HomeMy WebLinkAboutCalled Commission Meeting April 30, 2019
CALLED MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER
April 30, 2019
Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 30, 2019,
the Honorable Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding.
PRESENT: Hons. B. Williams, Garrett, Sias, Fennoy, Frantom, M. Williams, Davis, D.
Williams, Hasan and Clarke, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission.
Mr. Mayor: We’re going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. This portion of our
meeting, this is a special called meeting with a start time of 11:00 that you have received notice
regarding. We’re going to address the matters of the special called meeting after which point in
time I’ll entertain a motion from the Commission to go into executive session. To those who are
here regarding zoning matter, zoning request Z-19-06, 2665 Tobacco Road, that matter is not being
addressed in this special called meeting. If you’re here for that purpose, that will be handled during
the committee meetings which begin at 1:00. It is currently scheduled to be Item #8 on the
Administrative Services agenda. Again, if you’re here for the 2665 Tobacco Road zoning matter,
that will be addressed during Administrative Services Committee meeting at 1:00.
All right. To those who are here for the item on the special called meeting agenda, each of the
representatives that are on the agenda to speak will be given five minutes to speak. Upon
approaching the dias, podium, if you would state for the record your name and your address and
who you are representing in the matter of Item #1 on the special called agenda, i.e. the Hale House
Treatment Facility. Madam Clerk.
1. Z-19-08 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Planning Commission to deny
a petition by The Hale Foundation Inc. requested a special Exception to establish an
In-patient Drug and Alcohol Treatment Facility per Section 26-1-(g) of the
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for Augusta, Georgia affecting property
containing approximately 20.65 acres and known as 3042 Eagle Drive. Tax Map 109-
0-001-00-0 DISTRICT 6. (Deferred from the March 19, 2019 Commission Meeting)
Mr. Mayor: All right. This item was continued from our previous meeting at the request
of the petitioners to a date certain, that date being today, April 30. At this time we have the
petitioner. I want to give them an opportunity to come and speak. I believe it was attorney Jim
Trotter who was representing the organization. If you’ll come and speak at this time. You have
five minutes.
Mr. Trotter: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: All right, suspend for a moment. I’ll recognize the commissioner from the
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4. All right, I’ll recognize the commissioner from the 6.
Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, you’ve got two representatives. You have
Mr. Ed Tarver, attorney Ed Tarver, and you have Howard Bush or Brian Bush. They’re on a
separate part to, wanted to address this issue and then at that particular time it gets to the
representative. They have made the request like on the delegation part of the agenda. This is the
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delegation part that they requested to be there and then the representative is going to speak on
behalf of Hale House directly I think is State Senator Harold Jones so these two persons, two and
three, are actually delegation part of this agenda, that nobody from, what you call them would have
had the same opportunity requested to be on the delegation portion of the agenda.
Mr. Mayor: So there is no delegation portion of the agenda. What I have before me as
presented by the Clerk of Commission are again Item 1 and the petitioner speaking is Attorney –
Mr. Trotter: Mayor, I’m happy to wait until after –
Mr. Mayor: Okay and then I have as you read here who called and signed up Tarver, Bush
and Bush, and so to that end, there’s also a fourth item and that’s a motion to approve a resolution.
We’re going to deal with all of these matters here now before we go into executive session.
Everybody’s going to get the same amount of time and then we’ll address those matters.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, can I respond to your comments just then. I do have a problem
with what you said, Mr. Mayor, if you take the agenda literally and don’t deem this as being that
portion of the agenda as with the delegation part then what happens is the representative from the
Hale House would not speak because he’s not on the agenda.
Mr. Mayor: Well –
Mr. Hasan: Speaking literally.
Mr. Mayor: Well, so let me take it as the Chair. All right, attorney.
Mr. Trotter: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I came down here with a flashdrive with a power
point presentation, I’ve got handouts, I’ve got pictures, I’ve got facts, I’ve got studies and as I sat
here over the last twenty minutes, I’m going to put it all away because ya’ll know all of that.
