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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRegular Commission Meeting February 18, 2020 REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER FEBRUARY 18, 2020 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:00 p.m., February 18, 2020, the Hon. Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. B. Williams, Garrett, Sias, Fennoy, M. Williams, Davis, D. Williams, Hasan and Clarke, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Absent: Hon. Frantom, member of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Mr. Mayor: Okay, we’re to begin taking our seats and making our way to the dais so we st can get started. Madam Clerk, I hadn’t seen the Commissioner from the 1 since the Pension Meeting. He went down the hall and didn’t come back. He went down the hall and didn’t come st, back. All right there he is, there he is. We’re good. I’ve got the Commissioner from the 1 th. Commissioner from the 9 We’re ready to rock and roll, we’re ready to rock and roll. Madam Clerk --- The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor: --- I gave you the, you got it, okay, I’m sorry. All right. I do want to take a moment and once again encourage us to continue to keep Director Welcher and his family lifted in prayer. I want to make sure we do that. He’s back here in the saddle doing a little bit of work here but that’s the most important work, family first. I also want to ask us to lift up Commissioner Fennoy and his family. On yesterday his sister-in-law passed away so we’re going to keep him lifted up in prayer as he travels to Baltimore on this week, amen. All right, did I just say that, amen. I think I just said that. All right, Madam Clerk, we’ll call this meeting to order. The Chair recognizes Madam Clerk. The Clerk: Yes, sir. At this time our invocation will be delivered by Reverend Dr. Kurt Miller, Priest Associate of the St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church after which we would like to ask Mr. James Kendrick if he would please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. He’s the Chairman of our DFACS Board. Thank you. The invocation was given by Reverend Dr. Kurt Miller, Priest Associate, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited. The Clerk: Pastor Miller, the Office of Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr. by these presence be it known that Reverend Dr. Kurt Miller, Priest Associate, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church is the Chaplain of the Day his civic guidance and civic leadership serves as an example for th all citizens of Augusta. Given under my hand this 18 Day of February 2020, Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, thank you so much. 1 Mr. Mayor: Would you join me in congratulating Pastor Miller for serving as our Chaplain of the Day. (APPLAUSE) The Clerk: I call your attention to the Delegation portion of our agenda. DELEGATION(S) A. Update from DFACS Director and Mr. James Kendrick. (Requested by Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr.) Mr. Mayor: Mr. Kendrick and Ms. Hughes, if you would just state for the record name and address and you have five minutes. Mr. Kendrick: Mr. Mayor, my name is James Kendrick. I’m President of Augusta Blueprint Company and I serve as a board member to the Department of Family and Children Services. Ms. Hughes: Good afternoon. My name is Theresa Hughes and I serve as the County Director for your local Richmond County DFACS office. Mr. Kendrick: Ms. Hughes has been with us about eight or nine months maybe ten and she had a desire to come before the community and make the community known, make it known to the community where DFACS and the Department of Family and Children’s Services are and the challenges that they face. We’re thankful that ya’ll made time to allow us to do this, Mr. Mayor and the Commission. Again, thank you and I will allow her to make her presentation. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Kendrick. Ms. Hughes: You all should have some information in front of you that I printed out and that just will save us some time and briefly run through all of the different programs and services that we offer the community here. A few things I did want to take note of. For Food Stamps the data you have is specific to December 2019 but our average we range anywhere from between four and a half million dollars to $5 million dollars that are issued in food stamps each month in Richmond County. Those are dollars that go right back into our local economy through grocery stores and things of that nature. When you look at the child welfare data we are a very, very busy office. You can see that in 2019 we received almost 3,500 reports of abuse and neglect just in this county alone and about 64% of those were actually assigned and we went out and completed assessments and did that work. I wanted to talk about a few positives that are going on at Richmond County DFACS just to update you guys. I know we’ve had some media attention around renewals and some of our citizens not being able to get their food stamps and such issued timely. We have made great progress in that area so our citizens are receiving their benefits more timely now. We also had some very big challenges with staffing issues just having enough staff to do the work. About a year ago we were about 40% filled in our Child Welfare Programs and right now we’re at 86% filled so that’s a lot of progress that we made there. Just some challenges that I wanted to make you guys aware of and hopefully you guys will have an opportunity to share that maybe with others. We definitely need more foster homes. We have about 400 children in foster care in Richmond County and currently we only have 24 active DFACS foster homes so you can 2 do the math there and see that you know we’re often having to place our children outside of their community in order for them to have a place to stay. We really need foster homes that are specific to our teenagers and also large sibling groups. Retaining staff does continue to be an issue but we have made some progress in that area. About half of our staff have been with agency for less than a year so of course they’re learning this job, learning how to do everything. And then just the temporary location. We were able to move to a new temporary location this year or will in 2019 which has been much better for us but challenges that we still have being in that temporary location are that we’re not really hardwired so our staff are having to operate on WIFI and hot spots which creates some connectivity issues. Parking has been a challenge both for our staff and our customers. There’s limited privacy where we are so we’re not really able to have conversations with our citizens privately. And one of the biggest complaints that I would say that I get from customers is just around timely calling people back and that is largely because we don’t have like landlines there in the office. And that’s pretty much all of the updates that I wanted to provide unless anyone has any questions. Mr. Mayor: Okay, I’ll entertain questions. I know that there are probably some and we’re th going to go Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. I’d like to ask Ms. Douse a question please. Mr. Mayor: Okay, I think you’re going to ask the question in my mind. All right, Ms. Douse. Mr. Sias: Ms. Douse, as we heard about the temporary situation and second move other than any privileged information, how far are we at in getting the new facility complete and ready for DFACS folks to move back in? Ms. Douse: The State of Georgia approved our test fit December 2019. The final lease documents are in draft form and have been sent to SPC for their approval so we’re looking at hopefully starting construction maybe within the next three months. Mr. Sias: And based on the construction what is your projected thought or timeline that that construction should take? Ms. Douse: It’s been estimated at 4 to 5 months for construction timeframe. Mr. Sias: Okay, all right, thank you. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, I’m going to chime in. I think all of us are concerned around that. Your temporary location, where’s that at currently? Ms. Hughes: We’re currently located in the old Southside Elementary Building on Old Louisville Road. 3 Mr. Mayor: Okay, they moved from Bungalow to Southside. Ms. Douse, what do we need to do in order to expedite State Properties Commission getting back to us so we can move forward? st Okay, I got you, I got you. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Yes, one of the issues that you mentioned was that the longevity of DFACS employees. Ms. Hughes: Yes, sir. Mr. Fennoy: I mean how we are addressing that because I believe that you know that if you have a lot of turnover that’s going to impact the services that’s provided to the clients but how is that issue being addressed? Ms. Hughes: So a few things that we had implemented internally. We have found that we often lose employees to some of our neighbor counties. You know our volume in Richmond County is extremely high and so caseloads are often much higher than they are in neighboring counties and the salary is really the same you know regardless. So we do a lot of staff appreciation events. You know our board helps us plan those types of things and you know really trying to put the structure in place where they have adequate support too because that’s not always, it’s not always been the case in Richmond County. We’ve not really had the leadership structure in place to give them the good support that they need in order to be successful in their jobs. And really trying to promote internally also. I think that there’s not always you know sometime promotions come from outside and that can definitely impact morale and stuff so we’ve been very purposeful in trying to you know grow our internal staff for those promotional opportunities when they present. Mr. Fennoy: Thank you. th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I’ve got a couple of questions and I’m very concerned not just about DFACS facility. Children are probably the most important thing that I think about. But my first question would be where is the School Board when it comes to DFACS and to the problems that you are faced with? Let me back up before you answer that. We often compare to surrounding counties but Augusta’s the oldest city around here. We’ve been had these issues for a long, long time and they was unaddressed. And to catch up it’s hard, it’s always hard to catch up you know with anything but I don’t even consider that when I hear people saying in surrounding counties. I know we’ve got new things happening and new counties trying to spread out and do things but the old problems that Augusta’s been having for years have really never been touched on like it should have been so I don’t know how we expect to catch up. But I’m going to go back to what my question was. Where’s the School Board in your mind or in your department with all of the funds they’re having and all the shortcomings you’re having and all the children that are involved so where’s that conversation? I hope I didn’t throw you off with all that. Ms. Hughes: No, you’re fine. I think that’s a great question actually. We have really done a lot of work to partner with the school system and with Juvenile Court. So you know Juvenile 4 Court they serve our children that are usually the dependent deprived children but they also serve those children they’re what we call CINS Kids, Children In Need of Services, so those are the ones that may be start having those behavioral issues, attendance issues things like that. So we’re really partnered with both of those entities and some other outside partners to try to identify that population of children early on and get those services in place to help them be successful and really to avoid you know escalating to the point where they may have to enter foster care or leave their community, things like that. Does that answer your question? Mr. M. Williams: Well, it does but I was thinking there would be more input and more revenue input from the school side of it because there are children. And I know the School Board don’t necessarily keep children overnight, get them up ready to go to school in the morning I know that’s a parenting thing. But here I go again. I go back to what I said earlier about Augusta’s had an old problem for a long time. Back when G.R. Rouse was going to school there was a guy, you wouldn’t know a thing about this but there’s a guy that used to ride the streets and if he caught you out of school something would happen and you were made to go to school. You had to go but now things have gotten so different now that we can’t even talk to children about why you’re not in school. We let children raise themselves so to speak. And that could be a whole other subject so I’m not going to open that can of worms up but I just know how things used to be and how people were respectful and your job was a lot easier. It wasn’t resolved but it was a lot easier because we had parenting doing the parenting skills that we don’t have. Ms. Hughes: Right, one thing that I will add that I think is maybe speaking to that a little bit is the Juvenile Court has started a Parenting Accountability Court. I’m not sure if they’ve ever been here and talked to you guys about that but that’s where they’re bringing these parents in when their children are not attending school. They’re requiring the parents to take different classes you know requiring the kids to do activities and stuff and really trying to motivate them to get them back in school without you know escalating. Mr. Mayor: All right, Ms. Hughes, thank you so much. Mr. Kendrick, thank you for coming and sharing this information with us. Mr. Kendrick: Thank you, thank you all. The Clerk: I call your attention to our Consent Agenda which consists of Items 1 through 18, Items 1 through 18. Mr. Mayor: Okay, the Chair will entertain any motions to add or remove from the Consent th Agenda. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Yes, sir, thank you. I need to pull Item 5 and I’ll be requesting that that item be sent back to Procurement. There was some problems with one of the vendors in there and also before this item comes back would like to have the information that goes with it the Transit but this item needs to be pulled and sent back to Procurement. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. 5 Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I’d like to pull Item #4. th Mr. Mayor: Okay, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, I just need some explanation I guess. I’ve got no problem with Items 4 or 5, I’ve got no problem with either Item 4 nor 5 going back but would that come through a committee, would that something we understand or we get back to our full Commission then we --- Mr. Mayor: Yeah --- Mr. M. Williams: --- I don’t know what it is. Mr. Mayor: --- it’ll come back to --- The Clerk: Five is being --- Mr. Mayor: --- yeah, five is being sent back to committee. The Clerk: --- five is being referred back to Procurement. Item 4 is just being pulled for information. Mr. M. Williams: Okay, I just needed some clarity. I mean I’ve got no problem with either one. I just wanted to know how that process was going to work. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, Madam Clerk. The Clerk: Yes, sir, if the Commission would consider Item 23. The communication from the Tax Commissioner has advised us that that matter has been taken care of so if that item could be deleted and added to Consent Agenda for deletion. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, without objection. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner rd from the 3. Ms. Davis: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Didn’t we agree to move Item 19 as well, Madam Clerk, per the request of the petitioner? The Clerk: There was a consensus among the Commission to grant the second extension however it would need to be voted on today. But with that understanding it could be added to the Consent Agenda. Mr. Mayor: Without objection. Ms. Davis: Thank you. 6 The Clerk: And if we could, Mr. Mayor and Ms. Davis, for the record to know that the nd applicant needs to run an ad in the paper at least 15 days prior to the April 2 date, the cost of the ad will be incurred by the applicant and the Planning and Development Department would also place a public notice on the property indicating the new hearing date. Mr. Mayor: All right, understood without objection. All right, the Chair recognizes the rd Commissioner from the 3 for a motion. Ms. Davis: Motion to approve as presented. Mr. Hasan: Second. CONSENT AGENDA ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 1. Motion to approve Fleet Management request to approve the purchase of four Richmond County Sheriff’s Office vehicles totaling $95,636 from Thomson Motor Center. Bid Item 19- 172. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 2. Motion to approve the purchase of one utility Tractor for $74,375 from Burke Truck and Tractor of Waynesboro, GA for the Utilities Department. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 3. Motion to approve Augusta Regional Airport request to purchase one new 2020 Ford F150 truck for $25,285 from Allan Vigil Ford. Bid Item 19-28. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2010) 5. Motion to approve the award of the contract to provide custodial services for various new locations for fiscal year 2020 with the deletion of the Augusta Transit Operations Center as follows, Bid Item 19-290: (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) • Augusta Transit Operations Center to Pro Cleaning Services - $17,940.00. • Housing and Community Development to Diamond Shine Services - $16,804.52. • Planning and Development on Marvin Griffin Road to Executive Janitorial Services - $3,974.00. • New Records Retention Annex on Marvin Griffin Road to Executive Janitorial Services - $5,299.20. 6. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCD’s) request to provide HOME funding to assist one (1) low to moderate income homebuyer with gap financing, down-payment and closing cost to purchase home. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 7. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCD’s) request to fund HOPWA Sponsors with 2019 HOPWA funds and to continue to support their organization’s purpose of assisting individuals living with HIV/AIDS. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 8. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCD’s) request to enter into a contractual agreement with Auben Realty for property management services. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 9. Motion to approve HCD’s Memorandum of Understanding request with Richmond County School System Marion E. Barnes Center (RCSS/MEBCC) in support of the Augusta 7 Housing and Community Development mission (to create positive change by promoting self- sufficiency through partnership in Economic Development, Quality Housing, and Neighborhood Reinvestment) (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) 10. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department’s (HCD’s) request to provide funding to assist one (1) low to moderate income homebuyer with down- payment assistance to purchase a home. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) PUBLIC SAFETY 11. Motion to accept the partnership with Fix Georgia Pets in 2020. Augusta Animal Services was chosen by Fix Georgia Pets to receive an award in the amount of $15,000 to use for spay/neuter operations in 2019 and offer free spay/neuter for Return to Owner animals that have reproduced or may be bred in the future, ultimately impacting our future intake numbers. (Approved by Public Safety Committee February 11, 2020) FINANCE 12. Motion to approve Excess Workers’ Compensation Insurance with Safety National Casualty with statutory limits and a $750,000 Self Insured Retention (SIR-otherwise known as the deductible) to cover all positions for a premium of $380,979. (Approved by Finance Committee February 11, 2020) 13. Motion to approve Augusta Commercial Property Insurance coverage for 2020 offered through Affiliated FM, current carrier, for a premium of $475,000 for full blanket coverage and limited flood coverage in flood prone areas. (Approved by Finance Services Committee February 11, 2020) 14. Motion to approve award of RFP 20-123, Worker Compensation Third Party Administration (TPA) to Corvel Corporation. (Approved by Finance Committee February 11, 2020) ENGINEERING SERVICES 15. Motion to approve award of Bid Item #19-008 for HDPE Pipe and Fittings Annual Contract. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee February 11, 2020) 16. Motion to approve and accept a sanitary sewer easement from Thomas Concrete of South Carolina, Inc. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee February 11, 2020) 17. Motion to approve supplemental funding for on-call engineering services by Alfred Benesch & Company for Utilities Department on Fort Gordon. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee February 11, 2020) PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 18. Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 4, 2020 and the Special Called meeting February 11, 2020. PLANNING 19. Z-20-01 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Georgia Planning Commission to approve with the conditions below a petition by WSM Ventures, LLC, on behalf of Evans Best, LLC, requesting a change of zoning from Zone B-1 (Neighborhood Business) to Zone 8 B-2 (General Business) affecting property containing 0.36 acres and known as 3133 Washington Road. Tax Map 011-0-025-02-0 DISTRICT 7 1. The current development standard and regulations shall be met when submitting a site plan. (Deferred from the January 21 to February 4, to the February 18, meetings.) FINANCE 23. Presentation by Ms. Cecilia Urch regarding a waiver of the late penalty and interest charges on her property taxes for property located at 3408 Deans Bridge Road. (No recommendation from Finance Committee February 12, 2020) Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Frantom out. Motion Passes 9-0. \[Items 1-3, 5-18, 23\] Mr. Mayor: We’ll go straight down, Madam Clerk. It’s a little warm in here or is it just me, a little warm in here? The Clerk: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 4. Motion to approve the Beazley Room Policy with the inclusion of no solicitation of funds. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee February 11, 2020) Mr. Mayor: Okay, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6th. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, as the Clerk just read the only thing I’d like to make an exception to that for in-house because many times we use the Beazley Room and others for United Way functions, Red Cross functions that we do as a government so other than for governmental functions that’s what I want to add as an exception to that. So I’d like to make a motion to add to that as the exception to the policy. Mr. Fennoy: Second. Mr. Mayor: All right, I’ve got a motion with a second. All right, the Chair recognizes the th Commissioner from the 9 for an inquiry. Mr. M. Williams: I’m good, Mr. Mayor. I got my answer when (unintelligible) I got my answer when the Commissioner explained. Mr. Mayor: All right, I’ve got a motion and a second, voting. Mr. Frantom out. Motion Passes 9-0. The Clerk: 9 ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 20. Review the process for the Augusta Commission to consider and approve governing policies. (Requested by Commissioner Sammie Sias) th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. This is just a reminder for all of us. And for folks who don’t understand the process, we have our Law Department and our General Counsel that they can contact. And this is particularly in reference to the EMS Regional Council where they were talking about sending a letter to each Commissioner for a decision. That’s not the way this government does business. We have public meetings