HomeMy WebLinkAboutRegular Commission Meeting March 28, 2018
REGULAR MEETING COMMISSION CHAMBER
MARCH 28, 2018
Augusta Richmond County Commission convened at 2:00 p.m., March 28, 2018, the Hon.
Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor, presiding.
PRESENT: Hons. Jefferson, Guilfoyle, Sias, Frantom, M. Williams, Davis, Fennoy, D.
Williams, Hasan and Smith, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission.
Mr. Mayor: All right, good afternoon, everybody. We’re going to call this meeting to
order. We’re excited today to not only be here to do the people’s business but to celebrate
Augusta’s finest, our student athletes. And not only what they’ve accomplished on the court of
basketball but what they’re accomplishing in the court of life as they matriculate through our
schools both public and private. And with that the Chair recognizes Madam Clerk.
The Clerk: Yes, sir, thank you. I call your attention to the Invocation portion of our agenda
which will be delivered by Rev. Gaye Williams Ortiz, Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta
after which we will ask School Board Member Patsy Scott to please lead us in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Would you please stand.
The invocation was given by Rev. Gaye Williams Ortiz, Unitarian Universalist Church of
Augusta.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was recited.
Mr. Mayor: Pastor Ortiz, again we want to thank you for your work in the community
having served not only as our Chaplain today but what you do in the community as a civic leader
and the spiritual guide to not only your congregants but to so many in the community with the
work that you do. Would you join me in giving Rev. Gaye Ortiz a hand, a round of applause?
(APPLAUSE)
RECOGNITIONS
2017-2018 Georgia High School Association State Basketball Tournament.
A. Congratulations: Lucy C. Laney, Lady Wildcats for winning the 2017-2018 Georgia High
School Association Class AA Girls State Basketball Championship on March 7, 2018 in
Macon, GA.
Congratulation! T.W. Josey Lady Eagles, Runner-up 2017-2018 Georgia High School
Association Class AA Girls State Basketball Championship on March 7, 2018 in Macon, GA
Congratulations! Aquinas High School, Fightin’ Irish Men’s Basketball Team for winning
the 2017-2018 Georgia State High School Association Class 1-A Private Boys Basketball
Championship on March 9, 2018 in Atlanta, GA
Official roll call of team rosters and recognition of coaching staff: Mr. Jeriah Lewis &
Charles McNeil, Perry Broadcasting 96.9 – Laney
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Ms. Jessica Eley, Sports Anchor/Reporter WRDW-Channel 12 – Josey
Ms. Dee Griffin, News Anchor WJBF – Channel 6 - Aquinas
The Clerk: Commissioners would you please join the Mayor here in front of the dais as
we begin our presentations for this afternoon. Ms. Dee Griffin she’s our official roll caller for the
Aquinas High School Fightin’ Irish Men’s Varsity Basketball Team. And before we get started
I’d like to share with you the inscription on the, Ms. Jackson please join us, on the recognition.
Fightin’ Irish Men’s Varsity Basketball Team. The City of Augusta recognizes your commitment
to athletic excellence and congratulates you for participating in and clenching Aquinas High
School’s first ever Basketball State Title in the 2017-2018 Georgia Class 1-A Private State High
School Association Basketball Championship Game and a thrilling 65/60 victory over St. Francis
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played at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Georgia on March 9, 2018. Given this
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20 Day of March 2018 Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr. (APPLAUSE)
Ms. Griffin: It is an honor to be here to cheer on my Fightin’ Irish of Aquinas High School.
I’m so proud and wish this has been done when I was in high school but better late than never.
And also congratulate the Laney Wildcats. I’m the product of a Laney Wildcat, my mother
graduated from Laney and Josey my cousins went there too so I’m all around. Please welcome
the Aquinas Fightin’ Irish Men’s Basketball Team 2017-2018 Number One. (APPLAUSE) Father
Fitz would be proud wouldn’t he, Mary? Rest his soul. 1 - Ferris Lowery Jr., Guard, all right,
Ferris (APPLAUSE) 2- Zy Wright, Guard (APPLAUSE) hold up, Ferris first. 3 – Tre Gomillion,
Guard, 4 – Stephen Webster, Guard, 5 – Gerald Merriweather, Jr., Guard, 10 – Trent Bowdre,
Guard oh you have a cousin, this is your cousin? All right, basketball runs in the family, superstars.
11 – Chris Williams, Forward, 13 – Daniel Parish, Guard, 25 – Dajuan Hill, Forward, 35 –
Cameron Gardner, Forward. And we would also like to congratulate Mary Davis, Commissioner
Mary Davis, the Athletic Director and an Aquinas graduate. I’m not going to give our ages but we
were at Aquinas together, don’t do the math. Darren Douglas, Head Coach thank you, Coach, for
your hard work. We’re proud of our boys, we’re proud of all that you have done and your
commitment, thank you. Where were you many years ago when we needed you. And Assistant
Coach Harrison Ziegler, thank you for your hard work as well, thank you so much. And the
Principal Maureen Lewis, yes, there she is. This is for the school; we would like for you to get
one on behalf of the school. Sister Laura Ann would be proud; I’m dating myself truly now. On
behalf of all of the alumni of Aquinas High School we thank you for representing us so well and
thank you for asking me to do this, it’s been an honor. Have a great day. (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Mayor: I think the Aquinas Fightin’ Irish has to depart so we’ll give you lady and
gentlemen and opportunity to exit the chamber. Come on, would you join us in congratulating the
Aquinas Fightin’ Irish? Thank you all.
The Clerk: At this time we will acknowledge and honor, offer our congratulations to the
T.W. Josey Lady Eagles, Runner-up for the 2017-2018 Georgia High School Association Class
AA Girls State Basketball Championship on March 7, 2018 in Macon, GA. (APPLAUSE) And
we have Ms. Jessica Eley, Sports Anchor WRDW-Channel 12 will be our roll caller.
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Ms. Eley: Congratulations. So first Guard Ms. Rondaijah Wynn, okay Guard, Moesha
Mells, Freshman Guard, Deajah Houck, Jamirah Mitchell, all right Jalene Smith, Imani Alston,
Senior Guard Ebony Chisolm, Keanna Reynolds ---
The Clerk: Just a moment. I think it’s more than fitting and proper that we recognize the
Lady Eagles Varsity Team 2018 Georgia Class AA Girls State Association Runner-up for your
outstanding achievement and excellent sportsmanlike conduct displayed during the 2017-2018
basketball season. By posting a 29/5 record and earning a prestigious spot in the title game the
City of Augusta recognizes your commitment to extraordinary teamwork, athletic excellence and
congratulates you for participating in the Georgia Class AA Georgia High School Association
Girls Basketball Championship played at the Macon Centraplex in Macon, GA March 7, 2018.
(APPLAUSE)
Ms. Eley: --- okay Ebony Clark, Rhykeria Rolland, okay Tykedra Rolland, Ivory Chisolm
and Starasia Hinton. Head Coach Jawan Bailey, Assistant Coach Jamal Bailey her brother and
then Athletic Director Marcus Jackson, oh Principal Chauncey Scott. Congrats! (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Bailey: Wow, this is awesome. You know um, this is my second year at T.W. Josey
and one of the things I can say they are a great group of kids. You know and these girls are
dynamite not just on the court but off the court. They are honor students and I mean they’re doing
it. And that’s one of the things that makes me proud and that’s one of the things we’ve all got to
strive for because at the end of the day when it’s all over, said, and done, you’ve got another phase
in life that you’re going to have to walk into and you need to start now while you’re in school to
make that next phase the best part of your life. It’s not over yet but what you do now you’re
building that foundation. So we’re here to help and we’re going to make it happen. And thank
you all for everything that you’ve done today was fantastic and hey, we just got to keep on going.
(APPLAUSE)
The Clerk: Ms. Sams, are you satisfied with that presentation?
Mr. Fennoy: Commissioner Williams was one of the first graduates.
The Clerk: Oh yeah, that’s right. Commissioner Williams, would you like to acknowledge
you being one of the first Eagles? You started all of this.
Mr. M. Williams: I want to reinstate again earlier one of the young ladies looked at me
with my red and gray on and I told her I was an original Eagle. I came out of Georgia first class in
1966 and I thank God to be able to come through those doors. And I said to all these young people
just keep doing what you’re doing. Your whole life is ahead of you, you’ve got a great opportunity
to make it great. So just keeping looking to the hills where all your help comes from. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
The Clerk: Mr. McNeil and Mr. Jeriah Lewis, would you please come to the podium?
Thank you. At this time we would like to offer our congratulations to the 2017-2018 Georgia High
School Association Basketball Champions. The Lucy C. Laney Lady Wildcats for winning the
Class AA Girls State Basketball Championship on March 7, 2018 for your outstanding
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achievement and excellent sportsmanlike conduct displayed during the 2019 basketball season by
posting a perfect 32/0 final record. The City of Augusta recognizes your commitment to athletic
excellence and congratulates you for participating and clinching your third title in the pat four
years as the 2018 Class AA Georgia State High School Association Basketball Championship in
a 63/40 victory over T.W. Josey High School played at the Macon Centraplex Macon, Georgia on
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March 7, 2018. Given this 28 Day of March 2018 Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr. (APPLAUSE).
Mr. Lewis: Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Jeriah Lewis and
I’m here to ask for matching funds for the Augusta Public Transit System, I’m sorry that’s the
wrong presentation, okay. For the last 10 years the Perry Broadcasting Company of Augusta has
been broadcasting the Laney Girls and Boys home and away basketball games as well as the Laney
football games on 96.9 FM Praise Gospel radio station. Here today is Mr. Matthew Frasier also
known as Chilly Chills. He’s the Program Manager of Perry Broadcasting Company. Mr. Frasier.
(APPLAUSE) As a member of the Lucy Craft Laney Alumni Association Board of Directors and
a proud 1970 graduate of Laney we would like to publicly thank you and Perry Broadcasting for
your continued support throughout the years. As one of the broadcasters, our listening audience
has expressed on several occasions the appreciation for bringing the games into their homes and
also their jobs so once again thank you, Mr. Frasier. Congratulations to Coach Otis Smart, his
coaching staff in winning the 2017-2018 Class AA Girls State Basketball Championship. And
now I’m gong to introduce my broadcast partner and the voice of the Wildcats Charles McDanny
McNeil. He’s going to introduce the team.
Mr. McNeil: Thank you, Jeriah. Lady Wildcats starting lineup. At Guard 1 – Jhessyka
Williams also at Guard a sophomore 5-foot-5 2 – Rocquana Drayton. Also at Guard 5-foot-5 3 –
Lavaisiette Keller. Also at Guard 5-foot-8 Senior Jakia Reese. Also at Guard 5’8 senior number
five excuse me a 5-foot junior 10 – Zaria O’bryant. Not able to join us today a 5’8 senior 11 –
Taya Newsome. Also at Guard a junior 5’9 12 – Jaiden Hamilton you could tell we have a lot of
guards. Also at Guard 5’6 senior 12 – Danita Baker. At forward a sophomore 5’9 14 – Whitney
Anderson. Back to the guards 5’7 sophomore 15 – Nekiyah Booker. At Forward a freshman 21
– Ja’nya Wilson. At Forward Center Guard whatever position you want the Georgia High School
Player of the Year in AA Basketball 5’11 23 – De’sha Benjamin. At Small Forward a junior 5’9
24 – Jakelia Baker. At Guard a senior 5’7 30 – Stephenie Burston. A freshman sensation 6’ 50 –
Alteona Collier and junior Center 6’ even 54 – Camille Smith. And unable to join us today Back
up Center a junior 5’11 55 – Joyce Eberhart. The Wildcats are coached by the legend Otis Smart
assisted by Coach Fields and Coach Givens. Laney Wildcat managers Shakeira Newsome ---
The Clerk: As he makes his way forward Coach Smart ---
Mr. McNeil: --- and Amaya Scott, team managers.
