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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRegular Commission Meeting May 4, 2021 REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER MAY 4, 2021 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:00 p.m., May 4, 2021, the Hon. Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. B. Williams, Garrett, Sias, Johnson, Frantom, Scott, McKnight, D. Williams, Hasan and Clarke, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Mr. Mayor: All right, Attorney Brown, Administrator Donald (inaudible) May 4, 2021 call this meeting to order. The Chair recognizes Madam Clerk. Madam Clerk, you ready? The Clerk: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. We will have our invocation led by Reverend Anthony Booker, Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church after which we will ask Dr. Jermaine Whirl of the Augusta Technical College to please lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance, would you please stand. The invocation was given by Reverend Anthony Booker, Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited. The Clerk: Reverend Booker, from the Office of Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr., by these present be it known that Reverend Anthony Booker, Senior Pastor, Broadway Baptist Church is the Chaplain of the Day. His spiritual guidance and civic leadership serves as an example for all th citizens of Augusta. Given under my hand this 4 Day of May 2021, Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Would you join me in congratulating Pastor Booker? (applause) Thank you, thank you, sir, thank you. The Clerk: Thank you, Dr. Whirl, as well, thank you. I call your attention to the --- Mr. Mayor: I’m sorry, Madam Clerk, before we proceed let’s do one thing. There’s an addendum agenda item, a single item, the matter regarding Augusta Technical College and the City of Augusta Fire. If there are no objections, we would like to add that without objection. All right, Madam Clerk, without objections that is added to the agenda. The Clerk: Okay. Mr. Mayor: I want to take a moment before we proceed, yes, Administrator Donald, the Chair recognizes the Administrator. Mr. Donald: Honorable Mayor, there is one additional addendum item that we did not send through the normal process because I don’t think my Clerk would’ve allowed me to. But this week is Clerk’s Week in the State of Georgia and so I’ll be submitting a recommendation that she be considered for Clerk of the Year but I thought it might be a good idea to add to the agenda a 1 Recognition for our Clerk during Municipal Clerk’s Week. And so I would ask that a Resolution also be added to the agenda in favor of that. Mr. Mayor: Without objection, all right, fantastic, without objection. All right, Madam Clerk, and we will take pictures. The Clerk: Okay --- Mr. Mayor: I’m going to take --- The Clerk: --- under our --- Mr. Mayor: --- I’m going to take a moment --- The Clerk: --- to regain my composure, thank you. That was a pleasant surprise. Thank you, Administrator Donald. Mr. Mayor: --- absolutely. The Clerk: DELEGATIONS A. Mr. Moses Todd to discuss a responsible bidder ordinance. The Clerk: I call your attention to our Delegation portion of our agenda, Mr. Moses Todd, to discuss a responsible bidder's ordinance. Mr. Todd: My name is Moses Todd and I reside at 2115 Nolan Connector, Augusta, GA 30909. Mr. Mayor, Commissioners, Administrator, I'd like to talk to you about a responsible bidder's ordinance. This is something that's been passed by local governments, municipal and county governments across the country and I think it would benefit Augusta Richmond County if we consider this ordinance. I sent an email that might have went to your junk mail on responsible bidder's ordinance to each Commissioner, the Administrator, Legal Counsel and the Procurement Officer. And one of the reasons I come up with this suggestion or recommendation is that during the SPLOST 8 Referendum and campaign I had an opportunity to work with several organizations in Augusta that was pushing SPLOST 8 but when we would talk to citizens there was a couple of questions and these questions don't come from me, the questions come from the citizens. When I Love Augusta's talking to citizens one of the concerns was will the Commissioners be good stewards of the tax dollars? That usually comes from conservative members of the community. There were other questions raised like will this benefit Richmond County as far as job creation and local jobs or are they going to bring folks in from all over the country or possibly all over the world to do the jobs? Would it benefit Augusta Richmond County in economic development and my answer was yes to all of the questions. To assure that I gave the right answer, I look for a responsible bidder's ordinance as far as the bid process goes. And I'm not saying that we don't have a decent bid process now, but I'd like to go above and beyond what we have now and to assure that when we're seeking bids that we have responsible bidders not fly-by-night, not 2 individuals that's going import in all the employees and not contractors that’s going to take all the money from Richmond County. As you know the SPLOST 8 passed with a significant majority vote and I think that this is something, responsible bidders’ ordinance is something that the Procurement Officer, Legal Counsel and the Administrator and Commission should consider. Ending on that note I guess I have five