and we vote, put issues on the agenda and we vote for them either up or down. I just want to remind the EMS Council and anybody else that’s listening that don’t know that’s not how we do business. We do business as a government where we have meetings on a public agenda and make those decisions. And I know our Attorney can answer that question for any outside agencies that may need that information and until this body, when this body makes a decision, that decision stands until it’s been overturned or executed. Thank you, sir. th Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8. Mr. Garrett: I appreciate my colleague’s reminder of when and where we can’t attend meetings and whether or not we can speak at these meetings but I do want to remind him that he’s also been to these same EMS Zone meetings and have spoken on behalf of the city as well. The fact that we requested that the letter be sent to the entire Commission I thought was the most fair way to address this situation that you know that we were facing so I’m sorry if that is not up to your standard but --- Mr. Mayor: So let’s have everybody direct their comments to the Chair if you would. Mr. Garrett: --- I’m sorry, I refer to people as some folks may not understand that they have also done that, would that be better? Mr. Mayor: Well, I’m going to let you and everyone to determine for themselves but again if we’re going to comment let’s just coordinate through the Chair I mean all of ya’ll know that, th that’s all I’m saying. All right he yields, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. When I saw this on the agenda I really was confused. I didn’t know what it was but let’s get to the heart of the matter. The EMS Council nor the council is not elected. This was for the elected body for us so they wouldn’t follow our rules here. They would go wherever they could go I guess. Our rules are and we don’t follow them ourselves but our rules are to go through General Counsel and we had not done that. In many occasions we went to the meetings, had spoke out of I don’t want to say fear but spoke out of focus from what we think it should’ve been said. I mean it shouldn’t be about the EMS Council and that’s what I’m hearing now. We put this on the agenda to talk about the process for procedure with the Commission. If you don’t know what that is I wouldn’t put it on the agenda for anybody to think that we control some outside agency who didn’t take an oath that we took and who walked 10 the streets and knocked on doors to get elected to serve the people and that’s what it ought to be about, about serving the people. So I’m really disappointed when I heard this conversation but when the media approached me I didn’t I was totally lost. I couldn’t understand what that was about and I’m disappointed from what I heard it was about but that’s my comment, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: All right sir, thank you. All right the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from th the 10. Mr. Clarke: Mr. Mayor, if there are rules that apply then I think each and every one of us should apply those rules to our behaviors whenever we speak. But it seems like, Mr. Mayor, that those rules are not applied to everyone; it’s not applied equally. And so I think until it’s applied equally some of us on the Commission are still going to speak on behalf of the citizens and that’s all I’ve got to say, thank you. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Yes, sir, thank you. It’s a little difficult for me to understand how this conversation about how we do policy is about where you can speak. That wasn’t in my comments at all. I said about how we vote and make policy. It was as simple as that. I never said anybody can’t go and say whatever they want to say so obviously that we were not listening very well, thank you. th Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 5. Mr. B. Williams: I want to make a motion that we take this in as information and keep moving. Mr. Mayor: All right --- Ms. Davis: Second. Mr. Mayor: --- all right, I’ve got a motion and a second, voting. The Clerk: Mr. Williams? Mr. M. Williams: I’m not here. I quess that don’t make good sense to me to open up a can of worms and we’re not going to talk about it we talk about what we want to talk about. I mean it’s always going to resolve any issue to have the dialog and discussion but I’m not voting, Ms. Bonner, put me down as not voting. Ain’t going to make no difference either way but I ain’t voting. Mr. M. Williams not voting. Mr. Frantom out. Motion Passes 8-0. The Clerk: 11 ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 21. HCD to inform the Commission about The James Project on James Brown Blvd. (Requested by Commissioner Ben Hasan) Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Director Welcher. Mr. Welcher: Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission, so excited to just come before you today just to talk about the next newest and greatest developmental impact potentially coming to the Laney Walker/Bethlehem Revitalization area. We’re actually 12 years in since the infancy or genesis of the actual Laney Walker/Bethlehem Revitalization Project. At that time back in 2008 the direction from the Commission was not to built a neighborhood but to be sure that we did everything necessary to transform a neighborhood back into a thriving community using four or five pivots one to be sure there was adequate housing from an affordable workforce to a market rate through an array of products. Also your charge was to be sure that we provided development for the small business owner and to be sure that we not only created opportunities for the small business owner but also that we help the small business owner sustain. Thirdly your charge was also once the small business owner was growing in the area you also indicated that the need to bring back commercially retail i.e. grocery stores i.e. healthy food choices to the neighborhood was also prevalent and relevant. And then last but not least through all of these things you wanted us to be sure that we created opportunities that brought jobs to the area. As a part of that in order to get persons to really come back into the area of course you all know Pine Street so I’m not going to go down that street but one of the ways when you talk about urban redevelopment that was very prevalent one thing that we looked at was our three gateways and we feel as though talking about the project today solidifies that third gateway. The first gateway of course is right off of R.A. Dent and Wrightsboro Road. That is Beacon Station. The second gateway that we feel has been solidified is the Twiggs Street Corridor whether you come from Laney Walker downtown and you’re coming from Gordon Highway. So to solidify the third gateway we looked at several opportunities speaking specifically to the property the land of property that’s next to Dyess Park. That property initially was going to be affordable rental houses I mean affordable houses for sale, townhomes for sale but as we kept having conversations we knew that that was potentially maybe not the highest and best use of this particular parcel. So i.e. fast forward to today what you have is acquisition of property by a third-party developer this past summer acquired 11 lots through the Land Bank as well as the remaining property there on this one plus one plus five-acre land a parcel of land. Also what you have here today is complete site control by the actual developer itself. So in speaking to that you have a third-party developer who has complete site control of these parcels. They involve the Housing and Community Development Department. They also involve the Land Bank Authority in their discussion in regards to exactly what that end product would be. With that being said basically what we have before the Planning Department right now which is up for consideration of approval and potentially if that passes up for consideration of approval for the Commission would be approximately a 113-unit multifamily apartment complex to