The Clerk: --- Coach Smart, just a moment, hold up. Athletic Director and Coach Otis
Smart, Lucy Craft Laney High School Lady Wildcats Varsity Basketball Team. The City of
Augusta recognizes your commitment to athletic excellence which is exemplified by your
continued dedication, unwavering commitment and distinguished service. You inspire others to
perform at their best with your message of empowerment and self-motivation. We congratulate
you on a distinguished season by posting a perfect 32/0 final record. For participating and winning
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your third state title in the past four years as the 2018 Georgia Class AA Georgia High School
Association Girls Basketball Championship game and a 63/40 victory over T.W. Josey High
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School played at the Macon Centraplex Macon Georgia on March 7, 2018. Given this 28 Day of
March 2018, Hardie Davis, Jr., Mayor. (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Smart: I want to thank everyone, okay, got another platter, sir.
The Clerk: Here you go, don’t drop it though.
Mr. Smart: I’m going to try to be coordinated. I just want to say again I thank you all. I
can’t say enough about everyone of you here and I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Mr. McNeil: While Coach gets his acknowledgments we want to acknowledge the fact
that he is a living legend hired in 1979, coached the girls basketball team in 1983. He reached the
State Playoff’s in 1984 for the first time 16-Final Four appearances including nine of the last ten
years. Five trips to the title game, he won three championships in 2015 of course 17 and 18 and
in his 34 seasons on the bench for Laney he has amassed 851 victories, only 161 setbacks including
62 straight victories over the last two seasons. Congratulations Coach. (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Fennoy: Audience, ya’ll are not applauding the Mayor and myself. This is a legend
and I think ya’ll should treat a legend accordingly give our Coach (unintelligible). (APPLAUSE)
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Madam Clerk, what I want to do is, if I can have everybody’s attention.
We want to take a look at the additions to the agenda if I can get consent to add these items to the
agenda. The first one is a motion to approve a request to extend the Noise Ordinance and then we
have a GDOT issue. If we can, is there any objection?
Mr. Sias: I’ve got a question.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, but there’s no objection. That’s all I’m asking for right now just
whether there’s objections or not.
Mr. Sias: (inaudible).
Mr. Mayor: Well, I want to go ahead and introduce it into the agenda so that we can address
it and then if you’ve got questions I’m going to let you ask all the questions you want to ask.
Mr. Sias: I withdraw my objection.
Mr. Mayor: All right, very good, all right, without objection. All right, Madam Clerk.
The Clerk: I call your attention to the consent portion of our agenda which consists of
Items 1-3, Items 1-3.
Mr. Mayor: All right, we’ll entertain any motions to add or remove from the consent
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agenda. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 7.
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Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Mayor, I’d like to ---
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Mr. Mayor: The 7, from the 7.
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Mr. Fennoy: --- from the 7.
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Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir, from the 7.
Mr. Frantom: I’d like to add agenda Item 13 and 14 to consent.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1.
Mr. Fennoy: Yes, I’d like to add Item number 17 to the consent.
Mr. Mayor: Without objection?
Mr. Frantom: No.
Mr. Mayor: There is an objection.
Mr. Fennoy: There is?
Mr. Mayor: There is an objection, yeah, there is. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner
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from the 4.
Mr. Sias: I’d like to add 6, 7, 8, ---
Mr. M. Williams: There is an objection.
Mr. Mayor: All right, 8 is an objection.
Mr. Sias: --- and 9, 6, 7 and 9.
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Mr. Mayor: Okay, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Mr. Mayor, I was going to consent Item number 6 underneath our Public
Services but Commissioner Sias got it for me, thank you.
Mr. Mayor: All right, I’d like to add number 12, number 11.
The Clerk: That was okay, 16?
Ms. Davis: Move to approve, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Frantom: Second.
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CONSENT AGENDA
PLANNING
1. SA-54 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Planning Commission to approve a
petition to amend the Land Subdivision Regulations for Augusta Georgia by amending 106
– Definitions – Subdivisions. (Approved by the Commission March 20, 2018 – second
reading.
2. ZA-R-251 – A request for concurrence with the Augusta Planning Commission to approve
a petition to amend the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance for Augusta Georgia by amending
Section 2 (Definitions) – Subdivisions. (Approved by the Commission March 20, 2018)
PETITONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
3. Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Augusta Commission held
March 20, 2018.
PUBLIC SERVICES
6. Motion to approve Textron Hangar Lease Augusta Regional Airport.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
7. Approve a request from the Augusta Regional Airport to purchase one 2018 Ford Transit
Cargo Van.
9. Approve a request from the Augusta Fire Department to purchase two 2018 Chevrolet
Pursuit Tahoes to be used as Command Vehicles.
11. Receive as information the proposed construction plan for the SPLOST 7 Records
Retention annex located at 1815 Marvin Griffin Rd, formerly known as the Licensing and
Inspection Office.
12. Approve Title VI Program for Public Transit Planning Pursuant to Federal Transit
Administration Regulations relating to federal grant programs, 5303-Metropolitan
Planning, 5307-Urbanized Area, 5310-Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with
Disabilities, 5311-Rural Transit and 5339-Bus and Bus Facilities.
FINANCE
13. Request to approve Augusta POL/EPL Broker Services (awarded through RFP-#18-165)
to include Premium Quote for 2018 – 2019 POL/EPL coverage to J. Smith Lanier & Co.
LLC., current broker, through insurance carrier RSUI for a premium of $58,700.
14. Motion to accept the 2018 Summer Intern Program from Civic Affairs Foundation.
ENGINEERING SERVICES
16. Approve the Sole-Source Purchase from Yancey Brothers of the Certified Re-Build of
D6N Bulldozer for the Environmental Services Department.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second to approve, voting.
Motion Passes 10-0. \[Items 1-3, 6, 7, 9, 11-14, 16\]
The Clerk: Where are you headed, Mr. Mayor?
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Mr. Mayor: The additions to the agenda, we’ll start there first.
The Clerk:
ADDENDUM
19. Motion to approve a request to extend the Noise Ordinance curfew an additional thirty
minutes for the Major Rager Charity Benefit Show to be held at the Augusta Common on
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Friday, April 6. (Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams)
Mr. Guilfoyle: So moved.
Mr. Frantom: Second.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had this added and I hope I can make a
substitute motion that we regrant this area to come back and do this. We need to make a motion
to at least give them an additional hour so my motion is going to be to make it official that they
don’t have to come back to this body and give them at least another hour to do what they’re doing.
This is a special time of year; we’ve got guests coming in. We don’t need to be rushed to talk
about the Noise Ordinance or whatever. Now if there’s a disturbance I think it would be addressed
through the Sheriff’s Department or whatever agency if there’s a disturbance. My motion is to
make it a full hour rather than 30-minutes.
Mr. Hasan: Second.
Mr. Mayor: All right, we’ve got a substitute motion with a proper second.
Mr. Guilfoyle: I can amend mine, sir.
Mr. Mayor: Okay ---
Mr. Speaker: Mr. Mayor?
Mr. Mayor: --- hold on everybody, just hold on. I’m going to give you all the time you
need to talk about it. We have a substitute motion with a proper second to approve this annually.
All right, we probably want to modify that a little bit but, yeah that’s what I’m thinking about the
Parliamentarian is working on it, Ms. Bonner. He’s going to come back and clean it up ---
The Clerk: Oh, okay.
Mr. Mayor: --- after they have some discussion. All right, the Chair recognizes the
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Commissioner from the 4.
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Mr. Sias: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don’t have a problem with giving these folks an
extension but we can’t make it a permanent extension because this is an ordinance.
Mr. Mayor: Well we, Ms. Bonner and I are on top of that and we’ve got the Parliamentarian
working on that.
Mr. Sias: The Parliamentarian can’t change the ordinance now. I don’t care how you work
on the motion he can’t change the ordinance. So, I don’t have a problem with granting them this
extension today but if we’re going to change the ordinance we need to go back to the ordinance
procedure, absolutely now there’s not substitute on that one.
Mr. Frantom: Can we here from Glenn Parker?
Mr. Mayor: All right, here’s what we can do if everybody can, come back Attorney
MacKenzie. Everybody suspend. Let’s be respectful in the process, you’re going to get an
opportunity to be heard. All right okay, so let’s get some clarity around what we really need to
do. We don’t need a temporary solution, we need a long-term solution. All right, the Chair
recognizes Attorney MacKenzie.
Mr. MacKenzie: Sure. My suggestion would be a motion to approve a request to extend
the Noise Ordinance Curfew for an additional one hour for the Major Rager Charity Benefit
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Show to be held at the Augusta Common on Friday April 6, 2018 and to provide
authorization for staff to draft a Code amendment to make this extension permanent.
Mr. M. Williams: So moved.
Mr. Hasan: Second.
The Clerk: Your substitute, he was just rewording it ---
Mr. Mayor: He’s withdrawing his substitute.
The Clerk: --- oh he’s oh, okay.
Mr. Mayor: We can still use it as your substitute. I’m quite okay with that. That’s quite
all right, Ms. Bonner. All right, are you good with that? Outstanding. So we’ve got a substitute
with a proper second.
Mr. Sias: Restate the substitute, please.
Mr. Mayor: I’m going to have him read it again. All right, the Chair recognizes Attorney
MacKenzie.
Mr. MacKenzie: Sure. This would be a motion to approve a request to extend the Noise
Ordinance curfew and additional one hour for the Major Rager Charity Benefit Show to be held at
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the Augusta Common on Friday April 6 2018 and to authorize staff to draft an Code amendment
to make this extension permanent.
Mr. Mayor: All right, Mr. Chairman, are you good with that? Outstanding. We’ve got a
substitute with a proper second okay? All right any other questions? Okay all right, I don’t want
you to mess it up now, okay.
Mr. Parker: I just wanted to make the group aware of something. Monday afternoon I got
a fax from Augusta Pride asking to do the exact same thing so while we’re doing this, would it be
proper to do for Augusta Pride also rather than bringing it back to you?
Mr. Mayor: That’s coming in June though.
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Mr. Parker: It’s June 22 It’s on a Friday and they’re asking for midnight also.
Mr. Mayor: What we’ll do is we’ll address that. I think the substitute motion includes
talking about making this a permanent change and it should be included in that at that time.
Mr. Sias: Mr. Mayor ---
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4.
Mr. Sias: --- did the motion not address only the concert?
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Mr. Mayor: Yeah, well, I’ll be frank with you. The Commissioner from the 9 has been
talking about this at least as long as I’ve been here and I ain’t been here that long. But this is an
issue that should’ve been addressed a long time ago from an ordinance perspective where we just
extend that time anyway because being the second largest city in the State of Georgia everybody
goes home after the party at 10:00 o’clock. It’s time to open up for business. Amen.
Mr. Sias: Well, my point being, Mr. Mayor, is that as what our Director of Recreation just
said we just simply need to have an ordinance that will address all of those except and not just one.
So do we want to say the downtown area or the entertainment district, I’m okay with that, but let’s
not, let’s not do something and then say we’re going to technically extend it, you know, just my
point.
Mr. Mayor: I appreciate it, I do I think the request to change the ordinance will include all
of that in it there. We’re going to make a long-term solution. That’s what I’m expecting we’re
going to see with your comments included in that, all right? All right, we’ve got a substitute
motion and a proper second. Voting.
Motion Passes 10-0.
