INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Chair Viegbesie welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m., asked everyone to bow their heads for a moment of silence and then led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U. S. Flag.

AMENDMENTS AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA

 Dr. Grant said he would like to pull item 10 as the applicant requested for the item to be heard when live meetings could resume as opposed to the Zoom meetings.

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE AND COMMISSIONER HOLT MADE THE SECOND.  THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED.

AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS AND APPEARANCES

Audit Presentation

Purvis & Gray

  Ryan Tucker, Purvis and Gray, appeared before the Board to present the audit report to the Board.

He said they had met with each of the Commissioners individually to go over the audit and at the request of the Chair, had prepared a brief summary of the results of the audit.  He said as a reminder for the public, the primary purpose for their Financial Statement Audit is to issue an opinion on the financial statement and to ensure the statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GASP.  He said they are required to issue a report on the internal control in accordance with the County’s internal control in accordance with Government auditing standards and if County spends more than $750,000 of Federal or State grant funds in a particular fiscal year, they were required to have Federal and State single audit.  He said they did have to do a Federal and State single audit this year and was included in the report. 

He said EMS collections was up and gave a brief analysis over-all of the state of the County.  At the end of the year, the County ended up with an unassigned fund balance of $4.3 Million in the General Fund.  He said the County took on various new debt of the past year and he mentioned what that was.  He said the County made scheduled principal payments of $1.7 Million; stating they added $3.1 of new debt but paid off $1.7 of existing debt.

He said there was a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and Financial Assistance and there were 21 federal grants that had expenditures during that time period for a total of $1.3 Million and 15 state grants that had a total of $4 Million of state expenditures so they had to do a Federal and State Single Audit and there were a couple of findings.

Problems:

The first was related to the SHIP Program, was a continuation and they were still trying to work through the issue from a prior year and they had to follow up on any of the findings in the next audit.  He said the Annual Reports that had to be submitted to Florida Housing Finance Corporation was not being reconciled to the General Ledger, the County records and they were recommending they investigate the differences and submit a corrected report and make sure it was reconciled prior to submission going forward.  On the Federal side, they had to do some additional work on the FEMA grants and this was at the Sheriff’s Office and the Board.  He said all cities and counties had trouble with FEMA and the documentation that was pulled together was not consistent with the amount they were submitting for reimbursement.  He said he understood the County has hired a consultant to help them navigate that process for Hurricane Michael and hoped that issue would get itself resolved.  He said there were two additional items related to internal control.  The first was inventory of Shop Supplies; the Public Works Department had some turn-over at the first of the year and was not able to perform the monthly inventory that they typically perform and they recommended they get that back into play.  He said the next item was the reconciliation with health insurance withholdings against the invoices with the County’s insurance provider.  He said those were not being done timely and got behind.  It was being recommended that was being brought up to speed and stayed on top of on a monthly basis and insured processes were in place.

He said the County had issued their responses to those particular findings and their thought was they were generally iteming due to turn-over and got put to the side and should be fairly easy to resolve going forward. 

He said there were two additional items on the Sheriff’s report and were carry-overs from the prior year and he noted that the Sheriff did resolve one of the findings from the prior year related to (inaudible) of their fixed assets records.  He said there were two that still remained, one was on the Financial Statement Closed Process and the delay in that getting that done timely, getting the bank records completed on a timelier basis and has mainly been a staffing issue at the Sheriff’s Office.  The other issue was related to some Confiscated Funds that were taken into evidence years ago, probably 15 years ago or more, they were still trying to get those cases resolved and may need a Court order to release those funds.

Mr. Tucker said this year was even more difficult with the pandemic and they had to do a lot of the work remotely and took extra time and they appreciated all the effort of everyone involved in meeting the June 30^th deadline.

Chair Viegbesie asked about the deficiencies found with the Sheriff and County, were there situations that were time sensitive with regards to finding resolutions to them, or as long as they were done before the next audit?  Mr. Tucker said a couple like the SHIP report only gets done annually; the Health insurance reconciliation needs to be done monthly and thought they now had a procedure in place; Public Works needed to be done monthly and have now implemented a procedure; and the Sheriff’s Office needs to do a softer close on a more timely basis to be ready for the year-end and the Confiscated Funds issue would take more time but was not something that was on fire. 