also include up to 10,000-square feet of commercial space. This is not an apartment complex but it is a mixed use development that not only as I indicated it includes apartments but also 5 to 10,000 square foot of commercial space. I.e.. if you look at this block some of you all may have some concerns and say okay what about the homeowners that currently are in that block. What I can say to you is that we have made contact through letters as well as we made contact verbally door to door with each 12 one of the homeowners, the four homeowners that still reside in that area. At that time before this project even came or was submitted to Planning our office worked with Sherman and Hemstreet to be sure that if each homeowner wanted to be relocated at not their dime but the dime of the developer that we would work using the Uniform Relocation Act, the same act we used over in Hyde Park, to relocate each one of the homeowners to be sure that they were made whole. All four homeowners at that time in being given information in regards to what potentially was to come denied and indicated that they did not want to move from their block. So if this development still does go forward, which we think is very impactful, if it does go forward one thing that we can assure you is that Housing and Community Development Department even though the homeowners are not moving that we work to be sure that we upgrade their exterior façade to be sure that their exterior façade sort of fits with modern esthetic architectural looks. So that’s one thing we can provide to you and that will be in the form of a grant to each one of the homeowners at no cost to their own. And the last but the biggest thing from an impact standpoint that I think is great is that you all have and you continue to charge us to say Hawthorne, we don’t have all the money HCD we don’t have all the money to develop and while there is a commitment over the life of the project to commit $37.5 million dollars, you all wanted to yield about $150 million dollars’ worth of projects. That’s a 4-1 ratio. So understanding that if this development is approved by Planning and if this development is approved by the Commission there are zero amount of development money that is going to be put into this deal wherein the 100% of the construction funds would come from the developer themselves. So with that I’ll step back and answer any questions. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That is what I really wanted to hear the closing comments to make sure because I had always heard that there was a third-party developer using Mr. Welcher’s language and I just wanted to make sure because every time I would read a news article of sort you know they was having a townhall meeting one week and it was postponed and it was the next week excuse me, I think I read it would be the City of Augusta and Sherman Hemstreet, HCD and Sherman and Hemstreet. So I just wanted to make sure that our position had not changed in the midst of this and it still was a third-party developer that was making all of this happen. And as a result of that I put it on the agenda so I appreciate the update on that. And just say, excuse me, Mr. Mayor, if you don’t mind just for the record those families that Mr. Welcher mentioned those families was there when I was there and they did get me involved to speak with those families because I know them very well and they definitely did not want to move and they signed that to that effect and there’s no intent to harass them or to force them to move against their will. Thank you. st Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, over the past 10 days I have been to nd groundbreaking ceremonies. One of the ceremonies took place down at 2 and Walker Street where 55 houses are going to be built. To me that means 55 lots I don’t have to call Engineering Services about cutting it. I also went to a groundbreaking ceremony for James and Adams Street. This piece of property is over I think he said an acre and a half and I see that grass get at least five feet high before it’s cut. To me that’s me five acres and a half of five foot grass don’t have to 13 worry about anymore. And most recently I was on Perry Avenue with the Warrick Dunn Foundation where they are providing affordable houses. And again these are lots where people will become taxpayers, don’t have to worry about maintenance and it’s giving not only a new look to the city but it’s giving a new look to District 1. And I would just like to thank the collaboration between Housing and Community Development, the Land Bank and the developers for making things happen in Richmond County. To me it’s a real turning point when you look at what downtown Augusta could actually look like. Just want to say thank you. th Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I’ve got a little bit of a different tune than that. I did get invited to groundbreaking. It was I think became a problem and we moved it but I was informed and I was excited about the addition of apartments and what’s coming. But I guess my question, Mr. Welcher, to you after building Beacon Station and Pine Street and all of the other different projects that’ve been coming up you said that this is going to be a mixed-use area, is that right? Mr. Welcher: Mixed-use project, correct. Mr. M. Williams: Okay, this mixed use project I need to know what other besides the apartment side what else is coming there? What I mean I get the grass won’t have to be cut if we’ve got apartments on them but if nobody’s going to stay there when we build apartments I don’t have to do nothing to that either so can you help me understand what other mixed use is coming along with that. Mr. Welcher: So you know it’s mixed used in the fact that you would have a mix of not only residential i.e. the apartments but also businesses, commercial and retail. So you have right now as indicated up to 10,000 square feet of commercial space. I can’t divulge the name, I can off record but what I can say is we are working on something that’s been very impactful, something that is lacking in this area know as a Food Desert. So because of this development because of pretty much the locality of it being their right off Walton Way you have of course the Judicial Center, you also have other persons coming from downtown, you also have persons within the neighborhood because of that about 4 to 5,000 feet of the 10,000 square feet is being seriously considered at this time. Also what that does even if you break the bays down similar to Armstrong Galleria into bays of about 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, that gives small businesses an opportunity to be able to come in and be a part of something that’s viable, something in an area that you already have pretty much the viability, you have people already in that area. It allows us to be able to bring in small businesses who can provide to all of the people in the neighborhood but also bring in small businesses and reduce some of the rents to be sure that they’re viable and they sustain. Mr. M. Williams: And that helps me understand a little bit better, Mr. Welcher. I don’t do your job. I don’t anything about it and you never heard me even claim to know anything about it. I may ask a lot of questions but I leave that kind of stuff up to you but at the same time I knew that area when it was a thriving area. I’m looking to see some of that, some of that come back. I don’t think all of it’s ever going to come back but I think some of that needs to come back and I think if you don’t plan smart enough then you’re going to miss out. Folks who don’t understand the history 14 and folks who don’t understand the geographical area the lady from DFACS was here, we talked about Augusta being an older city who’s got some older residents who have those lots that Commissioner Fennoy talked about been there for 200 years and grass is still growing on them but they’ve been here a while and we’ve got to change some of those things in order to get where we won’t have the grass. So I’m on your team, I’m excited