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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRegular Commission Meeting November 17, 2015 REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER NOVEMBER 17, 2015 Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:00 p.m., November 17, 2015, the Hon. 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: Our Chaplain of the Day was scheduled to be Pastor George W. Robertson, Pastor, First Presbyterian. I do not see him in the audience at this time. All right, we’re going to call this meeting to order. In his stead, Madam Clerk, we’ll have the Dean of the Commission th, the distinguished gentleman from the 9 Commission Marion Williams, who will lead us in our invocation. Immediately after that we will have the students from Heritage Academy to come up. In fact they’re here today, we’ve got 37 students from Heritage Academy who will join us, excited second graders. We’re going to ask them if they will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. So why don’t we do this, let’s have them all go ahead and come around just for just to expedite this. Love to have them come around and just stand right here up front. All right, these are future leaders today from Heritage Academy who are students from all across the county. We’re excited to have them here with us on today. All right, we’re almost ready, Commissioner, so what we’ll do again is we’ll have our invocation by Commissioner Marion Williams and then after that we’ll call on the students from Heritage to lead us in our pledge. All right, everyone please stand at this time. Okay, all right, Commissioner Williams. (The invocation was given by Commissioner Marion Williams) The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited. Mr. Mayor: We’re going to give the students an opportunity, to give the students an opportunity to settle in. At this time we want to take a moment, we’re all have watched with shock and perhaps horror the events that have taken place in Paris. And it may have affected people all across the country the world and so for that here in Augusta we’re going to take a moment of silence in memory of those individuals who have been wounded as well as those who lost their lives at this time. Thank you. Madam Clerk. The Clerk: DELEGATIONS A. Transparency and Accountability. (Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams) th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I asked the Clerk to add me to the delegation portion of this agenda just to talk for a minute about this buzz word accountability. When I was elected both times back in 1999 and the last time I put my hand on the Bible and my left hand and raised my right hand and took an oath to do what is right and what is expedient for this city. 1 But it’s been really, really troubling me to hear as much as we’ve been hearing from the news media both video and the print media as to the City of Augusta needs to be held accountable as if we had not been. So what bothers me is when I think back in my prior term as all of the things that happened as a government and nobody said that word at one time. It really makes me think that because the faces of this Commission have changed that maybe there’s a reason to suspect that we hadn’t been accountable. But I remember when there was some money missing from the Tax Commissioner’s office I think it was and no one said a word about accountability. I remember the time when we bought property that we only had the air rights to and asked the Attorney to share with us why we were doing that. We ended up building a building that was on somebody else’s property. But now I’m hearing all of this about accountability so it troubled me enough to bring it to this forum to let the people know and let you know, Mr. Mayor, that we have been trying to do what is right and what is expedient for the City of Augusta. So many times we get accused of things that are not wrong but because people don’t understand them. I shared with the media today about the gas card. We are allowed a gas card and there’s ‘x’ amount of dollars a gallon we’re allowed as if we had done something wrong to take advantage. This job is a thankless job and it’s not my first time, in fact this is my third time in this seat so I understand that we’re not here asking for pay but it’s bad enough to get beat up by the media then get beat up by people in the community who thinks that we’re doing something wrong. I had a lady tell me that she’s going to be watching this Commission because the face of the Commission had changed and I shared with her I don’t have a problem with that but she should’ve been watching all the time not just out watching today because the faces have changed. So, Mr. Mayor, I don’t need the whole five minutes but I do want the City of Augusta to know that we have been held accountable. You can’t tell me one thing we’ve done wrong in this governing body compared to some things that have been done and nobody even questioned. So I just makes me think the only difference I see from then and now is the face of this body. So, Mr. Mayor, to you and all of my fellow Commissioners we may not always agree, we may agree to disagree but I think we’ve been held accountable not just with money but with everything else we do in this government and I wanted that to be put out publicly. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Commissioner, thank you for your passion and your leadership, thank you so much. Madam Clerk. The Clerk: I call your attention to our consent agenda. Our consent agenda consists of items 1-25, items 1-25. For the benefit of any objectors to our Planning petitions once those petitions are read would you please signify your objections by raising your hand. I call your attention to: Item 1: Is a request for a change of zoning from a Zone R-1 (One-Family Residential) and a Zone R-3 (Multiple-family Residential) to a Zone R-1D (One-family Residential) affective property known as 1495 Goshen Road. Item 2: Is a request to establish a Special Exception to establish a Family Personal Care Home of property known as 1245 Augusta Avenue. Item 3: Is a request for zoning from a Zone A (Agriculture) and a Zone B-2 (General Business) to a Zone LI (Light Industry) affecting property known as 3124 3126 Mike Padgett Highway. 2 The Clerk: Are there any objectors to any of those Planning petitions? Okay. Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk --- The Clerk: I call your attention to the --- th Mr. Mayor: --- Madam Clerk, we’ve got a question from the Commissioner from the 8. The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. Guilfoyle: Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. I was wondering if I could speak with Melanie Wilson about agenda item number one please. Mr. Mayor: All right. Mr. Guilfoyle: Can I talk directly to her, Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor: Absolutely. Ms. Wilson, if you’ll approach. Mr. Guilfoyle: Ms. Wilson, I know that we had postponed this agenda item from coming up last month and the Goshen Neighborhood Association the night of the neighborhood meeting the developer did show up and there was supposed to be a follow up meeting within two weeks. Was that meeting, did it happen and was there any problems from the neighborhood? Ms. Wilson: The developer is here as well as representative from Goshen. I will tell you that at the Planning Commission meeting the members from the Goshen Neighborhood Association supported the recommendation with the attached conditions so it resolved some of the concerns that they had. Mr. Guilfoyle: Right. I appreciate that, Ms. Wilson, and I appreciate the developer taking time out of his day to meet with the residents on it. I have no problems with agenda item number one, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk? The Clerk: I call your attention to the Public Services portion of our agenda. Item 4: Is a request for a retail package Beer & Wine License to be used in connection TJ Mart located at 1959 Kissingbower Road. The Clerk: Are there any objectors to those alcohol petitions? Mr. Mayor, members of the Commission, our consent agenda consists of items 1-25 with no objectors to our Planning petitions nor Alcohol petition. 3 Mr. Mayor: Madam Clerk, just a moment. The two items that were in the Administrative Services committee, items 10 and item 11, I’d like to have a little bit of discussion about those in terms of our reauthorization. I don’t know if our Planning Director is the right person. The Clerk: Mr. Welcher. Mr. Mayor: HCD? The Clerk: Yes, Mr. Welcher. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, Mr. Welcher. All right, I have a question and I’ll ask this question before we take it off of the consent agenda and that is we’ve got a motion to reauthorize the ordinance designating both Laney Walker and Rocky Creek which is on the south side as Enterprise Zones. Are there advantages to doing that versus creating a separate TAD? Over the last 15 years there’s been essentially no development in the Rocky Creek Enterprise Zone, save the substation that the Marshal’s office is in at this time. There was much discussion about Louver Diamond development and that really has not come to fruition. We also know that Regency Mall is in this Enterprise Zone. We also know that from Gate 1 into downtown Gordon Highway has really turned into almost a desolate area save the few remaining automobile dealerships that we have. What do we need to be doing to jump start development in that area as opposed to simply reauthorizing it as an Enterprise Zone because we did that about 20 years ago and I don’t think in my limited knowledge that we’ve not done enough to incentivise growth and development and Enterprise Zones certainly doesn’t do that. Can you speak to that? Mr. Welcher: Mr. Mayor, the way I would respond to that I know you touched on the Laney-Walker Enterprise as well as Rocky Creek and the first thing that I will say let me just take Laney-Walker first. I believe that’s the easiest one. If you look at the commitment and/or the activity that has taken place through the Laney-Walker Enterprise Zone of course it was authorized by this Commission