We’ve all talked to you, with people from the Green Meadows neighborhood, I’ve talked to ya’ll,
ya’ll know the facts. The facts are important but I think there’s a bigger picture here. I don’t know
that the facts are really what are driving this. I can argue all day long about property values, I can
argue all day long about crime stats. They can argue all day long about them. They can give you
studies. I can give you studies. None of that is going to make any difference. We can talk about
access all day long and we did delay this to show a site plan for access. And as I’ve told several
of you and I’ve made it clear to Mr. Brown and I’ve made it clear to Mr. Sherman we do not have
an agreement in place with the Board of Education. The Board of Education has said if you obtain
the zoning, come back to us for the access. I’m not trying to represent anything by the Board of
Education other than that. We believe we can get it if the zoning is approved, but we would like
the zoning to be contingent upon obtaining that access. I can show you pictures of the park we
would build for them. I don’t know that that makes a whole lot of difference. We’ve tried. I can
show you pictures of the seven foot wall and garden we would build at the end of Eagle Drive to
block off Eagle Drive. I’ve sent you emails of that. I don’t know that that makes any difference
today. This is truly a difficult issue. But let me talk about what’s it not and this is really interesting.
A lot of people throughout this process have asked me if it’s a black and white issue and
remarkably it’s not. There are really good people, black and white, on both sides of this issue.
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The Hale House doesn’t just treat white people or black people. There are really good people of
both colors in that neighborhood and there are really good people of both colors who support the
Hale House. This is not one part of town versus another part of town. Hale House treats people
from all socio-economic classes from all over this community. They have done so for over twenty
years. They do not discriminate based off of who is coming to them. They treat anyone who wants
to be treated by the Hale House and they have done so with remarkable success. So all those things
that seem to cloud a lot of issues down here don’t cloud this one I don’t believe. This is about this
body having an opportunity to do something that we believe is right for the entire community of
Augusta. We’ve heard a lot about One Augusta and this body is presented difficult decisions a lot.
I do not envy any of you. I have no desire to be any of you, no desire to be a commissioner because
of the difficult decisions you’ve got to make. But many times those difficult decisions involve
making a choice to do right by the entire city over the objections of one area, one neighborhood,
one group and those are difficult decisions to make. This one is especially difficult. I can’t argue
with anything the people from that, from Green Meadows are saying. I understand their concerns.
I believe we’ve addressed them all. I believe all of our plans to secure this property, to access this
property have addressed their concerns and if this facility is developed there, they will never have
a problem with it. Hale House has a twenty plus year history of running a good, clean operation
in Olde Town. But I understand their concerns. As I’ve said many times before you and the
Planning Commission, it is an awkward piece of property. But it is the Hale House’s piece of
property. They have bought it. When they bought it, they knew to do what they wanted to do with
it. They had to get it rezoned and are here to do so. But it is their property and there are property
rights subject to zoning laws that have to be respected in this state and in this country. We’re
asking you to make that difficult decision for the benefit of this entire community today. Thank
you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. Are there any questions for the attorney, Attorney Trotter? Are
you prepared for a series of questions?
Mr. Trotter: Absolutely.
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 4.
Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. Mr. Trotter, I appreciate your comments about the task that this
body always has before it. The one thing that has concerned me the most in this process is that
there was an opportunity for another development to go there and they were aware and talked with
the neighborhood and found out that that was really objectable by the neighborhood. The
neighborhood objected to that and they decided not to do that. The first question I have for you is
in obtaining this property, or the Hale House obtaining this property, were they completely aware
that there was an objection to, by the neighborhood, a strenuous objection to this type of facility
going in their neighborhood?
Mr. Trotter: Commissioner Sias, I’m not exactly sure what they were aware of when they
bought it in December of ’17, but you’re right, there was a prior company from out of town, I think
they were from Kansas City, that was trying to open a facility on that property and they eventually
withdrew their request. As I’ve explained several times the Hale House is an entirely different
organization than that and looking to do an entirely different type of facility than what they were
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doing. This is not a halfway house. This is not somewhere where the judges of our circuit send
people where they have to go. This is an entirely voluntary facility for people who want to get
clean.