The Clerk:
ADDENDUM
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20. Motion to approve applications to Georgia DOT for Local Maintenance and
Improvement Grants in the amount of $450,000 and $170,000 to be distributed to Georgia
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Technology Authority (GTA) for 12 Street Improvements as requested by AED. Also,
authorize receiving these from GDOT to be distributed to GTA and execution of associated
documents. (Requested by Administrator Jackson)
Mr. Sias: So moved.
Mr. Fennoy: Second.
Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes Administrator Jackson to explain what we’re
doing with these dollars.
Ms. Jackson: Yes, briefly this is associated with the Hull-McKnight Cyber Innovation
Center. As we prepared for that project there were certain roadway improvements that were
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identified namely the extension of 12 Street and a new signal at 12 Street. This would be funding
to pay for those improvements. The funds are made available through the ELMIC process meaning
we’ll have to submit an application as we always do for Elmic funds. And also this motion
provides for us transferring those funds over to GTA for their completion of the project so
essentially we are a pass through for those dollars. There’s no cost to us for participation in this
project.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. Voting.
Motion Passes 10-0.
Mr. Mayor: Number four.
The Clerk: Item number four, Ms. Walton.
PUBLIC SERVICES
4. Motion to approve New Application: A.N. 18-11: request by Alfred J. Bisard, Jr. for a
retail package Beer & Wine License to be used in connection with SF Markets, LLC d/b/a
Sprouts Farmer’s Market located at 630 Crane Creek Drive. District 7. Super District 10.
Ms. Walton: We have a request by Alfred J. Bisard, Jr. for a retail package Beer & Wine
License to be used connection with SF Markets, LLC doing business as Sprouts Farmer’s Market
located at 630 Crane Creek Drive. Do we have any objectors to this alcohol petition? The Planning
and Development approves as well as the Sheriff’s Office.
Mr. Bisard: My name is Alfred J. Bisard, Jr. My address is 404 Bludell Reserve Way Apt.
207 Martinez, GA 30907.
Mr. Frantom: Motion to approve.
Mr. D. Williams: Second.
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Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second, voting.
The Clerk: Commission Sias, it’s not working?
Mr. Sias: I was just reviewing ---
The Clerk: Oh, I’m sorry.
Mr. Sias: --- Line 20 and I’m okay with it I guess now.
The Clerk: Okay.
Motion Passes 10-0.
Mr. Bisard: Thank you.
The Clerk:
PUBLIC SERVICES
5. Discuss the process used by Augusta Regional Airport for replacement furniture at the
Airport and other matters. (Deferred from the March 20, 2018 Commission Meeting-
Requested by Commissioner Marion Williams)
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9, Mr. Judon, if you’ll
approach.
Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had this put on the agenda to I guess get some
information or iron the details out as to how the Airport goes about replacing furniture and where
it goes. Not only that but how we acquire tables and equipment for other facilities without going
through I guess this body as the Commission. But, Mr. Judon, can you help me out to understand
how the process is taking place with buying furniture and where that furniture ends up at, who
made those decisions?
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir, as far as purchasing furniture it should go through our normal
procurement process as in, and Procurement can speak more in depth in that but you know whether
it’s a contract or going through their solicitation process. As far as where furniture goes, since
I’ve been Director we have not out-processed any furniture at this point however as we do acquire
new furniture if the furniture is still usable there are places in the airport where we can use it and
I can give you some examples. Our Military Hospitality Room which we have furniture in but if
you were to go in there you would notice that the headrests on those furnitures are deteriorating so
for example if I would transition some furniture that would be a place where I would transition
furniture that is still good. The airport is also in development of a frequent flyer VIP type room
so again that would be a place where I would likely transition furniture I would repurpose the
furniture the airport that was still good.
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Mr. M. Williams: Okay, can I hear from Ms. Sams and Purchasing since she handles that
department? Ms. Sams, can you give me the process for I guess the Augusta Regional Airport and
how they are to acquire or discard if that’s the case how they acquire furniture through a bid process
or do we allow the appointed position to do that, just how does that work. I’m sure you have
information on this.
Ms. Sams: The city has a process and procedure that all departments follow and the Airport
would not be an exception to the Procurement Code and Guidelines. And of course for the City
of Augusta anything over $5,000 dollars requires a written bid and that includes furniture, any
items or services. And of course also the Procurement Department has to look at the funding
source for anything that Augusta purchases because often times various funding sources will
require different types of solicitation. And the way we usually dispose furniture it will go to the
Fixed Assets Department or the Finance Department but now it’s been transferred under Ms.
Douse I think for placement or sometimes, and this is sometimes we will transfer furniture to other
departments within the city and the department heads can make that decision as to transferring the
furniture to another entity within the City of Augusta.
Mr. M. Williams: Before we get to excess furniture I see Ron Crowden out there. He
handles a lot of government sales with excess properties and stuff and that’s normally how we
dispose of it I think. But before we get to that side let’s talk about the furniture in question at the
airport. Was it acquired through the normal process at the airport?
Ms. Sams: Repeat that question to, sir.
Mr. M. Williams: The furniture that we’re talking about at the airport, was that acquired
through the normal process? Is that, you went through the purchasing area that we normally go
through, the same I mean you know you’re sitting there waiting I guess for me I guess to call some
names but I’m trying to just find out what the process is because from the information that I have
about the furniture that was supposed to go to Jamestown that was supposed to leave the airport.
I want to know how was it acquired. From my understanding it was acquired through the airport
appointee at the airport and if that’s true, I need to know if it went through the process or it didn’t
go through the process. If it did I mean I might be holding up these guys who’s got some things
to do but if it didn’t, we need to hear about it.
Ms. Sams: Okay, Mr. Williams, in this case that was a request to order furniture and the
request came from the airport. And the Procurement Department looked at the request and
determined that it did not follow the process and procedures and we stopped the process. There
was no furniture purchased.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay well how was that process able to get to Procurement because if
it didn’t go through the normal process and you rejected it it sounds like how was that handled
how was that I mean do we just decide tomorrow we’re going to do it a different way?
Ms. Sams: No, sir, of course not the City of Augusta has controls in place where when
someone requests a requisition be printed or approved by my office, it will go through our
Acquisition Team. Well, when that request came to the Acquisition Team there were some
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concerns about the method of procurement and we didn’t recognize the person who requested the
furniture and a New Vendor Request Form was requested. And the way that worked in accordance
to Augusta, Georgia when a department requests a New Vendor’s Form nobody can enter that
information but the Acquisition Team in Augusta. When the Acquisition Team received the
request for the new vendor, they brought it to me, I looked at it and determined that this was not a
vendor that we had used, looked at the paperwork that was submitted to me and there was some
concerns. We stopped the process, wrote the department director a letter stating to him that this
was not a proper process and that we were not going to proceed with that order. That order was
placed on hold.
Mr. M. Williams: So you’re admitting there was an improper order that was taking place
until it got to your office until you, until I want to say an alarm went off or whatever went off. But
it was an improper order, right?
Ms. Sams: Yes, sir ---
Mr. M. Williams: Okay.
Ms. Sams: --- in accordance to the code request.
Mr. M. Williams: Do you have a response you want to give, Mr. Judon?
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir, so with just being brief just also on this particular request it was
identified by the Airport prior to going to Ms. Sams. And I had a conversation with my Chair it
was about, yes, sir?
Mr. Speaker: (Inaudible).
Mr. Judon: Having a conversation with my Chair about some broader issues with the
furniture kind of being sub-issues we also made the decision to stop this process and that was the
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week I believe the week of February the 12. The following week the week of February the 19
is actually when I did receive a communication from Ms. Sams it was, we had a telephone call and
also an email communication that she sent to me. And in the email communication it was I guess
I would call it instructive. She was kind of laying out the corrective measures in terms of how that
was submitted. And during that conversations with Ms. Sams, I also mentioned to her that from
the Airport perspective that we had nixed this, that we were not doing this and shared with her the
conversation that I had with the Chair so we had stopped this process several weeks
(unintelligible).
Mr. M. Williams: So the process that you stopped was it the process ya’ll been using all
the time though before you ---
Mr. Judon: No, sir.
Mr. M. Williams: --- because I’m hearing two different processes and that’s what I’m
trying to get clarity to. If you, if the process goes one way and somebody was doing it another
14
way, Ms. Sams caught it in her office and you caught it as well in your office. Who changed that
process? How did that get changed? That’s how this whole thing got to this body here because the
process what changed, that’s what I’m really after. Who changed that process and how did it get
changed because I thought if the process says A, B and C then that’s the way it should have worked.
Had it not been caught, it could’ve went through some other fashion I guess.
Mr. Judon: Yes and I can’t completely answer that. I will tell you that I guess at my level
I don’t really see the quotes per se but there are gatekeepers and obviously Ms. Sams’ department
is a gatekeeper when something needs to be corrected and also obviously at the department level.
In this particular instance that you’re talking about I know there was an original quote for this, for
these items and I think there was a request for an updated quote so again I’m ultimately
accountable. But we’ve had quite a bit of change and flux in our staff so there is a possibility
something (inaudible).
Mr. M. Williams: I’m trying to figure out how staff and their appointed positions get into
this area of ordering anything because if you’ve got an appointed position on the Airport Board
and you’ve got staff out there that handles finances and other things, how do that get translated
over to the appointed side to it that someone could possibly get an opportunity to something like
this had it not been caught. The other question, Mr. Judon, is that the monies that’s spent for
buying of tables at events and different stuff does that go through your warehouse or does that go
through Purchasing? How does that take place?
Mr. Judon: Again it depends on the, I do have some discretionary spending authority which
was approved for me so as long as we are following any procurement processes within certain
thresholds I do have that discretion.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, Mr. Mayor, I didn’t get much answer to that but I appreciate Mr.
Judon giving me what he’s got.
Mr. Mayor: Okay (inaudible) in this order. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from
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the 4.
Mr. Sias: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. If I may address ---
Mr. Mayor: Yes.
Mr. Sias: --- Mr. Judon and Ms. Sams as well. Mr. Judon, if you will hold for a second
there. First off I want to address Mr. Judon, I want to address this issue where the word Jamestown
came up. To your knowledge any discussion about Jamestown and the Airport correlated together?
Mr. Judon: Absolutely not, sir. I just recently heard of this just a couple of days ago and
to be very honest with you very disheartened. Excuse my language but I think that was just
completely false. I mean there was no communication with myself and or any staff that has any
authority in terms of transfer of any type of items or furniture, so again that was completely false.
15
Mr. Sias: Okay and I appreciate your candor, Mr. Judon, and I was just very disappointed
that somebody would even put that out. And I was also very disappointed that I would think it
would be a little bit more ethical and a little bit more investigation done before I see it on the news
but obviously that doesn’t apply to certain situations here in Augusta Richmond County. Mr.
Mayor, I’d like to ask Ms. Sams a question as well.
Mr. Mayor: You may.
Mr. Sias: Ms. Sams, I’m going to break this down to the best of my knowledge of
‘furniture-gate’ and Jamestown reference, okay? With this request I believe this was a request that
required part of the process where you get three quotes. I’m not sure but I know there was three
quotes done and these three quotes were, went out and a member of the Aviation Commission that
I appointed made those, went out and got those quotes and then they were brought back to a staff
member. And if I’m not mistaken my understanding in checking out that was that the commission
member went out because the staff member was sick and couldn’t do it. Now granted that should
not have happened but the fact does it happened because somebody thought they was helping
somebody else. Secondly, when that order did get to your office, I believe the quotes that the
packet included the information that the commission member had done and it also included all the
other information, am I correct on that?
Ms. Sams: Yes.
Mr. Sias: So basically the commission member’s information was extra in the packet, am
I correct?
