Council Work Session
January 19, 2010
5:30pm

Meeting called to order by Mayor John R. Harley at 5:30pm.
Present were Mayor John R. Harley, Councilman Randall Wright, Councilman Cameron Andrews, Councilman Robert Smith Jr., and Councilman Edward Tucker. City Attorney Rebecca Tydings and City Administrator Patrick Eidson were also present.
Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Harley.  Welcome extended to all by Mayor Harley.

Old Business:
Motion made by Councilman Andrews to add an item to the agenda as follows:  Discussion Margie Drive/Gunn Road intersection traffic control device.  Motion seconded by Councilman Tucker.  Motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Harley began discussion on Margie Drive issue by indicating that he had promised several people during his campaign that he would make traffic control at the intersection a priority.  Mayor Harley indicated that several people had spoken to him about this during the campaign.  Mayor Harley recognized Utilities Superintendent Mike Brumfield to discuss the city’s progress on the issue.  Mr. Brumfield indicated that a couple of traffic counts/studies had been conducted at the intersection with the result being that the volume of traffic passing through the intersection made a three or four way stop not feasible as a traffic control measure.  The volume of traffic would cause severe backups on Church Street and Houston Lake Road, possibly as far south as Watson Boulevard.  Mr. Brumfield did indicate that there is likely a need for two traffic lights to be installed in conjunction with the extension of Margie Drive northward to a point of intersection with Houston Lake Road at Bassett Street.  The two lights, one at Margie and Gunn and one at the extended end of Margie at its intersection with Houston Lake, would cost approximately $60,000.00 each for a total of $120,000.00 in addition to the city’s share of the road and intersection improvements associated with extended Margie Drive.
Mayor Harley asked if the lights would be the type that recognized and changed with traffic volume and would be synchronized with lights south of the intersection on Houston Lake Road.  Mr. Brumfield answered affirmatively.  The discussion was closed with no motion made or other action taken.

Ordinance Amendment Alcohol Special Event Permits Proposed Fee Increase: Councilman Tucker recognized City Attorney Tydings to discuss this first reading of the proposed fee increase ordinance amendment.  City Attorney Tydings stated that she had drafted the amendment in accordance with Council’s instructions at the January 5, 2010 council meeting.  A copy of the ordinance amendment is attached to and incorporated as part of these minutes.  Proposed changes in the fees are as follows:
                         
                           License/Permit                           Current Fee                    New Fee
Beer-On/Off Premises              $ 300.00                             $500.00
Wine-On/Off Premises             $ 300.00                             $500.00
Cater Event Permit                   $   35.00                              $300.00
City Attorney Tydings went on to explain that the city is currently in the last stages of a re-codification of the city’s code of ordinances and that the schedule of fees and charges will be included in the code as part of the project.  If the amendment is adopted at the February 2, 2010 meeting, the change will be forwarded to Municode for inclusion in the fee schedule.
Mayor Harley asked when the change would be effective and whether those with current licenses would have to come and pay the additional fees.  City Attorney responded that although the fee increases would go into effect immediately upon adoption, those with current licenses would not be subject to the fee increases until their licenses came up for renewal.  However, the permit for catered events is charged each time an event is held and would apply immediately upon adoption of the new ordinance.  Mayor Harley indicated that a second reading of the ordinance would take place at the February 2, 2010 council meeting and that a public hearing would be held at that time.  No motion was made or additional action taken at the close of discussion.

