City Commission Agendas and Minutes

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CITY OF DOTHAN, ALABAMA REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 17, 2012 The Board of Commissioners of the City of Dothan, Alabama, met in regular session in the Commission Chambers of the Roy Driggers Municipal Building at 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, January 17, 2012 with the following members present: Mayor Mike Schmitz, Associate Commissioners James H. Reading, Amos M. Newsome, Jr., Albert Kirkland, Critt Snellgrove, Taylor Barbaree and Hamp Baxley. Also present were City Manager Michael West, City Clerk Pam McCoy, Administrative Assistant Tammy Danner, who recorded the Minutes of the Meeting, and the local news media representatives. Mayor Schmitz called the meeting to order. Pastor Jevon Goode, Destiny Church, then led in prayer, afterwhich Commissioner Newsome led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Commissioner Reading moved that the Minutes of the Meeting of January 3, 2012, be approved, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and unanimously approved. Commissioner Reading requested another pavilion be built at Walton Park. He said the one that is already there is a money maker. Right now you have to book it a year in advance. Commissioner Reading asked for an update on the bathrooms at Gussie McMillon Park. Randy Morris, General Services Manger stated that the construction should within the next 2 weeks and could take 3 to 4 months to finish. Commissioner Newsome asked for an update on the roof at the Police Department. City Manager West said we got estimates on the Police Station and they were going to increase by 342%. Commissioner Barbaree asked how many quotes did we receive? Mr. West said we got the estimate from our architect. Commissioner Barbaree asked how many people did the architect poll? Mr. Morris said the architect did a regular cost estimate as he would with any type project. Commissioner Barbaree said he wanted to know how many firms were contacted and how many quotes he received. Mr. West said he did not think he got any quotes; he said he thought he used the standard value for doing a build up roof. Commissioner Barbaree asked if we are using more than one architect or are we sticking with one architect with every project. Mr. West said we use various architects, but with this project, we are using Mark Pepe. Commissioner Barbaree said he would like to see quotes from other firms; what a roofing company thinks it would take. Mayor Schmitz asked if this meant we would have to put bids out. Mr. West said yes, we would have to rebid it. He said the Commission has already approved the bids as such. He said the roof was designed as a flat roof. There will have to be a structure built to put a medal roof on. Mr. West said the roofing companies will have to see what they are going to be required to do to take the extra load. Mr. West said we went to a metal roof on the Museum, but the roof was already sloped and it only cost us $9,000.00 to put the metal roof on. Commissioner Barbaree said when we talk in terms of the Police Station, the HVAC system is located adjacent to the building not on top of the roof. Mr. West said that is correct. He said the HVAC system at Westgate is sitting on top of the building so the price would go up out there. Commissioner Kirkland asked Mr. Morris how the price compared when he did one of the other buildings. Mr. Morris said they looked at the facility at the Little Choctawhatchee Waste Water Treatment Plant when they were doing the plant expansion. One thing they wanted to do there was to reroof it. They looked at putting a pitched metal roof on top of it, but due to having to build the structure and the building not originally being designed to support the structure, the price would double. Commissioner Reading asked who did the Post Office. Mr. Morris said he did not know. Commissioner Newsome asked if that was in the historical records. Mr. Morris said yes. Commissioner Newsome said he would like for that information to be found. Commissioner Reading said the Post Office leaked for years and what finally Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. cured the problem is they put on a tilted metal roof. Mr. Morris said he would look at the records and see what was done at the Post Office. Mr. West said in this case, the Commission approved the bids the way they were submitted. Commissioner Barbaree said yes. Mr. West said we would have to terminate the bid before we could do anything else. Commissioner Newsome said if that is necessary we will do that. Commissioner Kirkland said he personally believed that was a very good bid and we may jeopardize some money if we break the bid. Mr. Morris said we have already authorized the architect to tell the contractor to go to work. Commissioner Newsome asked what is in the fine print to show what we will lose or what we will have to pay if we break the bid. Mr. Morris said we will have to pay them for anything they have already expended on the project. He said they have