Ms. Sams: Your definition of extra in the packet.
Mr. Sias: The bid process and the quotes had already been redone anyway.
Ms. Sams: When we received the information from the Airport, it was all inclusive ---
Mr. Sias: Okay.
Ms. Sams: --- and a request for a new vendor coming from the Airport which triggered the
oversight provision for me because no one can enter a new vendor. And the reason for that is
people in a vendor’s name different ways the system assigns a Vendor ID Member so we don’t
want four vendors in the system but the same company. When we saw the quotes, we recognized
also that this should have been a written bid as opposed to the quotes and that was my second red
flag.
Mr. Sias: Okay, so the point I’m getting to here is as far as the commission appointee the
only thing in that packet from the commission appointee was simply the quotes.
Ms. Sams: Was the quotes and also according to what was given to us from the Airport,
the receipt of the quotes also generated concern for the Procurement Department because at that
16
time the person who was receiving the quotes was not identified in the system as being a
procurement person.
Mr. Sias: And to expound on that a little bit the quotes from the vendor was sent to the
commission member versus to the Airport, am I correct?
Mr. Sams: They were sent to the Commission, yes, sir.
Mr. Sias: And that also is not the way it’s supposed to go but my main point here is it was
simply a person who’s named ended up in something that it should not have been. For me it’s as
simple as that. This person is not in that chain, not in that staff so even if they had went out to get
the quotes they should not have number one did that and secondly you can’t have your name on
stuff that where you don’t fit in the circle and we get that and we know that now. But however
this person was simply assisting in the process, not creating a new process, not looking for furniture
for Jamestown because I mean it’s ridiculous that this stuff gets put out that way. So I thank you
for the business of what you are doing there, Ms. Sams, and also somewhere in the future we’re
going to have some more bid discussions and how processes work I can assure you of that. Thank
you very much, thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Ms. Mayor Pro Tem: Commissioner Guilfoyle.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I can promise you one thing. I had on the same
thing but I got actually taught lessons and actually had the methodology of how Procurement works
so I would invite you to sit down with Ms. Sams in a private setting as well as her staff and you
will probably learn a lot on the procurement side of it. Can I speak to Mr. Judon, please?
Ms. Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Mr. Judon, I see that this thing here is going in a different direction but
let’s get back focused to the picture. You actually said that you had somewhat followed the
methodology of the procurement process. Wilma Hilton actually sent these updated invoices to
Courtney Johnson. Who is Courtney Johnson?
Mr. Judon: I don’t know.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Crystal Johnson, I’m sorry.
Mr. Judon: That’s my assistant.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Executive Assistant?
Mr. Judon: Yes.
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Mr. Guilfoyle: Okay, that was on February 19.
17
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir.
Mr. Guilfoyle: All right, you had just was at the podium here just a few minutes ago and
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you stopped this process on February 12 that you said.
Mr. Judon: Yes.
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Mr. Guilfoyle: All right, so we’ve got Rooms to Go quotes on February 16, Lazy Boy on
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January 11 and Haverty on February 16 which is all basically except for one after you stopped
the process. And if this person that was sick must’ve been sick for an entire month for her to go
out and get quotes, am I correct? Was this person sick for an entire month?
Mr. Judon: Yes.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Really and we don’t have anybody within your staff to follow the normal
procurement procedure by sending out an RFP instead of the commission or did this even pass
through your commission body?
Mr. Judon: Well, I can answer the question about the dates on the quotes and when I told
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you the February 12 when we nixed this process ---
Mr. Guilfoyle: Right.
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Mr. Judon: --- that was not based on the quotes so on February 12 at that date I did not
even have an idea what the quotes were again, I’m not looking at quotes at my level. I had a
conversation with my Board Chair and the gist of that conversation had to do with interaction
between staff and commissioners and what I asked him was that we could put in some processes
that defined that interaction between staff and commissioners. And we had previously talked about
the furniture and the furniture was a subtopic that we talked about that day and so that day we both
agreed that the furniture should not go forward neither but at that point I had no knowledge about
the quotes.
Mr. Guilfoyle: But the furniture did go through to our Procurement. That’s the reason
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why on March 15 from Sheila Paulk ---
Mr. Judon: Right.
Mr. Guilfoyle: --- sent you an email or to Lena Bonner stating that they didn’t know who
this Wilma Hilton was and stopping the process which is two months, three days later.
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Mr. Judon: On March 15, yeah that day yeah that was about three weeks after again after
the telephone conversation that I had with Ms. Sams which again she had stopped the process and
I communicated to her that we had too so I’m not quite sure.
18
th,
Mr. Guilfoyle: If you stopped the process on February 12 how did Ms. Sams acquire all
this?
Mr. Judon: It was already sent at that point. It was already in the pipeline.
Mr. Guilfoyle: It couldn’t have had, sir, because your quotes that came in from Lazy Boy
ththth
I mean Rooms to Go was on the 16 and Haverty’s was on the 16 and you stopped it on the 12.
Mr. Judon: Well again as I mentioned earlier, sir, that process, the decision to stop it was
not based on the quotes. It was based on again the concern about the interaction between the
Commissioners and staff. I had no idea.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Was this approved by the body of the Airport Commission?
Mr. Judon: That was part of the conversation that I had ---
Mr. Guilfoyle: Yes or no, was it passed? Was it on the agenda that was passed?
Mr. Judon: --- no.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Then a lot of fallacy in this one issue.
Mr. Judon: Well, that was the communication with the Chair is that that is the process that
we need to put in place. And in fact right now we’ve got a draft change in the bylaws that includes
just what you’re saying so that was a conversation I was having with him is that we need to have
a transparent process when we do things like that and that’s why we stopped this. That was the
conversation that we had that we were going to create this type of process that you’re talking about.
Mr. Guilfoyle: This is probably one of the most unorthodox way of procuring when we
have one of the best departments here. And you actually bought vehicles, you actually procured
other stuff through our Procurement but this one here you bypassed the process and I don’t know
why. Let me ask you a couple of different issues, Mr. Mayor, may I continue?
Mr. Mayor: You may.
Mr. Guilfoyle: I actually had this on, it didn’t get put on but I think I had brought it up to
you. What does your policy state about buying VIP tables?
Mr. Judon: There is no specific policy. The Airport has a sponsorship policy so there are
sponsorship opportunities and sponsorships are defined where there’s a I’m going to say a quid
pro quo so there is some payment but there may be some display of a logo or something that is
getting in return.
Mr. Guilfoyle: It’s marketing, right?
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir.
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Mr. Guilfoyle: All right, none of these tables was used for marketing.
Mr. Judon: No, that was not the intent.
Mr. Guilfoyle: So we bought three VIP tables, two at the Lady A and one at the Masked
Ball, at your approval?
Mr. Judon: I don’t recall Lady A, no, sir.
Mr. Guilfoyle: There was for I Heart?
Mr. Judon: That was part of our advertising with I Heart so that went through the
sponsorship through the advertising process.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Are we putting in any jeopardy using federal money doing this when it’s
not used for marketing?
Mr. Judon: No, sir. How the federal government looks at airport revenue they have what’s
called Revenue Diversion and that’s kind of what they strictly prohibit and that is when monies
that are generated on airport are used to support general fund activities. Airports also have some
restricted funds so these are AIP different grants that we get and different user fees that are set
aside for certain functions. The rest of the money that’s in our operating budget it is completely
legal to use it for any type of activity that supports the airport.
Mr. Guilfoyle: So you don’t have no separate account at your discretion like you used the
term ‘discretionary’ a few minutes ago?
Mr. Judon: I have a budget center that is aligned with the directive, yes, sir.
Mr. Guilfoyle: And I know you’ve been here what one year?
Mr. Judon: Two years, almost three.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Two years. Have you ever bought VIP tables before?
Mr. Judon: Yes but very, not very many. I spend very little so if you were to look at my
records very little money has been spent in those types of areas.
Mr. Guilfoyle: You know I buy VIP tables for myself personally using my personal money.
If my company does it, it does it through a marketing I don’t think like you said on the floor just
now. None of these three were used for marketing.
Mr. Judon: Well, you had mentioned the Lady A I believe and again that was ---
Mr. Guilfoyle: I Heart, two VIP tables.
20
Mr. Judon: --- yes, sir. And another thing I will say too one of the goals that I personally
have at the Airport is I think it’s important for the airport to have a community connection and
I’ve done that my entire career. So it is important for us to support certain organizations through
the community, even people that don’t fly or don’t go to the airport it’s important to have that
connection. But again I spend very little so I think if you were to check the records you would see
again I spend very little relative to what historically what has been spent.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Okay as far as spending very little tell me about the attorney that ya’ll used
from Savannah.
Mr. Judon: What do you want to know, sir?
Mr. Guilfoyle: Why are we paying I think it’s $250.00 dollars an hour for travel. I think
one of your Commissioners had told me that.
Mr. Judon: We no longer do that.
Mr. Mayor: Okay everybody suspend, suspend. There’s a matter that’s before us and the
caption reads, discuss the process used by the Augusta Regional Airport for replacement furniture
at the Airport and other matters. I do not know what those other matters are ---
Mr. Guilfoyle: That’s fine.
Mr. Mayor: --- I do not know what they are and nor have we had any discussions or
conversations about that but I do want to again take the primary subject matter and that was the
issue of replacement furniture. I’m not going to have a ruling on germanous but at the end of the
day what I don’t want to do is have us grilling the Airport Director about his expenditures about
matters that are again outside of our jurisdiction, okay? All right, thank you. All right, the Chair
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recognizes the Commissioner from the 1.
Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Judon, how are you doing?
Mr. Judon: I’m good, sir, how are you?
Mr. Fennoy: I guess you would agree that the methodology used for trying to procure
replacement furniture the Airport was kind of flawed?
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir.
Mr. Fennoy: Have you done anything or put anything in place to assure that something
like this will not happen again?
Mr. Judon: Yes, sir, I can tell you a couple of things that we’ve implemented. As I
mentioned earlier to Commissioner Guilfoyle we have drafted some changes in the bylaws that
address these types of issues so that the Commissioners and staff will clearly understand these
21
types on interactions. I have spoken with Ms. Sams and we are going to do some refresher
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procurement training that is tentatively scheduled for the 16 of April. I have quite a bit of staff
that’s fairly new in their positions so this will help them understand these processes. And my
Chair also indicated to me that he is going to sit down and have a discussion with the
Commissioners again talking about roles and responsibilities and interaction. And also as recently
as yesterday I had a conversation with the staff as well about interaction in these types of things
so those are some of the things that we are implementing.
Mr. Fennoy: Okay and, Mr. Mayor, may I address Ms. Sams for a minute please?
Mr. Mayor: You may.
Ms. Sams: Yes, sir.
Mr. Fennoy: Ms. Sams, I’d just like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful
job that you and your staff do in preventing things that shouldn’t happen from happening. I think
the guy from, Dr. Malik from Carl Vinson Institute, came here and said he has evaluated
procurement departments all over the country and he has never seen one that’s run as efficiently
as you run yours. So I’d just like to take this opportunity to say thanks to you and your staff for
the wonderful job that you all do for the city. I wish that I had some additional monies that I could
give to the Procurement Department but I will let Ms. Jackson handle it. I’m going to let Ms.
Jackson handle that. But I just want to say thank you all for the great job that you all do.
Ms. Sams: Thank you, Mr. Commissioner, for your comment and thank you, Mayor Pro
Tem and all Commissioners, thank you.
nd
Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 2.
Mr. D. Williams: I make a motion to receive as information.
Mr. Fennoy: Second.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, very well the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: Ms. Sams, in your expertise and the great job that you’re doing and all
that stuff can you tell me has there been any changes in the Airport instructions to do something
different from what you’ve been doing?
