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Home My WebLink About08-11-1997 Meeting I I I FINANCE & APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ROOM - August 11', 1997 1:00 P. M. PRESENT: Hons. J. Brigham, Chairman; Handy, Vice-Chairman; Bridges and Beard, members; Glenn Greenway, Finance Department; Randy Oliver, Administrator; Brenda Byrd-Pelaez, Equal EmploYment Opportunity Officer; Donna Williams, Accounting Department; Jim Wall, Attorney; Al McDill, Manager, Bush Field Airport; Keven Mack, Housing & Neighborhood Development Department Manager; Lena Bonner, Clerk of Commission and Nancy Morawski, Deputy Clerk of Commission. ABSENT: Hon. Larry Sconyers, Mayor. Also Present: Rosemary Forrest of WJBF Television and Commissioners. Sylvia Cooper of The Augusta Chronicle, The Metropolitan Spirit, George Eskola of Hons. Todd, Mays, Zetterberg and H. Brigham, The Clerk: We have a request for one addendum from Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Handy:- ,.. I so . move'.' ... .. ...- , Mr. Chairman: We also have a delegation from the Better Business Bureau. Do you want to add that also? Mr. Handy: That will be all right. Mr. Oliver: I think Mr. Wall has something also. Mr. Handy: We can include that also. Mr. Wall: That is for a quit-claim deed to clear title on some property. Mr. Bridges: I move that we add these. Mr. Ha.ndy: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. At this time a delegation from the Better Business Bureau appeared before the Committee and made a presentation requesting an allocation of funds in the amount of $24,984 for a new automated, computerized telephone system to aid in their service to the public. Mr. Bridges: How are you funded now? Mr. Davison: Through membership of the businesses. We are strictly non-profit. We had talked to Mayor Sconyers about this and he had said that it 'might could come from contingency. !' Mr. Oliver: My recommendation would be to look at increasing the licensing fees to help support this. I' After"l' '~h~ft"d'i~C~s~'I:6hl;; Mr'.' 'Btri'd~~~~\' l!I'f"mb~'e""t'h'at'1 ~e! ~sk the Administrator to try to see if there is somewhere we have funds available or if we can use Amendment 73 funds and come back with a recommendation to us at the next meeting. I Mr. Handy: And I would ask that you amend that to check with the Mayor to see if he had some contingency that he had thought it could come from since he is not here at this time. Mr. Bridges: I'll accept that. Mr. Chairman: I do not think we should extend ourselves to approve this request when we have so many other things that should be funded and other expenses facing us. After further discussion, the motion was adopted with the Chairman voting "No". A request to waive 1996 property tax penalty in the amount "of'$279.84 -and-reimburse $100;'0'0' in le'gal-'fees,'-'was read. Mr. Wall: This is from Miller Printing Company and we recommend approval. Mr. Handy: I make a motion for approval. I Mr. Bridges: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. A requ~st'to'autho~ize ~se' IOf Merchant Bank Card Services at the Tennis Center and Golf Course to receive credit cards, was read. Mr. Oliver: This will make it so that we can accept plastic as most businesses do. Mr. Handy: I so move. Mr. Bridges: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. A request from Nancy H. Bonner (Information Technology) to purchase 10 years 0 months prior year service in the 1977 Pension Plan, was read. Mr. Bridges: I so move. I Mr. Oliver: I would mention that there was a request to buy in during the period when she worked for the separate Data I I I Processing Commission; however, it was the op1n10n of legal counsel that that was not appropriate because that would be double-dipping since they had a retirement plan with that Commission which they folded and paid everyone out. So this is based on services consistent with our policy back to the date when she became a former County employee. Mr. Handy: I'll second the motion. Mr. Todd: I would appreciate getting a list of the applications we've had and any more that are coming to us. Motion adopted unanimously. A Statement of Investment Policy Objectives and Guidelines to make investment policy consistent between plans, was read. Mr. Oliver: Right now we have different investment policies for the different pension plans and we would like to make these consistent. Mr. Wall: That will require an amendment to certain plans. After a short discussion, Mr. Handy: I would rather continue with what we have now until after we have our meeting on Friday. Mr. Oliver: That's a viable alternative. Mr. Handy: I move that we continue on as we are now until after the Friday meeting and then bring it back to the Finance Committee at the next meeting. Mr. Bridges: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. The Committee next considered a review and approval of the 1996 Annual Financial Statements and related documents prepared by Serotta, Maddocks, Evans and Company. At this time representatives from Serotta, Maddocks, Evans and Company appeared before the Committee and made a presentation regarding the details of the statements. Mr. Chairman: Could we have a motion to tentatively approve this with final approval to come on the 19th? Mr. Handy: I'll make a motion for tentative approval. Mr. Bridges: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. The Committee next considered a first draft of the policy for local ARC grants to qualified agencies or groups. Mr. Oliver: We are adhering to this policy informally anyway and I would suggest that we take the next Committee meeting and look at this in detail, if it's agreeable with you all. There are some things in there that should be looked at carefully in more detail. Mr. Chairman: Do you want to postpone this to the next meeting? I Mr. Bridges: Yes, let's postpone it. Mr. Handy: I so move. Mr. Bridges: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. An Ordinance adopting Titles 1 and 2 of the Augusta-Richmond County Code - First Reading, was read. Mr. Beard: I have some concerns that I would like corrected on this. How do we do that? Mr. Wall: I would suggest you put on the full Commission I agenda so that everyone can look at those. We can insert those changes and I'll prepare them in advance so that they can be circulated. Mr. Beard: I can get with you about those then. I move that we approve it and send it to the full Commission with the opportunity to make amendments to it when it is presented at that time. Mr. Handy: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. The Committee next reviewed Amendment 73 funding requests for 1997. Mr. Oliver: Some organizations have requested more than the limit. Our policy states that $7,500 is the limit and we recommend that we adhere to the policy. Mr. Greenway: We have just accumulated these requests through Finance as they came in. Mr. Handy: We should just adhere to the policy and give everyone no more than $7,500 or less if that is what they request. I I I I Mr. Chairman: Some organizations don't know what we're doing and perhaps they should be notified. Mr. Todd: I would suggest you do a public notice that we are receiving applications for grants for Amendment 73 and give the criteria and the purpose. Mr. Chairman: We'll ask the Clerk to do that. Mr. Bridges: I move that we postpone this and send out the public notice. Mr. Chairman: We need this back in two weeks if that is at all possible. Mr. Handy: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. The Committee next discussed the External Audit contract. Mr. Oliver: We have a standard contract from Cherry, Bekaert & Hol"land if you wish to consider it. Mr. Wall: A local act says that the Grand Jury is supposed to submit the names of three auditing firms to the Commission for selection. Mr. Chairman: Do we have a recommendation from the Grand Jury? Ms. Williams: No. Mr. Oliver: Do you want me to ask the Grand Jury for three firms? Mr. Chairman: I think so. Mr. Bridges: I make a motion we wait for the recommendation of the Grand Jury. Mr. Handy: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. A request from Augusta/CSRA Habitat for Humanity for reimbursement of the building permit and inspection fees for house built in June, 1997, and waiver future building permit and inspect fees, was read. Mr. Oliver: I think this is the prudent thing to do. Mr. Handy: I so move. Mr. Beard: Second. Motion adopted unanimously. I A request to approve Quit-Claim Deed to clear title on property located at 718 Crawford Avenue, was read. Mr. Handy: I move for ,approval. Mr. Beard: Second., Motion adopted unanimously. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Lena J. Bonner Clerk of Commission NWM I I