Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Tuesday. I'm going to ask my colleagues to make their way to the dais as we can get started, as we have a pretty full day. Welcome to the August 4th version of the Augusta Richmond County Commission. Let's see how many we have here. Three. Madam Clerk, it appears we have a quorum. I call this meeting to order. Thank everybody for being here. The time is now 2.02 p.m. Madam Clerk.

Pastor Swartz, thank you so much for your presence here today. Thank you for that prayer. We appreciate everything you do throughout the community. Madam Clerk, let's move on to the recognition portion of our meeting, please. Let's go with the employee recognitions.

Madam Clerk. 1,185 years. I think that's a record, Madam Clerk. That's a lot of years. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give another round of applause. A whole lot of time committed. Serving the community. Serving the community. So many first responses. So great to see so many of those who commit so much. Serving our community. To their careers and to this community. Time away from their homes. All the dangers that they are faced with. Madam Clerk, but we got another recognition for a young man that's truly special. And as I understand, he's a product of this great community. Most importantly, he r

I think that's what Karen... That's what Karen... Pastor, you still here? Can you come say another prayer for Mr. Curry's father, if you don't mind? Ladies and gentlemen, can you just...

All right. It's not a special, ladies and gentlemen, to have a local product to be performing at that level, to be in the top 100 of prospects in the entire country. Another round of applause for Mr. MJ Curry. All right. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the delegation portion of our meeting.

Ms. Gordon, thank you so much for being here. Just as a record, please state your name and your place of residence, please.

Thank you, ma'am. The floor is yours in five minutes.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, another round of applause for the Browns. It is always great to see Karen and the Addisons and all the other great farmers that are essentially feeding our community. And August is Agricultural Month, and agriculture is Georgia's number one industry. You know, Georgia used to be known as the Peach State, but now, did you know blueberries are growing, more blueberries are growing in Georgia than peaches now. Isn't that something? Pecans. So thank you so much for all the great fruits and vegetables and all the healthy food. Item clerk. Yes, sir. Let's move on to

Come on down, ma'am. Ms. Thomas, thank you so much for being here. You can stop right there if you want to do it. That one right there. That podium right there. And if you will, for the right part, are they with you? They're with you. Yes. All right, come on up. They're going to be speaking or they're just here to... Yes. All right, so I need your name and where you live for each of you. Okay. Your name?

My name is Alana Thomas and I'm from Hepstead, Georgia. All right, Thomas, you have five minutes in the floor starting now, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Thank you guys for being here. And the four of you did that in four minutes and about 52 seconds. So thank you all so much. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to move forward with the next delegation item, please.

Mr. Henderson, are you here, sir? Ms. Henderson? Mr. Henderson, how are you, sir? Either side, it doesn't matter. Yes, sir. Mr. Henderson, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence.

All right, sir, you have the floor and you have five minutes.

Mr. Parks, thank you so much. Thank you for giving back to this community. Thank you for providing us with insight regarding your involvement in Mock Academy. Thank you so much. Madam Clerk, seeing no colleagues in the queue, next delegation item, please.

Pastor Parks, thank you for being here, sir. If you will, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence.

You have a gentleman with you. Is he intending on speaking as well?

Deacon, if you will state your name and your place of residence, please.

Thank you, sir. Pastor, you have the floor in five minutes, sir.

Thank you, Pastor. Sit tight. I see the Mayor Pro Tem is in the queue. Mayor Pro Tem, Wayne Yule, the floor is yours, sir.

Pastor Parks, thank you for coming before us. We do need to look at that. If your lots was reduced from four down to two, yes, we should be able to reduce that exposure for the other two lots of $590. Madam Administrator, do you mind if I do, Mr. Mayor, speak with the Administrator? Yes, sir, you may. Madam Administrator, can we get our interim finance to look and address this because it would be generated out of that department or the tax assessor's office and make, you know, I believe you should have verification that you reduced four lots down to two. Yes, sir. I didn't bring it with me, bu

That's no problem. And I do appreciate you coming before us. The way I was looking at when it comes to commercial property, they should be all treated the same because one thing that we do provide churches is, one, it's the service. We put down the infrastructure and roads. We provide police protection, fire protection at no cost. where the rest of us do have to pay for it. And with several commercial properties, I have to pay the same street lights even though none of the buildings have street lights where I'm at. Yes, sir. But I do agree that we do need to reduce the exposure for you, Mr. Pa

Thank you, Mr. Reverend Parks. Deacon, thank you so much for being here. There are no other colleagues in the queue. Thank you so much.