Ms. Sams: Repeat your question.
Mr. M. Williams: My question is is the process still the same to acquire furniture or
anything else at the Airport, has that changed?
Ms. Sams: No, sir.
22
Mr. M. Williams: Okay so the class we’re talking about taking this ought to be a repeat
class that we’re talking about giving because the instructions are already there. Now my issue
with this we heard that how this furniture gets to Jamestown but the same person who is appointed
to the Airport Board is the same person that’s appointed to oversee Jamestown so that in my mind
that’s makes it easier to figure out how that got there. Now where that come from I don’t know
but that certainly makes it easier for me. So if the process hadn’t changed to buy stuff at the
airport, who or when did somebody decide to do a different process because from what you’re
saying there is a process and something came up different. My question is who made that decision?
I need to know from the Board, from the Director, or from you who made that decision to have a
member to go out and put their name out there as if they represent this city? Mr. Judon’s got staff.
Someone’s out, I’m sure there’s somebody else is there. It ain’t just two of them so if the staff
didn’t do it and didn’t go through your office to have it done then who come up with the process?
So just like the process came up, the idea about moving the furniture came up and if the process
was changed I believe the furniture was directed there as well. I ain’t going to sit here and act like
this is just going to go away. Had you done that, Ms. Sams, you know where you’d be at, don’t
you? The places you’ve been how many times?
Ms. Sams: About twenty-seven.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, well, so those are my issues whether it be buying tables, if it’s a
process in this government here we need to follow those rules that the government has set aside.
Not the rules that I like or you like or anybody else likes. There ought to be rules that apply to the
process and that’s what we ought to be holding to.
Ms. Sams: Yes, sir I ---
Mr. Mayor: Ms. Sams.
Ms. Sams: --- yes, sir, I thoroughly agree with you and I stand before you as that expert in
Procurement to tell you that the controls and the ordinances regarding the procurement processes
are in place and that’s how we were able to look at this particular transaction and take the action
that we have taken. I can’t speak to who at the Airport or any other department changed the rules
but I will speak to you each time the rule has changed and we catch them.
Mr. Mayor: All right, thank you, Ms. Sams. We’re going to receive this as information
and we’re going to move on to the next item, well, I’m trying to help you right now help us.
Mr. Sias: (Unintelligible).
Mr. Mayor: Yeah, thank you, I appreciate that. All right, Madam Clerk.
The Clerk: Vote or are you just going to ---
Mr. Mayor: We’re just going to receive it as information.
The Clerk: --- consensus?
23
Mr. Mayor: Uh-hmm, right.
The Clerk:
The Clerk: Approve a request from the Augusta Fire Department to purchase two 2018
Chevrolet Pursuit Tahoes to be used as Command Vehicles.
Mr. M. Williams: That was Item number 8, wasn’t it?
The Clerk: Item number 8?
Mr. Mayor: Item number 8 was the one we need, Ms. Bonner, number 8.
The Clerk: 8, right, you’re right.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
8. Approve a request from the Augusta Fire Department to purchase one 2018 Ford Transit
Cargo Van at a cost of $23,383.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had this item pulled because I wanted to get
some clarity. I got some information when I first sat down a young man came up and said that the
Fire Department would provide an EMT to be in the building in case we needed some emergency
services I guess. So my question is we’re spending $23,383 dollars for a cargo van to haul supplies,
is that what we’re doing? Chief, can you help me understand why we’re buying a cargo van for
$23,323 dollars to haul supplies in?
Chief Taylor: Our logistics van is being moved to the shop to allow our small engine
mechanic to be able to go out to the stations and service small engine equipment and that kind of
thing. This van will replace that van and use it to carry supplies to the stations and so forth.
Mr. M. Williams: So with this amount of money for a cargo van and it’s not that we need
one. We’re transitioning to our own shop so now you’re telling me that we’re going to have the
mechanic go to the fire station and it ain’t going to the shop.
Chief Taylor: The small engine mechanic. That’ll save having to go all the way out there
and bring it all the way to the shop to be worked on and be transported back there.
Mr. M. Williams: If you’re going to go up there today you’re going to find 12 weed eaters,
15 air pack, not air pack weed blowers, you’re going to find all kinds of equipment and you’re
telling me you’ve got to have, the citizens are going to pay for a $23,000 dollar van so you can
have another van to take lawnmower equipment around to ---
24
Chief Taylor: The 23,000-dollar van is going to handle a lot larger items as far as moving
supplies to the stations.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, you know I know a little bit about supplies right? You know I
know a little bit about supplies, right?
Chief Taylor: We both do.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay I understand we work together so we know a little bit about
supplies. So tell me what supplies that we’re going to be transporting if we’re going to spend
$23,000 dollars.
Chief Taylor: Okay so there’s toilet paper, there’s Kleenex, I mean there’s paper towels,
there’s Spic and Span, there’s cleaning materials for all of the stations that has to be delivered in
bulk to the stations.
Mr. M. Williams: And you helped me out 100%. I’m glad you made that statement. You
helped me out 100%. Now these guys are probably going to pass it. I can’t vote for it; they’re
probably going to pass it. So, Chief, while you’re here if I can, Mr. Mayor, I’ve got another
question.
Mr. Mayor: You may.
Mr. M. Williams: When did the decision get to be made to put EMTs in this building so
we would have access to emergency services.
Chief Taylor: When that decision was made I cannot address.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, how may stations have we closed that didn’t have firemen to
operate that station in the last year?
Chief Taylor: None.
Mr. M. Williams: None. How many shifts we’ve been short then?
Chief Taylor: Our minimum staffing is 78 and we hired at that level ---
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, but I didn’t ask you that.
Chief Taylor: --- to staff every engine and every truck.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, Chief Taylor, suspend for a moment. I have an item in front of us to
approve the request of a Transit Cargo Van and I appreciate the wisdom of the Commissioner from
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the 9 but the questions that you’re asking are not germane to whether we’re going to approve this
or not.
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Mr. M. Williams: Okay, I agree we’ll go ahead and vote on this, go ahead and vote I put
this on the agenda, Ms. Bonner, we’ll talk about it at some point.
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Mr. Mayor: Okay. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1.
Mr. Fennoy: Motion to approve.
Mr. D. Williams: Second.
Mr. Mayor: All right, I’ve got a motion and a second. Voting.
Mr. Sias: That makes two times.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right, Chief Taylor, you’ve got a question, come on back. The
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Commissioner from the 4 has a question.
Mr. Sias: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chief, you said the mechanic will be going out in this
van?
Chief Taylor: The small engine mechanic.
Mr. Sias: And so obviously he’ll have tools in this van as well, am I correct?
Chief Taylor: Yes.
Mr. Sias: So he may can shine some of them tools with some toilet paper but it’ll be tools
in there that he can repair a small engine with, right?
Chief Taylor: Right ---
Mr. Sias: Okay.
Chief Taylor: --- this is an older van that he’s been, he’s going to be using, not the new
one.
Mr. Sias: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir. All right, we’re waiting on you at this point to push that button.
There’s a breakdancing song, push the button.
Mr. M. Williams votes No.
Motion Passes 9-1.
The Clerk:
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
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10. Discuss “common set of facts”. (Deferred from the March 20, 2018 Commission Meeting
– requested by Commissioner Marion Williams)
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the distinguished gentleman from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: Mr. Mayor, I had this put back on the agenda about the common set of
facts and this morning you know people brought stuff up here and put it on, I think we need to do
away with this. Now I normally don’t get my information out but you said that that we ought to
everybody ought to have a common set of facts but we don’t always do that. And if we’re going
to go by the rules it ought to be a rule all the time for everybody not just when you feel like it. So
the common set of facts really ought to be thrown out because nobody ever brings all the
information at the last minute. I’ve been on the dais for a long time and almost every meeting
somebody comes up with some stuff I hadn’t seen. I had my book all weekend long and someone
comes up with some information I hadn’t seen and expect me to vote on it and know what I’m
voting on so the common set of facts really needs to be thrown out. I put this back on the agenda
just so we could understand that that’s a process that has not worked and probably won’t work so
I’m going to make a motion we throw out the common set of facts.
Mr. Mayor: Throw it out, throw out the baby with the bath water, throw it out, throw it
out. You know my good friend Tom Corwin, he’s joined us now as the government reporter and
I’m sure he’s enjoying this. Write it down, Tom, common set of facts, common set of facts, throw
it out. That’s the headline above the fold, common set of facts, throw it out.
Mr. M. Williams: If we used them it would be one thing, Mr. Mayor, but we don’t use
them, we want to hold to the common set of facts when it’s convenient. Now if we’re going to
have all the same information, let’s do that. I’ve got no problem but you can’t have a common set
of facts when one person or another person don’t or vice versa so I think we need to throw them
out.
Mr. Mayor: Yeah ---
Mr. M. Williams: I’m never going to abide by that anymore. I’m not going to give my
information to anybody else to circumvent what I’m going to do.
Mr. Mayor: --- I understand. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the
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1.
Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Mayor, would items added to the agenda be considered as a common set
of facts?
Mr. Mayor: I believe the gentleman knows of what he speaks.
Mr. Fennoy: So, Mr. Mayor, I’d like to make a substitute motion that we do as I say do
and not as I do.
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Mr. Mayor: You know, I have a solution for it all. I do. All right, it’s called March
Madness. There are four in the finals. You pick a team, I pick a team and we go and have some
wings after it’s all over and done with and watch basketball and we have a good day in preparation
for next week, time of celebration and all of that. That’s how we’re going to do it and the
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Commissioner from the 9 and the Commissioner from the 4 are buying the wings this evening.
All right, that’s how we’re going to do it. All right, we’ll receive this no, no, no, no, we’ll receive
this as information. It’ll be this weekend but we’re going to get started early, going to get started
early. All right, I’m going on to the next one, Ms. Bonner.
The Clerk:
FINANCE
15. Present the financial report of the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2017.
Mr. Mayor: A little bird told me that we’re going to have a marker in the tournament next
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week and his name is Sean Frantom, Commissioner from the 7 He’s going to be the marker;
he’ll be teeing off at the Augusta National on Monday.
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Ms. Williams: Good afternoon. Today we are presenting the 4 quarter financials from
2017 and I’ll briefly go through some of the high points and mention some of the things that we
believe deserve notice that occurred there in 2017. One of the things that you will notice as you
go through your package is that the reports in the back for the individual funds look slightly
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different on the 4 quarter than they do on quarters one, two and three. This is because on the 4
quarter we changed the format of the reports to more closely resemble that that you will see when
the audit is presented. During the first three quarters of the year we usually remind you that those
are presented on a cash basis. At the end of the year we try to more accurately reflect the accruals
that will be shown, and I’m throwing out a lot of accounting in terms and I don’t know how to
explain it any differently. But these reports more closely resemble the audit reports that you will
see late June or early July. These results are preliminary. If I say that fifteen times during this
presentation please, please excuse me but these are unaudited preliminary results. Some of the
numbers will change. We hope that they will not change significantly but adjustments are required
to be made during the entire process of the audit. We cannot just cut things off and freeze them
and everything will look exactly the same today as it will look in June because as what the auditors
refer to as subsequent events which means things that happen after the end of the year and prior to
them finishing up their audit work those have to be reflected in the reports as well. So, the reports
that you see are for the General and Law Enforcement Funds which have been combined.
