[21:49] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I
want to welcome everybody to this August
[21:52] 17, 2026 city council meeting and work
session. I'd like to welcome everybody
[21:56] here. Um, I like to ask people here in
the audience, if you had had a chance,
[22:00] please sign in at the desk over here.
And if you also like to speak in our
[22:03] public input, please fill a sheet out,
get Miss Beverly over here, and she'll
[22:07] be more than glad to take it from you.
And, um, so, uh, at this time, I'm going
[22:13] to do roll call. Council member Will I
>> here,
[22:16] » council member Kayla Phillips
>> here.
[22:18] » Council member Sandy Sawyer
>> here.
[22:19] » Council member Mark French
>> here.
[22:21] » City Attorney Kevin Talent
>> here.
[22:23] » City Manager Jacob Evans
>> here. City Clerk Beverly Banister
[22:27] » here.
>> Public Works Director Trampus Hanser
[22:29] » here.
>> Utilities Director Russ Chambers
[22:31] » here.
>> Finance director Robin Gazaway
[22:33] » here.
>> Planning and zoning administration Miss
[22:35] Stacy Harris
>> here.
[22:37] » And CPO represent Miss Dana Spade
>> here.
[22:40] » All right. Thank you very much. Ladies
and gentlemen, if you're able, if you
[22:43] can please stand for the invocation
pledge by Council Member Phillips.
[22:48] » Thank you for this day. Thank you for
letting us all come out here safely. be
[22:52] with us in the decision we make from
behalf of the city of Dawsonville.
[22:55] Please be with us as we go separate
ways.
[22:58] » Amen.
>> To the flag of the United States of
[23:03] America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God,
[23:10] indivisible with liberty and justice for
all.
[23:14] » Thank you. Lady see.
[23:25] » All right, moving on to announcements.
Anybody got announcements?
[23:29] » I have two announcements if I can. First
of all, the next food truck Friday is
[23:32] Friday, September 11th. Appreciate all
the citizens and all the help that come
[23:36] out for that. And secondly, our second
concert of the year is Saturday,
[23:40] September 12th. that is featuring a
Journey tribute band and a Brian Adams
[23:45] opener tribute band. So, want to invite
everyone out to that. Love to see you
[23:49] there.
>> Any more announcements?
[23:52] » Um, I just wanted to talk about
leadership Dawson. We just had our
[23:56] orientation and we are looking forward
to hiking up to the Lynfoot hike in and
[24:01] creating some uh some memories and some
friendships and uh I just want to um
[24:07] invite all of the people in leadership
Dawson to come watch a meeting, come be
[24:12] a part of what the city's doing. It's a
really special thing. So I just want to
[24:16] um just give a kudos to what the chamber
has done with leadership Dawson. It's
[24:20] pretty cool. Any
more announcements? Uh, also I would
[24:26] like to announce a chat with the mayor
tomorrow night. Um, I'd like to invite
[24:29] the community to come out, talk about
whatever you want to talk about. I also
[24:33] uh did a special meeting invite the
council here to be with me. So, majority
[24:36] I think near the whole council member
team here is going to be here. So, this
[24:40] is a chance for the community to come
talk to us. Come talk to your elected
[24:42] officials. You know, whatever it may be,
you know, what'sever on your mind. You
[24:46] know, we love we love to hear from the
community. You know, what's your
[24:49] thoughts? where you like to see the
future, how the city goes and so forth
[24:52] because at the end of the day, you know,
we we want to hear from you on that
[24:56] because there's a lot of people want to
go on social media, talk about a lot of
[24:59] stuff. So, if you don't talk about
whatever data centers, you could talk,
[25:04] we could talk about that. You know, it
may not be a popular subject, but we're
[25:08] here to listen. So, but the main thing
is we just want here for our community.
[25:10] So, please come on out tomorrow night at
six o'clock be in the Joe Lancok's room,
[25:14] the room right next to this. So, come
out, be with us.
[25:20] All right.
Can I get a motion to approve the
[25:23] agenda?
>> So moved.
[25:25] » Second.
I got a motion by Council Member French.
[25:29] Second by I think Council Member Elbe on
that one. All right. Any discussion? All
[25:34] right. Please signify by your vote.
Motion passed 40.
[25:39] All right. Moving on to public input. M.
Beverly. Anybody sign up for public
[25:43] input?
>> No. Mayor Walden.
[25:45] » All right. Thank you very much. All
right, moving on to the consent agenda.
[25:48] This to approve the minutes for regular
meeting held August 3rd, 2026 and
[25:52] executive session held August 3rd, 2026.
Can I get a motion?
[25:55] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[25:57] » I got a motion by Council Member Sawer.
Second by Council Member Phillips. Any
[26:01] discussion? All right. Please sitting
fine by your vote.
[26:05] Motion passed forward.
[26:09] » Always happens to one of us, Sandy.
[laughter]
[26:13] » And I put it on silent.
>> Bring donuts next time.
[26:17] [laughter] I'm so embarrassed.
>> Don't worry. Don't worry.
[26:19] » I just hope the camera wasn't
>> It happened to me before, so I don't
[26:22] feel bad [laughter]
ago.
[26:25] » All right, moving on. Item number eight.
This is for employee recognition. Mr.
[26:29] Evans.
>> Yes, I got several. First of all, the
[26:31] July employee of the month is Miss Sarah
Beichum.
[26:35] » Hopefully, she [applause and cheering]
comes out.