Ms. Jeter, good day, thank you for being here. For the record, please state your name and your residence, please.

Thank you, Ms. Jeter. You have the floor in five minutes.

All right, Ms. Jeter, I'm gonna pause the clock right there. Madam Clerk, just for the record, when she puts in a request for a delegation item, does it need to be in the name of the organization that she represents? Is that what she's standing? Patricia Jeter on behalf of the West Augusta Six Alliance. Is that what you wanted to read?

But your name and also those two entities? Correct. All right. Madam Clerk, is that permissible? All right. Thank you, Ms. Jeter. I'm going to restart the clock. That's noted. Thank you.

For the record. All right. Thank you. Continue.

Ms. Jeter, thank you so much. If you sit tight, I see Commissioner from the first in the queue. Commissioner Jordan-Johnson, the floor is yours, sir.

I'm well, thank you. Just wanted to tell you that I agree with you in that last week at our committee meeting, we did ask the administrator and legal and finance to come together on a program as such. And so we should be getting some type of response back within the, you know, within a decent time so that we can report back on what we can do as a city. But you're absolutely right, and we appreciate you for your advocacy.

Yeah, I absolutely get you. I live, work, and play downtown. And the construction is at my front door right now. And I completely understand and I stand with you and all the business owners in downtown as well. I know that we've been working with the construction team to expedite this process. I believe we are looking at an end date by the end of the year. I hope I'm not misspeaking, but I do know we've been working to expedite that. In regards to the fund conversation, that conversation will be held on the floor and whatever process comes of that, I'm sure we'll be able to work together to di

Thank you, Ms. Jeter. Appreciate it. Commissioner Johnson, thank you. All right. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the next delegation item.

Thank you so much, Mr. Green. Welcome, sir. Good day. Thank you for being here. So you have some illustrations that you need the clerk to put these up for you? You're going to slide it on there and see?

I had to zoom out a little bit. All right, we're gonna get you set up and then we're gonna start the clock, okay? Mr. Green, for the record, please state your name and your place of residence, please. Thank you, sir. That's this already as far as it's gonna zoom out. All right, Mr. Green, you may have to move that around a little bit, okay? To illustrate, but sir, you have a floor in five minutes.

I can certainly do that, sir. I'll let you know when you're at two and a half, two and a half minutes. All right. You got it. You got the floor and I'm starting to clock.

Ms. Green, thank you for being here, sir.

If you will, for the record, please state your name and place of residence. And before you get started, Ms. Kesey, your reason for the delegation is vague in description with next steps. If it pertains to any matter that you had discussed in the last two or three meetings as it relates to data centers or the zoning ordinance, you will be asked to discontinue your delegation.

Thank you. That is not correct, ma'am. I am gonna.

If it's your main two data centers or something that you have spoke.

For the future, can you please state that clearly in your reason for the delegation in the next step? Because it makes it easier and clearer. Please. We're asking.

To be fair and equitable to everybody who's here in the chambers and online and to this process, could you be clear as to what you're speaking to? Because the process says 90 days per topic. So it has, every 90 days, you're allowed to speak if it's germane to a specific topic that you've spoken in the past. Topic. Okay, all right. You have the floor and you have five minutes.

Thank you, Ms. Casey, for being here. I don't see any colleagues in the queue. Madam Clerk, I think that takes us to the consent portion of our agenda. Before we get to that, do we have any additions or addendum items? Yes, sir, we do. Okay.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Colleagues, are there any objections to adding these items to today's agenda? I see Attorney Plunkett, you're an accuser. Is there something you need to add?

Okay, so it's the City of Augusta, Sheriff's Department, and Painkop. All right. All right. Madam Clerk, I don't hear any objection. So those items will be added to today's agenda. All right, let's go through the consent agenda and address any items.

3333 Mike Padgett Highway. Madam Clerk, I see one objector. Are there any others? I only see one, Madam Clerk.

One objector to item number two. All right, colleagues, you have had an opportunity to look through this agenda. Let's get to it. Chair recognizes Commissioner Jordan Johnson from the first.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like the request that we add addendum item two to the consent agenda.

