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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-01-1998 Regular Meeting Page 1 REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBERS September 1, 1998 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:16 p.m., Tuesday, September 1, 1998, the Honorable Larry E. Sconyers, Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. Beard, Bridges, H. Brigham, J. Brigham, Handy, Kuhlke, Mays, Powell, and Shepard; members of the Augusta Richmond County Commission. ABSENT: Hon. Moses Todd, member of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Also present were Ms. Bonner, Clerk of Commission; Mr. Oliver, Administrator; and Mr. Wall, County Attorney. THE INVOCATION WAS GIVEN BY THE REVEREND BARTLETT. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WAS RECITED. CLERK: Mr. Mayor and Commission, we have a request to delete Items 24 and 33-A and to add a resolution by the Augusta Commission formally inviting the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority to hold its October meeting in Augusta. MR. SHEPARD: I move that the two items be deleted, 24 and 33-A, and that the resolution item be added, Mr. Mayor. MR. HANDY: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 8-0. [MR. KUHLKE OUT] CLERK: Mr. Max Hicks, would you please join the Mayor at the podium, please? Mr. Hicks, the Mayor and the Augusta Commission would like to recognize you for receiving the Best Friend Award dated August 1998 from the Georgia Water Wise Council. The plaque says: The Members of the Georgia Water Wise Council proudly present this award of special recognition to Max Hicks and acknowledge your outstanding contributions and leadership in the protection of the conservation of our most precious natural resource, water. In addition, your perseverance, promotion, and support Page 2 of environmental education through your water utility has had a positive and significant impact toward making water conservation and quality a common goal for the present and for the future of this state. It is with great honor and pleasure that the Georgia Water Wise Council presents Max Hicks this Best Friend Award. [A ROUND OF APPLAUSE IS GIVEN.] CLERK:Under Delegation, Mr. John Jackson III of Jackson Person and Associates, reference to Springfield Village. MR. JOHNSON: Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, my name is Isaac Johnson and I am the secretary of Springfield Village Park Foundation, and it gives me honor today to introduce you to Mr. Jackson. John Jackson III is the architectural firm that we have selected to do the final draft for the Spring-field Village Park Foundation. He has been working with Mr. Kirby and I - Mr. Kirby serves on Augusta Tomorrow and serves as president of the Springfield Village Park Foundation - and he will present that plan to you [inaudible]. He has done some extensive work. He did work with the Martin Luther King national site in Atlanta, the architectural work there, and the other that we would like to mention is the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Henry "Hank" Aaron park master plan in Mobile, Alabama. I have visited two of these sites and was very elated over the work that had been done. Mr. Jackson, as I said, is from Memphis, Tennessee, and he will come before you now to present the plan for the Springfield Village Park. MR. JACKSON: I would like to say good afternoon, Mayor, Commissioners. My name is John Jackson, I am the president and CEO of Jackson Person and Associates, an architectural engineering firm out of Memphis, Tennessee. What you have in front of you is a little brochure about our firm and also a copy of an agenda which we're going to look to work with the Springfield Village Park Foundation tomorrow we're going over. I'd like to turn your attention to the inside of the agenda here. Three items I'm going to talk on is item number one, just a quick introduction of our design team; three, the project scope of services which we will be providing for this particular project; and number six, where we're going to be headed next with the project itself. And I will be very brief in my description and presentation. A little history about Jackson Person and Associates: Our firm started in January 1991 with myself and my late partner, Walter Person. At that time we started out with two people, and today we're at 41. About 40% of the work we do is in Memphis; the other 60% of our work is outside of a 200-mile radius of Memphis. Our firm has been very fortunate in the fact that we've worked on some very prestigious projects, and Mr. Johnson mentioned we were the lead landscape and architec-tural firm on the Martin Luther King project in Atlanta for the National Park Service. We worked on the 1996 Olympic field hockey venue. We also prepared the master plan and construction documents for the Magic Johnson sports facility in Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi; Henry "Hank" Aaron Ballpark, Mobile, Alabama; and also the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, we were part of that team, just to mention a few. A Page 3 little bit about the professional services that our firm offers: Our firm is civil engineers, land surveyors, landscape architects and planners, and also construction administration personnel. Our firm boasts, with 41 people, the ability to take any project with regards to its exterior and meet your goals with regards to master planning and construction documents. That's a brief introduction of the history of our firm and some of the services we offer. Item number three on the agenda, and if you'll notice the project process on the actual right side of this agenda talks about what our scope of services is. One of the things we're going to do is program the project and give a list of elements we look to include in it. The next thing we're going to do is a site analysis where we actually look at the site around Springfield Village, Springfield Baptist Church, with regards to the elements that will affect it. The next thing we're going to do is have a design sharette and a brief workshop to generate some site concepts on taking those particular program elements, placing it on the property, and trying to work out a master plan for that project. The other thing we're going to do is actually develop a master plan for it. What I mean by a master plan is a road map as to how that particular church and property around it will be developed to take on the certain features as the program elements as well as existing site conditions. From that we're going to develop a phasing plan, how that project can be implemented in phases. And last but not least, we will do a statement of probable cost, which will take each phase of that particular project, assign a dollar figure to it, and that put together should give you a very clear road map on how that project can be developed. What's actually next in the project and where we're headed: One of the things we're going to look to do here is gather some data while we're here in town as well as talk briefly with the Springfield Village Foundation and talk about some of the program elements they're interested in seeing on the site, make sure we document the history and include it into the master plan. We realize that the Golf Hall of Fame is right across the street on Reynolds and we realize that this piece of property in this project is real key with regards to history in Augusta. We will be very sensitive to that. We look forward to working with each and every one of you, we look to have your support, and we appreciate the opportunity to be here in Augusta. Thank you very much. MR. HANDY:Mr. Mayor, do we need a motion to accept that as information? MR. KUHLKE: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 1: Accept resignation of Commissioner Moses Todd from the Augusta Commission. Page 4 MR. POWELL: So move. MR. BRIDGES: Second. MR. MAYS: I guess my question is to Mr. Wall. Is this an automatic added item from the