minutes so I'll use some of it to thank the Commission, the Mayor and the Commission and the Administrator for their leadership during COVID 19. I can assure you that you've done an outstanding job from what I've heard and what I've seen. I'd also like to thank the Recreation Department for having the cemeteries in order for Mother's Day. I was in Magnolia and Cedar Groves, I didn't make to Westview, on Sunday on the usual visit as the Cemetery Committee Chairman Sunday before Mother's Day and instead of having to make a phone call to the Administrator or the Recreation Director I was very pleased with everything especially reflection (inaudible) at Cedar Grove. And I want to make it to Westview later today or tomorrow, but I wanted to commend you for that and thank you. And thank you for your leadership during COVID. I know that's it's not easy on ZOOM to have transparency but we appreciate your leadership during the pandemic. I thank you and I'll take any questions if anybody has a question. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Todd. The Chair recognizes Administrator Donald. Mr. Donald: Yes, Director Sams will be entering into the Chamber, she's on the way. First, I'd like to say I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Todd but I think he sent some quality information not only this time but also in other activities around the city and consolidated government so excited to kind of hear from him and get those insights. While we don't have a responsible bidder ordinance we do have a selection that insures responsible bidding so I just wanted to make sure that we provided the Commission with some information on how we actually go about this endeavor. It's a little bit different than what the folks in Indiana did, also a little bit different than the folks in Florida as well because they also have an ordinance but here in Georgia there's a process by which we insure that they are responsible bidders and Director Sams --- The Clerk: She's here. Mr. Donald: --- is coming in and she'll kind of highlight that I'm sorry she's --- Mr. Mayor: She's here. Mr. Donald: --- she's here and she'll, I'm still getting my bearings on the Chambers but she can give you some insights on this because I think we're moving in the right direction if we're not already there. So I want to thank Mr. Todd but also give some clarity on what we do provide. Mr. Mayor: Thank you so much, Administrator Donald, and we'll give we'll give Ms. Sams an opportunity to. Ms. Sams: Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners and Ms. Bonner and everyone. Thank you, Mr. Todd, for bringing this to our attention. In addressing your concern I found the following. Augusta, GA in absence of an ordinance as you have requested, Augusta, Georgia's Code Chapters 10 Articles 1 - 13 addresses responsible bidders and it not only addresses it as it 3 relates to construction bids but we have eight various procurements that the city along with the State of Georgia has mandated that cities and municipalities such as Augusta consider vendors responsibly. Those eight procurements that we have are Sealed Bids, Sealed Proposals, Special Services, Quotes and Formal Bids, Sole Source, Emergency Procurement and your Contract and something recent is Unsolicited Proposals. Augusta Richmond County's Code Section 11050 addresses just that, responsible bidders and responsive bidders. There are various one exception and that exception simply states when the award is not given to the lowest most responsive responsible bidder a full and complete statement of the reason for awarding the purchase order or the contract shall be prepared, signed by both the Procurement Director and the Administrator and it has to be kept in a legal file. In my 30 plus years of being here that exception was never made. The determination of responsibility. Augusta's Code Article 6 goes in detail what we're looking for when we're in search of a vendor just as you had talked about earlier. These are the various items that we check for the responsive, responsible vendors in all of our procurements. Of course the evaluation process and the submission process. Once a bid is received it has to be received by the deadline date. We have to check to see if the vendor met the minimal requirement of the solicitation, submitted costs correctly and we reject any nonresponsive or responsible bidder. And, of course, we would send that recommendation to the user department and to the Administrator and there would be some type of meeting to discuss what our findings were. My recommendation as the Procurement Director because we have Chapter 10 Articles 1 - 13 of the Augusta Code that not only addresses responsible, responsive bidders it also outlines how we are to determine those factors. As it relates to reaching out to local vendors last year the city had 15,009 purchase orders that totaled $147,833,000 dollars. Of that total the city retained $94 million dollars which will equate to a 64% retainage so we are reaching out not just to our local vendors, we are also awarding based on responsive bidders and we are doing a great job at it because we in 2019 we only had 12 protests of the 427 bids that were let which would equate to 2.028%. In 2020 we let 403 bids. There were 7 protests which equates to .017%. The State of Georgia has ordinances that states that municipalities in the state has to seek responsible bidders, responsible bidders both responsive and responsible. So for our state as you have described to us those things are already in place. Therefore as your Procurement Director, I see no reason to adopt a new ordinance. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Ms. Sams, for your presentation. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 7th. Mr. Frantom: Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. Sams, thank you for that presentation. My question is to the Administrator. Mr. Donald, one of the things I was wondering from your previous experiences coming, going more online from a procurement standpoint and submitting this online as opposed to showing up with packages right before deadlines --- Mr. Donald: Yes --- Mr. Frantom: --- what is your experience with that and then do you think that that's something we can implement here in Augusta because I think that would help you know as well. Mr. Donald: --- yes, I mean the short answer is yes. I think in every community that I've had the pleasure of working in we have had some form of online solicitation or at least submission process. It varied from place to place. I've had some very encouraging conversations with Director 4 Sams just about ways that we may streamline and improve and so online, an online process and receptacle is one of those things that we're looking at. So yes, sir, your question's right on line at where the department is looking at going. Mr. Frantom: Awesome. Thank you, thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, thank you, Ms. Sams, Administrator Donald and to the Commissioner from the 7th for your questions. Madam Clerk, before we proceed I want to take a moment to just share a few thoughts to the Augusta Commission members, city staff and fellow Augustans. Today we turn a page in our city's history in a return to the Commission Chambers for our first in person meeting since March of 2020. I want to thank the Augusta Commission, our Clerk, our Chief Information Officer and her entire team, Augusta EMA and Fire and all city employees in the community for pulling together instead of pulling apart. The steps that were taken collectively to stop the spread of the virus, protect the health and welfare of all Augustans while maintaining operations has not gone unnoticed and it is appreciated. We did this together, together we stood as One Augusta, City of Opportunity, for all of our residents. Juliet Kiam said that a crisis hits a city as it is, not as it would like to be. We didn't have time to plan for a global pandemic and this crisis challenged us to adjust our instincts, our assumptions and our normal working methods all at once. To lead our city through this time of upheaval we engaged in teamwork on the fly, coordinated loose networks and task forces to plan, to execute, to learn not sequentially but simultaneously. We collaborated and managed teams remotely in the face of great challenge. We protected, we prevented, we responded and we're recovering and now we must be resilient in how we move forward as one city, one team and One Augusta. Our work is not over. Virus testing is still occurring, vaccinations are being conducted across the entire county and thanks to many of you who are leading those efforts to stand up vaccination sites and not only do we continue that work but we must work together even as we return to this great chamber. We must be efficient in how we meet and how long we meet. We must continue to wear a mask, watch our distance and we must be our brothers' and sisters’ keepers. Today we also welcome the public to join us virtually while having limited seating for those who want to join us in person. Together we will continue to do the business of the people safely, openly and transparently. With that being said I'm please to report that in the past year, Madam Clerk, Augusta was rated the most neighborly city in America. Let us remind ourselves of that as we move forward together, President Parr. I welcome our three new Commissioners today. Commissioner from the 1st Jordon Johnson, Commissioner from the 3rd Katherine Smith McKnight and the Commissioner from the 9th Francine Scott. Additionally, we welcome Administrator Odie Donald II who has proven to be a valued and integral part of Augusta's team. This is the first in person meeting after four months of virtual meetings. I also welcome my new Chief of Staff Petula Burks and Deputy Naeem Jenkins- Nixon to their first meeting as well. Going forward new issues will continue to arise, important priorities will be in conflict. We have to place confidence in our processes. We have to rework the problems continuously and more than anything I want to remind everyone who is in this room today that selfcare is critical for yourself and everyone on our teams. This is a marathon not a sprint. Now, Madam Clerk, let us continue to do the business of the people as we move to our Consent Agenda. 5 The Clerk: Our Consent Agenda consists of Items 1 – 15, Items 1 - 15. For the benefit of any objectors to our alcohol petitions once the petition is read would you please signify your objection by raising your hand. I call your attention to: Item 1: Is a motion a request for a retail package Liquor, Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with the location at 2852 Deans Bridge Road. Item 2: Is a request for a consumption on premise Liquor, Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with Ice Lounge & Restaurant located at 722 Broad Street. The Clerk: Are there any objectors to either of those alcohol petitions? Our Consent Agenda again consists of Items 1 - 15 with no objectors to our alcohol petitions. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk, and I do want to pause for a moment. We missed th while we were speaking to that previous matter the Commissioner from the 10. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 10th. Mr. Clarke: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just had a simple question for Procurement. I saw the percentages of the money that we kept and everything but I would like to know what exactly is the money amount that Procurement does not bring back to the Commission for approval and also the percentage of things that went through Procurement that did not have to come back through Commission for approval. Mr. Mayor: Administrator Donald, that's probably a broad answer that will require time if you want to speak to that. Mr. Donald: Yes, and we can definitely bring back an answer to that for the Commission I just want to make sure that we get it right. Of the $148 million or so in procured items what the Commissioner from the 10th is asking is how much of that was basically below the threshold of $25,000 that can approved by the Administrator, is that correct, sir? Mr. Clarke: Yes. Mr. Donald: Absolutely, we'll make sure to get you those numbers post haste. Mr. Clarke: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, okay, we're going to go in this order. The Chair recognizes the Mayor Pro Tem the Commissioner from the 5th. Mr. B. Williams: Can you hear me --- Mr. Mayor: Absolutely. Mr. B. Williams: --- yes, sir, I just wanted to ask that you put the addendum items on the Consent Agenda. The one that I looked at was about Augusta Tech and the Fire Department so I'd like to put that one on the Consent Agenda --- 6 Mr. Mayor: Without objection. Mr. B. Williams: --- as well as I guess Ms. Bonner too. Put her on the Consent Agenda. Mr. Mayor: Without objection. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8th. Mr. Garrett: Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to move Item 17 to the next full committee cycle per the Director of that Department. The Clerk: You said Commission, Committee --- Mr. Garrett: Ma'am --- The Clerk: --- was that Commission or --- Mr. Garrett: --- Committee. The Clerk: --- Committee, okay, next week, okay. Mr. Mayor: And regarding Item #16 the discussion is largely about what committee should we place that in whether it's better suited to sit in Administrative Services or Finance --- Mr. Speaker: Finance. Mr. Mayor: --- okay, all right, Finance. Mr. Sias: It's okay if we go ahead and add that to the Consent Agenda to go to Finance? Mr. Mayor: Without objection. The Clerk: 16 is added to the Consent as well as 17. Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, if there's no objection, I'd like to add #18 to the Consent Agenda. The Chair will entertain a motion. Mr. Frantom: Motion to approve as stated. Mr. Sias: Second. CONSENT AGENDA PUBLIC SERVICES 1. Motion to approve New Location: A.N. 21-13: A request by Hyong Chin Kim for a retail package Liquor, Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with 365 Liquor Store located 7 at 2852 Deans Bridge Road Ste. D. District 2. Super District 9. (Approved by Public Services Committee April 27, 2021) 2. Motion to approve New Location: A.N. 21-14: A request by Keith Parker for a consumption on premise Liquor, Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with Ice Lounge & Restaurant located at 722 Broad Street. There will be Dance. District 1. Super District 9. (Approved by Public Services Committee April 27, 2021) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 3. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD's) contract between HCD and Derrick Cobb for the down payment subsidy assistance for one (1) single-family housing unity identified as 1216 Perry Avenue. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 4. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD's) contract between JCD and Erin Prentiss for the down payment subsidy assistance for one (1) single-family housing unit identified as 1222 Perry Avenue. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 5. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD's) contract between KCD and Abiona Rozier for the down payment subsidy assistance for one (1) single-family housing unit identified as 932 Boyd Lane. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 6. Motion to approve submission of the Program Year 2020 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The 202 CAPER represents funding for the following programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program. Any comments received during the 30-Day Comment Period will be provided to the Augusta, Georgia Commission for review and considerations. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 7. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD's) request to provide funding for three (3) nonprofit agencies through the EST CARES Act program to assist with emergency shelter, homeless prevention and rapid rehousing to address the needs of the homeless populations in Augusta Richmond County. The following organizations have applied and are recommended for funding: 1. The Salvation Army Augusta Area Command (Emergency Shelter) - up to $440,738.00. 2. Richmond County Health Department (Homeless Preventions) - up to $18,750. 3. The McKie Foundation (Rapid Rehousing) - up to $154,500. 