HomeMy WebLinkAboutRegular Commission Meeting June 5, 2012
REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER
JUNE 5, 2012
Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 5:00 p.m., June 5, 2012, the Hon.
Deke Copenhaver, Mayor, presiding.
PRESENT: Hons. Lockett, Guilfoyle, Mason, Smith, Hatney, Aitken, Johnson, Bowles
and Brigham, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission.
Absent: Hon. Jackson, member of Augusta Richmond County Commission.
The invocation was given by Imam Moxamed Aboelhamed, Islamic Society of Augusta.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited.
Mr. Mayor: Gentlemen, we have a quorum. And just in the interest of time I’ll go ahead
and call the meeting to order.
RECOGNITIONS(S)
Richmond County’s 2012 Valedictorians
A. Recognition of Richmond County’s 2012 Valedictorians. (Requested by Jerry Brigham
and J.R. Hatney)
The Clerk: Mr. Mayor, Mr. Brigham, do you want to come down along with Mr.
Hatney? Mr. Russell. I’ll call them out and you hand them out. You hand them to the Mayor so
they (inaudible). We now have from Westminster, Haley Barinowski. Curtis Baptist High
School, Julian Owen. (APPLAUSE) We did ask the Administrators from Hephzibah High
School to come and receive on behalf of Brianna. Are any of those administrators in the
chamber? Okay. Could we all give all of our graduates, valedictorians? (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Brigham: Thank you for all ya’ll being here to make Augusta a better place. Hope
you come back and stay here for a long time. (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Mayor: And I just want to echo Commissioner Brigham’s sentiments. You know
you guys are the best and brightest. You’re the future business leaders, non-profit leaders of this
city. So we want you to get a good education but we want you to stay here in Augusta because
you’re going to be the ones that are leading this city forward. So congratulations. Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
The Clerk: While they were unable to be here we do have recognitions for the Alleluia
Community High School as well. Marion Van Tanner he’s on vacation as well. So we’ll make
sure that they get a, they’ll receive all of their awards for those who were unable to attend today.
(APPLAUSE)
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, on to our delegations.
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The Clerk:
DELEGATIONS
B. Ms. Regina Sanchez, Augusta Technical College.
Ms. Sanchez: Good evening Mayor and Commissioners. Thank you for allowing me to
be here today. My name is Regina Sanchez, Alumni and current student of Augusta Technical
College where I’ve held two officer positions for our college’s Honor Society. Excuse me, I’m a
little nervous. I’m also a U.S. Army vet and a mother of two with my youngest being affected
severely with autism. I’ve been asked to attend and speak from this perspective of youth in our
community about what we would like to see happen in this community. In order to gain a
broader perspective on this topic I’ve asked many of my friends, neighbors and college buddies
their opinion about what we need, what they’d like to see happen in our community. My
neighbors and I in District 2 are concerned about speeding in our neighborhood. I also
discovered that parents would like to see more community sponsored youth activities and
activities for young adults as myself in the area. I live in south Augusta off of Peach Orchard
Road where speeding has become a major problem. There are two children on bicycles injured
by drivers on my street this year alone. According to Richmond County Police Lieutenant Silas
there were forty traffic related deaths in Augusta during 2011. I’m also aware after speaking
with Dwayne from Chaney Towing Company there were two traffic related deaths less than a
mile from where I live in May this year. And the cleanup from such accidents is almost
unbearable especially when there are children involved. The people causing these problems are
drivers with the general lack of respect for others in the neighborhood and on the road. Even
though the speed limit is clearly posted I believe it is time to look into an alternative solution that
will produce results. One solution would be speed bumps or humps. Temporary speed bumps
are low in cost. Temporary speed bumps are easy to install with minimum manpower and little
time. They are made of plastic, rubber, concrete and can be priced as low as $45.00. Such a
simple device can produce such results as improving pedestrian safety and reinforcing stop signs
in parking lots, reduce the risk of accidents in private residential streets, driveways and parking
lots. They are specifically made to slow down drivers between two and ten miles an hour. They
encourage drivers to slow traffic on public roads such as schools, hospitals and anywhere
reduced vehicle speeds are desired. They are gentle enough so that emergency vehicles do not
need to slow down and in industrial areas or areas with heavy truck traffic or high speeds can
lead to overturned vehicles they’re also effective. This physical barrier is designed and proven to
be effective more respective than any speed trap or speed monitoring because maintaining safe
speed is no longer a choice for the driver it is now become a must for the driver. Speaking with
other parents in my age I’ve concluded that they would like to see an increase in community
sponsored youth activities in our city. There is definitely a direct relationship between youth
activities and children staying out of trouble. Activities like athletics, day camps, swimming also
safety and informational seminars would be a possibility. Even activities like movies, the theater
and historical or educational museum trips. Augusta is a beautiful community that is rich in art,
cultural, talent and heritage. I feel that if we make a showcasing of the splendor of this
community to our children a priority we will discover a wealth of activities for them to be
involved in, activities that will give us all a larger sense of pride in our community and our city.
And that’s pretty much the conclusion of, you know, the information I gathered from my
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colleagues, you know, just about what we’d like to see immediately happen. I mean making our
community safer and a better place to be.
Mr. Mayor: Well, thank you so much. Do we have any? Commissioner Johnson.
Mr. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I heard you say you’re a resident of District
2? I did hear your concern and it’s very valid and I think most of it had to do with public safety
and the issues with speeding. But at the same time you want to know what kind of activities as a
commission and as a city will be providing for our young people. And of course that is a
challenge, of course, with funding being low. A lot of times, you know, well, I know in the past
we’ve got a lot of funding from the state as well as the federal government. And we haven’t
been receiving those funds so of course we’re operating on the general fund budget. Of course
we’re trying to meet the needs so it’s been quite difficult. But I do encourage you to share those
thoughts when it relates to public safety to the Sheriff’s Department. You do know this year, of
course, we have a Sheriff’s race coming up and you want to make sure that, you know, you
interview the candidates you know of the Sheriff’s race to make sure that they understand the
needs and concerns. And that’s a very valid reason and concern that you have to make sure that
they do have a plan of action to deal with that. A lot of people get it confused and think that the
Commission can pretty much deal with, you know, those issues but that’s out of our jurisdiction.
We do have a relation with the Sheriff but we do not have auspices over the Sheriff and tell them
what to do. So that is, you know, a different animal but we’ll work with them to try to come up
with resolutions to help the community because it does affect all of us. But thank you for your
presentation.
Ms. Sanchez: With the speed humps would that be in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction?
Mr. Johnson: No, that will be something that our Traffic Engineering Department can
but that’s a little be more complicated because it does take the support from the neighborhood to
do that. You just can’t go ahead and put them out there. You have to have an overwhelming
amount of support from the community to do that. But they will look at it and see what, whether
or not it’s feasible in that particular area. So I’ll be more than happy if you can maybe to get
with the Administrator and then he can point you in the right direction with who would be, I
guess, the person to speak with. To get the information the street to them and then I’ll follow up
with them on it.
