RUNDOWN: Bulloch County Commission Meeting – January 27, 2025

This is an informal rundown of what happened during the Bulloch County Commission meeting on Monday, January 27, 2025.

Call to Order, Welcome Media and Visitors
Invocation & Pledge
Roll Call – All commissioners present
Approval of General Agenda

Presentations
Presentation of Current Year Revenues and Expenditures Compared to Budget

View the executive summary of revenues and expenditures
Finance Officer Kristie King provided an update on the current status of the budget at the halfway point. 50% of the fiscal year, which began July 1, 2024, is complete.

Presentation on Brannen Pond Road Drainage Project

View the slides and read the highlights:

464 Days & a 15% Cost Share: Details of the Brannen Pond Road Repairs
Consent Agenda

These items were voted on collectively in one single vote. One item was moved to 'New Business' for additional discussion. They were approved unanimously.

Minutes of Jan 7, 2025 5:30 PM
Approve the Executive Session Minutes of January 7th, 2025
Motion to approve the user agreement with GCIC for licensing purposes (alcohol licenses and special event permits).
Purchase of Hamilton T1 ventilator

EMS BUDGETED MONEY TO PURCHASE A NEW TRANSPORT VENTILATOR TO BE PUT IN SERVICE FOR TRANSPORTS NEEDING THIS. EMS EVALUATED AND TESTED SEVERAL VENTILATORS AND AFTER THE EVALUATIONS, THE DECISION WAS MADE THE HAMILTON T1 WOULD SUIT OUR NEEDS BEST. THIS IS A SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE IN THE AMOUNT OF $20,900.31

Motion to approve payment to Thompson Consulting Services

Thompson Consulting Services was contracted to monitor debris collection to meet FEMA guidelines.  The invoice is for 4 weeks of contracted services, at a cost of $427,511.61, and it is being funded through the pre-established emergency funds for Public Works.

Motion to approve payment to SDR for storm debris clearing

Southern Disaster Recovery, SDR, was contracted by the county to clear debris off the county right away after Helene. Four invoices that are being submitted, at a total cost of $881,031.00, are from weeks ending 10/19,10/26,11/02 and 11/09. Their services are being paid from the emergency fund that was established during Debby.

Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Chief Appraiser of the Board of Tax Assessors to Approve and Disapprove Claims for Certain Refunds of Taxes and License Fees

Georgia law provides that the Board of Commissioners may delegate to an appropriate department of local government the authority to approve or disapprove claims for refunds of taxes or license fees that have been erroneously or illegally assessed and collected where the reason for the claim is based on an obvious clerical error. While the Board of Commissioners has previously delegated this authority to the Chief Assessor, it would be prudent to update this authorization with a current resolution given that a new term of office has commenced. Approval is recommended.

Approve a Resolution Authorizing the Tax Commissioner to Accept Certain Forms of Payment and to Waive Penalties and Interest

Georgia law provides that the Board of Commissioners may designate to the Tax Commissioner the authority to receive certain forms of payment, and to waive penalties and interest on ad valorem taxes in certain circumstances. While the Board of Commissioners has taken past action regarding these matters, it would be prudent to update these authorizations with a current resolution given that a new term of office has commenced. Approval is recommended.
View the resolution.

Motion to continue Financial Advisory Retainer Services Agreement with Davenport & Company LLC per the Supplemental Letter Agreement Dated February 28, 2022.

In February of 2022, the County entered into an agreement with Davenport & Company for financial advisory services, and Staff has relied on their advice and expertise on numerous financial matters since that time. We have been very pleased with their services and level of expertise. This supplemental agreement covers a number of advisory services that are outlined in the agreement for an annual retainer fee of $25,000.00 plus an additional 4% to cover indirect costs. Per discussion with Davenport, if any additional services come up that are outside the scope of this agreement, they will notify us of any additional fees in advance before performing that work. The Finance Department believes the retainer fee is fair for the scope of work proposed and that these services are much needed to ensure good stewardship of the County's financial resources. The Finance Department has several items in mind to be worked on with Davenport in the coming year. No action is needed to continue the retainer agreement, other than payment of the annual invoice. Thirty days written notice is required to terminate the agreement.
View the letter from Davenport
View the retainer invoice

Motion to continue an Agreement with Davenport & Company for Investment Services

In March 2022, the County entered into a two-year agreement with Davenport & Company to develop and facilitate an investment strategy to increase earnings while ensuring that the funds are available for use when needed for operating costs, debt payments, and other obligations. These services are billed on a flat fee basis, regardless of the amount earned on the investments. Staff is pleased with the program and advice provided by Davenport & Company and recommend approval to renew the agreement for another two-year period. No action is required to renew the agreement, aside from paying the annual invoice in the amount of $10,400, which has been considered in the Finance Department's approved operating budget for this fiscal year. Thirty days written notice is required to terminate the agreement.

