October 14, 2008

Regular Session

Bonifay, Florida

The Holmes County Board of Commissioners met in a Regular Session on the above date with the following members present: Commissioner Kenneth Williams, Commissioner Monty Merchant, Commissioner Jim King, Commissioner Phillip Music, Commissioner Raymon Thomas, Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Greg Wood, County Administrator, was present.

Mr. Brandon Young, County Attorney, was present.

Angie Jonas, Deputy Clerk, was present and kept the minutes.

Chairman Thomas opened the meeting with the prayer and pledge.

The Board discussed the consent items. Chairman Thomas stated that the Medical Examiner’s Agreement needed approval. He explained that the County pays a State mandated percentage of the fee for medical examiner services and that the County portion is $53,687.33. Commissioner King made a motion to approve the agreement. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Agreement)

The Board discussed the September 30, 2008 Regular Session meeting minutes. Chairman Thomas stated that page six of the minutes reflected that no vote had been taken regarding the leave time for County employees while the power was not in service to the Courthouse on Thursday October 2, 2008. Attorney Young stated that the type of leave should be clarified also. Commissioner Williams made a motion to amend his previous motion from the September 30, 2008 minutes to allow “paid leave” on Thursday because of the power outage. Commissioner Music seconded the amended motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Williams made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Michele McDaniel, State Housing Initiative Program (SHIP) Program Coordinator, submitted the SHIP Annual Report. Previously, the Board had asked her to allow the SHIP Committee members to review the report before submitting it to them for approval. Commissioner King made a motion to file the report with the State. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. McDaniel added that she will begin accepting additional applications beginning November 10, 2008.

(Report)

The Board discussed the Son in Law Road resurfacing project bids that were opened previously. Chairman Thomas explained that the Small County Outreach Program (SCOP) grant had been received from the State Department of Transportation to fund the project. The following bids were submitted:

Company Bid

C.W. Roberts $351,044.00

APAC Southeast 322,295.00

Bullard Excavating 216,875.00

Anderson Columbia 287,127.09

Chairman Thomas stated that the estimate given by the engineer for the project was $278,000.00, and that the bid submitted by Bullard Excavating was less than that amount. Administrator Wood stated he had received a letter from Hatch Mott MacDonald stating that the bid submitted by Bullard Excavating does meet bid specifications. Commissioner King made a motion to award the bid to Bullard Excavating. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Bids, Recommendation)

Chairman Thomas stated that he had received a letter from Tri-County Community Council requesting a representative to serve on their Board. He stated that he had been serving, but because of scheduling conflicts he asked another Board member to volunteer to serve. Chairman Thomas recommended Commissioner Merchant to serve. Commissioner Williams seconded. Chairman Thomas called for a vote and each Commissioner voted “yes”.

(Letter)

Commissioner King made a motion to remove the Airport Authority member appointment item from the table, so that it could be discussed. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Jack Locke, Tri-County Airport Authority Chairman, stated that it was the recommendation of the Authority to appoint Mr. Jamie Pinto. Chairman Thomas stated that after the review of the charter regarding appointments, that there is no guideline regarding district representation limitations. Commissioner Williams made a motion to accept the recommendation of the Tri-County Airport Authority to appoint Mr. Jamie Pinto. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Thomas stated that the Inmate Work Contract had been previously tabled in order for the Administrator to negotiate with the Prison regarding the number of days that the inmates would be available. Administrator Wood stated that he had received a reply from the Prison and that the work crews will be available on a five day schedule. Commissioner King stated that he would like to have projects ready for work squads to complete on Fridays. Commissioner King made a motion to take the Inmate Contract item off the table. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner King made a motion to approve the contract. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Contract, Email Message)

The Board discussed the Additional Services fee request in the amount of $26,000.00 from Hatch Mott MacDonald regarding the construction and related survey services for the Emergency Operations Center project addition. Mr. David Skipper stated that the fee being requested is “in line” with the percentage that had been initially requested for the rest of the project. Commissioner Music made a motion to approve the amendment to the contract with Hatch Mott MacDonald to cover the additional construction of the EOC building. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Administrator Wood stated that there is a need to establish a parameter regarding personal vehicle use for employee travel. He stated that Mr. Clint Erickson, 911 Director, had used his personal vehicle to travel for business previously and asked for reimbursement. He suggested establishing a certain mileage requirement, and that if travel is over a certain distance, then an employee may be able to drive their own personal vehicle. He cited reasons such as gas mileage, comfort and County vehicle “wear and tear” as reasons that employees may take their personal vehicles, rather than utilizing County vehicles. Commissioner Music made a motion to reimburse Mr. Erickson for his travel. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed with Commissioner Williams voting no; and all others voting yes. Chairman Thomas agreed that it is necessary for a policy to be devised regarding this topic and asked Board members to submit their recommendations to the Administrator for a draft policy. The Board agreed.