  Commissioner Holt said they went over this the other day and she wanted to be able on the next audit to sit with Board members before the audit to make sure those departments are doing what they are supposed to do.  On SHIP and FEMA, it was recommended by Emergency Management and State government officials that more people be put in those departments and in FEMA they have just done that; they have not yet for SHIP.

 Commissioner Morgan said he appreciated their team for not only getting together with everyone and the Constitutionals, particularly in the current environment.  He added the good news was they were still financially sound and was confident that was a result that they have created and adhered to, for the most part, good budgets and lived within their means, particularly with Hurricane Michael, but threw a word of caution in the year ahead.  He said their revenues were going to decrease, not only from their ad valorem tax dollars but from the State-funded line items they were accustomed to simply because of what has happened in recent months.  He said they needed to remain vigilant as they approach the budget season.

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE AUDIT AND COMMISSIONER HINSON MADE THE SECOND; THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE.

CONSENT

  Commissioner Holt asked to pull Item 3 and Commissioner Morgan asked to pull Item 7 for discussion.

COMMISSIONER HOLT MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE WITH CHANGES AND CHAIR VIEGBESIE MADE THE SECOND, THE BOARD VOTED 5-0 BY VOICE VOTE TO APPROVE.

1.

Ratification Memo

2.

Approval of Minutes

·         March 13, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         May 22, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         April 17, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         May 29, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         April 24, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         May 1, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         May 15, 2020 Emergency Meeting

·         May 19, 2020 Regular Meeting

3.

Contract for the Quincy Library Roof Replacement

Item pulled for Discussion

4.

Appointment to the Riparian County Stakeholder Coalition

5.

DEO Rural Infrastructure Fund Grant Agreement

6.

Dewberry Engineering Task Order for the American Tower Midway Site

7.

Public Works Heavy Equipment Buy Back Plan

Item pulled for Discussion

ITEMS PULLED FOR DISCUSSION

3.

Contract for the Quincy Library Roof Replacement

   Commissioner Holt asked if comparable materials were being used.

  Dr. Grant said in a Memo that was sent to all the Commissioners, a metal roof was approximately $100,000 and a shingle roof was $37,500.

Commissioner Holt said until she received more information, she could not vote for this item.

Commissioner Holt asked the amount of insurance for the building; insurance was written for each facility separately.

  Dr. Grant said they were looking for a blanket to cover all the buildings in the new year.

  Commissioner Morgan said the discussion seemed to imply that a shingle roof did not give better protection than a metal roof and that was not the case. 

  Commissioner Holt said that was more an opinion on the quality of the roof than the coverage of the roof itself.  She said if they were going to look at doing this, if could look to upgrade, should do that.

   COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE OPTION 1 AND CHAIR VIEGBESIE MADE THE SECOND.  CHAIR VIEGBESIE CALLED FOR A ROLL CALL VOTE. 

  Commissioner Hinson asked if this was bid out and Chair Viegbesie said it was.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              YES

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   NO

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 4-1 COMMISSIONER HOLT OPPOSED

                7.

Public Works Heavy Equipment Buy Back Plan

  Commissioner Morgan said this item concerned the Public Works heavy equipment buyback plan and ensured the efficiency of the Public Works Department while maintaining the integrity of their Transportation Fund balance.  He said this item concerns 13 pieces of equipment they will be leasing and wanted to mention they would have new equipment 5 years from now so they could keep that rotated with current equipment.  He said he wanted to mention that to identify the difference between this item and the item in General Business.  He thanked Lisa Robinson, the Public Works Director, and said they have had extensive conversations.

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS ITEM AND COMMISSIONER HOLT MADE THE SECOND.  CHAIR VIEGBESIE CALLED FOR A ROLL CALL VOTE.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              YES

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   YES

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 5-0

CITIZENS REQUESTING TO BE HEARD ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Due to COVID-19 and the efforts of Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners to continue the practice of social distancing, Commissioners want to continue to hear from citizens under the Citizens Requesting to be Heard section of the agenda.