back in 2002 for the first time. And you know if you see there of course development has progressed you do see community being spawned there and by that what I mean of course you all made a commitment back in 2008/2009 to revitalize that area. So in that timeframe what you have Laney-Walker wise you have development, community development which has far exceeded the commercial retail. But where we are today, you know, based on various conversations and commitments that we had with outside developers outside of the State of Georgia community development through housing has taken place that has stabilized and now we’re progressing in my opinion to the next phase which is multi-family housing. And from there the next phase after multi-family housing you move into retail and commercial. So those conversations are being had. There is extensive interest from a commercially retail perspective as it relates to the Laney-Walker area so I would say it’s been very advantageous for the area that’s been revitalized that has been targeted for revitalization to be in a position where the Enterprise Zone has actually worked and it’s been advantageous for various development because one of the things that’s very important to remember we can’t always get money. I can’t always come to this Commission when I’m having conversations with various developers to say the only incentive we have is for this Commission to commit funding. There have to be other products that we have at our disposal that enable myself as well as other departments to be able 4 to negotiate or entice various developers to want to come in various areas. So the Laney-Walker area in my opinion is doing what it needs to do. You move from community, you move into community from housing development to multi-family development to retail so there it’s working. Now if you look at an area such as a Rocky Creek, Rocky Creek is different and I will say isolated amongst itself and I say that because if you look at a Laney-Walker, Laney Walker is sort of spawned by downtown is spawned by neighboring historic areas to include Olde Town. We look at a Rocky Creek area which is more commercial as opposed to residential. Over the years if you go back and look at the numbers there’ve really only been 20 applications over the 10 years, 20 applications. To your point of those 20 applications 16 have been of commercial, four have been of a residential area. It may be for many reasons you know there may be a non- notification by various residents that this Enterprise Zone exists but for me what I will tell you my suggestion or recommendation would be to once again keep it in place. As we are progressing and we are selling units in the Laney-Walker area has spawned a lot of development has spawned a lot of activity, has spawned a lot of calls to our office by various developers that not only want to go in Laney-Walker but who actually want to be a part of Augusta-Richmond County as a whole. So once again I would my recommendation would be to approve the reauthorization of the Rocky Creek Enterprise Zone for the mere fact that it’s another tool in our belt that we use as an enticement. Mr. Mayor: My question was whether or not a TAD there would be more appropriate than an Enterprise Zone. That was the question. That was the question and again I’m only asking because we’re about to reauthorize something for another 20 years and there’s been no investment in that area and it’s one of our most critical thoroughfares from Fort Gordon into downtown. Laney-Walker’s a different situation. I mean the reality of it is it’s a different source of funding CDBG money, HOME money so I don’t think we can compare apples to apples in terms of that. Again I’m asking the question, I think it’s appropriate we’re about to reauthorize something. This is not again it’s an important question that if we’re going to have this tool then we need to leverage the tool and it needs to work for us. We created a TAD here in downtown. We’ve already seen the benefit of that investment with Hicks and there are other conversations about other developments that are going to take advantage of that same opportunity from a tax incremental finances standpoint. And so if we’re going to be in the game I want to make sure that we’ve got the right tool. It’s not enough to I mean if I need a Philips head I need a Philips head. If I need a flathead in the words of Commissioner Williams then I’m going to use a flathead. And so right now I’m asking the question about whether we want a flathead or a Philips head. Mr. Welcher: The way that I will respond to that, Mr. Mayor, is it really I would like the opportunity to sort of do a comparison --- Mr. Mayor: Okay. Mr. Welcher: --- you know TAD versus the Enterprise Zone, I think that would be fair. Mr. Mayor: All right. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor? 5 Mr. Mayor: All right so again I wanted to ask the question. I’m not going to try to take it off the consent agenda. If we want to move forward with that then that’s fine but I think we need to do some more discussion along those lines and do some more work with that. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor? th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 5. Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I really appreciate the questions you asked and I’m in complete agreement with you. Rocky Creek is both commercial and resident and as the Mayor indicated we have seen no positive activity at all. We have all types of possibilities out there but we need somebody or some entity to put forth some effort or concentration on that area. What you’re doing downtown is good but we cannot take our eye off the prize out there. I would like to see a continuation of what’s going on downtown and I would like to see the beginning of something that’s going to take place in Rocky Creek. I think that we have the land, we have the rooftops and so forth but as the Mayor indicated that area is pretty desolate. What we’re doing downtown, we’ve taken our eye off of out there. By the time downtown is brought up to code if I can say that well then Rocky Creek is going to look like downtown did before you put forth this effort downtown. Now we should be able to chew bubble gum and walk at the same time, I would think so. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Commissioner, I’ll echo this final comment and I think this is important. We are all on the same page we’re trying to drive to the same place and that is a better Augusta. And so my questions I think the questions and comments of the Commissioner th from the 5 are the same. How do we jumpstart investment and private investment in those areas with the exception of Malcolm Cunningham in the last couple months we’ve had Gerald Jones leave, we’ve had the Chevrolet guy leave. Thank goodness we had another dealer come in from Atlanta, Decatur but we’ve got to do something that’s our major thoroughfare. We’re talking about Cyber Command so we’ve got to do something in that corridor. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner, you’re out gunned on this side I’ve got two hands over here. th The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, truth be taught I really appreciate your question I think it’s a great question as well because you know in my mind we was some of us was thinking about a Tax Allocation District you know beyond the gates of Fort Gordon and things of that nature and expanding that. I think it’s a great question at best I think today because if we go to the Rocky Creek area we may be resetting the clock for another ten years. So I would think at best if you want to continue we want to continue with the Laney-Walker area as an Enterprise Zone and do that but let’s pull this Rocky Creek and look at the, do the comparison as Mr. Welcher says he would like to do before we do that today because the Tax Allocation District may be a better way for us to go on that. I think time is on our side. It won’t expire today if we don’t approve it. It may be a couple of years there but if we take and vote to approve it now we’re going to reset and start that whole clock over because I think there may be some expansion tied to this. And so we would be renewing that clock for another ten years. So let’s 6 pull this and look at the difference and see what would be more beneficial. I think we should do it and I think it’s a great question, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: Well, I appreciate that and I will tell you that I think that again I’m not the smartest guy in the room. Mr. Hasan: You’re not? Mr. Mayor: No, sir, but I will tell you that even with regards to Laney-Walker from an Enterprise Zone standpoint where we’re authorizing something that we’ve not leveraged. I don’t know of a single incidence where we’ve really leveraged it from an Enterprise Zone standpoint because of the other sources of funding that we’ve utilized from an investment standpoint. If th you remember again the hotel/motel tax deal that the Commissioner from the 9 has talked about with regards to the whole convention center situation, that’s primarily where we’ve leveraged those dollars beyond the CDBG money. When we talk about enterprises it’s underserved and underdevelopment areas that allow us to really take advantage. You’ve got job opportunities and job creation opportunities. And if you look at what’s going on over there you know you’ve taken a, you’ve done a yeoman’s job with the housing and I applaud that. And you’re going to continue to do good work in that area but we’ve got to create some jobs too. All right I’m going to go down the list. All right you’re going to make a motion in a minute to send that back to committee. I think that’s what you just said. Mr. Hasan: I have no problem with that, Mr. Mayor. th Mr. Mayor: All right, we’re going to go down to the Commissioner from the 8 first and th then I’m going to go to the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Welcher, would you give us a clarification, what’s the difference between a TAD, Tax Allocated District, versus and Enterprise. Mr. Welcher: Well, an actual Enterprise Zone is actually smaller in nature. An Enterprise Zone for