Approve a Motion to Make the 2024 Recommended Contribution to the Defined Benefit Pension Plan in the Amount of $2,109,571.

Each year, ACCG Retirement Services engages an actuary to prepare an Actuarial Valuation Report and
calculate the funded status of the County's Defined Benefit Pension plan. As part of this report, the actuary calculates the County's annual Required Contribution amount, which is determined by amortizing the unfunded liability over time in accordance with State Law. The actuary also calculates a Recommended Contribution, which amortizes the unfunded liability over a shortened period of time.

Motion to approve bid from Triangle Sports, Inc. for Spring 2025 Baseball/Softball Uniforms

Sealed bids were accepted for Spring 2025 Baseball/Softball uniforms. The low bid from Hayah, Inc. did not meet specifications. The next low bid was received from Triangle Sports, Inc. for $56,421. After reviewing the bids with the athletic staff, it is the recommendation of Dadrian Cosby, BCRP Director, to approve the bid from Triangle Sports, Inc. in the amount of $56,421.

This purchase is budgeted in FY25 budget.

Motion to approve the purchase of computer replacements through Georgia Technologies in the amount of $62,645 to be funded by SPLOST.

Computers that are outdated and obsolete are replaced each budget year with Georgia Technologies' assistance. Georgia Technologies has received a discounted quote from Dell on the County's behalf under their Standard Governing Terms, which is pricing that Dell offers to local and state governments. The Purchasing Manager requested quotes through the State Purchasing Department to see if we could get better pricing under a state contract, but the quoted prices for each item were higher than the proposal submitted by Georgia Technologies. These computers are within budget and will be paid for with SPLOST funds. A copy of the requisition and proposal are attached. Approval is recommended.

New Business

Commissioner Nick Newkirk made a motion to give the public the opportunity to speak on concerns ahead of voting on new business. Commissioner Ray Davis seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion failed 2-6 with Commissioners Mosely, Simmons, Conner, and Rushing opposing the motion and Newkirk voting in favor of the motion.

Discussion and/or Action on Public Comments

The initiative, brought forth by Commissioner Nick Newkirk, seeks to give the public the opportunity to speak on agenda items slated for a vote before commissioners cast those votes. The proposal is one that Newkirk campaigned on and has been advocating for since taking office in January.

Newkirk spoke on why he asked that the item be placed on the agenda for consideration. He stated that he wanted to move 'public comment' to a position before commissioners voted on particular matters, making it a permanent change to the county ordinance which currently requires the public to be heard after all votes are cast by commissioners.

County Attorney Jeff Akins said the matter was for discussion only Monday because the proposed changes to the ordinance were only draft notes. He said if it is the desire of the commissioner to amend the ordinances, he would look to have it prepared for the next meeting, noting that it would behoove commissioners to clean up other parts of the ordinance as well as some other relevant parts are outdated and not adhered to in practice.

Newkirk cited the practice in the City of Statesboro where the public is given an opportunity to speak at the beginning of the meeting, before votes are cast, so they can speak specifically to agenda items and have their voices heard. Then, at the end of the meeting, public comment is again held for general items that may be of concern but were not on the agenda. Comments ahead of voting would be exclusive to agenda items and would be capped at three minutes.

Commissioner Rushing offered his opinion saying, "That is something to look at. If you got a hot topic and you got 100 people that sign up, you're looking at a 5 hour meeting to hear from each one of them. The agenda goes out on Thursday, Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday to get in touch with your commissioners or the county staff. And then we have public comment at the end."

Commissioner Anthony Simmons said he agreed with Rushing. "It seems like it's more time consuming than anything else."

Chairman David Bennett explained that the movement of the agenda item does not necessarily mean meetings will be longer. "The inverse to this, though, you can come up and speak to a specific topic, but as it is now, they can just sign up in the general public comments and speak, they can speak for five minutes. They can still come up and speak and they will have five minutes."

Rushing asked if the comments at the beginning of the agenda would replace the public comments at the end of the agenda. Bennett replied that his understanding of the intent of the change is to allow people to speak to a specific agenda item and those same people would not speak to it again in public comments.

Attorney Akins said the proposal would not eliminate public comments at the end. He said the ordinance could reflect the desire of commissioners to keep public comments at the end from addressing agenda items a second time.