Typically we show those separately but for the audit report they’re combined so we do this on the
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4 quarter as well. Then you’ll see the Urban Services Fund, Fire Protection, Water and Sewer
and Stormwater. Then at the end of the report we show you some sales tax collection information
as well as the report of your SPLOST projects. At the end of 2017 if there are no adjustments
made to the General Fund and Law Enforcement Fund the revenue would exceed expenditures by
$1,057,000 dollars. This is just of .69% of the total amount of the budget. The final audited
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statements are going to be due to the state on June the 30 and they will be presented to you shortly
thereafter depending on the schedule of the meetings that happen. We will also be submitting our
Capital Report to the GFOA for consideration for another award which we have received both for
2015 and 2016 reports. Our hopes are high for 2017, three in row. Historically we have held
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expenditures that are not related to unforeseen weather events to their budgeted levels.
Expenditures are easier to control as you go through the year than your revenue stream. Most of
our revenue stream we have actually very little control over. You set the millage rate but the
collections are entirely dependent upon the population and when they pay them. Our sales tax
collections we’ve all had that conversation about we get a check from the Department of Revenue
with exactly zero information as to what it pertains to or why it may have gone up or down. We
also brought to you during the year two concerns relating to revenues that we expected to come in
short. That was your Electric Franchise Fee from Georgia Power and our State Court Revenues.
Combined those two items fell short of the revenue projections in the budget by $2.3 million
dollars. In the 2018 budget process we lowered those budget estimates and hopefully they will
more closely reflect the actual collections that occurred during 2018. Be assured we will be
monitoring those and we’ll bring those to you as we have in our regular quarterly reports. For ’17
we’ll be updating during ’18 as well. Sales Tax Collections concluded the year at 1% above the
amount that we had budgeted so 101%. $715,000 dollars went to General Fund and Law
Enforcement and $112,000 went to the Urban Service District. Also the fourth planned installment
of $1,125,000 dollars which would have been the fourth installment for our replacement for our
reserves that we used during the ice storm of 2014 was included in the 2017 budget. As you go
through the reports later on in your package, if you had gotten to the end of the report for the
General Fund and Law Enforcement and the number at the bottom was $1,125,000 dollars it would
have been a perfect year. We would have exactly replaced the amount that we needed to go in the
Fund Balance. Unfortunately we were a tiny bit short of that. The actual number at the end of the
report is $1,057,000 and some change so we were a little over $32,000 dollars short which
considering some of the revenue shortfalls that we experienced in 2017 is really not a bad showing.
We continue to await a decision from FEMA about our reimbursements from the 2014 ice storm.
One of these days I hope to make a report to you that does not include the terminology 2014 ice
storm. I really would look forward to that. The amounts that are under appeal and those amounts
that have previously been approved but are still being held as retainages are somewhere close to 3
½ million-dollars. The good news in the Fire Protection Fund. It will add 1 ½ million-dollars to
its fund balance at the conclusion of 2017. This comes directly from two areas. Insurance
premium taxes come from the State of Georgia from the Department of the Insurance
Commissioner. Those exceeded budget expectations by $558,000 dollars. Additionally the
expenditures were controlled quite well in that fund at coming in at only 95% of their budget. The
Fire Department’s budget is very heavily weighted towards salary and benefits, over 80% of their
entire budget. They had they reduced their overtime expenditures in 2017 by 20% mainly by
having fewer vacant positions. Obviously if you were paying straight time and you are fully staffed
or more closely fully staffed, you get more hours of work than if you’re paying time and a half to
fewer people so it’s a much more efficient use of the salary and benefits line item. The Water and
Sewer Fund continues to show growth in their operational ---
Mr. Mayor: Donna ---
Ms. Williams: Yes, sir.
Mr. Mayor: --- let’s take some questions while we’re going through it. The Chair
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recognizes the Commissioner from the 7.
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Mr. Frantom: I guess I can wait. Mine is regarding stormwater.
Ms. Williams: Two paragraphs down.
Mr. Frantom: Okay, I’ll wait until you get there and then I’ll ask the question.
Ms. Williams: Okay. Water and Sewer operational results were positive. We refinanced
some bonds in 2017, had a very favorable experience in bond rating. The ultimate goal of water
and sewer is to be less reliant on bond issuances to fund capital projects and to be able to fund
more of those on a pay as you go basis. Obviously that reduces your expenditures and still gets
you to the same point by being able to accomplish the projects that you need to to keep the system
working as it should. Stormwater Utility Program completed its second year of operation in 2017.
Revenues exceeded expenditures by $463,000 dollars which will be added to the Fund Balance
and used for projects in subsequent years. Do you have a question related to that?
Mr. Frantom: Yes, this is my question. So, we budgeted 13.1 and brought in actually $14
million, only spent $13 million. Why did the franchise fee go up, I mean explain to me why the
franchise fee that was budgeted at 346 ended up being 468 so we only netted 462, why did that fee
go up so significantly?
Ms. Williams: Because of changes that the governor made to the internal rate that is
charged to the Enterprise Funds.
Mr. Frantom: As far as that rate there’s nothing from this body can change it or do anything
about it, is that correct? Is that like a standard rate that we have to use, the franchise fee?
Ms. Williams: No, you set that rate.
Mr. Mayor: We set that ---
Mr. Frantom: We set that rate?
Mr. Mayor: --- we set that.
Mr. Frantom: Okay because I mean I just we brought in 14 we only spent 13 and almost
half of that went back to the franchise fee and then you know and then for it to go back into the
fund balance ---
Ms. Williams: The payment in lieu of franchise fee goes to the General Fund.
Mr. Frantom: --- right. But what I’m saying we brought in 14 million and we only spent
13 million and then we’re, half of this is going back to pay for other things in the General Fund,
half of it’s going to Fund Balance. I mean the citizens this is one of those issues they’ve been
concerned about and we’re not spending all the money and I’m trying to understand why we
wouldn’t if we brought in 14 why we’re not spending 14, what is the ---
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Ms. Williams: Some of that money is not, that 14 is not cash. This is done on an accrual
basis. In the discussion that we got we’ve three a little over $3 million dollars in Accounts
Receivable so it is not all cash. This is done on an accrual basis.
Mr. Frantom: --- okay.
Ms. Williams: So it’s not money in the bank until it’s actually collected. It’s counted as
revenue, revenue and cash unfortunately are two completely different items.
Mr. Frantom: Right, okay, thank you.
Ms. Williams: Okay.
Mr. M. Williams: A question.
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 9.
Mr. M. Williams: So, Donna, if we don’t collect it then what happens? Does it just stay
on the books or do we know I mean how does that work if we don’t collect (unintelligible).
Ms. Williams: There would be a process that you work through which a portion of it would
be declared as bad debt. It would be brought to this body to write off the bad debt as an expenditure
and that’s an expense to the fund.
Mr. M. Williams: And when will that happen end of the year or --
Ms. Williams: The Engineering Department is currently going through their lists of
Accounts Receivable and doing some reconciliation of those and they should be getting back to
us, and I’m not sure of the exact timetable but I know that they are working through that process
right now.
Mr. M. Williams: Okay, thank you.
Ms. Williams: Okay. Just kind of summing this up the 2017 budget was adopted as all
budgets are as a blueprint. You go through the year. We’ve never seen a budget at the end of the
year that looks like it did at the start of the year because you make adjustments, you change those
plans and you work through them. I know Commissioner Williams hates the term change order
but essentially when the budget is amended that is a change order because something has happened
that required you to adjust your plan during the year. So, we did that; we set this budget in motion
16 months ago and so now I am giving you a brief overview of the measurement of how we stacked
up against that plan that we put out there for us to use. One more time. These results that we’re
going through are preliminary and hopefully as I said there will not be many changes but I would
not be have a very realistic assumption that there wouldn’t be any at all. Okay, today once again
we’ll follow the format and I’ll try to hurry through this because we’ve kind of been here for a
while. We’ve got some good news, we’ve got some concerns. We’ve got your individual fund
reports which I won’t go through line item by line item. I don’t think you guys really want that.
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The Sales Tax Charts and we’ll just give you a brief overview of the things that were headed your
way in the next coming months. The good news is the funds with the year end surplus the General
Fund which I briefly mentioned a little over a million dollars which will be used to replace your
reserves that were used. Fire Protection 1 ½ million dollars, stormwater $493,000 dollars. And
another bright spot is that our Local Option Sales Tax Revenue is trending up. Our concerns. One
more time the Electric Franchise Fees from Georgia Power. The 2017 level was the lowest since
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2007, ten years ago. Our State Court Funds. As we reported in the 3 quarter we had expectations
that our revenue was running approximately $950,000 dollars short for the year if we annualized
it at that point. We finished the year $1.2 million dollars below the budget.
Mr. Mayor: Donna ---
Ms. Williams: Yes, sir.
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Mr. Mayor: --- we’ve got a question from the Commissioner from the 4.
Mr. Sias: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. Williams, I want to run back to the Electric
Franchise Fee ---
Ms. Williams: Yes, sir.
Mr. Sias: --- and understanding that was our lowest. Now here’s a question. Is that the
final bottom line from the Energy Tax being going away or is this, has a trend for something else
where is maybe their revenue went down.
Ms. Williams: The Energy Excise Tax affects your Local Option Sales Tax. It does not
affect the franchise fee. Franchise fee is the 4% of the gross revenues that are collected by the
utilities that operate within Augusta Richmond County which is Jefferson Electric and Georgia
Power.
Mr. Sias: So this will be a reflection of down revenue for them or lower revenue?
Ms. Williams: Yes, sir.
Mr. Sias: Okay, so that’s something we can’t control.
Ms. Williams: Exactly.
Mr. Sias: Okay, thank you.
Ms. Williams: Exactly. Okay your Probation Services. As we all remember when we
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started this process we thought that Probation was going to come online 4 quarter of 2016. There
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was a hurry up, there was, the private company stopped early, started July the 1 2016 so 2017 is
actually the first complete year of operation. Nobody realistically expected Probation to break
even in any of the early years. What we had hoped for is perhaps that it might be a little bit closer
revenue versus expenditures. At the end of the year it was little over $600,000 dollars that we
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spent more than we actually collected so hopefully we will, there will be some adjustments and
those revenue numbers will increase during 2018. We will continue to monitor that. We will bring
those, that information back to you.
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Mr. Mayor: Ms. Williams, we have another question from the Commissioner from the 6.
Mr. Hasan: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. Williams, from the Probations Services I know
about a month or so ago now they found someone that they put in charge there, permanent. Have
you had an opportunity to look at the numbers and see or the management style to see is it being
handled in the right direction that let’s you anticipate that’s something that’s legible and you think
that they are managing it right at this particular time?
Ms. Williams: I’ll defer that to the Administrator if you don’t mind.
Ms. Jackson: Yeah, I’ll take that question, sir. I have had conversations with Chief Butts
about the revenue projections. She definitely believes that there are some things that they could do
better and more efficiently. She has not fully implemented those things yet but even as we
discussed those she doesn’t have any expectations that they’ll really break even any time soon but
she does believe they can generate more revenue than the office has been generating.
Mr. Hasan: Okay with that being said have you had an opportunity to just kind of look at
the accounting practices that she’ll be using from a chart perspective because I know there was
some concerns as well about balancing the books correctly. Are you optimistic about that’s being
done appropriately regardless with what’s being brought in at this time?
Ms. Jackson: Frankly she does have a number of concerns about their practices in the
office. At this point again I can’t make any predictions about how that’s going to change the
numbers but she does have a number of concerns related to those things and some others.
Mr. Hasan: Okay with that being said if she still has some concerns, do we plan to kind of
sit down with them? I know that’s being managed by the State Court Chief Judge but do we kind
of look at that because it impacts our bottom line as well do we plan to look at and see?
Ms. Jackson: We have offered any resources that they might need to assist them in doing
that ---
Mr. Hasan: Okay.