probably already ordered materials. Commissioner Barbaree asked what type of warranty is on this. Mr. Morris said he did not know, but he would look at it. Commissioner Barbaree said he was not necessarily interested in undoing what we have appropriated, but he thinks we should insure that the warranty is good. He said in the future, he believes everyone here would not want to go with a flat roof. Commissioner Reading said if it is going to save the taxpayers of this city some money then he could care less about revisiting the cost. If it is going to save us money in the long run then let’s do it. Commissioner Reading said the main thing is what methods we are going to take to prevent this from happening. Mr. Morris said what we can do from now on is design it both ways and bid it. Commissioner Reading said he did not think this commission is interested in a flat roof on any building. Commissioner Kirkland said you have a system now where they use Styrofoam and start in the middle which gives some elevation. Mr. Morris said even with a flat roof you have some elevation where the water can drain to the certain areas that are designed to take it. Mr. West said the current roof on the Police Station is the original roof, which is thirty years old. Mayor Schmitz suggested we move forward on this since it has already been bid; make sure we get a solid warranty on it and in the future we will look at both ways. Commissioner Newsome said he would also like to see the architectural rendition and the cost. Commissioner Kirkland said we are having ground breaking this Thursday on the Medical School. He said out of 15 contractors, 13 of the sub-contractors will be local. He said he is very thankful that we will have a lot of local people working on this and will keep the money close by. Commissioner Baxley invited everyone to the Cultural Arts Center Gala this Thursday night. He said the Dothan Area Young Professionals will also be hosting an event on Friday night. Landmark Park will host its annual party for the park on January 27th. He said these are some great organizations and events and hopes the public will attend. Mayor Schmitz announced that this Thursday, the annual AUSA Breakfast will be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Civic Center and invited everyone to attend. He encouraged everyone to come and support our soldiers. Janice Nark, Retired Lt. Colonel, Vietnam and Desert Storm Veteran will be the keynote speaker. At this time, Bob Hendrix, Director of the Dothan Area Convention and Visitors Bureau gave a PowerPoint presentation, which was an overview of the local Lodging Tax and the economic significance of tourism to the City of Dothan and area. Commissioner Barbaree said the slide shows most of the counties above Houston County have interstate access. Mr. Hendrix said that is correct; that is why the Connector would be very important and would help us a lot more. He said we may not have the mountains, beaches or antebellum homes, but we do have the best amateur recreation facilities in the state. Mr. Hendrix said because of that we give Leisure Services a lot of money and we help the city create more tourism and have people stay in our motels. Mayor Schmitz expressed appreciation to Mr. Hendrix for all he does with marketing and promoting our city. Mr. Hendrix announced that a hospitality training course will be held next month to help our local businesses react favorably to our visitors because when they come into the city and ask what there is to do then we can tell them. Commissioner Reading asked what the occupancy rate is for the motels in Dothan? Mr. Hendrix said that it is at about 57% right now. The state is at about 51%. Commissioner Reading asked Mr. Hendrix if he has ever considered a motel at the airport, which would help support Ft. Rucker. Mr. Hendrix said we may Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. need to talk with some of our developers about that. He said that would work very well because we have that airport because of Ft. Rucker. Mr. Hendrix said with the medical school coming he expects the east side to blow wide open. He said you will see several hotels coming in that direction. He said he hopes to see a river front on the Chattahoochee River. Columbus, Georgia is getting ready to dismantle all of the dams between Phoenix City and Columbus. They are going to open that up to white water rafting in the next couple of years. At this time, Chief Greg Benton announced that the Dothan Police Department received the “Category Three-National Night Out Award” for the event held last August. There were over 3,000 people who attended the event. City Manager West said yesterday was “Martin Luther King Holiday”. Those residents who have their garbage picked up on Monday will have it picked up Wednesday of this week. City Manager West stated that Lyle Sumek will be working with the City Commission this coming Friday and Saturday at Friends Bank. City Manager West announced that the Community Development Block Grant application process starts February 1st. Information will be going out