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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCalled Commission Meeting July 28, 2015 CALLED MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER July 28, 2015 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:52 p.m., Tuesday, July 28, 2015, the Honorable Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Hons. Lockett, Guilfoyle, Sias, Frantom, M. Williams, Fennoy, D. Williams, Hasan, Davis and Smith, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie. Mr. MacKenzie: I believe earlier we didn’t have a quorum for the special called meeting but I think we have one now if you want to call that to order. Mr. Mayor: I do. We hereby call this meeting to order. I think we’ve got one agenda item that is before us. Ms. Morawski. The Clerk: The item is to approve proposed amendment to Stormwater Ordinance. st Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 1, Commissioner Fennoy. Mr. Fennoy: Motion to approve. Mr. Lockett: Second. Mr. Mayor: We’ve got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I believe we’ve th got an inquiry from the commissioner from the 8. State your inquiry. Mr. Guilfoyle: I will, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for recognizing me. This is for the Administrator or Acting Administrator right now. I had spoken earlier with somebody with the Engineering Department about, been getting a lot of phone calls because nobody has the information as far as what they are going to be charged, how the cycles are going to work. We’re going to have to be able to get the information out to the people whether it’s on the website, put it in the newspaper, somehow, some way, because not everybody watches the local news or reads the, media, the newspaper. Mr. Brazzell: That’s a valid concern and Mr. Ladson, I know that there’s been a lot of discussion about a process to continuously educate the community and inform and over the next five months or so as we prepare for implementation but I’ll let Abie speak to the specifics. Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you. Mr. Ladson: Yes, Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission, we had actually spoken about this a couple of times. It kind of came up during the last meeting where within thirty days we’re going to have all the information together on a website and so people can actually see, see their information and what the cost would be. Prior to then they can actually call the office. 1 We’ve been getting calls and we’ve been actually giving them their estimated, individuals that are concerned about their fee, we have been giving them their fee estimates. Mr. Guilfoyle: Mr. Mayor, may I respond, sir? Mr. Mayor: You may. Mr. Guilfoyle: Abie, it might be a good idea through our Utilities Department wherein somebody gets a water bill you could direct them into our website instead of them, I don’t know how else they would know. Mr. Ladson: It would actually get a, they’re going to get a, what you would call like a pilot bill before anything goes out. I mean before the fee actually gets into effect within the next thirty to sixty days and just the same way they would get the utility bill, they will get that and it will be attached to the utility bill so they would actually know that also. And you can actually get it on the web too. Mr. Mayor: Mr. Ladson, in our previous meeting we again established a number of things with the passage of the stormwater ordinance and in that meeting, is it not true that the Engineering Department committed to within thirty days of passage providing every customer both residential and commercial with an insert in the utility bill stating what their fee would be? Mr. Ladson: That’s correct. That would be in the utility bill. Mr. Mayor: That’s the first step within thirty days we were going to do that. Mr. Ladson: Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor: Okay and then as a backup for those individuals who may have misplaced it, like I do, just pay the bill and throw the insert away unfortunately, we will put that same information on the website, is that not true? Mr. Ladson: That’s correct. Mr. Mayor: Okay. And if they don’t have that, they could always call – Mr. Ladson: Call the office, 706-796-5040 and we would give that information to them. st Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 1 and then the th commissioner from the 6. You had your hand up. No? No? They waive. All right. The Chair th recognizes the commissioner from the 7. Mr. Frantom: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No, I understand the first reading, we’re on to the second reading. You probably have the votes but, you know, it’s disappointing that we had an option to put $7 million instead of $5 million into the SPLOST package and lower the rate to $5.50 and we didn’t even move forward in that manner for the people. So, you know, this is a 2 tough for the people to swallow. It means that the SPLOST package does have to be tight. It has to make sure it’s on needs and infrastructure. But I wish we would have looked at the $7 million dollar option to put the extra two in the SPLOST to lower the fee. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. th Mr. Mayor: All right. The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 5. Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Call for the question. Mr. Mayor: Okay. All right. I’ve got move the previous question. All right, I’m going rd to recognize the distinguished lady from the 3. I believe she wants to say something. Ms. Davis: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was, I agree with Commissioner Frantom and I know, we all know the needs. We’ve all looked at those but I had hoped too that we had worked to more of a compromise for the lower fee and when possible some greater exemptions and what I would just ask as a group in the ordinance it says I believe to review every five years. If we could make it a commitment on our part to really review this with Engineering at least once a year at the end of the year to just see how we’re progressing. It could be as information only but I just think that that will show more accountability and openness of how this is going with that fee at that rate. So I would just hope that we would keep that in mind. Thank you. Mr. Mayor: Here’s what we’re going to do. I know there’s a lot of conversation and much debate about this. Even concerns as to why we’re moving this forward today. I want to make sure that all of our citizens fully understand that there is no subterfuge, there’s nothing nefarious about having the second reading on today. We’re well within, from a legal standpoint, within seven days. We’ve met that requirement. Again, we believe that it’s prudent to move forward and take action. There’s a lot of debate about what the fee could be, should be and I share some of those sentiments. I think I’ve expressed that on multiple occasions but we are here now. Now that we’re here, we’re prepared to take action as this body has indicated. Voting. Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom, Mr. Guilfoyle and Mr. Smith vote No. Motion carries 6-4. Mr. Fennoy: Can I have a point of personal privilege? I ain’t never asked for one, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: What are you suggesting? This is your first one? Mr. Fennoy: This is my first one. Mr. Mayor: Is the dog out of the barn? Mr. Fennoy: Yeah, yeah. st Mr. Mayor: All right. The Chair recognizes the commissioner from the 1 for personal privilege. 3 Mr. Fennoy: You know I heard the Mayor talk about the timing of the second reading but when you talk to the people that live in Eastview, Marion Homes, Harrisburg, up on the Hill, this is something that should have taken years ago. The residents that live in this neighborhood wading in the water for years because of the infrastructure that exists in the city and it’s long overdue. We paid nearly $500,000 to a consultant firm to develop a stormwater program for the City of Augusta. This is their recommendation. If my colleagues are not willing to accept the recommendations that we spent over $500,000 to have done, then maybe we should not hire consultants to develop programs for us. Many of the people in my district have called and said thank you to the colleagues that have supported this and we’re just anxious to see something done to alleviate the long overdue flooding situation that exists in this city. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Commissioner, the time has expired. [MEETING ADJOURNED] Nancy W. Morawski Deputy Clerk of Commission CERTIFICATION: I, Lena J. Bonner, Clerk of Commission, hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Called Meeting of the Augusta Richmond County Commission held on July 28, 2015. ________________________ Clerk of Commission 4