Ms. Jackson: --- so yes, we can provide whatever resources. I think last year in fact our
Internal Auditors actually did affirm, did audit that function so we’ve already been involved in
taking a look at their operations and we can continue to as needed.
Mr. Hasan: Okay. Mr. Mayor, my next question is going to be around the State Court .
We do realize that there’s been a push to try to lower the fines and I think all of us want to see that
happen. So are we taking into consideration that by the fines by the collection is lowered as a
result of the fines have been decreased or are people not even paying those fines yet, any ideas?
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Ms. Jackson: At this point I don’t think we know what it is. That’s the cause of that; we
have a lot more questions to ask. It is of a concern that I think two years ago their total revenue
generated was about $3.6 million dollars. This year it was $2.2 million dollars so there’s been a
very substantial drop in that revenue. And I’ve asked Ms. Williams and her staff to try to get to
the bottom of what the root cause is for that. At this point we just don’t know.
Mr. Hasan: From those two years were the fines reduced in between those two years or
the fines had already been adjusted at that point?
Ms. Jackson: I don’t know the answer to that question. I don’t know at this point. I have
very little information.
Mr. Hasan: Okay, thank you.
Ms. Williams: And the last item that we talked about before is the Streetlight fee. This
body agreed to go through the process of revamping the streetlight structure. There’s been
conversations, subcommittee and the timing of that will be done before these fees go out on the
tax bill in late, in August or so. So that fund ---
Mr. Mayor: Ms. Williams, there’s more questions. The Chair recognizes the
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Commissioner from the 8.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Donna, I didn’t mean to interrupt you directly in your conversation. But
underneath these streetlights there’s a subcommittee that’s focusing on this. When are they going
to meet again. I think it was a month and a half ago they had met, is that correct?
Ms. Williams: There was conversation about having a meeting a week or so ago but I was
not in the office during that time and I think that meeting was postponed. I don’t have any meeting
date (inaudible).
Mr. Guilfoyle: Because I read the newspaper article and there was something implement
for residential as well as commercial.
Ms. Williams: That was from the discussion from the subcommittee ---
Mr. Guilfoyle: Yes, ma’am.
Ms. Williams: --- right. There were several alternatives that were discussed and I believe
that the final subcommittee meeting will finalize a recommendation that will be brought forward
to the body to be discussed, I think we’re very, very close.
Mr. Guilfoyle: I hope it’s sooner than later.
Ms. Williams: Yes, sir.
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Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Donna.
Ms. Williams: Okay.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir.
Ms. Williams: Okay, included in your packet are the various individual fund reports.
Those are on Pages 5 through 9. Also is our really colorful Sales Tax Collection Chart. This has
several years on it. There’s also one in your package on Page 12 that only has 2016 and 17 so you
can compare one against the other. Collections were up 2.36% from 2016 to 2017. In other words
we went from $34.2 million dollars to a little of $35 million dollars. 2017 collections month by
month, there were only three months which were February, March and October that 2017
collections were not higher than those in 2016 so nine out of the twelve months in the year in 2017
we collected more sales tax money than we did the prior year. So this is what’s headed your way
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pretty soon. We’ll do the 1 quarter for 2018 at the meeting on May the 8. June, July you will
have the 2017 finalized audit results. In 2000 we start the oops, 2018 millage process late July,
August. I mean the cycle renews itself and before you it we’re back in the budget process for 2019.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 3.
Ms. Davis: Mr. Mayor, I’d just like to make a motion to approve or receive as
information ---
Mr. G. Smith: Second.
Ms. Davis: --- or to receive as information, correct?
Ms. Wilson: That works just fine.
Mr. G. Smith: Second.
Mr. Mayor: All right, I’ve got a motion to receive as information and a proper second.
Voting.
Ms. Williams: And I would be very negligent if I didn’t give a huge thank you to the
Finance team members. Without this I’d just be standing up here shuffling papers looking kind of
silly, but they do an awesome job. We all appreciate them. Thank you.
Mr. Hasan: Is that the Finance Committee?
Ms. Davis: You couldn’t do this without Commissioner Frantom and Hasan.
Motion Passes 10-0.
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The Clerk:
ENGINEERING SERVICES
17. Motion to approve renaming the John C. Calhoun Expressway – Veterans Expressway.
(Requested by Commissioner Bill Fennoy)
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 1.
Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Mayor, I asked that this be added to the consent agenda and we got some
objections so if possible I’d like to hear the objections.
Mr. Mayor: Do you really want to hear them?
Mr. Fennoy: Yeah.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. All right, we’ll limit debate on this to 10 minutes. All right, the Chair
recognizes whoever wants to go first. All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the
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5.
Mr. Jefferson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had said from the very beginning, you know, I
had a problem with, you know, reestablishing a name of something that’s put forth and historic
and I still stand by that. At the same time I’m torn because I do think that our veterans deserve to
be saluted with a parkway. And just food for thought not a motion or anything but I’ve traveled
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15 Street between Swanee Quintet Boulevard where they’re building the new apartments and
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Broad Street, that stretch of 15 Street extends beyond the Veterans Administration Hospital and
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I think that if we were to do something like that 15 is a number and not the entire street. You
know like I said from Swanee Quintet to Broad Street rename that Veterans Parkway and we’re
still saluting the veterans giving them a road or some type of salute to their service and patriotism.
And at the same time the Calhoun Expressway we talk about One Augusta and a divide. Just the
historical applications I’m not crazy about the things I’ve heard about former Vice President John
C. Calhoun, but at the same time I just feel like if we’re moving forward and going to be
progressive we just don’t need something that’s going put such a large ripple in the emotion strings
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of the community. And in fact you know if you could take a number like 15 there’s no historical
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ramification. If you change the name of 15 Street the only people that would be concerned would
be Number 14 and Number 16 on either side. I mean as far as numerically because if you look at
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James Brown Boulevard it was 9 Street and it still carries the name 9 Street just under the James
Brown Boulevard on certain signs, not on every sign. And you know I just feel that every time
it’s brought up and I have a whole lot of respect for my colleague that brings it up, but you could
feel the wind go out of the room, you could feel the wind go out of the community every time it’s
brought up and it’s just something that we just don’t need to do if we’re trying to move forward to
make something a stand of that magnitude. I said many months ago if we change the name of
Calhoun Expressway the person that’s sleeping under that bridge will still be sleeping under that
same bridge tomorrow but under a different name but it don’t change anything. I just feel that,
you know, each and every time we bring it up some people you know tiptoe around the situation
because, you know, they don’t want the backlash of being considered racist or anti-racist or anti-
sensitive to the historic ramifications of the people that were held in slavery but during that time
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that particular person was doing what people of that caliber do. It’s wrong morally and it I would
hate the thought of bondage or slavery but at the same time changing it, moving it, or tampering
with history, it just makes a divide and it stipples process or progress, I’m sorry. And it just opens
up wounds that don’t really need to be opened up. Frankly speaking, a lot of people I’ve talked to
including myself when I’m traveling that neck of the woods I’m on the Calhoun Expressway not
thinking about the history of that highway. I’m just going from Point A to Point B with that route
with that stretch of name. And being in the south in the State of Georgia being in Augusta
Richmond County, it’s a ripple effect that every so often that’s going to continue to happen. You
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can always find things that need to be changed. Now the reason I said do a portion of 15 to get
back to that from Swanee Quintet back to I think MLK or the fork in the road where it divides,
you have a high school that was just saluted today and that high school and those residents would
have to go through an address change and we know how aggravating that can be. I mean the
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mailing address would still be 15 Street. But from the portion or stretch of land that I spoke of I
don’t think you’ll have the ramifications plus if we are genuine about doing something patriotic,
naming something or a road or a stretch of highway for a veteran, what better place than to drive
by the VA facility. And on that I will rest and allow any type of rebuttal or remarks but I just don’t
feel that changing the name of Calhoun Expressway is in the best interests of all of Augusta at this
point in time. Thank you.
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Mr. Mayor: All right, the Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 6.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, thank you very much and to my colleague who asked that persons
opposed to it I do plan to support it but I’d like to add some information to what was what most of
us think around what was just said and I think I pretty much understand what my colleague just
mentioned. So now first I’d like to ask my colleague Commissioner Fennoy do you mind me
saying what I’m going to say because it’s not going to be opposing as much as it’s going to be
sharing some insight to I think how we another way we could look at this so if you have any
problem with that, Commissioner ---
Mr. Mayor: He wants everybody to speak (unintelligible).
Mr. Hasan: --- okay, okay well here’s the thing when we, I took today and most of us
received an email and the email had us asked us to go and look at the 1837 speech of the Vice
President or the Senator John C. Calhoun. And if we look at that and we look at the naming of it
and we look at Calhoun Street we think about years ago in history and think about it at that point.
But the last time this conversation came before us something dawned on me as many of you know
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I’ve said several times I was born and raised right there on 9 Street which is James Brown
Boulevard now. But also right at James Brown Boulevard and Walton Way there that was not
Walton Way that was Calhoun Street, that was Calhoun Street. In my research I was able to
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establish that Calhoun Street went all the way over to 13 Street back down to Magnolia, is that
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Magnolia Cemetery by 4 Street, it didn’t go any further it stopped there and it came back down -
--
Mr. D. Williams: Right by the fairgrounds.
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Mr. Hasan: --- by the fairgrounds. So now with that being said when you’re talking about
the naming of the John C. Calhoun, that just happened in 60 something. That didn’t happen back
in 75/80 years ago. They typically, they just simply, the name was just simply moved off of
Calhoun Street turned into Walton Way and moved to John C. Calhoun Expressway so this is a
recent transaction. So we can if we look back and say well it’s historical there so it something we
ought to consider changing based on that. This is a recent transaction in 65, 66, 67 when that was
moved, you know. So we can look at and not look at it as something that we’re changing because
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they could’ve easily erased it at that point when they extended Walton Way from there from 13
Street all the way to Magnolia Cemetery, extended Walton Way and made a conscious decision to
move it and name John C. Calhoun Expressway so we ought to consider changing it because it’s
not that long ago. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: All right, we have two minutes remaining on the clock. The Chair recognizes
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the Commissioner from the 1.
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Mr. Fennoy: Mr. Mayor and colleagues, on February the 21 2018 the Georgia Senate
unanimously called on the Federal Government to change the name of a small body of water known
as Runaway Negro Creek. The Senate voted in favor of a Resolution to urge the US Board of
Geographic Names to officially change the creek’s name to Freedom Creek. Lawmakers say the
creek on Skidaway Island in Chatham County has been the controversial name for at least 100
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years. In the 19 century slaves were believed to have crossed the creek while trying to secure
freedom in the North. Bill sponsored Senator Lester Jackson a Savannah Democrat said the current
name is insensitive and makes it sound like black men and women were acting criminally by
seeking freedom. The reason I’m asking that the name of the expressway be changed has nothing
really to do with slavery. It has more to do with racism. John C. Calhoun was a racist. John C.
Calhoun said that slavery is the best thing that ever happened to black folks. John C. Calhoun said
that the inferior black race, the inferior black race can learn from the superior white race. There
have been 45 vice presidents of this country. How many of them can you name and what are they
known for other than John C. Calhoun? I am not concerned about history. I’m not trying to change
history. What I’m saying is that a city that’s predominately black should not be honoring a racist;
we shouldn’t be. Next week tens of thousands of people will be traveling up and down the John
C. Calhoun Expressway. What does it say about us? I mean out of all the people, all of the good
people that have come out of Harrisburg, all the good people that have done great things for the
State of Georgia, why are we choosing to honor someone that’s never lived in Augusta, never lived
in Georgia and his claim to fame is racism. I think that’s wrong and it’s a personal embarrassment
to me. What I’m saying to my colleagues that I am embarrassed that you all choose to honor
someone just like this. When the name of the expressway was changed to honor Calhoun, you’ve
got to look at what was taking place during that time. During that time busing, the Federal
Government said you all got to start busing black folks to white schools and white folks to black
schools to achieve integration. During that time voter registration laws were passed that allowed
black folks the opportunity to vote so what the elected people, I’ll wait until you finish.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, hold on. All right, all right, Commissioner, you’re (inaudible).
