required period for notification has been completed. Commissioner Winters second the motion. Chairman Clark stated the majority of the Board of Commissioners has determined that it is time to change the management and managerial philosophy of the Colonnade. Chairman Clark said the Colonnade was built with $6 million of the taxpayer’s money and they feel it should be used as a community center as was first intended. Chairman Clark further stated the Colonnade was intended to be self supporting within 3 years and thus far the County has spent anywhere from $75,000 to $130,000 a year to keep it going. Chairman Clark said the County does not intend to close the Colonnade yet just intends to change the top management and the managerial philosophy, all current contracts with vendors, employees, etc. would continue to be honored, the programs of the fine arts may continue, the Board of advisors may continue if they so wish, monthly programs and office space of the Chamber of Commerce may continue, use by the School system will not change, no abrupt changes will take place during the transition period and any eventual changes will be made gradual and well advertised. Chairman Clark stated this would not affect the Amphitheatre, which is under a different contract. Terry Lamb, Chairman of Performing Arts Foundation, said that without receiving prior notification of the contract cancellation from the County he is not prepared to make a comment. Mr. Lamb said the Foundation has always served at the discretion of the Commission and under the instructions of the Commission and appreciates the opportunity to do so. Mr. Lamb said he would like to correct a couple comments, the initial planning study performed for the Colonnade never indicated it would be self supporting, the Foundation appreciates the opportunity to offer a service to the public over the years and if the Commission offers an avenue for them to continue to do that they will be glad to. Mr. Lamb said he is anxious to hear the discussions and decisions made by the Board. Commissioner Emberson said he is concerned that there was not a formal request made to the Foundation and he would like to have seen the issue delayed until the Commission has had to study it more thoroughly. Commission Marks said he would like to know what this decision entails, when it says change in management. Chairman Clark said most employees would be held. Terry Lamb said the Chairman passed by that point rather quickly without being quite forthcoming with all the employees continuing, so he understands there will be some personnel changes right away. Mr. Lamb said the Foundation has contributed about 1 million dollars over the years to the facility with private money and it would have been nice to have some discussion regarding this before it came to a public vote. Shirley Smith, Foundation Member, said she would like some clarification regarding the position Mr. Clark was referring to. County Attorney Patty said it would not be appropriate to discuss personnel in an open meeting. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of the motion to indicate so by saying aye. The Clerk called the roll. The motion passed with a 3-2 vote with Commissioner Emberson and Commissioner Marks voting nay.
PROPOSED PAY INCREASE FOR MALT BEVERAGE CLERK County Attorney Chad Young said he has received a request from the Malt Beverage Commission for an increase in the pay to their Clerk. Attorney Young said the Clerk currently receives $100 per month; the increase would be for the Clerk to receive $200 per month. The Clerk is responsible for many duties other than taking minutes for Commission meetings. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the pay increase for the Malt Beverage Commission Clerk to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the motion passed by unanimous consent. Chairman Clark said he would like to express his appreciation to the members of the Malt Beverage Commission for their servitude.
CONSIDERATION OF NORTH GEORGIA JOINT DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY PROPOSAL County Attorney Skip Patty said the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority by letter has approved the Counties application to join the Authority subject to the requirement that Catoosa County agrees to pay an annual rate of $1.80 per capita for the first 2 years after the County has joined. The payment would be forfeitable in the event the County withdrew during the 2-year period. Mr. Patty said after the 2-year period the County would pay at the same rate as the other County members of the Joint Development Authority. Attorney Patty said he and Mr. Henson have been discussing some issues that are unclear at this time: Does the per capita population determination according to the 2000 census or at the estimates that have increased considerable since the census, and does it include the populations of the cities of Ringgold and Ft. Oglethorpe in the per capita and if so does the County ask the cities to contribute their per capita share. Attorney Patty said if the membership is based on the census of 2000 it is approximately $95,000 per year and if it were based on the estimates it would be considerably more per year. Attorney Patty said he purposes tabling the issue until he has clarification on these issues. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of tabling the issue until the next meeting to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the vote to table the issue passed by unanimous consent.
2008 STORMWATER PROJECTS ENGINEERING CONTRACT – NILES SURVEYING County Attorney Young presented the proposed contract for engineering of 2008 stormwater projects received from Niles Surveying for $30,000. 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.
CONSIDERATION OF BIDS FOR SALE OF VINTAGE CARBON CREDITS County Attorney Chad Young stated the County already has a contract with GeoSyntec to sell carbon credits at the Landfill for the period beginning March 2007 through the end of this year, the County has older credits from January of 2003 thru the end of February 2007 that are not covered by that contract and are eligible to be put on the market. County Attorney Young stated 2 proposals were received and staff recommends awarding the bid to Environmental Credit Corporation, which would come in at their cost and perform the verification and whatever tonnage the verifier comes up with they will purchase from the County at a guaranteed price of $4.75 per ton. 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.
AMENDMENT TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH CITY OF RINGGOLD FOR RAIL VIEWING PLATFORM County Attorney Chad Young stated the County previously approved an agreement with the City of Ringgold to lease a tract of land the County owned to the City of Ringgold to construct a railroad viewing platform. As the City has begun the construction they have realized they need a power source for a feature that will allow visitors to listen to the engineers speak on the radios as they come by. Attorney Young said the quickest least expensive place for the power supply is to tie in to the Counties Fire Station. The amendment to the agreement allows the City to tie in at their expense. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of the amendment to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the amendment was approved by unanimous consent.
