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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCalled Commission Meeting October 26, 2021 CALLED MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER October 26, 2021 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 26, 2021, the Honorable Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. Johnson, Garrett, Mason, B. Williams, Scott, McKnight, D. Williams, Hasan and Clarke, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. ABSENT: Hon. Frantom, member of Augusta Richmond County Commission. The Mayor called the meeting to order. Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. 1. LEGAL MEETING A. Pending and potential litigation B. Real estate C. Personnel Mr. Brown: We request a motion to go into executive session to discuss pending and potential litigation, real estate, and personnel. Mr. Garrett: So move. Mr. Johnson: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Mason out. Motion carries 8-0. \[EXECUTIVE SESSION\] Mr. Mayor: If you will all take your seats and cease all conversations. The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. 2. Motion to authorize execution by the Mayor of the affidavit of compliance with Georgia’s Open Meeting Act. Mr. Brown: We request a motion to execute the closed meeting affidavit. Mr. Johnson: So moved. Mr. Hasan: Second. 1 Mr. Mayor: I have a motion and a second. Voting. All right, if you’re in the Chamber could you just cease conversations at this time? Voting. Thank you. Motion carries 9-0. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Before we proceed, I wanted to take a moment. We know that pretty quickly we’re going to move into our committee meetings. On the Administrative Services Committee there is an item number five and we’re going to move that item to our special called meeting that’s taking place now. Item number five, we’re just going to move it so that we can get an update from our Administrator regarding our VaxUp Augusta campaign and I want everyone to be cognizant of that. That’s item number five on Administrative Services. The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. Mr. Brown: In addition, Mayor and Commissioners, we request a motion to adopt a Resolution authorizing the settlement of all claims of Sabrina Johnson in the aggregate sum of $8,100 payable as follows to Sabrina Johnson and Young and Thurmond as her attorneys. th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 9. Ms. Scott: So move. Mr. D. Williams: Second. Mr. Mayor: Motion and a second. Voting. Ms. McKnight abstains. Motion carries 8-1. rd Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, I believe the commissioner from the 3 would like to register a vote. She was pushing another button – Ms. McKnight: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: -- and she intends to push one. Ms. McKnight: Oh, I was going to push one for the record so everybody would know that yes, I support that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Yes, absolutely. All right, I believe we’ve got a couple of other motions and th I’m going to come to the commissioner from the 8 at the appropriate time. All right, the Chair recognizes Attorney Brown, those two items we’re going to talk about them here. No? Okay, all right, they’ll move to the Engineering Services, okay. Okay, all right. The Chair recognizes Administrator Donald, item number five. Madam Clerk, if you’ll read the caption for us please. The Clerk: Item number five. Discussion: Initial Commission update on VaxUp Augusta! Program implementation and activities. 2 Mr. Mayor: Administrator Donald. Mr. Donald: Thank you, Mayor and Commission, for an opportunity to come before you again as we continue to operate in this COVID environment. I think that’s important to note because we are still within at least locally a state of emergency and where we are trying to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and so under your leadership you allocated about $1.5 million dollars for us to be able to provide vaccinations or incentives for vaccinations for our residents and so I provided a report for you which I’ll go over some of the activities within the report as well as follow up on a few sidebar conversations with some recommendations on moving forward. First, we initially started off with a solo partner which was Department of Public Health and so now we’re up to five vendors which we’re excited about although four of them have really just begun to enact their programs. Most recently Augusta University Student Health Clinic is our most recent partner joining us about a little over a week or so ago so as you look at the actual attachment that is in your binders we have highlighted that about 1.2 million of the allocation or it has been allocated but not necessarily expended so the way we have allocated our funds is that of our 10,000 person goal of vaccination based on the commitments of our five providers we would be able to provide about 8300 second shots and so that would cost us about $830,000 as we’re doing $100 per in incentive and the overall allocation for administrative costs is about $415,000 to the providers. In addition to that you have allowed us to provide about $25,000 in advertising, marketing and outreach costs. With that this initial report is through October 10 which is the initial reporting date but it does cover from August 19 when you made the motion through what is technically October 8 because of the closing of the reporting period. So the summary of that report is that we have 1100 first doses which were provided, of course, that’s kind of like a bonus because we’re only providing funding for the second dose, but in addition to that we have issued about 1268 of the full vaccinations to that time period for a total of a little under 2400 shots issuing about a thousand gift cards. Now that number has actually increased to a little over 1200 now with the total amount expended about $215,000. Now that we have five vendors as of October 10 there are 112 total clinics that are being provided and of course some of the data will come in a little bit later because those clinics did not stop on October 8. They’re continuing on through today and so what’s also included is mostly the data related to the Department of Public Health because they th were our first vendor so they were fully active around September 5 or so around Labor Day so they had about a month worth of activity while the others only had about a week and a half of so because they had to ramp up but very encouraged by our initial reporting. What I would add is in addition to the initial results from that first month of being in place we’ve seen a little bit of an uptick even though