the most part has to do with the removal of blight in various areas. So when you create an Enterprise Zone you’re trying to actually remove blight and entice activity through home ownership, rental housing or the density of housing as well as through commercial so you’re trying to entice and remove blight. When you talk about Tax Allocation District the main focus of a Tax Allocation District has to do with enticement of businesses and it’s sort of like entertainment type districts. Mr. Guilfoyle: It was my understanding two years ago Highway 56 from Brown Road all the way to McBean and we set that side as an Enterprise Zone which is actually deferred property tax to entice new businesses to come in from the blighted buildings that havoced along both sides of that highway. But the problem is that I see with either through TAD or through the Enterprise is that’s the best kept secret. We do not have any kind of marketing tool to entice to attract where people could see it on line or actually put it in front of their computer screen developers whatever do a mass marketing to entice people to come in. And any time that you can buy a piece of property and get your property taxes to defer for five years that’s strong. But 7 it is the best kept secret that we have and to me we need to do a better job at marketing especially in the south Richmond County. Mr. Welcher: I will definitely agree with you. I mean as I stated before you know it’s not our intent when we’re talking to developers whether it’s a commercial aspect or from a residential perspective it’s not our intent to always say that we can commit funding but have other tools at our disposal to help aid in the conversation. Mr. Guilfoyle: Is either one of these agenda items 10 or 11 time sensitive, sir? Mr. Welcher: Number 10 the Laney-Walker is time sensitive, number 11 Rocky Creek is not. Mr. Guilfoyle: Okay, there’s already a motion on the floor, Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor: No, there’s not a motion at this time. What I mean I think we have an th opportunity for a motion based on what the Commissioner from the 6 has indicated. You know the challenge once again is I think these are extremely important measures. We talk about having the right tools in our toolbox and when you look at the difference between an Enterprise Zone and a TAD you know the Enterprise Zone provides us with an opportunity to abate the property taxes over a five year period of time. The TAD is different in that you gradually see the taxes, the owners pay normal property taxes but in doing that the increase the incremental increase in property taxes is deposited into an account which is what we did with Hicks which is why they came back to this body earlier this year to recoup that, that was the positive in there. So those are two substantially different tools in terms of how we use them. From an Enterprise Zone standpoint again it’s you’ve got that period of five years where you abate property taxes and that’s different, that’s a game changer. With regards to Rocky Creek you’ve not seen any benefits in there whatsoever. All right, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to let ya’ll decide whether we send it back to committee and have more conversation, I’m going to recognize you, Commissioner. This is not to stop progress but to make sure that as we progress we’ve got the right tools so we can do the right things. All right, the Chair recognizes the th Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. I can concur with what’s being said. The concern that I want to share is we had TAD’s when we did I believe is was the Ramada Inn hotel on Broad Street or whichever one that was recently built, that was that’s a TAD district. Mr. Mayor: That’s the Hicks property. Mr. Sias: Say again? Mr. Mayor: That’s the Hicks property I’m referring to. Mr. Sias: Okay, but it concerns me when we get to the consent agenda to do this. There was opportunity to discuss this within the Administrative Services and other times. All of our directors are grown folks but it’s just my concern when we bring these things out like this. 8 Whether they’re prepared or not I don’t know in that regard for those kinds of things but for me it just seems there was kind of a better way to do it because as you said it’s extremely important. So in that regard it would’ve been in my view a lot more favorable and a lot wiser not to wait until we got to the consent agenda to have those concerns or air those thoughts. So I would just like for us to also look at the process of how we get to these things as well. Thank you. st Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Welcher --- Mr. Welcher: Yes, sir. Mr. Fennoy: --- you said item 10 is time sensitive? Mr. Welcher: Yes, sir. Mr. Fennoy: Okay and what kind of time are we looking at? Mr. Welcher: Based on perspective projects and/or a project that is currently on the table, based on conversations that we’ve had with said developer it’s very imperative that this boundary, because what we have here is the reauthorization of the Laney-Walker Enterprise Zone to expand the boundaries. And the boundaries include this multi-family development that I’m speaking of. And it has a grave, if you go back and look at the pro forma you know based on how the pro forma was actually prepared not the budget but the pro forma and based on the total debt covers ratio and based on the revenues you’ll see that we have included in the pro forma in the revenues we’ve included the abatement of taxes to include this development being a part of an Enterprise Zone. Mr. Fennoy: If, may I continue? Mr. Mayor: Absolutely you may. Mr. Fennoy: If this is brought back to the Commission for the first meeting in December would that be would enough I mean would that be enough time to get this taken care of? Mr. Welcher: Yes, sir, it would I mean the thing is the project is not necessarily time sensitive so to speak. It’s not like an application that has to be submitted to the Department of Community Affairs or to any other state of federal agency. It just sort of delays the project until you all, your pleasure is known. And of course if it is and it’s favorable based on how the debt covers ratio and/or the profit and loss pro forma reads and if it’s not then we may potentially have to go back to the drawing board with this project. Mr. Fennoy: Okay. So, Mr. Mayor, if nobody has made --- Mr. Hasan: Let me make a comment first. 9 Mr. Mayor: Do you want to make a motion? Mr. Hasan: Yeah, I’ll make a motion but I want to make a comment and I’ll make a motion if you don’t mind. Mr. Mayor: Okay so let me talk about where we’re at now, Commissioner. All right so right now I think, Madam Clerk, we’ve gone through our list of things for the consent agenda is that correct? The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor: Okay so we are about to entertain motions to add to the consent agenda or remove that’s where we are. Okay in light of that we’ve got these two items that we’re going to take a different approach with. So what we probably should do is maybe go ahead and pull them from the consent agenda and then take action separately on them. Mr. Hasan: No, if you can do it just from, this is not the motion. What we could do is if you’re going to pull eleven you can say approve the consent agenda and pull number eleven and send it back to committee, that was my conversation. But that was not the motion that was what I was suggesting. Can I make my comment now? Mr. Mayor: All right. Mr. Hasan: Furthermore to your point, Mr. Mayor, even to the Laney-Walker there was a conversation several years ago about the Laney-Walker area being becoming a TAD as well. And what happened at that point in time was the previous director expanded the boundary so large in terms of what he was attempting to do that he was challenged by that so he kind of pulled it back in and I think we ended up with remaining an Enterprise Zone or something he was going make it a TAD. So I mean there’s some validity to what you’re saying the benefit of a TAD versus and Enterprise Zone, I’m just not sure it’s appropriate. I think if I’m not mistaken because I’ve looked at this as well I think around January or February of next year is when this expires am I not correct, right in January is when it expires. So I’ve been looking at it too. And so to the point so here’s the motion with that in mind to go ahead and approve the consent agenda and pull number eleven and send it back to committee. Mr. Mayor: Okay. Mr. Speaker: Okay, but we haven’t finished (inaudible). Mr. Mayor: Right, we’re going to all right so all right let’s hold on that for just a moment. Your motion should be remove your motion is, okay, Madam Clerk, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to pull item 11 from the consent agenda okay? The Clerk: Okay. Mr. Mayor: All right, what about number ten? 10 Mr. Sias: Pull ten. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8. Mr. Guilfoyle: Mr. Mayor --- Mr. Hasan: I second that. Mr. M. Williams: We’re just pulling right now. Mr. Mayor: Yeah, we’re just pulling right now, Commissioner. Mr. Hasan: Okay, all right. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8. Mr. Guilfoyle: When we got to do any additions to this consent agenda I’d like to add item number 26. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, I’ve got a question about item 22. If I can get an answer I may not need to pull it. Mr. Mayor: Okay, I think that’s certainly appropriate. All right, all right. All right, th Madam Clerk, the Commissioner from the 9 has a question about item 22. The Clerk: Okay. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, my question is that have we obtained that property already, has that been done? Mr. Mayor: Well, all right, the Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie. Mr. MacKenzie: Sure it’s my understanding the closing hasn’t actually taken place yet but it’s been approved by the Commission, everything is lined up for the closing to take place. Mr. M. Williams: Then my next question is then should we be approving this before it’s closed? I mean should that be should that be done? Mr. Mayor: Well, you know that’s a very good question and that’s for ya’ll to decide. Mr. M. Williams: That’s for the Attorney to respond, Mr. Mayor. I mean I can decide. I just need to know from the legal standpoint. 