|
Work Session Notes Page 1 March 4, 2004 Present: COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Scott Dean, Mayor Pro tem Robin M. Root, Councilman Tom Blalock, and Councilman Rudolph Dixon; City Manager Jean R. Dove, City Clerk Debra E. Moore, and City Attorney Drew Demott. ABSENT: Councilman John Thigpen. VISITORS: Rosemary Dixon, Daniel Cason, Kelli Fulford, and John McClellan. The Work Session was called to order by Mayor Dean at 6:30 p.m. The Invocation was given by Councilman Dixon. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Public Works Superintendent Daniel Cason. Project Updates- a. Wastewater Treatment Plant-A ten day notice had been given to Mark Vaughn of Ridge Environmental to vacate the premises. His ten days are up today, March 4, 2004. John McClellan recommends giving him until Friday, March 5, 2004. The concrete apron was poured yesterday, March 3, 2004. The electrician was to show up, but according to Superintendent Cason he has not. Mark Vaughn turned in a notebook that included items of work that he said had been done and he wanted to get paid for, but the items had not been completed in the time allotted. City Manager Dove will give the notebook to Attorney Demott to look over. Mr. McClellan would like a copy of the letter sent to Mark Vaughn stating there would be liquidated damages starting February 2, 2004 at $400.00 per day; the liquidated damages would end on the tenth working day (March 5, 2004). Council will need to take action on the quotes received for the slip line work; Mayor Dean asked City Manager Dove to put it on the agenda for Monday’s council meeting. b. TE Project-Mr. McClellan is still waiting on the right of way information. John Harris is to get the information to Mr. McClellan tomorrow, March 5. c. Shady Grove Subdivision/McArthur Drive-Mr. McClellan reported that there were more easements needed than what were shown on the earlier subdivision plan. Mike Baldwin is getting the information together. The plans are virtually finished. The point repair work on the sewer lines will be included. There have been some problems with the original contractor (in Soperton); the next contractor was $12,800.00 higher. There was no contract signed previously with the original contractor. Attorney Demott will look into the feasibility of getting out of. Dieter Beck has agreed to the easement on his empty wooded lot. Where the easement was, there is a line of crate myrtles that we would have had to possibly pay $200.00 per tree. This will keep off the owner’s property who does not want to give an easement. Mayor Dean asked Mr. McClellan when we would be able to go to bid on this project; Mr. McClellan responded that we should be able to go to bid late March early April. If the bid date is any later, we need to proceed with the point repair.
Work Session Notes Page 2 March 4, 2004 SPLOST Funds-The City has asked for the 2.7% it received with the 2001-2005 SPLOST. In Tier I, we are asking for $1.4m to be dedicated to Water/Sewer projects. Columbia County is looking to bond out the first Tier ($52m); the money could possibly be available September 2004. CDBG-The application has been completed; Rita to get copies to Jean. Town Meetings-There have been two meeting dates and times set up to meet with citizens from both inside and outside the city limits to discuss the Fire Study and annexation. They are as follows: March 16 at 6:30 p.m. and March 27 at 10:00 a.m. They will be held at the Harlem High School Auditorium. Fire Study-Columbia County has moved ahead; they conceded and are willing to work with the Cities. They are now looking at two possibilities of payment to the Cities; one would be a lump sum payment, the other would be on a per call basis. Mayor Dean could see a percent of the lump sum and per call basis. City Manager Dove stated that the per call basis would make it hard to come up with a budget for the Fire Department. Councilman Blalock reiterated that there would be no tax levied on the citizens inside the city limits. Probation and Solicitor-Police Department-Chief Baldwin wanted to look into doing our own probation as he felt we were not getting the service from our current probation contractor. Upon investigation, City Manager Dove discovered the contract we have with CSRA Probation had an automatic renewal and that renewal happened at the end of February 2004. Chief Baldwin also wants to hire a solicitor for court; he is recommending Attorney Bob Cofer. Chief Baldwin will bring more information to Council on Monday. SPLOST Funds-See previous notes under “Project Updates”. Columbia County is predicting receipt of the following: Tier I $52m Tier II $10m Tier III $33m Zoning Ordinance-Mayor Dean reported that he and City Manager Dove had gone over the PUD information for Madison, Grovetown and Columbia County. They found that Grovetown’s was very vague and Columbia County’s was confusing. City Manager Dove recommended going with Madison’s minus the mobile homes, etc. Few changes will need to be made. She recommends putting it in place on an interim basis until ours is completed. City Manager Dove will get copies of the complete Madison zoning to Council to read over for Monday.