Mr. Sias: My last comment on that at the moment will be, Mr. Trotter, you’re exactly right
about protecting the property rights of and respecting the laws of Georgia and this country but I
also bring to your attention that many of the decisions this body makes if it were not to have this
subjective type concept, this body would not operate because if it were simply cut and dried, it
would not be necessary to come before this body. It would simply be adjudicated or based simply
on what the law states. But this is a subjective process when we deal with the community and the
needs and requirements of a community. That is subjective, many things are subjective so just
want to remind you of that as well that we have to do that and that means listening to the groups,
neighborhood folks and other folks who have issues and concerns about what is going on in this
city and I have great respect for you and I also have great respect for the folks in Green Meadows
as well. My upbringing was neighborhood associations and fighting for what’s best for a
neighborhood. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. All right, Attorney Brown, if you’ll share that information.
Mr. Brown: Just for the record, Mr. Trotter, so that the board will be clear, your request
has been amended, if I’m correct and I’m asking you to verify it, had been amended by a change
in your preliminary development plan, so you’re presenting that to the board?
Mr. Trotter: Yes, it’s the one I submitted to the Planning Department on March 26 or 27 I
believe.
Mr. Brown: If I may I’ll verify so we can mark it.
Mr. Trotter: That’s correct.
Mr. Brown: We will mark it by the Clerk as Exhibit 1. It may be helpful if you make it
clear to the board where the entrance is and exit would be on that plan and how the neighborhood
would be closed off if that is the case.
Mr. Trotter: That plan we submitted after the March 19 meeting shows a proposed
driveway off of the Board of Education property that currently has the Technical School on the
back up along Bobby Jones Expressway. We have shown it to the Board of Education through
their attorney and again, if we obtain the special exception today, we would then go to the Board
of Education to work with them on obtaining that access and as I’ve said before if that access is
ultimately not granted for any reason or can’t be worked out for any reason, then we would lose
our special exception and we’d have to go to plan B, whatever plan B and C may be. But we have
shown a proposed access and we’ve shown closing off the access through Eagle Drive.
Mr. Brown: Thank you.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you. All right, our next speaker is Mr. Ed Tarver. You have
five minutes.
2. Mr. Ed Tarver regarding opposition to the Rezoning Application for a Special
Exception submitted on behalf of The Hale Foundation, Inc. for the following
property address 3042 Eagle Drive. Map/Parcel#: 109-0-001-00-0.
Mr. Tarver: Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission. I’ve been
contacted by the Green Meadows neighborhood to look at this issue from some of the legal issues
involved. My name is Edward J. Tarver. Office address is 3540 Wheeler Road, Suite 312,
Augusta, Georgia 30909. And I want to begin by acknowledging the Green Meadows neighbors
acknowledge and commend the Hale Foundation for its 28 years of supporting treatment of those
with addiction and substance abuse. Their objection to the application for rezoning has nothing to
do with the quality of the service or their commitment to addiction and support for those who are
suffering from substance abuse. We recognize that this is an issue that is important to the city of
Augusta and we know that that’s seen by the fact that Augusta is participating with hundreds of
municipalities across the country and their response to the opioid epidemic. That the city has taken
great steps to address those who are suffering from these conditions. However, the Green
Meadows neighborhood believes that the responsibility for waging this war against substance
abuse and addiction should be shared equally and that no one community should suffer the burden
any more than any other community, and that this application as proposed would place a
disproportionate burden on their community and the response or the results from allowing that
facility to be constructed in the Green Meadows neighborhood. The residents challenge the
proposed land use as inconsistent with existing zoning. You know one of the things that’s
challenged is the procedural method that we are encountering with this matter. It was my
understanding that one of the reasons that this matter was continued initially was to provide the
Hale Foundation with an opportunity to work out the access issues. I appreciate Mr. Trotter letting
us know up front that those access issues have not been worked out. One of the issues that we
would raise is that maybe this proceeding is premature in that we’re considering changing the
zoning prior to having a viable plan for accessing the property and that would certainly seem to be
out of sequence but certainly we would remind the Commission that this matter was initially
continued to allow them to gain that access which they were not able to do. But we would point
out that in Georgia neighbors have the standing to seek a declaration of the effect that a vote
granting a rezoning application would have on the neighborhood. This standing provides the
neighbors with the ability to challenge the merits of the rezoning decision. It allows them to
identify procedural flaws in the process and it also allows them to pursue claims of conflict of
