FLOYD COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
JUNE 24, 2008
CAUCUS
Rick Hartley, Mauldin & Jenkins: overview of FY2007 Financial Audit.
Hartley gave the County Commission a clean opinion on its money management for 2007 and presented highlights from the audit:
Click to view 'County revenue, expenses and millage history' <
The county ended the year with $46.5 million in general fund revenue with 44 percent coming from property taxes, Hartley said.
Expenses were $47.1 million, with 40 percent dedicated to public safety. The percentage is in line with his other gov-ernment clients, he noted.
To meet expenses, the county tapped its fund balance for abour $580,000.
“The good news is, you estimated you were going to need $1.6 million,” he told the board.
Hartley said the county deviated only 4 percent from its original budget “which is nothing to get alarmed at with a $50 million budget.”
Carol Willis and Ryan Earnest, Rome-Floyd Commis-sion on Children & Youth: Caring Communities Grant for Children and Families.
Willis asked the County Commission to act as the fiscal agent for a new state grant the organization plans to apply for next year.
The Caring Communities for Children and Families grant could provide up to $325,000 toward a system of care program that brings multiple agencies together toward serving a spe-cific need.
Click to view 'Caring Communities grant infor-mation'
The grants will be awarded to only five communities each year. Information about the process only became available May 28.
Willis said the CCY can not create a competitive program by the July 7 deadline this year but is confident it “will have a powerful presentation in ’09.”
One possibility is to target the needs of foster children. Willis said half the local children removed from their fami-lies must be sent to other communities for housing and care.
Commissioners said they would “strongly consider” acting as the fiscal agent next year. The county would have to put up a quarter of the funding at the beginning of the year and be reimbursed by the state.
Representatives from R. J. Griffin and Adams Man-agement Services: Guaranteed Maximum Price for Forum Parking Deck Project.
Commissioners added a set construction cost of $6,669,557 to the R.J. Griffin and Co. design-build contract for the park-ing deck at The Forum.
“They have the drawings, they’ve gotten subcontractor pricing estimates and they are willing to live within that budget,” Assistant County Manager Blaine Williams told the board.
With fees, financing and contingency costs, the total price of the structure will run about $8 million. Rome and Floyd County are sharing the cost and issued $7.9 million in bonds to pay for it.
Steele McCown of R.J. Griffin said construction would start “immediately” and is expected to be complete by March 2009.
The three-story building will have a total brick façade with 385 spaces for vehicles.
An antique culvert under the site has been relocated — as a separate project — and the ground is being graded in preparation to pouring the foundation. McCown said once the foundation is laid, the likelihood of having to draw on the contingency funds would decrease.
“By August we should be 90 percent our of the risk-range,” he said, adding that the precast walls of the deck are sched-uled for delivery at the end of August.
“You’ll be able to see the skeleton of the building by Oc-tober,” McCown said.
Nearly 30 percent of the work is being done by local sub-contractors.
Click here for an archived story about the deck.
REGULAR MEETING
I. CALL TO ORDER: Commission Chairman Jerry Jennings
II. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO FLAG:
Commissioners Chad Whitefield and Eddie Lumsden.
III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Serpentfoot again spoke of unmarked historical graves from the Chief John Ross family in the West Third Street area. She asked the board to locate the graves and to insti-tute public transportation in the county.
A woman held up a sign reading “Kick Fricks Now, Don’t Procrastinate” and waved it at the board at intervals throughout the meeting.
The woman did not speak and deliberately hid her face behind the posterboard sign whenever she unfurled it.
Commission Chairman Jerry Jennings talked to her after the meeting.
The woman, who refused to identify herself for the news-paper, said she is calling for the resignation of Commis-sioner Garry Fricks, who is on vacation.
“He took an oath to uphold our laws,” she said. “I can’t drive without a license, so why should he?”
Fricks was charged earlier this month in Gordon County with driving on a suspended license, improper transfer of a license plate and no proof of insurance.
Jennings said the county attorney determined the board can take no action on misdemeanor offenses, although he and other commissioners have spoken to Fricks pri-vately.
“He is accountable to the electorate and, ultimately, the electorate will decide,” Jennings said.
Fricks is unopposed for re-election this year. Challengers have until noon Friday to qualify as independents and until July 8 to submit a nominating petition signed by 5 percent of the number of registered voters in his last, 2004, elec-tion.
Fricks apologized to the board during its June 10 caucus session but the woman complained he has yet to apologize to the citizens of the county.
Commissioners said they have been contacted by a hand-ful of residents upset about Fricks’ arrest. They said they believed the lone protester at tonight’s meeting was a woman who had e-mailed them but that woman, contacted later by phone, said she had not attended the meeting.
