City Council

Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 Savannah City Government SUMMARY/FINAL MINUTES MAYOR and ALDERMEN WORK SESSION CITY MANAGER’S BRIEFING February 19, 2015 – 10:00 am PRESENT: Mayor Edna Jackson, Presiding Mayor Pro-Tem Van Johnson, II (arrived at 11:00 a.m.) Alderman Tony Thomas, Chairman of Council Aldermen Carol Bell, Mary Ellen Sprague, Tom Bordeaux, Estella Shabazz, John Hall City Manager Stephanie Cutter City Attorney W. Brooks Stillwell Assistant City Attorney William Shearouse ABSENT: Alderman Mary Osborne, Vice-Chairman of Council Mayor Jackson called the meeting to order. City Manager Cutter stated a presentation and update would be given on the Cultural Arts Center Project by the Program Manager. Program Manager Update: Cultural Arts Walter Huntley, Principal-in-Charge introduced Patrick Graham, Communications Manager and Pyper Johnson, Project Controls Manager. Mr. Huntley stated there is an excellent working relationship with the staff and the project is moving along. Mr. Graham presented a PowerPoint Presentation on where staff has been since CHA has been on board and where they plan to go going forward. (Presentation on file in the Office of the Clerk of Council) The following questions were asked after the presentation: Alderman Thomas asked does it usually take this long to complete a project. Mr. Graham replied when CHA came on board and identified that they wanted to go with the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) process set them back a few months. Alderman Thomas asked City Manager Cutter when Council goes out and put things in the Capital Plans and tells the public it’s going to be built typically is this the future of how long it will take for it to happen. City Manager Cutter stated if Council recalls getting started with the Cultural Arts Center process took forever. Since engaging the Program Management component, things are moving according to a reasonable schedule. She continued stating she thinks the design consultant has made significant progress and she needs Council to separate what happened before the contracts were awarded because many years went by where nothing was done, sites were changed, environmental assessments were completed. The project is moving and progress will be seen. City Manager Cutter stated this is not a standard building there is a great deal of technical expertise that goes along with the project. CHA is the Program Manager their role is to oversee on the City’s behalf what the design consultant and the CMAR is doing to ensure compliance 1  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 with the specification of the RFP. Alderman Sprague stated she feels the project is taking forever and with the timeline it seems like it will take even longer. She asked to see a budget on the project and how much money has already been spent. City Manager Cutter stated she wants Council to understand that this conversation is not appropriate for this team. She stated Council needs to remember what they put priority. It requires good planning, she understands the frustration and she understands how long it took to get a site. Staff wants to ensure all of the pieces are connecting to avoid cost overruns. The design consultant sent over correspondence with the cost overruns at $28M which the City doesn’t have and never did. City Manager Cutter stated the City of Savannah doesn’t have enough staff to do what has been done to date. She asked Council to work with staff. Alderman Bordeaux asked Mr. Graham to elaborate on his statement in reference to it not being “entirely unusual” to be 20-25% over budget at this point. Mr. Graham replied in the early stages of the project the cost is not defined because you don’t have the final design. There’s more fluff in the early cost estimates because they have to cover themselves in terms of what the eventual cost will be due to the unknowns. Alderman Bordeaux asked when Council will know the project is back on track with budget. Mr. Graham replied the task has been given to get the project back in budget. The mile markers are the Project Timeline/Next Steps shown in the presentation. City Manager Cutter stated the information was shared with her last week in terms of where we were in terms of projected cost with budget. The directive was given to the Project Management team, that’s not acceptable. She tasked staff with examining existing funded projects around the area whether it was sidewalk, landscaping or lighting work so those dollars could move from the Cultural Arts budget freeing up those funds so they could go towards the bricks and mortar. She asked that more value engineering be done, getting back with the design consultant to reduce cost of the project. We still have projected funding to come in from the sale of the old Cultural Arts site which will go back into the project an additional $1M for bricks and mortar. Once all of that is done the value will