Board of County Commissioners
Gadsden County, Florida
AGENDA
Regular Public Meeting
May 7, 2013
6:00 p.m.
Present: Doug Croley, District 2, Chairman
Eric Hinson, District 1, Vice Chairman
Gene Morgan, District 3
Brenda Holt, District 4 (arrived late)
Sherrie Taylor, District 5
Nicholas Thomas, Clerk
Deborah Minnis, County Attorney
Robert Presnell, County Administrator
Marcella Blocker, Deputy Clerk
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INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND ROLL CALL Chair Croley called the meeting or order at 6:00 p.m. and asked everyone to stand for the prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. Flag. |
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AMENDMENTS AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER MORGAN AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR, THE BOARD VOTED 4-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.
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AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS AND APPEARANCES Commissioner Holt appeared at this juncture of the meeting. |
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1. |
Presentation of Resolution Honoring Ms. Joe Eva Dixie Mr. Presnell stated the first item was a presentation of a Proclamation to Ms. Joe Eva Dixie honoring her 100th birthday. Chair Croley presented the Proclamation to Ms. Dixie.
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2. |
PRESENTATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2012 AUDIT REPORT Mr. Presnell stated the next item was a presentation of the County Audit.
Mr. Ron Whitesides, Purvis, Gray and Company, appeared before the Board and presented the audit to the Board.
Commissioner Hinson asked if this item could be tabled until a later time so this could be further discussed.
Chair Croley asked to let the record show based upon the recent audit, the County’s financial situation had greatly improved and thanked everyone for their assistance and cooperation.
Commissioner Hinson stated they needed to address concerns that the auditors’ had mentioned.
Clerk Thomas asked that the Board accept the audit.
Commissioner Hinson asked before they accepted the audit, he asked for rebuttal.
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER MORGAN AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO ACCEPT THE AUDIT.
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CLERK OF COURTS
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3. |
County Finance and County Clerk Issues Clerk Thomas stated there was nothing to report.
Commissioner Hinson stated there was never a report from the Clerk but there were issued that needed to be addressed and there was potential for a catastrophic situation with the Clerk’s office with one person handling all the finance duties.
Mr. Whitesides re-appeared and explained their process in reviewing financial matters and explained they found no problem with how things had been done, but it was just a good process to have two people handle the job to be able to check behind each other.
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CONSENT Commissioner Taylor asked to pull Item 6.
Commissioner Holt asked to pull Item 10.
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER Taylor AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO ACCEPT THE AGENDA. ITEMS 6 AND 10 WAS PULLED FOR DISCUSSION.
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4. |
Approval of Minutes -April 2, 2013 Meeting
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5. |
Ratification of Approval to Pay County Bills
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Pulled for discussion. |
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7. |
Approval of New Road Name Requested name is Opportunity Lane
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8. |
Approval of Commissioner Eric Hinson’s Travel to the Emergency Management Workshop Requesting travel to Seminole County, FL for workshop for approximately $500.00.
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9. |
Approval to Accept the FY 2013 2nd Quarter Report
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Pulled for discussion |
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11. |
Approval of Local Agency Program (LAP) Agreements for the City of Chattahoochee-Caro Street and McDonald Avenue Grant funding is for designing sidewalks on the two streets.
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ITEMS PULLED FOR DISCUSSION
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6. |
Request Approval of Contract to Resurface the Gadsden County Tax Collector/Property Appraiser Parking Lot Commissioner Taylor had questions regarding the bid process of this item.
Mr. Presnell explained the process and stated the Board had approved this item and this was to authorize the Chair to execute the contract.
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT.
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Approval to Sell Surplus Equipment at Auction Commissioner Holt asked that when there were items to auction that the citizens have first shot to bid on the equipment before it went to auction.
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER HOLT AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THIS ITEM.
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CITIZENS REQUESTING TO BE HEARD ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
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John Due, 1381 Timmons Road, Quincy, FL appeared before the board and stated that Sheriff Young’s program, Faith Behind Bars Re-entry program was an excellent program. He applauded the Sheriff and the Superintendent for trying to break the “schoolhouse to jailhouse” cycle.
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PUBLIC HEARINGS
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12. |
Public Hearing-Country Boys Oyster Bar & Pub (SE-2013-01, SP-2013-02), Tax Parcel ID#6-03-1S-4W-0000-00111-07000 Mr. Presnell introduced the above item and stated Mr. Danny Collins was the property owner and was requesting to open the restaurant “Country Boys”.
Chair Croley asked for any public comments.
