[0:07] everyone [Music]

[0:10] some reminders please silence your cell phones

[0:15] and please direct all questions through myself the chair

[0:21] speakers all speakers please limit your time to five minutes

[0:28] and let's remember that only one person can speak at a time

[0:33] and we are respectful to everyone even if you don't agree with what is being

[0:40] said please be respectful

[0:45] the meeting is called to order we will have our invocation by our County

[0:52] Manager murwad followed by I pledge led by Evans Martin

[0:59] let us pray father we want to thank you for the the

[1:04] blessings we enjoy in our community thank you for the the rain you sent our

[1:08] way recently Lord we thank you for the the blessings

[1:13] of freedom and and Liberty that we enjoy and the responsibility that you've given

[1:17] us we ask for your Justice in our country and in our County I also ask for

[1:21] your mercy and your grace as well and and lastly we ask for wisdom for this

[1:26] board for all the decisions that are made we ask that they be done in your

[1:29] glory and honor in Christ's name amen amen would everybody please stand and

[1:34] face the flag

[1:40] thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:45] United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands

[1:50] one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all

[2:06] at this time we will adopt the agenda with the said

[2:10] Corrections item 14 will be deleted

[2:18] item 18 a would be the budget amendment Sheriff's Office Grant

[2:26] 18 B would be the budget adjustment of 2023 of the Sheriff's Office

[2:37] item 20 will be the city of Waynesboro request

[2:43] item 21 approval of agreement with Rollin

[2:48] Environmental and item 22 will be information and

[2:53] reports so

[2:57] okay and executive session

[3:02] will be item 23. so can we have an adoption of the agenda

[3:09] with the said

[3:12] I'm sure I'll make a motion we adopt the agenda as amended a second

[3:18] motion was made by commissioner Nix second by commissioner Martin that we

[3:23] adopt the agenda with the said Corrections all in favor

[3:28] unanimous we will now have the approval of minutes

[3:33] of the meetings on March 14th 16th April 3rd and April 4th

[3:41] Madam chair I made a motion recruited amendments for the meetings on March

[3:45] 14th 16th April 3rd and April 4th second

[3:50] motion made by commissioner Nick seconded by commissioner Abrams that we

[3:56] approve the minutes of the meetings on the set dates all in favor

[4:02] unanimous next item is proclamation of National

[4:08] Public Safety telecommunications week

[4:16] there's a proclamation to be signed and that week is April 9th through 15th

[4:24] 2023 whereas emergencies can occur at any

[4:31] time that require police fire or Emergency Medical Services and whereas

[4:37] when an emergency occurs The Prompt response of police officers firefighters

[4:42] and EMS is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property and

[4:48] whereas the safety of our police officers firefighters and EMS is

[4:54] dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens

[4:59] who telephone the Burke County emergency communications center and whereas Public

[5:06] Safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens

[5:13] have with emergency services and whereas Public Safety telecommunicators are the

[5:19] single vital link for our police officers firefighters and EMS by

[5:26] monitoring their activities By Radio providing them information and ensuring

[5:31] their safety and whereas Public Safety telecommunicators of Burke County

[5:38] e911 have contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals

[5:45] suppression of fires and treatment of patients and whereas each dispatcher has

[5:52] exhibited compassion understanding and professionalism during the performance

[5:57] of their job in the past year therefore be it resolved that the Burke

[6:04] County Board of Commissioners declare the week of April 9th through April 15

[6:11] 2023 to be National Public Safety telecommunicators Week in Burke County

[6:19] Georgia in honor of the men and women whose diligence and professionalism keep

[6:25] our city and citizens safe and this is signed by myself

[6:31] uh Merv do we have to have a motion on this yeah I don't know if you have to

[6:36] but I think it'd be very appropriate to have a motion for the the whole board to

[6:41] approve the resolution Madam chairman I make the motion that we approve the

[6:45] proclamation for the national public safety telecommunicators week I'll

[6:50] second it motion made by commissioner Nick

[6:53] seconded by commissioner Martin that we approved the pop Proclamation for

[6:59] National Public Safety telecommunicators Week all in favor

[7:05] unanimous next we will have a presentation by

[7:11] um Madam chair would you like we have our

[7:14] several of our 911 staff if you want to present that to them we could get a

[7:20] picture too okay Lacey bring your group up

[7:27] well that includes um Chief Webster your group also

[7:39] Chad you coming

[7:43] I reckon we're going down

[8:01] foreign

[8:39] [Applause]

[9:05] next on the agenda is presentation by Annie Higman Blakeney Elementary School

[9:17] good evening good evening good evening good evening Burke County Commissioners

[9:22] committee members and guests one day when I was riding around

[9:28] Wednesday with my mom I realized there were no dog parks or parks with a dog

[9:32] area in our town and that idea let me hear

[9:37] today hi my name is Anna Hickman and I'm a

[9:41] fourth grader at blatney elementary I recently won second place in the

[9:45] district co-over Leaf 4-H DPA in Metter Georgia representing Burke County today

[9:52] I'm going to be telling you about my plan to open a dog park in my hometown

[9:56] of Waynesboro Georgia my three main points are how to organize how to

[10:01] propose and how to maintain a dog park point one organizing

[10:06] I could gather up a group of people that also won a dog park in Waynesboro we

[10:11] could share ideas with each other next we could try ideas

[10:15] with other citizens to encourage the County Commissioners to say yes to my

[10:20] dog park idea my mission stem is to benefit humans dogs and the community by

[10:26] the dogs made new dog friends and the humans meeting new human friends

[10:31] for the community it's just a benefit of it being there

[10:36] I can ask I can ask the County Commissioners to

[10:41] have land next to the animal shelter Rec Department Public Library or near any

[10:48] County property my second point is how to propose

[10:56] when I'm ready to open the dog park to public I will put in safety rules for

[11:01] the people to follow further safety as well as their dogs my goal is to make

[11:06] sure they have a fun every time they go for the budgeting I will let people

[11:11] donate for the dog park and I will recycle things like tires or plastic and

[11:17] pop taps then I will tell Roger dog owner saying

[11:22] something like hey if your dog's over 40 pounds they may need to stay away from

[11:27] the smaller dogs I could tell new residents if they have

[11:31] a dog or a puppy saying something like hey if you ever

[11:35] need a dog park or if you're trying to find a dog park you can come to mine

[11:40] point three point three maintaining

[11:47] now that I have gotten my dog park in place it has to be maintained what I

[11:52] need there to be is a trash bag for the dog's waist and a waste scooper for the

[11:56] bathroom area another step for development is to make sure people

[12:00] family and dogs have fun

[12:04] I visited a neat dog park in another town and it had an area for larger dogs

[12:09] over 40 pounds a small area for dogs under 40 pounds a rocks for the

[12:16] dogs to climb on and a wife's trash can a tunnel for both areas and a wood trip

[12:21] area

[12:25] and a lot of grass for the dogs to run and it was open every time of the day

[12:30] they even had a dog washing station

[12:37] my dog Stella inspires me to do this because still has a larger energy as a

[12:43] golden retriever so here's some real dogs from Burke County and I think they

[12:48] made like a fun safe place to play like a dog park

[13:07] so now that we heard my proposal for a dog park and saw some cute dogs and a

[13:12] cat next time you drive around Waynesboro maybe you'll see a dog park

[13:17] and what about better days to proposes the National Pet Day thank you for

[13:23] listening to my proposal today okay Andy stay right there thank you

[13:29] very much for that presentation it takes a lot of nerve and courage to come

[13:35] before a group of grown-ups that uh and present this to us let's give Annie a

[13:42] round of applause

[13:52] called you for winning the 4-H District contest on your presentation so that's

[13:59] an accomplishment within itself also so we are glad and proud of you and how you

[14:06] represented Burke County we do see your proposal we will be looking at your

[14:12] proposal but no decisions will be made as of now but thank you for your

[14:18] presentation thank you thank you

[14:21] [Applause]

[14:31] next item on the agenda rezoning a parcel

[14:37] 106.050 B from A1 to CG for sale to Specialty to Twos for industrial

[14:46] applications company Madam chair as Scott Lee is coming down

[14:52] I want to just kind of give you the overview this is a parcel on Ben let's

[14:59] see some Ben Hatcher Road no it's up the leasefield is on River Road is that

[15:04] correct yeah and they're wanting is wanting to go

[15:09] from an egg Zone to commercial General commercial to do some light

[15:15] Manufacturing in that that area Planning Commission reviewed it recommended

[15:21] approval there was no opposition at the public hearing is that correct

[15:33] approve the zoning change for parcel

[15:39] 106-050 B from a1cg for the special tools application I'll second it

[15:47] motion made by commissioner next second by commissioner Martin that we accept

[15:52] the rezoning of the said parcel all in favor

[15:57] unanimous next item rezoning a parcel 106

[16:04] a096 conditional use approval for small facility

[16:10] symmetry Madam chair this one is on on Ben

[16:14] Hatcher Road this one um norzetta Lawrence has requested a

[16:20] conditional use approval in an R1 Zone to put a family cemetery on their

[16:26] property on Ben Hatcher Road Planning Commission

[16:30] held a hearing on it they approved it with the following

[16:34] conditions that the Family Cemetery consists of less than one acre and that

[16:39] they provide legal access to the Family Cemetery granted through the parcel that