[26:42] [clears throat]
>> Y'all should have been like all lined up
[26:45] doing this.
[26:50] » [laughter]
[26:58] » Yes.
[27:03] [laughter]
[27:05] » Next is Miss Barbara Maddox for oneyear
anniversary with the city of Dawson.
[27:11] [applause]
[27:13] » Thank you, Sarah.
>> Thank you.
[27:29] » [laughter]
[27:31] » Next is Miss Annette Watson. Fouryear
anniversary with the city. [applause]
[27:38] If
>> you ever wonder how clean this building
[27:40] is, it is because of Annette.
[27:47] a net
>> and also the fishing pond out front.
[27:55] » Thank you.
>> And then lastly, I don't know if Robin
[27:58] typically comes up for this, she got the
certificate of achievement for
[28:02] excellence in financial reporting for
the 14th year in a row.
[28:05] » Wow. [applause]
[28:09] » Amazing.
[28:14] » [laughter]
>> I would say Sarah Beichum is a part of
[28:18] that as well. So if she would like to
come out for this picture also
[28:21] » kept up the momentum
[28:32] » Sarah.
[28:39] » [laughter]
[28:51] » Great job Sarah.
>> Yes, great job.
[29:15] [clears throat]
[29:17] Congratulations all the employees.
[29:22] All right, moving on to item number nine
for a public hearing for annual update
[29:26] for capital improvements uh in related
impact fee schedule. Can I get a motion
[29:30] to open public motion for public
hearing?
[29:33] » So second motion by council member
Phillips, second by council member ill.
[29:38] Any discussion? I please signify by your
vote.
[29:42] Motion pass forward. Open public
hearing. Uh Miss Stacy.
[29:46] » Yes, mayor and councel. [clears throat]
Each year, the Georgia Department of
[29:50] Community Affairs through the uh
Mountain Regionable Commission uh GMRC
[29:55] requires the city to submit an annual uh
impact fee financial report for the
[30:01] previous year and a five-year community
work program identifying the parks and
[30:06] reccks projects eligible for impact
fees. Um attached in your packet was a
[30:11] spreadsheet for the five years and the
um financial report. We have a um
[30:20] resolution for a draft for authorizing a
transmitt of the capital improvements
[30:25] which is and so we would need approval
for that if y'all agree to what has been
[30:29] presented.
[30:33] » All right, any discussion?
>> Thank you for your work on this kind of
[30:37] hard cats getting all of us together to
do this for you. But thank you.
[30:41] » Thank you.
[30:45] Uh just to confirm as the needs change
in our community, we can update this
[30:49] each year. Correct.
>> Yes. Every year it has to be updated. So
[30:53] stuff can be added in there.
>> Perfect. Just want to confirm.
[30:57] » The impact fee is not for maintenance
though. Maintenance cannot be put in
[31:01] there.
>> Okay.
[31:04] [clears throat] Uh Miss Beverly, anybody
sign up public input for this for
[31:07] speaking in favor of this?
>> No. Mayor Walden.
[31:10] » All right. Does anybody here speak in
favor of this?
[31:16] Hear none. See none. Miss Beverly,
anybody sign up to speak against this?
[31:19] » No, they have not.
>> All right. Anybody here speak against
[31:23] it? All right. Hear none. Seeing none.
All right. Can I get a motion to close
[31:28] public input?
>> So moved.
[31:29] » Second.
>> I got a motion by Council Member French,
[31:31] second by Council Member Sawyer. Any
discussion? All right. Please signify by
[31:35] your vote.
All right, ladies and gentlemen. Public
[31:38] input is closed. All
right.
[31:44] » Make a motion that we authorize the
execution of resolution R206,
[31:49] excuse me, 2026-4
authorizing the transmission of this
[31:54] document to DCA by the mayor.
>> I got a motion by council member French.
[32:01] Second by council member Phillips. Any
discussion? I please signify by your
[32:06] vote.
Motion pass four of them.
[32:10] All right.
Moving on to business item number 10.
[32:15] Uh, Miss Dana.
>> There it goes. Okay. Good evening. I
[32:20] hope it's okay if I actually kind of
summarize these three since they're all
[32:23] in the same Okay. [laughter]
So, these are lots 11, 12, and 13 in the
[32:28] Arbor West subdivision. Um, they're on
the Cedar Crest Lane Culdeac. Um so if
[32:34] you remember Arbor West was annexed and
reszoned in 2018 recently platted in
[32:39] 2025.
Um the first one at 466 is.197 acres. Um
[32:46] 460 Cedar Crest Lane is 304 and 454 is
308. The applicant is requesting the
[32:55] same variance for all three lots, which
is a front yard setback from 30 feet to
[33:00] 24 feet for the construction of a single
family residence.
[33:05] Um 466 has an eastern and rear drainage
easement as well as a 10-ft planted
[33:11] buffer that was a condition of the
reszoning and annexation.
[33:15] [clears throat] 460 has the same
drainage easement on the southeast
[33:18] corner and 10-ft planted buffer. And
then 454 is just the 10-ft planted
[33:23] buffer. The applicant indicated the lot
has unique dimensional limitations that
[33:29] make compliance with the current front
setback requirement difficult while
[33:33] still allowing for a functional home
site and usable rear yard. Um last time
[33:38] uh the applicant was here, you kind of
talked about how there's like a plateau
[33:42] or top of the slope that's on the site
plan. So I did go and pull the original
[33:46] civil plans that were approved for Arbor
West. And basically it's about a 20%
[33:51] slope. Um so 10 feet over two foot 20%.