Ms. Sanchez: I appreciate it.
Mr. Johnson: Okay.
Ms. Sanchez: Thank you all for having me here today.
Mr. Aitken: Mr. Mayor, I do have a ---
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Aitken.
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Mr. Aitken: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for speaking today to us. And this just
happens to be on the eve of valedictorians and receiving those awards. So I think this really is
unique to see just our young people stepping up and stepping out and we’re starting to recognize
that and listen to them. It’s very, very important that we take heed to that and I think as I echo
Commissioners Johnson’s comments about the Sheriff’s Department, you’re right, a lot of people
think we can be the police and we’re not. But I think the relationships we have with the Sheriff’s
Department is second to none now and I’m really encouraged by that. And I think too with you
mentioning it too about community sponsored events with our Recreation Department I think
we’re going to raise the bar with that, I think, with a new director coming on board we’re going
to look at how we’re going to impact the city with what resources we do got. Because I do think
we have talented people on staff and I think with the right leadership and direction that we have
as a community we’ll engage them in a way that we expect them to really impact our community
in a more effective way. So thank you for bringing that to our attention. That echoes some of
what we’re thinking right now so thanks for your courage standing up with us today.
Ms. Sanchez: No problem. I appreciate it.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you.
Mr. Lockett: Mr. Mayor, if I may?
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Lockett.
Mr. Lockett: I really appreciate your presentation, your concern and your interest. I read
the documentation that came along with this and it said that what you wanted, you’re on the the
Honor Society and you say what young people, new ATC graduates want from Augusta
politicians. Now you told us pretty much some of the things that you want. But what we
politicians want from you all is for you to become registered voters because you’re in technical
school I imagine most of you are at least eighteen years of age. We want you to vote and we
want you to get engaged in the community. Once you do that you become our bosses. You can
come up and tell us what you want.
Ms. Sanchez: I follow you, sir.
Mr. Lockett: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, ma’am. Thank you, Commissioner Lockett. All righty, Madam
Clerk, on to the consent agenda.
The Clerk: Yes, sir. Our consent agenda consists of items 1-30, items 1-30. And for the
record item number five, a hard copy of this resolution was placed on the dias for you today for
your review. And that was in connection with the declared surplus property for the possible
relocations of the south Augusta Sheriff’s Departments substation. Our consent agenda consists
of item 1-30.
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Mr. Mayor: Okay, thank you, ma’am. Commissioners, do we have any items to be
added to the consent agenda? Commissioner Hatney.
Mr. Hatney: Mr. Mayor, with the consent of the Commission if we could consent item
41. This simply is an approved of a group of candidates from the DDA that that they have
already agreed upon to serve in those vacant slots. And their names are listed, McLeod and
Sanford Loyd. If we could consent that if it’s okay.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, thank you, sir. Do we have any, Commissioner Johnson.
Mr. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Under Public Services of course we didn’t have a
quorum last week or so but I do have a few items I’d like to offer to consent. That’s items 31,
32, 33 and 35.
Mr. Mason: Mr. Mayor, I need ---
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, sir. Commissioner Mason.
Mr. Mason: --- on I don’t need 33 pulled but I want to make sure I’m registered as a no
vote on that, Madam Clerk.
The Clerk: Thirty, which one, sir?
Mr. Mason: Item 33.
The Clerk: Thirty-three, okay.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Do we have any further items to be added to the consent agenda?
Commissioner Lockett.
Mr. Lockett: Mr. Mayor, I had a question I wanted to ask about agenda item number 33
because it seems that what we have printed on our agenda is not exactly the same as what’s in
the documentation. And I needed some clarification on that if I could.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, do you want to keep that off the consent agenda or did you want to go
ahead and ask your question about it now?
Mr. Lockett: I need an explanation. As you can see it says expenditure of SPLOST
funds dedicated to the TEE Center for purchase and startup of all scope associated with the new
internet system. But then on the text documentation it goes on to say PSAB Presentation
services recommendation different from agenda item and additional requests anticipated for TEE
Center funding. It’s a little confusing. Maybe it’s the same but the language just wasn’t clear to
me. My vote on that is no and, Mr. Mayor, if I may I don’t want to pull, I’m not in opposition to
but agenda item number one I would like to ask Mr. Sherman or Mr. Patty a couple of questions
about that if I could please.
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Mr. Mayor: Okay, can we wait on that one ---
Mr. Lockett: Sure.
Mr. Mayor: --- until we get, okay. Do we have any ---
The Clerk: Do you want to pull it? Are you pulling it? Okay.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, let’s go through and see if we’ve got any additions and then we’ll go
to the pulls. Do we have any further additions? Commissioner Bowles.
Mr. Bowles: I’d like to kind of add 36.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Do we have any further additions to the consent agenda?
Commissioner Guilfoyle.
Mr. Guilfoyle: I do want to hold #33 for discussion.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Commissioner Brigham.
FINANCE
40. Discuss alternative approaches for discovery and collection of unknown/under reported
license revenue. (No recommendation from Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
Mr. Brigham: Mr. Mayor, I would ask to postpone item #40 to our next meeting.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Postponing #40 to the next committee cycle?
Mr. Brigham: Commission meeting.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, next Commission meeting. Okay, if there’s nothing further to add to
we have any items to be pulled for discussion? And I know Commissioner Lockett wanted to
pull item number one. Correct?
Mr. Lockett: That’s correct.
Mr. Hatney: (inaudible) thirty-three.
Mr. Mayor: Thirty-three didn’t go on. Do we have any other items to be pulled for
discussion? Okay, hearing none can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda?
Mr. Lockett: Move to approve.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Second.
CONSENT AGENDA
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ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
2. Motion to approve the renewal of the Lease between Augusta, Ga. and the Department
of the Navy for the property located at the Navy Operational Support Command for the
term of July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. (Approved by Administrative Services
Committee May 29, 2012)
3. Motion to approve the Amendment to the 2011 Action Plan due to an increase in Fiscal
Year 2011 allocation for the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Programs. (Approved by
Administrative Services Committee April 23, 2012 subject to 30-day comment period)
4. Motion to approve Communities for Veterans Resolutions of Support for Freedom’s
Path Projects I and II located on the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center campus.