[16:44] she owns this there was no opposition Scott

[16:50] okay and playing they recommended approval

[16:57] Madam chairman I make the motion that we approve the zoning request for

[17:02] conditional use on 106.a at zero nine six well we haven't

[17:08] done that one it's the next one no that's it good condition use yeah

[17:14] yeah second motion made by commissioner next second

[17:18] by commissioner Lively that we rezoned the said parcel

[17:23] all in favor [Music]

[17:28] next item rezoning a

[17:35] parcel084-007 a from R1 to A1 to combine the parcels

[17:42] Madam chair this one is a request from the Marvin Robertson estate there the

[17:49] property is currently zoned R1 they want to combine it with several adjacent

[17:54] parcels and put them all as a A1 agriculture Zone industry properties on

[18:00] Idlewood Road the Planning Commission held a hearing there was no opposition

[18:04] and Planning Commission recommended approval of this rezone request

[18:11] is there a motion when I make a motion that we approved of

[18:16] zero eight four dash zero zero seven a

[18:21] from R1 to A1 I'll second it motion made by commissioner Abram second by

[18:28] commissioner Martin that we resume the set profit parcel all in favor

[18:35] unanimous next item rezoning or parcel zero to

[18:40] five through zero one four from R1 A1 to R1 to combine with parcels

[18:48] Madam chair this one is just in reverse that the property is currently zoned A1

[18:54] they want to combine a part seven tenths no seven hundredths of an acre of this

[19:02] parcel with an adjacent parcel that is already zoned R1 so they're asking that

[19:10] the the board rezone that seven hundredths of an acre from agriculture

[19:15] to low density residential Planning Commission held a hearing and there was

[19:19] no opposition and they recommended approval

[19:23] Ms chairman I make a motion that we approve no problem Scott right

[19:29] okay and this is on Highway 56 near Midfield okay and uh a property uh zero

[19:36] two five Dash zero one four from A1 to R1

[19:44] Madam chair I'll say promotion motion made by commissioner Abram Second

[19:50] Bank commissioner Nix that we resume the said property all in favor

[19:57] unanimous next item of rezoning rezoning of parcel

[20:03] zero two zero zero one seven G from R1 to A1

[20:11] to combine with parcels Madam chair this request comes from

[20:17] Charles Daniels they're they're asking to go from R1 low density residential to

[20:23] A1 so they can combine with an adjacent parcel they will they want to put the

[20:30] parcels together and replant it as one but they have to wait till the um the

[20:36] kuva Covenant is expired on both of them which I think is another year or so

[20:41] Planning Commission held the public hearing there is no opposition and the

[20:46] Planning Commission recommended approval this channel down another discussion

[20:50] later we approved zero two

[20:56] zero-017g from R1 to A1 Madam chair I second the motion

[21:04] motion made by commissioner Abram second by commissioner Nix that we rezone the

[21:09] said parcel all in favor

[21:13] unanimous next rezoning item rezoning a

[21:20] parcel075-011 from R1 to A1 to combine with another parcels

[21:27] this Madam chair this one is a request from Janine Lauren they want to rezone a

[21:33] parcel that's currently zoned R1 residential to agriculture it's located

[21:38] at the corner of Porter Carswell Road and Rackley Road where they come

[21:42] together it's a little point right there the rest of the property is zoned to

[21:46] agriculture so they would like to have the whole parcel zoned as as agriculture

[21:51] as one unit Planning Commission held a public hearing there was no opposition

[21:56] and they recommended approval of this rezone

[21:59] Madam chairman I'll make a motion we read for the rezoning of partial zero

[22:03] seven five-011 from R1 to A1 now second

[22:09] motion made by commissioner Lively second by commissioner Martin that we

[22:14] rezoned the said Parcels all in favor unanimous

[22:21] next we will have the bid opening first one the motor grader Road Department

[22:27] [Music]

[22:31] we have two bids on the motor grader

[22:44] first bit is from Dobbs equipment company out of Grovetown

[22:50] their bid for a new motor grader is 279

[22:55] 756 dollars Dobbs equipment

[23:01] 279 thousand 756.

[23:07] what kind of motor it is a John Deere

[23:13] John Deere thank you next bid is from Yancey Brothers

[23:18] equipment

[23:34] they're bid and this Yancey Brothers in Augusta

[23:39] their bid is 320 000 even

[23:45] 320 even they say they've got it in stock in

[23:51] Augusta

[23:59] thank you that's all

[24:02] all the bids on the motor grader if you like I go ahead to the bids on

[24:08] the the culvert pipe

[24:22] three o'clock for the finance committee meeting

[24:28] all right the next bit is the culvert pipe

[24:32] for several locations we've got uh pipe we've only got one bid it's from

[24:38] Cherokee culvert

[24:46] and we've got bid for Quaker Road Project that's 16 853

[24:54] a bid for Middle Ground Road replacement of the Culvert there and that's 30

[25:00] 135 dollars and Butler Mill Road uh 14 664.

[25:08] the total price on the three uh Replacements or the the pipe for the

[25:13] three Replacements is 61 652. 61 652.

[25:30] that's better I wish we had gotten some more bids but that's better than I

[25:34] expected it to be okay all right thank you

[25:39] next item on the agenda proposal of low cost spay neuter options the animal

[25:46] services all right I'm going to let Mr Parish uh tell us

[25:51] about this proposal

[25:56] they could even I won't be long um

[25:59] oh there you go

[26:03] I was a couple years ago I had mentioned uh to County Manager Merv uh Walter that

[26:07] we were looking at doing local spay and neuter and since we were first starting

[26:11] up we had the funds and we budgeted it for funds and worked things out to where

[26:15] we can provide that at free of cost to the public uh just like with everything

[26:19] else um over the past couple years prices

[26:22] have greatly increase so we were not able to get a spay and neutering done at

[26:26] the discounted rate that we were so doing that time frame I immediately

[26:29] stopped doing spay and new to vouchers to the public so we can try to figure

[26:33] out a different option um speaking with multiple different

[26:37] other counties and different rescue groups around the area what they've been

[26:42] doing have been seeing a success is offering a low a low-cost spay and

[26:48] neuter services such as as offering vouchers of say between forty five

[26:53] dollars six dollars just depending on what the animal is and what the cost of

[26:57] the surgery is and then that organization or that county has been

[27:00] picking up the remaining part of the bill so either way so they're still

[27:03] offering an option for low-cost spay and neuter but they're also taking that

[27:07] person that's owned owning the animal and having them invest a little bit into

[27:12] it also after speaking with Mark with Michael with the finance department uh

[27:17] you mentioned that that could be possible as a public-private partnership

[27:21] so I want to present that to you guys to see if that would be an option for

[27:25] animal services to to continue to allow citizens to have an option for a

[27:29] low-cost spay and neuter uh we currently still have the funds

[27:33] within our Professional Services budget that we uh during the budget every year

[27:38] for a spay and neuter

[27:43] clarify already I'm going to ask some questions because to make sure I

[27:46] understand so in the in the past we have paid 100 of the cost of spay and neuter

[27:52] and it was intended for those um pet owners who couldn't afford to

[27:57] have their their animals spayed or neutered we found out that just through

[28:02] not you know there were a lot of people who probably could afford it that took

[28:06] advantage of the spay and neuter program and then the funds ran out and then the

[28:10] people who truly needed it didn't the money wasn't there and then now the

[28:14] prices have gone up and it's much more right now the funds are still there and

[28:18] we still have enough funds to continue and with the prices of the services that

[28:22] I've looked into um

[28:25] generally if we so whatever you guys want to set the price to let's say if

[28:30] it's 45 55 60 whatever per voucher It generally still what we would actually

[28:36] pay now compared to what the offset price is will now be back generally to

[28:42] what we were originally playing paying excuse me

[28:46] um now we also offer offer free spand and neuter for any animal that is

[28:51] adopted through us so we'll still get those prices at the same discounted rate

[28:55] but uh any animal that's already previously owned by somebody and they

[29:00] come and say hey which I have two dogs or whatever

[29:04] um can you guys help me out on spay and neutral services so generally what we

[29:07] were doing at the time of doing the vouchers and now we're saying okay all

[29:11] right well how about you become a little bit Financial invested into it this is

[29:14] your animal you had it for a while we shouldn't have to generally eat the

[29:18] entire cost of it so we would provide a voucher to the individual to take to the

[29:23] vet yes and then the vet would would it would still send us the entire bill but

[29:28] but we already have the funds for them purchasing the voucher

[29:34] so they would they would pay the the vet directly and then we would pay when the

[29:39] vet gave us the voucher back yeah they would pay us directly uh all right so

[29:44] whoever wanted to spend the bachelor would pay us the cost so to spay and

[29:47] nude about you so we would take that money which I made deposits to Michael

[29:50] on a daily basis um and then the vet would still just go

[29:56] and send us the bill so we already have the funds that they've uh uh that they

[30:01] purchased the spay and neuter voucher for so we already have that

[30:06] so is it a certain percentage that the the animal owner pays and then the

[30:12] voucher pays for the other part so so they would pay whatever price that you

[30:17] guys set forth on the voucher a lot of people are doing anywhere between forty

[30:21] five dollars sixty dollars per voucher and then that organizational that

[30:25] government has been paying the remaining cost of it okay so then the now I'm

[30:30] understanding exactly so we would the the pet owner would come and pay the

[30:35] county yes we pay the county 45 or 60 whatever the fee is for a voucher they

[30:42] would take that voucher and get their pet spayed or neutered yes and then the

[30:47] vet would then send us the actual bill whatever the difference yeah it would

[30:51] send us that bill on the monthly basis okay

[30:54] so what's the average cost now for a dog and a cat

[31:02] so generally the average cost is safe for a

[31:11] yes a lot of procedures now is going by the actual waiter adult so there's a

[31:14] range so let's say on the low end for adult to get spayed let's say if it's

[31:18] anywhere anywhere between two pounds to 49 pounds generally the average cost of

[31:22] about 137 dollars

[31:29] and then anywhere between the 50 to 99 pound dog you're looking at 170 and then

[31:34] 100 pounds plus you're looking at 200 at uh 203 dollars

[31:39] that's generally about an average um and for a cat for a cat generally

[31:45] calls for a cat spell you're looking at about 137 and for a cat neuter you're

[31:51] right at 115.