Work Session Notes Page 3 March 4, 2004 Announcements- March 5 Movie Night at the Museum 7 p.m. March 6 Trash to Treasures March 6 Fire Department Retirement Dinner Harlem Baptist Church 7 p.m. Other-Councilman Blalock reported that he had a 1948 postage stamp that recognized volunteer firemen. He would like to present it to the Fire Department with Council’s approval. Kelli Fulford of First National Bank in Grovetown has come to solicit business from the City. She would like Council to consider transferring funds to FNB. We would receive interest on the accounts in the amount of 40% of prime and the bank charges would run $25.00 per month. She presented a port folio to City Manager Dove and Council. The work session closed at 7:27 p.m.
Regular Meeting, City of Harlem, Georgia Page 2140 March 8, 2004 Harlem City Hall The City Council of the City of Harlem, Georgia met for the Regular Meeting on Monday, March 8, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall with Mayor Scott Dean presiding. Present: COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Scott Dean, Mayor Pro tem Robin Root, Councilman Tom Blalock, Councilman Rudolph Dixon, and Councilman John Thigpen; City Manager Jean R. Dove, City Clerk Debra E. Moore, and City Attorney Drew Demott. VISITORS: See attached list. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Dean at 7:00 p.m. The Invocation was given by Councilman Dixon. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Blalock. Approval of the Minutes-A motion was made by Councilman Thigpen to accept the Minutes of the February 5, 2004 Called Meeting and the February 9, 2004 Regular Meeting; 2nd by Councilman Dixon. Motion carried; all in favor. Reports-The following reports were given for the month of February 2004: Administrative- City Manager Dove reported that Robert Hoffman of the Police Department, Todd Baldwin and Wayne Davis of the Public Works Department will be working in the Fire Department on an interim basis until a decision is made on the Fire Study. The RBEG Grant was submitted on Feb. 27; the total is $99,000.00. This will be used in addition to the TE Grant for the Streetscape project. She has also applied for a Historic Grant in the amount of $5,450.00. This is a 60/40 Grant to be used to complete the historic property survey. Police Dept. - Chief Jerry Baldwin Fire Dept. - Chief Raymond Fulcher reported training hours for the month of February totaled eight. They did search and rescue training at the old George T. White School. ITT Dept. - Mayor Scott Dean Public Works- Superintendent Daniel Cason UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Project Updates- a. Wastewater Treatment Plant-John McClellan reported that Ridge Environmental has finished; they have a few items left on their punch list. They have removed themselves from the property. The liner is the next step. Mr. McClellan has received two bids. Regular Meeting, City of Harlem, Georgia Page 2141 March 8, 2004 Continued from page 2140 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Project Updates (continued): a. Wastewater Treatment Plant (cont’d)-Team Excavation will do the project for $46,000.00 plus clean out anything left in the basin, install the liner and baffles. Superintendent Cason asked if they would fix the aerators and they would. Mayor Dean stated that we needed to proceed with the liner and asked how long it would take for them to complete the project. Mr. McClellan was to get a time limit. A motion was made by Councilman Thigpen to proceed with Team Excavation and for them to complete the project expeditiously; 2nd by Councilman Dixon. Motion carried; all in favor. Superintendent Cason reported that he was currently pumping water out of the pond. b. Rehab on the Sewer Lines-Mr. McClellan received a price from Hardy Plumbing; it was approximately $10,000.00. He spoke previously about incorporating it with the Shady Grove project. We could possibly save a couple of thousand if incorporated. Council feels we need to proceed. A motion was