The Board discussed the cellular telephone allowance item. Previously, the Board had discussed whether to give each employee an allowance of $50.00 toward employee cellular telephones that are utilized for work. Administrator Wood stated that the Sheriff’s office gives their employees a $45.00 allowance. He clarified that it would not be necessary for calls to be logged if the allowance was given. He also stated that Mrs. Wanda Stafford of the Emergency Management Department has two telephones that are grant funded and that those phones may both be eligible for the allowance. He clarified that by accepting the allowance, employees would be expected to answer their telephones at all times. The Board agreed by consensus to bring a policy back for discussion at a later meeting.

Commissioner Williams stated that last week the newspaper had printed that the County is “charging employees $3.00 per day to drive a County vehicle”. Administrator Wood clarified that this information was incorrect and that non-exempt employees would be taxed on the $3.00 per day benefit. He stated that he still needs to speak with the Auditor regarding this topic.

Administrator Wood stated that he had received a request from West Florida Electric Co-operative Association (WFECA) regarding the placement of a UHF and repeater on the Prosperity Tower. Attorney Young stated that he had reviewed a contract regarding the use of space on the tower. He advised that if a premium were charged to WFECA, then a percentage of the fee collected must be shared with the other entities involved in the contract. He also advised that space could be donated to WFECA. Mrs. Wanda Stafford, Emergency Management Director, stated that Mr. Donnie Worley had been discussing this proposal with her and that she would like to refer him to Administrator Wood for negotiation. The Board agreed.

(Letter of Request)

Administrator Wood stated that there are two free Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) training courses taking place in Tallahassee on October 28, 2008 for elected officials and October 29-31, 2008 for the Grants Administrator. He stated that since there is not an appointed Grants Administrator, he has been acting in this capacity. He asked the Board whether he or another representative should attend. Administrator Wood clarified that the CDBG Program will provide lodging during the training. Chairman Thomas stated that he would like a Commissioner to attend and asked that an interested member contact the Administrator for more details. Commissioner King made a motion to authorize Administrator Wood to attend the training. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board discussed the EMS Director job opening that had become available as a result of the upcoming retirement of Mr. Wilburn Baker. Administrator Wood stated that Mr. Baker and he had both interviewed each of the seven candidates. He also stated that Mr. Jerome Szczekot, Mr. Michael Hudson and Mr. Greg Barton were the top three candidates to fill the position, and that Mr. Jerome Szczekot had been offered the position. Chairman Thomas stated that it is the goal of the Board to do what is best for the County and that the Administrator does have the authority to hire staff. He urged everyone to work together and to move forward. Speaking in favor of Mr. Greg Barton were the following citizens:

Mr. Ed Barton

Mrs. Lisa Barton

Ms. Faye Dean

Mr. John Braxton

Citizens speaking in favor of Mr. Szczekot were the following:

Mr. Eddie Paul

Mr. Jonathan Davis

Mr. Richard Woodham, Bonifay City Councilman, updated the Board regarding the Recreation Center. He stated that the Boys and Girls Club had not been able to take over the operation of the Center. He suggested giving the pool and recreation center building back to the County and that the County could offer the operation of those facilities to the First Baptist Church or Kiwanis Club for a one dollar per year lease. He also suggested keeping the ball field and concession stand area open so that the proceeds of the concessions could be used to fund lighting. Attorney Young advised that the City does have some liability because of the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP) grants that were accepted for part of the project. He clarified that the building itself was not constructed using FRDAP funds, and that the building is falling apart. He advised that the facility has been subject to vandalism during its vacancy. He stated that First Baptist Church had been operating the baseball fields and that the park had to remain open to the public because of the FRDAP funds that had been accepted. Commissioner Merchant stated that he will meet with Mr. Woodham regarding this matter.

Ms. Melanie Dease offered a court ordered public apology for her drug use.

Commissioner Merchant asked whether the County may be interested in rubble from the destruction of a seawall at Grayton Beach. He clarified that the County would be responsible for transporting the material. Chairman Thomas asked him to contact Mr. Wells of F & W Construction regarding this. Commissioner Merchant agreed.

Commissioner Merchant stated that he had spoken with the Department of Transportation and that the County would probably be getting the milled asphalt from Highway 90. Chairman Thomas asked if it would be agreeable to store the milled asphalt at the fairground pit. The Board agreed.

Mr. Charles Corcoran, Esto Fire Chief, thanked the Board for their recent approval of the 12.50 surcharge request of the Department and also for the approval of the budget requests.

Mr. Clint Erickson, 911 Director, stated that there is an upcoming, week long training conference near Miami and asked whether it would be allowable for him to attend. He also stated that the training is normally grant funded, but that he was unsure if the training would be funded this year. He stated that although he had not budgeted for this training, funds are available in the 911 contingency. He estimated the expense for his attendance to be about $2,000.00. Commissioner Williams asked how the responsibilities of the 911 Department would be handled in his absence. Mr. Erickson stated that the Building Department will take applications during his absence. Commissioner Merchant asked whether Mr. Erickson would be driving his personal vehicle to the conference. Mr. Erickson stated that he would be driving his personal vehicle and that the State had previously reimbursed attendees for their travel whether it was by flight or by car. He also stated that he prefers to travel by car as he does not like to fly. Commissioner Williams made a motion to allow Mr. Erickson to attend the training. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Commissioner Music made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

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Clerk Chairman