[31:55] yeah so my recommendation would be to kind of set it out of the middle

[31:59] middle-ish or say if you guys want to say that a dog

[32:03] um spay voucher is going to be higher than adult new to voucher or vice versa

[32:08] however you guys want to set it I plug it in

[32:11] we'll go from there why don't we put a program together I

[32:17] think from what I can tell there's some general interest put it together as part

[32:22] of our budget proposal we're about to start the budget process and have it

[32:26] ready for implementation October 1. sounds good to me is that okay with the

[32:32] and we'll we'll work out the particulars and bring back a specific proposal

[32:37] do that anyway okay thank you thank you all right thank

[32:40] you

[32:43] next item is acceptance of the canine donation from canines of Valor

[32:50] Foundation Sheriff's Office

[32:55] we have been notified that the the canines of Valor foundations donated a

[33:01] canine Officer a dog named Cooper to be

[33:07] provided to Burke County Sheriff's Office the county would have to um would

[33:12] I guess take possession put provide insurance

[33:17] um the there's going to be expense of feed and vet bills that are in I'm

[33:25] assuming the dog's already been fully trained there's no extra training needed

[33:30] yeah go ahead

[33:34] to retire the one doll because of the medical issues that it had so uh back in

[33:41] January we applied and with other law enforcement agencies Across the Nation

[33:46] and were interviewed by canine Valor to they interviewed the Handler that we

[33:50] chose they interviewed uh Command Staff and other people within the agency and

[33:55] they offered us the canine and that not only comes with so you're talking about

[33:59] vet bills so canine Valor Christina with canine Valor they're actually whatever

[34:03] vet of our choosing they're going to put their credit card on there and handle

[34:06] all the vet bills so so the dog comes it's a Narcotics uh detection dog and

[34:12] it's also a tracking dog so we're not going to use apprehension so it's not

[34:16] going to be a bite work dog it's strictly if we're using for Narcotics

[34:19] work and for tracking for suspects missing people missing kids so it came

[34:24] with the dog she also provided a kennel and has sent the kennel to the Handler's

[34:29] house she sent the crate to the Handler's house and it came with the

[34:33] Handler training so the only thing that we're going to have to do is typically

[34:37] we did it before we did it through the stipend through the Handler and that

[34:41] would he would use that to help pay for the food so that would be the food cost

[34:45] and then the insurance costs so that would be the only cost that we have so

[34:49] it's about a 25 000 by the time you do the dog to Handler training and

[34:53] everything that they're giving us so what kind of dog is it what's that what

[34:57] kind of dog is it it's a lab a lab yep didn't I see another dog

[35:03] that's a mouse so we've always had two dogs and that one will be the same thing

[35:07] and that's completely donated that one's completely donated by quality canine

[35:12] Concepts in Thompson with Matt Hammond okay

[35:17] the one thing just to remind everybody to stay within

[35:22] budget and knowing that there's some budget issues related just be careful to

[35:29] keep all the expenses within the total budget of the Sheriff's Office yeah so

[35:33] we try to do it this way so we didn't have any other costs because we were

[35:36] going to go another route and it would have cost twelve thousand dollars just

[35:39] for a dog but trying to apply for these things and able to get it through this

[35:42] process is is a whole lot better than costing anybody a whole bunch of money

[35:46] so

[35:49] The Madam chair I make the motion that we accept the canine donation from The

[35:52] Valor Foundation our second motion made by commissioner next second

[35:58] by commissioner Abrams that we accept the K-9 donation from The Valor

[36:04] Foundation all in favor unanimous

[36:10] next item 18 Alpha a budget amendment Sheriff's

[36:18] Office Grant and Merv can you go over there because

[36:22] we okay Michael yes okay Madam chair uh last month the board approved or

[36:28] accepted a grant from Department of Justice through and I can't remember

[36:34] this the particular Foundation

[36:38] but the grant was for a crime analyst and it's one of the

[36:45] the most of the expense of the grant would be Personnel costs and it'd be a

[36:51] small amount for a computer and for software for the the new employee

[36:56] the budget amendment it reflects what was in the grant proposal that was

[37:03] submitted to us last month there's yeah as of

[37:08] Friday this was perfect Monday morning we have a new employee in

[37:14] that that's certainly was signed up to be on the

[37:17] payroll but the salary is going to be higher than what this budget amendment

[37:21] would support so that is an area of concern

[37:25] if we continue with the salary that was presented for the budget Analyst at like

[37:31] 23 and and some change per hour then the money will not last the full two years

[37:38] of the grant so there's um it needs to be some discussion before we go too much

[37:43] further so this budget amendment doesn't act will not accurately reflect the

[37:49] current situation because the salaries are going to be higher than than what

[37:53] this proposes so so the current

[37:58] for the budget we got would be 1947 hours that correct uh that sounds

[38:04] probably that's right yeah we figured out but the salary in order to stay

[38:09] within budget and the employee not take health insurance would need to be forty

[38:14] thousand five hundred that's that's correct and then that works out the 19

[38:18] and I think 47 cents per hour that's with no insurance with no health

[38:24] insurance we still had to provide life insurance and I think we and work

[38:29] yourself right that's correct workers comp retirement that's correct well I

[38:33] know the sheriff ain't here tonight but when we talked about this last meeting

[38:37] he assured that it would only be for what the budget amount was

[38:43] and then he comes back with something higher that's not in in that amount

[38:47] closed amount per hour I'm sorry 23.48 per hour

[38:51] and so the the bottom line will be approximately ten thousand dollars over

[38:55] per year so we'll need an additional twenty thousand dollars for the two-year

[38:59] period

[39:05] the grant was for a hundred thousand that's correct two years right for two

[39:09] years correct

[39:13] and that included salary and benefits right that's right

[39:18] that would includes salary and benefits and computer

[39:26] so the if if we continue with the salary at

[39:31] what was it 23 48 then the funds would run out about

[39:38] a year and a half into the grant program

[39:47] we got a comment anybody from the Sheriff's Office

[40:01] yeah so right even considering that because I think what you and I talked

[40:06] about was a a certain level but when we got the personal action form it

[40:11] was higher than that so all right when um Michael calculated out what it would

[40:16] what that um Grant could support without the

[40:21] employee taking benefits and it was forty thousand five hundred maximum for

[40:25] salary That's not including if that's assuming no overtime either but then

[40:30] when the Personnel action form came up month yesterday

[40:34] it was at a much at a higher rate that would not stay within the grant funds so

[40:41] it's um and anyway we're pointing out that

[40:45] there's a discrepancy let y'all figure out how to handle which how you want to

[40:50] solve it you can say the when the grant Runs Out in a year and a half is over

[40:54] and that's done or that you go back and refigure the salary to make it last two

[41:00] years or the last meeting the sheriff assured that it would only be

[41:05] what the grant was covered for so which is 1947 hour minus health insurance

[41:11] so either we need to table it till we talk with the sheriff or either we need

[41:15] to

[41:18] pass it with the 1947. it is my is my take on it

[41:25] well it was certainly he did say that and certainly for two years is there any

[41:29] I mean there's no way if we if we sign up for this we can't fire this person

[41:33] this lady in a year and a half so we need to again I think I agree the table

[41:37] it or or deny the Grant I mean I hate to take to not take money that we can get

[41:42] but if it's not going to be what we agreed on last month we got to come up

[41:45] with a different plan don't we one issue is that it's my understanding

[41:52] that she's already started working and so that there's going to be whatever

[41:58] hours she's worked and um unless she agrees to a lesser pay

[42:03] then she started working at 23.48

[42:09] as of yesterday

[42:13] until we started working forward Miss chairman

[42:17] um I I don't think it's a perfect place to do this why don't let's um

[42:23] um just meet with the chef and see if we can come up with

[42:27] uh that's my way I think in the meantime do we add can add this person to the

[42:31] payroll or or not we don't have a place to charge it without a budget amendment

[42:37] because it's going to be as part of in the grants fund small grants fund

[42:42] and this was if if the salary had been what we had all agreed to then this

[42:47] budget meant what would cover everything would be

[42:52] it's Federal grant money so we got to be careful how we use it as well

[43:01] any other recommendations one is the table

[43:06] other she's already been hired right she's already to start at work right

[43:10] that's my understanding I don't know

[43:14] that's what I thought she came in yesterday to sign up for payroll

[43:18] and we had and it was that's when we realized that there was an issue

[43:23] yeah so did she know what this I guess only the sheriff would know this

[43:29] um that it only lasts for two years but now it's possibly this the money will

[43:36] run out in a year and a half

[43:42] well like I said the last meeting I mean he he assured us it would

[43:47] would be within this budget and you know obviously it's not

[43:53] [Music]

[44:00] and and you got to go to full or two years in order to satisfy the grain

[44:06] legally there

[44:09] for them we didn't see it that way there wasn't a requirement that we saw when we