CONSIDERATION OF RFP FOR MEADOWGREEN SEWER PROJECT ENGINEERING County Attorney Chad Young said the County has received RFP’s for the engineering of the Meadowgreen Sewer Project. The low bidder was a firm called Landmark Design Associates LLC with a bid of $13,800 and the second low bidder was Clark Patterson Lee with a bid of $29,680. Attorney Young stated after carefully reviewing the bids it was determined that the apparent low bidder did not include several items such as permitting etc. in their proposal; therefore staff recommends approval of the second low bid from Clark Patterson Lee for the project. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of awarding the bid for the Meadow Green Project to Clark Patterson Lee to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the bid was awarded by unanimous consent.
CONSIDERATION OF RED CROSS BUILDING USE AGREEMENT County Attorney Chad Young stated the Board has previously approved for the Red Cross to use the former Coroners building. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of the agreement to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the building use agreement was approved by unanimous consent.
COUNTY MANAGER REPORT
County Manager Mike Helton reported on the following:
FINANCIAL REPORT Chief Financial Officer Carl Henson reported on the 6-month fiscal year period ending March 2008. [Exhibit A]
BENTON PLACE CAMPUS SMOKE-FREE DESIGNATION Shirley Smith, Learning Center Director, said she would like to request that the Board designate the Benton Place campus a tobacco free property. Mrs. Smith stated the reason for this request being that there are underage students who attend the learning center and feel the County should not want the liability of having underage students smoking at the center. Mrs. Smith stated she has received letters from the other operations at the campus requesting the same. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the smoke-free designation for Benton Place Campus to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the designation was approved by unanimous consent.
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE TRANSMITTAL OF THE DRAFT CATOOSA COUNTY MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN TO COOSA VALLEY REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR REVIEW County Attorney Skip Patty stated a resolution has been prepared that provides that the Board of Commissioners submit the draft Catoosa County Georgia Multi-jurisdictional Solid Waste Management Plan including the Cities of Ft. Oglethorpe and Ringgold 2008-2018 is authorized to be transmitted to Coosa Valley Regional Development Center for review. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Resolution to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the Resolution was approved by unanimous consent.
The resolution is as follows:
WHEREAS, pursuant to Rules of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Chapter 110-4-3, Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures for Solid Waste Management, Catoosa County and the Cities of Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold have prepared a draft solid waste management plan update, and
WHEREAS, Catoosa County and the Cities of Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold have prepared a document in compliance with the Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures for Solid Waste Management certifying that the minimum public participation requirements have been met.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Catoosa County Board of Commissioners that the Draft Catoosa County, Georgia, Multi-jurisdictional Solid Waste Management Plan including the Cities of Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold, 2008-2018 (April 2008) is authorized to be transmitted to the Coosa Valley Regional Development Center for review.
RESOLUTION LIBRARY BOARD RECOMMENDATION Mona Allday, Chairman of Catoosa Library Board, said last December the Library Board of trustees sent a letter to the Georgia Library Services stating the intentions that they were investigating leaving the regional library system. Ms. Allday said at the time they were investigating 3 options: 1) staying with the Northwest Georgia System 2) looking at becoming a single county library system with the County government as the agent 3) joining another regional system with or without Pines. Ms. Allday stated after careful research and investigation the Board voted to recommend to the Board of Commissioners to leave the regional system and become a single county library system, a member of Pines, and Catoosa County being the library agent. Ms. Allday said the state of Georgia would provide the County Library with money for a Director. Mr. Henson said the County would also qualify for a systems services grant, which would be approximately $24,000, and materials grant for approximately $35,000 in addition to the paid position of a director. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the recommendation of the Library Board to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was approved by unanimous consent.
LETTER OF SUPPORT – CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ENTREPRENEURIAL FRIENDLY STATUS County Manager Mike Helton stated the Chamber of Commerce is requesting a letter of support for their obtaining the entrepreneurial friendly status from the State of Georgia. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of the letter of support to indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the letter of support was approved by unanimous consent.
PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS:
Mr. Donald Brown presented the following rezoning recommendations:
Case No. 1019-07,James McNabb, Reynolds Drive, R-1 to R-A. Mr. Brown stated the applicant is requesting a re-zoning from R-1 to R-A. Mr. Brown stated the Planning Commission approved the request 5-0.Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Planning Commissions recommendation for rezoning indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was approved by unanimous consent.
Case No. 1031-08,Bobby Wilson, Lafayette Road, R-1 to C-1. Mr. Brown stated the applicant is requesting a zoning change from R-1 to C-1. Mr. Brown said the Planning Commission approved the request 5-0. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Planning Commissions recommendation for rezoning indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was approved by unanimous consent.
Case No. 1032-08,Tim Erwin, Sutton Avenue, R-1 to R-1 & C-1. Mr. Brown stated the applicant is requesting a zoning change from R-1 to R-1 and C-1. Mr. Brown said the Planning Commission approved the request 5-0. Mike Price, MAP Engineers, stated Mr. Erwin is planning use the .7 acres for outdoor storage of boats, RVs, etc. to go along with the mini-warehouse storage on the rest of the property. Chairman Clark called for all those in favor of approving the Planning Commissions recommendation for rezoning indicate so by saying aye. There was no opposition and the recommendation was approved by unanimous consent.
None
EXECUTIVE SESSION Chairman Clark said the Board would go into executive session for the purpose of legal and land acquisition. The vote was taken by roll call and the Board unanimously voted to go into executive session for legal matters and land acquisition at 6:47 p.m. The Board voted unanimously to come out of executive session at 7:16p.m.
ADJOURNMENT There was no further business, and the Board unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 7:17 p.m.