"Well, like you said, you've got to draft it for us to look at," Rushing said.

Commissioner Ray Davis asked if they could limit the number of speakers on an agenda item to one or two. "If you had 50 people willing to speak, there's gonna be some repetition. If you limit the number of speakers, that's going to limit the number...the time it's going to take."

Akins said limitations are permissible. He asked if Commissioners wanted to limit the number of speakers to two people per agenda item.

Chairman Bennett shared his opinion, saying "Yes, you're going to get some repetition and I think on most of these issues, you're not going to have a lot of people that are going to speak on them. I think most of the issues we have today, if we had public comments, most people would not have anything to say about it. I think you're going to have some hot topics that people are going to want to come up and speak about...you may have some repetition."

Akins said a draft won't be set in stone and commissioners can amend the working draft once he puts it together for their consideration. "One approach may be not to have a limitation unless it becomes a problem. If you have a meeting where 50 people sign up, you might want to address it. Or maybe 10 people."

Commissioner Simmons asked Akins if one of the options would be to 'just leave it like it is,' which Akins confirmed. Simmons also asked if the discussion could be moved to the morning meeting instead of the next meeting (on February 4) because evening meetings are already long.

Commissioner Toby Conner suggested moving all public comments to the beginning of the meeting. "You're gonna hear it one way or another." The practice is one the county commissioners followed in years past, holding public comment ahead of all agenda items.

No action was taken and County Attorney Jeff Akins said he would have a draft prepared for the second meeting in February, which is scheduled for Tuesday, February 18 at 8:30 A.M.

Motion to approve a contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., in the amount of a Not to Exceed Price of $554,900 to perform Task Orders 1-4 of design services for the FY 25 Batch 1 Dirt Road Paving Projects, to be funded by TSPLOST.

Following state and federal guidelines for procurement of engineering design services, County staff advertised a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering design services for FY 25 Batch 1 Dirt Road Paving Projects in August of 2024. The roads included in Batch 1 are Grimshaw Lane, Grimshaw Road, Prather Road, Floyd Clark Road, Deer Run Court, Deer Run Road, and Deer Run Lane. Approximately 4.4 miles of dirt roads are included in the project. A total of seven Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) were received by the Procurement Manager on the due date of August 29, 2024. A staff review committee scored the SOQs according to criteria in the RFQ and selected the five highest scoring firms and requested a Technical Approach submittal for the project from each of the five short-listed firms. The Technical Proposals were received on October 15, 2024, and subsequently scored by the review committee using scoring criteria in the RFQ. At the November 19, 2024 Commission Meeting, staff received approval to begin negotiations with the most qualified respondent to the RFQ, which was Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. The Engineering Department then initiated negotiations with Kimley-Horne.

Kimley-Horn's proposed task order of $554,900 includes the following: (Task 1) Project Meetings and Coordination, (Task 2) Database Preparation, (Task 3) Concept Plans, and (Task 4) Preliminary Plans. Additional task orders would be submitted for approval at a later date, when the preliminary plans are complete. The additional task orders would likely include Right of Way plans, Permitting (GDOT and US Army Corps of Engineers), Final Plans, and limited bidding and construction phase services. The proposed cost of $554,900 is a Not to Exceed (NTE) Cost. The actual cost billed to the county will be based on an hourly basis for work completed. Kimley-Horn will not exceed the NTE cost without written approval from Bulloch County.

Staff had originally budgeted $225,000 for the engineering design services for the roads included in Batch 1. However, the Engineering Department decided to require a more aggressive project delivery schedule of 270 days for the complete design process in the RFQ. This is a shorter timeline than the County has used on past projects. Also, the submitted proposal follows the GDOT Plan Development Process, which is a more detailed level of design plans than has typically been used on past dirt road paving projects. The Engineering Department has confirmed with the Finance Department that sufficient TSPLOST funds are available to fund the project without affecting other projects currently in the Capital Improvement Program. Kimley-Horn met all requirements in the County's RFQ. The County Engineer recommends approval of this contract.

Approved unanimously.

Motion to approve a contract with American Engineers, Inc., in the amount of a Not to Exceed cost of $860,544.74 to perform design services for the FY 25 Batch 2 Dirt Road Paving Projects, to be funded by TSPLOST.

