The Baxley City Council held their Regular Meeting on February 27th. Council Member Fryer was excused due to a class she was attending. The city manager was not in attendance due to a meeting with GA DOT to try to secure additional funds for resurfacing road improvements. Review and approval of minutes of the Regular Meeting on February 13, 2019, at 8:30 am were approved. Motion made by Livingston to approve. 2nd by pro tem Hall. Motion approved unanimously.
There were no Proclamations/Special Request/Presentations.
Under Old Business: The mayor skipped over Old Business so that the city attorney could address it later in the meeting.
Under New Business:
Item A: Consider adopting a resolution authorizing submission of a FY 2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application to the Department of Community Affairs and a Fair Housing Resolution. The Mayor explained that the grant that was applied for last year and was denied. The screen sheets and tallies were run and basically told them the answers to the questions as to why the city didn’t get the grant. The city has since been able to correct these issues and will reapply for the grant for the same locations for water, sewer, stormwater, and road improvements. The mayor feels like, with the items being corrected, the city should be successful in getting the project funded this year with the approval of the council. Motion to approve was made by Bass and 2nd by Mayor pro tem Hall. The motion carried unanimously.
Item B: Set a public hearing date on a petition for a rezoning amendment filed by Jefferey M. Dyal. It is for property located on North Main Street that would be rezoned from a Residential (R-12) Zone to a Business (B-2) Zone located in Voting District #1. The mayor proposed to set the public hearing for March 19, 2019, at 6:00 pm. Motion made by Bass and 2nd by Livingston. Motion carried unanimously.
Item C: Adopt a resolution pertaining to ethics principles as they relate to the manner in which the city conducts its affairs. This is something the city does every other year. Motion to approve made by Livingston and 2nd by Mayor pro tem Hall. Motion carried unanimously.
Item D: Consider for approval of the 2018 Annual Water Audit. Dale Sapp from the Water/Sewer Department gave a presentation about the audit. Stating that he was not able to pull the files up to prove the points lost on the audit because they don’t have access to those files any longer with the new software but they are recorded on paper. Last year the total was 75. This year, it was 69. He stated that this was due to transition with the new software and this year those points would come back up. He also discussed other information about revenue and non-revenue on water, stating that actual production cost went down. Mayor pro tem Hall had a question about the solar array at the wastewater treatment plant. Sapp answered that question. Motion made by Bass to approve 2nd by Livingston. Motion carried unanimously.
Item E: Consider a bid for power post jackhammer/air compressor combo. The mayor explained that the city has approximately 2000 signs that need to be replaced and they are currently using posthole diggers and a sledgehammer. The purchase would be funded out of the assigned portion of the money the city got from SPLOST. Motion made by Livingston to approve, 2nd by Thomas. Motion carried unanimously.
Item F: Consider for approval of the repairs of the wastewater treatment plant automatic bar screen. The bar screen went down. An explanation was given by Dale Sapp as to exactly what the bar screen does and why it needs to be repaired. Total repair could be up to $15,000.00 but no more than that. Motion made by Mayor pro tem Hall and 2nd by Livingston. Motion carries.
Going back to Old Business: The mayor asked the city attorney about the Enterprise lease proposal and contract for police cars. The city attorney stated that he got the information a couple of days ago and looked at it and spoke with an Enterprise Representative from Jacksonville about the lease agreement. As he understands it, the city would lease the vehicles they want from Enterprise. Enterprise buys from the manufacturer so the vehicles are not bought locally. The vehicles would be shipped to the local Enterprise dealership who would unwrap the vehicles, put in any fluids needed and then somebody sends them to be detailed, which includes bar racks on top, lights, etc. Enterprise owns the vehicle and the city leases the vehicles from Enterprise. The schedule on service and maintaining the vehicles has not yet been received by the city but the city would decide from the schedule and options on how often they want the vehicles serviced and maintained. Enterprise would do the maintenance, insurance, etc, or the city can choose to be obligated to keep them insured and maintained. The requirement is that it has to be maintained as per manufactures specifications, has to be serviced at a dealership or another approved service facility if approved by Enterprise. If the service on the vehicle goes over $50.00 then you have to get special advanced permission to spend over $50.00 dollars for the service. They don’t include any oil changes or anything that happens between scheduled services such as tires and several other things. The city would have to agree to maintain it as the manufacturer says maintain it. Also, the vehicle can’t go over 60,000 miles during the 4-year lease which averages out to be 15,000 miles a year. At the end of the lease, the city would pay Enterprise a delivered price and a depreciation reserve every month. Depending on mileage, the city could well owe them a good bit of money at the end of the lease or if there’s light mileage and the vehicle is kept in excellent shape, Enterprise could owe the city money, which is probably not going to happen according to the city attorney. There are several formulas enterprise goes by. In the agreement, the city would agree to pay Enterprise within 30 days any extra money owed. Enterprise says they try to work it so that it balances out and there’s no money owed at the end of the lease so that means they sell the vehicle early and the city would start leasing another vehicle. The city attorney stated there are several things he’s not clear on as of yet and was not ready to make a recommendation on in the meeting. He suggested the mayor and council have Enterprise come meet with them and get all questions answered and clarification on the leasing agreement. The mayor requested it be left on the table and have the people from enterprise car rentals to come back down and meet with the council and city attorney and anyone who would like to meet with them that has any questions.
Under Other Business: None
Reports:
The mayor thanked David Gore and crews for everything they are doing to work on stormwater on 341 and he stated that he knows they are making improvements and he very much appreciates it. The mayor also attended the Development Authority meeting Monday, February 25th there were several discussions that went on in that meeting it was very productive and he enjoyed being there. He reminded everyone that may be riding around the Beech Street area the old Beech Street lift station brick building that was there in the far corner where the old elementary school has been torn down. The mayor stated he appreciated the effort that the Public Works and Water Department put in on getting that taken care of.
Mayor pro tem Hall reported they had a very successful banquet on Sunday, February 24th for Black History Month and thanked the city and everyone for their support.
The city manager’s report was given by the mayor: It was very short due to the city manager being in Atlanta securing DOT funding and additional projects.
With no other business coming before the council, the meeting was adjourned.