[44:15] looked over it after talking with the manager that you have to keep them on

[44:18] for two years ago

[44:21] but this board doesn't have the authority to hire or fire for the

[44:24] sheriff's department so if we approve this as a budget line from a grant then

[44:28] we'll all be on the hook for them so what what would happen

[44:32] basically is is trying to look into a murky crystal ball you'd have the money

[44:37] run out to play them to pay the employee in about a year and a half back to fund

[44:41] the calculations that have been said and then that part that employed there will

[44:45] be no money in that part of the insurance budget to pay that employee

[44:48] that employee would have to be paid on the insurance other funds if he had any

[44:52] to pay just as a regular employee if he kept them on or or yeah if he kept or

[44:57] let them or or yeah or not have that position any longer

[45:03] but everything the administrator the manager said and Michael said earlier we

[45:07] looked into it we agreed with everything they said

[45:11] well I think I think we need a table and talk to the sheriff and see if he's in

[45:15] agreement with when the money Runs Out

[45:19] I mean yeah

[45:22] if the contract stated that it wasn't locked into two

[45:28] years we did not see that we when we when we

[45:32] were informed of the problem this morning and then we talked to manager

[45:35] about we that was my first concern that we were locking ourselves into a

[45:39] two-year guaran a two-year commitment we were because this this this contract is

[45:44] y'all right only the sheriff can employ this person but you all have to approve

[45:48] it and so we specifically look for that we saw no requirements that they have to

[45:53] stay the full two years in this position which turns it back over to in a year

[45:59] and a half the money on the line item to pay this person for the grant will run

[46:02] out according to the calculations and then the sheriff's got a decision to

[46:06] make he's going to have to bring that person known as a regular employee

[46:09] out of existing funds if he's going to keep that person on

[46:13] unless it's another grant that comes along

[46:18] rather than to let the money go back why don't let's just uh

[46:24] make the agreement where that uh until the money run out

[46:29] we need him here to make that agreement because he made the agreement last

[46:34] meeting and he was going to stay within the

[46:36] budget on it

[46:40] well that's no big deal we can take an um

[46:43] he's not out the country no way so we can saw this one day next week when is

[46:49] payroll uh we're doing payroll payroll this week but this is

[46:54] since she started this week it's two weeks before she would be on the we'd

[46:58] have to cut a check for this one for this employee

[47:03] but can we get that's great one day next week

[47:11] let us know if you're going to uh agree with the uh as long as the money run out

[47:17] or you can make a motion that the money Runs Out is over or you can make a

[47:23] motion that that you're going to stick with what was proposed at the last month

[47:29] and those basically two options are the the maximum forty thousand five hundred

[47:36] or the you're going to pay what they said to pay and then the money is going

[47:42] to run out and it's that's it well I'll make a motion do we go

[47:46] by what he said last month that he was going to stay within the hundred

[47:51] thousand dollar budget which will be 1947 mile

[47:55] second [Music]

[47:58] motion made by commissioner Martin second by commissioner Lively that we

[48:04] stay within the 1947 all in favor

[48:11] to to in favor okay can we get a another motion

[48:19] that the sheriff has decided to pay her 23

[48:25] 48 an hour and when the money Runs Out in a year

[48:29] and a half that's it

[48:36] I'm in favor and it's part of the discussion on that motion that you would

[48:41] include the subsequent budget amendment that we'll have to work that up but it's

[48:46] if that's what the board decides the thing you want to do you haven't taken

[48:50] the vote yet we'll follow up with that Mo that motion would include the budget

[48:55] amendment to allow it to pay well this budget amendment covers that

[49:00] until it runs out well that's true it's it doesn't make

[49:05] may not have enough salary but um it would get us through this fiscal year

[49:10] it'd be sufficient for the for this year then we can correct it in the fall the

[49:15] next fiscal Year's budget would be different

[49:19] okay motion to amend the budget with the said information

[49:25] motion made by commissioner Nix second by commissioner Abrams all in favor

[49:32] three all opposed to

[49:39] so y'all gonna y'all want to be certain that next year when the money runs out

[49:43] y'all want to be sure let's remember that what we stuck to what y'all stuck

[49:47] to because we have a short memory sometimes okay we will and Kathleen

[49:51] please put in the minutes thank you okay next item uh budget adjustment

[49:59] share so all right Madam chair the the finance committee made a motion a couple

[50:05] months ago um asking for the Sheriff's Office to

[50:09] provide a budget amendment so they could pay the inmate medical expenses the

[50:15] sheriff's offices this week has submitted us a budget amendment moving a

[50:19] hundred thousand out of health insurance and moving that into the Professional

[50:24] Services for inmate medical and so we need to approval of that budget

[50:29] amendment it was an extra hundred thousand angle need in health insurance

[50:32] that's um because of fewer employees I'm not sure exactly why but we've we've

[50:37] checked and at the rate they're going they're not going to need that hundred

[50:40] thousand Mr chairman I saw a move I'll second a motion Madam chair

[50:46] motion made by commissioner Abram second by commissioner Nix that we accept the

[50:53] budget adjustment from the sheriff's department all in favor

[50:58] you now

[51:02] next item approval of a resolution for new opioid settlements

[51:09] Madam chair is you and the Commissioners know you voted a couple years back to

[51:13] participate as a County as well as most counties if not all counties in Georgia

[51:17] did in a lawsuit against the the pharmaceutical companies that produced

[51:22] the opioids because there was evidence that they knew that basically there was

[51:26] an epidemic going on that was over prescribing going on and maybe even some

[51:29] misinformation to some of the Physicians as far as the danger of The Addictive

[51:35] problem with the drugs that end result cost County governments city government

[51:40] state governments a lot of money with overdoses ambulances to deal with at

[51:44] hospitals and so forth and so on the county has received in the settlements

[51:50] that occurred against the pharmaceutical companies and the fifty four thousand

[51:54] dollar range is your percentage of all the local governments in the nation that

[51:58] receive money from that there is a second round of lawsuits in that dealing

[52:04] with the people who filled those prescriptions the Walmarts the Walgreens

[52:07] the CVS's and what things they could have could have not done to improve the

[52:14] problem that occurred what was their role in all that those companies as a

[52:18] group have already settled that and there's a judge has set aside a pot of

[52:23] money for the cities and counties Across the Nation to share in it'll probably be

[52:28] smaller than what you've already received but whereas the first decision

[52:31] you had to make to participate you had to think about and talk about it this is

[52:35] all done the money's just sitting there you just got to decide if you want your

[52:38] share or not but you will need to vote to allow the chair to sign a resolution

[52:42] to allow you to join in with other cities and counties to collect the share

[52:46] that Burke County would be due of the resolution of the settlement with the

[52:50] performance with the um the the the retailers that fill the prescriptions

[52:54] does that make sense manager it does no matter chairman I make the motion that

[52:59] we approve the resolution authorizing you to sign

[53:03] for the settlement funds for the second opioid

[53:08] settlement second

[53:12] motion made by commissioner Nick seconded by commissioner Abrams giving

[53:16] me permission to sign the resolution for the new Opera settlement all in favor

[53:23] you know Madam chair I just want to add that I was skeptical when we first went

[53:29] into this whether we would get anything out of it but um it's provided already

[53:34] 54 000 that we can use for training for First Responders so I think it's a good

[53:39] good move to participate thank you thank you

[53:45] okay next item um

[53:48] can that money be used to buy like Narcan and stuff like that or just I

[53:54] believe we could yes anything dealing with medical

[53:58] type stuff like that yes

[54:03] okay next item on the agenda city of Waynesboro request wherever you're going

[54:10] to say it is we had um let's see if I can find my letter we had a request from

[54:15] the city of Waynesboro on there and sit the mayor and Council asking the County

[54:21] commission for a meeting and also to consider working Contracting with the

[54:27] city to do um curbside service within the city

[54:31] limits and so I think everybody's had a copy of the letter

[54:36] we have just as background for the public

[54:40] the board one we've been talking about curbside for several years and have had

[54:47] meetings with all each of the Cities invited the cities throughout the

[54:50] process we put out a bid that any anybody could

[54:55] have bid on the proposal um

[54:58] several companies bid on the city could have been that but it might have been

[55:02] difficult to do curbside county-wide but we we did it with a price

[55:08] to do the entire County including all the cities but we we knew that

[55:13] Waynesboro was skeptical so we did a price with all the cities except

[55:18] Waynesburg the mayors of the other cities and the council have told us they

[55:22] they want to participate so the contract that we've been working toward is a

[55:29] contract that includes curbside garbage pickup throughout the county except in

[55:34] Waynesboro that we could include them in that contract with Rylan if they elect

[55:40] to but so far they have told us they didn't want to to participate with Rylan

[55:49] okay any questions or comments concerning uh the

[55:55] letter from the city of Waynesboro

[56:01] okay no action taken

[56:08] next item approval of agreement with violent

[56:12] environmental for solid waste collection services

[56:16] and Madam chair we have on your desk we have the the final version at least I

[56:22] hope it's the final version of the Contra Mr Lanier and I've been back and

[56:27] forth on on this and this I think that's that's healthy for us to do we took a

[56:32] model contract in both revise it throughout the latest one the

[56:37] only changes are related to the time frames and I think Mr Lanier wanted a

[56:43] seven year I wanted a five-year contract so we've got the initial term would be

[56:48] five years and nine months to run out as of

[56:53] September 30th uh I forget the first year so that it matches with our fiscal