Danny Collins, 15724 NW State Road 20, Bristol, FL, appeared before the board and stated some of the concerns addressed at the public meeting with the citizens regarding noise, traffic flow and the restaurant being turned into a “honky-tonk” had been addressed.
Jan Godwin, 1010 Talquin Avenue, Quincy, FL and stated she was in favor of the restaurant but not the bar because it would lower her property value and was not in favor of alcohol sales.
Ed Allen, 267 Chinquapin Way, Quincy, FL, appeared before the Board and stated he also sits on the Planning and Zoning Board and attended the meeting that Mr. Collins had concerning the opening of the restaurant and there were approximately 75 people at the meeting and most were in favor of the opening of this restaurant. Mr. Allen expressed the need for another restaurant in the area.
Commissioner Taylor asked Mr. Collins how many people he planned to employ at the business.
Julia Wilhoit, 985 Talquin Avenue, Quincy, FL, appeared before the Board and stated the plans were to employ between 20-25 people that would be local people.
Commissioner Taylor stated she attended the meeting Mr. Collins had and believed he had taken precautions to make sure there was no infringement of privacy and rights of the neighbors.
Anthony Matheny, Planning Director, appeared before the Board and stated Mr. Collins had addressed all issues and concerns that the neighbors had with the noise and alcohol.
UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HINSON, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THE ITEM.
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GENERAL BUSINESS
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13. |
Conceptual/Non-Binding Site Plan and Re-Use Approval of New Industrial Business Located on the Former Printing House Site Mr. Presnell stated this item was an economic development opportunity for the County and was a conceptual/non-binding plan and would need to come back before the Board for a formal vote.
David Gardner, Executive Director of Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce appeared before the Board and stated this business was very committed to local hiring and giving back to the community and wanted to make sure this community wanted them here.
Commissioner Taylor stated this was difficult for her because of the aerosol spray and could be a potential hazard to the area. She stated she could not support this only because of their location.
Commissioner Morgan stated he had discussed this with Mr. Gardner when he was on the Chamber board and said he also had concerns but that the concerns had been touched on and asked Mr. Gardner to better explain.
Mr. Gardner stated this was a highly regulated industry, both federally and state and that he could get the company to respond and answer any concerns that there might be.
Commissioner Holt stated since this was a non-binding plan she had no problem in voting on it tonight.
Mr. Presnell stated some of the concerns had been asked and addressed with the business owners.
Chair Croley asked with the surrounding nursing home, health care facilities, the public would probably like some assurance of the safety of the business.
Commissioner Morgan stated there was a pretty significant buffer around the building already.
Mr. Gardner asked pending the safety issues, if this was a business that the County would want located here.
Commissioner Taylor stated with the separate building and soft roof, if there were an explosion, the propellant would go into the atmosphere and made a motion to deny.
COMMISSIONER TAYLOR MADE A MOTION TO DENY-MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF SUPPORT.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HOLT AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN, THE BOARD VOTED 4-1 TO APPROVE THE CONCEPTUAL, NON-BINDING SITE PLAN. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR OPPOSED.
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Approval and Appointment of a Multi-District Event Planning Committee for the Celebration of the Courthouse 100th Anniversary and Viva Florida 500th Anniversary Mr. Presnell introduced the above item and stated it was seeking the Board approval of a multi-district event planning committee.
Commissioner Holt asked that NAACP be added to this list.
Commissioner Hinson asked that all the cities be invited to participate.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOLT, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 TO APPROVE THE ITEM WITH THIS BEING EXTENDED TO ALL MUNICIPALITIES.
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Discussion and Direction Regarding an Interlocal Agreement with the Gadsden Soil and Water Conservation District (GSWCD) Mr. Presnell stated this item was seeking approval of a interlocal agreement with Gadsden Soil and Water Conservation District and stated that specifically, they had a couple of pieces of equipment available to farmers, and they were asking for an interlocal agreement to help maintain the pieces of equipment.
Mr. Harvey Sweeney, 4374 Hardaway Highway, Chattahoochee, FL, appeared before the Board and stated they had been concerned about the equipment for a number of months and this came to a head when people began renting equipment and found that it was not properly maintained. He added that this was expensive equipment, but they had found they could buy the equipment and then lease it out for a very small fee.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR, BEFORE THE VOTE WAS TAKEN THERE WAS DISCUSSION.
Commissioner Holt asked what the equipment was used for.
Mr. Sweeney explained one of the uses was to plant rye grass and was a piece of equipment that might only be used once a year.
THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 TO APPROVE THE ITEM.