interest. In this matter the neighbors challenge whether the city followed Augusta’s procedures
and the city ordinances. The failure to follow its own procedures could result in the rezoning
decision being deemed defective. The court has repeatedly required strict compliance with the
notice of requirements for zoning ordinances and we don’t believe that strict compliance has been
followed in this case. It would be extremely unfortunate if the Commission disregarded the
recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board and also ignored the public outcry from the
Green Meadows neighbors by approving the application by the Hale Foundation to allow the use
of that property for an in-patient drug and alcohol treatment center. In similar matters in Georgia
courts have found that actions of this type would be a manifest abuse of the zoning power to the
oppression of the neighbors and there is case law in the state that uses that exact language when
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addressing matters like this. Undesirable land use has disproportionally damaged the social
economic characteristics of neighborhoods like Green Meadows. Historically the characteristics
of neighborhoods that are proposed as host locations for facilities like this and that the residents
of the neighborhood view as undesirable indicate that there is some manner of unfairness in the
process that was used to come to that decision. The residents have a legitimate fear that the
proposed land use in their neighborhood will result in the diminution of the value of their property
and will drastically change the demographics of the neighborhood going forward. For the reasons
discussed the Green Meadows neighbors have asked that the Augusta Commission adopt the
recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board and deny this application.
Mr. Mayor: Your time has expired. Are there any questions for Attorney Tarver? All
right, there are no questions. All right, our final speaker on this matter will be Messrs. Howard
Bush and Brian Bush. You have a total of five minutes.
3. Messrs. Howard Bush and/or Brian Bush regarding general opposition to the Special
Exception requested by the Hale House Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Bush: My name is Brian C. Bush. My office address is 462 Telfair Street, here in
Augusta. I represent Howard Bush. Howard Bush is the property owner of two pieces of
residential real estate. Both of those pieces adjoin the property in question on Eagle Drive and
Howard Bush does agree with the statements made by Attorney Tarver here just before in reference
to the legalities, the procedural matters and so forth and the only things that I can really add, he’s
basically hit most of the high points there, is that back in March there was a meeting before the
Planning Commission and in that meeting I believe it was Director Sherman read off a portion of
the ordinance, same ordinance that’s been in effect for a long period of time here, the Hale
Foundation knew or should have known that in order to succeed they had to submit a preliminary
development plan and that ordinance section continues to state that that plan must show the
location of all curb cuts, driving lanes, parking areas and the location of all walls, fences, screening,
plantings that exist or are planned. And so therefore anything that was to be planned to be
constructed, if this exception had been granted, needed to be shown on that preliminary plan. And
again, I do not believe that the procedural matters for the special exception have been followed so
we agree with Attorney Tarver that it should be denied. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. Are there any questions for Attorney Bush? All right. The
Chair recognizes Attorney Brown.
Mr. Brown: If it is the pleasure of the Chair and the board, the Planning Department does
have a brief statement to make to help establish the record that the board has considered the advice
of its research department.
Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes Rob Sherman and Ms. Burgess.
Ms. Burgess: Good afternoon. Mary Elizabeth Burgess, Development Services Manager.
Attorney Brown wanted me to just briefly go over just a couple of points that we have regarding
the sections that both attorneys have referenced in this case. So with regard to the Hale House and
its current location, they are completely correct when they speak about the special exceptions and
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they are allowed in any zone. That the use is deemed essential or desirable to the public
convenience or welfare and are in harmony with the various elements and objectives of the
comprehensive plan. Transition homes are allowed by right in a B-1 and by special exception in
a professional zone, a residential zone and an agricultural zone. With regards to this property they
are proposing the 30-bed in patient drug and alcohol treatment which will last 30 to 40 days in
stay. The patients will not be allowed to leave the premises while in recovery and they are
projecting about 20 employees. The plan that we had received as part of the addendum has the
new entrance and just for the members to see this a little bit more clear. You see the residential
development, the sub-division to the east and the proposed new entrance along Georgia Tech
Drive. As stated before the Planning Commission did recommend denial because they did not feel
that the special exception conditions have been met as part of the criteria for this case so that being
said the Planning Commission has not seen this additional plan as it was part of the addendum. If
there are any questions, I can address them.