[56:58] year and and thereafter at the board elects they could renew the contract for

[57:03] five-year terms expiring on September 30th

[57:08] um the the rate for is the same as what was in The Proposal that was submitted

[57:15] to us there is a fuel escalation charge that's on the last page

[57:20] if fuel goes up there'd be an escalation do you have any questions and um

[57:26] try to answer them and miscellaneer is here to answer to

[57:34] um Mr Lanier can you kind of elaborate some on this fuel escalation

[57:45] yes ma'am first off thank you guys for allowing me to come and and have this

[57:51] discussion as Mr Waldrop said it's healthy to have dialogue back into when

[57:55] you work in a contract because the only contract is good is when both parties

[57:58] are satisfied with it and so we try to make sure we're doing that the fuel

[58:02] escalators you see that we attached in there was put in our proposal when we

[58:06] initially put it out as we all know we've had unprecedented times in the

[58:10] last couple of years with diesel fuel going up to six dollars a gallon and so

[58:14] what we did is we came up with a graduated fuel escalator so fuel prices

[58:19] go up we have the percentage there is no surprise it makes budgeting a lot easier

[58:25] for Mr Waltrip to do budget amendments or whatever if that may be we're praying

[58:30] that fuel stays down it's been trending that way uh but you know when it went to

[58:35] six dollars a gallon last year we all scrambled so we wanted to be fair and

[58:40] our fuel escalator outlines the exact percentage of what our rate will go up

[58:44] as the fuel escalates but it also States in there that once it goes back to what

[58:48] our base rate is is what we perform at our contract at it goes away so it's not

[58:53] something that we just stick on there and stay on there because uh we've got

[58:57] to be we we got to have the trust of the county and the County's got to have our

[59:01] trust as well so we can make this thing work the right way so we want to be fair

[59:05] and transparent with it as we go along and that's why we put that escalation

[59:08] table in there what's your current fuel base rate uh

[59:13] our fuel brace rate right now is 350 a gallon

[59:16] and so I think our fuel escalator starts at four dollars because as it jumps up

[59:21] 50 cents a gallon that's where that's basically what our our thresholds are

[59:25] and and what we do is we don't go by the East Coast average like a lot of other

[59:29] people do we go by what the pump on the street is so what we're paying in

[59:33] Waynesboro is what we pay for fuel what we use our escalator not for what

[59:37] they're paying in New York or Newark or wherever else they may be so we also use

[59:42] that and it outlines our local things thank you

[59:48] and I know our country says to start no later than January 2nd and we're kind of

[59:54] being optimistic maybe you could get started sooner yes sir yes and we do

[59:58] have a lot of I mean between the two of us a lot of work

[1:00:01] public relations as well but inform the public well this is the first step in

[1:00:05] the process once we get our contract signed we can present it to our lenders

[1:00:09] so we can actually I've got equipment on order but now we can get that process

[1:00:14] started we can get carts being produced we can put that leg work in and start

[1:00:18] moving toward that it's going to be a big process especially with the 10

[1:00:22] collection centers that were you know requested we've got to cite those

[1:00:26] centers we've got to put that that in place

[1:00:29] but what I think will happen is and this is something that we'll go into in

[1:00:33] discussions I think the curbside piece is the first piece that needs to come in

[1:00:36] play and then we'll cite the centers as we go

[1:00:39] uh and and that way we can graduate to see how many we need if we do need 10

[1:00:43] that's great we'll put 10 in we're prepared to do 10 but if we see curbside

[1:00:48] is working and we only need five or six or seven or whatever then we have that

[1:00:52] flexibility to change those and move them as we go I actually had lunch

[1:00:57] uh last Thursday with a vendor uh for some equipment that we'll be using in

[1:01:03] the collection centers which I think will make things a lot easier and a lot

[1:01:07] more efficient for us as well so we've already started that process and we just

[1:01:11] uh we're just at this point now to where we can you know this is the meat and

[1:01:14] potatoes of the deal

[1:01:17] you also said initially in your presentations that you would conduct

[1:01:25] educational sessions to the community so when is data projected well that's what

[1:01:32] we'll once we get the contract signed we'll set a calendar what I like to do

[1:01:35] is put an implementation timeline in front of you guys and so once we get set

[1:01:40] dates we can hit our marks uh this young lady's presentation earlier tonight that

[1:01:45] that's where it's key for us to start at we've got to start educating in the

[1:01:49] schools we've got to educate in the local churches we've got to educate all

[1:01:53] over the place well you know if you have a community fire meeting or something

[1:01:56] where you have volunteer fire department we need to be there to answer any

[1:02:01] questions and make it as accessible to the public as possible because this is a

[1:02:05] change uh it's a I think it'll be a Monumental change for Burke County and I

[1:02:10] think it'll be great for us but we want to give that message out uh we learned a

[1:02:15] valuable lesson when we took over Macon and Bibb County that you can't over

[1:02:18] communicate we did everything we possibly could as a matter of fact our

[1:02:23] communication plan won national awards for uh public relations people we were

[1:02:27] on awards for swanna we we take that education piece seriously because we

[1:02:33] want everybody to be comfortable with what we're doing and understand the

[1:02:35] process as we go so to answer your question as soon as we get this contract

[1:02:40] signed we're going to start putting that education piece together probably at

[1:02:44] your next meeting I'll submit a timeline to you for approval and outline some of

[1:02:48] those meetings on that timeline okay Miss Morris did you had your hand have

[1:02:52] your hand if somebody had their hand up okay Mr Mark okay

[1:02:59] uh we all pay through the County's gonna

[1:03:04] it won't it won't be billed to the customer well the one exception was if

[1:03:10] folks got the second cart it would be ten dollars each to the customer if they

[1:03:14] got a second poly cart

[1:03:19] but the basic curbside would not be charged to the customer and it was

[1:03:23] actually going to be cheaper than what we're paying now for the system we have

[1:03:26] now we're already paying for it in our property taxes paying more than what

[1:03:31] this would cost us

[1:03:34] once a week

[1:03:38] yes that's right

[1:03:42] well I'll tell you we picked up garbage in Ware County Georgia so if I can get

[1:03:46] them to go Okefenokee Swamp I'm getting Waynesboro I promise

[1:03:53] well to be honest with you the size of the card is 96 gallons and most of us I

[1:03:58] mean I'm from Miller we all country folks we have a 55 gallon drone in the

[1:04:02] backyard and you got almost twice that capacity

[1:04:06] in that car it'll hold a lot more than you really think it would uh and the

[1:04:10] beauty of it is the county had the foresight to put collection centers in

[1:04:13] play as well so in the events you don't have that opportunity if that cart's

[1:04:17] filled up if you have a family reunion or like I have a big family we just had

[1:04:21] a Easter get together it was a lot of trash because we had a lot of folks and

[1:04:24] so those kind of things number one if it's something that happens like a

[1:04:29] death in the family or or something like that give us a call we'll help we'll

[1:04:33] accommodate that we'll come out and bring an extra car we'll do extra pickup

[1:04:38] whatever we need to do because that's part of being part of the community

[1:04:41] but if it's on a regular basis you may want to look at getting a second cart

[1:04:44] because we have a lot of folks that have second cars and so but like Mr Waldrop

[1:04:48] said and commissioner Nick said when we looked at the budget numbers this is

[1:04:52] when we started pre-covered when we started doing these things uh

[1:04:57] it's actually going to save the county a considerable amount of money

[1:05:01] over what they're paying now their budget now is for solid waste pickup and

[1:05:05] I I said this in our last meeting and I'll tell you again we implemented

[1:05:09] curbside collection in Troutman County Georgia

[1:05:13] been a year and a half I had a commissioner meeting in January

[1:05:17] we pull the numbers for the last year that the county did the collection which

[1:05:21] they had open green boxes just like we have here

[1:05:24] a lot of counties around them had access to those green boxes without

[1:05:28] any encumbrances they they deposit about 30 000 tons of

[1:05:36] garbage in the Toons County landfill one year later curbside implemented all

[1:05:42] the dumpsters are gone we took 15 160 tons of garbage into the

[1:05:48] Toons County so twice the garbage that we picked up at the house each

[1:05:53] month each was was coming from outside the county and other and County Citizens

[1:05:59] were subsidizing that waste disposal for other counties and so this is this is

[1:06:03] what we talked about and what we've done many times and I think

[1:06:08] once you get over the initial shop I mean like I said I'm used to a 55 gallon

[1:06:12] drum in the backyard I'll go out there and burn it well times have changed we

[1:06:15] can't do that anymore so once we get over that initial shot

[1:06:19] and we're going to show you examples of you know in our literature and in our

[1:06:24] education pieces of communities where it works at uh one of the presentations I

[1:06:30] made to the County Commissioners was one of the counties we do business with is

[1:06:34] Appling County Appling County closely mirrors Burke County not quite as big

[1:06:39] because it has a river that runs across as a nuclear plant a lot of the same

[1:06:45] idiosyncrasies that you would think are going on in Burke County going in Akron

[1:06:48] County we picked that up successfully and have been for four years now

[1:06:56] yes ma'am

[1:07:00] no man no man

[1:07:06] I just I just unless you have a huge family I don't I don't think you're

[1:07:11] gonna I think you'll see that that one card will suffice once a week pick up

[1:07:17] yes

[1:07:27] well that's something that the county and I work together on and identify

[1:07:31] my idea would be based on commissioner districts

[1:07:35] um commissioner Abrams district has the largest District so obviously he would