but I’m not going to sit here and act like I understand the wave, I really don’t. I hear what you’re saying. I see Beacon Station and how it’s boomed up, how it’s growing. I also look around and see those homes that homes that Commissioner Hasan talked about was moved out of Beacon Station over there too. I see where they’re not here. People who don’t understand the change are afraid to really accept a change because sometimes change is good, sometimes it’s not. So all I’m saying is that I’m listening to you, I’m watching you. I want to make sure that what we present is what’s actually going to be put on the ground where we’ll actually be able to say yeah, this is what we said and this is what we did. So it’s not a knock on HCD or your department at all just to make sure that we dot our I’s and crossing our T’s. Mr. Mayor: Okay, I believe that’s all we have, thank you, Mr. Welcher. All right, we had a motion from the, well, we didn’t have a motion. We’ll receive as information, without objection. All right, Madam Clerk, next item. The Clerk: PUBLIC SAFETY 22. Discuss/receive information from the Director of Information Technology relative to the costs/features/capabilities of the new commission’s Meeting Management System. (Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams) th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor --- Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir. Mr. M. Williams: --- I had this put on the agenda. I did get the invitation to come down and to sit here and to hold a class I guess we’ll call it to understand this facility, facility, understand this new feature we’ve got here. And someone from IT did come in and the next day I was here and explained it to me. It didn’t take very long. I’m thickheaded but I ain’t that thick it didn’t take me long to get this, Mayor, I got it pretty quick. But I’ve got I still have some questions because I want to know how much have we spent on this facility and what the advantage is that it has, what reasoning behind our voting of paying for this type of equipment. And I know the IT Director’s got all of those answers but I just need her to bring me up to speed as to what advantages did we do for ourselves to bring this other piece of equipment in to almost hide us from the public, that’s why I bring my chair up as high as I can so I can be seen. I don’t want to get behind this thing. Can you help me out, Ms. Allen? Mr. Mayor: All right, Ms. Allen. 15 Mr. Allen: Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission, if I could just take you back a little as it relates how we got to the Microphone Management System that we are currently using today. Back in February of 2019 a presentation was made to this body as it relates to the discussion of having the ability to see who was next as it relates to speaking. We presented two options and this is actual slide from that presentation. Option 1 of course involved being the system being interfaced with what the Clerk of Commission is currently using now and Option 2 being the Standalone Microphone Management System only. So at that time there was no decision made but the, I guess the direction and/or the consensus of the body at that time was for us to look at the Microphone Management System only something that would be separate from what the Clerk of Commission is currently using. Then again in September of 2019 there was another discussion as it relates to the Microphone Management System. At this time we were going just for the microphone management part because we’ve already had the previous discussion to have those systems separate. This is the exact slide that was presented in September of 2019. We talked about what the Commissioners would have the ability to do as it relates to the microphones, that the Chairman would be able to see the requests in order that they were presented. We talked about the upgrading of the existing microphone equipment in the respective chamber and we also talked about the Chairman or Chairperson being able to see it and using the tablet to actually recognize the order of the queue. We actually gave the cost estimate of $25,000 dollars. We also included in that presentation a picture of the microphone which is exactly what you guys have in front of you right now and shows the actual buttons that are being utilized for the system. So as Information Technology took it from the approval and the consensus of this body our directive was to make sure that we had a system one, that was separate from the agenda software that is currently utilized by the Clerk of Commission. Therefore that means that we cannot have that display integrated into your current display because that would involve them having one system. Secondly, no one should have the ability to control the microphones therefore we had to make sure that we put a system in place that did not allow one person to actually control it and thirdly, each Commissioner should be able to see their place in the queue. Therefore you had the separate monitors so that each Commissioner could see where they stood in the queue; however, those monitors could be you know we could minimize the monitors to a smaller monitor if that’s the will of this body. However our directive was followed as it relates to the consensus of the body. And so with that, Commissioner Williams, I hope I addressed your question in how we got here but we and Information Technology followed exactly what we were directed to do and we stayed within the budgeted amount that we proposed to the Commission. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Ms. Allen. You know I pride myself on all this time I’ve been here not missing meetings and I got sick and I missed a couple of meetings and that’s something unavoidable but you did help me. I just need to know from you from the other system we had beside this red light tell me something that we acquired that wasn’t in our other system because the mike’s not being controlled, there’s nobody to control the mike that’s that same as what we had, the mike speaks clearly. I think everybody in the back hears me back there even in the Marshal’s Office everybody hears me pretty good. So we had that same issue before, same issues meaning the same things working so now I’m trying to find out for the money we spent what do we have different? Ms. Allen: We had to actually, and this is what was discussed when we presented this proposal all of the cabling and everything had to be redone because these are two separate systems 16 so you could not utilize the same cabling that you currently have in the dais for the actual equipment that’s on a separate system so all of that had to be redone and refit. Mr. M. Williams: Okay, but my question was though what do have not how we got here I mean I know it’s a new system we get that so you got new cables, insulation all of that stuff had to be done but I’m weighing apples against apples now. If we had a system without a red light on it but it was working and interfaced with the Clerk and what she needed, what do we have more now? Ms. Allen: The system previously did not interact with what the Clerk of Commission had. It was, we didn’t have anything that so the Chairperson that who was next in the queue. We didn’t have anything that monitored who was actually utilizing or who wanted to speak in order of the respective selecting the microphone in order to put themselves in the queue. We didn’t have a queuing system at all so we had no Microphone Management System previously. It was just a manual you know put your hand up and the Chairperson recognized in order as they see it so this is a totally separate system all together, sir. Mr. M. Williams: And this total system how much, Ms. Allen, I’m going to leave this alone but what was the total cost with everything for this system? Ms. Allen: The total cost was $25,435.59. Mr. M. Williams: That’s all the questions I have, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to just make sure that we spend $30,000 dollars on a red light. Mr. Mayor: All right, Madam Clerk, next item. The Clerk: ENGINEERING SERVICES 24. Approve placing a moratorium on the purchase of the Mack Granite 64 Grapple Truck for Environmental Services Department until the garbage hauler contracts are finalized. (Requested by Commissioner Ben Hasan) th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, a couple of weeks ago I think in the first week of February on the last, the last of January I think there was a conversation among my colleagues about potentially revisiting our sanitation contracts and probably the very next meeting I made mention which was at this time was the early part of February about also adding an additional independent contractor to that as consideration. My colleagues agreed to do that but one of the things I missed on that particular meeting is that a Grapple Truck was on the agenda and a Grapple Truck will impact this person’s business as well. And so the Commission passed the Grapple Truck only the Commission can say well hold up on the Grapple Truck or the Grapple purchase up until all this finalized because that’s what they do. They pick some stuff that’s out of compliance and things of that nature so the Grapple Truck will impact their particular business. 