Mayor and Council met for a Work Session August 02, 2010 at the Courthouse with Mayor Wayne Bullard presiding.　

Mayor Wayne Bullard, Councils: Mayor Pro Tem Adams, Ralph Clendenin, Bruce Cain, Terry Benjamin, City Manager Jonathan Sumner, Police Chief Terry Davis, Fire Chief Dwight Bennett, Director Donnie Warren, City Clerk Belinda Chappell.　

Mayor Bullard asked if there were any questions concerning the minutes. Councilman Cain stated a correction was needed in the July 01, 2010 Council meeting minutes. Cain stated he was not in attendance at that meeting and his name was listed by mistake, as making a motion. City Manager Sumner stated the correction would be made.

Mayor Bullard asked if there were any questions concerning the bills. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she had questions regarding the repair bill on the Nutrition vehicle in the amount of $520.39 and a second bill for $306.70. Adams stated she was concerned with what these repairs were for. City Manager Sumner asked if Public Works Director Warren would respond to these concerns. Warren stated the nutrition vehicle needed a new air compressor and other parts due to the air conditioner not working in the car. Warren stated the City was not charged any labor on the second bill, but was only charged for parts.

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

City Manager Sumner stated to Mayor and Council that the administration recommendation for the millage rate was for it to remain the same at 5.38 mills. Sumner stated the budget had been prepared accordingly to reflect the millage rate. Sumner stated he would entertain any questions Council may have. There were no questions at that time.

Chief Davis stated to Mayor and Council that Ms. Rao and her husband are the current owners of the Hahira Truck stop and have recently purchased the Hahira Quick Stop. Davis stated that the Rao’s were previously approved to sale beer and wine at the truck stop and he had not found any reason to deny the Rao’s a beer and wine license for the Hahira Quick Stop. Davis stated the license would be under the new rate policy for the beer and wine license. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she was concerned if this was treated as a reapplication. Chief Davis responded that this would be treated as a reapplication for beer and wine license.

Mr. Matt Martin with The Valdosta Planning and Zoning Commission stated to Mayor and Council that the Planning Commission wished for the City Council to evaluate its policy concerning on-street parking. A discussion followed among Council members and Mr. Martin, as to whether this parking should be allowed beyond the Central Business District without special exceptions. Council decided that the current process was satisfactory and no modifications were needed.

Mayor Bullard stated to Council that this was the property where the previous landfill was located and about a year ago, Griffin Waste approached Council with wanting to put a transfer station at that location. Mayor Bullard stated Griffin Waste had recently sold the business to Allgreen Waste Services and they were requesting to put the transfer station in the old landfill location, and now Allgreen Waste was inquiring to see if the City was still interested in the rental of the property. Councilman Cain was concerned if a transfer station meant that the Waste business would haul everything here to the transfer station and then take it to the landfill. Mayor Bullard stated the sanitation would be compacted at the transfer station and then would be taken to the landfill. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she was concerned with how many cities would this involve of garbage collection at the transfer station. Mayor Bullard stated the garbage would not be left there at the transfer station, and that it would be monitored by the State. Councilman Clendenin stated he was concerned with the odor that would be coming from the transfer station into the City of Hahira. Mayor Bullard stated he would research other transfer stations and see if the garbage had to be hauled away on a daily basis, and not left overnight. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she was concerned if EPD would have to approve the site location. Mayor Bullard stated that had already been approved by EPD in the past. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she would like to travel to see other transfer stations, to get a better understanding, Council agreed.

Chief Davis stated to Mayor and Council he had included a list of property in Council packets that was no longer needed by the City, and was requesting permission to put the property on govdeals.com to sale as surplus property.

Chief Davis stated to Mayor and Council that the Police Department had been getting several vehicles from DRMO, and he had a 2006 Trailblazer that needed the engine replaced, but otherwise was in good shape. Davis stated he would like to replace the engine and make it an investigative vehicle for the Police Department. Davis stated the costs to install a used engine would be around $4500 dollars and the City would get about five years of usage out of the vehicle.

Mayor Bullard stated he would have to postpone this item on the agenda, due to he had not had time to get all the figures together for the costs of the renovation project. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she had visited City Hall and looked over the preliminary plans, and did not see where that much renovating would be taking place, just a few changes. Mayor Bullard stated he would like to reconstruct the front door of City Hall at the same time the renovation of the front office was taking place.

Director Warren stated to Mayor and Council he would like to attend the 3 day GRWA certification training in North Georgia. Councilman Clendenin was concerned if this was required training. Warren stated it was required to stay certified.