If citizens have any questions, comments or concerns, please email CitizensToBeHeard@gadsdencountyfl.gov and anticipate receiving a response within 48 hours.

  Jessica Sykes, Chair Viegbesie read her email aloud.

  Jim Roberts III, Dr. V read his email aloud

  Commissioner Taylor said the entire conversation was not mentioned, she did not want to hold up progress with regards to updating their system, but they need to be fiscally responsible.  She did not say it was an unimportant task, but to spend that kind of money without doing their due diligence was irresponsible.  She said she now had a better understanding of what was being asked of them.  She said this item would come back before them at the first meeting in July.

  Atticus Stevens, Chair Viegbesie read his email aloud. Commissioner Taylor gave her cell number 850-264-1518.

  Chair Viegbesie took the time to thank the citizens that took the time to send their concerns that were read into the record.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

8.

Public Hearing (Quasi-Judicial) 84 Triple H, Salem Road, Havana, Communications Tower Conceptual/Preliminary Site Plan (SP-2020-03)

  Dr. Grant introduced the above item and stated it was a quasi-judicial public hearing for a communications tower conceptual/preliminary site plan located on Salem Road.

  Jill Jeglie, Interim Growth Management Director, appeared before the Board and was sworn in by Deputy Clerk Blocker and she gave an overview of the item.

  She stated there were some concerns regarding location of the property, why it was selected that required so many and such severe deviations.  The Planning Commission felt there was available land that could be set-back further than 174 feet from the roadway, there was an option where they could set it back further; that asking for the three deviations impacted, more than just one deviation affected 10-11 property owners;  an option was put in front of them, option 2 where they could reduce the number of deviations that they requested by setting the tower back 500 feet, however, the property owners’ relatives (Hiers) have provided letters to you with an attachment, indicated that they did not want the tower closer to their properties, as there were safety concerns.  One of the primary concerns was it seemed the tower was too close to the road and would fall into the road or when it collapsed, would take trees and power lines down with it, even if it collapsed into itself and would cause an issue.  The biggest concern was it was on the west side of the County road and a hurricane could put the tower onto the roadway, however Mr. Volpe described the power-zone radius, which is usually 100-150 feet and is a 200 foot tower, as 150 feet and would be 24 feet from that right-of-way and was concerns regarding whether it would pull down trees with it.  She said there were also concerns as to how the site was picked and the fact there were other large properties in the area that could have been selected.  The tower owner reached out to all the property owners within their search area, however Mr. Donahoe was provided a letter with the packet indicating his opposition and at the meeting, stated he was not contacted.  Other concerns were the Citizens Bill of Rights meeting and the fact it was held at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday and also landscaping. 

The four options presented:

The first is to approve with conditions;

The second is to approve with the deviations;

The third is to deny the tower; and

The fourth is Board Direction.  She said the Planning Commission recommendation was Option 3 to deny the tower unanimous 8-0 and the Interim County Administrator recommendation was for Board Direction.

  Mike Donahoe, 130 Rabbit Pond Road, Havana, FL  32333 appeared remotely and was sworn in by Deputy Clerk Marcella Blocker.  His property is immediate adjacent to the proposed tower property.  The tower is stationed at an intersection of Potter-Woodberry Road and Salem Road, which has a very dangerous pattern of traffic along that road.  He said they bought that property 30 years ago to be in a pristine neighborhood and was surprised the Board was considering this after the Planning Board denied this 8-0.  He said it did not make sense, it could be further up the highway where there were plenty other places that were residential that it could go there.  He asked the Board to deny this as the Planning Board did.

  Stacey Rasky, 281 Potter Woodberry Road, Havana, FL, appeared remotely and was sworn in by Deputy Clerk Marcella Blocker.  She said they are 2-3 parcels east of the intersection and have about 215 acres and understand Mr. Donohoe’s concern.  Their property was actually looked at for placement of the tower but they have a conservation easement and the tower was not allowed.  She was for it because they have no cell coverage or internet.  She added when COVID-19 hit and people were instructed to stay home, she and her husband could not, they had to venture into Tallahassee to work because they did not have internet.   She was in support of tower.