[1:07:39] need the most collection centers uh you know you gotta the the commissioner

[1:07:44] District that encompasses the city of Waynesboro you really won't need one

[1:07:47] here because you've got the landfill out here or the transfer station so you have

[1:07:51] that option to go there so we would take those and put them in

[1:07:54] other places in the more rural areas where it'd be it'd be more accessible to

[1:07:58] people to get to but the one thing is it's not those are not going to work

[1:08:01] either we don't police them you know if we just leave them open and let people

[1:08:05] throw trash at a dumpster then we've not accomplished anything

[1:08:08] so we just gave you a pretty red tragedy

[1:08:19] we'll have low awesome things and so you'll have that that more or

[1:08:25] less to put both waste and stuff and that's the other thing we're also going

[1:08:28] to offer a bulk waste option that if you have bulk material that you want to get

[1:08:32] rid of give us a call we'll come get that bulk waste for you

[1:08:36] and so you know we'll you know that's another service that you don't have now

[1:08:40] you got to figure out a way to get it to the transfer station where it's supposed

[1:08:43] to go but most folks throw couches and refrigerators and stuff in the dumpsters

[1:08:47] and that's one of the things that they run into

[1:08:50] and so you know we're gonna we're gonna

[1:08:52] eliminate that issue as well well

[1:08:56] like Mr Waldrop said contract says no later than January 2nd we hope we hope

[1:09:02] to get it done earlier than that but but the thing is there's two things number

[1:09:07] one you've got to be able to have equipment it's got to be available you

[1:09:10] know I've already got everybody in place to order what we got to have just got to

[1:09:15] see when that production date is but the other thing is is we got to make sure

[1:09:19] that we implement it the right way so that means me and some of my team will

[1:09:24] be riding every Road in Burke County we're gonna count every house

[1:09:28] and what we'll do is we'll take a map and we'll mark off the roads that don't

[1:09:32] have homes on them so those those roads won't be travel home

[1:09:35] and so then we can we can generate a route that's productive and gets the

[1:09:40] garbage picked up in a timely manner

[1:09:47] well it'll be at her at the roadway at the end of the driveway or whatever

[1:09:51] and uh you know

[1:09:55] okay okay if a school bus or the postman goes down the road my garbage trucks

[1:10:01] will go down the road Mr Lanier okay we'll take one more

[1:10:05] question yes this young lady in the back

[1:10:18] well those Parks don't well those cars won't blow over as

[1:10:22] easily as some people think

[1:10:29] well we do 350 000 of them a week and so we're going to figure it out long way

[1:10:34] that I promises I don't have all the answers but I sure work hard to get them

[1:10:38] I promise okay thank you Mr Lanier thank you and

[1:10:43] um when he has these educational sessions come back and ask more

[1:10:49] questions by that time you think of more things to ask

[1:10:55] The Madam chairman oh we got one

[1:11:01] okay we got to move on this yeah right on Lucius okay

[1:11:07] okay let's move on Michael did somebody sign up

[1:11:17] he is now

[1:11:22] okay we'll continue with the item so Madam chairman I'll

[1:11:28] make a motion that we approve the final uh contract with uh right

[1:11:33] motion made by commissioner Nick seconded by commissioner Martin that we

[1:11:38] approve the agreement with the Ryland Environmental

[1:11:42] for solid waste collection Services all in favor

[1:11:47] unanimous next item on the agenda

[1:11:55] Doris tongo

[1:12:06] good evening good evening praise God I'm I'm here again two months later

[1:12:14] and my sister's standing with me because we are also here because she wants to

[1:12:22] um she's on the list also so she's with me

[1:12:27] I'm here again two months later to talk again about the Voting Rights

[1:12:35] I still need the help of the commission

[1:12:42] my experience is that

[1:12:47] we some I am labeled or most of the voters that I am talking

[1:12:54] about didn't have the opportunity to have their votes counted

[1:12:59] a label as no count

[1:13:04] we are silenced

[1:13:09] having no voice treated as invisible

[1:13:17] hidden and Plain Sight

[1:13:22] again an open investigation

[1:13:27] has been silenced and some of us

[1:13:32] are labeled equity

[1:13:39] unable to stay in their place so I'm humble

[1:13:45] I am again before this Commission

[1:13:51] I have sent letters to the County Board of Elections Mr Simpson

[1:13:57] the chairman the director the County Board of Elections

[1:14:03] to the secretary Brad Ford's perjure

[1:14:09] representative Gloria Frazier

[1:14:14] the state election board to date I have no answer

[1:14:20] hidden in plain sight

[1:14:28] the county I'm asking you

[1:14:34] I've spoken to the city and they said that the county is responsible

[1:14:40] for the city's voting and for me to go and talk to

[1:14:45] the county

[1:14:49] your silence continues to give consent in allowing the voices of the people

[1:14:57] to be silenced those voted and the votes didn't count

[1:15:04] I'm humbled to be in your presence and I'm grateful for everything that

[1:15:08] each and every one of you do

[1:15:12] I'm just asking you to please Reach Out

[1:15:16] and not allow this to continue to go dead

[1:15:22] I pray that Gods will be done and blessings upon each and every one of

[1:15:28] us here families and all

[1:15:32] love blessings and I really want to know

[1:15:37] what have you done or what will you do to make sure that this investigation

[1:15:42] doesn't go dead

[1:15:47] okay thank you Reverend taco uh verb is it anything else the the city

[1:15:55] may have misinformed you the county does not run City elections the board the

[1:16:01] city contracted with the Board of Elections to run the elections which is

[1:16:06] not the Board of Commissioners the Commissioners appoint two of the five

[1:16:10] members but they don't have any real authority over the Board of Elections

[1:16:15] they are independent of the Board of Commissioners I know I have turned in

[1:16:20] I've gotten your requests and I've turned it in to the board of commotion

[1:16:24] and excuse me the Board of Elections and ask them to look into it but it is in

[1:16:31] their in their Court to I believe Mr Simpson said they had investigated and

[1:16:37] closed the investigation but really that's they need to respond to you

[1:16:41] either yes we're looking into it or we looked into it there's nothing to it or

[1:16:46] yes we've looked into it and there's we're still studying it one or the other

[1:16:51] but it is you're um need to get on the board of elections

[1:16:56] agenda and and meet with them because that's who runs elections

[1:17:02] I'm aware they run elections but I'm also

[1:17:07] they have no position without this comedy it's easier to come talk to the

[1:17:14] County Commission than it is to talk to the Board of Elections but you're in the

[1:17:18] wrong spot really you need to talk to the Board of Elections about your

[1:17:21] grievance that's that's the the proper board that handles that

[1:17:27] and I've done that and I thank you kindly okay thank you it's green

[1:17:33] she's going to read the letter okay request for disciplinary action March

[1:17:38] the 27 2023 to Merv walls draw

[1:17:44] County Manager Terry large chairman 602 Liberty Street

[1:17:49] dear Mervin Terry I would like to address the inappropriateness of their

[1:17:55] behavior of commissioner Lively during the meeting on March the 14th 2023

[1:18:01] respectfully Rising above and polite and

[1:18:07] inappropriate conduct has many advantages

[1:18:11] one advantage is that it allows us to take the high road and not stoop to

[1:18:18] being discourteous my only concern when I address the Board

[1:18:22] of Commissioners on March the 14th 2023 was to get the garbage cleaned up on

[1:18:28] Bates Road and clocks Place Road I addressed commissioner Lively because

[1:18:34] he said that he had the same problem of garbage not being picked up in his area

[1:18:41] Mr Lively rudely raised his voice and made me feel offended not one time

[1:18:47] but several times doing the meeting he also made

[1:18:53] inappropriate offensive comments to sheriff Williams commissioner Abrams and

[1:18:58] commissioner Kelly someone with the position that he has as

[1:19:03] counter commissioner should show a higher degree of politeness respect and

[1:19:10] tactfulness even when having to deal with criticism

[1:19:16] I am faithful as a citizen of this County to the leaders of this colony

[1:19:23] I am humbly asking the two of you that I have addressed the

[1:19:28] commissioner this Commission

[1:19:32] commissioner to address commissioner livelies is inappropriate actions during

[1:19:38] the meeting on March the 14th 2023 thank you for your good services to all

[1:19:47] of the citizens of this County humbly submitted and green

[1:19:55] and I just wanted to comment uh one more thing after sending another instructor

[1:20:01] I thought that something would be done but as of today nothing has been been

[1:20:08] done out there at all the garbage extent

[1:20:14] so I appreciate if someone would do something about it and as uh I think it

[1:20:21] was last Friday or last Saturday a truck full of stuff going to the landfill

[1:20:29] mattresses fell off in from our house we had to go out and pick it up can you

[1:20:35] imagine me picking up a king-sized mattress to drag to the back this is

[1:20:40] what's going on out there it's terrible

[1:20:44] and I just wish I prayed that y'all would do something about it it's very

[1:20:49] nasty drive up and down here you see and I know you've been up and down at the

[1:20:54] sea because we haven't talked about it so please

[1:20:58] couples out there please

[1:21:02] thank you thank you Miss green I know that our County manager has

[1:21:09] spoken with the judge concerning that to have detailed workers to do that but I'm

[1:21:19] not sure of the status of if they've gone or any any type

[1:21:24] events that have occurred though you murdered I don't know which areas I have

[1:21:29] turned that road in a couple of times I'll follow up with the judge tomorrow

[1:21:34] okay is there a time limit I don't the judge doesn't work for me

[1:21:40] I'm for I'm not unfortunately but I will bad sun down to more I will have