All right, colleagues, it's been requested that we add addendum item two to the consent agenda. Any objection? Hearing none, it's added. Commissioner Johnson regarding item two, have you been in contact with the Sheriff's Office? Is he using it? Okay, all right. Chair recognizes from the 8th, Commissioner Brandon Garrett.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to add item 16 from the regular agenda, and if it's okay with our deputy commissioners, I'd like to add number one as well to the consent agenda from the addendum.

That's item number 16 from the regular agenda, item one from the addendum. Madam Clerk? Yes, sir. I hear no objection. All right. Anyone else? Are we ready to go? All right. Chair recognizes, may approve. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the 8th, Commissioner Brandon Garrett.

I was going to make a motion to approve the agenda as stated.

So moved. There's a motion to approve by Commissioner Brandon Garrett, seconded by Commissioner from the 4th, Commissioner Lonnie Wimberley. Madam Clerk, can you get it on the screen before we vote, please? Yes, sir. It's coming. Number two.

You're exactly right. All right, colleagues. On the screen is correct. We're prepared to vote.

3333 Mike Padgett Highway. Who do we have from the planning department to read this in for record? We do have one objective. All right.

You got it. I'm going to ask the petitioner to come forward and also the objector. Come forward, sir. For the record, please state your name and address.

Thank you, sir. All right. Mr. Objector, you have the floor for the name. For the record, please state your name and place of residence.

All right, so we've got to state your reason for the objection, if you don't mind.

Thank you, Mr. Green. All right, the chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you. Mr. Green, thank you for your concerns about Richmond County. I worried about new liquor stores coming into the area. They're only going to survive based on demand, which we all know that. That's on any kind of business that's out there. But what we have here is not a liquor store. It's a gas station that only sells beer and wine. And they're asking this already existing, and so... I know where you're coming from, but this is not the same battle here, but my motion is to approve. Respectfully.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Madam Clerk, there's a proper motion in the second by Commissioner Brandon Garrett from the 8th. I don't see any colleagues in the queue. We're prepared to vote.

Thank you, Director Cameron. I don't see any colleagues in the queue, so I'm going to ask for approval on this item. All right, Commissioner from the 9th, Commissioner Francine Scott.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. May I address the Director, please? Yes, ma'am. Director Cameron, you said we had old information that the consultant gathered last time. Yes, ma'am. Is this information still relevant in what we are trying to do?

Okay. One final question, Mayor Johnson. In your document, you're saying you're asking for 68 and change. Yes, ma'am. And then at the bottom, you're asking to carry over the 127,000. Is that where you're going to get the 68?

Mayor Johnson, can I hear from Finance, please?

Okay, I'll understand that, but I'll get with you when we finish because that's, you just lost me, but I don't want to prolong. I'll get with you. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Johnson.

Thank you, Commissioner. From the 9th, there's nobody else in the queue. If you're good with it, I will entertain a motion to approve. All right, there's a motion by the Mayor Pro Tem. Second. Second by the Commissioner from the 3rd, Catherine Smith-Rice. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue for further discussion. We're voting.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. Wimbley, while the administrator gets prepared, is there anything you want to start us off with?

I just want to remind the administrator her and I are still friends.

But I do have an opening statement. All right, proceed forward, sir. First, I'd like to express that... I appreciate the work that's going to develop this briefing you're about to do. However, from an operational and government standpoint, I do not believe this briefing provide the commissioner with a complete picture of how this department will function. For example, I still don't have a clear understanding of the department administrative operations. Where's the department physical location? What is the chain of command from the director to the field supervisor? How does the department integ

Thank you, Commissioner Wimberley. Madam Administrator, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Administrator. Commissioner Wimbley, you were in the queue first. This was your item. Is there anything you want to address directly with the Administrator or you want me to go through the other colleagues that are in the queue?

Well, I'll continue to address the administrator, Mr. Matthews, if allowed. All you said is really, really some good flavoring words, but I still have deep concerns. You yourself have said that we want to get some outside agency to come into the department so that agency could help those departments determine what is the proper manning level that they should have. I would think that that would include professions and so forth. You stated that yourself. Now there's a lead that we're talking about we're going to have to transition. Is that a department head director right now? No, sir. So we're

And I won't be long, Mr. Mayor, until tomorrow. But anyway, I'm still a little puzzled. I'm not asking about this in the video. I'm asking about the process. I think my long history of operational readiness say to me that what I'm looking at right now is not ready. And I understand you say there's more information to come, and I appreciate that. But when we roll something out here to the public, based on you saying that department heads, right now, $100,000 plus individuals, need to have somebody come to their department and help them determine what is the proper organization structure they sh