  Marion Lasley, 5 Dante Court, Quincy, FL, appeared remotely and was sworn in by Deputy Clerk Marcella Blocker.  She wanted to bring up the fact there are quite few properties that were much closer than the set-backs and eight (8) parcels that are closer than one-half mile from rural residential and eleven parcels that are closer than 1,750 feet.  She said the deviations are listed as three and the deviation basically for the language for the Land Development Code and there are possibly 19 parcels actually affected.  She said the road issue is probably the worst thing for the County to have to deal with and felt it was a safety issue.  She felt the deviations requested were quite numerous, not just one set-back that was 200 feet, it was quite a few that was almost the whole set-back.  She felt the deviations were definitely detrimental to the public good as the safety issue and are detrimental to the surrounding properties.  She added that she believed her vote on the Planning Commission reflected how she felt on this property and they should keep looking for a more suitable location.

Chair Viegbesie asked if there were any more speakers.

Ms. Steele said Mr. Volpe was available for comments.

 Robert Volpe, Esquire, Hopping, Green & Sams, PA, 119 S. Monroe Street, Suite 300, Tallahassee, FL 32301, appeared remotely before the Board and said he would like to make comments when the Board would like to recognize him.

Chair Viegbesie asked to let him read into record the emails received from citizens.

  Larry Ganus, opposed to cell tower-Chair Viegbesie read into record his email.

  Michael Dorian, Chair Viegbesie read into the record his email.

  Eileen Parks and Jeffrey Davis were in favor of the tower and Chair Viegbesie read their email into the record.

  Hugh Stephens, Chair Viegbesie read his email aloud into the record and he was in favor of the tower.

  Turner Hiers, Chair Viegbesie read his email aloud into the record and he was in favor of the tower.

  LucidityTV, mperkins, Chair Viegbesie read his email aloud and he was in favor of the tower.     

  Mr. Volpe, appeared remotely before the Board and thanked the Board for considering the application and allowing him to appear before them.  He asked they approve the application with the deviations.  He said the project would bring much needed cell service and internet to the area of Gadsden County.  Verizon identified a gap in their service and this tower would fill that gap. He said they were requesting three deviations from set-backs and said Ms. Jeglie had gone through them in detail.  He said the site was carefully considered by both the property owner and Tarpon Towers and the proposed location on the property was at the lowest elevation and was surrounded by tree cover.  He went on to explain more on the tower.  He added there was a clear need for cell and internet service in the area and the tower would expand the essential services.  He added a few questions raised, one was about the fall-zone and the tower would be located 174 feet off of the right of way and in response to a question from the Planning Commission, towers are engineered to collapse onto themselves.  In the event of a fall, the tower would fall within the property and not impact the right of way.  He said property values was another issue raised, in 2020 the lack of cell service, data and internet service could negatively impact property values and he believed having data and reliable cell service positively impacts property values.  He said he was available to answer any other questions and asked they approve option 1.

  Chair Viegbesie asked him with those concerns of the citizens that were expressed in the opposition, have Talquin Towers spent time with citizens to address their concerns and fears?

Mr. Volpe said initially when they set out all neighbors were noticed; one showed and at the end he was in favor.  The two comments that came in this evening were not within the one-mile area.

  Chair Viegbesie asked about meeting with the ones that expressed opposition and talking with them to see if they could have dialogue to come to an agreement.

  Commissioner Hinson thanked the presenter for coming and said he had received several phone calls and had some of the same concerns.  He felt they needed to workshop this item. 

  Commissioner Taylor said she was wondering whose district this was in because she knew both Commissioner Hinson and Chair Viegbesie shared the district in Havana.  She agreed with some of the conversation and everyone should be made available to broadband.  She said she would not support this tonight but she would support it coming to the area.  She asked the young man with the presentation to go back to Verizon, talk with them and come back at the second meeting in July.

  Chair Viegbesie said service was needed and there was no question about that.  Citizens have expressed concerns with safety of the tower.  As Commissioner Hinson said, Broadband was a necessity and suggested they give this back to Tarpon Towers to address with citizens and try to work things out and then come back.