(Approved by Administrative Services Committee May 29, 2012)
PUBLIC SAFETY
5. Motion to approve a Resolution from the Georgia Board of Juvenile Justice declaring
the property of the Old Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center as surplus ($10.00) and
to authorize the Sheriff’s Office to accept this property for use as a substation and for a
public purpose. (Approved by Public Safety Committee May 29, 2012)
FINANCE
6. Motion to approve a sub-grant award in the amount of $10,000 for expenses incurred
for training for two new public defenders at the Southern Public Defenders Training
Center. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
7. Motion to approve the purchase of Electronic Filing System for Board of Elections.
(Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
8. Motion to approve Fund Balance policy in accordance with GASB 54. (Approved by
Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
9. Motion to approve the purchase of one K-9 transport vehicle for the Richmond County
Sheriff’s Office-Narcotics Division. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
10. Motion to approve the replacement of one (1) automobile for the Augusta Finance
Department-Fleet Management Division. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
11. Motion to approve the replacement of three (3) work detail vans for the Engineering
Department-Maintenance Division. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
12. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-C&M Division to
purchase one (1) six-inch bypass pump. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
13. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-C&M Division to
purchase one replacement dump truck, bid 11-107. (Approved by Finance Committee May
29, 2012)
14. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-
Administration/Engineering Division to purchase one (1) replacement truck. (Approved by
Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
15. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-Water Production
Division to purchase one (1) replacement truck. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29,
2012)
16. Motion to approve request from Fleet Management to purchase (3) replacement pickup
trucks for the Augusta Recreation Department. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29,
2012)
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17. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-C&M Division to
purchase five (5) replacement pickup trucks. (Approved by Finance Committee May 29,
2012)
18. Motion to approve request from the Augusta Utilities Department-Customer Service
Division to purchase four (4) replacement trucks. (Approved by Finance Committee May
29, 2012)
ENGINEERING SERVICES
19. Motion to award Design Consultant Services Agreement to Civil Services, Inc. in the
amount of $148,823.88 for Broad Street Bridge (Off Ramp to Washington Road over Raes
Creek). This Project will be funded through SPLOST PHASE VI for the Engineering
Department. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29, 2012)
20. Motion to approve construction contract award to Blair Construction in the amount of
$3,237,323.74 for the extension to the Water Distribution System at Fort Gordon’s Gate 4.
(Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29, 2012)
21. Motion to award the Design Consultant Services Agreement to Moreland Altobelli
Associates, Inc., in the amount of $159,910.00 for the Broad Street Bridge over the Augusta
Canal, and the Broad Street Bridge over Hawks Gully. This Project will be funded through
SPLOST PHASE VI for AED. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29,
2012)
22. Motion to approve Capital Project Budget and Supplemental Agreement Two (CPB
#328-041110-211828101) in the amount of $562,612 for the East Augusta Street and
Drainage Improvement Project to Toole Engineers, Inc. for Design Engineering Services.
Funding is available in the project budget from SPLOST PHASE VI as requested by AED.
(Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29, 2012)
23. Motion to authorize Augusta Utilities to add four new positions to serve Fort Gordon
and increasing customer demands. (Approved by Engineering Services May 29, 2012)
24. Motion to approve granting Georgia Power an easement for their utilities to provide
electrical service to the new Augusta Sheriff’s Detention Management Services building at
402 Walton Way, as requested by AED. Also approve having the agreement executed by
the appropriate Augusta official(s). (Approved by Engineering Services Committee May
29, 2012)
25. Motion to approve an Option for the purposes of acquiring a Right-of-Way between
Family Broadcasters, Inc., as owners, and Augusta, Georgia, as optionee, in connection
with the East Augusta Roadway and Drainage Improvement Project, 6.9 acres (300,815 sq.
ft.) in fee simple and (N/A sq. ft.) of permanent drainage and utility easement, more or less;
and (N/A sq. ft.) of temporary construction easement from property located at: 580 Laney
Walker Blvd. Ext., private, at the purchase price of $138,000.00. (Approved by Engineering
Services Committee May 29, 2012)
26. Motion to authorize the Engineering Department to extend Supplemental Agreement
Number Six with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., to continue to provide project
management support via staff augmentation in the amount not to exceed $172,200 which
will be funded from SPLOST Contingency funds for the Engineering Department.
(Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29, 2012)
27. Motion to approve Utilities upgrade of Itron 60W Radio Read Transmitters to 100W
Radio Read Transmitters. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee May 29, 2012)
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PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
28. Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Commission held May 15,
2012 and Special Called Meetings held May 22 and May 29, 2012.
SUBCOMMITTEE
Pension & Audit Committee
29. Motion to approve the selection of Cherry, Bekaert & Holland as the Internal Audit
firm as recommended by the selection committee. (Approved by the Pension and Audit
Committee May 29, 2012)
APPOINTMENTS
30. Motion to approve the appointment of Harry Moore to the Augusta Canal Authority
representing District 4.
PUBLIC SERVICES
31. Motion to authorize condemnation to acquire title of a portion of property for
permanent drainage, utility and maintenance easement and temporary construction and
ingress/egress easement, (Parcel 070-1-166-00-0) 3209 Lake Forest Drive.
32. Motion to approve ADA compliant swimming pool lifts and ladders at the
Department’s swim facilities to Recreonics, Inc., in the amount of $35,780.00
35. Approve a five (5) year land lease with Joey Bishop, DBA Joey’s Bait and Tackle, for
approximately one (1) acre of land located on Lock and Dam Road for the purpose of
operating a bait and tackle shop to support Lock and Dam Park and the recently reopened
Baurle Boat Ramp. Lease payments to the City of Augusta from Joey’s Bait and Tackle are
to be $225 per month for an annual total of $2,700.
36. Approve the Standard Form of Contract for Commissioning Authority Services Lump
Sum between Augusta, Georgia and Total Systems Commissioning, Inc. in the amount of
$44,800 for the Webster Detention Center, Phase II Inmate Processing Center.
APPOINTMENTS
41. Motion to approve the appointment of Natalie Bowen McLeod and Sanford Loyd to the
Downtown Development Authority (DDA). (Requested by Commissioner J.R. Hatney)
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. If there’s no further discussion
Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting.
Mr. Mason and Mr. Hatney vote No.
Motion carries 7-2. [Item 33]
Motion carries 9-0. [Items 2-30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 41]
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, let’s go to the pulled item number one first please.
The Clerk:
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PLANNING
1. ZA-R-213 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Georgia Planning Commission
to approve a petition to amend Section 2 – Definitions by changing Funeral Home to allow
for facilities for cremation. (Approved by the Augusta Commission May 15, 2012 – second
reading.
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Patty.
Mr. Patty: Sir, this is the second reading of this to my understanding and the objective is
to probably allow what is being practiced. Most of the big funeral homes today have cremation
facilities. They’re heavily regulated. They’re, the environmental impacts are totally dealt with
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in order to get the license, state licensing and we think this would bring us into the 21 century at
this time.
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Lockett.
Mr. Lockett: So in order for someone to get the license they don’t have to go through us
at all. So why are we changing our policy now? What necessitated that?
Mr. Patty: Because it’s a state license. Our issue is zoning and right now our zoning
ordinance does not allow them to do cremations at a funeral home unless it’s in a Heavy
Industrial zone which is in conflict with reality.
Mr. Lockett: Okay, so basically what you’re saying is those funeral homes that are not in
proper, not properly zoned for this, this will allow them to be zoned for this. Is that correct?
Mr. Patty: That is correct. That is correct.