All right, thank you, Commissioner Wembley. Let's get through the queue. Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, this whole department here that we're trying to develop We did not want to rush it. It was passed, started back in March because the challenges that we face as commissioners, so which department do we call on to get anything cut? There was numerous departments. I can imagine that there's some departments that's challenging anything moving forward. But if you look at what's best for this organization, it's to be organized. I know that central service, was voted on, and within 30 days, that place was up in operation. We should have took our time on that one, but

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Chair recognizes Commissioner from the First. Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Administrator Allen, a couple questions for you. I think that you answered majority of the questions that I had, but I have a few more. I know in our last budget cycle, we discussed engaging in some contract renegotiations. You said that we have $5.8 million in contracts that we are going to assign to this department. Does that include what we're discussing regarding renegotiating contracts and scope of works and services and things of that nature?

Are those contracts paid? I guess, are they paid? monthly, are they paid by the hour, are they paid by the project, or do they vary the way that those services are paid?

Okay. And you mentioned stakeholders came to the table. Are you at liberty to share with community stakeholders you engage?

Okay. Where does ACE fall into all of this? Because we had a conversation about putting that back on the street. Has that bid gone back out on the street? For ACE, no, it has not. Okay. Are we still talking about putting it on the street?

Okay. All right. You know, I have a real concern about the sustainability of the department long-term. Are you confident that this department could... could still be in existence over the next, you know, three to four years, or we're just talking like right now, just for the next fiscal year. I mean, I guess my biggest concern about the whole thing is just the sustainability of it, is are we going to be able to sustain the department long-term?

Yeah. I guess when I mentioned the sustainability, I'm speaking more so financially. Yes. If we're faced with approving this department now with the dollars that we have now, what I don't want to happen is what happened last budget cycle when you told us the house was on fire and we had to figure out how to put the fire out. If we create this department with dollars that we have now and then a couple of years from now or next year we come back and realize we can't afford it, what are we gonna do? And I think that is where I think that we should spend majority of our time talking about this dep

Okay. Do we know that to be And I'm going to ask it this way. And please just hear me out. I know that when we ask departments to do things, they do it just because they've been asked to do it. Right. They do it because that was the truth. Well, I mean, even kicking and screaming, they still do it. and they may not actually give us a full snapshot of how it's going to impact the department, right? So I don't know how to ask you whether or not this is, if they've shared that information, but I would like to get some clarity on that. You know, it could be email in your update. Just what impact w

Thank you, Commissioner Johnson. Chair recognizes. Commissioner Stacy pulling from the second.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson. Administrator Allen, thank you for the work you've put into this presentation, and I know we've been having these discussions for a while, so thank you and everyone involved in getting this information together. I have a few questions. My first question is in regards to the five point, I'm just going to use like round numbers, in regards to the 5.8 million, is that, how much of that is allocated to contractors? All of that is all of that. Okay, awesome. So that means that these numbers that we've created, we've used our current contract pricing. Right? Because these a

Okay. So once we stand this department up, are we going to then put the contracts out for rebids?

Okay. So with that, I know we've had some discussions. I've mentioned it on the floor before as it pertains to having... THE WAY WE PUT THEM OUT. SO I RECENTLY AND MAYOR JOHNSON, MAY I ADDRESS ATTORNEY PLUNKETT? YES, MA'AM. ATTORNEY PLUNKETT, I HAD RECENTLY ASKED SOME QUESTIONS SOME MONTHS AGO REGARDING RFIs. and sources sought so request for information that way when we're putting this out there before we actually do our RFQ are we getting just a gauge as to how much these contractors would charge for these services? Do you have an answer as to whether or not we have in the past practice doin

Okay. And it's not just to gauge who's going to respond, but also as we start to talk about pricing. And I don't know whether or not it's common practice for us to do firm fixed pricing in any of our contracts versus allowing the contractors just to submit their proposals in their dollar amounts.