  Commissioner Holt said for the gentleman doing the presenting, could he work within the property to make any adjustments and he said yes, he thought there were options.  This was a preliminary site plan and Option 2 in the Staff report is approval of the preliminary site plan and 2 of the deviations; a 1/2 mile set-back and the 7x’s the tower from the residence; he mentioned that all the property owners that spoke in favor of the tower all fall within the 2 deviations and in that area; the third deviation is the set-back from the right-of-way.  He said Option 2 would be to approve the preliminary site plan with 2 of the deviations and not the third deviation from the roadway and they would be willing to have a condition that they meet, discuss with neighboring property owners and come back to the Board after the preliminary site plan in the next stage with an option that addresses those concerns at the siting phase.

Commissioner Holt said if this is approved for the preliminary site plan, they did not have to approve development.

  Ms. Jeglie said this conceptual/preliminary site plan would be to approve a specific site plan, if that was going to be changed, her recommendation would be that it come back before them to approve the site plan.  Commissioner Holt asked Mr. Volpe if there was another alternative.  He said he believed it would be to approve option 1 with the conditions that they discuss with neighbors to discuss their concerns.

  Ms. Jeglie re-appeared before the Board and said her concern was, if this was in a different location, whether they wanted to see it or not.  The actions they have gave specific locations.  If option 1 to work out something and does not work out, staff should not be arbitrator of what works out, Board should be.

  Commissioner Holt said she wanted them to come back before them regardless.

  Commissioner Hinson said he wanted to move to workshop and talk about the options; there were concerns from the citizens, one being the closeness, other being the meeting was at 4:00 p.m.  He said he was for broadband.

  Chair Viegbesie said from his personal opinion, this did not need to be workshopped with this body, there should be a dialogue with Tarpon Towers and the citizens.  They could meet and have their conversation like with Hoover Plant.  Hopefully they could meet and work out a compromise and meet the needs of broadband and internet services.

  Commissioner Holt said she wanted to make a motion for a continuance but this Board was not bound by the opinion of the Planning Board, they are an advisory board.

  Commissioner Morgan said there was not any of them that did not understand the need for broadband and cell service in the area.  His opinion was this was not the correct location.  He agreed with Commissioner Holt they did not have to agree with Planning’s decision but with that in mind, they need, as a Board, to decide on option 1, 2, or 3 and to make a decision, personally his was option 3.

  Commissioner Holt said they could continue this until the next available meeting for a public hearing after the developer has spoken about the concerns, he has always stated he (inaudible) prior to now.

MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE MADE BY COMMISSIONER HOLT AND SECOND MADE BY COMMISSIONER HINSON.  COMMISSIONER TAYLOR HAD A COMMENT.

 Commissioner Taylor concurred with Commissioner Morgan on this, continuance was not one of the 4 options.  If this was the will of the Board, they need to look at better mandatory rules moving forward so they will have guidelines.  She said she knew Commissioner Holt had a motion on the floor she thought led by the Chair encouraging the company to speak with the citizens in the area to see if they could negotiate terms that were amenable, but to please add on having other location options to be looked at as well to offer the citizens; if they look at the two terms that will be considered, one of the neighbors will still be impacted, to look at other locations where everyone would be happy and still have services rendered and can move forward and have agendaed on the third Tuesday in July. 

  Commissioner Holt said she would be in interested but if they choose another location, they would have to start the process all over again.

Chair Viegbesie said there was a motion and second that there should be continuance so Verizon will have time to have a conversation with citizens that expressed concern for them to see common ground that would enable this service to be provided before it comes back to them and then called for the vote.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              NO

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          NO

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   YES

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 3-2 FOR CONTINUANCE

9.

Public Hearing (Quasi-Judicial)-Greensboro East, SR 65 Communication Tower Conceptual/Preliminary Site Plan (SP 2020-02) with one deviation on Tax Parcel ID #3-19-2N-4W-0000-00130-0000

  Dr. Grant introduced the above item and said this was for a Communication Tower to be located on SR 65 (Hosford Highway).  He added the Planning Commission approved this 7-1.

