Board of County Commissioners

Gadsden County, Florida

AGENDA

Regular Public Meeting

July 15, 2014

6:00 p.m.

Present:               Eric Hinson, Chair, District 1

                                Brenda Holt, Vice-Chair, District 4

                                Doug Croley, District 2

                                Gene Morgan, District 3-Absent

                                Sherrie Taylor, District 5

                                Nicholas Thomas, Clerk of Courts

                                Robert Presnell, County Administrator

                                David Weiss, County Attorney

                                Marcella Blocker, Deputy Clerk

INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND ROLL CALL  Chair Hinson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and Pastor Charles Morris came forward to give the prayer and Chair Hinson led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag.  A silent roll call was taken by Marcella Blocker. Commissioner Taylor arrived at this juncture of the meeting.
AMENDMENTS AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA  Add 2B-Commissioner Hinson’s travel to Florida Association of Counties Annual Leadership Summit Croley/Holt 4-0
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS AND APPEARANCES
1.	Update from CareerSource Capital Region Jim McShane, CEO, CareerSource Capital Region, appeared before the board and gave a brief rundown of their services.
CLERK OF COURTS  Clerk Thomas said he had sent a couple of memos and wanted to expound on those.  Went on record opposing gas tax, not opposed to new jail pod. 2^nd Court facilities fund-2004 Board tacked additional funding on traffic tickets, taking money off top for utilities, insurance, last month sent report of 4 different molds growing in courthouse and poor air quality. Chair Hinson said thought had been addressed and was very shocked. Mr. Presnell stated issues were being addressed and were installing HV lighting to offset issues. Commissioner Croley agreed with the Clerk regarding the environment.  Asked if Clerk was dissatisfied with rate of progress or if he was sharing information.  Croley said the Courthouse was in District 2 and was the heart of the County and was on county logo.  Board needs to be proactive, not reactive. Commissioner Holt is Courthouse was over 100 years old and needed to be plan to get it in shape and asked if asking funding source to pay for improvements. Commissioner Taylor said Clerk having spot on agenda every meeting and did not recall anything in past of formal request from him. He hoped with presenting it informally to Board would be addressed. Commissioner Taylor said with costs involved, should be formally addressed. Mr. Presnell said he was made aware of the problem approximately one month ago and took action to resolve cleaning issues.
CONSENT  Croley/Taylor 4-0
2.	Approval of Minutes                 -May 20, 2014 Regular Meeting
ITEMS PULLED FOR DISCUSSION
CITIZENS REQUESTING TO BE HEARD ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
	John Chafin, 3501 Sharer Road, Tallahassee, FL-drainage problem on his property on McPhaul Road, appeared before the Board regarding County diverting water onto his property and causing drainage issues.
	Minister Alphonso Figgers, 215 North Chalk Street, Quincy, FL  32351-Shaw’s Addition Crime Watch and Community Action Committee, appeared before the Board with Certificates of Appreciation for their assistance regarding health fairs that they attended, along with other issues.
	Mary Smith, 3137 Atwater Road, Chattahoochee, FL – Racism-Addressed the Board and said she had lived on her property since 1943 and has lived in other places and has never seen racism as she has seen here.  Commissioner Taylor said they needed to look at the legal aspect and if there were squatters on property. Commissioner Holt advised Ms. Smith to seek legal advice. Dwayne Smith, 3137 Atwater Road, Chattahoochee, FL, appeared before the Board and said they were taking legal action, but their problem was they were not being treated fairly by Gadsden County.
	Tracey Stallworth, 770 Selman Road, Quincy, FL, appeared before the Board and asked how they could obtain lights in neighborhood and had problem with county and city trucks speeding in neighborhood.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
GENERAL BUSINESS