last meeting or how has this been placed on here? And I guess my reason for asking particularly is due to the absence of the Commissioner from District Four. MR. WALL: It was not on the last agenda, and I assume that someone requested that this be placed on the agenda, but I'm not aware of who made the request. MR. MAYS: My reason for asking it in that manner is the fact that usually when one gets ready to resign--and I realize Mr. Todd offered us a premature--maybe that's not the word in terms of premature, but it was one that kind of had a post-dated date of resignation, and we turned it down, which basically dealt with the end of this month and he was talking about this on the first of the month. The Commissioner is not here today, and I probably raise this more in a legal question from the standpoint that if the Commissioner did not add it, where are we on that legally from the standpoint that--you know, what I don't want to do, and I'm going to make this very raw and plain, we vote to remove him on the anticipation that he's running for mayor. On the anticipation that he's running for mayor. Now, he's had in the paper that he plans to call a news conference on Thursday, I presume. Quite frankly, with all the turn of events that have happened in reference to District Four, I think, one, the people there deserve better. They deserve a clearance on what's going to happen. I think the sitting Commissioner, one, should play that act out himself. If he's going to run for mayor, let him go ahead, sign his name on the dotted line, then the seat becomes vacant. I think then is the proper time, Mr. Mayor, for this Commission to call a meeting, even if it's a special called meeting, and then whatever the consensus is, whether you call it or whether a majority of this Commission, which we can under the rights of the bill, if we decide, six of us, that a person selected is going to serve, I think that is the proper time to do it. I am very fearful of what could result in some type of sporadic news conference maybe being called tomorrow on a resignation that the Commissioner from District Four did not place on this particular agenda, and that's just my personal gut feeling with it. I've seen a lot happen in these last 72 hours as to whether or not this is going to take place or not. When he puts his name on the dotted line, it's a vacant seat. Then I think we have that legal right to go ahead and to do. He's not here, obviously it's vacant. He's not speaking on that. I understand he picked up his book yesterday. Maybe he did it as John Q. Citizen ahead of time, maybe he did it as a Commissioner. He walks in and we've removed him, then what is our position? So I'll throw that out for my colleagues to think about. I personally would have rather seen you all delete this, deal with it when he legitimately is not a Commissioner, then we vote to put somebody in. And I'm going to go on while the record is out there and express--reiterate my feelings. I wish--and I plan to make this known to the Legislative Delegation. This is one of those items that we need to clear up in dealing with the bill. Because as the only sitting Commissioner up here who has a voting constituency in District Four, personally I Page 5 would rather it be an item that would be on a ballot and allow the people in that district to select their Commissioner. The voters would then decide and not a six-person majority of this particular board, of which I am the only person that's got that--that has a vote. Mr. Mayor, you have one, but I'm the only one that's got a vote sitting here that has a direct constituency in District Four. And I would just hope that we would remove it from--this item and let the process take its place. And we've got days to call a Commission meeting. If we are concerned about any particulars in there, we can call one the morning after he removes himself, if he so removes himself, but I think that's the proper time to do it and not today. That's just my personal feeling and I'm not going to vote on the resignation. MAYOR SCONYERS: Ms. Bonner, who put it on the agenda? Who asked that it be put on the agenda? CLERK: I think you requested it. Did you not request me to place it on? MAYOR SCONYERS: I don't think so. Well, regardless of how it got on here, gentlemen, my feeling is he resigned the 30th, and I don't care what y'all say--and I disagree with you, I think that the people in the Fourth District deserve to be represented and I think y'all ought to get together and let these people have a representative and I think you ought to do it today. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I want to ask Mr. Wall a question if I could. The last time when we received the letter I abstained from voting because I thought it was premature and that Mr. Todd had the right to rescind that letter at any time. Today, September 1st, is the letter that he wrote effective August the 30th, is that letter valid today? MR. WALL: Mr. Kuhlke, in answer to your question, the letter stated that Mr. Todd stated that he would resign effective August the 30th. As I pointed out at the August 4th meeting, I think it was, it did not state a definite intent or a definite statement that he was resigning effective August the 30th. He clarified that and said, "I am resigning effec-tive August the 30th." But a resignation is not effective until it is accepted by the proper entity. In this case it's you as the Commission must accept that resignation for it to be effective. So at this point, even though he said that he was resigning effective August the 30th, it's not effective until it is, in fact, accepted. And, yes, he could come in and rescind that up until such time as it's voted to accept that resignation. MAYOR SCONYERS: Well, based on that then, Mr. Wall, if he qualifies to run for mayor, we'll have to come back here and accept his resignation then; is that correct? MR. WALL: No, sir. Once he qualifies, then he automatically vacates the position. And the statute is clear that once he qualifies for the mayor, he vacates the position, then the resignation is moot, and at that point it would be up to the Commission to fill that vacancy. Page 6 MAYOR SCONYERS: The whole city of Augusta has heard the gentleman say that he is going to run for mayor and he wanted to vacate office on the 30th. Now, what more do we need, gentlemen? I mean, that's a no-brainer, and I know all of y'all got brains sitting up here or you wouldn't be here. Further discussion, gentlemen? MR. SHEPARD:Mr. Mayor, I think we ought to let Mr. Todd speak with his qualification. He will speak at that time unequivocally, I think, and may moot the necessity of us taking any action. We'll certainly know what Mr. Todd's voice is when he qualifies. He could have qualified yesterday, he could have qualified up till this point. I make a substitute motion, Mr. Mayor, that we postpone Items 1 and 2 on the agenda pending the qualification period of this race closing this week. MR. MAYS: I'll second. MR. POWELL: Mr. Chairman, I have discussion on the first motion. I was called by numerous constituents of the Fourth District and was asked to support making a motion to accept Mr. Todd's resignation so that the Fourth District could move on and get an appointee for this board. I've had no telling how many calls in reference to that, and that's why I made the motion to accept the resignation. If Mr. Todd doesn't want to resign, then he shouldn't have written a letter of resignation. I certainly have no intention of resigning, therefore, I haven't written a letter of resignation. When I get ready to resign, I'll write a letter of resignation and won't show up for the meeting, and I think that's what's occurred today. I mean, Mr. Todd can make up his mind, but all indications from him were that he intended to resign as of yesterday. MR. MAYS: Mr. Mayor, I'm going to be real brief with this. I think that you're right, all of us do have a brain of sorts, but I think that inasmuch as the gentleman is not