8. Motion to approve Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD's) contract between HCD and Frankie Boyd, Jr. for the down payment subsidy assistance for one (1) single-family housing unit identified as 1218 Perry Avenue. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 9. Motion to approve MRx Magellan Pharmacy Manager Contract Amendment - Subrogation Claims (Medicaid). (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) 8 10. Motion to approve a request by Commissioner Jordan Johnson to rename the Hillside Park located at 2101 Telfair Street the Vernon Forrest Park. Tax Map 035-1-083-00-0. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 27, 2021) PUBLIC SAFETY 11. Motion to approve terminate maintenance contract with Visicraft Systems, Inc. (Thomson-Reuters) for the VCS Tax Software. (Approved by Public Safety Committee April 27, 2021) FINANCE 12. Motion to approve to continue GPS tracking of city fleet vehicles with UniteGPS (RFP 21-121). (Approved by Finance Committee April 27, 2021) ENGINEERING SERVICES 13. Motion to approve deed of dedication and maintenance agreement for the water and sanitary sewer in Governor's Place Phases 1 and 1B. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee April 27,2021) PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 14. Motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Commission held on April 20, 2021 and Special Called Meeting held April 27, 2021. APPOINTMENTS 15. Motion to approve the appointment of Dr. L.C. Myles, Jr. to the ARC Board of Zoning Appeals representing District 1. ADMINISTRATATIVE SERVICES 16. Discuss "A Living Wage for Augusta Employees" (Requested by Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr.) ENGINEERING SERVICES 17. Consider approving the Easement Abandonment and the Granting of Additional Rights to Existing Easements for 3430 Dunnington Place. (No recommendation from Engineering Services Committee April 27, 2021) PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 18. Motion to approve a correction of the minutes of the April 13th Admin. Services Cmte and the April 20, 2021 Commission Meeting on Items #12 to omit the phrase "to accept as information and approve moving forward with Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Fleet Management Operations, Maintenance and Replacement Policy" and instead replace it with "Motion to approve the Comprehensive Fleet Management Operations, Maintenance and Replacement Policy". ADDENDUM 19. Motion to reconvene the Commission meeting and approve going into an executive session to discuss litigation. 9 20. Motion to approve an MOU between Augusta Technical College and Augusta, GA (Augusta Fire Department) In the spirit of mutual interest and cooperation, ATC and AFD seek to enter this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote joint educational and occupational development collaboration. (Requested by the Administrator) 21. Motion to adopt Proclamation for the 52nd Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week and the Expression of Appreciation of Georgia's Greatest Clerk, Ms. Lena J. Bonner. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Motion Passes 10-0. \[Items 1-21\] The Clerk: That's it, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, this is record time. It's my prayer that we continue to do the business of the people in this manner. This meeting is adjourned. Everybody suspend, everybody suspend. Don’t go too fast, everybody suspend. Again, everybody suspend and just stand at ease. Okay, okay, we have another matter. Again, we will not adjourn at this time. The Chair will recognize Attorney Brown regarding another matter, if you'll push your mic button on the desk. ADDENDUM 19. Motion to reconvene the Commission meeting and approve going into an executive session to discuss litigation. Mr. Brown: Yes, Mr. Mayor, Commission, we'll request a motion to go into Executive Session for the discussion of litigation. Mr. D. Williams: So moved. Mr. Sias: Second. Mr. Mayor: We've got a motion and a second the motion from the Commissioner from the 2nd and a second from the Commissioner from the 4th for the express purposes of litigation. Okay, everybody suspend. So Attorney Brown for the purposes of, for the record I had said this meeting will stand at adjourn so we're going to reconvene. I believe technically we would need to reconvene, we'll reconvene and proceed with the vote to go into closed session for the purpose of litigation --- Mr. Brown: Thank you. Mr. Mayor: --- voting. Motion Passes 10-0. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, at this time we're going to conduct our closed session in the Chamber in order to meet the CDC guidelines for social distancing at which point we'll ask everyone to exit the Chambers. 10 \[EXECUTIVE SESSION\] Mr. Mayor: Okay we are, we're reconvening. The Chair recognizes Attorney Brown. LEGAL MEETING A. Pending and Potential Litigation. B. Real Estate. C. Personnel. 22. 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. Garrett: So moved. Mr. Sias: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Clarke out. Motion Passes 9-0. Mr. Mayor: Okay, to Commissioner from the 6th I appreciate your leadership today in calling our colleague making sure that he did in fact arrive we didn't want to do the business of the people without him. Mr. Sias: Are we adjourned? The Clerk: Yes, sir. \[MEETING ADJOURNED\] Lena 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 The Augusta Richmond County Commission held on May 4, 2021. ______________________________ Clerk of Commission 11