3.	Approval to Declare Gadsden County Health Department’s Dental Equipment as Surplus and Authorization to Sell the Surplus Equipment  Mr. Presnell introduced the above item. Holt/Croley Chair Hinson had comments before vote taken. Max Martinez, Interim Administrator, appeared before the Board to answer questions. Commissioner Taylor said timing was an issue and what they were trying to do was not ethical.  She asked that they try to help this program move.  Commissioner Holt said once they knew it was to be brought before the Board, it should have been provided in the packet for them to review. Patrice Green, spoke on behalf of Neighborhood Watch and stated their position was interested in buying equipment, but need Rhonda Woodward, appeared before the Board, and stated she had not seen the bid process and did not see it follow proper procedures. Commissioner Croley withdrew his second. Commissioner Holt said 2-3 things going on-precedence if going to surplus and sell, must follow bid process.  No problem with 2 entities getting equipment and no problem with them paying for it, better off to surplus and sell to these two entities, but if surplus Holt withdrew motion Taylor made motion to table item until manager gets together with entities/Croley 4-0
4.	Approval of Engineering Consulting Services for Gadsden County  Mr. Presnell introduced the above item. 6 firms responded, and with ranking, recommended continue with Preble-Rish. Commissioner Holt asked about the engineering firm’s grant writing process. Justin Ford, Preble-Rish, appeared before the Board to answer questions that were asked. Warren Yeager, Preble-Rish, addressed the Board Commissioner Taylor asked with the rebidding if there was any savings.  Not proponent of Preble-Rish and not voting for them tonight, need change. Commissioner Croley stated he supported the agenda item for option 1 and they offer a consistency to the county, very involved in small county coalition work. Chair Hinson said there needed to be transparency and the proposals needed to be provided to the board members for them to review. UPON MOTION OF COMMISSIONER TAYLOR AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOLT, THE BOARD VOTED 4-0 TO TABLE THIS ITEM.
5.	Approval of Millage Rate Notification and Set the Date, Time and Place for the Public Hearings to Adopt the Fiscal Year 2014/15 Gadsden County BOCC Budget  Mr. Presnell introduced the above item. Commissioner Croley moved that they keep the millage rate at 8.9064. Jeff Price, Senior Management & Budget Analyst, appeared before the Board. Commissioner Taylor said they needed to go with the 9.1443 to meet budget. Holt motion for rollback/Taylor 3-1 Croley opposed. Hinson pointed out using as measurement right now, can always go down. Croley made comment wants to hear explanation in Kiwanis Club meeting. Hinson said, “Honestly, Mr. Croley, I can make sure that by November that we can get a good explanation too, as well, in the mid-part of November.”
6.	Approval to Apply for the State Funded Emergency Management Preparedness and Assistance Grant #15-BG-83-02-30-01-020 and the Federally Funded Emergency Management Preparedness Performance Grant #15-FG-__-02-30-01-087  Mr. Presnell introduced the above item. Taylor/Croley 4-0
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
7.	Update on Board Requests  Budget workshop July 24^th Event-Prayers in the Park by Bradwell’s Mortuary set for July 26^th.
COUNTY ATTORNEY
8.	Update on Various Legal Issues  Nothing to report
DISCUSSION ITEMS BY COMMISSIONERS
9.	Report and Discussion on Public Issues and Concerns Pertaining to Commission Districts and Gadsden County
	Commissioner Taylor, District 5  Canteen money at the jail-money goes back into general funds-wants to make sure money used where needed Received word from community there was state statute that allowed 50 foot private roads, researching it. Comp plan-waiting for it to come back, hopefully before October Wants to hold community meetings
	Commissioner Morgan, District 3
	Commissioner Croley, District 2  Pointed out meetings seem to stretch out longer and longer and requested Chair to better control meeting
	Commissioner Holt, Vice Chair, District 4   Wants  events ordinance brought back ASAP Comp Plan-brought back ASAP Went to workshop in New Orleans, need to provide in budget for P&Z members to attend conferences.
	Commissioner Hinson, Chair, District 1  Last year asked Board to give $100,000 to hire executive director for economic development, instead they hired consultant. Unless they hire ED, wants to give money back to Chamber.
RECEIPT AND FILE
10.	a. Clerk of Courts Operations Corporation Report (2^nd Quarter of CFY 2013-14)
UPCOMING MEETINGS
11.	-July 24, 2014-2^nd Budget Workshop @ 4:00 p.m.                 -August 5, 2014-Regular Meeting @ 6:00 p.m.                 -August 19, 2014- Regular Meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
MOTION TO ADJOURN  Adjourned 9:19 p.m.