to non-profit organizations soon. Todd McDonald, Planning and Zoning Director announced that the City of Dothan has received the Outstanding Planning Award for a “Project or Implementation Tool-Comprehensive Re-write of the Dothan Zoning Ordinance”; the Outstanding Planning Award for a “Plan or Panning Program-City of Dothan Long Range Development Plan: A Sense of New Beginnings”; and the Distinguished Leadership Award for a “Friend of Planning-Chuck Harris” from the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association. Mayor Schmitz introduced the application of David Perez for a Restaurant Retail Liquor License for Momma Goldbergs Deli, located at 2620 Montgomery Highway, Suites 6 & 7. Commissioner Barbaree moved for approval, motion seconded by Commissioner Reading and unanimously carried. Mayor Schmitz introduced the application of Ketki Parekh for a Retail Beer License for Dothan Raceway, located at 2585 Ross Clark Circle. Commissioner Kirkland moved for approval, motion seconded by Commissioner Reading and unanimously carried. At this time, Mayor Schmitz announced a Public Hearing regarding the proposed six-single member commission district lines as re-drawn in accordance with Section 11-44E-121, Code of Alabama 1975, as amended. Mayor Schmitz recognized Nicole Spivey for doing a lot of the work on this project. He then stated that because of the census we have every ten years we had to redraw the district lines. Mayor Schmitz said we have had growth in our city and the goal here is to keep the districts as equal according to population as we can within a certain percentage. Also, if you have minority members you need to make sure that you give them an opportunity to get re-elected. Planning and Zoning Director Todd McDonald stated that we do have to hit that equal representation mark and we have to be within 10% top to bottom. The population difference from District 1 to District 6 cannot be more than 10%; we are 9.2% right now. Mr. McDonald said Nicole is our GIS person and has redone the map several times because of some technical issues. Mr. McDonald said the map is located in the Civic Center and is posted on the main page of the City’s website. He said we have tried to minimize the changes as much as possible because the City Clerk has to send out notices for voting precincts. Mr. McDonald noted that this is the second public hearing before we get to the nitty gritty of it having to do legal descriptions of each district and legal descriptions of the voting districts within each district. He said there are two voting places within each commission district. Mayor Schmitz asked if there was anyone present who wished to speak. There was no one present who wished to speak. Commissioner Newsome requested that a copy of the map be displayed at the Library. City Manager West said one would be posted at the Library. Commissioner Reading said the staff bent over backwards on this project. He said districts 1 and 2 were mainly affected. He said they made sure that Commissioner Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. Newsome and himself were satisfied with the lines as drawn. Commissioner Reading said District 1 gained minority representation. He said they went from 67% to about 67.1%. Commissioner Reading expressed appreciation to Commissioner Newsome for his efforts in working with him, to move his lines a little bit farther south and give up some of the lines inside the Ross Clark Circle. Commissioner Reading expressed appreciation to Mr. McDonald and his staff for their work. He said he is happy! He added that after the lines are drawn, the US Justice Department will call the incumbent and ask them if they feel, with the lines drawn they way they are now, that you can get re-elected. Commissioner Reading said this has a tremendous input. Commissioner Newsome said this map not only represents the commissioners’ district, it also represents the Board of Education districts. Mayor Schmitz thanked all of the commissioners for working together. He said the biggest growth was in District 5. Commissioner Barbaree had to give up 2,000 of his voters. Mayor Schmitz also expressed appreciation to Mr. McDonald and Nicole for their hard work. He then announced that the Public Hearing was closed. Mayor Schmitz introduced Ordinance No. 2012-8 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), which first appeared on the January 3, 2012 agenda. Unanimous consent for immediate consideration is not required; amending Chapter 114 - Zoning, Article XI - Supplemental Regulations, Section 114-182 - Off-street automobile parking and loading requirements of the City of Dothan Code of Ordinances. Commissioner Barbaree moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Baxley. Commissioner Newsome said he is concerned with the weight that is stated on this ordinance. He said it indicates a 6,000 lb. maximum and if we look at several different vehicles we can easily exceed 6,000 lbs. Commissioner Newsome said a regular church van, which is a 15 passenger van can very well come into a neighborhood weighing 18,500 lbs. He