11 Mr. MacKenzie: There’s nothing that prohibits you from extending these funds. In many instances a lot of money is spent even before property’s acquired to ascertain whether or not its design and purpose will fit the needs of the government. So there’s no prohibition against spending the money. Mr. M. Williams: That doesn’t answer my question, Mr. Mayor. I heard that and that’s an excuse and I hear them all the time. I just got done talking about accountability now if we’re going to hold accountable, let’s hold accountable. I mean there’s some things been some past practice’s it may not have been the best practice but it’s been passed. So I guess and I remember the conversation, I remember the approval and everything else but it hadn’t took place as of that point. I’m asking now had it took place if it took place we can go forward. We do things and then we end up in the box and wonder how did we get there. Mr. Mayor: All right, what do you recommend we do? Mr. M. Williams: I’m going to make a motion to pull it and we can --- The Clerk: Item 22? Mr. M. Williams: --- yes, pull item 22. th Mr. Mayor: Okay all right so the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. Just an analysis on that item 22 it did state in the analysis that there was a probability that we, the probable acquisition of this property. So it did not indicate that it had already been purchased that it was in expectation of being purchased as we make our decision. So from the Utilities Department I don’t see where there was any intent for anything unscrupulous there. It did state that it will probably be purchased. Thank you. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor --- Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir. Mr. M. Williams: --- I hope I didn’t imply that anything Tom was being done unscrupulous as my fellow colleague just said but doing what is right is something that brings me to another question. We’re doing a change order now on a utility facility where we’re adding something else to that building over there at the old library and this is a renovation design. Are we going to add anything else to this building that should be already added before we do this bid I guess because it goes back to the same question we hadn’t finished, we ain’t closed on it yet and it’s a renovation design. If we decide to do something if we have to come back and add with another change order to do that or have we sit down and made sure that everything going in there is in this bid for $122,000. 12 Mr. Wiedmeier: Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission, this item for the AT&T Building is for architectural services. This is for the design services. We don’t anticipate any costs above this for design. Now there will be construction following this. Also to your point about if the closing for some reason does not happen we would not authorize any work to proceed and we wouldn’t pay the architect any money unless he actually does work. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Tom, you might need to be my lawyer, I might need to hire you. Mr. Mayor: Okay. Mr. Fennoy: Down here, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: All right, I’m coming I just wanted to make sure we’re finished on this end. st All right, Tom, stay here. All right the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Wiedmeier, do you have an anticipated closing date is there an anticipated closing date for this property? Mr. Wiedemeir: It’s supposed to close tomorrow I believe. Mr. Fennoy: Okay, all right that’s all I wanted to know. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 5. Mr. Lockett: Thank you, sir. Mr. Wiedmeier, I asked this question before about the old library and I’m going to ask the same question about the AT&T Building. Are you all going to pursue utilizing solar power in those buildings on those buildings? Mr. Wiedmeier: I’m not sure. I’m not the solar expert but the roof I don’t know is well suited for solar it’s not a flat roof it’s a shingled roof. I don’t know that it would be economical to put solar panels on a roof like that but we will I’ll talk to Mark Johnson about it, he’s a --- Mr. Lockett: Yeah, Mark Johnson and myself and Mitch from Planning and Development we were in a five hour class last Friday on that and I’m quite sure that you can use the panels on that on almost any kind of structure and you can save money. Of course Utilities gots lots of money but you can still save money. Mr. Wiedmeier: That’s what I keep hearing. Mr. Guilfoyle: Motion to approve the consent agenda. Mr. Lockett: Second. CONSENT AGENDA PLANNING 13 1. Z-15-45 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Georgia Planning Commission to approve a petition, with the conditions stated below, by 4 Site Investment, LLC requesting a change of zoning from Zone R-1 (One-Family Residential) and Zone R-3C (Multiple- family Residential) to Zone R-1D (One-family Residential) affecting property containing approximately 41 acres and is known as 1495 Goshen Road and 4401 through 4422 Castellon Way. Tax Maps 199-0-008-00-0 and 199-1-033-00-0 through 199-1-054-00. (A full list of tax map numbers is available for review during regular business hours at the Planning and Development Dept). DISTRICT 8 1. The private driveway must comply with the specified requirements of the Augusta’s Street and Road Technical Manual as it relates to subgrade, base and paving, as well as roadway width. 2. Structures must comply with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulations and the Augusta Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. 3. The development must be consistent with the concept plan submitted on 9/30/15. 4. Petitioner agrees to provide a minimum of 55 off-street parking spaces to support clubhouse building and guest parking within the subdivision. 5. Provide a sidewalk or walking path that connects Valencia Lane to the future development phases that is consistent with the concept plan submitted on 9/30/15. 6. Proposed building elevations and materials must be approved by the Planning and Development Department Director or designee. 7. Site plan must comply with any other ordinances and regulations in effect at the time of construction. 2. Z-15-46-SP – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Georgia Planning Commission to approve a petition, with the conditions stated below, petition by Gloria J. Williams, on behalf of Frances Perrin, requesting a Special Exception to establish a Family Personal Care Home, per Section 26-1 (h) of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for Augusta-Richmond County affecting property containing .17 acres and known as 1245 Augusta Avenue. Tax Map 046-3-246-00-0 DISTRICT 1 1. A private room shall be dedicated to the caretaker in a heated area of the residence. This shall not include areas of the living room, dining room, bathroom or kitchen. 2. Designate at least one (1) off-street parking space in the rear yard to meet ordinance requirements. 3. Make the interior and exterior repairs to the structure, and remove the overgrown vegetation, as noted in the recent code enforcement inspections report. 4. Conduct a follow-up code enforcement inspection to ensure all of the repairs have been made and that the yard is properly cleaned. 5. If approved, Planning staff will review the most recent area crime report to determine whether the use should continue to operate following one (1) year of the effective date of approval. 3. Z-15-48 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Georgia Planning Commission to approve a petition, with the conditions stated below, petition by Payton Road Properties LLC requesting a change of zoning from Zone A (Agriculture) and Zone B-2 (General Business) to Zone LI (Light Industry) affecting property containing approximately 1.24 acres and is known as 3124 and 3126 Mike Padgett Highway. (Tax Map 123-0-001-00-0 & 123-0-011-00-0) DISTRICT 1 1. Access will be provided via the shared private road located on the adjacent lot to the north and one of the driveway approaches on Mike Padgett Highway to improve traffic circulation. Driveway location to be approved by the Traffic Engineering Department during site plan review. The second driveway on Mike Padgett Highway must be removed. 2. Ensure that the proper ROW/easements are secured for the private road to allow for access in the event the subject property is sold to another landowner. 3. Ensure that the property complies with all aspects of the Tree Ordinance and 14 applicable landscaping standards. 4. Site plan must comply with any other ordinances and regulations in effect at the time of development. PUBLIC SERVICES 4. Motion to approve New Ownership Application: A.N. 15-57: a request by Archana Patel for a retail package Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with TJ Mart located at 1959 Kissingbower Rd. District 2. Super District 9. (Approved by Public Services Committee November 10, 2015) 5. Motion to approve a request by the Planning & Development Department to renew all the existing Alcohol Beverage Licenses in the City of Augusta. This will include all Adult Entertainment Establishments. There will be Sunday Sales. There will be Dance. Districts 1 thru 8. Super Districts 9 and 10. (Approved by Public Services Committee November 10, 2015) 6. Motion to approve a request by Jonathan Belcher for a Dance Hall License to be used in connection with Iron Heights located at 631 Ellis Street. There will be Dance. District 1. Super District 9. (Approved by Public Services Committee November 10, 2015) 7. Motion to task the Administrator and Recreation Director to meet MACH Academy, Inc. and discuss their proposal for the managing and operations of the Newman Tennis Center. (Approved by Public Services Committee November 10, 2015) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 8. Motion to amend the Laney Walker/Bethlehem Urban Redevelopment Plan (that designates Laney-Walker/Bethlehem as an Urban Redevelopment Area (URA) to include the development efforts of community partner-Walton Communities in the old Cherry Tree Crossing area. Originally approved by Commission March 16, 2010. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee November 10, 2015) 9. Motion to renew self-funded Health and Welfare plans with BCBS Georgia, EyeMed and Delta Dental. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee November 10, 2015) 12. Motion to approve renewal of Consulting Agreement with USI Insurance Services (formerly known as Wells Fargo Insurance Services) to continue to provide strategic benefit planning, design, funding, administration, and communications services with respect to Augusta’s employee benefit program. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee November 10, 2015) PUBLIC SAFETY 13. Motion to accept an award by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in the amount of $160,000.00 from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to sustain or acquire equipment for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Unit. (Approved by Public Safety Committee November 10, 2015) 14. Motion to accept an award in the amount of $6,000.00 from the Department of Homeland Security for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Bomb K-9 Unite. The monies will assist RCSO in sustaining the Bomb-K-9. (Approved by Public Safety Committee November 10, 2015) 15. Motion to approve Grant-based Service Agreement for a part-time Accountability Court Case Manager. (Approved by Public Safety Committee November 10, 2015) 15 16. Motion to approve contract with Augusta, GA and Fort Gordon to process and impound stray animals delivered by Fort Gordon. (Approved by Public Safety Committee November 10, 2015) FINANCE 17. Motion to approve an increase in the 2015 budget for Daniel Field Airport in the amount of $50,980. (Approved by Finance Committee November 10, 2015) ENGINEERING SERVICES 18. Motion to approve award of contract to Blair Construction, Inc. for construction of the Fort Gordon New Water and Sewage Connections under the Task Order Program for Infrastructure RFO #13-194 in the amount of $832,556.07. Bid item #15-205. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee November 10, 2015) 19. Motion to approve RFQ #15-207: Landscaping Services for Construction Projects for the City of Augusta – Utilities Department in the amount of $300,000 for execution by Augusta Lawn & Turf Inc., Piedmont Landscape, and Jacobs Land Management, LLC as qualified and selected contractors. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee November 10, 2015) 20. Motion to approve Construction Change Order in the amount of $803,817.00 for Phase 1B of the AUD Library Renovation by RW Allen, LLC. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee November 10, 2015) 21. Motion to approve the procurement of historian hardware and software for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee November 10, 2015) PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 23. Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Commission held on rd November 3 and Special Called Meetings held November 10, 2015) APPOINTMENTS 24. Motion to approve reappointment of Ben Harrison to the Canal Authority representing District 10. 25. Motion to approve the appointment of Kim T. Sharpten to the Riverfront Development Board representing District 2. PUBLIC SERVICES 26. Motion to approve New Ownership Application: A.N. 15-58: request by Jennifer Renee Moxley for an on premise consumption Liquor & Beer License to be used in connection with Barcelona located at 2533 Peach Orchard Rd. District 2. Super District 9. (No recommendation from Public Services Committee November 10, 2015) Mr. Mayor: All right, voting. Mr. M. Williams: Madam Clerk, did we add 26? Mr. Mayor: You wanted to add it to the consent agenda? 16 The Clerk: No, number 22 was pulled. Mr. M. Williams: Okay but 26 was added, right? The Clerk: Yeah, 22 is being pulled. Mr. M. Williams: Okay, it’s in the wrong place. The Clerk: Place, yes, sir and 26 is added to the consent agenda. Let me ask Mr. Sherman if the petitioners, they’re here, okay. Mr. Mayor: Okay. Motion Passes 10-0. [Items 1-9, 12-21, 23-25, 26] Mr. Mayor: Okay so, Madam Clerk, for clarification on item 22 that was pulled from the consent agenda is that not true? The Clerk: Right. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, it just showed up on the screen as added. The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you. ENGINEERING SERVICES 22. Motion to approve Professional Services Proposal from Christopher Booker and Associates, PC for the Renovation Design of 452 Walker Street, the former AT&T Building, in the amount of $122,000. (Approved by Engineering Services Committee November 10, 2015) Mr. M. Williams : I did, I’m fairly clear, Mr. Mayor, I’m going to make a motion. Tom explained in detail some things that it wouldn’t be anything going forth if the architect hadn’t I’m making a motion to go ahead and approve. done his work. Potentially closing tomorrow. Mr. Lockett: Second. Mr. Mayor: All right, I’ve got a motion and a second to approve item 22 a proposal for professional services. Voting. Motion Passes 10-0. The Clerk: Are you going 10 and 11 now separately or are we going (inaudible). 17 Mr. Mayor: I think we can take both of them together --- The Clerk: Companion items? Mr. Mayor: --- yes, as companion items. The Clerk: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 10. Motion to reauthorize the ordinance designating the Laney-Walker Enterprise Zone. Originally approved by Commission May 21, 2002. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee November 10, 2015) 11. Motion to reauthorize the ordinance designating the Rocky Creek Enterprise Zone. Originally approved by Commission May 21, 2002. (Approved by Administrative Services Committee November 10, 2015) Mr. Sias: Move to send back to committee. Mr. Fennoy: Second. Mr. Mayor: All right, we’ve got a motion and a second to refer back to committee. All right, very good, state your inquiry, Commissioner. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, sir. Now the Engineering Director just told us that and I agree they’re separate entities 10 is different from 11. I’ve got no problem with sending 11 back because I think we can do something with that. But I think 10 is relatively important to go ahead and approve 10. When you’re talking about the residential type situation versus what we’re talking about with Rocky Creek with a TAD with the business aspect of it. Now he said it was time now he’s done sit down but I’m sure he’ll walk back up here if we want him to, to tell us again that it is time sensitive and it has a different bearing than the Rocky Creek. So I agree with what we said about the TAD situation as far as Rocky Creek but are we going to hold that whole entity up from what’s already been done? Now what the little I know I learned from Grady Smith about business about --- Mr. Hasan: Heating and air. Mr. M. Williams: --- business period, Grady’s a business man. He don’t just know heating and air don’t ya’ll fool yourselves but the little I know about business. You don’t just place a business in an area because that’s a good spot there’s got to be a need for that business there’s got to be convenience. There’s a lot of things go in there when you’re talking about placing a business in a location. Just because there’s a spot you just don’t put a Waffle House out there and think people are going to stop in there. I mean they study that, they look at what the need is and will it be able to fit there. So I’m with Mr. Wheeler. I think that we ought to approve number 10 and send 11 back. If I need to make a substitute motion I make a substitute motion we approve 10 and send 11 back to committee so we can discuss the TAD issue and see what the pros and cons are. 18 st Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1 Commissioner Fennoy. Mr. Fennoy: Yes. Mr. Mayor, when asked about item number 10 I think Mr. Welcher said that we can talk about I mean go back on the agenda for the first commission meeting in December and that wouldn’t affect the time sensitivity of this issue. Mr. Mayor: I believe the gentleman knows of what he speaks. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, if I can comment. thth Mr. Mayor: All right, I’m going down to the 5 Commissioner recognized from the 5. Mr. Lockett: Mr. Mayor, the Commissioner from District 1 asked the question I made the comment that I wanted to make. Thank you. Mr. Mayor: All right. Mr. Sias: Call for the question. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: State your inquiry. Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Welcher might need to come back I mean if it goes back to committee and comes back the same way I don’t think I’ll have a problem with that. But if it goes back to committee and changes and it doesn’t do that I think there is a problem and sending back to the first committee in December wouldn’t probably have a bearing. But if you’re going to do that and come back with the same thing why don’t you approve it today unless you’re going to change in there. If you change it then that’s going to make it that’s going to shine a different light on and Mr. Welcher can speak for himself but that’s the impression I got. Now if it’s going to come back the same way it is now, why are we going to send it back to committee and then come back and vote the same way? If you’re going to change it that’s going to make it a difference is that not right, Mr. Welcher? Mr. Mayor: All right, so hold on just a minute. So again we’ve heard it from the stth Commissioner from the 1 and the 5 in fact before we even got to that point the Commissioner th from the 6 asked what’s the expiration date on the existing Enterprise Zone and we’re thinking we don’t have an exact date at this point but I’m sure we can get that quickly, I would hope so. Said that’s somewhere between the end of January/February timeframe. So our suspense date we have time to think about what we want to do. I share your concern, Commissioner, if we’re just going to come back with the same Philips screwdriver then let’s just go ahead and use it now. But I think further