here--we've heard what he did say, but I've heard a lot of different things from not only the Commission, I've heard a lot of things that political people say that have changed a lot in this last month, in this last week, and I think what really clarifies it is that when he puts his name on the dotted line it's foolproof. What I guess hypothetically I was asking of Mr. Wall is that, you know, we make this type of assumption and we vote to remove a Commissioner from office on an item that the Commissioner did not place back on this agenda, it's unclear then, and we were saying, well, who put it on there. Well, then if the Commissioner, pardon the pun, darkens that door, comes in, takes his seat after you have removed him, then, Mr. Wall, as the legal counsel from here, and says that I'm sitting here, I did not place it on here, then what predicament does that put this Commission in? Why do we have to go through that dog mess in terms of a mayor's race? Let the people who are running for mayor fight it out in terms of their own mayor's race. I think if Moses wants to run, let him run. The Mayor has got to qualify, and the others who are running. They should take care of that between now and November. I think the sensible thing--because it's only going to confuse these folk in District Four. And I've had those calls, too, J.B., but they also need to hear some clarity from their own Commissioner. And somewhere in here I perceive something that if we do it, that we're putting ourselves in for a predicament of an element of surprise that we don't Page 7 really need. I think that predicament should fall back on the Commissioner. If he wants to leave, let him go downstairs, pay the nineteen hundred and something dollars, then he's out of the way, then you've got a legal right to do whatever you want to do. But I don't feel like going through no surprise news conferences tomorrow saying that we removed somebody from office and that they didn't put it on the agenda, and the only thing I'm saying is the sensible way to do it, and it doesn't take a whole lot of sense to do it, is to take it off, let him decide what the devil he wants to do, then we've got in terms of 45 days to decide who we're going to put in his seat. And if we don't make up our minds then, Zell Miller will do it before he goes out of office. But there's a clear pattern to give the people a representative in District Four. But I think the one that they elected has left us with some unclarity and we ought to let him speak that out, and it's not going to take but 48 hours to do it, and the world won't change that much in District Four before he does that. CLERK: Mr. Mays, on behalf of the Clerk's Office, the Clerk's Office will take the responsibility for placing this item on the agenda. And I apologize for the Mayor. I had thought that he had instructed me to do that, but I'll take the responsibility for placing this on the agenda. MR. MAYS: I'm not angry with you or anybody, but the only thing I'm just saying it's on there. And that apology is accepted, but you don't even have to make one. I'm just saying to my colleagues if he's going to do what he says he's going to do it's a moot issue anyway. Let him do it, then let these seven or eight folk who are going to run for mayor fight that out. We've got enough fish to fry on this agenda today without worrying about whether Moses is going show, whether he's going to qualify, or anything else. Let's take care of the regular business of the city and do that and then let them deal with their business in November. MAYOR SCONYERS: I agree with Mr. Mays that a lot of times people tell us things they don't back up, but very seldom do we get it in writing. And we have it in writing from Mr. Todd and I think that speaks for itself, ladies and gentlemen and fellow Commissioners, so I think it's time to go to the trough and do the right thing or the wrong thing. Further discussion, gentlemen? Substitute motion first, Ms. Bonner. CLERK: I didn't get the motion. What was the motion, Mr. Shepard? MR. SHEPARD: Madame Clerk, the motion was to postpone till the next meeting Items 1 and 2. And I believe Mr. Mays seconded that. MR. MAYS: I seconded. MAYOR SCONYERS: All in favor of Mr. Shepard's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MR. BRIDGES & MR. POWELL VOTE NO. Page 8 MOTION CARRIES 7-2. MAYOR SCONYERS: Well, I tell you what, it's a hell of a note when we got Commissioners that vote not to accept something that's been given in writing. MR. POWELL: Mr. Mayor, I call for the order of the day. CLERK:Item 3: Z-98-93 - A petition from Edward Oellerich, on behalf of Five-O Development, et al., requesting a change of zoning from Zone A (Agriculture) and Zone R-1A (One-family Residence) to Zone LI (Light Industry) on property located on the southwest right-of-way line of Luke Road, 1,253 feet, more or less, southwest of the southwest corner of the intersection of Wrightsboro Road and Luke Road. This petition is being forwarded to the City Commission without a recommendation. (Postponed from the August 18th Commission meeting.) MR. OELLERICH: Mr. Mayor, at this time I would like to withdraw my petition, if I may. MR. KUHLKE:Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we allow Mr. Oellerich to withdraw his petition without prejudice. MR. POWELL: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Kuhlke's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. MR. LUKE: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to be heard at this time on this agenda, if I may. I didn't see no hands or asking for them to raise their hands on this issue. We met last--I address this to the Mayor and also to the-- MAYOR SCONYERS: Sir, give us your name and address, please. MR. LUKE: My name is C.J. Luke, I live at 1463 Luke Road, and I come with a request from myself and several other homeowners surrounding this site. Now, we met last month with the engineer, George Patty. There was a debate on whether this was an adequate road into the property from Wrightsboro Road. This is a dead-end road. It was stated by George Patty that this was a 20-foot road, and there was a question as to whether it was a 30-foot road, but I myself measured it no later than today and found that it is a 20-foot road. And we have problems out there on account of this Indian temple using one entrance to the road, and they don't have adequate parking at times when they have a big convention out here and they will be blocking the road where fire equipment and ambulances cannot get down the road. And if you people vote for this light industry Page 9 down there--we have been through this probably once before with Lester Laughinghouse when he had light industry in there. And the equipment breaks down on the road and you can't get by, couldn't even carry my kids to school. But there's no--it's a dead-end road. We do not have gas, we do not have county water, and there's no sewerage out there, so this is a drawback for such a thing as light industry. And the road itself was built several years ago, but it's not adequate for heavy traffic due to the fact that there was a water line running to the temple down there under the road and it burst during the wintertime. And it has also been repaired several times, but where this water line broke in the road, it sunk in at times. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, a point of order, please. And I apologize for interrupting you, Mr. Luke, and I would be interested in what you've got to say, but I think you need to know that this particular issue is not an issue at this point. He has withdrawn his request for rezoning, and so we are not even considering that at the present time. I didn't know whether you understood that or not. MR. LUKE: No, I didn't. MR. KUHLKE: I hated to interrupt you, but really--if he happens to come back, save your information, but right now it's not an issue. MR. LUKE: Well, I'm sorry that I've taken up the Commission's time and my time, but I'm dearly interested in keeping this [inaudible]. I appreciate your concern. MAYOR SCONYERS: Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Kuhlke. Item 4, Ms. Bonner. CLERK:Item 4: Motion to approve the Augusta-Richmond County vehicle and equipment replacement criteria. MR. BRIDGES:Motion to approve. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Bridges' motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 8-0. [MR. POWELL OUT] CLERK:Item 5: Motion to approve Change Order #1 decreasing contract amount by $1,648 and Change Order #2 extending completion date by six (6) days at no cost for the Small Business Incubator Facility. MR. H. BRIGHAM:Move for approval. MR. KUHLKE: Second. Page 10 MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Brigham's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 8-0. [MR. POWELL OUT] CLERK:Item 6: Motion to approve lowering the rate of interest on Economic Development Loans for Mildred and Herbert L. Robinson d/b/a Mr. & Mrs. Manners and Venena Preston d/b/a Kiysha Designs to treasury bill rate as approved by the Commission on July 27, 1998. MR. MACK: Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, you all approved two loans earlier for the two subjects that are named here, and the interest rate was 8.5. Subsequently the interest rate has been lowered and approved by you all for the treasury rate, and in an effort to assist these small businesses I'm asking that you all consider lowering the rate to the treasury bill at what you all approved so that we can lower the rate for these individuals' businesses. MR. BEARD: Mr. Mack, would that include others? Are these the only two? I thought you had-- MR. MACK: I think those are the only two that we based this on. MR. SHEPARD: One quick question, Mr. Mayor, if I could. Mr. Mack, what is the treasury bill rate? MR. MACK: Currently it's 5.06. MR. BRIDGES: Mr. Mayor, my understanding of that when we passed that, that was for these loans from that point on. You know, I understand that these were made prior to us passing that resolution or ordinance; is that right? MR. MACK: That's correct. MR. BRIDGES: And what you're proposing is on those--you're not really proposing going back on these, but from this point on? MR. MACK: This point forward, yes. MR. BRIDGES: My understanding of what we did was any new loans made from that point [inaudible]. MR. HANDY: Is this wrong in the book? If it's that, why are these two names in here then if you're not going back? MR. MACK: No, we're going to start from this point on. Page 11 MR. HANDY: Have these two already been approved? MR. MACK: Yes, sir. These loans were approved at the prime rate, which was 8.5, but we're going to make it effective from this point on--from today forward. MR. WALL: Run a new amortization schedule and amend the note effective as of today. MR. MACK: Right. MR. H. BRIGHAM:I move for approval, Mr. Mayor. MR. BEARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Brigham's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MR. BRIDGES & MR. J. BRIGHAM VOTE NO; MR. POWELL OUT. MOTION CARRIES 6-2. CLERK:Under Engineering Services, Item 7: Motion to approve Change Order 2, 3 and 4 totaling $12,927 to the contract for renovations to the Immaculate Conception School. MR. J. BRIGHAM:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MR. HANDY: Mr. Mayor, since we didn't have a meeting, can somebody explain this just a little bit? MR. ACREE: These change orders are for some additional painting and adding to the original scopes of the work [inaudible]. MR. HANDY: Okay. And it's in agreement with your Inspection Department? Who signed off on this? You? MR. ACREE: I signed off on [inaudible]. MR. HANDY: Okay. See, we didn't have a committee meeting, that's why I'm asking that question, because we didn't hear any details about it. Okay. Thank you. Page 12 MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Brigham's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 8: Motion to approve allocation of $101,000 of funds to purchase replacement plant materials to restore parkway and boulevard greenspaces (Capital reserves). MR. POWELL:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 9: Motion to approve counteroffer option in the amount of $1,350 to purchase 5,112 sq. ft. of permanent easement and 7,659 sq. ft. of temporary construction easement in connection with the R.C.C.I. Trunk Line Wastewater Collec-tion System Project owned by David L. Johnson (Tax Map 168, Parcel 109.2). MR. POWELL: So move. MR. BRIDGES: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Powell's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. MR. WALL:Item Number 10 is to authorize the purchase of a right-of-way and a temporary construction easement in connection with the Wrightsboro Road improvements out in front of the Augusta Mall. And the option price and the appraised value are the same, $17,188, and we are being reimbursed 100% for that value. MR. SHEPARD:So move. MR. POWELL: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. Page 13 MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 11: Motion to authorize Public Works and Engineering Department to extend an offer of employment to selected candidate for the Preconstruction Engineer in the amount of $50,575. MR. KUHLKE:So move. MR. HANDY: Second. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to ask Mr. Goins, this person will be taking over the work that we're presently having outsourced? MR. GOINS: No, sir. MR. OLIVER: This is Mr. Murphy's old job. MR. KUHLKE: Okay. Scott Godfrey, what is he doing? MR. OLIVER: We hired a County Engineer, and the County Engineer has taken over Mr. Godfrey's responsibilities. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Oliver, is this in range? MR. OLIVER: Yes, it is in range. MR. HANDY: I've just got one question, Mr. Oliver. It's something similar to what Mr. Mays just talked about with Mr. Todd. Right now Jack is interim, so if we fill this slot he must going to be permanent or else he's going to be out of a job; right? MR. OLIVER: You can argue that. The dilemma that we've got is the workload that's there. I mean, I'll say this publicly also: In my opinion, rather than going back to that position, I think that if Mr. Murphy proves unsuccessful, but that decision is his, I'm not convinced he would stay. But that's his decision to make. MR. HANDY: Right. I'm not saying Jack is not a good man and he haven't proven himself. I'm saying that we're fixing to fill his slot, so he's either going to have to prove himself or he's going to be out of a job. That's what I'm saying. Thank you. MR. OLIVER: Keep the pressure on. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Kuhlke's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. Page 14 CLERK:Item 12: Motion to award Construction Contract to the low bidder, Mabus Brothers Construction Company, in the amount of $193,163.37 regarding the extension of sanitary sewer and water lines along Lovers Lane and Columbia Nitrogen Road. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 13: Motion to approve Change Order No. 2 in the amount of $4,100 for Utility Service, Inc. regarding the cleaning and painting of Georgetown, Belair Road, and Washington Road elevated water storage tanks. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 14: Motion to approve Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $6,375.38 for Zimmerman, Evans and Leopold, Inc. regarding additional engineering services required for the Water System Interconnection Project. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 15: Motion to approve Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $51,030 for Southern Partners, Inc. regarding additional engineering design for the Horsepen Trunk and Sandridge Estates sanitary sewer extension. Page 15 MR. HANDY:So move. MR. POWELL: Second. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Mayor, since this is almost a 100% increase in the engineering [inaudible]. MR. POWELL: Well, as I explained it to you earlier, Mr. Brigham, when you called me concerning it, what it was was the original plan on this was pre-Consolidation. Once we looked at the planning and we were drawing it, it was not going to affect any customers. I mean, it was just going to be a line basically running up through the creek. So that's what we decided, Mr. Hicks and myself and Mr. Weidmeier, that it would be more economically feasible for us to do some additional changes to the line to make it have a shorter payback period. MR. J. BRIGHAM: I appreciate that, Mr. Powell. I just thought the rest of them needed to hear it. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 16: Motion to award bid to low bidder, Mabus Brothers Construction Company, Incorporated, in the amount of $1,438,650.15, subject to the receipt of signed contracts and proper bonds, on the Cook Road and Glendale Subdivision Improvement Project. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. H. BRIGHAM: Second. MR. HANDY: Mr. Mayor, I want to make sure on this--that I'm looking right. The first one we did, 12, it says Mabus Brothers Construction Company, and 16 is Mabus Brothers Construction Company, Incorporated. That's the same person or a different one? MR. MURPHY: This is the same company. MR. HANDY: Okay. So they just left "incorporated" off on one of them. Okay, thank you. And Ms. Bonner is going to accept that, she's going to apologize for doing that. CLERK: Yes, I will. Page 16 MR. POWELL: Ms. Bonner, you do a better job of apologizing than the rest of us. CLERK: The more you do it, the better you get. It's all part of the job. MR. BRIDGES: Mr. Mayor, I just want to make sure that we've got the money on this and it is--it's in the sales tax there and we're not— MR. MURPHY: Yes, sir, this money is--this is an approved item in the sales tax. MR. OLIVER: And the Finance Department signed off on it. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of the motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 17: Motion to approve proposal from Georgia Power Company to install ten each, 150-watt high pressure sodium floodlights. Lights are to be attached to the Fifth Street Bridge columns at a cost of $12,750. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Mayor, back a couple of months ago we did some lights for the Gordon Highway. Did we ever get a price on doing it under the bridge? MR. MURPHY: Commissioner Brigham, this is going underneath the bridge. They're doing work now on top of the bridge--on both bridges, Fifth and Gordon Highway. MR. J. BRIGHAM: But this is to light up underneath Fifth Street. Are we doing anything about lighting under the Gordon Highway? MR. MURPHY: Well, I've got the estimates, but we haven't put that on the agenda yet. This money is coming from a state grant. MR. OLIVER: This is a grant. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. Page 17 CLERK:Item 18: Motion to approve proposal from Scott Bridge Company to extend existing dock anchor piling at Prep Phillips Marina at a cost of $28,800 to be funded by Port Authority. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. POWELL: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 19: Motion to award low bid to Albert Enterprises, Inc., who extended a bid of $168,707 regarding water line improvements along Done Roven Road, McCoy Road, and Tracy Drive. MR. POWELL:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Mayor, could you tell us what size water lines these roads will be taking? MR. HICKS: In all of these the existing water lines are two-inch. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Have we got a number of two-inch lines [inaudible]? MR. HICKS: We have a number of them. We dealt with those at Grape and Weaver in Belair Hills, we dealt with Sharon Road and Sandy Springs Road, and we have not developed a list such as we did for the pockets of unsewered areas. We could prepare such a list, but we've been attacking them as they came up and the people had water pressure. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Powell's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Motion to approve award of contract for the re-roofing of Item 21: the Reynolds Street Fire Station to the low bidder, Faith Roofing and Waterproofing, in the amount of $45,756. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I so move to get it on the floor. Page 18 MR. HANDY: I'll second it, but I need to know what happened to 20. MAYOR SCONYERS: Well, we apologize again. MR. POWELL: Don't apologize this time, Ms. Bonner, blame it on somebody else. CLERK: No, the buck stops here. I think 20 became the deleted Item Number 33-A, and now it's totally gone. That's what happened. MR. HANDY: I saw how we did it in person, and I know we've been talking in here, but we can't remove it out of the book with that ink. Now, that's getting good. MAYOR SCONYERS: Ms. Bonner uses disappearing ink sometimes. MR. HANDY: Now, that's getting good, using disappearing ink here today. It's only for discussion, Mr. Mayor, I did second it. MR. ACREE: This is a bid for re-roofing both of the buildings of the Fire Station on Reynolds Street with a modified-- MAYOR SCONYERS: Can y'all hear him? CLERK: Pull your mike up, talk in it. MR. ACREE: This is a bid for re-roofing both buildings on the site of the Fire Station on Reynolds Street. The current built-up roof is in bad shape. It's a modified pitching roof, which is a good, long-life roof. We received five proposals, and Faith Roofing was the low bidder. There was some disparity between them and the next highest bidder. I called and checked references, and then contacted Faith Roofing and they will stand by their price. They're interested in developing their presence in this market, and I recommend that it be accepted. MR. OLIVER: It is a bonded job, too; right? MR. ACREE: Yes, sir, it's a bonded job. MR. POWELL: Mr. Chairman, the only thing I'd like to know is if the money is in the budget for it. CHIEF FEW: Yes, it is. The money is in the budget. MR. BRIDGES: Mr. Mayor, this note down here [inaudible] available for the Fire Station renovation, is that something you're concerned about or is that [inaudible]. Page 19 CHIEF FEW: Well, I wouldn't want to do any other additions to any other stations until I get that study back, but I can almost assure you that probably is not going to be a station that moves because it's one of the more modern stations that we have in the city. Right now it's leaking, and before it does any more deteriorating on the inside of it I would like to go ahead and get that replaced. I thought it would be best to replace that before it deteriorates because now it's getting to the bottom layers of the roofing, and so we want to go ahead and replace it. But those stations that I think is pretty much targeted, I wouldn't do any repairs to them, so this is one that I feel pretty sure that will be staying. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Acree, are you real comfortable with the references [inaudible]? MR. ACREE: Yes, sir. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Because it's a wide range of prices. MR. ACREE: Yes, it is, and that's why I called all the references and checked with the contractor to make sure he'd stand by his bid. MR. HANDY: Mr. Mayor, you asked the question earlier did we hear, and I don't want Lena to apologize again, but some-thing is wrong with these mikes today. Something is wrong with the mikes. I don't know what they are, but--I don't want her to apologize, but something is wrong with the mikes. MR. ACREE: It's on. I just wasn't speaking into it, I guess. The references have been checked and I'm comfortable with it. They said that they would stand behind their numbers, and it is a bonded job. MAYOR SCONYERS: Did y'all hear that? MR. HANDY: Sort of. We're satisfied. MAYOR SCONYERS: All in favor of Mr. Kuhlke's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 22: Motion to approve making it mandatory for every firefighter on the Augusta-Richmond County Fire Department to have a valid and current CPR Card. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. Page 20 MR. POWELL: Chief, how long a time frame have you got to accomplish this task? Have you pretty well almost got it done? I'm talking about how long would that individual have, that would be my question, Chief, to get this CPR card? CHIEF FEW: Well, I've got to tell you, because we are now performing the first responder class--I only got two other classes now and then I'm finished anyway, so you're talking about no more than 43 personnel out of 300 now. MR. POWELL: Good enough. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. MR. OLIVER:Mr. Mayor, we'd like to refer 23 back to committee. And the reason we'd like to do that, we need to check on the grant because of the disparity between the tax value and the appraised value. MR. J. BRIGHAM:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 25: Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Commission held August 18, 1998. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Are we combining 25 and 26? CLERK: Yes, sir, we can. Do you accept that, Mr. Handy and Mr. Shepard? MR. SHEPARD: We'll show them voted on individually and not collectively like we normally do. We [inaudible] like it used to be done. MR. HANDY: I can't disagree with an attorney, so yeah, okay. Page 21 MAYOR SCONYERS: All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 28: Appointment to the Citizen Advisory Committee for the Augusta Regional Transportation Study (ARTS). Mr. Eric Schumacher to replace Ms. Susan Bennett. This comes as a recommendation from the Planning Commission. MR. J. BRIGHAM:So move. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 29: A briefing from the Administrator regarding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop-ment's Inspector General audit report dated August 17, 1998. MR. BRIDGES: I've got a question there, Mr. Mayor. Are we supposed to discuss this yet? It's my understanding we were--at the request of HUD or whatever, we weren't supposed to discuss this report. Can you make-- MR. OLIVER: Mr. Bridges, I think everybody in Augusta had a copy except for the Mayor and--or Commission. MR. BRIDGES: I think you're right. I don't have mine. MR. OLIVER: And the answer to that is, my understanding is no. I've asked when they send out the next draft, that he may want to cite the chapter and the verse on that. But my understanding is the position of the Inspector General is that it's a draft document and that it's confidential until it's formally released. MR. BRIDGES: Do we need to pull this item then until such time as we can discuss that? MR. BEARD: From what I've seen, it's out there, and I think that the Commission [inaudible] a general description from the Administrator as to where we are on this at this particular time. Page 22 MR. OLIVER: And I can do that. I can't give you any specifics because I don't know any more specifics. If you'd like, though, I can give you a briefing on what the process is based on our meeting. They were in here again last week. Mr. Patty and Serena Rogers, one person that works for him that used to work down in Housing and Neighborhood Development, met with the gentleman from the Inspector General's Office one day and attempted to address some issues. It's my understanding that the Inspector General and HUD, I think, see the item relating to facade grants slightly differently, but that's an issue that will ultimately have to be resolved by HUD. Mr. Bussey was requested to assist us. He declined to participate, so consequently there was no further documentation provided in that regard. The third item dealt with infrastructure improvements, and that was somewhat of an accounting issue and that will be---that can be partially resolved. Based on my conversation with them last week, I would expect either this week or next week to get a final draft. At that point we have 30 days to officially respond, and then our response will actually be sent to HUD, and then HUD will make a final determination based on the findings of the IG's Office and our response what they think is most appropriate. And I would expect the process to take several months to complete. MR. POWELL: Mr. Wall, what is your recommendation concerning this matter? MR. WALL: Well, you have just received just some general information. I recommend that you not go into any more specific information regarding that report because of the IG's report and just continue to work out the differences of opinion between the IG and the county and the IG and HUD so that hopefully the final report, when it's released, doesn't have some errors in it. MR. BRIDGES:I make a motion we receive it as information then. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Second. MR. MAYS: My question for Mr. Oliver, I guess, probably more or less just for information, but I heard you call the names of people that you all were getting to, I guess, probably fill in information that probably the previous city government, you know, had done, and some of them are not connected with city government at the present--that is, the government. And this, I guess, is strictly--I'm saying it mainly for the record--it's information that's not any political [inaudible]. You know, if you're asking staff people to give information--I say it with no malice, but was the former mayor asked to give any information? MR. OLIVER: No, sir. I mean, nobody thought about it, I guess, I don't know. I mean, it was not felt that he could add anything. Part of the discussion related around whether the--whether one of the firms involved had any files, was the reason. And if there's anything he can add to that, I'll be glad to contact him. It wasn't a question of, you Page 23 know, to be able to explain this or explain that; it was a question of whether there were any files or documentation. MR. MAYS: And my only reason for asking that, you know, since we're asking staffers. And obviously someone has staffers on whatever was done, whether it was done with a question or without a question, obviously there was a central leader in there with the Council. Somebody had to approve basically those things that were done, or should have approved them or ordered it. And I think if we're going to ask folk in that category, you know, to do something--and that was just my only reason, was he not asked to comment on some of it if there were some things that weren't clear, then maybe he can shed some light into it. MR. BEARD: Mr. Mays, Mr. Dunbar was also. I think he was [inaudible]. MR. OLIVER: Correct. He was. Mr. Dunbar was asked. MR. H. BRIGHAM: I had a serious letter, and I don't see Mr. Patty here, but I think he did prepare an account of what happened. I would just hope that the proper people who passed out information can see that. And some of the items that was printed in some papers before and rehashed from two or three years ago and happened in the old city and they're bringing it back up again, and I hope that the information Mr. Patty passed out has gotten into the right hands. And those of us who someone is trying to make it appear that we've done something wrong, I think that's going to have to be looked at. Thank you. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of the motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 30: Motion to authorize condemnation of approximately 223 acres located south of Horseshoe Road and being property formerly owned by Kimberly-Clark Corporation for purpose of enhancing the industrial park. MR. BRIDGES: Mr. Mayor, who owns that property now? I mean, whose property are we condemning? MR. WALL: There are two different parcels: the larger tract is owned by Mr. Petrie and the smaller tract is a one-acre tract that's owned by the Boy Scouts. MR. BRIDGES: Is this a friendly condemnation? MR. WALL: No, sir, I don't--the Petrie condemnation is the one that we would proceed with first, and then hopefully we can negotiate the other one. But this property is Page 24 needed by the Development Authority and they are the ones that have requested that we condemn the property. MR. BRIDGES: The Petrie property, is he disputing the amount we've offered or what's the--is this the first time we've seen this come before us? MR. WALL: It was discussed briefly in a different con-text about two weeks ago, but it was not added to the agenda because it did not have unanimous consent following the legal meeting to come out and be added to the agenda. But the property-- there were negotiations. The Boy Scouts owned all the property, the full 223 acres. Negotiations had been ongoing between the Boy Scouts and the Development Authority insofar as acquisition of that property. An offer had been made, supposedly a contract had been entered, the property was actually purchased by Mr. Petrie for less than what the Development Authority had offered to the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts retained a one-acre piece that truly is the heart of the watermelon, I mean, it's right in the middle, along with an easement across there. And this is an effort to acquire the property, and really I think once the Petrie property is acquired, I think we can negotiate the matter out with the Boy Scouts. MR. BRIDGES: How many acres is the Petrie property? MR. WALL: 222 acres. MR. BRIDGES: And have we made him an offer and he rejected it? MR. WALL: No, sir. The offer was made to the Boy Scouts before they sold it to Petrie. That closing just occurred in July. I have not extended any offer, but the Development Authority did. MR. POWELL:I've got a lot of questions about this and I don't know if there's enough time to ask all the questions I got for you today, but I have some concerns with the way we're doing this thing. We're going out here now--and we haven't even put one facility out there on that industrial park, and now we're going to go out here and condemn somebody's property that they just purchased in the spirit that we're going to put something out there. Well, you know, I can understand if you are condemning for a real reason, but it's like playing poker, gentlemen, you're betting on that card that's coming. And I don't see where you've filled up capacity that you have out there now, and I'd like to have a lot more discussion on this and I'm going to make a motion that we postpone this till the next meeting in a substitute form. MR. BRIDGES: We're going to send it back to committee? MR. POWELL: That'll be fine. Page 25 MR. BRIDGES: Second. MR. WALL: Which committee do you want it to go to? MR. POWELL: Whichever one that's necessary, whichever one it falls under, but I just want some more time before we go out here and just start condemning extra property when we haven't used the property we've got. CLERK: Public Services? MR. POWELL: That'll be fine. MR. SHEPARD: Mr. Mayor, I don't have as many questions as Mr. Powell, but where are the monies coming from to acquire this? MR. WALL: The Development Authority. MAYOR SCONYERS: We're doing this for the Development Authority? MR. WALL: That's correct. MR. OLIVER: Yes, sir. Part of the issue with this was that for rail access to that it was going to have to cut across a portion of this particular property, and it was felt that it would be better--at least the Development Authority portrayed it to us, it would be better for them to control that parcel to serve as a buffer between that and the neighborhood. In addition, that the rail spur, to provide rail access to this property, needed to come across a portion of this property. MR. POWELL: I'm glad you told me that, Mr. Oliver. This is the first I've heard of it. And I'd like for y'all--if you've got something that's a matter like this, I'd like to see it go through a committee so we can have some discussion. Just putting it on the agenda and asking us to condemn somebody's property without all the information, I just- -I'd rather not do it. MR. HANDY: I just have a comment, Mr. Mayor. Last week, I think it was, we bought property for St. Sebastian Way and we didn't need it, and now we're condemning this and we don't need it, and now we're complaining and saying that we want to wait on it. Last week we did similarly the same thing [inaudible]. MR. POWELL: We didn't condemn property last week for St. Sebastian Way. MR. HANDY: No, we bought it before we needed it. Page 26 MR. WALL: I don't remember who all was in the legal session. I had assumed that most everyone had heard the information because it was discussed in the legal session back the first part of August, and obviously-- MR. POWELL: I think that was the meeting I could have been out. MR. WALL: Okay. I apologize to those. We'll bring it back and discuss it in committee. MR. HANDY: Seems like we shouldn't have to bring something back because you was out. MR. POWELL: No, I would just like to hear some more information. I mean, if y'all want to vote my motion down, you can, and go back to your original motion. But, I'm telling you, I'm going to vote no until I get all the details. That's the option that a Commissioner has. MR. SHEPARD: I call the question, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR SCONYERS: Ms. Bonner, why don't you just read the motion. CLERK: Yes, sir. The motion was to refer it back to the Public Services Committee. MR. HANDY: That's the only one? CLERK: Well, the motion was to approve, but nobody made a motion to do that, and Mr. Powell made the motion that it be referred back to committee. The agenda item was the motion. MAYOR SCONYERS: Right. We only have one motion, that's it. CLERK: That's it. He didn't go with that, he made his own motion. MR. HANDY: Well, he's got to make a substitute motion if he ain't going on what's on the agenda. MAYOR SCONYERS: No, he doesn't. MR. HANDY: He don't? Well, how can we vote for something that's not on the agenda? MR. WALL: Well, it's to send it back. I mean, that's the motion that's on the floor. This is a-- Page 27 MR. HANDY: Oh, okay. Okay. We're just going to vote to send it back, we're not going to vote to take an action on this particular item. Okay. Y'all are getting creative here. MR. POWELL: I went to this meeting, Mr. Handy. MR. MAYS: I just wanted to get one clarification. When it comes back to a committee, will it come to Public Services? CLERK: Yes. The Attorney recommended that it go back to Public Services because of public agency. MR. MAYS: I don't have a problem with that. The only thing I would hope we would do, since what's on the agenda--and I support fully Mr. Powell's motion and I think he knows basically my sentiments both in legal session and my comments to you in reference to where this was going, so I'm happy to have some further discussion on it. What I would like to see, though, whether those parties are involved or not, present, but in that committee meeting to at least--from the person that bought it, Mr. Petrie, or whoever represents him, Boy Scouts, in addition to whatever language is transcribed with the Development Authority. Because when we start getting these what I call secondhand condemnations that we do for authorities, I think we should have a clear line in committee as to what's transcribed in terms of everybody's purchase. And I know it was stated that they bought for less than what the Authority had so recommended for some time. I think those items need to be spelled out and there needs to be some agreement in terms of what's transpired as far as money and for purpose that they may have, both from Petrie as well as from Boy Scouts of America. Because what I don't want to see--and everybody wants to see progress, but I expressed at that time in legal I think we need to [inaudible] from the standpoint of it looking like you got Boy Scouts of America as the culprit in this whole deal or anybody who made a purchase. So I would hope that before we have the committee meeting and that type of information can be in place for the committee meeting if those parties cannot be present who are involved, that we know what the