Following state and federal guidelines for procurement of engineering design services, County staff advertised a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering design services for FY 25 Batch 2 Dirt Road Paving Projects in August of 2024. The roads included in Batch 2 are Bream Road, Pike Road, Bass Court, RL Lee Road, Shuman Road, JR Parker Road, and Club Road. The project includes approximately 3.75 miles of dirt roads. A total of ten Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) were received by the Procurement Manager on the due date of August 29, 2024. A staff review committee scored the SOQs according to criteria in the RFQ and selected the five highest scoring firms and requested a Technical Approach submittal for the project from each of the five short-listed firms. The Technical Proposals were received on October 15, 2024, and subsequently scored by the review committee using scoring criteria in the RFQ. At the November 19, 2024 Commission Meeting, staff received approval to begin negotiations with the most qualified respondent to the RFQ, which was American Engineering, Inc (AEI). The Engineering Department then initiated negotiations with AEI.

AEI's proposed task order of $860,544.74 is broken down into two proposals: one for Bream Road, Pike Road, and Bass Court, and a separate task order for RL Lee Road, Shuman Road, JR Parker Road, and Club Road. The task orders include the following: (Task 1) Concept Plan Development and Coordination, (Task 2) Environmental Coordination (US Army Corps of Engineers), (Task 3) Database Preparation, and (Task 4) Preliminary Plans. Additional task orders would be submitted for approval at a later date, when the preliminary plans are complete. The additional task orders would likely include Right of Way plans, Final Plans, and limited bidding and construction phase services. The proposed cost of $860,544.74 is a Not to Exceed (NTE) Cost. The actual cost billed to the county will be based on an hourly basis for work completed. AEI will not exceed the NTE cost without written approval from Bulloch County.

Staff had originally budgeted $175,000 for the engineering design services for the roads included in Batch 2. However, the Engineering Department decided to require a more aggressive project delivery schedule of 270 days for the complete design process in the RFQ. This is a shorter project timeline than the County has used on past projects. Also, the submitted proposal follows the GDOT Plan Development Process, which is a more detailed level of design plans than typically used on past dirt road paving projects. The Engineering Department has confirmed with the Finance Department that sufficient TSPLOST funds are available to fund the project without affecting other projects currently in the Capital Improvement Program. AEI met all requirements in the County's RFQ. The County Engineer recommends approval of this contract.

Approved unanimously.

Motion to approve a purchase order in the amount of $35,850.00 for the demolition of the old GBI Building located on Randy Lowery Road for the purpose of building a new office building for the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office.

Marcus Nesmith, Crime Suppression Team Captain, with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office obtained three quotes for the complete demolition of the old GBI Building on Randy Lowery Road, this will include the building’s slab and parking lot. By demolishing this building, it will allow for the building of a new office for the Crime Suppression Team. The current building is in a dilapidated state and is not fit for remodeling. B & C Land Services, LLC submitted the low quote in the amount of $35,850.00 for this service. Approval is recommended.

Approved unanimously.

Motion to approve a contract with Hawk Construction, LLC/Smith Steel Structures in the amount of $26,410.00 for the replacement of the Clito Fire Station roof.

Three quotes were received for the replacement the roof of the Clito Fire Station 9 located at 10932 Clito Road. The lowest bid was submitted by Hawk Construction, LLC/Smith Steel Structures in the amount of $26,410.00.  Approval is recommended. 

Approved unanimously.

Motion to Approve and ratify the use of Sand Creek Land Construction

Public Works had Sand Creek Land Construction hauling material, for the week of Dec. 16th to Dec 20th; at a cost of $22,995.00. Their services are aiding in the continued repairs using the Debby emergency fund.

Unanimous approval with Commissioner Toby Conner abstaining due to a conflict.

Public Comments

Lawton Sack - Spoke in favor of Sheriff Noel Brown's previous advocacy for placing a county SRO at Statesboro High School.

Commission and Staff Comments

Interim County Manager Cindy Steinmann - addressed the appointments of individuals to the Well Mitigation Committee and the person who will be responsible for the Mitigation Management. 17 people have applied and the application window is open until February 4, 2025. Also necessary will be the start of the process of a RFP for the certified well driller to be the responding contractor in connection to the plan.

County Attorney Jeff Akins addressed the use of executive session.

Adjourn

Bulloch County Board of Commissioners Meeting - January 27, 2025 8:30AM

Uploaded by Bulloch County Board of Commissioners on 2025-01-27.

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Jessica Szilagyi

Jessica Szilagyi is Publisher of TGV News. She focuses primarily on state and local politics as well as issues in law enforcement and corrections. She has a background in Political Science with a focus in local government and has a Master of Public Administration from the University of Georgia.

Jessica is a "Like It Or Not" contributor for Fox5 in Atlanta and co-creator of the Peabody Award-nominated podcast 'Prison Town.'

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