Mr. Lockett: Okay, and you asked I think a question there’s been some consideration
that there might be an adverse affect when it comes to pollution.
Mr. Patty: They’re totally regulated.
Mr. Lockett: Okay.
Mr. Patty: Already, most of them have them and you wouldn’t know it unless they
showed you the operation.
Mr. Lockett: Move to approve Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Aitken: Second.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, sir. We have a motion and a second. Commissioner Hatney.
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Mr. Hatney: One question. Mr. Patty, if this is approved today does that mean any
funeral home who owns a license in this town can develop a crematory? Is that what you’re
saying?
Mr. Lockett: Yes, they can as long ---
Mr. Hatney: It doesn’t matter where they’re located?
Mr. Patty: --- for their own use. They can’t operate as a general crematorium where
people, other funeral would bring people in for this activity. Only for the services they provide.
To answer your question, yes, any funeral home could have one.
Mr. Hatney: For instance the one across the street is still over there and if they wanted to
burn up some folks they could do that.
Mr. Patty: I believe they have one over there to be honest with you.
Mr. Mayor: And you never knew it, Reverend Hatney, you never knew it.
Mr. Hatney: I never visited them.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, we have a motion that’s been properly seconded. If there’s no further
discussion Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting.
Mr. Hatney votes No.
Motion Passes 8-1.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, let’s go on to the regular agenda, I believe, item
number 33.
The Clerk:
PUBLIC SERVICES
33. Motion to approve expenditure of SPLOST funds dedicated to the New TEE Center, in
the amount of $71,514.00, for purchase and startup of all scope associated with the new
internet system.
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Russell, did you want to speak to this issue?
Mr. Russell: Yes, this is money that’s in the budget for that particular building. What it
does is allow us to use a service that’s currently in the building that’s there, the conference
center. So it would be, I’m still thinking about getting burned up too, compliant with, not
compliant compatible with the current system so they wouldn’t have to have two different
systems to operate in the building. I’m sorry, thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Commissioner Hatney.
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Mr. Hatney: Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hatney: There’s a system already in place and what you’re doing is making the
situation with the TEE Center compatible to what’s already there. Right?
Mr. Russell: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hatney: And it’s going to cost $71,000.00?
Mr. Russell: Yes, sir, that’s for the additional building.
Mr. Hatney: I’m glad you ain’t trying to get it all over Augusta.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Commissioner Guilfoyle.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I’d like to thank Mr. White for corresponding
with me today on trying to get me some answers since Mr. Russell has taken this position to
answer these questions. Originally when the design was done with the architect every new
building’s going up has telephone lines, internet service and I noticed three weeks ago we did a
sole source with this company. Where is the deduct or credit that should come back to us for the
original?
Mr. Russell: That would be a question for Mr. White.
Mr. White: We anticipated all along that we were going to make the system compatible
with the existing building. This is not like you go in you put in new phone lines and new data
and that. This is a company that will come in and will manage the internet for you. Part of the
deal they did with us is for every person that buys internet service like when a convention comes
and they want internet service they pay for that as part of the revenue for using the center. And
they’ve offered to pay the city 50% of whatever proceeds they get for this. So it’s just not like
you would hire a contractor to come in and put in an internet service for you that you would use.
This is actually a company that’s doing it for the Marriott now. We’re hiring them to come do it
for the TEE Center so everything will be compatible so when you do sell a convention they’re
not looking at two different internet services. Does that answer your question?
Mr. Guilfoyle: Right, that’s the same thing as actually getting a return on an investment.
I thank you for that answer.
Mr. White: You’re welcome.
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Lockett.
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Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is for either you or the Administrator or
anybody that might want to answer. Do you have any idea how many more times you all are
going to come to us for money for the TEE Center? If you plan on coming back can you give us
a guestimation about how many more thousands of dollars we can expect to spend even though
the money’s available?
Mr. White: I can’t think of any right now. I know we’re looking at kitchen equipment.
This is all stuff that we anticipated or budgeted for in our overall budget just as we as things
come on it’s time to purchase this and we come to you and ask permission to purchase. These
aren’t like change orders and things that weren’t anticipated.
Mr. Lockett: Yes.
Mr. White: Going with the one that comes to mind as we still have kitchen equipment to
look at.
Mr. Lockett: I know that ---
Mr. White: I can certainly, what I can do is go back and we’ll look at whatever else we
have outstanding and we can bring you a list of those items.
Mr. Lockett: I know the contracts agreement was rather unique but do we anticipate
entering into another contract such as that entering into a contract without knowing what we’re
going to eventually end up paying for the completed project? In other words you know we know
we need to do these things but we don’t know how much it’s going to cost.
Mr. Russell: It’s similar to other projects where we’ve got the base number from the
contractor for the building itself. These are items we did outside the contract because we thought
we could do better than actually going with the contractor on those particular items such as the
one you just, it’s on the table to today. Plus the kitchen equipment and several of the other
things we brought back to you. And that’s just what we do with, and you see that with the other
buildings that we’ve done. These are outside the scope of the contract with the builder itself.
And we bring them back simply because they’re above my authority. Even though you passed
the general budget it’s our opinion and my opinion you need to look at these individual items and
that’s why we bring them back. If you want to give me the authority within the passed budget to
do that that would eliminate this discussion but you know at the end of the day I’d be more
comfortable if you continued to look at these because it’s my opinion that we need to approve
each, not approve but we need to bring each one to you at this level for its on its face value for
your approval.
Mr. Lockett: Mr. Russell, I agree with what you’re saying to a certain extent. But I think
it would be beneficial to us if we knew what the finish line was going to look like. If you may
know you may know what’s next, what the next expenditure is going to be in relation to this
project. Why couldn’t you all just present this body with a list, expect us to come back in
August and ask you for, ask y’all for ‘x’ amount of thousands of dollars because this is
something we know we got to do. In that way we can be prepared.
13
Mr. Russell: I see where you’re going now and I think you know as far as, correct me if
I’m wrong but we should be able to give them the timeframe for the building and the projected
expenditures based on that timeframe. That should be fairly easy in the budget.
Mr. White: Some of them will be our budget that we anticipate. We won’t really have a
hard number until we have a contractor or somebody on board you know a vendor.
Mr. Lockett: But if you’re anticipating those things let us know.
Mr. White: Okay, I can ---
Mr. Lockett: You know the Commission we’ll be coming back in August and we’re
going to be asking you for $500,000 for this so I can take my aspirin and get ready for it.
Mr. White: I’ll certainly get that together for you.
Mr. Russell: We can get that for you, Mr. Commissioner.
Mr. Lockett: Thank you sir. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Commissioner Lockett. Commissioner Hatney.
Mr. Hatney: Excuse me one other observation is might maybe somebody might have
already asked this but in letting a contract for erecting or building that center itself am I hearing
you say there are certain things you pulled out and did not include because you thought you
could get it cheaper or less expensive. Is that what I’m hearing because to build a new building
without this wiring already in it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
Mr. White: No, it’s not about the wires. This is ---
Mr. Hatney: I’m talking about the whole ---
Mr. White: This is similar to when you build a house. You buy, you go out and buy your
furniture. You don’t buy it from the contractor who builds your house.