discussion which is what we’ve asked for is appropriate and to have that 19 discussion about whether we can create a TAD and what we want to include in that if that’s the best tool. I think that’s appropriate and we’ve got time to do that based on what we’ve heard from the Director he did indicate that. Mr. Sias: Call for the question, sir. Mr. Mayor: We’ve got a motion to refer both of these back to committee and a second. Voting. Mr. M. Williams votes No. Motion Passes 9-1. Mr. M. Williams: Point of personal privilege, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor: State your inquiry. Mr. M. Williams: When the question is being called for, Mr. Mayor, you might need to help me out because my lawyer won’t say nothing but when a question is being called it doesn’t mean we take a vote on the issue. The question being called means we take a vote to see if there’s any more discussion that needs to be made then we turn around and vote on the issue. But I’ve been hearing people hollering about call for the question then we go ahead and vote. So if we’re going to do the rules let’s do the rules now let’s do the rules. We done started some stuff differently and I hope we can get back on track but I don’t want people to think that was the right way to do it. Ms. Bonner, can you help me out? Am I right or wrong because I’ve been wrong two times. I don’t want to make it three. Ms. Bonner: Yes, sir, our rules state that if there’s unreadiness and there’s a call for the question then you --- Mr. M. Williams: That’s what that calls for you don’t call for no vote on the agenda item. That means that we vote to see if there’s enough to want to continue the conversation. Then after that we take a vote on the motion. So when my colleague hollered out call for the question as if we done something. Mr. Mayor: Well, I appreciate that, Commissioner. A vote took place because we had a proper motion and a second, that’s the only reason I moved forward with it. His request for call for the question didn’t persuade me or dissuade me in any way. I had a proper motion and a second even before he said that and we moved forward. All right, Madam Clerk. The Clerk: Mr. Mayor, I think that takes us to our regular agenda. The Clerk: PUBLIC SERVICES 20 27. Update from Staff and Consultant Team regarding the Comprehensive Augusta Recreation and Parks Master Plan. Mr. Parker: Thank you Mr. Mayor, members of the Commission. While I haven’t had the opportunity to work very much on the Master Plan since I started here last week I was excited to see that some of the consultants I have worked with them previously. And I know some of them personally and I will tell you the work I’ve seen up to this point is very good and I think you’re going to be pleased with what you see in the results when they come out. And working with the consultants has been one thing the most exciting thing that I’ve seen so far in this if we’ve gotten exceptional response back from the community and especially the staff, the staff is really been engaged in this process. We had a meeting yesterday where we looked at sort of rebranding our mission and vision going forward. What I’m seeing from the staff is they’re very eager for improvement and/or change. And I think what you’ll see from this Master Plan is not only a blueprint for maybe future SPLOST projects but I think you’re going to see some innovative programming ideas from special events and some giving us some ability to generate some potential revenue in the future in some of the ideas that have come out of this plan. So with that I’d like to ask Tom Robertson, Tom is the president of Cranston Engineering, to come up and walk us through this process. Mr. Robertson: Thank you, Glenn, I appreciate it appreciate the opportunity of given you all an update on the Master Plan. Last time we talked to you all we gave you the results of a statistically valid survey and I’d like to place that just in the context of how the planning process will be and I’ll try to be brief about it. Essentially the planning process began with public input and I’ll summarize that and we ended with a visioning session that Mr. Parker talked about that we had yesterday afternoon with the staff and also a public meeting attended by the public last night. The public input really was, took the form of focus groups, public meetings, leadership interviews that many of you all one on one interviews. We have a project website which is still available for the public to see the plan unfold as it goes forward and it gives the public an opportunity to register comments online and submit them to the department and to the planning team. There was an online survey also that was using Survey Monkey methodology. It’s now closed and I’d like to just give you a summary of some key results that came out of this remembering that these are subjective things because what comments are based on is who attended the public meetings and who filled out the survey online. But if you divide those up into facilities and programs and operations and other subjects we find that folks want more green space, a lot more walking, hiking and biking trails. A comment we heard several times is Augusta’s the Garden City but where are the gardens and the parks? Enhancement of Riverwalk, the boathouse, Diamond Lakes all were high priority items with folks. There is also the idea of consolidating some parks and maybe closing down some to save funds and some folks said that regional parks were a good idea to add on. In Programs and Operations we kept hearing the word partner, partner with community organizations, partner for generating new funding and so forth, integrating education into the sports programs, dealing with safety both the perception of safety and actual safety. And another thing that we heard a lot of was maintenance that we don’t maintain the things that we have very well and then Mr. Parker indicated some ideas about new branding and marketing for fund raising. We took those subjective things and used them to help frame the questions that were in the statistically valid survey that we reported to you in some detail before remembering that we got about 600 responses that are balanced by age and gender, 21 ethnicity and so forth so that they represent the community and would be predicted to be 95% accurate with a margin of error plus or minus 4%. And here are just a few highlights of the things that we found out. What do people think about the physical condition of our facilities and about 10% of those said they were excellent which is not really a very good score because nationally cities are usually around 30%, 31% people think that the facilities are excellent. 65% said that they thought the facilities were either excellent or good but if you look at it from the other direction 88% said that they were fair or good leaving out there so there’s some room for improvement there. If you take a look at what the three most important facilities in the whole city are to the residents Augusta Riverwalk and Augusta Commons were the number one things by a long way followed by Lake Olmstead area, Julian Smith Park and Diamond Lakes. If you take a look at how satisfied the resident households are for the services received from the city we find that very satisfied is 12% which is not as good as it needs to be. The national benchmark is around 27% of folks feel that they’re very satisfied with what they’re getting. On the other side of the thing 23% of households who would be interested in giving more money to the department say they would pay a property tax increase to increase that level of service. If you take then the vision of what folks think about for the future and this is sort of a complicated chart but if you take really the top three items which are the biggest of those, these are facilities now walking, hiking and biking trails were far and away the most desirable types of facilities followed by small neighborhood parks and large community parks. We find that to be a little bit of a variance between what we heard from the people that came to the meetings who say that we ought to be closing down parks but if you look at it statistically valid people want more of the small neighborhood parks and community parks. And so our team is going to be working on sorting that out as we go along in the plan. Looking also at the vision of what programs might be desired the top three in those are adult fitness and wellness programs, senior adult programs and water fitness programs. The adult programs will represent our community pretty well because in the next ten years we believe that the community will be about the greatest proportion will be over 55 years old so that’s not really surprising to find that out. The water fitness program is also a public safety type of a thing. People should know how to swim so that if they fall off a dock or a fishing dock they’ll not drown and live on. Taking a look then at what people would be willing to support with their pocketbook the question was asked if you had a $100.00 dollars what would you spend that $100.00 dollars on in the Parks and Recreation system and if you take really the top three of that pie chart right there they would total almost 60% of the money would be to spend it on existing parks and improve them, maintain what you have, do walking and biking trails and spend money on Augusta Riverwalk and downtown. If you take a look at how much people would be willing to spend and this might be in taxes or it might be in fees but 70% of the people would be willing to pay more money for better quality of service and better parks and only 30% would say that they would want to spend nothing. So then by the different categories of how much folks would be willing to pay, what are the things that are the most important to those people, there’s sort of a common denominator if you look at this little chart the top one in every one of them is walking, hiking and biking trails followed by small neighborhood parks and then some said fishing areas and indoor fitness and exercise facilities, pretty much throughout the whole list. Our team also did an inventory of the physical plat. We visited every park with the staff and