So they basically flatten that to create
[33:58] the home sites and then it just goes
downhill. So that's why there's a wall
[34:02] in the back of lot 11 goes into lot 12 a
little bit and then there's that
[34:07] significant drop in 13 he mentioned. So
I did go and look that up just for some
[34:11] background information but basically
flattened it. Um, from a staff
[34:16] viewpoint, we do feel like there are
alternatives, floor plans, um,
[34:20] alternatives. Some lots are a little bit
larger than others. So, there's
[34:24] definitely alternatives and we don't
feel this the applicant meets all of the
[34:29] variance criteria. So, we recommend
denial of each lot. So, for lot 11, 12,
[34:34] and 13,
>> I'll make a motion to deny the varian.
[34:40] [laughter]
[34:42] I want to ask does anybody got any
questions first for Miss Stain before I
[34:45] go any further?
>> All right, we're going have to take one
[34:48] of these one item at a time. So, be for
record. So,
[34:50] » all right. So, I'm going to start with
item number 10. This is for variance.
[34:53] This is lot 11. That's V-C2600407.
[34:59] Can I get a motion on that?
>> I'll make a motion to deny. Second.
[35:03] » I got a motion by council member, second
by council member French.
[35:10] Any discussion? Please signify by your
vote.
[35:15] Motion for denial. Pass 40.
All right. Item number 11. This is for
[35:20] lot 12. This is V-C2600408.
[35:25] Can I get a motion on that one?
>> I'll make a motion to deny.
[35:28] » Second.
>> I got a motion by council member Sawyer.
[35:31] Second by council member Phillips. Any
discussion? I please signify by your
[35:36] vote.
All right.
[35:40] Motion for deny pass for roll. All
right. Item number 12. This is for lot
[35:45] 13. This is a a variance V-
C260049.
[35:52] Can I get a motion on this one?
>> Motion to deny.
[35:55] » Second. I got a motion by council member
French. Second by council member Ilk.
[35:59] Any discussion? All right. Please
signify by your vote.
[36:03] All right. Motion pass for 40 for
denial. Thank y'all very much. So I have
[36:08] to keep good housekeeping on this.
>> Yeah. Thank you.
[36:12] » All right. Moving on. Item number 13.
This is for the miller rate for tax year
[36:15] 2026. Miss Robin
[36:20] for you is the uh paperwork for the
millage rate. I have presented it as
[36:26] rolling it back to zero where the city
would not be charging any taxes.
[36:32] » Thank you very much.
>> Motion to approve the zero.
[36:35] » I'm ask anybody questions for Miss
Robin. I was listening to Will and I
[36:39] went ahead and did it. [laughter]
>> No questions. I'm grateful for that.
[36:44] Yeah,
>> I have motion does council does pass.
[36:47] This is a cine string of keeping the
miller drake zero that we have done for
[36:52] many years where city has not had a tax.
So can I guess get a motion to keep it
[36:56] at zero?
>> So moved.
[36:58] » Second.
>> I got a motion by council member French.
[37:01] Second by council member ill. Any
discussion? I please signify by your
[37:05] vote.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, we keep
[37:08] the military rate at zero for another
year. Thank you very much. Pass 40.
[37:12] All right, moving on to item 14. This is
to amend to employee personnel policy
[37:17] section section 11. This is tabled by
from 83 2026. Uh Mr. Evans.
[37:24] » Yes. What's before you has been
presented uh several times in the last
[37:28] couple meetings. Uh no changes have been
made. All requirements have been met. So
[37:32] if you have any questions, please let me
know.
[37:36] All right, council members, got any
questions?
[37:38] » I do have um a couple of things I want
to talk about. So, I did talk to our
[37:43] attorney uh Kevin Talent about section
11 and we talked about two different
[37:47] additions that I wanted to uh I wanted
Kevin to kind of prepare some language
[37:52] around and then him read it to us so
that way we can kind of talk about it
[37:57] and see if it makes sense to include. Uh
one relates to the certification process
[38:02] of an employee who seeks to get a raise.
I thought it made more sense that they
[38:06] should get kind of pre-approval from the
department head and the city manager as
[38:10] opposed to them just being able to go
and do it because maybe the
[38:14] certification isn't offered anymore or
maybe something has happened. So that's
[38:18] one of them. And then the other one
relates to um what gets communicated to
[38:23] city council and mayor. So in practice
we're already doing it like and but it
[38:29] has to do with whenever there's a change
in employee compensation. I think it's
[38:33] good practice. I think we need to be
aware of that. Obviously, that's kind of
[38:37] out of our purview, but I like to be
apprised of that sort of thing. Um, and
[38:41] so that's the second thing. So, I was
wondering if you could any input you
[38:45] have or any language.
>> So, based upon the request, um, I
[38:49] drafted um, two things um, to for you to
consider. One would be to add the
[38:56] following language at the end of 11.6.
six.
[39:03] And that language would be
if the city manager takes an action
[39:09] pursuant to this paragraph, he shall
notify the city council.
[39:14] Sorry, he shall promptly notify the city
council.
[39:19] And then at the end of or as an
additional bullet
[39:25] under 11.8 Eight.
[39:31] Prior to starting a certification for
which the employee intends to obtain
[39:35] certification or training incentive pay,
an employee must have the approval both
[39:40] of their department head and the city
manager.
[39:45] » Thoughts on that?
[39:49] » Okay.
>> Anybody got any more questions?