New Business:
Motion by Councilman Tucker to add an item of new business to the agenda: 2009 annual audit presentation by Marlon Nichols of Nichols, Cauley, and Associates.  Motion seconded by Councilman Smith.  Motion passed unanimously.
Marlon Nichols gave a brief presentation to the Council, commending the City on its vast improvement of its financial condition since 2001.  The 2009 audit is an unqualified opinion.  Brief mention was made about segregation of duties and account for lost water.  Mr. Nichols did mention that unaccounted for water is down from 64 million gallons to 44 million gallons from 2001 to 2009.  Mr. Nichols attributed this improvement to the city’s ongoing meter change out program as well as excellent utilities department management by Superintendent Mike Brumfield and work by the department staff.  Mr. Nichols also commended the council for their diligence in managing city finances and for the excellent management team in place at the city and expressed appreciation for the high level of cooperation between city staff and Nichols Cauley staff.  Mr. Nichols said that there were no concerns about the integrity of the city’s financial management and expressed his congratulations for the work that had been done over the last years.  Mr. Nichols believes the city is able to weather the economic climate today because of sound fiscal management made by council and staff.  Pointed out the state government’s financial woes and also the City of Atlanta’s problems.  Mr. Nichols said that he was in Puerto Rico last week and 30,000 government workers were laid off with an additional 30,000 to be laid off in the coming year.
Councilman Tucker remarked that he gave the management team all of the credit for the work that had been done to improve the city’s finances.  Councilman Andrews echoed those sentiments and congratulated the city’s management team on a continuing job well done.
Copies of the audit report and supporting financial statements were available for review by council members during the presentation but were returned to the city accountant’s office for release in the next few weeks.  Copies of the reports will be available to the public upon request from the city clerk’s office.
Mr. Nichols recognized Tommy Eilers and Rose Patty from his office and City Clerk Krista Bedingfield and City Accountant Dwight Williams for their excellent work on the audit.  Moving on to the audit presentation, Mr. Nichols mentioned the following points about the audit report:
Page 1 & 2 – independent auditor’s report – everything is fairly stated and the report is an unqualified opinion;
Page 3 – Management discussion and analysis – Mr. Nichols compared years 2003 and 2009 as follows:
Category                                 2003                                        2009                           page #
Revenues                               $3.3 million                            $3.6 million                6
Expenditures                         $3.2 million                            $3.6 million                 
Other items mentioned included contributions from SPLOST at $132,500.00; Transfers (EF to GF) $426,000 which is average for Centerville and common practice among municipalities; Page 10 – net assets up from $1.4 million (cash) in 2003 to $2.7 million (cash) in 2009; restricted cash reserves (setting aside money for debt service which is very good) up from $542,000 in 2003 to $2.0 million in 2009; and finally total liabilities for 2009 were $1.755 million which represents a significant decrease in city debt.
Mr. Nichols closed out the audit report by emphasizing the need to continue the meter change out program and to control losses associated with unaccounted for water, noting that the percentage of gallons unaccounted for had decreased over previous years.  Mr. Nichols again congratulated the city for being good fiscal managers over the last 4-5 years which helped weather the struggling economic times currently existing in Georgia and the United States.

Home Based Business:  Hearts of Hope & Associates, owner:  Geraldine Jones, 119 Ridge Bend Drive:  Councilman Andrews
Councilman Andrews questioned Ms. Jones, who was present in the audience, about her provisional state license’s expiration date of February 28, 2010.  Ms. Jones explained that the provisional license would be replaced by her permanent license once a final site inspection was completed by the state within the next couple of weeks.  Councilman Andrews asked if she would provide a copy of the permanent license to the city once it was received.  Ms. Jones indicated that she would do so. 
Mayor Harley questioned Ms. Jones about where she had been doing business since incorporation of her business (October 18, 2007).  Ms. Jones, confused about his question, indicated that she was advised to incorporate for tax and liability purposes.  Mayor Harley clarified, asking if she had been conducting her business in Centerville prior to applying for the license.  Ms. Jones said that she had not been doing so, pointing out the address on her provisional license of 784 N. Houston Road, Suite D (across from Shakey’s Pizza), as her prior place of business in the city of Warner Robins.  Mayor Harley acknowledged the explanation and discussion closed.
Motion made by Councilman Andrews to approve Ms. Jones’ home-based business license application for Hearts of Hope & Associates, Inc. at 119 Ridgebend Drive.  Motion seconded by Councilman Wright.  Motion passed unanimously.  Councilman Andrews congratulated Ms. Jones, welcomed her to the city, and advised her to see the city clerk tomorrow morning to finalize her business license.

Council Planning Retreat:  City Administrator Eidson
City Administrator Eidson stated that several council members had mentioned having another planning retreat like the one held last January at Lake Blackshear.  Mr. Eidson stated that dates of April 1^st and 2^nd were available at the same facility.  Those dates are on a Thursday and Friday.  Mr. Eidson is waiting for a call back from Lake Blackshear with a price.  Mr. Eidson recommended using Walt McBride from UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute again as a meeting facilitator and is waiting to hear back from Mr. McBride as well about the possible dates of April 1-2.  Mr. Eidson stated that the two educators on council had indicated that they would be out of school on those dates and able to attend and that all others had said they could attend most any dates if they knew in advance.  With no further information available, discussion ended with Mr. Eidson planning to bring additional information to council as soon as he heard from the Lake Blackshear personnel and Mr. McBride.  No motion made or action taken.