Mr. Hatney: It ain’t quite the same though. Not as furniture.
Mr. White: Well, okay, you get internet service ---
Mr. Hatney: Okay.
Mr. White: --- cable TV ---
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Mr. Hatney: But when you brought that up I’m glad you said that now. You knew you
needed kitchen equipment. I thought we were already, the last time ya’ll came back with four or
five hundred thousand dollars that kitchen equipment was included in there.
Mr. White: I don’t recall kitchen equipment (unintelligible).
Mr. Hatney: We never will get paid for this. We’ll never get finished. Okay, thank you,
Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Brigham.
Mr. Brigham: Mr. White, please tell me this facility is on time and we’ll be open soon.
Mr. White: It is on time and we’ll be open soon.
Mr. Brigham: You got a date?
Mr. White: Right now we’re anticipating, I believe, August.
Mr. Brigham: Are you on budget?
Mr. White: Yes, we’re on budget.
Mr. Brigham: Call for the question, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: Would you like to make a motion to approve?
Mr. Hatney: But how do you know you’re on budget when you keep coming back with
more money?
Mr. Brigham: I thought we already had a motion?
Mr. White: We have an overall budget. We’re just going to define items and right now
we’re tracking on budget.
Mr. Hatney: So all these additions were included in the overall budget.
Mr. White: Correct.
Mr. Hatney: Okay.
Mr. White: We’re not asking for any additional ---.
Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, did we have a motion on that?
Mr. Hatney: Yes, we did.
15
Mr. Brigham: So moved.
Mr. Smith: Second.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. If there’s no further discussion
Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. White.
Mr. White: Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Mason and Mr. Hatney vote No.
Motion Passes 7-2.
Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, next agenda item, please.
The Clerk:
PUBLIC SERVICES
34. Motion to approve Augusta Public Transit’s purchase of three (3) Transit vehicles from
Daimler Buses North America at a cost of $389,243 per bus for a total of $1,167.79 through
Grant Project GA-90-X300-00 (54609-1210) and Grant Project GA-90-X307-00 (54609-
1211).
Mr. Brigham: So moved.
Mr. Bowles: Second.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion?
Commissioner Lockett.
Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know that this is I think coming out of DOT
and grant funds and so forth and it’s going to cost us about $235/236,000 dollars but I’m going
to support it but reluctantly. And the reason why is because Mobility is not living up to, has not
lived up to and the way it looks now it’s not going to ever live up to their contract. And I’ve just
got two things I want to say and I’ll be quiet. Has a shop foreman resigned within the past two
weeks? And my second question is do you have any certified mechanics at all to work on these
buses that are hauling our citizens throughout this town?
Mr. Lewis: For one thing I don’t work for Mobility. I do the transit planning for them.
Mr. Lockett: Are you affiliated with Mobility?
16
Mr. Lewis: No, not at all.
Mr. Lockett: Not at all?
Mr. Guilfoyle: He’s ours.
Mr. Lockett: Okay, but yeah but I still have the same questions. Mr. Russell?
Mr. Lewis: I won’t be able to answer that but I will tell you one thing. That item has
nothing to do with Mobility. As the planner I put that item in there three years ago.
Mr. Lockett: For the buses.
Mr. Lewis: Yes.
Mr. Lockett: All right.
Mr. Lewis: I don’t care who runs the system ---
Mr. Lockett: But ---
Mr. Lewis: --- that’s coming from the FTA.
Mr. Lockett: Maybe I’m still talking to the right person but the point I’m trying to get
across is if we buy the buses who’s operating the buses now for Augusta?
Mr. Lewis: Ya’ll know Mobility is.
Mr. Lockett: Well, see, maybe you’re not with Mobility but you are going to get the
buses. Aren’t you concerned about whether or not the buses are going to be taken care of? We
can’t spend over a million dollars every year to buy buses. But maybe the question about the
resigning of the shop mechanic or the shop foreman and there are no certified mechanics maybe I
should direct that to the Administrator not expecting a response, Mr. Russell, but some action on
your part.
Mr. Russell: I’ll be happy ---
Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Russell: I’ll be happy to check into that, sir, and get that information back to you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, sir. Commissioner Johnson.
17
Mr. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioner Lockett, I do have, I’ve given a
request to Ms. Bonner to have it on the committee for next week. So you can ask all those
questions on Monday. I have it on the agenda for Monday.
Mr. Lewis: But any grant stuff I’ll be glad to answer for you.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Thank you, sir. We have a motion that’s been properly seconded. If
there is no further discussion Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting.
Mr. Mason votes No.
Motion Passes 8-1.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk, on to the next agenda item.
The Clerk:
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
37. Discuss the denial of the final negotiated contract with Automatic Data Processing
(ADP) and task the Administrator to bring back at the first Commission meeting in June a
path forward regarding the internal operations of the Human Resources Department.
(Approved by Administrative Services Committee April 23, 2012) (No recommendation
from Administrative Services Committee meeting May 29, 2012)
Mr. Mayor: Anybody want to make a motion on this agenda item?
Mr. Mason: No.
Mr. Lockett: Second.
Mr. Johnson: This is to deny the contract? Okay.
The Clerk: Deny the ---
Mr. Russell: Wait a minute.
Mr. Mayor: Let’s make sure ---
Mr. Russell: The motion is, the agenda item is to deny so.
Mr. Mason: I want to deny the approval of this agenda item.
Mr. Mayor: A motion to approve the agenda item as stated for the denial.
Mr. Mason: It sounds good.
18
Mr. Bowles: No, it’s not a motion to approve the denial of the agenda item. To approve
the denial of the agenda item would be in fact to not approve the agenda item. I’m not an
English major but I think if you approve the denial you’re denying the denial.
Mr. Mason: You get the general idea.
Mr. Mayor: Who’s on first?
Mr. Hatney: Okay, does this mean if we vote yes this is over with?
Mr. Mason: No.
Mr. Hatney: It says to discuss the denial.
The Clerk: Let me say this. On the, from the Administrative Services Committee on
April 23, the motion was to deny the final negotiated contract. Then it was placed on the agenda
to discuss that denial.
Mr. Mayor: But your motion is to concur with the Administrative Services denial.
Correct?
Mr. Mason: It is.
Mr. Hatney: Of the contract.
The Clerk: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hatney: Okay.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, we have a motion that’s been properly seconded. Is there any ---
The Clerk: Mr., who seconded that motion. I didn’t get it.
Mr. Lockett: I did.
The Clerk: You did? Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, if there’s no further discussion Commissioners will now vote ---
Mr. Bowles: Mr. Mayor, just for ---
Mr. Mayor: Yes sir, Commissioner Bowles.
Mr. Bowles: --- clarification there was no recommendation from the Administrative
Services Committee. It didn’t recommend to deny.