[39:52] » I will make one comment. You know, Will,
you touched on really wasn't our
[39:56] decision. Of course, you know, that that
rests with the city manager rates, but
[40:00] ultimately it has to be within the
budget we approve. So, you're we do have
[40:03] a
>> Yeah, that's right.
[40:04] » A little impact on us on our side, but
that'll be fine.
[40:08] » I like those additions. Thank you.
>> Great.
[40:12] » I'll make a motion to approve uh with
the adjustments that Kevin mentioned.
[40:19] » Second. All right, I got a motion by
council member, second by council member
[40:23] French. Any discussion? I please signify
by your vote.
[40:28] Motion pass 40 with the adjustments.
Thank you very much.
[40:36] All right, let's move on to work
session. This item 15. This is for a
[40:39] change order number for one Flat Creek
Water Pollution Control Plant. Uh Mr.
[40:43] Russ chambers.
[40:52] The story unfolds
[40:56] from
[41:00] the engineering firm
[41:08] for the equipment
prehand
[41:17] or
and they did their best to get
[41:29] it.
[41:35] » Is that better?
>> Yeah.
[41:37] » Okay. when they turned it into the
equipment suppliers, they started
[41:41] rejecting them. Once they realized that
this paperwork from the Department of
[41:46] Revenue wasn't
um going like it should, they notified
[41:51] me about the change order. And then I
immediately turned it into Jacob because
[41:56] of deadlines of of u this two-year
wastewater plant being constructed, the
[42:02] timeline. Uh we need to stay on top of
purchasing the equipment and and
[42:06] building the plant. So it's time
crucial.
[42:10] Uh what's going on now is that we will
settle up on the taxes afterhand which
[42:18] is a simple process that uh Kenny Green
saying with the with turnup seed. They
[42:24] do it every day. They don't have a lot
of success with doing taxes beforehand,
[42:29] but they have uh really high chances.
It's it's really easy on the aftermath.
[42:34] It's um it could take up to a year to
get the tax refunds back to Robin in the
[42:40] bank account. U so Robin's aware of that
and we'll manage the money. Um
[42:48] trying to think of other high points I
didn't bring up. Uh the only thing that
[42:54] um really stands out and I made it
brought to y'all's attention the line
[42:59] item the handling fee for handling
paying those taxes up front by Harwin.
[43:04] Um they charge a percentage of it's cost
of doing business. They're going to pay
[43:09] the taxes for us and and handle all
those um millions of dollars. So, uh,
[43:16] somewhere I think we figured it up
around 9.5, Jacob.
[43:20] » Around 9% is what we could tell.
>> Handling fee for paying those taxes. Uh,
[43:24] that's the only thing that that I don't
like, but it's part of doing business.
[43:28] Um, and it's around $29,000.
Um, the rest of the money will get back
[43:36] 100% except for the handling fees of
them handling the money for us.
[43:43] And I don't think I'm gonna have all the
answers to your questions tonight, but I
[43:47] will get on as prompt as I can. So, load
me down. I'll get the answers wrote down
[43:51] and I'll get them back to you.
[clears throat]
[43:55] » I got lots of questions. I'll let I'll
let Mark go first because he's the
[43:58] finance.
>> Ross, when I was looking at the summary
[44:03] that's provided in our agenda packet at
the purchase price for the equipment,
[44:08] does this reflect all the equipment or
is this only a portion of the equipment?
[44:12] I believe it's a portion. Uh just
looking at it, it it's nowhere near uh
[44:19] feasible on all the equipment in that
plant.
[44:22] » The reason I ask is I ran a total
excluding the sales tax figure just on
[44:26] the purchase price column and that
totals 3,641
[44:32] 958.882.
But when I compare that to the total
[44:37] equipment cost in the contract of
3,355,000,
[44:43] that's a nice little difference there.
So I wanted to know, were they planning
[44:47] to make any substitutions in the
equipment or have the equipment prices
[44:51] changed since they submitted their bid
and their proposal to the city that we
[44:55] accepted? Is there I guess what I'm
asking just to shorthand it
[45:00] in our agenda packet there's the summary
of each piece of equipment to which
[45:05] they're applying sales tax. Could you or
someone tie these pieces of equipment to
[45:11] the pieces of equipment that are listed
in the contract so I can see where we
[45:14] are.
>> Yes.
[45:17] Today at this moment I can tell you that
there has been u substitutions to
[45:22] equipment. The equipment has changed. uh
the fluctuating business market uh back
[45:29] orders delays
uh they have uh substituted which
[45:35] they're allowed to do. They have I
believe a first and secondary option on
[45:39] the equipment. Uh, and I'll get you a a
better answer this week, but I do know
[45:44] they have been been dealing with the
economy. And
[45:48] » well, the reason I ask in particular, if
you apply the sales tax to the items
[45:52] listed in here and then compare it back
to the contract, there's a difference of
[45:56] 578,3153.
>> Yes, sir.
[46:00] » And I just I just wanted a little help
understanding where we got that figure.
[46:05] » Where the Yeah. the change in numbers
come from.
[46:08] » Tim, I'm not too bad.
Well, I'm trying to wrap my head around
[46:12] what you just said. So, you're saying
[laughter]
[46:14] you're you're saying that there's a
difference between what we're seeing
[46:18] right here in our agenda packet and what
was in the original contract. Is that
[46:23] what you're saying?