  Ms. Steele informed the Chair that Mr. Volpe was also representing the applicant on this item as well.

Deputy Clerk Marcella Blocker swore in Jill Jeglie.

Commissioner Taylor stepped out at 8:08 p.m.

Ms. Jeglie explained the item and options and that staff recommended option number 1.

  Commissioner Morgan said unlike the previous item, this was a perfect location. 

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE OPTION 1 AND COMMISSIONER HINSON MADE THE SECOND.  CHAIR VIEGBESIE CALLED FOR THE ROLL CALL VOTE.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              STEPPED AWAY

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   YES

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 4-0

10.

Public Hearing (Legislative) Adoption of Ordinance 2020- to adopt Bainbridge Highway (SR 267) Small Scale Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Amendment

Item Pulled at request of Applicant until July 21 Agenda

GENERAL BUSINESS

11.

Approval to Change the Personnel Policy, Section 4.20, to Add Language Provided by FEMA to Clarify Payroll During Emergencies

  Dr. Grant introduced the above item and stated it was presented to the Board to request adding Section 4.20 clarifying payroll during emergencies and natural disasters.

  Commissioner Holt asked if there were already employees being paid time and half because they were already working and met their 40 hours for that week, how are they being compensated for working the extra part during the hurricane, was there an over-lap?

Dr. Grant said not so much how they were being compensated; it was if the policy was in place, the County could get the overtime money reimbursed.  Commissioner Holt stated they would only be reimbursed for what their Plan stated and Dr. Grant said yes.

Commissioner Holt said for example, she worked 52 hours, will get paid for the 52 hours, time and ½ for anything over 40; then told had to be at work because of whatever and had to work more hours and was what happened and was why they were given time and a half and the people that came back in were given that over ½ hour because they could not leave the facility anyway, even if they wanted to. 

  Chair Viegbesie said if understood question, 40 hours is full time, anything more is time and a half and if there was a hurricane and you come in and puts you at 80 hours, anything above 40 hours is at time and a half so would be additional time and half.

  Commissioner Holt said she wanted to make sure it was documented, even if the County compensated them, was FEMA going to give them the money back?  She thought that group should have gotten something.  She asked if this was for hourly workers.  Dr. Grant stated this was for exempt and non-exempt workers.  Commissioner Holt asked that he explain the difference for the ones listening.

Commissioner Taylor returned at 8:18 p.m.

  Commissioner Holt said if you were an hourly worker or a non-hourly worker, if an hourly worker, some think during a disaster, only hourly workers should get paid and she did not believe in that, she believed if someone worked during a disaster, you should get paid, whether hourly or salary. 

  Commissioner Morgan said to clarify, there were no employees working that were not being paid.  He did not understand the need for the change in the Personnel Policy.  If there are those that go beyond and are salaried employees, he was in favor of them receiving a bonus.  He stated he was not in favor of this item and would not vote to approve it.

  Lonyell Butler, HR Director, appeared remotely before the Board to explain the addition to the policy.  She said this would allow them to receive compensation if they had to work during emergencies and their current policy did not address how hourly non-exempt and exempt employees would be paid in emergency situations. 

  Commissioner Morgan said he appreciated her comments but they should take that under a separate issue as to how an employee should be paid.  The Board could approve bonuses for them if that happened.

  Commissioner Holt said the pay had a lot to do if someone was called back in.  You cannot work someone without pay.

  Commissioner Taylor said she had written down no on this item and her reason was salaried employees could work one hour and still receive full pay.

Commissioner Holt stepped out at 8:26 p.m.

Commissioner Taylor continued and said they needed to look further with regards to emergency situations for the County.  When this County goes into emergency management mode, the County Administrator has no power, the Emergency Management Team takes over.  She added she did not agree with an increase in salary or with the bonus, they need to understand there will be circumstances and situations they will be called upon to do their job. 

Commissioner Holt returned at 8:27 p.m.