17 And so I just ask you to hold up on that until we get all these contracts out of the way and that’s my request. Mr. M. Williams: So moved. Mr. Hasan: Second. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. I heard what my colleague said. I just want to hear from the Environmental Services Director if there’s an urgent need for this vehicle. Mr. Mayor: All right, Director Mehall. Mr. Mehall: Yes, thank you. The Grapple Truck serves many purposes. The collection of large out of compliance waste is just one of them but one of its primary functions is vacant lot clearing and that is to remove fallen trees, heavy stumps, accumulated brush and it’s something we use on almost every vacant lot that we service. For one reason or another I’ve been out to several where you know trees, especially fallen trees, have been a problem. Another thing we use it for is to assist in emergency storm cleanup. When there’s a large scale event we assist MES with their storm cleanup and the Grapple comes in very handy for that. We also use it to serve our, to service our CNG tanks at the CNG Station. It allows us to gain access to replace to place and replace those particular tanks. So there’s several important roles that the Grapple Truck plays and I consider it a vital tool in our equipment inventory that we have. th Mr. Mayor: All right, Commissioner from the 4 you still, is that your --- Mr. Sias: I’m good. Mr. Mayor: --- okay, Director Mehall, are there any existing Grapple Trucks that we have? Mr. Mehall: Yes, we do. We have a 9-year old Grapple Truck that has 210,000 miles on it. It was purchased in 2011 I believe it’s an International Harvester. It’s had considerable repair events in the last two or three years which has put it down for a period of time and that’s why under normal a normal rotation of equipment purchases why it was brought up the early part of this year to be replaced. Mr. Mayor: Okay and so we have one that’s currently in operation at this time. Mr. Mehall: Correct. Mr. Mayor: For those of you in the audience who are wondering what a Grapple Truck is, it’s a semi with a what I would call for a lack of a better word a trash bed that has a boom and a seat attached to it where you can lift over, reach out, grab debris and/or trash and dump it into the container and that’s effectively what a Grapple Truck is. Generally an 8-wheel vehicle running on 18 diesel. Some are able to run on CNG compressed natural gas if you needed a picture. Okay, all right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the --- Mr. Hasan: It’s me, Mr. Mayor. st Mr. Mayor: --- I know it’s you. I want to go to the Commissioner from the 1 and then I’m going to come back to you because this is your issue. Mr. Hasan: Okay. st Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Yeah and I guess my question is how would the purchase of a Mack Grapple Truck impact the haulers contract? I mean if I just, I need I want to know that, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: All right, Director Mehall, can you speak to that issue? Mr. Mehall: Well, it really you know it will really depend on how it’s utilized. Our general practice in out of compliance waste is to try to handle loads that are accumulated loads that are too big for what the contractor would do. And that would be basically you know in the existing cases a rear load truck with at least two men on it, there are many times when we have events that or we have pickups that are much larger than that and that’s when we deploy, you now we generally deploy the Grapple Truck. Certainly we are sensitive to that to our contractor and you know we can adjust what we do in out of compliance waste to serve to best needs of the communities so you know definitely we have a lot of flexibility in responding to that. And you know we’ve certainly been working with our existing contractor to provide, to provide work in the appropriate cases so you know that’s how we respond to it. Mr. Mayor: Are you good? Mr. Fennoy: No, I mean I still don’t, I mean if we go ahead if we don’t have a Grapple Truck --- Mr. Mayor: Well, you have one --- Mr. Fennoy: --- to provide --- Mr. Mayor: --- you have one. Mr. Fennoy: --- okay, but if we get another one how would it impact the services that the Grapple Truck provides? Mr. Mehall: Our intent was because it’s you know the new one is to replace the other one the existing one. We were intending to keep the existing one on site as a backup if we ever needed it as opposed to a trade in but we would we utilize the new Grapple Truck in the same service that the existing one has. 19 Mr. Mayor: Let me step in for a second --- Mr. Fennoy: All right. Mr. Mayor: --- Administrator Sims and I’m directing this to you the Commissioner from th the 6 has asked that there be a moratorium. There’s no date attached to that moratorium. It’s not necessarily tied to anything other than the Garbage Hauler Contracts. I have no date, I don’t know when that sun sets or what can you speak to that matter about when that is because what I’m hearing is this is really just a replacement item but it doesn’t necessarily need to happen now, that’s what I’m hearing. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, let me answer that. Mr. Mayor: All right, okay, you’re yielding to the Commissioner? Mr. Sims: Right, because I was about to ask a question. th Mr. Mayor: Okay all right the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor what the Commission decided in the latter part of January was about 60 days if I’m not mistaken and they would come back and those contracts would potentially come before us. And that’s all I was asking at this particular time just to put this on the same hold so now we may be 45 days out from all of this coming back before us. And the thing about this this out of compliance work is wasn’t one of the works that one of the vendors does and I didn’t want us to try to take care of the primes and not take care of another prime who happens to be a minority because they’re one of the primes for themselves. They’re not a sub and I think they should be considered as well. This is an institution that fought hard to be a part of this here and was the only one left standing and I think in many ways this would hurt their business in the long haul. To Mr. Mehall’s credit he has tried to do some things as of late to give them some business but it’s been several months now I think almost six months they’ve got little or no business because there seems to be a mission to move away from him and moving away from him they have made a decision that they was going to go ahead and just try and do some things themselves. And I think it’s just unfair we’re going to protect those primes and not try to find a way to protect this person as a prime as well, give them all the same opportunity that’s what we’re going to do. Now let me say this here