>> Okay. And I um what I'll do, I just did
[46:30] a little quick st I spent maybe 15 maybe
20 minutes at the most looking through
[46:34] some of this and making some notes and
I'll forward this to the entire council.
[46:37] So, I knew this was just a work session.
Yeah.
[46:40] » And I was spending a little bit of time
on this over the weekend, so I just I'll
[46:43] get it everybody so you can see what I'm
seeing.
[46:45] » Yeah, that'd be great.
>> And if anybody wants to sit down,
[46:47] » I'm not the brightest cray in the box. I
don't pretend to be, but it just it
[46:51] didn't add up,
>> right?
[46:54] I I guess my questions are um well, let
me make a statement and then I'll have a
[46:59] question. A statement first is in
general I am very adverse to giving the
[47:06] government money and expecting them to
pay me back. I just don't like doing
[47:11] that. So the question I would say is why
did our efforts not work out on the
[47:18] front end to be able to get the sales
taxes waved and what do we need to do in
[47:26] order to get it done on the front end?
Because that makes me feel
[47:30] way more comfortable to go ahead and get
it and nip it in the bud on the front
[47:34] end than to pay 320
some odd thousand dollar and then pay
[47:41] interest on that money for the next year
and then only get back the $320 some odd
[47:47] thousand
without the entrance that we're that
[47:51] we're borrowing. Go ahead.
>> I that that's one thing I can speak of
[47:55] Robin and this isn't my knowledge it's
Robins. Yeah,
[47:58] » we're recommending using uh our
enterprise uh reserves and pay cash on
[48:05] that. Okay.
>> So that we don't pay interest.
[48:07] » Okay, that's good.
>> That's smart money move. You don't pay
[48:10] interest on it.
>> Yep.
[48:12] » Um so I like that. Good bringing that
up, but I was excited to be able to
[48:16] answer that for you.
>> Yeah. And then the other question I have
[48:19] is
you're saying there's a 9.5%
[48:25] fee
>> for for paying taxes. So we got to pay
[48:30] another 9.5% to a handling company on
that. Is that what I heard?
[48:35] » No, it's part of the one of the line
items. It's just hair and construction.
[48:41] Uh
uh it's just for them handling the money
[48:45] for you. It's not a handling company.
So that's for the entire project, not
[48:51] just for the taxes.
>> That's just for the taxes right here on
[48:55] this page. Uh line item number
>> 13.
[48:59] » 13. Yes, sir.
>> So, okay. So, that's my question. So, we
[49:02] have to pay $29,718.39
just to pay taxes
[49:08] » for them. Yes.
>> And plus, we lose the interest we would
[49:11] have earned on that money in the bank.
So, we're not paying interest, but we're
[49:14] not earning interest. So, we're going to
take a hit on that side,
[49:17] » right? So, I would I would say we don't
pay the $29,718.39
[49:23] and we save that if we can. Whatever
challenges we're having, whether it's
[49:27] with the state or whether it's with the
company that we're working with, I would
[49:31] say whatever needs to happen, whether we
all need to get in the same room
[49:35] together and talk this out to make it
happen, let's make it happen on the
[49:39] front end at every effort that we can
do. And if we're having trouble at the
[49:43] state, then we need to call people down
at the state to get their work on this
[49:46] because this is a lot of money for our
city. You know, I know it's not for a
[49:50] county or something like that, but for a
small city like ours, this is a big this
[49:55] is a big hit for us. And so I would say
I'd rather save the $29,718
[50:00] plus all the tax money and whatever we
got to do to help you, Russ, let's do
[50:04] that.
>> Okay. Um if I can can can build on to
[50:08] that too, Will. Um is phrased in here.
It may be a misunderstanding for me that
[50:14] we're paying this upfront.
When would do we know when the
[50:18] contractor intends to pay the the quote
unquote sales tax on the items? Because
[50:22] if they're if we're paying them
tomorrow, if we approved this tonight,
[50:26] hypothetically,
and they're not spending the money until
[50:31] November, we just gave them an interest
free loan for over $300,000.
[50:36] Why don't they show us a receipt where
they paid it and then ask us to
[50:39] reimburse them for it? So that is what
they would be doing. I talked to Lamar
[50:42] this afternoon. So it wouldn't be paid
upfront. It would be paid once they
[50:47] purchase the equipment, not a lump sum
up front. And on and on the draws,
[50:53] they're going to itemize it so Robin can
see it. U that's one thing that we
[50:58] request is that they differentiate it.
Uh, so we know what part of this we're
[51:03] dealing with the taxes and each draw
could have like all this equipment. One
[51:10] draw might have three pieces of
equipment on it and then the next month
[51:14] it might have three other equipment. So
each month is going to have a different
[51:18] set of equipment that they bought until
we're done with the plant in June.
[51:23] » That makes more sense. Um,
[51:29] I I guess another question is what
happens, Russ, if the council says we're
[51:37] not comfortable with just paying sales
tax beforehand
[51:41] and what happens to our wastewater
treatment plant? Because I I definitely
[51:47] am not the kind of person that likes
making decisions feeling like my hands
[51:52] are cuffed, where I don't have any
options. I want to know what the options
[51:56] are. So, if we say, "Hey, no, we're not
going to pay the sales taxes on the
[51:59] front end. We're going to work this
stuff out on the front end." And if that
[52:04] takes
30 days, 60 days, what does that do to
[52:07] our wastewater treatment plant on the
back end?
[52:11] Because I don't want to get in a
position where it's like, well, if you
[52:15] don't pay the taxes, you don't get the
wastewater treatment plant. for every
[52:18] day that you delay on paying the taxes.