She said if they looked at some of the Administrators and days after they had and how many they actually put in and being away from the job, it would be minimum they get paid because they are still available and make themselves available no matter where they are at or what they are doing on their personal time.  She said she never agreed with any salaries being paid outside of what was earned, do not agree with any bonuses, thought if a salary compensated position; do agree may need to add language that supports having to come back.  She said as far as paying people to come to work-YES, she agreed with that.  She further stated the Administrator did not have the right or authorization to offer double-pay at any time, and it was done, without the authorization of the Board.  She said she had no problem with paying all the employees the salaries, as a matter of fact was why she voted previously for those monies to be paid out immediately, not knowing that a good portion of that money was also going towards salaried employees, which was wrong, and these people knew it was wrong.  It was told was wrong by the different departments but they still moved forward on it to her understanding.  She said to get language in so FEMA can reimburse the County but she did not agree with the bonus or adding money onto their salary.  She said she thought, during the contractual agreement they have with the Administrator and themselves, needed to be understood there may be times when asked for additional hours and if worked those additional hours, it would be part of your responsibility.  She said as far as the language, she agreed with what the HR Director requested and was willing to entertain the language that needed to be put in place for hourly employees, anything over 40 hours  should be time and ½ over, salaried employees should be understood and similar language in their contractual agreement.

  Commissioner Morgan wanted to go back to Commissioner Holt’s comments earlier where she was implying employees were being asked to work without being paid or they were going to put a policy in place to have them work without being paid and that was not the case.  He stated any employee that was working or getting paid their salary, if at over 40 hours are being paid at time and ½. He wanted to clarify that and stated it was not like they had to approve that particular policy in order to pay the employees time and a half for overtime, that was in place and the policy was not needed. 

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO DENY AND COMMISSIONER TAYLOR MADE A SECOND.  COMMISSIONER HOLT HAD A QUESTION.

 Commissioner Holt said she was not implying they were not going to pay them time and a half (the audio/video froze); the other thing was to imply there was a lot of salary that won’t come to work, there were Commissioners that don’t come to work, that leave early.  She said she did not want people to think their people were not working, they were working and they have good people that work there.  She added if they kept going through policy and procedure, they would be able to change a lot of change a lot of things they want to change in a positive way.  She added she was in favor of this procedure because she saw everyone actually working and thought there should have been a policy in place years ago. 

  Chair Viegbesie said this was an item even before Commissioner Morgan made his motion, if he had had time to make his opinion known, it was an item he would be taking the role of Commissioner Hinson.  He said there has been a misunderstanding and instead of killing this policy, he would rather they spend time to workshop this soon and put a policy in place in case they need reimbursement from FEMA, they would have a policy that they could attach to the reimbursement application for them to know they would get their money back.  He expressed it was an obstacle to their getting some of their monies back and the other thing was, they needed to make sure they maintained accurate and detailed record-keeping of when people work, who works and so on and so forth.

  Commissioner Holt asked if Commissioner Morgan would consider approving the item with changes he wanted to make so if there was a tornado or hurricane, they could have a policy in place.

  Commissioner Morgan said she made the comment there were issues with FEMA because they did not have the policy adopted and that was not the case.  The reason they had potential issues with FEMA, was because employees got double pay and exempt employees received pay that should not have.  If they had followed the policy at time and a half for non-exempt employees and no additional pay for exempt employees beyond any bonuses approved by the Board, there would not have been an issue or potential issue with FEMA.  With that being said, the policy in place is working and reinforced the fact they did not need to approve this item.

Chair Viegbesie called for the vote.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              YES

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   NO

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

THE BOARD VOTED 4-1 TO DENY.

  Dr. Grant asked for further clarification because they presented a recommendation from their consultant that they put an Emergency Pay Plan in place and was something that FEMA required they have in place before an event occurred.

  Commissioner Taylor said her position did include to bring this back for further language.  She further explained, what was currently in place was to deny, but the language was needed. 

Chair Viegbesie said for Dr. Grant to have a conversation with the consultant and bring the item back with different language.

  Commissioner Morgan said his recommendation was to have the Administrator sit with the consultant and speak individually with the Commissioners, so the Commissioners could ask specific questions on areas they may have a concern and he had several.

12.