Commissioner Morgan stepped out at this juncture of the meeting.
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16. |
Development of Physician Office Space in the Hospital Mr. Presnell introduced the above item and stated this was previously before the Board on April 16th and the Board asked that this matter be brought back with figures and added this would require ACHA review.
Commissioner Morgan returned at this juncture of the meeting.
Mr. Lawson appeared before the board and explained previously the request was for $170,000 and the request for now for $155,000 for build-out and that was the most the county would be on the hook for.
Chair Croley asked if the option would need to be amended to include approval of CRMC as the construction manager.
Commissioner Morgan asked if general fund and reserve was the same and asked if they acted on this matter this evening, could they proceed immediately.
Commissioner Holt asked if the agenda was being amended, would this item need to be brought back before the board.
Chair Croley stated this would need to come back before the Board.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MORGAN, THERE WAS DISCUSSION BEFORE THE BOARD VOTED. Commissioner Hinson had questions
Commissioner Taylor stated all of it would be brought back for final approval by the Board.
THE BOARD VOTED 4-1 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THE ITEM AMENDING THE AMOUNT FROM $175,000 TO $155,000 SUBJECT TO A PUBLIC HEARING AND ADD LANGUAGE THAT CRMC BE CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AND FOR THIS TO COME BACK FOR PUBLIC HEARING. COMMISSIONER HOLT OPPOSED.
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COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
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17. |
Update on Board Requests Mr. Presnell stated with the HEAVY mosquito season, they only had 25 outstanding work orders and added he thought this was outstanding.
Chair Croley asked Mr. Presnell to give a brief report on the emergency situation that the Water Management District brought up.
Mr. Presnell stated there had been a request from Northwest Florida Water Management for assistance dealing with a dam on Luten Road and they had concerns with the dam.
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COUNTY ATTORNEY
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18. |
Update on Various Legal Issues The attorney had nothing to report. |
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DISCUSSION ITEMS BY COMMISSIONERS
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19. |
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Commissioner Taylor, District 5 Commissioner Taylor stated the Board might want to revisit the memorandum with the Sheriff’s Department because their rate was too high and explained she had a conversation with someone that stated that they had requested that guardrails be placed in an area where the house was located close to the road and it was explained to her that the costs were too high to do business with the County.
Summer Youth Program She asked if more slots were obtained for the youth summer employment and Mr. Presnell stated currently they had 56 slots funded.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOLT, THE BOARD VOTED 3-2 TO ADD 25 ADDITIONAL SLOTS TO THE SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAM. CHAIR CROLEY AND COMMISSIONER MORGAN OPPOSED.
AUDITORS’ CONTRACT She asked if the contract with the auditors ended 2012 or went through 2013.
Mr. Presnell explained that the contract was extended through the end of the fiscal year of 2013.
AMENDING LANGUAGE TO COUNTY ORDINANCES She stated there needed to be language added to the county ordinances to require businesses to hire locally.
UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOLT, THE BOARD VOTED 3-2 TO HAVE PLACED ON THE AGENDA TO AMEND LANGUAGE OF THE COUNTY ORDINANCES. CHAIR CROLEY AND COMMISSIONER MORGAN OPPOSED.
Sidewalks She wanted to look at some way to fund sidewalks so people could walk without walking in the streets. |
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Commissioner Holt, District 4 Comp Plan Needs to be reviewed again.
Friendship Park She said she was hearing good things from the community concerning the park. |
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Commissioner Morgan, District 3 Workforce and inability to find jobs. We don’t need to set perimeters or there would be a limited response from businesses.
Commissioner Holt stepped out at this juncture of the meeting.
Important to understand that the young folks need the experience to go out and ask for their first job and not sign a piece of paper and get job.
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Commissioner Hinson, Vice Chairman, District 1 Agreed with Commissioner Morgan regarding jobs.
Commissioner Holt returned at this juncture.
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Commissioner Croley, Chairman, District 2 Chair Croley stated to Commissioner Taylor his appreciation on her concerns for the county and also thanked Mr. Due for appearing before the Board.
He stated the county received a very good audit and should be very proud of it.
He also publicly acknowledged Charles Chapman in his new job with Hendry County as their new County Administrator.
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RECEIPT AND FILE
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20. |
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a. For the Record: April 6, 2013 Letter from Town of Havana Regarding Natural Gas |
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b. For the Record: FY2012 Administrative Budget Amendments |
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MAY MEETING(S) -May 21, 2013, Regular Meeting, 6:00 p.m. |
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MOTION TO ADJOURN Meeting adjourned 8:20 p.m. |
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