November 13, 2007

Regular Session

Bonifay, Florida

The Holmes County Board of Commissioner 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.

Chairman Thomas stated that at the first meeting in November the Board is required to reorganize. Commissioner Williams made a motion to leave the organization of the Board as it was. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Thomas made recommendations regarding committees and the 911 Department. He stated that Commissioner Williams asked to be removed from the Regional Transportation Partnership Committee. Mr. Thomas agreed that he would assume that vacant position. Chairman Thomas stated that Commissioner Williams had agreed to sit on the Chipola Workforce Development Consortium. Another change was that the 911 Department would be taken out from the Board of Commissioners and be placed under the Administrator’s office. Commissioner Merchant made a motion to accept the proposed changes. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Commissioner Music made a motion to approve the following consent items with additional detail being added to the October 30, 2007 Special Session minutes:

October 23, 2007 Special Session minutes

October 29, 2007 Special Session minutes

October 30, 2007 Special Session minutes

October 30, 2007 Regular Session minutes

November 6, 2007 Regular Session minutes

JAG Grant, Sheriff’s Department

Holmes County Advisory Board Vacancy

Tactical Training for Sheriff’s Department

Modification #1 for new EOC construction

Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Thomas did a first reading on the following ordinances: Ordinance 2007-11 Public School Concurrency Management, Ordinance 2007-13 Mezzaluna Springs, Ordinance 2007-14 Text Change Amendment for lot Frontage Requirement, Ordinance 2007-15 Land Development Regulations Amendment. He stated that the hearings for these Ordinances will take place during the next meeting November 27, 2007.

(Draft of Ordinances 2007-11, 2007-13, 2007-14, 2007-15)

Mr. Richard Gilmore, citizen, asked the Board what the frontage ordinances were regarding. Chairman Thomas explained that the ordinances were regarding road frontage as set by standards of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Mr. Bob Jones, CDBG grants Administrator, asked the Board to authorize him to submit Resolution 07-13 which requested an extension for the Rum Road and Pittman Volunteer Fire Department project. The project is being funded by the Neighborhood Revitalization Grant, so the resolution would be sent to the Department of Community Affairs to extend the contract until August 13, 2008. Commissioner Music made a motion to adopt the resolution and to authorize the Chairman to sign it. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Williams made a motion to accept the modification to the grant agreement which would extend the contract date. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Resolution 07-13, Agreement Modification)

Chairman Thomas opened the sealed bids for the Rum Road project. The following bids were submitted:

Base Bid Additive Alt. #1 Additive Alt. #2

Gum Creek Farms, Inc. $538,033.75 $440,616.45 $1,011,028.65

Triangle Construction 501,908.00 458,977.00 1,013,483.50

IC Contractors, Inc. 637,727.04 469,900.28 1,157,316.19

North Florida Construction 477,568.00 446,492.95 843,462.15

Anderson Columbia 622,759.35 486,448.75 1,008,246.94

C.W. Roberts Contracting 518,285.95 397,034.15 905,899.85

Bullard Excavating, Inc. 450,505.84 343,940.54 792,584.51

Mr. Robin Losch, engineer of Chastain Skillman read the bids aloud. He explained that the base bid figure included construction of the roadway to the South side of the Parrot Creek Bridge. Additive Alternative #1 extends the project from the Parrot Creek Bridge to Yancey Road. Additive Alternative #2 would extend the project from Yancey Road to the Alabama state line. Mr. Jones explained that the grant has a budget of $579,550.00, which would cover the price of the base bid. He stated that the County may wish to look into sources of supplemental funding for the alternatives. Chairman Thomas asked Mr. Losch if he would be able to negotiate on some items that the County has the capacity to complete itself. Mr. Jones advised that CDBG does not allow negotiations unless each of the bidders is included in the bid. He stated that the base bid and alternate could be awarded conditionally and unit quantities of items could be negotiated afterward. Commissioner King made a motion for the engineer to review the bids and bring his recommendation to the Board at a workshop meeting. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner King made a motion to set the workshop meeting for five o’clock in the afternoon on November 27, 2007. Commissioner Merchant seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Clint Erickson, Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Committee Chairman, asked the Board to consider adopting Resolution 07-14 which would allow the committee to update the list of LMS projects. He presented a proposed list of projects to the Board for the LMS Committee, however, the projects could not be considered until the Resolution was adopted. He stated that he would be applying for additional grant funds to help fund projects on the list. Commissioner Music made a motion to adopt Resolution 07-14. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Wood stated that due to the quickly approaching grant application deadline, they had chosen to apply for the funds for the following projects: shuttering projects for the Bonifay and Esto Fire Departments as well as the Westville Town Hall. Mr. Erickson added that door projects were included for Esto and Bonifay Fire Departments. Commissioner Williams made a motion to allow application for the grants to fund these projects. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Resolution 07-14)