Mr. Mayor: Are there any questions for Ms. Burgess? Okay. The Chair recognizes the
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commissioner from the 1. Please speak into the microphone.
Mr. Fennoy: This is the first time you have seen the changes that the Hale Foundation is
proposing?
Ms. Burgess: We received the site plan on March 27 and that‘s when we reviewed it after
the Planning Commission had already made their decision.
Mr. Fennoy: Okay and had you received this earlier, would it have made a difference on,
I mean the decision of the Planning Commission would have been any different?
Ms. Burgess: I can’t speak directly for what the Planning Commission may have voted but
they did represent that if they had an additional plan, things may have been different.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk –
Mr. Hasan: Excuse me, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: No, sir. I’m coming back to you. Madam Clerk, if we could get an accounting
of who is here both in support and in opposition to this matter, now would be an appropriate time
for us to do that.
The Clerk: Okay, those that are in attendance that is in opposition to the special exception
request, would you please raise your hand? Our Administrator estimates that there are
approximately 48 in attendance in opposition to this zoning request. Those that are in support of
the special exception, would you please raise your hand? 23 in support.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, I also want to draw everyone’s attention to the petition
that’s been placed before you to your seats. There is a petition from the residents of Green
Meadows and it says the signature represents the residents of Green Meadows who are the
constituents of District 6 and Super District 10. The Chair is going to recognize the commissioner
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from the 6.
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Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I just want to address the last question by
my colleague Commissioner Fennoy to Ms. Burgess. He asked if they had additional information,
would it possibly be a different outcome and her response and she can’t speak for the board
however she did suggest that if they would have had something different, it may have been a
different decision. I would like to say for the record at the Planning and Zoning Board, they voted
on the substitute motion and the substitute motion was to consider allowing this to pass for the
Planning Board to pass with the very same plan even though it was not on paper at that time and
it failed 7-3. So that was talked about. It was the substitute motion and it failed 7-3. Thank you.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I’m (inaudible) at Commissioner Hasan. I
serve on the Planning Board and I was there that particular day and I just don’t remember that
incident that that conversation may be true –
Mr. Hasan: It happened.
Mr. M. Williams: -- I just can’t recollect that. When you get my age I guess you start to
forget a lot of stuff.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, everybody suspend.
Mr. M. Williams: I guess my question though to the attorney is that this vote today will
not pass if there is not a access through the Board of Education. It’s going to depend on whether
or not that does happen so this vote here up or down if it goes out of here as a vote to succeed, it
still has to have that access through the Planning and Zoning Board as that continues on or is that
still, I mean I’m trying to figure out what we’re voting on.
Mr. Brown: I believe and Mr. Trotter can speak for the petitioner but I believe their request
is to grant their special exception on the condition that they gain entrance and exits through the
Richmond County Board of Education property and to close off entrances to Green Meadows
pursuant to their amended preliminary development plan so if you did pass it, it would pass it, they
would proceed and receive that as a final zoning decision by this body however it would not take
effect unless and until the petitioner actually got the easement from Richmond County Board of
Education. If they fail to do so, that would in effect kill their special exception but it would not
come back after the Board of Education granted it.
Mr. M. Williams: And I think that helped me, Mr. Mayor. I was going to get not so much
legal response. This would have to pass through the Board of Education for that easement or it
would be null and void. It wouldn’t have to come back, it would be no good if it didn’t get that,
is that right?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Mr. M. Williams: That’s not lawyer talk. That’s back yard talk with Marion Williams.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 4.
Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. I have a question for Attorney Brown. Attorney Brown,
understanding the statement you just made, but can you clarify something for us? In that the
Planning Commission has not reviewed this proposed driveway or proposed ingress and egress,
then would not with this any kind of conditional approval then would have cut out the Engineering
Department, the Planning Commission and everybody who would review a complete site plan?