there’s only been a brief allocation. We’ve had, if you look at the report on just our general vaccination metrics that are included in the report as of August 20 there are about 142,000 shots administered where we’re at a little over 168,000 as of October 20 when we pulled those numbers. What that shows is there’s about a 5% increase of folks who have received one dose and about a 6% increase for those who are fully vaccinated so I think the needle is definitely moving but there are some things that we can do to further jump start this initiative. Before I end with that, I would also highlight that of the 25,000 that you have allocated we have definitely done a much better job of getting the word out so we’re really appreciative of the Commission’s acceptance of that recommendation because we have, I think there are about 11 total radio stations that have been running our commercials and we have not had to pay for all of them. We’ve actually received some in-kind rotations at no additional cost because our radio partners believe in our message and our efforts as well so that has been extremely helpful. I will have the total number 3 of spots and rotations updated for you beyond this but this is just a highlight of the first I believe 120 spots that we have run on radio through our paid advertisements so in closing I know that there’s been some conversation about an opportunity to really jumpstart this effort and so this Saturday we do have the James Brown Arena is where we will be hosting our first mass vaccination under the VaxUp Augusta campaign and so one of the questions that has been asked is whether we could incentivize moving forward at that point potentially providing the vaccinations to all residents who get their shot from that point forward and so the answer is yes but I wanted to provide you some insights on how to do that because your action was very specific and so we would have to amend that to adjust the current MOUs to amend the current MOUs to allow incentives for each shot effective on October 30. We would also at that point need to provide the balance of the funding to our partners because they only receive 50% of their allocation based on the proposal and then they would get the rest so we would need to do that. There’s no action from the Commission on that just to let you know that that would be the next action and you would have to make it effective on October 30 but again the first step would be you would have to make a motion to amend the MOUs to allow for each shot that someone receives for it to be eligible for the incentive and that effective date would need to be October 30. Mr. Mayor: Administrator Donald, thank you for your presentation. I want to thank first and foremost our staff and your team for the work that they’ve done, our EMA team for how they’ve helped stand this up not just this event that’s going to take place on Saturday which will be our first mass vaccination, a drive-in clinic. I’m going to ask every member of the Augusta Commission if your schedules permit to join me out there Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the James Brown Arena in the parking lot. We’ve had a number of large scale events that have th taken place out there. I’ll be out there, the commissioners from the 10 has already said he’s going to join me along with his boots and my boots and jeans so every member of the Commission, I’m asking you to come out and join me on Saturday. For those who want to know I will be in my cowboy’s gear as well just so you know but I mention that because we have had a number of public health community partners who have helped stand vaccination clinics up across Augusta. This will be again the first large scale one. There are a series of other citywide COVID vaccination clinics. Those that have taken place prior to today and then those that will take place starting on November th 4, the 6, November 20, December 2 and December 4. This is an extremely important time for us to move the needle. There is data that we’ve seen in other communities that talks about how to incentivize and get people out in large numbers so that you can make our community safe and so we want to be champions for that. I’m going to go back to the Administrator then I’m going to th recognize the commissioner from the 9 for a motion. Yes, please. Mr. Donald: I think there’s one adjustment that I want to highlight. I believe the recommendation would be just for October 30 or I would request guidance on whether it is just for October 30 and whether it would include boosters and I ask that for two reasons. We’ve allocated about a million dollars just for the incentives but as you see there’s about another $50,000 or so that can also be allocated to that number as well because of the balance for the administrative costs but that is the total that is allocated for that so when those expenditures, I’m sorry, when those dollars run out, we haven’t allocated any additional funding and so to ensure that we can kind of cut off and continue to manage I think that’s why I’m asking is October 30 based on the will of the Commission that single event date because then you could cover first shots, second shots and 4 boosters that day and go back to your regularly scheduled program on that following Monday without much administrative interruption. Mr. Mayor: Might I offer the following with regards to that? One, I want the public to know and fully understand that we’re not talking about any new funding. This is the dollars that the Commission has already appropriated for this purpose and might I recommend that we do this until those funds are exhausted. And at the appropriate time if necessary we revisit it. Our goal was to try to get 10,000 shots in arms. We need to push the envelope as much as we can to ensure that and our goal I believe we all share this, Administrator, and that is we simply want to get shots in arms that we might save lives so I offer that as a counter to that. Mr. Donald: Understood. I listen and received. I’m just making sure they get the clarity from the Commission so that we can move forward. I do just want to highlight again on our reporting it would likely need to be adjusted because again this would be for first and second shots so our vaccine goal might be adjusted because there are likely folks who have never received a vaccination that would likely come out so it would increase the total number of shots but it might decrease the number of vaccinations. th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Yes, Mr. Mayor, I don’t want to get ahead of what the Administrator as I th, understand you’re saying. We’re talking about giving for the 30 we’re talking about start giving the $100 per shot from then on and I agree with you, Mr. Mayor, I think it should be continued until the funds are depleted but also my only little sticking point do we want to consider the boosters at this point because that’s going to absorb some of the real money. Because most persons who have gotten two shots, they’re going to get their booster so they’re going to get a booster. So I would rather see us keep it on the one and two shots. Mr. Donald: Received. Mr. Hasan: That’s my motion, Mr. Mayor, for that. th Mr. Mayor: I think I concur with that. I think the commissioner from the 9 is prepared to make that motion. Ms. Scott: (inaudible). Mr. Mayor: All right – Mr. Hasan: Second. Mr. Mayor: All right, commissioner from the ninth’s motion is to approve incentivizing the first and second shots in arms going forward effective immediately – Mr. Donald: Effective October 30. 