Now you're delaying on opening up the
[52:22] wastewater treatment plant that your
city needs. I don't want that to happen
[52:25] either.
>> The the only uh the comfort that I feel
[52:29] is like the the contract price isn't
going up. So the price that you all
[52:33] agreed to pay the plant, it's not
budging. It's going to be under that.
[52:38] There's contingency fees more worked
into it. And so you're not going over
[52:43] the price that y'all agreed to to build
that plant. Um the um that's the only
[52:49] thing that at the end of the day I feel
good with is that um it's not a b it's
[52:54] not a budget exceedence. In other words,
if it was a budget exceedence, I'd be
[52:59] it'd be a totally different story coming
in front of y'all,
[53:01] » right?
>> What's the contractor going to do if we
[53:05] say no
>> tonight? Like if we ask for 30 days to
[53:09] try to talk to the state or whatever and
try to work it out, are they going to
[53:13] continue working or are they going to
quit buying anything?
[53:16] » That's that's
>> I I'll find out.
[53:18] » I'd hate to put words in their mouths.
>> I mean, can you find out? And then if we
[53:23] need to have a
>> special meeting to handle it, we can.
[53:26] But I mean, if we want to make some
calls to try to work it out, let's do
[53:29] that. But at the same time, I don't want
them to say, "Well, we're not going to
[53:33] buy nothing else until you get it worked
out." you know,
[53:36] » because I think each day is $2,600
delays if it's on their end or I think
[53:43] it's around 2,600.
>> I can damages
[53:46] » can also tell you in emails with Lamar,
it's due to the state do department of
[53:51] revenue not answering or returning calls
in a timely manner over the past several
[53:54] months. Continuing to pursue this matter
with the state could result in
[53:58] additional costs due to construction
delays. So, um Lamar did put that in an
[54:03] email. So, just keep giving you
>> I think it's easier for them to just
[54:07] say, "Hey, pay the money and keep
going." But at the same time, who who's
[54:09] really called down there and asked
anybody anything?
[54:12] » I do not know.
>> I mean, we have a state representative
[54:14] that lives in the county.
>> He could have sent the email and never
[54:17] heard back, but never followed up. Yeah.
>> I don't know.
[54:20] » I don't know either.
>> And two, I'm thinking, and I'll ask
[54:23] Robin because she's had experience on on
the county side of the fence as I have.
[54:28] Let's say for example, you're ordering a
new fire engine. Those things are well
[54:33] over $100,000. Typically speaking, what
you would do is you would be invoiced
[54:37] for a deposit on the equipment to go
ahead and get the work in progress so
[54:41] you don't lose your spot and your
equipment being delivered is not
[54:44] delayed.
Then at some point in time, the project
[54:48] will reach a point of completion where
an inspection is done. At that point,
[54:53] the inspection is done. They get another
little bit. They don't actually get the
[54:56] final check until it's delivered. That's
when the sales tax is when the sale is
[55:00] complete. That could buy us some time to
get things worked out with Department of
[55:04] Revenue if they're structuring it that
way.
[55:09] » That's the way I've seen it before.
>> Thank you.
[55:13] » So, we both learned something in our
many years on the other side of the
[55:16] fence.
[55:19] » Yeah, I guess a lot more questions than
answers right now. So, I guess
[55:23] » Sorry to bombard you.
>> I don't want to delay the project. So, I
[55:26] mean, if they come up tomorrow and tell
you they're not going to buy anything
[55:28] else until something's worked out, then
maybe we need to have another meeting or
[55:32] whatever.
>> We need more information. I guess I got
[55:34] a question for Russ. Um, can this
council see more change orders as you
[55:38] see this thing progressing along besides
just this?
[55:43] Uh, there's several change orders.
However, they fall within that
[55:48] contingency funds.
Uh,
[55:53] I believe the way that that we're
working right now is just full
[55:56] disclosure. We all uh the y'all have
already awarded the the total price, so
[56:02] it's not going to exceed that. But any
like I explained it to Jacob, if I if
[56:07] y'all approve me to buy a truck for
$70,000
[56:10] and I bought a truck for 65 or 67,
that leeway there, it's the same way
[56:17] with $20 million. y'all have approved
the total wastewater plan. As long as it
[56:22] doesn't exceed that, then those change
orders doesn't have to come in front of
[56:26] y'all every time
is what I've been told by the engineer.
[56:32] So, we're doing this to, you know, be
completely open and transparent with
[56:36] y'all.
>> But this is right now going to exceed
[56:39] what the council approved.
>> No, it's not going to change the uh 20
[56:43] million the the total price that y'all
approved. Kenny Green assured me that
[56:49] that's what he's talking to me. He's
like, "This does not change the total
[56:53] price of what y'all agreed to."
>> But that's not what is that's not the
[56:58] document that's in the staff analysis.
>> Yeah.
[57:02] » And I think
>> it clearly shows that that figure is
[57:05] going from 21797
to 2212392.
[57:12] And I think that's the the governmental
finance that I'm not good at. In in the
[57:17] real world, it's washed out and it's not
changed. But with the
[57:21] the uh Gazsby or whatever, you're you
didn't pay the taxes up front. So now
[57:27] you're paying them in the end. You're
going to get the money back at the end.
[57:31] So the price washes out.
I think but um I will I'll triple triple
[57:38] check on the that statement. So what I'm
understand what you're saying Russ is
[57:42] what the council approved 21 million
some odd change. Okay.