[1:21:46] communicated with them so but that but I can't make

[1:21:50] him get the community service workers there no the question about time limit

[1:21:55] this is the third month coming and the promises has been the same so that's

[1:22:01] what I'm addressing not the judge yeah Madam chair every excuse me Madam chair

[1:22:07] every time we have a request for any of the roads and you are all aware because

[1:22:12] I copied the commissions on all these emails I sent but I've forwarded on to

[1:22:17] the community service coordinator and judge Cox and the state court

[1:22:24] administrator

[1:22:27] if it makes you feel any better I've emailed them about some roads in my

[1:22:31] district too and they hadn't got to them either so

[1:22:34] but that's all I can do is try to get let us go and take a look at what yours

[1:22:38] look like where are you sir uh Spring Branch Church Road Usher Road

[1:22:43] Old Waynesboro Road Four Points Road you have those kind of

[1:22:47] um I had that kind of trouble too yes ma'am yes ma'am okay but but I have

[1:22:53] emailed the judge in the community service people just the way

[1:22:59] Mr Walter Pez and I mean you know like I said they they work on Saturdays I don't

[1:23:04] know if they work on Sundays or not but yeah you know it's just it's a big

[1:23:08] County I mean I know they're they're working but I you know that's all I can

[1:23:12] tell you yeah one Mustang what are you gonna do

[1:23:16] about the library and the way he talks to people

[1:23:23] put this stuff above all the upset and stuff and understand that when we come

[1:23:29] here and talk we only asking for the help and he shouldn't be getting upset

[1:23:34] about somebody mentioning his name and it only was mentioned for one

[1:23:41] the question

[1:23:46] yes I get upset when when people bring in

[1:23:51] things that have nothing to do with the issue we try to make everything a race

[1:23:55] issue and your trash in your ditch is not a racial issue because I have trash

[1:23:58] in my niche this Board of Commissioners didn't throw

[1:24:02] their mattress out in their in your yard the government can't fix every problem

[1:24:05] they just can't do it so you depending on us to stop somebody from throwing a

[1:24:10] mattress in your yard that that's not our we can't do that

[1:24:13] it's not we can't throw enough money at the problem to make someone stop

[1:24:17] littering maybe you should talk with the sheriff's department maybe they should

[1:24:19] Patrol your area more maybe stop littering I don't know what to do but

[1:24:24] again I didn't get upset until we started bringing other issues that had

[1:24:27] nothing to do with garbage in our community so

[1:24:30] and by the way this board can't do anything to me they can't discipline me

[1:24:36] you as a voter can and I'll be glad to see that happen in

[1:24:40] two years

[1:24:43] see you there thank you very much okay and thank you all

[1:24:49] and we'll continue to work through this issue and through the

[1:24:54] concerns that you have okay Ben Roberts

[1:25:13] Madam chairman Commissioners my name is uh Ben Roberts I'm a County employee in

[1:25:18] the tax assessor's office I'm also the writer of the bird dog politics column

[1:25:22] that appears in the true citizen from time to time I want to speak tonight

[1:25:27] quickly but I want to address some comments that were made at last month's

[1:25:31] meeting specifically comments made by

[1:25:34] commissioner Abrams who suggested that questions surrounding

[1:25:40] the controversy around Sheriff Williams spending of his budget is somehow

[1:25:45] related to the color of his skin was the phrase that Mr Abrams used

[1:25:51] that's not the first time this accusation has been made the sheriff has

[1:25:55] made it himself privately as well as publicly a month or

[1:26:00] so ago Sheriff Williams gave an interview to WRDW in which he made that

[1:26:05] same statement I emailed him after that and asked him for any evidence he had of

[1:26:10] that um

[1:26:12] he didn't have any and he stated that he didn't and admittedly that's something

[1:26:17] that's hard to prove but it's also something that's

[1:26:21] hard to disprove if you lay that label or that accusation on somebody

[1:26:27] um it's a basic tenet of our government

[1:26:32] that ordinary citizens are elected to positions

[1:26:36] and then citizens are allowed to come and question those officials

[1:26:42] I think there's more than enough evidence to show that the questions are

[1:26:47] valid that are being asked of sheriff Williams

[1:26:51] um so I think to dismiss that or to suggest

[1:26:54] that it's simply based on his race was improper now

[1:26:59] I stand here as a 50 year old almost 50 year old white man

[1:27:03] born and raised in the South and in the state of Georgia

[1:27:07] I'm aware that my life experiences differ from everyone

[1:27:12] else's and could differ greatly from African-Americans and other minorities

[1:27:17] I'm not trying to suggest that sheriff Williams hasn't had difficulties or Mr

[1:27:23] Abrams or chairman Kelly or anyone else in this room haven't had any

[1:27:27] difficulties in their lives because of their race or

[1:27:33] gender or things of that nature I'm I'm no fool and I'm not going to suggest

[1:27:37] that but again

[1:27:40] I think it's important that we look at the evidence and so I

[1:27:44] want to briefly run through as a reminder both for Commissioners as well

[1:27:48] as the public of what we where we stand in all of this and the evidence that we

[1:27:52] have so um going back to August 18th of 2021

[1:27:56] Sheriff Williams received a fifty thousand dollar Grant from the

[1:27:59] Waynesboro Housing Authority uh in October and November of 2021 he received

[1:28:04] a 375 thousand dollar Grant from partners with plant Vogel that was the

[1:28:09] fourth time he had received the Waynesboro Housing Authority Grant the

[1:28:12] sheriff that was the third time he had received the uh he was referred to as

[1:28:16] the Vogel safety Grant previously that Vogel Grant was used for salaries for

[1:28:21] extra patrol around Plant Vogel the Housing Authority Grant to my knowledge

[1:28:26] was always used for small equipment purchases or something of that nature

[1:28:30] in previous years there was press releases Fanfare Facebook posts about

[1:28:35] those grants being awarded as there should be we were fortunate to get that

[1:28:40] money fortunate that the sheriff was able to get that money uh but this time

[1:28:43] around in 2021 no Facebook post no press releases no nothing it was later

[1:28:49] determined um in April as a matter of fact the

[1:28:53] following year the sheriff standing here in a meeting happened to admit that he

[1:28:56] had used the vocal grant for some purchase and nobody was aware of it at

[1:29:01] that time so the sheriff hid the money both from the public as well as from you

[1:29:05] as Commissioners it was not appropriated to his budget legally as it should have

[1:29:11] been instead he deposited in a local bank he got himself a checkbook and a

[1:29:16] credit card in 10 months Sheriff Williams spent over

[1:29:19] forty one thousand dollars on that credit card

[1:29:22] the county audit determined that 86 percent of those funds or those credit

[1:29:27] card charges were spent on hotels airline tickets rental cars restaurants

[1:29:31] including steak and seafood dinners out of town those out of town trips included

[1:29:36] multiple out-of-state trips to places like Montgomery Alabama Nashville

[1:29:41] Tennessee West Palm Beach and Destin Florida Little Rock Arkansas Springfield

[1:29:46] Massachusetts Biloxi Mississippi and other places and

[1:29:50] sometimes on multiple occasions um it was later determined that a number

[1:29:55] of these trips were for travel for the leaders helping leaders Network

[1:29:58] conferences and it was determined that Williams is actually a staff and paid

[1:30:04] employee of that company um

[1:30:07] last week one of the busiest weeks in our area with with Masters in Augusta

[1:30:12] huge law enforcement presence if you went to Augusta last week Sheriff

[1:30:16] Williams was in Boston Massachusetts teaching for the lhu in network of

[1:30:21] course I assume he was being paid and compensated while he was there teaching

[1:30:27] in addition to the 41 000 in credit card expenses Williams also spent thirty

[1:30:31] thousand five hundred ninety eight dollars in legal fees for his lawsuit

[1:30:34] against the county 5798 on additional meals and

[1:30:38] entertainment 3660 On a payroll processing contract

[1:30:42] that as you are aware he never even used thirteen thousand seven hundred and

[1:30:48] seventy six dollars was paid to various individuals some of those

[1:30:52] expenses were under very questionable circumstances nineteen thousand two

[1:30:57] hundred dollars was given to other charitable organizations in the county

[1:31:02] now that's nice I'm glad the sheriff's all fit to

[1:31:06] support those organizations however those Grant funds were provided the

[1:31:12] sheriff signed an agreement the agreement clearly stated what those

[1:31:16] funds were supposed to be used for the sheriff just then funneled them to

[1:31:20] organizations that he chose to to help and while that help is good

[1:31:25] that wasn't what those funds were to be used for the sheriff has been in here

[1:31:29] multiple times over the last two years to say how desperately he needs money he

[1:31:35] should have held on to those funds or if he wanted to make some sort of donation

[1:31:38] he should have done that privately out of that nineteen thousand two

[1:31:42] hundred ten thousand dollars was given to the Burke help Foundation as a

[1:31:46] sponsor for their Tim Tebow event um

[1:31:50] as a sponsor the sheriff got to meet Tim Tebow shake his hand take a picture post

[1:31:55] it on Facebook he was listed as a sponsor all of the Fanfare that went

[1:31:59] along with that but when the Burke help Foundation was contacted about that

[1:32:03] Grant and the inappropriateness of that money being given to them they refunded

[1:32:07] it and gave it back to the county as they should have to my knowledge the

[1:32:11] sheriff has not bothered to pay the ten thousand dollars back to the birth