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th
The Clerk: At the last meeting there was no recommendation on the May 29 meeting.
rd
The Administrative Services Committee did approve it on the 23 and then it went back to
th
committee, back to Commission, back to committee. And then it ended up on the 29 with no
recommendation.
Mr. Mason: In spite of all that my motion remains the same.
Mr. Mayor: If there’s no further discussion Commissioner will now vote by the usual
sign of voting.
Mr. Bowles, Mr. Brigham and Mr. Guilfoyle vote No.
Motion Passes 6-3.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Madam Clerk, on to the next agenda item please.
The Clerk:
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
38. Approve award of a contract to Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh and Associates in the amount
of $1,065.000, plus reimbursable expenses not to exceed $75,000 (total $1,140,000), to
complete planning initiative under the Augusta Sustainable Development Implementation
Program. (No recommendation from Administrative Services Committee May 29, 2012)
FINANCE
39. Approve award of a contract to Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh in the amount of $1,065,000,
plus reimbursable expenses not to exceed $75,000 (total $1,140,000), to complete planning
initiatives under the Augusta Sustainable Development Implementation Program. (No
recommendation from Finance Committee May 29, 2012)
Mr. Lockett: Mr. Mayor?
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Lockett.
Mr. Lockett: Is it possible that we can combine 38 and 39?
Mr. Mayor: Yes.
The Clerk: They’re companion items.
Mr. Mayor: Would you like to make a motion to approve those two?
Mr. Lockett: Motion to approve to combine.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion. Do we have a second?
Mr. Aitken: Second.
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Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. If there is no further discussion
Commissioners will ---
Mr. Brigham: Motion to combine them or is this ---
Mr. Lockett: Motion to ---
Mr. Mayor: Motion to combine and approve.
Mr. Brigham: That’s what I wanted to know.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. That’s a whole lot better than a motion to divide and conquer. I like
unite and approve. If there’s no further discussion Commissioners will now vote by the usual
sign of voting.
Mr. Brigham votes No.
Motion Passes 8-1.
Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk on to the next agenda item, please, ma’am.
The Clerk:
ADMINISTRATOR
42. Update on Augusta’s position in the credit market presented by Dianne McNabb.
Mr. Russell: Mr. Mayor, members of the Commission we’ve asked our financial advisor
Ms. McNabb to come share some information with us. As you know we’re looking at the budget
for next week in moving forward. We also want to look at our credit and how we’re standing in
the market today. We’ve had several discussions in the past about the bonds for the utilities and
we want to talk a few minutes about that. I’ve asked Ms. McNabb to put together a report for
you.
Mr. Mayor: Ms. McNabb share with us some good news, please, ma’am.
Ms. McNabb: Interest rates continue to go down.
Mr. Hatney: Very good news.
Mr. Bowles: Not necessarily ---
Ms. McNabb: Yeah.
Mr. Brigham: Depends on which side of the coin.
Mr. Bowles: --- depends on the side of the market you’re on.
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Ms. McNabb: It’s good to be here with you all. I do think that we’ve got a lot of good
news about not just the market and the ability for you all to refinance some of your bonds but
also your assessed values compared to where the rest of the state have been. Also I think there
are a few new Commissioners that haven’t seen me much before. And so I thought I’d just give
you a little bit of a rundown about my background before we got too much further. So I’ll go
over it and give you a little bit of an introduction, talk about some of the projects we’ve worked,
give you a credit update with a summary of your outstanding debt and a refunding update. Just a
little bit of my background I’m a CPA and I spent fifteen years in public accounting and then I
have been doing financial advisory, providing financial advisory services for over seventeen
years. I’m active in the ASCPA, the Government Finance Officers Association. My current
committee assignment for the national organization is on the Economic Development and Capital
Planning Committee which is where we develop best practices for tax allocation districts and tax
increment financing for local governments all across the country. So it gives me a source of very
current data and I’ve been able to share that as we work on the developments like River Watch
and Rockwood, etc. These are just some of my clients that I work with right now. You guys are
at the top of the list. Chatham County, Cobb County, DeKalb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett
County, City of Alpharetta some various school districts and MARTA. Most of these have been
clients of mine since the early 90’s. Just some projects that we’ve worked on and I think that
Augusta’s debt management and approach to projects has really matured over the last, since
2006 and become much more sophisticated. In 2006 we did the Augusta’s very first competitive
sale of bonds. Up until that date the, Augusta has always sold its bond issues through negotiated
sales with underwriters hired in advance. We have guidelines. When you use a competitive sale
versus when you use a negotiated sale and Augusta really did meet those guidelines so that going
through a competitive sale for your G.O. bonds would save you interest costs. And as expected
the market received you extremely well and you received twelve bids from underwriters on that
day. That’s extremely good for your very first competitive sale. In 2007 we went through a
bond refunding and saved $8.3 million dollars. At the same time we terminated the interest rate
swap the Commission had entered into prior to that. I wasn’t involved in that, nobody asked me
about it but I think the Commission saw the wisdom in terminating those swap agreements. I’m
a firm believer that if you don’t understand it when it’s explained, then don’t know that you
ought to be doing it. And I know that some of my colleagues and I every time we saw one of
these swap proposals that was submitted we’d have to sit there and really think hard to get
through it and you know remind ourselves exactly how the market worked and what it ought to
look like. I in my years I have never had a client that entered into a swap because of that. So we
terminated the swap and I know that a couple of years ago I went through and calculated what
the county, if the county had not terminated that swap. Now when the market crashed in 2008
these swaps just went to pieces. And you starting in 2008 you wouldn’t have been able to
terminate that swap except for an extremely high price. At this point I would say that you, that
Augusta has probably saved 10 or 12 million dollars having terminated that swap when you did.
We’ve also, we also did the, worked on TEE Center financing. The big challenge there was to
preserve the tax exempt status on the parking deck so that you’d be able to save that interest.
That has saved you over $2 million dollars to be able to preserve the tax exempt status on that.
The Laney Walker Project we used a pretty unique structure there and it rolls every five years.
That’s because the project’s that were anticipated at the beginning were all expected to be, would
have resulted in a taxable financing. And this was, this is a taxable financing. But instead of
issuing the bonds as 20-year long term bonds which would’ve been a very high interest rate we
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issued them where you advertise them every year as if it’s 20 years and then every five years you
renew the issue. And what that’s going to allow is if in 2015 if the projects that are ultimately
done are such that the bonds would qualify as tax exempt then you’ll be able to issue those bonds
as tax exempt at that point in time. So it maintains maximum flexibility while minimizing the
interest costs by staying shorter on the yield curve keeping the financing short term. And then on
the River Watch tax allocation district I think some of you guys are still around that when Bass
Pro was first, was the first project that was proposed I think everyone showed a tremendous
amount of patience and fortitude. The original proposal was that you all helped them with the
issuance in addition to giving them the tax increment that you came back and said well the
market is such that you know we need you to guarantee the bonds. But they’ll be fixed rate
bonds, 20-year fixed rate bonds at very little risk. Well a few months later they came back and
said well the market’s changed, we really need to issue variable rate bonds with a swap. Lead
balloon. And everybody stuck to their guns and said no. You know we agreed to give you the
increments then the Commission agreed to back their long term financing and fixed rate
financing and then when they got to the variable rate financing we just went uh uh. And so it
turns out Bass Pro really hadn’t really signed on to the deal anyway. And so the developer then
came back with COSTCO and I assume everybody has shopped there. It’s my favorite store.