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Mr. Fennoy: So what the white leadership did at that time they said okay, Augusta, I’m
going to show you what I think about what the Federal Government is doing and we’re going to
name this expressway in honor in honor of John C. Calhoun.
Mr. Mayor: All right, Commissioner, your time has expired. All right, we have a matter
before us and it is a motion ---
Mr. Fennoy: Roll call vote, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: --- to rename the John C. Calhoun Expressway Veterans Expressway. Madam
Clerk, we’ll have a roll call vote.
The Clerk: Ms. Davis.
Ms. Davis: No, ma’am.
The Clerk: Mr. Fennoy.
Mr. Fennoy: Yes.
The Clerk: Mr. Frantom.
Mr. Frantom: No, ma’am.
The Clerk: Mr. Guilfoyle.
Mr. Guilfoyle: No, ma’am.
The Clerk: Mr. Hasan.
Mr. Hasan: Yes.
The Clerk: Mr. Jefferson.
Mr. Jefferson: No.
The Clerk: Mr. Sias.
Mr. Sias: No.
The Clerk: Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith: No.
The Clerk: Mr. D. Williams.
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Mr. D. Williams: Yes.
The Clerk: Mr. M. Williams.
Mr. M. Williams: Present.
Motion Fails 3-6-1.
Mr. Fennoy: Point of Personal Privilege, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: You’re recognized. State your inquiry.
Mr. Fennoy: I’d just like to remind my colleagues, and I’m not saying this and I don’t
want you all to perceive this as a threat but I want each and every one of you all to realize that
when Rosa Parks was first asked to move to the back of the bus, she didn’t make that move. That
when the first African American went to the voter registration to sign the vote and they was denied,
that did not keep them that did not keep them from going back to try to register to vote. And my
point is that I have two years and eight months left on this Commission and for the next two years
and eight months I’m going to continue to make this an issue because I think that it’s time we do
something about it. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Point of Privilege. Point of Privilege, Mr. Mayor?
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Mr. Mayor: Just hold on. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 4. State your
inquiry.
Mr. Sias: I’ll pass for a moment and I’ll give to my colleague.
Mr. Mayor: I’m going to recognize you in that order, come on.
Mr. Sias: Say again?
Mr. Mayor: I’d like for you to go ahead and proceed.
Mr. Sias: Not a problem, thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mr. Mayor: Hold on, thank you.
Mr. Sias: Thank you. A few months ago I addressed this very issue with the citizens of
Augusta Richmond County at one of our community breakfasts. One thing and one question I put
forward to everyone when we talk about these symbols that represent various things such as racists,
racism and these kind of things one of the questions I had was where do you stop at? And my
colleague said something very profound earlier. Not today, it’s another day. So you’re going
down John C. Calhoun Expressway and you’re going to The Masters. You could take that back to
the creek. What’s the difference there? Do we change everything? Do we spend a lot of time and
effort on trying to erase these symbols? I think we’d be better served spending our time and our
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effort, number one, recognizing and polishing up the symbols in this community to represent the
achievements of particularly African Americans when you relate it to racism of other issues. We
have several high schools, we have various roads and things in this community named after African
American folks and when you look at that there’s one key thing that runs through nearly every
African American that was recognized by a street or building or an institution. It had to do with
education and that is what we should be focusing on today to improve the education of our kids.
There was a very remarkable article written about three weeks ago or maybe four in the Metro
Courier and it talked about, I can’t even pronounce that word, desecrants or indicrants, whatever
you want to call it, but it’s folks that are out creating havoc and destruction. It said why is it
occurring so much in our community? That’s what we need to address. I grew up on Lummit Lee
Williams farm. He had a lot of symbols and some of them are still there today. My parents told
me, son, you’ve got to go to school. You’ve got to be better than the students across the street or
across the railroad tracks. If I went to Lummit Lee Williams’ house, it was designated at the side
door. If I went to the grocery store up the street, the convenience store, there was a door that said
colored only. I broke my ankle and I went to the doctor in 1963 or so my father carried me up the
back steps because I wasn’t allowed to go in the front door and while I was sitting in the doctor’s
office getting my ankle put back together, my sisters was across the street at the courthouse rioting.
I went back before then and after that and I worked on that farm. Most folks in here are not familiar
with a hayloft, now there might be a few. Most folks ain’t used to following a, you’re talking
about whatcha call this thing on the cars where you’ve got you just set the speed.
Mr. Speaker: Cruise control.
Mr. Sias: Cruise control. Tractors has cruise control when I was a kid. You set the tractor
and you slang them bales of hay. And I’ll tell you today my back is still bad but you know what.
I don’t want to say anything about anybody around here in that respect though when you talk about
those issues. I ride on Bobby Jones everyday. If you don’t know the history of Bobby Jones you
might want to go look it up so I ain’t got time to worry about those folks, what they felt about me.
I’m so proud of the folks who did do what they had to do to move racial equality forward. I’m not
going to spend my time worrying about Mr. Calhoun. I didn’t know who he was until this subject
came to this body and I didn’t, I shouldn’t use that term I didn’t care and I really didn’t give a rat’s
behind. So my focus is going to be on what we need to do to make Augusta excellent and
outstanding for everybody. Let’s insure that our kids understand these things. I volunteer out
there with kids every day and I’ve got folks every day scheming and planning how they can stop
that. I’m trying to do something that I know our kids needs, our young adults. They need a place
to be instead of robbing and pillaging but we’ve got folks trying to stop that and they sure don’t
look like Calhoun. So we need to go ahead and do our business and do what we need to do in the
City of Augusta. Thank you for your time, Mr. Mayor.
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Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes the Commissioner from the 8.
Mr. Guilfoyle: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like my colleague to have a clearer
understanding about one thing. You’ve got three Commissioners up here that is not retired yet.
We didn’t grow up in the 40’s 50’s and the early 60’s and see the things that you all have; we
really have not. This stuff is being shoved but it’s always been there as long as I’ve lived here
since 1965. Go down Tobacco Road, Peach Orchard Road, Washington Road, Gordon Highway.
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There’s a lot of history here. Do I want to change it? No, sir. But let me tell you something that I
did see, seen first hand. My mother came to this country right after the war, the United States
versus Japan. That’s when John Wayne movies and all was coming out killing them. But she
came into this country, married my father, even my own father’s family disrespected my mother.
She wasn’t treated well. My mother’s 85 years old and she dealt with it. Do you know what she
says to this day? She loves everybody, has no hatred towards anybody even to the people that
abused her verbally. She still loves them. That’s God’s way of looking at things but she learned
one thing in life. Everybody’s subject to change. Just because this Augusta is, my colleague said
a lot of black, majority black, that has nothing to do with it. What we need to do is look at, we
represent Augusta, all people, all people. But I’m sorry. I did not grow up in an era that ya’ll seen,
ya’ll had to deal with. My mother did and I seen the results of my mother’s attitude. Do I want to
change things? No. Fort Gordon had a concentration camp just for Japanese descendants even
though they were American citizens they was put into that camp as prisoners of war. Do they hate
anybody? No. It’s what you want to do. You want to live in the future or do you want to live in
the past? I’d rather live in the present looking for the future but learn my mistakes from my past.
This is a touchy subject for Augusta Richmond County, very touchy, because the millennials don’t
understand what the heck we’re talking about up here on this floor. They’re seeing that it’s being
divided, the city’s being divided and one thing we’ve got in Augusta is a lot of elderly people that’s
going everybody wants to change but these young guys are going what the heck’s going on. We’ve
got to stop this, please. It’s not going to pass that I foresee, and it keeps bringing up negative to
this body. People look at us. We’ve got this Cyber Command coming in here. Let’s grab them
boys by the horn and let’s take off with Augusta instead of stopping and looking back. I think my
colleagues both of them are left and right said it correctly. Mr. Fennoy, I applaud you for your
history but three years ago this wasn’t even thought of. I’m not into changing things. That’s
history that’s what we went to school for and I’m sorry I’m just going to stop while I’m ahead but
thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank my colleagues for listening.
Mr. Mayor: All right, Madam Clerk, are there any other businesses on the agenda for this
body? I know we’re going to go into Executive Session but I think that’s everything.
The Clerk: The record’s going to reflect that Mr. Fennoy and Mr. Hasan making that
motion and we failed.
Mr. Mayor: Okay, all right.
Mr. Fennoy: Okay, executive session?
Mr. Mayor: Yeah, all right, we’ve got a few things we need to address. All right, the Chair
recognizes the Commissioner, I’m sorry the Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie.
LEGAL MEETING
A. Pending and Potential Litigation.
B. Real Estate.
C. Personnel.
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Mr. MacKenzie: Thank you. I do have a very short agenda item for Legal. I would
entertain a motion to go into an Executive Session to discuss pending and potential litigation, real
estate and personnel.
Mr. M. Williams: So moved.
Mr. Fennoy: Second.
Mr. Mayor: I’ve got a motion and a second. Voting.
Motion Passes 10-0.
\[EXECUTIVE SESSION\]
LEGAL MEETING
24. Motion to approve execution by the Mayor of the affidavit of compliance with Georgia’s
Open Meeting Act.
Mr. Fennoy: So moved.
Mr. M. Williams: Second.
Mr. Mayor: Motion and a second, voting.
Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom and Mr. Smith out.
Motion Passes 7-0.
Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie for a motion.
ADDENDUM
21. Motion to accept the resignation of Melanie Wilson effective May 7, 2018, to waive the
90-day notice of resignation requirement and to approve four months of severance pay in
accordance with Sections 500.311 and 500.312 of the Personnel Policy and Procedures
Manual.
Mr. Guilfoyle: So moved.
Mr. Fennoy: Second.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a proper second, voting.
Mr. Hasan: Mr. Mayor, can I ask a question on this? When does she start working for
Savannah?
Ms. Jackson: I’m sorry, I don’t have the exact date of her start, I don’t have a start date,
sir.
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Mr. Hasan: She’s working in both locations, come on now.
Mr. Mayor: All right, we have a motion and a proper second, voting.
Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom and Mr. Smith out.
Motion Passes 7-0.
Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie.
ADDENDUM
22. Motion to approve the appointment of Robert Sherman as the Interim Director of the
Planning and Development Department effective April 9, 2018.
Mr. Fennoy: So moved.
Mr. M. Williams: Second.
Mr. Sias: Substitute.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second. The Chair recognizes the Commissioner
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from the 4.
Mr. Sias: I’ve got a question, nah, I’ll withdraw it.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion and a second, voting.
Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom and Mr. Smith out.
Motion Passes 7-0.
Mr. Mayor: The Chair recognizes Attorney MacKenzie.
ADDENDUM
23. Motion to approve settlement resolution for the settlement of all claims of Jennifer Miller
in the amount of $40,000.
Mr. Sias: So moved.
Mr. Hasan: Second.
Mr. Mayor: Motion with a proper second, voting.
Mr. Guilfoyle votes No.
Ms. Davis, Mr. Frantom and Mr. Smith out.
Motion Passes 6-1.
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Mr. Mayor: Is there any additional business before us, Mr. MacKenzie?
Mr. MacKenzie: That’s all I have. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. 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
March 28, 2018.
______________________________
Clerk of Commission
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