Mr. Brown: It would not have cut out the Engineering Department before, this is a request
for a special exception. This is not approval of a site plan. It would be approval or denial of a
special exception. Engineering, Planning would still have their say before any development or
operations or business license would be issued. However, it would cut out the Planning
Commission.
Mr. Sias: Thank you and that would be the very purpose of why that organization exists.
I move that we uphold the decision of the Planning Commission.
Mr. Hasan: Second.
Mr. Mayor: All right, we’ve got a motion and a second.
Mr. M. Williams: Got a substitute motion, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: All right.
Mr. M. Williams: Substitute motion that we approve this document or this plan to go
forward to the School Board to try to gain access and if it doesn’t gain access, then the plan should
be null and void.
Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown.
Mr. Brown: Commissioner Williams, would it be correct that you are making a motion
that the petition by the Hale House which was assigned a case number of Z-19-08 their request for
a special exception be approved pending and on the condition that the petitioner pursuant to its
amended preliminary development site plan is granted by the Richmond County Board of
Education an entrance to the site and close off all entrances and exits through Green Meadow and
the same would remain closed?
Mr. M. Williams: Yes, sir.
Mr. Garrett: Second.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, I’ve got a substitute motion with a proper second. We’re going to vote
on the substitute at this time.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, I’d like to have a comment please.
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Mr. Mayor: Let’s just vote first.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor –
Mr. Mayor: All right, voting. Voting on the substitute.
Mr. B. Williams: Let’s be clear, excuse me, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: All right, suspend.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 5. State your
inquiry.
Mr. Hasan: Hold it, Mr. Mayor. How do you do that? You don’t recognize me but you
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recognize the commissioner from the 5.
Mr. Mayor: (inaudible) multiple times. I want to hear what he’s saying. It’s not going to
stop the substitute vote. The vote’s going to happen and then we’re going to move on and go to
the next item.
Mr. Hasan: It is my district. I should be able to make a comment on it.
Mr. Mayor: I gave you that opportunity a little while ago.
Mr. Hasan: No, no, you haven’t given me an opportunity to address this now.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, here’s what I’d like everybody to do. Continue voting. I’ve got two
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outstanding voters that have not voted yet. Commissioner from the 6, commissioner from the
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5, let’s vote. Attorney Brown, you want to restate the substitute so everybody’s clear on what
they’re voting on? I’ve heard before that folks aren’t clear.
Mr. Brown: With verification from Commissioner Marion Williams, the motion would be
to grant the petitioner the Hale House Foundation, Inc. a special exception to establish an in-patient
drug and alcohol treatment facility per Section 26-1-Z of the comprehensive zoning ordinance of
Augusta, Georgia affecting the property known as 3042 Eagle Drive pending and on the condition
that the petitioner pursuant to its amended preliminary development/site plan is granted by the
Richmond County Board of Education an entrance and exist easement to the site and that the
entrances and exits through the Green Meadow neighborhood would be and remain closed.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, and we had a second from the commissioner from the 8. All right,
Attorney Brown, is there a timeframe associated with that?
Mr. Brown: Planning can verify but special exceptions can lapse within six months but in
this case if the condition is not met the special exception would never have been perfected and
would lapse if it fails to get the account of the Richmond County School Board. If you want to
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give them a time period to get that so that is not out there in perpetuity, you could amend your
motion to do so.
Mr. Mayor: I wouldn’t recommend that. I think everybody knows exactly where they are.
Let’s just vote. We’ve got one vote that’s remaining on the substitute. That’s you, commissioner
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from the 6.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, I just want to say for the record that I think you conducted this
meeting very unfairly.
Mr. Mayor: Well, I listened to everybody. I hadn’t said anything. I listened to everybody.
Mr. D. Williams, Mr. Sias, Mr. B. Williams and Mr. Clarke vote No.
Mr. Hasan abstains.
Motion fails 5-4-1.