5 Mr. Mayor: -- effective on October 30 so for anyone who comes out starting on th October the 30 you get a shot. You’re going to get an incentive and it will use existing dollars that have already been appropriated by the Augusta Commission and no boosters. Mr. Donald: And authorizing the Mayor to amend the MOUs to allow for first and second shots. Mr. Mayor: Yes. Mr. Johnson: Second. Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair, okay, let me come back to you, Commissioner, all right, stth the commissioner from the 1, he waives. All right, commissioner from the 8. Mr. Garrett: Thank you, Mayor. Really this is a comment just surrounding my hesitation for this. You know there has already been some confusion in the public about the shots and I’ve fielded numerous amounts of calls about you know I’ve gone to this place and gotten my second shot. Where is my $100 and trying to explain to them that well, you didn’t go to the correct vendor and yadiyahda and now here we are, we’re going to add basically a hundred dollars per shot and looking at the statistics that the Administrator talked about, it doesn’t look like we’ve raised the, impacted the local percentages all that much. I mean it’s, so I’m just concerned that this is going to cause further confusion in the area and that’s all I have to say. th Mr. Mayor: Commissioner from the 8, I appreciate that. I think I shared these sentiments on this morning and I’ve been pretty consistent about this. The problem with consistency around what should be done is we’re completely inconsistent. What I’d like to see today is that after this motion is taken and hopefully adopted is that we provide every member of the Commission with a set of talking points where everybody is saying the same thing, everybody’s doing the same thing. Our challenge in Augusta is that we say we want something and then we don’t always say it together and so in that posture I want everybody saying the same thing and doing the same thing. We need shots in arms, we need to save lives, we need to make sure that our community, our loved ones, our family members, aunts, uncles, grandmamas, fathers, mothers are safe. We’ve lost too many of our co-workers, we’ve lost too many of our family members and the highest incidence of those that are in our hospitals are the unvaccinated and so I’m going to urge that we do this and again, consistent set of talking points, very simple, and everybody saying the same thing. Administrator Donald. Mr. Donald: Yeah, just to highlight something because I would also want Commissioner Garrett to also feel better about the progress in our community. While we went from 33,000 to 30, I mean 33% to 39% in the community of just over 200,000 people in that short period of time we’ve increased that number by 11,000 persons. While the percentage looks small, when you look at that and basically a month or so of implementing this campaign, 11,000 folks getting fully vaccinated although not fully because of us all of those numbers count toward the pool, it’s a pretty large increase especially when you compare it to some of our surrounding areas so I just wanted to make sure that we highlighted that within the report. 6 Mr. Mayor: Thank you, we’ve got a motion and a second. Madam Clerk – The Clerk: Mr. Mayor, just for clarification Commissioner Johnson offered a second but it had already been seconded by Commissioner Hasan so we just wanted to make that for our record. Mr. Johnson: Always beat me to the punch. The Clerk: Well, you can be the third. Mr. Johnson: Can I be the third? Okay, third. Mr. Mayor: All right, voting. Mr. Garrett votes No. Motion carries 8-1. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Thank you, Administrator Donald and thank you to the Augusta Commission. To our fellow Augustans, on Saturday, October 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 our public health partners, Augusta Fire and EMA as well as members of the Augusta Commission will see you there at the James Brown parking lot arena, arena parking lot, bright and early. Let’s line up, let’s come out, let’s get shots in arms and we’re going to be there to encourage you, we’re going to be there to make sure we have good fellowship because this is important for our city. Incentives for everyone who comes to get a shot in the arm, first or second shot, doesn’t th matter. I’ll see you Saturday. Commissioner from the 6, coming back to you. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just want to ask the Administrator are you going to be able to get with your partners in media to arrange for an advertisement in a timely manner for this Saturday? Mr. Donald: Yes, sir. We were just talking about that trying to get ahead of it to get started now. Yes, sir, we’re going to work on that. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, sir. Mr. Donald: We would also while we have our news media here we would definitely welcome them spreading that positive message and helping to get the word out as well. Some of that earned media we would welcome that also. I see Mr. gentleman in the back I know he gives a recap of the Commission and so we’ll take that as well. Mr. Mayor: I think he’s talking about where is George. He’s back there somewhere and that was the voice of God who was calling him on the phone earlier so – The Clerk: We hope. 7 Mr. Mayor: Yeah, so we’ll certainly take any positive announcement that the City of Augusta is offering a hundred-dollar incentive for anyone who comes to get a shot. All right, that’s the message. Come and get a shot, $100. Attorney Brown, is there any additional business before us? All right, I think we’re ready for committee meetings. Again, thank the Commission. \[MEETING ADJOURNED\] Lena J. Bonner Clerk of Commission 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 October 26, 2021. ______________________________ Clerk of Commission 8