made by Council Blalock to proceed with the point repair on the sewer line and award the project to Hardy Plumbing; 2nd by Mayor Pro tem Root. Motion carried; all in favor. c. Shady Grove Sewer Project/McArthur Drive-Mr. McClellan reported that there were more easements out there than what were previously known before. They are correcting the maps accordingly. The plans are pretty much finished. He is getting the easements together for Jean. d. TE Project-Has not heard back from John Harris at this time. He has spoke with Roger Price of DOT. They are looking at the intersection at Highway 221 and 78. They are considering taking over this portion of the project. CDBG Grant-Patsy Allen of Allen Smith Consulting has reviewed this year’s application. DCA’s comments have been addressed. This is a resubmittal of last year’s application. A motion was made by Councilman Blalock to designate a cash match of $100,000.00 for the CDBG project; 2nd by Councilman Thigpen. Motion carried; all in favor. Fire Study-Mayor Dean asked City Manager Dove if she had received any response from Columbia County; she responded that the only response she had at this time was from Pam Tucker requesting the fire reports from 2003. Planning & Zoning Ordinance-This resolution is to put into place on an interim basis a PUD Ordinance fashioned after the City of Grovetown’s until RDC can complete ours. A motion was made by Councilman Dixon to accept the resolution; 2nd by Councilman Thigpen. Motion carried; all in favor. Regular Meeting, City of Harlem, Georgia Page 2142 March 8, 2004 Continued from page 2141 NEW BUSINESS: Employee Health Insurance-At the request of the employees, we have looked into going back to Blue Cross Blue Shield for their Health Coverage. There was an increase of about 18% for the renewal with United Healthcare. The rates with Blue Cross and Blue Shield were comparable to that of United Healthcare but there were no deductibles; this was their biggest complaint. Council will need to approve the change. A motion was made by Mayor Pro tem Root to accept Blue Cross Blue Shield as the new health coverage for the employees; 2nd by Councilman Blalock. Motion carried; all in favor. Request for Annexation-Rob Wren & Sid Beckum-Mayor Dean read a request he had received from Rob Wren of Hardy Station, LLC. City Manager Dove to send the request to the County; they have five days to respond. City Manager Dove will have the ordinance for the next council meeting or called meeting. After that, it will then go to justice. A motion was made by Councilman Dixon to accept the request of Rob Wren of Hardy Station, LLC for annexation of the property located on Highway 221; 2nd by Councilman Blalock. Motion carried; all in favor. Announcements- March 11 Women in Business Breakfast 8 am March 11 Harlem Woman’s Club Meeting 4 pm March 12 Movie Night at Museum 7 pm March 13 Elvis Concert at High School 7 pm March 15 Chamber Ribbon Cuttings a) Farmer’s Daughter 10 am b) Renee Dean Photography 10:30 am c) Farm Bureau 11 am d) Harlem House Restaurant 11:30 am March 16 Garden Club 4 pm March 16 Town Meeting at Harlem High School 6:30 pm March 20 Clean Up Gordon Highway 8 am – 10 am March 20 A Day in the Park Gospel Concerts 12 pm to 7 pm March 23 Jail N Bail March 25 Bingo at BG’s 7 pm March 26 Movie at Museum 7 pm March 27 Town Meeting at Harlem High School 10 am March 28 Spaghetti Dinner Ollie’s Army April 2 New Comers at Library 6:30 pm April 3 Easter Egg Hunt 1 pm April 3 Movie Night 7 pm April 8 Work Session 6:30 pm March 20 Tall Tales Session at the Library 7pm Regular Meeting, City of Harlem, Georgia Page 2143 March 8, 2004 Continued from page 2142 NEW BUSINESS (cont’d): Public Comment-Mike Rorick reported on some solid waste issues. Other-None at this time. A motion was made by Councilman Dixon to adjourn the meeting; 2nd by Councilman Blalock. Motion carried; all in favor. The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Debra E. Moore VISITORS LIST OF THE MARCH 8, 2004 REGULAR MEETING: Rosemary Dixon |