actual numbers are that have transpired in everybody's deal: Petrie, Boy Scouts, and what was offered from the Development Authority, because I think that's important if we're going to take over the role of being in that position for condemning, you know, for them. MR. BEARD: Mr. Mayor, my question in this would be--I know you're asking to refer back to committee, but also, Jim, would this have to be a legal--would we have to do a legal thing with this also? MR. WALL: Well, I brought up the concerns that I had and discussed it in the legal session. I mean, we can talk about it possibly further if there's some questions that need to be addressed, and particularly since Mr. Powell apparently was not there. I'll try to brief you briefly again concerning--in legal session. Page 28 MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Powell's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. MR. WALL:Item Number 31 is to renew the lease agreement between Augusta and the Community Mental Health. This is the property out on Highway 56. MR. J. BRIGHAM:So move. MR. POWELL: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Brigham's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. CLERK:Item 32-A: Motion to approve and award the bid for the design, fabrication, and erection of a prefabricated building system for maintenance at the Augusta Golf Course to the low bidder, J&G Construction, in the amount of $105,300. MR. HANDY:So move. MR. KUHLKE: Second. MR. OLIVER: I'd like to make a comment on this one, if I may. If you go through and do a bid analysis, which I did, this bid is considerably less than the other two. Because of that, I talked with Bill Hargrove at Swift and Associates. He indicated that he and the Parks and Recreation Director brought the contractor in and explained that this bid was substantially less. As I understand it, this particular contractor is a concrete contractor, does concrete slabs, things like that, and apparently he's looking to try to get into the prefab metal building type business. They explained, according to Mr. Hargrove, that his bid was considerably less and he indicated that he's gone over his numbers and he's comfortable with it. I've talked with Mr. Wall and I've talked with Mr. Acree and Mr. Beck. We're going to request partial releases, which is not a big deal, to the contractor to ensure payment and that type thing. Based upon those recommendations, we're recommending that it go forward, but I did want you to be aware of the fact that this bid is considerably less than the other two. MR. HANDY: That's a good man. MR. OLIVER: If he finishes the job it's good. If he doesn't finish the job, we have to be careful is the key. You know, the only option would be to eliminate his bid Page 29 and go to the second bid, but I think we've been fair to all parties all the way around. We called his references; his references, based on Mr. Hargrove's representation, were good. MR. POWELL: Is he performance bonded? MR. OLIVER: He is bonded, that's correct. So if he gets the slab down with the bond we're protected. MR. HANDY: What is the second best bid? MR. OLIVER: His low bid was 105,300. The next low bid was 157,00. MR. HANDY: $52,000 less? And he's giving that away? That's all I need. He's giving it away. MAYOR SCONYERS: Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MR. BRIDGES & MR. POWELL VOTE NO. MOTION CARRIES 7-2. MR. BEARD: Mr. Mayor, before we go to a legal session, could I make a--say something? MAYOR SCONYERS: Yeah, but we've got one other item. MR. BEARD: Okay. After that I would like to say something. MAYOR SCONYERS: Okay. CLERK:We have our addendum agenda: A Resolution by the Augusta Commission formally inviting the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority to hold its October 1998 meeting in Augusta-Richmond County. . MR. SHEPARD:Move approval, Mr. Mayor. MR. HANDY: Second. MR. SHEPARD: Mr. Mayor, I think we should point out that our Mr. Mays sits on this authority, and I received a call this weekend saying they'd like to come meet in Augusta, and I think we should invite them. I think they will come if we invite them. Page 30 MR. MAYS: Mr. Mayor, I would like to thank our unpaid attorney, Mr. Shepard, for drawing up this resolution, and, therefore, I think he was doing it to keep me off the road next month. He found a way for doing that. No, we'll be glad to come. MR. H. BRIGHAM: Mr. Mayor, we will save now that we are down to two attorneys. We just lost one. MR. POWELL: Mr. Mayor, I would like to thank Mr. Mays and Mr. Shepard for their hard work in bringing this meeting here. It's good to see that somebody is trying to bring some conventions in here. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to say I'd like for you to look at that clock. I don't know why, but look. MR. POWELL: I think it's broke, don't you, Mr. Kuhlke? MR. OLIVER: And we went through each item one at a time. MAYOR SCONYERS: Exactly. Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Shepard's motion, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. MR. BEARD: Mr. Mayor, I just want to clear up one thing since Ms. Bonner was apologizing on the first two items. She was not aware that I was the one who sent those items down to her office, so I just want to clear that up. I asked her to pull those items; however, I thought that it was something that the Mayor wanted, so I let them to stay on there and be voted on. But I just wanted--I want the record to reflect that. I sent those items down here. She was not aware of that, so I don't want her accepting that, it should go to me. MR. POWELL: I think that the President might want to hire Ms. Bonner. MAYOR SCONYERS: Do we need a legal meeting, Jim? MR. WALL: Yes, sir. Real estate and litigation matters. MR. KUHLKE: So move. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Second. MR. HANDY: Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to tell Lee that two rights doesn't make a wrong, so two apologies doesn't mean anything. MR. BEARD: I wasn't apologizing, Mr. Handy, I was making a statement. Page 31 MAYOR SCONYERS: We have a motion by Mr. Kuhlke, seconded by Mr. Brigham. All in favor, the usual sign of voting, gentlemen. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. [LEGAL MEETING, 3:45 - 4:15 P.M.] MAYOR SCONYERS: Our meeting will come back to order, please. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I move that we consider the reconsideration of Item 30. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MR. BRIDGES & MR. MAYS VOTE NO. MR. POWELL ABSTAINS. MOTION CARRIES 6-2-1. MR. KUHLKE:Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we move approval on the condemnation of the 223 acres as outlined in Item Number 30. MR. SHEPARD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Kuhlke's motion to approve, let it be known by the usual sign of voting, please. MR. BRIDGES & MR. MAYS VOTE NO. MR. POWELL ABSTAINS. MOTION CARRIES 6-2-1. MR. KUHLKE: Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a request that that box be turned around so we could all see it. They don't want us to look at that box. MR. OLIVER: If we turn it that way, maybe everybody can see it. Page 32 MR. H. BRIGHAM: I think that's a good idea. Let's see. MR. KUHLKE: Or move all the seats down there. MR. POWELL: I'll make a substitute motion it be left just like it is. MR. BEARD: I'll second that one. MR. OLIVER: I think that's going to hang up five-five, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR SCONYERS: We'll come up with a compromise and put lighting on that side; okay, Mr. Kuhlke? MR. KUHLKE: Or a mirror. MAYOR SCONYERS: There you go. MR. KUHLKE: Move we adjourn. MR. H. BRIGHAM: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: That's a non-debatable motion. Thank you, Mr. Kuhlke. [MEETING ADJOURNED AT 4:20 P.M.] 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 Regular Meeting of Augusta Richmond County Commission held on September 1, 1998. _______________________ Clerk of Commission