Mr. Wilburn Baker, Fire Inspector, updated the Board regarding fire inspections. He stated that the fee schedule had been enacted and that billing had begun and fees should be coming in soon. Commissioner Williams asked how many hours per month are being spent on fire inspection service. Mr. Baker stated that currently he is not formally logging the hours. Mr. Wood suggested keeping a log for all hours worked on fire inspection. Commissioner Williams stated that there is a need to eliminate the overtime situation that is being created by Mr. Baker’s occupancy of the two positions of Ambulance Director and Fire Inspector. Mr. Wood stated that he would like to see Mr. Baker making ambulance runs in order to monitor employees and to lend his years of paramedic expertise to younger employees. No action was taken on this item.

Chairman Thomas asked the Board to allow him to sign the proclamation that designated November 16-22, 2007 as Farm-City Week. Commissioner King made a motion for the Chairman to sign. Commissioner Music seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

(Proclamation)

Mr. Wood asked the Board to consider meeting dates for December. Chairman Thomas stated that historically there had only been one meeting for the month of December. Commissioner Merchant made a motion to set one meeting date of December 18, 2007 at six p.m. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board discussed the holiday schedule for County employees. Mr. Wood asked the Board for the schedule regarding departmental closures for the week of Christmas. Commissioner Merchant made a motion to require employees to use their leave time for time off other than the allowed days of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Merchant stated that he would like someone to be at the County Shop. The Board agreed.

Chairman Thomas stated that the Florida Department of Transportation will be holding a public information meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday November 15, 2007 at the Church of Latter Day Saints regarding the widening of Highway 79. He also advised that he and Mr. Wood will be in meetings all week, and requested that one of the other Commissioners attend the meeting.

Mr. Brandon Young, County Attorney, updated the Board regarding the speed bump installation at Ponce de Leon School. He stated that the County could install the speed bumps, however, they must be installed to the specifications of Florida Department of Transportation. He stated that he should be receiving the traffic control device manual regarding the FDOT standards soon.

Mr. Young updated the Board regarding the Beall Packing Road’s Shoefly Bridge. Previously, the bridge had been destroyed when a truck that was too heavy for the bridge attempted to cross it. He stated that the insurance company for Wade Gilbert, Llc. is hiring an attorney and that the attorney would like to hold pre-suit mediation. He advised that it would be beneficial to the County to participate in the meeting. He stated that analysis has been completed on the bridge and that County can now begin repairs.

Mr. Baker stated that the Ambulance Service has a new ambulance that requires ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. He asked the Board to consider options regarding fueling. He suggested additional fuel tank installations at Westville and Bonifay or to allow the ambulance service to fuel up at Curt Miller Oil, in which case the County would pay full price for the fuel. Mr. Wood stated that he is planning a meeting with Mr. Hendrix, shop foreman, and Mr. Baker to find a solution to the fuel issue.

Clint Erickson, of Holmes County 911 stated that there is a January 1, 2008 application deadline approaching for the 911 dispatch center relocation. No action was taken on this item.

Mr. Wayne Powell, citizen, asked the Board what the criteria was for paving roads. Chairman Thomas stated that because of erosion control issues, Lyons Lane had been chosen from the state list of projects.

Mr. John Little, citizen, stated that he arrived late to the meeting and asked for clarification on some agenda items, specifically about consent items and the LMS committee. Mr. Wood explained that consent items are reoccurring items that do not necessarily need to be discussed individually. Mr. Wood explained that the LMS is a State mandated committee that conducts local hazard analysis and finds funding sources to conduct mitigation activities.

Mr. Ray Boswell, citizen, asked what the “Teen Challenge” item was on the last agenda. Mr. Wood explained that the County and the Teen Challenge facility were discussing the fees that are due for fire inspections and building permits. He stated that a decision should be rendered regarding whether to assess the fees at the next meeting.

Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

___________________________________ ___________________________________

Clerk Chairman