Thank you, Attorney Plunkett. Administrator Allen, yes. That information is pertinent to making this decision because if we don't have a gauge, the $5.8 million is what we're currently paying, but we're saying that we're putting these contracts back out for bid. And so in doing that, we don't know what's going to come back to us. I would like answers to the questions that I just posed to Attorney Plunkett, and I know you'll be working with him on answers to those questions. My next question is regarding Everything that I'm looking at in the draft budget allocation is what we are currently payi

Okay, and thank you for that response. The RFI question was actually a question that I asked the very first presentation and I was told that I was putting the cart before the horse and I was moving ahead of things. When in fact, if we're wanting to get a clearer picture of what the budget would be, that is a tool that we could use to do that. Because when you're doing requests for information and sources sought, you're actually going out and you're saying about how much would these services cost. And then we can decide if we want to offer firm fixed pricing, if that is industry standard or wit

Thank you, Commissioner Pulliam. Commissioner Lerner-Whimley, you're back in the queue, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm gonna address the administrator. All right, continue. I'm still, I've listened to all of this and I still don't have a good feeling. I want you to be successful. I want Augusta to be successful. I want the citizens to have a successful outcome with this new department. I am not against it, okay? What I am against is how I see it coming forward. what I was thinking that we will be doing is trying to set a budget and then determine what it is, how we gonna get that to make that work. And the budget should drive how many people we gonna have, how much equipment we gonna have, and then see if

Thank you, Commissioner Wembley. You know, I'm going to chime in in that, you know, it was said that we spent over $8 million cutting the grass and yet we still get complaints about the condition of our city. As you know, economic development is a driver that helps us to create jobs and opportunities. It shows those that are interested in investing in Augusta that we care. It should look no different rather you travel across the 13th Street Bridge, through the Rossner Road corridor, or through Highway 1 corridor, we have a responsibility to this community and to our economic developers of main

it's still an atrocious condition. So if we don't get out of the grass cutting business, we either contract it all out or you plant artificial grass, but we do it to the city as we grow, that we maintain it. So Commissioner Brandon Garrett, the floor is yours, sir.

Thank you, Mayor. Just listening to this discussion, I'm really confused in regards to whether the actions that took place earlier this year in February 2020 to move forward with creating this department to create a better product is where this commission body is still wanting to go. I will say that During my tenure up here, Dr. Malik has been able to renegotiate contracts and has drastically lowered the price per mile that we were paying just four or five years ago. So I will say that if we do put these RFQs or RFIs out on the street to take a look to see what the price would be. We're not go

Thank you, Commissioner Garrett. There's a motion to stop the process. Is there a second? There's a second by Commissioner Tina Slendak. Madam Clerk, I don't see any colleagues in the queue who are prepared to vote.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Chair, recognize Commissioner from the first, Commissioner Jordan Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

What I'll say is that we have been having conversation for quite some time, and I will agree with the administrator that She can only do what we ask her to do. which is what we're doing, asking for more information, asking for the kinks to be ironed out. And I don't think that's too much, right? I don't think that's too much. I don't think that is too much at all. I've said it every budget cycle and I have a feeling I'm gonna be saying it again. This budget cycle is that if we are not funding our expectation, what we expect to happen just simply won't happen. Cemeteries aren't getting cut beca

Thank you, Commissioner Johnson. Madam Clerk, I don't see any other colleagues in the queue, so if it's all right with this body, there are no objections. We're going to receive this information without objection. I don't hear any objections, Madam Clerk. Madam Clerk, Mayor Pro Tem has requested a personal privilege. Mayor Pro Tem Guilfoyle, you have the floor, sir.

Madam Clerk, last week we spoke about the three air conditioners for the parts and wrecks and the safety device to keep from it is still in it. Did somebody pull it? Because it's not on the agenda this week. Are we just going to put it on the next commission agenda? Okay. Thank you so much. Committee only.

Is that something that's important to get the air conditioner fixed in parts and wreck that we need to approve that? Director, do we need that to... Has the work been done or do we need that in order to get air conditioning back in Jamestown, as I remember?

Okay, so it's already been done, all right?

Okay. Director, Mayor Pro Tem has a question.

Director Williams, my question wasn't going to be, I don't want to catch you off guard next time this comes up. I would like for you to do some homework on how we got to this point. We're spending right at $25,000 on three air conditioners, but we're spending $27,000 on a fence or some kind of contraption to protect these three air conditioners. So one, I will be asking who come up with that solution. Two, was there any other solutions such as cameras, et cetera? So that will be coming up.

Okay. That will be coming up. Thank you, Commissioner, Mayor Pro Tem, Wayne Gifford. Madam Clerk, is there any other business before this body? No, sir. There's not. This meeting is hereby adjourned. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here. Have a great afternoon.