City Council

City of Bowdon Mayor and Council Meeting Monday, July 19, 2021 7:00PM Mayor and Council Chambers, 182 Grammar School Road I.-IV. Agenda Items: The Mayor and City Council met for a regular meeting on Monday, July 19th, 2021. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Chaffin at 7:00PM. Roll call was conducted by City Clerk Susan Pierce. Members present: Mayor Jim Chaffin Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson Councilmember Marty Johnson Councilmember Wes McEntyre Absent: Councilmember Ward 2 (currently vacant) Staff present: City Manager Gary Bullock City Clerk Susan Pierce Main Street Director Jan Gibbs Police Lt. Randall Smith The Invocation was led by Councilmember McEntyre and was followed with the Pledge of Allegiance. V. Approval of Meeting Agenda Motion by Councilmember McEntyre to approve the meeting agenda as presented; second by Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson; motion carried unanimously. VI. Approval of Minutes Minutes of Mayor & Council Meeting on June 21st, 2021 were read and presented for approval. Motion by Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson to approve the minutes from the June 21, 2021 meeting as presented; second by Councilmember Marty Johnson; motion carried unanimously. VII. Public Comments Noah Steed – Thanked Mayor and others who attended the meeting on the re-routing of the transmission line. Asked for an update on the new ordinance protecting farming inside the city limits. Mr. Bullock said that he believes the Planning Commission will have a Public Hearing next month; there is a draft in progress which has not yet been distributed to all the commission members. Mr. Bullock plans to get the draft to all the affected citizens once it is completed.  City of Bowdon Mayor & Council Meeting Minutes July 19, 2021 VIII. Business Session A. DDA Funding Request – Council was given a letter from the DDA requesting $10,000 as start-up funding for revenue-producing projects. Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson asked if they could get by with the $5000 budgeted for start-up and have the additional $5000 later. Main Street Director Jan Gibbs said she thought that would be fine. Motion by Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson to approve the allocation of $5000 from the Economic Development budget line item for the Downtown Development Authority as presented; second by Councilmember McEntyre; motion carried unanimously. B. New Financial Report revisions – Mr. Bullock informed Council that since we have had a good year in water and sewer funds, we will be able to double up on our equipment replacement reserve and payment reserve account deposits. We would also like to establish a general fund operating reserve account, starting off with $200,000, to use in lean months. Southern States Bank is offering the Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) program to insure our accounts at their bank. This will allow our funds to be covered under the FDIC and allow the bank to use their assets that are currently pledged to cover our account balances over the $250,000 covered by FDIC. Motion by Councilmember McEntyre to approve utilizing the Southern States Bank Insured Cash Sweep Deposit Placement Agreement as presented; second by Councilmember Marty Johnson; motion carried unanimously. C. Millage Rate discussion – Mr. Bullock reported that our Net Digest increased by 6.7% over last year. He recommended rolling the millage rate back to 7.65, which will require an advertisement as an increase, because the county digest figures calculate to 7.451. The current millage rate is 7.942. The net tax levied is more due to property reassessments. D. City Manager Reports – We received the ARPA funds. New accounts will be ready after account documents are signed. We completed interviews today for the Recreation Department Director position; we will try to have a decision by the end of this week. Founders Day – we obtained parade and race permits from DOT; Public Works personnel are working to get city cleaned up. Mule Barn property – Henry McBrayer, surveyor, will try to develop a plat to get us a clean title to property. E. Department reports – no comments/questions. IX. Financial Session A. Property Tax Unpaid Balance Summary – no questions. B. June Financial Reports – Meeting with auditors and accountant to start audit process. C. Cash Balances as of 07/09/2021 – no questions.  City of Bowdon Mayor & Council Meeting Minutes July 19, 2021 Motion by Mayor Pro-tem Jan Johnson to enter Executive Session to discuss personnel; second by Councilmember McEntyre; motion carried unanimously. X. Executive Session Motion by Councilmember McEntyre to exit Executive Session; second by Councilmember Marty Johnson; motion carried unanimously. Motion by Councilmember McEntyre to adjourn; second by Councilmember Marty Johnson; motion carried unanimously. XI. Adjournment _________________________ ________________________ Mayor Jim Chaffin City Clerk Susan Pierce