documented the conditions at each one, rated those assets and the parks overall good, fair or poor and documented some other observations or general recommendations on each one of them and most of them were either good or fair. There were some poor but there’s obviously some room for improvement there. And a few system wide 22 recommendations that came out of that. One is an accessibility audit and some other things about identity and signage but the bottom line seems to be sort of focus on what you have and make it better and then undertake some new things after that, after you make things better. If you roll all that up together and sort of prioritize things that are based on different weightings you can take the facilities and top five of those facilities in the priority ranking would be walking, hiking, biking trails, small neighborhood parks, indoor running and walking tracks, indoor swimming pools, outdoor swimming pools and water facilities. You take programs, the top five of those adult fitness and wellness programs, senior adult programs, that’s no surprise there, water fitness programs and then up jumped fishing programs. We really don’t have really good places to fish so that’s an issue we need to be dealing with and then special events which are good because those probably will produce income. You all undertook of course the SPLOST list earlier this year and unfortunately didn’t have the input of all of the information I’m telling you about now but it turns out that many of the things that were improved in there which are these bolded items that really are right in line with what the surveys are coming up to show are needed by the community. And so I believe that the success of the passage of the SPLOST sort of validates the survey that we brought to you before by a large margin of the passage. We spend yesterday as was mentioned going an all day exercise pretty much with the staff to do mission and vision and key goals and identify what they thought would be the big moves that might come out of the plan and our job as a planning team is to take those things and mold them together and make the plan. But the plan will be on these four categories, land and facilities and the subject matter of programs, marketing and communication and financial and operation observations when that comes out. So what’s the next, that’s sort of where we are with the plan and the next steps to develop the master plan content based on what we have there and then to come back to the staff of the department with a draft master plan middle of next month for their review. And we’ll be doing some changes in that probably after the first of the year and bring them a final master plan to the city in February of 2016. Thank you for your attention. I’ll be glad to answer any questions that you have. Mr. Mayor: All right fantastic, Tom, thank you. Mr. Robertson: Okay, thanks. Mr. Mayor: I appreciate it thank you so much. Mr. Guilfoyle: Motion to receive as information. Mr. Lockett: Second. st Mr. Mayor: Commissioner from the 1 is that? Mr. Fennoy: Yes, I would like to thank the Ron had played a big part in putting this together and I would like to thank him and the staff for the excellent job they did in putting this presentation together. 23 Mr. Mayor: Yes, fantastic I echo those same sentiments. Ron, thank you for your work on that and the staff and we also we’re happy to have with us our new Recreation and Parks Director Gary, Greg --- The Clerk: Glenn. Mr. Mayor: --- Glenn, tell me your last name again, sir. Mr. Parker: Parker. Mr. Mayor: Parker all right, Mr. Parker, all right, can you step forward so folks know who you are? I think it’s important. All right (APPLAUSE). All right fantastic all right, Madam Clerk. The Clerk: Are you voting to receive as information? Mr. Mayor: To receive as information. Motion Passes 10-0. The Clerk: APPOINTMENTS 28. Motion to approve the appointment of Mr. Frank Middleton to Board of Tax Assessors to fill the seat held by Bernard Johnson. (Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams) Mr. M. Williams: So moved. Ms. Davis: Second. Mr. Mayor: We’ve got a motion and a second. Voting. Ms. Davis, Mr. Hasan, Mr. M. Williams, Mr. G. Smith vote Yes. Mr. Fennoy, Mr. D. Williams, Mr. Sias, Mr. Lockett, Mr. Frantom, Mr. Guilfoyle vote No. Motion Fails 4-6. The Clerk: ADMINISTRATOR 29. Motion to approve proposed FY 2016 budget for Augusta Georgia. Mr. Mayor: I think that based on our meeting last week I thought this would’ve been removed from the agenda but it wasn’t. All right, the Chair recognizes Administrator Jackson. 24 Ms. Jackson: Yes. I understand that in accordance with the local code this is the day that it is to be approved and so because of that it was added to the agenda. We certainly understood that there would be further discussion. Mr. Mayor: I’ll entertain a motion to table and you know state law says we need a st balanced budget by December the 31 2015. Mr. Sias: Move to table. Mr. Lockett: Second. Mr. M. Williams: I make a substitute motion to approve. Mr. Mayor: I’ve got a motion and a second. I hadn’t recognized you yet for the st substitute. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1. Mr. Fennoy: We’re still having a meeting Thursday? Mr. Mayor: Yes. Mr. Fennoy: And after the meeting Thursday can there be a Special Called meeting to address the budget issue or do we have to --- Mr. Mayor: No. Mr. Fennoy: --- wait until the --- Mr. Mayor: I wasn’t an elected official in this local body last year but the last time I th checked I think ya’ll approved the budget December the 4 of 2014 if I remember correctly, one st day before my birthday and statutorily again December the 31 I think your local ordinance says that today is the day that we would typically move forward and ratify a budget, that’s what local ordinance says. Mr. Fennoy: So that’s a no. th Mr. Mayor: I’m just saying. Now I know the Commissioner from the 4 is packing up but we’ve got some more business to do, we’ve got the business of the people to do. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor: All right, just a minute, just a minute. All right so we’ve got a motion and a second to table and we’re prepared to vote. We’ve got a public notice that’s been sent out that there’s going to be another workshop on tomorrow. Mr. Hasan: Thursday. 25 The Clerk: Thursday. Mr. Mayor: Okay Thursday the days are running together I’m sorry your birthday. Mr. Hasan: No, your birthday. Mr. Mayor: One December we’ll be voting on this before December. Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, I’ve got a comment if you don’t mind. th Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6. Mr. Hasan: Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor, you’re exactly correct and you keep making mention of st the 31 of the year the budget to be balanced. That does not suggest that we cannot vote on this Thursday does it if we chose to or next Tuesday does it. Mr. Mayor: Next Tuesday’s fine with me --- Mr. Hasan: Okay, okay I just wanted to (unintelligible). Mr. Mayor: --- I don’t think I’m, I don’t think I’m standing in the door of progress. Mr. Hasan: What about Thursday if we choose to --- Mr. Mayor: We didn’t get to that point. Mr. Hasan: --- if we want to do a special meeting I think that was his question I think that was the question as well. Mr. Mayor: I don’t think we’re at that point yet. All right, the Chair recognizes the Attorney. Mr. MacKenzie: I think the meeting for Thursday is only been noted as a work session. If you want to have a Special Called Meeting you’d need to send a new notice out to that effect. Mr. Hasan: So we have time to do that if we chose to do that, is that right? Mr. MacKenzie: You have time. Mr. Hasan: Okay. Mr. Sias: Mr. Mayor, we’ve got a motion. I don’t know about me packing up but I only have to go the Academy of Richmond not London okay. Mr. Mayor: Make sure you let the media know before you go. All right, we’ve got a motion and a second to table. 26 Mr. Fennoy: I have a question. Mr. Mayor: State your inquiry. Mr. Fennoy: We will not have a meeting next Tuesday, will we? Mr. Mayor: We’ve got committee meetings and --- Mr. Fennoy: I thought --- Mr. Mayor: --- if we wanted to take this matter up we certainly could do that on next Tuesday. Mr. Fennoy: --- but I thought the committee meeting would be the last Tuesday, the last Tuesday coming, the last Tuesday so we will not be meeting next Tuesday, will we? Ms. Jackson: Next, that’s right --- Mr. Mayor: When’s our next meeting, Madam Clerk? Ms. Jackson: --- next week. The Clerk: Next Tuesday it’s our committee meeting --- Mr. Mayor: That’s correct --- th The Clerk: --- the 24. Our next --- Mr. Mayor: --- full commission meeting wouldn’t be until December. The Clerk: --- December the 1st (inaudible). Mr. Fennoy: So next Tuesday is the last Tuesday. Mr. Mayor: The last committee meeting right. Mr. Fennoy: Okay, all right. Mr. Mayor: And then we move into December for the full commission meeting. Mr. Fennoy: All right. Mr. Mayor: Is that correct, Madam Clerk? The Clerk: Yes, sir, you have your dates right. 27 Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right we’ve got a motion and a second to table and we’re going to vote. Voting. Mr. Hasan and Mr. M. Williams vote No. Motion Passes 8-2. Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie. LEGAL MEETING A. Pending and Potential Litigation. B. Real Estate. C. Personnel ADDENDUM 30. Motion to approve going into an executive session. Mr. MacKenzie: I would entertain a motion to go into an executive session to discuss pending and potential litigation and real estate. Mr. Hasan: So moved. Mr. Frantom: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. M. Williams votes No. Mr. Sias out. Motion Passes 8-1. Mr. M. Williams: Madam Clerk, can you put item 20 back on our next commission agenda please for me? The Clerk: Yes, sir. Mr. M. Williams: Thank you. [LEGAL MEETING] Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie. Mr. MacKenzie: I would entertain a motion to execute the Closed Meeting Affidavit. Mr. G. Smith: So moved. 