Approval of Public Works Heavy Equipment Purchase

  Dr. Grant introduced the above item and said it was presented to the Board to approve the heavy equipment listed in the FY 19/20 Budget using the Transportation Fund Balance.

COMMISSIONER MORGAN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE OPTION 1 AND COMMISSIONER TAYLOR MADE THE SECOND.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              YES

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   YES

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 5-0

13.

Approval of Value Adjustment Board Members

  Dr. Grant introduced the above item.

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE AND CHAIR VIEGBESIE MADE THE SECOND FOR OPTION 1.

COMMISSIONER HINSON             YES

COMMISSIONER TAYLOR              YES

COMMISSIONER MORGAN          YES

COMMISSIONER HOLT                   YES

CHAIR VIEGBESIE                             YES

MOTION PASSED 5-0

CLERK OF COURT

14

Updates

Deputy Clerk said there was nothing to report.

COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR

15.

Updates

  Dr. Grant stated on Thursday, June 18^th at 4:00 p.m. would be the first Budget workshop.  Chair Viegbesie asked if they will receive the preliminary packet at a reasonable time for them to review before the workshop or if they would receive it at the workshop.  Dr. Grant stated they would get it at the introductory part of the budget.

 Commissioner Holt asked if there would be comparison columns and Dr. Grant stated it would be a lay-out of the format where everything was at, what has come in, etc.

Commissioner Taylor left the meeting at 8:45 p.m.

Commissioner Holt said they would at least need a copy of the old budget.

  Commissioner Hinson asked the Administrator for an update on the Midway EMS.  Dr.  Grant said they have been in communication with them and they were working on an Interlocal Agreement.  Midway requested to delay until the new fiscal year in October and wanted to make proper arrangements for location and equipment.

Chair Viegbesie stepped out at 8:49 p.m.

  Commissioner Hinson then asked about Midway bridge and Dr. Grant said the bridge should be completed September 30^th.

Chair Viegbesie returned at 8:51 p.m.

COUNTY ATTORNEY

16

 Updates

Mr. Knowles had nothing to report.

DISCUSSION ITEMS BY COMMISSIONERS

17.

Report and Discussion of Public Issues

Commissioner Eric Hinson, District 1

   For someone that has been through a hurricane, we have an almost perfect audit rating, if not perfect as well as $4.3 Million in Reserves and says a lot about the Board.

Commissioner Gene Morgan, District 3

  Commissioner Morgan said he had nothing to report.

Commissioner Brenda Holt, District 4

  Commissioner Holt said she could get with the Administrator, but they needed to review the Comp Plan as it needs revising. 

She said when they have a committee that chooses a contractor, those members need to sign a disclosure or a statement that they can not get a subcontract with that contract.

  She said Commissioner Morgan brought up something about the Planning Board not communicating with County Commissioners, and she was under the impression the Sunshine Law stated you could not communicate with someone on the same Board.  She said they were not on the same Board as Planning and Zoning members.  Mr.  Knowles said there is a quasi-judicial action where there is a member of the Board that took action talking to another member of a Board… She asked for something in writing regarding that.

She said they still need to look at a Covid shelter, regular shelter and a special needs shelter; she was not sure where they were with that but when she spoke with Emergency Management, her preference was they need to be on the ground floor with it.

Commissioner Sherrie Taylor Vice-Chair, District 5

Commissioner Anthony “Dr. V” Viegbesie, Chair, District 2

  Chair Viegbesie asked if there was a scheduled emergency meeting tomorrow and was told yes.  He asked, after the meeting, if Dr. Grant could write a brief statement to the Commissioners so they would know what came of the meeting. 

Receipt and File

18.

Department of Health Report 2^nd Quarter

UPCOMING MEETINGS

MOTION TO ADJOURN

 THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE BOARD, CHAIR VIEGBESIE DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:00 P.M.

                                                                                                GADSDEN COUNTY, FLORIDA

                                                                                                ___________________________________________

                                                                                                ANTHONY VIEGBESIE, Chair

                                                                                                Board of County Commissioners

ATTEST:

______________________________________

NICHOLAS THOMAS, Clerk