Mr. Mayor: Now let me state for the record. You’ve talked about you representing the
district. I represent the city and I live in the city and I’ve heard from everybody. Everybody’s had
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an opportunity to speak on this matter. The senator from the 22 has spoken on this matter before.
We are here to hear the petitioners. We’ve heard the opposition to it. I think everybody sitting up
here we don’t need to cowtow, everybody knows where they are. At the end of the day we have a
substitute that failed. We’re now going back to the main motion that the commissioner from the
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4 made. (Audience comments) No, it failed 5-4-1. The substitute motion failed. We’re now
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back to the main motion and that main motion was made by the commissioner from the 4 with a
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second from the commissioner from the 6. That is what we’re voting on. Voting.
Mr. Fennoy, Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom, Mr. Garrett, Mr. M. Williams and Mr. Clarke vote No.
Motion fails 4-6.
Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk and to our IT, what I see is displayed here is the commissioner
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from the 5 is still listed as Johnny Few. We’ve had a series of meetings and I know Commissioner
Bobby Williams would rather be referred to as Bobby Williams than Johnny Few.
The Clerk: I concur, sir.
Mr. Mayor: All right, that motion fails. There is no action on this matter at this time.
Attorney Brown, any direction you want to give me?
Mr. Brown: For today the matter appears to be disposed of.
Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you. We have one more item on the agenda, special called
meeting agenda.
Mr. Brown: One other matter. For clarity for the benefit of the community as well as the
Commission, any further pursuit of this special exception would require a restart by the petitioner
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as of I believe May 6 which would be the expiration of the nine months to get a final zoning
decision.
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4. Motion to approve Resolution proclaiming May 3 as James Brown Day in Augusta,
GA in perpetuity.
Mr. Sias: So move.
Mr. Fennoy: Second.
Mr. Mayor: I’ve got a motion and a second. Voting.
Motion carries 10-0.
Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown.
5. LEGAL MEETING
A. Pending and potential litigation
B. Real estate
C. Personnel
Mr. Mayor: I’ll entertain a motion to enter an executive session.
Mr. Garrett: So move.
Mr. Clarke: Second.
Mr. Mayor: For purposes of personnel and litigation.
Mr. M. Williams: Personnel and what are we going into legal for?
The Clerk: Pending and potential litigation, real estate, personnel.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, I didn’t hear real estate. That’s why I wanted to make sure that I
heard personnel.
The Clerk: I need Commissioner Hasan.
ththth
Mr. Mayor: -- commissioner from the 6 to vote. Commissioner from the 4 and the 9.
Please vote.
Mr. Fennoy out.
Motion carries 9-0.
\[LEGAL MEETING\]
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6. Motion to authorize execution by the Mayor of the affidavit of compliance with
Georgia’s Open Meeting Act.
Mr. Sias: I so move.
Mr. Garrett: Second.
Mr. Fennoy out.
Motion carries 9-0.
Mr. Frantom: I call on Attorney Brown for a motion.
Mr. Brown: We request a motion to accept the resignation of Glenn Parker and to
offer him six weeks of severance in the form of salary and benefit continuation and ask him
and require him to provide consultation during those six weeks’ of severance as well as to
waive the 90-day notice as provided for under PPM Section 500.311.
Mr. D. Williams: Move for approval.
Mr. Hasan: Second.
Mr. Frantom: Got a motion and a second. Please vote.
Mr. Clarke votes No.
Motion carries 9-1.
Mr. Frantom: Does that conclude all the items before us?
The Clerk: We’re good, sir. Are you good, Mr. Brown?
Mr. Brown: Yes.
Mr. Frantom: Before we call the hearing to order, just want to take a moment and keep
Mayor Davis’ father in your thoughts and prayers as he was rushed to the hospital about an hour
ago and Mayor Davis has just left to go to that hospital so please keep the Davis family in your
thoughts and prayers.
\[MEETING ADJOURNED\]
Lena J. Bonner
Clerk of Commission
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CERTIFICATION:
I, Lena J. Bonner, Clerk of Commission, hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy
of the minutes of the Called Meeting of the Augusta Richmond County Commission held on April
30, 2019.
________________________
Clerk of Commission
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