said that exceeds the weight of the tractor that was shown in the Dothan Eagle, which weighs only 17,500 lbs. and is one of the heavier tractors. Commissioner Newsome said one of our primary aims is to insure that we do not have tractors, trailers and/or tractors and trailers in our residential areas. He said we need to be very clear on that type vehicle. We need to call it exactly what it is so that we can insure those vehicles are restricted rather than to go with a 6,000 lb. weight. Commissioner Kirkland asked how agricultural areas will fall into this. Mr. McDonald addressed Commissioner Newsome’s comments by saying the key word in that paragraph is commercial vehicles. He said he did not consider a church van a commercial vehicle. Mr. McDonald said an agricultural district, as written in the ordinance, is a district designed to promote agriculture uses. He said we allow residential subdivisions in the agriculture district as long as they follow our R1 guidelines. He said his interpretation of that is, it may be zoned agriculture, but if it is in a subdivision, it is in a subdivision. If it is an acreage piece of property, he did not believe that applies. He said you have all kinds of agricultural and industrial uses that occur in an agricultural district. Commissioner Newsome said an example of commercial versus noncommercial is the person who owns the pickup truck that is a fifth wheeler; uses the truck for his RV and also to deliver hay to his farm animals. Commissioner Newsome asked if this commercial or noncommercial? Mr. McDonald said that would be a private vehicle. Commissioner Newsome said it could be used as commercial and it could be used as private. He said he has a problem with that and weight. There being no further discussion and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” Newsome. The motion was carried by the majority of six "yeas" to one “nay.” Mayor Schmitz introduced Ordinance No. 2012-9 (recorded in Ordinance Book No. _______at Page_______), rezoning approximately 45.15 acres (various owners) located at the northwest corner of Fortner Street and Ross Clark Circle intersection from H-I District to B-2 District and approximately 6.54 acres (various owners) from H-I District to R-A District. Commissioner Barbaree moved for immediate consideration, motion seconded by Commissioner Snellgrove and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. Commissioner Barbaree then moved for adoption of Ordinance No. 2012-9, motion seconded by Commissioner Baxley and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Mayor Schmitz introduced Ordinance No. 2012-10 (recorded in Ordinance Book No. _______at Page_______), authorizing the issuance of the City’s $7,170,000.00 General Obligation Warrant Series 2011-CWSRF-DL to provide funds for sanitary sewer improvements and authorizing the execution of the Special Authority Loan Conditions Agreement with the Alabama Water Pollution Control Authority and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Commissioner Barbaree moved for immediate consideration, motion seconded by Commissioner Snellgrove and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Commissioner Baxley then moved for adoption of Ordinance No. 2012-10, motion seconded by Commissioner Snellgrove and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Mayor Schmitz introduced Ordinance No. 2012-11 (recorded in Ordinance Book No. _______at Page_______), authorizing the issuance of the City’s $31,750,000.00 General Obligation Warrant to provide $2,000,000.00 for the South Saint Andrews Street resurfacing project and the refunding of the City’s $29,650,000.00 General Obligation Warrant dated September 30, 2009. Commissioner Kirkland moved for immediate consideration, motion seconded by Commissioner Newsome and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Commissioner Barbaree then moved for adoption of Ordinance No. 2012-11, motion seconded by Commissioner Kirkland and upon the motion being put to vote, those voting “yea,” were Schmitz, Reading, Newsome, Kirkland, Snellgrove, Barbaree and Baxley; “nay:” none. The motion was carried by the majority of seven “yeas” to no “nays.” Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-12 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), requesting the introduction and passage of local legislation authorizing a Pretrial Diversion Program during the 2012 Alabama Legislative Session. Commissioner Barbaree moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Baxley and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-13 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), entering into a contract with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc. for the Wastewater System Capacity, Management, Operations, and Maintenance Consulting Study in the amount of $153,800.00 and appropriating funds for said study. Commissioner Kirkland moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Baxley and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-14 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), increasing the