We go there all the time. So these are some of the things we’ve worked on that I think give you
an example of the types of things that your finance department has been doing in conjunction
with the rest of the administration in saving Augusta money. And I’m also going to sort of point
out a couple of other things that you’ve been successful with. Credit update. Your obligation
credit is Moody’s at AA-2. That is two steps below AAA. There’s AAA, AA-1 and AA-2. So
very, very, very high credit rating. You’re fixed rating is AA. Again just two notches below the
second notch below AAA. Keeping in mind that it goes AAA, then through three AA levels then
three A levels and then into the BBB. So you’re way up there. That was upgraded in 2010 by
Moody’s and it was a new rating by Fitch. So you were A-1 rated in 2006 and 2009 upgraded to
AA-2. That’s a two step upgrade which doesn’t happen very often. And I’m going to show you
why in just a second as to why you qualified for that upgrade.
Mr. Mayor: And, Dianne, just real quick. Based on the national economy and everything
comparatively to other municipal governments that you’ve seen nationwide we’re in very good
financial standing.
Ms. McNabb: Absolutely and very, very solid and I’m going to show you some trends
and some numbers. Your water and sewer rating was A-2 in ’04 and ’07. Those were the last
two times that you did water and sewer issues. It is now AA-3 again a two step upgrade. The
S&P rating is similar. It was A+ in ‘04 and ’07 and that’s a one step upgrade to AA-. And in
2011 when S&P upgraded you from A+ to AA- which is the most recent upgrade so we pulled a
couple of the comments as to why, from their report as to why they upgraded you. Proactive
Management. Sufficient long-term water supply and adequate treatment capacity, affordable
rates, manageable capital improvements, modest growth and adequate income in the surface
area. So those are the kinds of things that they noted. Now what we did and what we always do
to keep up with things is we make a comparison to Mood’s medians for AA-2 rated
governments. These are the counties in Georgia that also have a AA-2 rating. Net direct, direct
net debt per capita. The orange line is the median. So you can see that Augusta is substantially
below the median. The only reason it’s a little higher in 2010 is as a result of your short term
23
sales tax bonds those are a relatively high amount of bonds but they’re all paid off in five years.
And so excuse the totals a little bit. So your debt per capita is lower than everybody, the median
debt per capita. You can see it in the chart really tiny numbers what the median debt per capita
is every year and how much you are below that. Again the sales tax bonds excuse that a little bit
but you’re still below it. Okay your debt burden, overall debt burden. You can see that your
overall debt burden is consistently below the medians for a AA-2 rated county. Again the only
reason that is up a little higher in ’09 and 10 is because the sales tax bonds I think four and five
there may have been some sales tax bonds outstanding at that point as well. So again you’re
performing better than the other AA-2 rated governments. Debt service as a percent of your
operating funds in the general fund. Again that higher amount that’s in ’07 through 10 is where
that debt, the SPLOST bonds, sales tax bonds debt service is showing up. If you took that sales
tax bond that service out it would be back like it is in 2006. And that’s pretty much the way the
rating agencies look at it. Those sales tax bonds are kind of separate because they have a
dedicated source of revenues and they will not, they don’t ever come out of your operating funds.
Now the, this is going to get I’m glad you guys have you probably can’t read the numbers but
these are some of the measures that the rating agencies look at in the general fund. The general
fund balance as a percent of revenues. You can see that it runs around the 24/25.6% level. It
now, you’re going to see that in 2008 the numbers drop. That was as a result of the, Fred, what
was the property for the school?
Mr. Russell: Gilbert Manor.
Ms. McNabb: Gilbert Manor property. In 2008 you all paid $10 million dollars for the
Gilbert Manor property that you were reimbursed for in 2009. So that was a one year sort of
drop that came back in 2009. Your unreserved fund balance as you can see stays very stable.
The total general fund balance again you know again stable you know not major fluctuations.
Hasn’t dipped during the crisis. And I’ll mention there’s been more downgrade in the last two
years more downgrades than upgrades. And that’s not something that the rating agencies have
historically done. So we generally have seen many more upgrades than downgrades. So you all
have really held in strong and continue to manage your balances well. Conservative budgeting
has been a huge contribution to that. You’re not, you know you don’t just bet on the fact that
your assessed values won’t drop more than I’ve seen governments just sort of pull numbers out
of the air. You know they budget and they estimate that the assessed value’s going to drop 5%
because they’ll make their budget if it doesn’t drop more than 5%. And there’s been more than a
few that have been very disappointed and come in with very negative budget variances where
they ended up spending more funds than were originally budgeted. Their revenues came in less
than budgeted. And then of course the really wonderful story is your market values and assessed
values. And you continue to, you’ve had increases in your full valuation and except I guess a
slight decrease in 2009. In metro Atlanta the decreases, basically you all are dropped no lower
than your 2009 was still higher than 2007. I have clients in metro Atlanta that are 1996 assessed
values at this point. Their total assessed value is down to 1996. They’ve seen 25-30% decrease
in their assessed value. So Augusta is just cranking along. Your outstanding debt here’s a list.
Not that anybody really wants to go through all of those in detail but you can see the G.O. series
2009 and 10 those are your sales tax bonds so that you could go ahead and get started on your
sales tax projects and let contract. They mature in 2015. Then you’ve got Solid Waste
Management Authority, Coliseum Authority, Urban Redevelopment. The Coliseum Authority,
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the TEE Center Bond and Urban Redevelopment Agency is the Laney Walker/Bethlehem. This
is what your outstanding debt service looks like by series, by credit and you can see the green in
13, 14 and 15 again. That’s the sales tax bonds. And then out in 2028 is your lease purchase
pool with DMA. Now the reality, that’s a revolving loan fund that you have and you won’t, in
the years leading up to that you will be right now you’re making payments into a fund and then
re-borrowing it, making payments and re-borrowing it. And so when you get close to that 2028
you’re making payments and not re-borrowing it so the money will be there to make a payment
without any, you’re not going to have to budget that money in 2028. Again this is the principal
and interest payments and you can see that you have a very percentage of your payments going
towards principal. And then the water and sewer funds that are eligible to be refunded. One of
the things that we do for all of our clients on an ongoing basis is to monitor all of your
outstanding debts to see what, and what the interest rates are on those to determine whether they
should be refinanced based on current market rates. And we look at things we consider things
not just the interest rates. It’s a little more complicated it has to do with when they’re callable
and whether we do it as a current refunding or an advanced refunding a bunch of tax garbage.