[57:46] » All right. What we got now showing be 22
million but you just said that it will
[57:51] not exceed that 21 million. Apparently
it washes out.
[57:54] » Is that what I'm understanding?
>> And there's like a million dollar
[57:56] contingency there. Lamar put like a
million dollar contingency in there for
[58:00] buffer room not to exceed what y'all
approved.
[58:03] » All right. So what if it goes two more
million? Who's going to eat it? If it
[58:07] goes over what y'all approved, then
y'all would have to prove it. It' have
[58:10] to come out of our
um loan or our enterprise account if it
[58:17] goes over the budget.
>> Yeah. I think what it is is say the 217
[58:21] 97 probably more than likely it was what
their bid was was probably something
[58:26] like 20 million797.
So Lamar just made the contract amount a
[58:31] million extra dollars for anything that
pops up like this. So on paper it's
[58:36] 21797
but what heron probably priced is a
[58:40] million dollars less than that. So on
paper it's going up but you're not going
[58:45] to pay all that out. So in the end I
don't think they're going to right now
[58:49] they're not asking for more than the
21797.
[58:52] » Yeah. It's just
>> but even though it's saying 22 million
[58:54] now.
>> Yeah. Because a million of that is
[58:57] contingency money that
>> it's just sitting there in case
[59:00] something like this happens or
>> the price of something goes up. you can
[59:04] absorb it without having to ask for more
money.
[59:07] » Well, it makes a lot of sense they would
do it that way. I get that.
[59:10] » But if I could ask Lamar or somebody to
walk me through and show me where that
[59:14] is in the contract.
>> Yeah. You would just need to see Heron's
[59:18] bid. Probably her bid, you know, to what
we approved it should it should be less.
[59:24] You know what I mean? Right.
>> Or he may have built something in their
[59:28] contract like like at my work rock. If
you hit rock, it's in there. So the
[59:33] contract's way up here, but if you don't
hit any rock, then
[59:35] » that's just a savings.
>> Yeah, it's a savings. And so he may have
[59:38] put made them price stuff that actually
is not going to get used, like a you
[59:42] like a unit price.
>> Interesting.
[59:45] » I'm going to get a good answer on that.
I wrote it down. I'm going to get a good
[59:48] explanation because it's important to
me.
[59:52] » And I didn't mean to make sound like I
was picking on you. I just You're the
[59:55] man who's going to get the answer. So I
wanted to give you all my questions. I
[59:59] uh um I love a good challenge and
[laughter]
[1:00:03] » you have to
>> the the the money is really important to
[1:00:08] me because it's um you know this is our
first wastewater plant. Biggest thing
[1:00:14] that I've ever done with this city. It's
you know the last thing we did in the
[1:00:18] newspaper was we bought those new
tractors back in 2007 when we was in the
[1:00:23] newspaper. [laughter] You know we bought
the city first.
[1:00:27] So, I'm very excited about this project.
>> Any more questions?
[1:00:33] » I don't have any more.
>> I may have others, but I'll let you.
[1:00:37] » Pardon me.
>> Thank you very much.
[1:00:39] » Thank you.
>> Moving on to item 16. This for
[1:00:42] certificate appropriateness fee waiver
for the DDA funded project. Council
[1:00:45] member Will.
>> Yeah. So, I'm bringing this in front of
[1:00:48] the council on behalf of the DDA. This
has been on our to-do list for a while
[1:00:52] now and we are kind of in the home
stretch for it. uh murals help to
[1:00:57] celebrate kind of our history and
they're also used as like a placemaking
[1:01:02] thing within our community. Um and so
the DDA has been uh diligently looking
[1:01:07] for a place to put this mural. Uh as a
result, we've talked to Dwight Gillan
[1:01:12] who all of y'all know has been on the
DDA for a long time and he just recently
[1:01:16] stepped off. But um we're going to do it
right there at the fancy flea building.
[1:01:21] And um you can see an example of that
mural in your agenda packet. But uh
[1:01:26] because we're very friendly towards
other nonprofits as a council and other
[1:01:31] government entities, I said there's no
reason for the DDA to try and pay this.
[1:01:35] Why don't we come before city council
and see if city council would be willing
[1:01:39] to wave the fee that the DDA is required
to pay for this COA? And I think there's
[1:01:44] administrative charge. So, I think total
it's 400 bucks um that we're asking to
[1:01:49] wave. Now, I I'll just say I'm the chair
of the DDA and so I don't want to vote
[1:01:55] on this because I don't want there to be
some type of I don't know weird where
[1:01:59] it's like, hey, you you voted on this on
city council and you're bringing it up
[1:02:03] as a DDA chair. Is there a conflict of
interest? So, I plan on abstaining, but
[1:02:07] I wanted to to bring it before you guys.
[1:02:13] » Council got any questions for council
member Oak? Looks nice.
[1:02:16] » Yeah. Thanks.
>> All right. So, can I get a motion for
[1:02:18] it?
>> I'll make a motion to wave the fee as
[1:02:21] presented.
>> Second.
[1:02:22] » I got a motion by council member Sawyer.
Second by council member Phillips. Any
[1:02:26] discussion? I please signify by your
vote. Motion pass 300 with council
[1:02:31] member Elstaining.
[1:02:35] » Thank you very much. All right. Moving
on. Item 17. This is the transition from
[1:02:39] manual to electrical digital time sheets
discussion. Jacob.