City Manager Sumner stated to Mayor and Council he was pleased to report that the City had more than 6 figures in the Proprietary and the General fund. Sumner stated the City was in a better cash position now than last year at this time, so he recommended the Cost of Living Increase be funded this year for the employees of the City. Sumner stated the COLA was a budgeted item. Councilman Clendenin stated he was concerned with what the Federal Government’s position was on the COLA for 2010. Sumner stated he would do some research and report back to Council on Thursday night at the Council meeting. Sumner stated the City of Hahira was in a very good financial position in respect to other municipalities of our size.

Chief Davis stated to Mayor and Council that every two to three years, the City was required to renew their radar license. Davis stated he would like to recommend to Council to lower the speed limit from 35 to 30 miles per hour on Hagan Bridge Road in Hahira. Davis stated this would help with the Elementary School being located off of Hagan Bridge and all of the traffic that travels that area. City Manager Sumner recommended, with Council’s permission, postponing this until the September meeting, so the modification could be done.

City Manager Sumner stated to Mayor and Council that when Council adopted the schedule for 2010 meetings, there was some concern about holding the Council meeting during the Honeybee Festival week in October. Sumner stated he had spoken to Mayor Pro Tem Adams, and the Honeybee Pageant was going to be held on a different day this year, which would not conflict with the regular scheduled meeting. Sumner stated he had spoken with Mayor about moving the meeting back up to the original date of the meeting in October. Councilman Clendenin was concerned if the vendors would be setting up booths on that Thursday night of the meeting. Sumner stated there would be no set up on that Thursday night. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated that since the advertisement had already taken place for the revised schedule in the beginning of the year, would the City Manager have to re-advertise that the meeting had been moved back to the original date. Sumner stated he would have to re-advertise with the newspaper on the meeting changes. Mayor Bullard stated he would like it placed on the agenda to be voted on Thursday night at the Council meeting.

Mayor Bullard will read a Proclamation for Fred Miley on Thursday night at the Council meeting.

City Manager Sumner stated to Mayor and Council he had included in their packets the fiscal year 2011 budget. Sumner went over the brief overview of the budget with Mayor and Council. Sumner provided the fiscal year 2010 budgeted figures, as well as, the fiscal year 2011 budgeted figures. Sumner stated there was very little difference in the FY10 and FY11 budget. Sumner stated there was a $20,000 difference in the anticipated revenues of the budget and as far as expenditures were concerned, Sumner stated there were some differences in certain line items, which he explained. Sumner stated there was an increase in the administrative line item due to software training. Sumner stated there were no funds in the budget for any of the Mayor and Council training sessions for FY2011. Sumner briefly explained the Administrative, BHT, Police, Judicial, Fire, Streets, Public Works, and Nutrition departments in the FY2011 budget. Mayor Pro Tem Adams had questions concerning the (BHT), Better Hometown Budget. Emily Newkirk, Downtown Development Coordinator answered Adams questions regarding advertisement and downtown business owners. Sumner stated the Proprietary figures were basically unchanged from the FY2010 to the FY2011 budget. Sumner stated the FY11 budget was a budget that adhered to the FY10 budget. Sumner stated the budget anticipated no great increase in revenue for 2011. Sumner stated the budget was not anticipating any more decreasing for the FY2011 year. Sumner stated he would answer any questions Council may have. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she had her questions answered by the Mayor and City Manager in a previous discussion before the meeting. City Manager Sumner stated a second budget workshop would be held in September at the Work Session if Council had any further questions that needed to be answered.

City Manager Sumner explained the FY2011 Special Revenue Budget to Mayor and Council. Sumner stated the budget did not include all of the anticipated revenues to come in through SPLOST VI. Sumner stated the FY2011 Special Revenue Budget anticipated as much revenue that was anticipated to be spent. Sumner stated the total anticipated revenue from SPLOST VI for FY11 was around $22,000 dollars a month and if you multiply that by 12 months, the total should be around $300,000 dollars for the FY2011. Sumner touched base on the budget expenditures and stated that the Police Department should round out its fleet of vehicles for FY2011. Sumner stated the Fire Department would be outfitting the Firefighters and would need to purchase some furniture for the living quarters of the Fire Department. Sumner stated the Water/Sewer would need to replace the jetrotter hose and would need to purchase a truck for the Water/Sewer Department in FY2011. City Manager Sumner stated he would answer any questions Council may have about the Special Revenue Budget. Mayor Pro Tem Adams stated she was concerned with the Fire Department Volunteers and how hard it was to get volunteers for the Department. Chief Bennett stated it was difficult to get people to volunteer for the department. Chief Bennett stated he had eight part time staff and 4 volunteers and he had allocated for a staff of 15 total staff in the budget.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M.

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Mayor, Wayne Bullard

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City Clerk, Belinda Chappell