IV. Adopted minutes of Regular Meeting of June 10, 2008.
V. PROCLAMATIONS: None
VI. RESOLUTIONS
1. Authorized display of Floyd County judge portraits on the courtroom walls of the Ju-dicial Building, 3 Government Plaza.
2. Adopted amended and restated Defined Benefit Plan for employees.
VII. FIRST READINGS
PUBLIC HEARINGS TO BE HELD JULY 8 AT 2 P.M.
For location maps and details of Rome-Floyd County Planning Commission hearings on these items, click here.
1. 63-2008SUP, Rezoning from H-TR (High-density Traditional Residential) to S-R (Suburban Residential), with a Special Use Permit for manufactured home at 201 Alex-ander Avenue. (Planning Commission Rec-ommendation: NONE [VOTE: 4-4 on motion to approve]).
2. 68-2008SUP, Special Use Permit for manu-factured home at 1282B Radio Springs Road. (Planning Commission Recommenda-tion: DENY [VOTE: 4-5 on motion to ap-prove).
ULDC REVISIONS:
1. Add language stating any land disturbances must follow Best Management Practices for maintaining water quality as set by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Sys-tem.
(Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
2. Require a landscape plan to be included with the per-mit application for apartment, commercial and industrial construc
tion. (Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
3. The ordinance calls for one deciduous tree to be planted for every 20 parking spaces in a development. The proposed revision clarifies that each tree must be planted near the spaces it is meant to shade.
(Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
4. Allow for cuts in the six-inch curbs surrounding land-scape islands in parking lots so the ground can absorb stormwater runoff.
(Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
5 New developments must dedicate a minimum of 50 feet of right-of-way for road improvements. Under the proposed revision, if the city or county has a project already pro-grammed for the road, the developer must dedicate the amount of right-of-way needed for the project.
(Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
6. New developments must plan for interconnection be-tween parcels so customers don’t have to get back on a main street to move between them. The proposed revision allows the public works director — instead of the building official — to grant a variance.
(Planning Commission Recommendation: APPROVE [VOTE: 9-0).
VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
IX. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: None
X. COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
1. Administrative/Finance Committee – Commissioner Whitefield, Chairman: None
2. Public Safety Committee – Commissioner Lumsden, Chairman: None
3. Public Works Committee – Commissioner Mayes, Chairman
Accepted the following Emerald Oaks Subdivision roads as county roads: Emerald Oaks Trail, NE; Royal Oak Drive, NE; Spanish Oaks Trail, NE; Whistling Oaks Drive, NE; Pin Oak Drive, NE; Majestic Oaks Way, NE; and Misty Oaks Lane, NE.
4. Water Committee – Commissioner Fricks, Chairman:
Agreed to spend $16,000 for a new permanent well pump at the county’s Fulton Road Well.
The well was producing about 350,000 gallons of water a day but was shut down due to infiltration. County Manager Kevin Poe said the county has spent more than $100,000 to address the problem.
“In the last few months we’ve been pumping it, cleaning it out and testing,” he said. “We think we can get it back in production and the new pump is the next step.”
Poe said the county continues to explore potential sites for new wells, but it’s not as simple as tapping a spring.
The source must be clean and produce “an economically feasible volume,” he said. The county also would need a fairly large swath of land surrounding the well as a wellhead protection zone, he said.
5. Judicial Services Committee – Commis-sioner Jennings, Chairman: None
6. Special Committee Reports: None
XI. CLERK’S REPORT
Approved Consent Agenda:
1. Release of Taxes from Tax Commissioner’s Roll total-ing $1,162.93.
2. Execute lease agreement with Mark Porterfield for Hangar #35 at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.
3. Renewed the county’s property and liability insurance coverage provided through the Association County Commis-sioners of Georgia insurance fund.
XII. MANAGER’S REPORT
1. Authorized Chairman to submit a letter to the Trust for Public Land, requesting technical advice and assistance regarding the acquisition of land for recreation, parks, conservation and open space.
Poe said the free service would produce some potential targets for preservation. The county does not have funding at this time, he noted, but a grant or a special purpose, local option sales tax package could be a future source.
“If we ever want to spend the money, we’ll need to have a game plan,” he said.
2. Accepted a Georgia Department of Transportation grant for repaving project at Richard B. Russell Re-gional Airport’s North Terminal Expansion Area.
3. Added the Guaranteed Maximum Price to the con-tract with Dunn Southeast Incorporated d/b/a J. J. Griffin & Company for The Forum Parking Deck. (2006 SPLOST)
Actual construction costs are capped at $6,669,557 under the design-build contract.
4. Approved a line-item budget transfer to enable pur-chase of water truck for Public Works Depart-ment.
XIII. ATTORNEY’S REPORT:None
XIV. OTHER BUSINESS: None
XV. ADJOURN
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