contract with Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc. by the negotiated amount of $142,480.00 for additional engineering services for the sanitary sewer trunk line from the Beaver Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Little Choctawhatchee Wastewater Treatment Plant and the decommissioning of the Beaver Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and appropriating funds for said engineering services. Commissioner Kirkland moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-15 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), approving the purchase of a DI900 Inserting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. System from Pitney Bowes at a cost of $30,698.00. Commissioner Kirkland moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-16 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), approving the utilization of seizure funds for various allowable expenditures for Police Department operations in the amount of $9,365.00 and appropriating funds for said expenditures. Commissioner Newsome moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Kirkland and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-17 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), rescinding Resolution Number 2011-362 dated November 15, 2011 which entered into an agreement with Xmed, Inc. for biohazard waste disposal service. Commissioner Kirkland moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-18 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), approving the payment of invoices for the month of December 2011 in the amount of $10,695,715.51. Commissioner Reading moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Kirkland and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-19 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), appointing Willie Brown as a member of the Industrial Development Board. Commissioner Reading moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Newsome and unanimously adopted. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-20 (recorded in Ordinance Book No. _______at Page_______), awarding the following bids and approving other purchases over $15,000.00 by the City. ITEM VENDOR AMOUNT One (1) or more Class A Pumper NAFECO, Inc. $515,093.00 To include four (4) door enclosed Decatur, AL Cab Uniforms-Citywide Unifirst Corporation Varies due to Dothan, AL number of employees and type of uniforms Dumpster Service for Westgate Waste Management $ 9,410.20 Park, Eastgate Park (house & Campbellton, FL ball park), Wiregrass Park, Doug Tew, Andrew Belle Park, Westgate Tennis Center, Westgate Softball Complex, Water World, Pitman Field and Walton Park Other Purchases: Professional Services Baker Donelson Bearman, $11,629.00 Caldwell & Berkowitz Atlanta, GA Annual City-wide Southernlinc Southernlinc $170,000.00 Service per State Contract Atlanta, GA T129 Commissioner Snellgrove then moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2012-20, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and unanimously carried. Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2012-21 (recorded in Ordinance Book No._______at Page_______), approving the following advance travel requests for City employees: Minutes of the Board of Commissioners – January 17, 2012, continued. NAME CONFERENCE AMOUNT Adam Patterson Survalent TechFest 2012 SCADA $ 2410.00 Conference Orlando, FL John Crawford AR-15/M16 Armorer Course $ 1385.00 Devellus Butler Mobile, AL th Angela Palmer 106 GFOA Annual Conference $ 3982.40 Lisa Reeder Chicago, IL Brandon Thompson FBI Firearms Instructor Class $ 1270.00 Jason Penn Andalusia, AL Larry Williams, Jr Fire Chiefs’ Executive Development $ 753.82 Conference 2012 Tuscaloosa, AL Jinri Jiang Southeastern Swim Championship $ 400.00 Nashville, TN Jinri Jiang ATAC Swim Meet $ 300.00 Jeffrey Powell Tallahassee, FL Todd David Inspection and Investigation of $ 1375.00 Commercial Vehicle Crashes Jacksonville, FL Todd McDonald Alabama Chapter- American Planning $ 1895.00 Steve Spry Association Chuck Harris Mobile, AL Roy Kitts 2012 Alabama Dixie State Meeting $ 334.32 Jonathon Wood Rogersville, AL Kenny Dunning Matthew Horn Alabama Police Officer Training $ 5500.00 Timothy Key Academy Michael Jenkins Selma, AL Mitchell Merkurson Kevin Sawyer Commissioner Reading then moved for adoption of Resolution No. 2012-21, motion seconded by Commissioner Kirkland and unanimously carried. Mayor Schmitz announced the reappointment of Samuel Crawford as a member of the Housing Authority Board. There being no further business, Commissioner Snellgrove moved that the meeting be adjourned, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree and upon the unanimous vote of "yea," the meeting was duly adjourned. /s/Pam McCoy, City Clerk Approved: /s/Mike Schmitz, Mayor /s/James H. Reading, Associate Commissioner /s/Amos M. Newsome, Jr., Associate Commissioner /s/Albert Kirkland, Associate Commissioner /s/Critt Snellgrove, Associate Commissioner /s/Taylor Barbaree, Associate Commissioner /s/Hamp Baxley, Associate Commissioner BOARD OF CITY COMMISSIONERS