I think it’s also unfair or fair I’ll let you do the interpretation yourself Mr. Mehall was also of the mindset that we probably shouldn’t bother these prime contracts right now as well because he was led to be known that they were in ’21 is when they would expire probably need I think about a 60 day or something, it might be six months or so on their notice to start that process but yet and still we decide well hey we’re going to step inside of that. So I’m saying if we’re going to step inside that let’s step inside the whole process. Mr. Mayor: Yeah you’ve said a lot there and while I understand the nexus to the Grapple Truck and those contracts you’ve iterated that there’s the prime in there they’re is what I generally refer to as the small waste haulers, those are the ones you’re referring to? 20 Mr. Hasan: No, sir, you have this person he’s smaller that he’s a minority but he stands alone. Mr. Mayor: Right, I understand that but when I think about the prime contractors for waste hauling and management in Augusta generally referred to Advanced Services, currently while there’s not been much conversation about it here locally they are going through by acquisition by Waste Management. That’s a conversation that’s going on nationally right now and so there’s going to potentially be a shifting in that conversation as we move forward. But with regards to this issue again it’s specifically with regards to out of compliance loads that would require the City th of Augusta to send out a Grapple Truck. I’m going to go to the Commissioner from the 9 and then let’s move on and vote on this okay, let’s move on and vote on this. All right, the th Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don’t know how we’re going to move on because my question goes back to what Commissioner Hasan said and it’s about holding up because of the contract that was coming up. And if you’re going to impact somebody else’s contract --- Mr. Mayor: Let me qualify what I mean by when I said let’s move on. Mr. M. Williams: --- okay. Mr. Mayor: There’s a motion to place a moratorium on this. What you’ve now heard is we’re roughly about 45 days out. That may or may not be the case but again what we’ll say at this point is just to really set the tone for this why don’t we simply say that we’ll place a moratorium on purchasing this Grapple Truck until the contracts have been finalized. Mr. M. Williams: And we can do that, Mr. Mayor, but I would like for somebody either the Clerk, the Attorney, the Administrator or somebody to be able to say to me this is how many days it is. Mr. Mayor: Well, Commissioner --- Mr. M. Williams: I don’t want to assume it’s 45 and it’s 60. I don’t want to assume it’s 60 and it’s 45. th Mr. Mayor: --- well the Commissioner from the 6 has just told us we started with 60. We’ve now stepped into roughly 30 (unintelligible) --- th Mr. M. Williams: The Commissioner from the 6 is not the person I depend on my information from, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: --- trust me, I’m with you on that (unintelligible). Mr. M. Williams: Well, I’m offended too but I need somebody to tell me I need to know that what we’re talking about is actually the dates and the times that we’re speaking about. I don’t 21 want to hold up the Environmental Services but I don’t want to approve a contract on a piece of equipment who’s going to put somebody else out of business then the first thing we say there’s nothing we can do now and we done spent money on a piece of equipment that we didn’t have to spend. th Mr. Mayor: Well, I think that’s why if you vote on what the Commissioner from the 6 has indicated you have a caption here and he has said motion to approve as written and that is you place the Grapple Truck purchase and moratorium until the contracts. So if you give a second to that I think we’re going to be fine. The Clerk: We’ve got it. Mr. Mayor: All right. Mr. M. Williams: I made the motion. Mr. Hasan: He made the motion; I made the second. Mr. Mayor: So we’re go all right so you vote on what you motioned then I think we’re th going to be fine. All right, I’ve got a couple of hands down here. The Commissioner from the 5 he waives, all right, voting. Mr. Garrett votes No. Mr. Frantom out. Motion Passes 8-1. Mr. Mayor: All right, final item. The Clerk: ENGINEERING SERVICES 25. Discuss the necessity of scheduling soon a commission work session regarding the Environmental Services Department. (Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams) th Mr. Mayor: The Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had this put on the agenda so hopefully we can come up with a date to begin a work session to talk about the Environmental Services and the problems that we’ve been addressing even with the piece of equipment we just talked about with some other stuff. So that’s as much as I can say and want you to set up a work session --- Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir. Mr. M. Williams: --- so we can move forward immediately with that if we can. 22 Mr. Mayor: All right, so we’ve got a SPLOST Work Session that’s going to be on 3 March I believe, that’s our next one. And so we can track towards a date certain and this is pursuant to all of the conversations that took place on last Tuesday around Environmental Services. So, Administrator Sims, if you’re looking at your calendar and, okay I’ve got Madam Clerk she got hers out too. Mr. Sims: Yes. Mr. Mayor: All right, give me a date during that first week of March. rd The Clerk: It’s open after the 3 it’s open. thth Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, how about the 4 or the 5? th Mr. Sias: I recommend the 4. Mr. Hasan: I second that. rd The Clerk: We already have something before the 3 meeting. We have SPLOST Work rd Session on the 3 at 12:00 noon. Mr. Mayor: Yeah and this needs to be a dedicated conversation so I don’t want to put it th on the same day. All right, I’ve got a recommendation for the 4, is that what I heard? Mr. Hasan: You did. Mr. Mayor: Okay all right, give me a time, Madam Clerk. I like mornings. The Clerk: In the afternoon or morning we can do it 1:30 to --- Mr. Mayor: 10:00 o’clock. The Clerk: --- 3:00 or ten to --- Mr. Mayor: 10:00 o’clock. Mr. B. Williams: Lunch at 12:00? Mr. Mayor: 10:00 o’clock. The Clerk: --- 11:00 do we want it at 11:00? Mr. Sias: 10:00 is fine. The Clerk: Okay, we’re splitting the difference? 23 Mr. M. Williams: What do you mean, Ms. Bonner? What about your schedule? What do you need? Is 11:00 o’clock good for you? The Clerk: On this one I’ll split the difference. Mr. Mayor: 11:00 o’clock, 10:00 o’clock, 10:00 o’clock. The Clerk: With no lunch. Mr. Mayor: No lunch. Let everybody bring their own, let them bring their own lunch. Mr. Sias: (Unintelligible). The Clerk: No, you can’t get lunch until 11:00 --- Mr. Mayor: Yep, 10:00 o’clock. The Clerk: --- the restaurants don’t open until 11:00. th Mr. Mayor: March 4 10:00 a.m. The Clerk: 10:00 a.m., okay. st Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Yes, Mr. Mayor, if there’s anything in particular that my colleagues want to talk about at this work session then I would recommend that we forward that to the Clerk to forward to the Director so that he will be in a position to talk about that subject. Mr. Sias: (Unintelligible). st Mr. Mayor: Absolutely. All right, fantastic. I do believe the Commissioner from the 1 is accurate though. We don’t need surprises. Let’s just then forward that information and it’ll be handled. This will be a Special Called Work Session as well so that we can have that conversation in the appropriate setting, okay? All right, if there be no further business before us, all right I like this last week this week let’s keep it going. An hour and 15. I love it, all right, let’s keep it going. \[MEETING ADJOURNED\] Lena Bonner Clerk of Commission 24 CERTIFICATION: I, Lena J. Bonner, Clerk of Commission, hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of The Augusta Richmond County Commission held on February 18, 2020. ______________________________ Clerk of Commission 25