But it makes a difference. And so we’ve been monitoring this, these water and sewer bonds for
over two years knowing that they look like good refunding candidates but we wanted to wait
until after until we could do it as a current refunding which is in three months of the call date.
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These bonds are callable October 1 of 2012. And it, I’m going to show you what savings they
produce in just a minute. But the other bonds that we’re, just to give you an example none of the
other water and sewer bonds are good refunding candidates and neither are the solid waste
management authority bonds. They will not produce savings at this point in time. Now the good
news the 2002 refunding bonds. They will produce based on current market conditions which
we would expect to continue until after the date where we’re getting close enough to the call date
will produce net present value savings of $15 million dollars. That may be, we’ve got the
assumptions that we have used in there those can change but right now we consider those good
assumptions. In last year, last probably last October/November timeframe because the bonds are
not currently callable the, if we did the refinancing last year you’d have, you take the proceeds of
those bonds and they would sit in an escrow account and earn interest until they’re used to pay
st
the bonds off on October 1. Well you can imagine you know what your own savings accounts
are earning I guess. And if you’re about the treasury mark at what the interest rates are on the
treasury market. So basically if you do it in advance of that call date you’re going to, you’re
only going to earn let’s say 2.5% on the funds you invest while you will pay three and a half
percent let’s say on the funds that you borrow. That is called negative arbitrage. It’s costing you
money. Well back in October the savings that this refunding produced were probably around $8
million dollars. And I think we started getting calls from underwriters wanting to refinance these
bonds a year ago. And we have continually said no we want to wait until the call date to
eliminate that negative arbitrage. We do not want to leave that money on the table. And you
know I can’t say I have a crystal ball. If I did I’d be on my private island in the Caribbean right
now but you know we’ve gone up in savings from eight million to fifteen million just in less than
a year. Just by being patient. And I must say that’s one that is a trait that the Augusta
Commission has consistently shown in financial matters whether it’s a tax allocation district and
getting to the right development agreement that protects the, protects Augusta or whether it’s
something like this refunding. So I think at the next Commission meeting we expect to bring a
resolution to you authorizing all of the folks to start working on, executing the refunding. And
that’s simply going to give everybody work orders basically to start work to get it all pulled
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together. When we actually price the bonds you, we’ll be coming back to you and asking for
your approval for the interest rates and those kinds of things. So you’ll see the results before and
be asked for a final approval at that point. And that’s it. Does anybody have any questions?
Mr. Russell: If I can real quick and what we’d like to do with that is competitive bids so
that’s everybody’s that’s calling you that says we can help make you rich you can say that well
yeah we appreciate that but we’re like to put out, we’re going to do this competitively this time
and see who can help make us richest and put it on a flat table so everybody can play. Because I
know some of you are probably getting those calls. I get them fairly regularly. We looked at
your bonds and we can save you, you know millions of dollars but we think based on our
estimate if we do it that way we can save about fifteen million instead of whatever they’re telling
you. So if anybody tells you twenty we need to know about it but at this point ---
Ms. McNabb: You know I, those estimates are usually very optimistic.
Mr. Mayor: But just a fair and competitive process is all we want. Commissioner
Guilfoyle.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. McNabb, thank you for your time and
educating us on what is going on and what is not going on. It’s good to see that we do have
some good ratings. Under page 8 you’ve got a Certificate of Participation. It’s a Series 1998.
Ms. McNabb: Yes.
Mr. Guilfoyle: And it, 16.888, 16.8 mill. It comes, it’s a non-callable but it doesn’t come
to mature until 2028. But we haven’t yet to touch it since 1998. Is that correct?
Ms. McNabb: When you touch it do you mean pay it off?
Mr. Guilfoyle: Yes, ma’am.
Ms. McNabb: Paying on it? Yeah that is that revolving loan fund that I mentioned. It’s
through Georgia Municipal Association and so what you do is you draw down for, draw down
from the loan fund to buy equipment for example. And if that equipment is, has basically a five
year life let’s say you borrow $5 million dollars for fire trucks.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Credit line.
Ms. McNabb: It’s a credit line, exactly.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Okay.
Ms. McNabb: Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Lockett.
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Mr. Lockett: Thank you. Ms McNabb, you need to come at least every quarter and talk
to us.
Ms. McNabb: I’d be happy to.
Mr. Lockett: How often do you converse with our Administrator?
Ms. McNabb: Oh probably, oh many times a year.
Mr. Lockett: You know I think that if we on a regular basis Mr. Administrator providing
what she gave us even though I didn’t understand everything that you presented ---
Ms. McNabb: I wouldn’t expect anybody to ---
Mr. Lockett: --- but I did understand lots. And there were a couple of things you talked
about could’ve saved me lots of headaches some months ago had we been, had we you know
been privy to the information. So I wish, I’m asking of you Mr. Administrator to keep us more
involved. Let us know what’s going on in these situations and I think that would drastically cut
down on lots of the hostilities. Because it might be a good idea but if we don’t understand it, it
appears be most of everything in the world. I’m not being critical but I’m just soliciting your
support and thank you very much.
Mr. Mayor: And, Commissioner Lockett, to your point I think this something when you
speak to our counterparts in other cities throughout the U.S. we are the exception these days not
the norm. And I think that we do need to convey that information to citizens to citizens from a
financial perspective. You know we’re bucking the trend nationally and they need to know that
we’re on a very strong financial footing. So I agree with you. Commissioner Johnson.
Mr. Johnson: Yeah, I would just a motion to receive as information.
Mr. Hatney: Second.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. If there’s no further discussion
Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting. Thank you, Ms. McNabb.
Ms. McNabb: I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon.
Mr. Mayor: Absolutely. Madam Clerk, on to the final agenda item.
Mr. Bowles and Mr. Mason out.
Motion Passes 7-0.
Mr. Mayor: On to the final agenda item.
The Clerk:
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OTHER BUSINESS
43. Motion to approve a Resolution to the Board of Regents for the purpose of including
the name of Augusta in the new combined Augusta State & Georgia Health Sciences
Universities. (Requested by Commissioner Jerry Brigham) (Referred from May 15
Commission meeting)
Mr. Mayor: Commissioner Brigham.
Mr. Brigham: Mr. Mayor, I think everybody’s had an opportunity to read the motion.
Basically the motion is a request to the Board of Regents that they include Augusta in the name.
It’s not a demand, it’s not something that has to be done, it’s something that we’re asking to do.
And I’ll make a motion to approve it.
Mr. Johnson: Second.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and there’s a second. If there’s no further discussion
Commissioners will now vote by the usual sign of voting.
Mr. Bowles and Mr. Mason out.
Mr. Lockett and Mr. Aitken vote No.
Motion Fails 5-2.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, with no further business to come before the body we stand adjourned.
[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
June 5, 2012.
______________________________
Clerk of Commission
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