Scarborough Park Discussion: Councilman Wright made motion to table this item pending further information gathering before discussing future plans for the park.  Councilman Andrews seconded the motion.  Motion passed unanimously.

City Equipment – Fire Trucks Discussion: Councilman Tucker began discussion on this item by asking where things stand on the 1970 model fire truck donation to group interested in preserving the truck.  Councilman Tucker noted that the council voted to donate the truck to a group of private individuals on August 7, 2007, but that the truck was still sitting down at the Police Department with the city still paying insurance premiums on the truck.  Councilman Tucker noted that the minutes from the 2007 meeting indicated that former Fire Chief Mathews had presented Council with an estimated cost of over $13,000 to put the truck back into service.
Councilman Smith indicated that he was part of the group who wanted to preserve the fire truck and spoke about the delay.  The group had learned that it could not accept tax-exempt donations to help preserve the fire truck without incorporating and gaining 501(c) (3) status.  They had returned some monetary donations and lost a donation of land a building due to not being a 501(c) (3) corporation.  Currently, Councilman Smith indicated that the group had applied for its 501(c) (3) status, but the Secretary of State’s Office had returned the paperwork and asked for additional documentation.  That request had been completed and the group is now waiting to hear back from the state on its application.  Councilman Smith stated that the group didn’t have much money and was relying on free work from a professional to get the 501(c) (3) status finalized and that they had to work on the professional’s time table since they weren’t paying for the work.
Councilman Andrews and Wright asked if anyone had contacted the Secretary of State’s Office to check on the status of the 501(c) (3) application.  Councilman Smith said that the State’s latest response was “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”  With that said, Councilman Smith indicated that he would follow up on the 501(c) (3) status tomorrow.  The discussion ended with no motion made or no further action taken.

Keep Centerville Beautiful Discussion:  City Administrator Eidson advised council that KCB president Larry Coy and Treasurer Virginia Abbott had tendered their resignations from KCB and presented him with a check made out to the city in an amount equal to the balance in the KCB bank account.  Mr. Edison reported Ms. Abbott’s indication that the bank account would be closed next week once this check and one other outstanding check had cleared the bank.  Mr. Eidson sought instruction from the council regarding deposit of the check and placement of the funds in the desired general fund budget line item.  Councilman Andrews made a motion to accept the resignations, deposit the check into the general fund, and place the money into the parks and recreation general fund budget line item to be held until a majority of council voted on an approved expenditure for the money.
After a brief discussion among council members about the appropriate line item for the funds, Mr. Eidson conferred with City Accountant Dwight Williams for his input.  Mr. Williams indicated that the funds came from a combination of the city’s general fund as a budget allocation to KCB and from miscellaneous donations to the city for KCB.  Mr. Eidson expressed his opinion that the funds would appropriately go back into the general fund.
Councilman Andrews restated his motion as made earlier.  Councilman Wright seconded the motion.  Mayor Harley requested clarification that the motion contemplated accepting both resignations (plural and not singular), which Councilman Andrews confirmed.  Motion passed unanimously with reaffirmed instructions that the funds would be placed in the general fund budget parks and recreation line item.

Council/Audience Comments – Mayor Harley invited comments from Council or Audience prior to executive session.  No one had any comments from the audience or the council.

Executive Session (Personnel Issues/Future Acquisition of Real Estate):  Councilman Smith made a motion to enter into executive session at 6:45.  Motion seconded by Councilman Tucker.  Motion passed unanimously.  Council announced they would reconvene following the executive session and excused themselves along with City Attorney Tydings and City Administrator Eidson.

Council returned from executive session at 7:19 p.m.  No motion made or action taken as a result of executive session.  Motion made by Councilman Wright to adopt a resolution affirming the legal exceptions for the executive session, personnel matters and future acquisition of real estate.  Motion seconded by Councilman Tucker.  Motion passed unanimously.  City Attorney Tydings/Mayor Harley executed Affidavit regarding executive session discussion as required by law.  Resolution and affidavit attached to and made a part of these minutes.

Councilman Andrews made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Councilman Wright.  Motion passed unanimously.  Meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m.