[1:02:42] » Yes. So, the city has utilized paper
time sheets for as long as we've existed
[1:02:49] from what I've been told. Um, so over
the past several months, we started in
[1:02:53] January looking at different systems
that we could use a little bit more up
[1:02:57] to the times. We looked at four
different companies and Robin and I have
[1:03:01] selected what we think is the best
company which would be paychecks and
[1:03:05] that was based on ease of use,
implementation and training, competitive
[1:03:09] pricing and integrated services. What I
mean by that last one is we didn't want
[1:03:13] to have two different companies for one
for payroll and then one for
[1:03:16] timekeeping. So this company can do both
and they've offered us a better price as
[1:03:20] well on the payroll. So it's even
cheaper than what we were paying. So we
[1:03:24] have all this information before you
today. Not no vote needed today. Just
[1:03:27] getting the information to you. And if
you have any questions, please let me
[1:03:31] know.
>> All right. Thank you, Jay.
[1:03:36] » Let's move on to staff reports. Mr.
Evans.
[1:03:41] Yes, got a several here if that's all
right with you. [clears throat] So,
[1:03:43] through your direction as city council
and the mayor, we've been able to
[1:03:47] provide some much neededed updates
throughout the city. So, I wanted to
[1:03:50] give it just a highlight of a couple of
those and that includes paving Stonewall
[1:03:54] and Rain Hill subdivisions, North
Raymond Park Street. The gravel is now
[1:03:59] gone there, which is an amazing thing.
We've also recently completed paving
[1:04:04] Robinson Road, Elliot Village, and
George's Place. In addition, the dog
[1:04:08] park and the playground at Main Street
Park have seen improvements. And we've
[1:04:12] cleaned out all the water lines in the
city, plus cleaned out the two 500gallon
[1:04:17] water tanks that existed in the city.
And we've also partnered with a leak
[1:04:21] detection company to help identify leaks
throughout our system. This has gone
[1:04:25] pretty well so far. And then to
continue, our wastewater treatment plant
[1:04:29] continues to remain on schedule of June
2027 for a completion date. So all of
[1:04:34] these things are just raising the bar of
the excellence within the city and I
[1:04:37] want to say thank you to the council and
the mayor for approving those. So
[1:04:40] there's a lot going on in the city and
it's a lot of good things. And then for
[1:04:44] leak adjustments, we had two leak
adjustments in July. Uh totaling water
[1:04:49] 7501 and sewer 13759.
So a total altogether of $21260.
[1:04:57] And then a list of announcements and
updates are before you. If you have any
[1:05:01] questions, please let me know.
>> Thank you, Mr.
[1:05:07] Going to Finance. Mr. Gazway.
>> Yes, Mayor and Council. Presented to you
[1:05:11] the financial statements uh for July.
Just keep in mind it's only one month.
[1:05:16] So, any good and any bad is going to be
skewed just a little. [laughter]
[1:05:23] » There's more coming in than going out.
It's okay.
[1:05:26] Robin, um do you remember if we saw a
slowdown uh in July of last year with um
[1:05:34] with uh local option sales tax
collections? Do you remember if we did?
[1:05:39] » You I have that with me.
>> Awesome. Of course you do. [laughter]
[1:05:44] She's so good.
[1:05:51] Let's see. July of last year on Lost.
Um, we were up a little.
[1:06:00] Splast, we were up a little.
>> Okay.
[1:06:02] » And then T-Lost is just a little skewed
because, you know, we were starting and
[1:06:09] everything, but they were up just a
small little bit.
[1:06:12] » Okay.
>> Very small increases, but they were
[1:06:16] increases.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:06:19] Any more questions for Robin?
All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Rob.
[1:06:24] Welcome.
>> All right. Moving on to mayor council
[1:06:26] sports. Council, got anything to report?
>> I have one. I just wanted to um report
[1:06:30] on family fair. Family fair. Um Friday
night was a great success. It was um
[1:06:36] lots of people in the park even though
it was really hot. We had great weather.
[1:06:40] Uh shout out to Leila McBrer and Bonnie
Shudy. They worked in the park all day.
[1:06:45] Thank you, Trampus, and your team for um
making sure that the roads were closed.
[1:06:50] And um thank you for to the council and
mayor for approving that change and
[1:06:53] letting the the park be closed uh to
through for through traffic. It really
[1:06:59] made a um a big difference in the feel
and the the atmosphere on the park
[1:07:07] » and I want to echo that too. I was
working with United Way and seeing the
[1:07:11] city staff out there helping people, all
the different vendors get set up. That
[1:07:15] was greatly appreciated. So, thank you.
>> And I also let the council know I've got
[1:07:21] a lot of feedback from it. The community
really enjoyed it. Had a good time and
[1:07:25] also to the staff. I heard great thing
about the staff working in the park and
[1:07:28] all that. So, I I want to commend
everybody and it's great to see the
[1:07:31] community come out, come together and
all that. It was a great event.
[1:07:35] All right. Anything else?
All right, council. We're going to need
[1:07:39] executive session tonight for penny or
potential litigation, real estate
[1:07:42] acquisition, andor personnel. So, can I
get a motion go to executive session?
[1:07:48] » So, move second.
>> I got a motion by council member French,
[1:07:51] second by council member Phillips. Any
discussion? I please signify by your
[1:07:55] vote.
>> All right, motion pass for leisure.
[1:07:58] We're in executive session.
[1:08:05] I know what it will say.
[1:08:14] The the audio will be saved. videos.