[1:32:15] Health Foundation out of his own pocket but instead they're just short that

[1:32:19] money and out and that was a fundraiser that they were doing

[1:32:24] um

[1:32:27] seven thousand four hundred eleven dollars were spent on holiday turkey and

[1:32:31] hams again it's a great cause not what those funds were meant for the sheriff

[1:32:36] could certainly seek donations find other sponsors to do that he could do

[1:32:39] that without using money that should have been spent to better this

[1:32:42] department and all William spent 249 thousand and thirty one dollars of the

[1:32:48] original 425 000 in Grant funds really less than half of those expenses

[1:32:53] appear to be for legitimate law enforcement purposes which again is what

[1:32:57] that money was donated for Williams has not received to my

[1:33:02] knowledge of fifty thousand dollar Waynesboro Housing Authority Grant in

[1:33:05] 2022 I'm assuming he won't the Vogel Grant is set to run out actually this

[1:33:11] month there's been no announcement as to

[1:33:14] whether or not that will be renewed so if not Williams has cost the county as

[1:33:19] well as his Department 425 thousand dollars in funding

[1:33:23] all by his own actions not by anything that anyone else did

[1:33:30] taxpayers spent over a hundred thousand dollars I don't have the exact amount

[1:33:33] but we spent well over a hundred thousand dollars in attorney's fees for

[1:33:36] the mandamus lawsuit can you well I understand but yes ma'am

[1:33:41] I'm wrapping up quickly I'm sorry it's been over a hundred thousand dollars on

[1:33:44] attorney's fees for the mandamus lawsuit there was an appeal he later dropped

[1:33:48] that appeal um before the lawsuit the sheriff was in

[1:33:52] here one evening handed out this sheet of paper to all of us I was surprised I

[1:33:55] could find it um he gave a bunch of promises to what

[1:33:59] he was going to do when he had control of his money negotiate a less expensive

[1:34:03] expensive health insurance he wasn't able to do that he's still on our health

[1:34:07] insurance saved money so he could pay more to his employees retirement still

[1:34:11] on the same retirement that we're on and he was going to save taxpayer dollars

[1:34:16] in red right here the sheriff's proposal can save taxpayers five hundred thousand

[1:34:20] dollars per year that has not happened he was in here

[1:34:24] last month asking for an additional one million 1.1 million the sheriff's budget

[1:34:29] over the last six years he's been over budget 2018 84 000 2019 he was over two

[1:34:35] hundred and eighty thousand dollars 2020 346

[1:34:39] 000 2021 he did come in under budget for both the jail and the Sheriff's Office

[1:34:43] 2022 over budget 498 000. currently he's running a deficit in six years of 774

[1:34:51] 307 so just shy of three quarters of a million dollars that he has overspent

[1:34:57] above what the commission has provided

[1:35:01] um as a reminder

[1:35:05] he wanted a gas card said that was going to be easy for his employees to fill up

[1:35:08] with gas it would keep them from coming back to Waynesboro

[1:35:12] um I don't have the exact figure but I

[1:35:15] think we're somewhere around thirty thousand dollars that he overpaid in

[1:35:18] fueled because he paid at the pump the same price that the rest of us pay

[1:35:23] um he has yet to explain where it happened

[1:35:25] to 53 871 dollars in forfeiture funds that was sitting in the in the safe

[1:35:31] and he is currently involved in the gbi investigation for discrepancies with

[1:35:35] post-training records where he admits that he entered the wrong date however

[1:35:40] he has not been cleared by gbi and the sheriff has yet to provide the correct

[1:35:44] date of all the County elected positions

[1:35:48] besides the sheriff the uh offices of Magistrate Judge Probate Judge clerk of

[1:35:54] court and Tax Commissioner are all also held by African Americans three of those

[1:35:58] are also women I'm sure that every one of them as well

[1:36:02] as every other department head black or white man or woman will stand here and

[1:36:07] tell you they have made requests that you all have it funded

[1:36:10] needs that they had that they wanted funded but they would also admit that

[1:36:14] you all have funded other things other requests that they

[1:36:18] have made I'll close by saying every bit of this

[1:36:22] is a verifiable fact there's documentation all of these numbers can

[1:36:27] be verified um

[1:36:30] and I think it warrants questions to the sheriff and none of these have anything

[1:36:34] to do with the sheriff's race and I just want to remind everyone of

[1:36:40] that we have every right to question the sheriff and I have been very critical of

[1:36:44] the sheriff and I assume I will continue to do so

[1:36:47] but I just wanted to remind everyone of that thank you okay thank you

[1:36:55] now we will have information and reports from our department heads

[1:37:01] okay

[1:37:04] okay Mr Burke Mr Burke you have anything

[1:37:17] good evening Commissioners um the road department has been doing our normal

[1:37:21] duties over the past month uh trash pickup is normal the trucks are still

[1:37:26] running um

[1:37:29] grass Cutting Crew is operating the herbicide truck now spraying around the

[1:37:33] county also

[1:37:37] the grass cutting crew are also weeding around the signs maintenance crews are

[1:37:43] cleaning ditches installing a lot of new driveways we did five today

[1:37:46] uh Lynn cut and crews are working in

[1:37:50] various areas around the county sign crews are putting up new signs and

[1:37:54] maintaining the old ones and the shop is busy

[1:37:58] so it was just normal day for us all right thank you we appreciate all of

[1:38:04] you all's hard work Scott

[1:38:09] Lacey Michael

[1:38:24] Commissioners uh I placed your monthly Financial reports on your

[1:38:29] desks in front of you we have budget report as well as revenue

[1:38:34] and just wanted to mention before we get to the budget report that as you know

[1:38:39] the audit was scheduled to be released and would be presented tonight but that

[1:38:44] has been held back of course as most of you know and so budget reports just want

[1:38:49] to check with you make sure that you have any questions before I

[1:38:53] do you know what time frame on it we do not uh we've been I've not been told a

[1:38:58] time frame just that they were not comfortable at this moment

[1:39:01] do you know why is the audit late this year

[1:39:06] normally we have it ready before April 1st and have a presentation

[1:39:12] yeah so right now where we stand is uh the finance department that works for

[1:39:17] the county manager has has completed all of our documentation and that that work

[1:39:21] was done on time and it would have been so would have been released by March

[1:39:25] 31st required by Georgia law however the audit firm was uncomfortable releasing

[1:39:30] the audit due to the issues that have Arisen from

[1:39:34] the sheriff so right now we are on hold so

[1:39:42] that that decision has nothing we can't control that decision so

[1:39:49] okay any more questions for Michael I was noticing on the revenues

[1:39:55] it looks like we're running low World sales tax for this year

[1:40:00] um both on lost and almost lost we we are that's correct we've had about 15

[1:40:06] percent right that's correct we've had two uh months that had what what the

[1:40:11] state calls audits and normally that is a large taxpayer

[1:40:16] that has gone back and determined that some things that might have been taxable

[1:40:20] was not or they've done some refunds or or things like that so those two issues

[1:40:26] have Arisen but also we're seeing a decline in retail sales right starting

[1:40:30] to see some recession and then as part of the construction at Vogel they

[1:40:36] typically come out about once a year and and say well we they estimate their

[1:40:42] taxes and then when they get to the end of it or toward the end they'll say well

[1:40:47] this was probably exempt and so we need the Department of Revenue to reimburse

[1:40:51] us they reimburse the taxpayer and it comes out of our next month's

[1:40:57] the sales tax revenue and occasionally we've had Walmart do the same thing when

[1:41:03] they do it all over the state but this looks like it's just a Burke

[1:41:08] County issue not a Statewide issue that's right the the our large neighbors

[1:41:12] Richmond and Columbia did not experience it and if if it had been Walmart they

[1:41:16] would have had much larger reductions in that one the case this

[1:41:21] time so it's probably isolated to us with Georgia Power

[1:41:27] which is understandable they make a determination they have to go back later

[1:41:30] it's a tough process for them

[1:41:35] all right okay and I would encourage the Commissioners to pay attention to this

[1:41:40] into the detailed budget report but specifically the budget to expense there

[1:41:45] are several departments that are trending toward going over budget

[1:41:51] um the we've been advised by legal that we can't

[1:41:56] do anything until that department goes over budget however there are

[1:42:02] we need to caution our department heads to be careful to stay within budget and

[1:42:07] really all of them are doing a good job except for a couple of them

[1:42:11] and and really once having overtime issues the which and it's only a small

[1:42:17] amount over there's the same person we keep talking about has got is trending

[1:42:22] toward 851 thousand dollars over budget

[1:42:32] any more questions for Michael

[1:42:37] okay thank you Mike thank you thank you Mike

[1:42:42] now we will have a motion to go into executive session

[1:42:48] Madam chairman I make a motion to go to the executive session to have a

[1:42:52] discussion on the litigation issue I'll second

[1:42:55] motion's been made by commissioner Nick's second by commissioner Martin

[1:42:58] that we go into executive session for litigation matter all in favor

[2:46:00] chairman did you just make a motion to return a regular session

[2:46:08] Mr Vice chairman in the executive session there were four litigation

[2:46:12] matters discussed there was no final action taken on any of those you'll need

[2:46:18] a motion for one of your Commissioners to allow you as Vice chairman to sign

[2:46:21] that update I incubated emotion but I'll make that again

[2:46:26] just a second

[2:46:34] you can join the meeting now unless yeah all right meeting adjourned all

[2:46:39] right thank you

April 2023 - Board of Commissioners Meeting

Transcript