28 Mr. Sias: Second. Mr. Mayor: Voting. Mr. Fennoy, Mr. Guilfoyle and Mr. M. Williams out. Motion Passes 7-0. ADDENDUM 31. Motion to approve a Resolution authorizing the settlement of all claims of Mychal Johnson in the amount of $37,000 and authorizing the Administrator to disburse these funds. Mr. G. Smith: So moved. Mr. Sias: Second. Mr. Fennoy, Mr. M. Williams and Mr. Guilfoyle out. Motion Passes 7-0. ADDENDUM 31. Motion to execute a Resolution to authorize the purchase of property at 521 James Brown Blvd., 915 Walker Street, 933 ½ Walker Street, 914 Telfair Street and 928 Telfair Street in the amount of $478,000. Mr. G. Smith: So moved. Mr. Sias: Second. Mr. Fennoy, Mr. M. Williams and Mr. Guilfoyle out. Motion Passes 7-0. Mr. Mayor: Everyone just hold for a moment please. All right here’s, I want to thank st everybody for your good work. This meeting will stand in recess until December the 1 at 2:00 st p.m., for the record. December the 1 at 2:00 p.m. We’ll stand in recess. [MEETING RECESSED] [NOVEMBER 17, 2015 COMMISSION MEETING RECONVENED AT 2:00 P. M. ON DECEMBER 1, 2015] PRESENT: Hons. Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor; Lockett, Guilfoyle, Sias, Frantom, M. Williams, Fennoy, D. Williams, Hasan, Davis and Smith, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission. 29 Mr. Mayor: Good afternoon, everyone. Today we are going to reconvene the November th 17 meeting for the express purpose of taking up the budget. The Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie. Mr. MacKenzie: Well, we’ll just proceed with that meeting. If you have any recognitions sessions of the agenda you can go ahead and do that now. Mr. Mayor: I think what we’ll do, Madam Clerk, is go ahead and receive our Chaplain of the Day (inaudible). The Clerk: We’ll ask the Reverend Thomas Walker, Pastor of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Please come forward to deliver our invocation after which we’ll have the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited. Mr. Mayor: We will recognize your efforts, Reverend Walker, to this community. Thank you for your leadership as not only Pastor but your spiritual guidance and your civic leadership. And so we realize that you serve as an example to all of the citizens and we want to present you with this Certificate of Recognition. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) The Clerk: At this time we will recognize our employees for Years of Service and our Employee of the Month, Ms. Elam, Mr. Mayor and Ms. Jackson. Ms. Elam: Good afternoon Mr. Mayor, Commissioners, my name is Michele Elam, your Interim H.R. Director. Today we’re happy to recognize our Years of Service recipients. For the month of October there are thirty, 5 to 20 year recipients and four, 25-50 year recipients of which one is here this afternoon. With 30 years of service Vicky C. Johnson, Housing and Community Development. (APPLAUSE) Once again, a big congratulations to our Years of Service recipients. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) The Clerk: Now we will recognize our Employee of the Month. We ask Ms. Annette Coker from the Information Technology Department along with Ms. Tameka Allen if she’d like along with the other employees of IT if you’d like to join the Mayor and Ms. Jackson here. Ms. Coker, is she in the room? (APPLAUSE) As she makes her way forward the Employee Recognition Committee has selected Annette Coker as the December 2015 Employee of the Month for Augusta, Georgia. Ms. Coker works with the Augusta Information Technology Department where she has been since 2012, no a lot longer than that. Yes, yes, yes Annette has been employed well here it is Annette has been employed with Augusta Richmond County for 32 years which includes her tenure APPLAUSE) which includes her tenure with the Augusta Information Technology Department. The IT Department knows that she does the work of many but will be astounding to all customers if they had even inkling. Annette gives tirelessly of her time in order to support the plethora of data bases always giving 110% to the job done right to reduce down time for customers. When there’s an upgrade to be performed she works with all perspective parties from the initial system requirement phase service setup, software installation and assists with the application upgrade. Annette is always willing to learn about all aspects of 30 the application whose database she supports and her commitment to IT doesn’t stop at the database management and support team. Annette has a strong sense of community service so when IT introduced Camp Data Annette was an integral part of the team leading the way. She was always she can always be counted on to head a committee and get the job done whether it’s with Camp Data, Christmas for child, child in need, the office potluck dinner, a coworker in need of the recognition of a team member. Based on this nomination and Annette’s outstanding contribution to the Information Technology Department and her service to Augusta, Georgia the Employee Recognition Committee would appreciate you in joining us in recognizing her as the December 2015 Employee of the Month. Congratulations. (APPLAUSE) Would you like to say something, Ms. Allen? Ms. Allen: I promise I’ll be short because Annette is so committed that she’s already told me, Ms. Allen, do not get up there and speak long. I am in the middle of an upgrade. You told me I would be back at the office by 2:15 and I have to get back and do this upgrade. But Annette is one of those people who I cannot think of that is more deserving of this recognition. As stated she has been here over 30 years but she’s one of those that is so committed that works behind the scenes to make sure that everything else is operational. Not one department in this organization would be as successful in regards to technical operations if it wasn’t for the commitment that Annette Coker has demonstrated to this organization. So as the IT Director I am so very proud to say that Annette Coker is a part of not only the Information Technology Department but the city should be as proud as we are to have her as part of the organization as a whole. As well as all of the IT people that are here to support Annette because we know how valuable she is to us. So I want to congratulate Annette, a more deserving person I couldn’t think of a better person to get it. Thank you so much Annette for everything that you do not only for the City of Augusta’s IT Department and these Camp Data’s and all the various things that I throw at you but for all the things that you do for the city as a whole. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Mr. Mayor: All right at this time we are prepared to take up our item that’s on the agenda which is the 2016 budget. ADMINISTRATOR Ms. Jackson: Sir, we don’t have any further presentations at this time. You know based upon the fact that we’ve had two work sessions as well as our major presentation already so if there are any questions we certainly can entertain those but we do not have any formal presentation. Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair will entertain, okay. The Chair recognizes the st Commissioner from the 1, Commissioner Fennoy. Mr. Fennoy: Ms. Jackson, has there been any adjustments made to the budget? I think I had two concerns: one was that the Law Department have two paralegals and the other one is consideration for bus services to run on three holidays. Were there any considerations? 31 Ms. Jackson: We have not made any adjustments; as I recall coming out of the last work session there was not a consensus around those issues. However we can certainly provide the numbers associated with doing those things if it’s the will of the body at this time. Mr. Mayor: Anything further, Commissioner? Mr. Fennoy: Well, I’d like to find out what the will of the body is at this particular time. th Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. Mr. Sias: Thank you, sir. The Clerk: Mr. Sias, can I get you to speak into your mike? Mr. Sias: Yes, ma’am, thank you, I apologize. Thank you, Mayor. I just want say I want to thank Ms. Jackson and her staff and all the members of the city who participated in this budget process. This is one of the most important processes that we go through annually and it’s one that is done with a lot of thought and foresight behind it. And I just want to say thanks to Mr. Mayor, I move to approve the everyone for what they’ve done. And with that being said, 2016 budget as initially presented by the Administrator with the following adjustments: The Office of the Mayor $305,710.00 dollars, the remaining amount of $542,790.00 dollars to the Contingency Fund. Ms. Davis: I’ll second that. th Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 5. Mr. Lockett: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My colleague just said a mouth full and I don’t have the slightest idea what he’s talking about and where he got those numbers from. It was my understanding at the last meeting we had that we would pass the budget as is and then we go back and revisit the budget at a later date if we want to make some modifications to it. Now I can support that but with us making changes today even though I support transit and I’ll talk more about that later but we just cannot make changes such as this. Now probably five or six of my colleagues probably know exactly what he’s talking about but I haven’t had any conversation with anybody about this and if I’m not fully apprised to what’s going on, I’m not going to support it. So if what my colleague just mentioned is a part of this budget process, well, you can go on and put me down for a no right now. Mr. Mayor: All right, any additional discussion? We’ve got a motion and a second. Voting. Mr. D. Williams, Ms. Davis, Mr. Sias, Mr. Hasan, Mr. Frantom, Mr. Guilfoyle, Mr. M. Williams and Mr. G. Smith vote Yes. Mr. Fennoy and Mr. Lockett vote No. Motion Passes 8-2. 32 Mr. Mayor: All right, Attorney MacKenzie, what I think should happen we should st adjourn this meeting and convene the December 1 meeting. Mr. MacKenzie: That’s correct. Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, this meeting is 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 November 17, 2015. ______________________________ Clerk of Commission 33