be measured and staff will come back within 30 to 45 days to Council to say they were able to come up with a design within budget or give other options. Mayor Jackson thanked Mr. Huntley and staff for their presentation. Verizon Wireless Small Cells Attorney Harold Yellin introduced Laura Myers, Principal Engineer in charge of Real Estate and Regulatory matters and Pat Shay. Verizon Wireless would like to build antenna systems that would be stealth in nature that would accommodate 4 carriers. They have picked out 26 locations all of which would be in Downtown Savannah. Attorney Yellin stated Savannah has 13 million tourist a year. Pat Shay presented a PowerPoint presentation to Council of the changes being proposed, which included four examples in 26 locations. The following questions were asked after the presentation: Alderman Thomas asked if the City of Savannah will receive any revenue from this. Attorney Yelling replied under the franchise agreement its $1200/year per node if they’re all billed out it is $4800 times the number of poles. Currently it’s 26 and would be a little over $100,000 per year. 2  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 Alderman Thomas asked will Verizon be responsible for the maintenance of the poles, installation and cost of the poles. Attorney Yellin stated there is an agreement worked out with Georgia Power, but once they are installed the City maintains certain aspects of it. Ms. Myers stated Georgia Power replaces them and Verizon will provide them with an inventory of any poles that are replaced. Alderman Thomas then asked whose responsibility it would be if any damage from a traffic accident or anything of that nature occurs. Ms. Myers replied Georgia Power will be responsible but Verizon will provide them with an inventory of the poles. Alderman Thomas asked Attorney Stillwell if the City of Savannah is creating a monopoly for Verizon with these changes. Attorney Stillwell replied no, they are working on those issues. The way the proposal is being designed they are being required in the agreement to co-locate other carriers on the same pole and there will be provisions that they will only be able to charge the prorated cost of it. Ms. Myer stated that is true and Verizon will not make a profit. Alderman Sprague asked will the height be the same as the current poles. Ms. Myers replied they are required to keep it within a certain amount. They will try to match it at exact height, with the trees they will have to that into account to ensure they will perform. Alderman Sprague asked for a list of all the locations where the poles will be placed. Alderman Sprague asked what will happen if company number five comes along and wants a place on the pole, will they have the right to build their own pole. Attorney Stillwell replied it is the same issue the City currently has with cell tower and he will address it within the next two weeks. He stated the Metropolitan Planning Commission is working on an ordinance to regulate these types of distributing antennae systems. The Historic Review process will also be in place. Alderman Sprague asked if Georgia Power could duplicate the poles to have more consistency. Alderman Shabazz suggested putting the poles throughout the City for more consistency. Mayor Jackson thanked Attorney Yellin, Pat Shay and Laura Myers for their presentation. Former Police Chief’s Pension Benefits Brooks Stillwell, City Attorney provided the following memo to Mayor Jackson and Council stating: Several of you have asked whether the City has any legal ground upon which is could revoke or reduce the pension benefits of the former Police Chief, Willie Lovett, who was recently convicted of federal crimes. Recent postings on social media, and some local media reports, have raised two issues about these benefits. First, it has been suggested that if the former chief had been fired instead of retiring, his benefits would have been lost or reduced. This is not correct. Under the City’s pension plan, the right to a pension beginning at retirement age is vested after an employee has been a member of the plan for five years. The amount of the pension is based on years of service and the average of the last five years’ compensation, and is the same whether the employee resigns, retires, or is fired from his or her position. This provision is consistent with the provisions of most other employer sponsored plans. 3  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 Second, media reports have indicated that the City has a right under state law to reduce or eliminate Chief Lovett’s pension because he has been convicted of a federal crime. This is also not correct. Under Section 47-1-22 of the Georgia code, the pension of an employee who was hired after 1985 may be reduced or forfeited if he is convicted of one of a list of designated “employment related crimes.” Since the former chief was hired before 1985, this provision does not apply in his cases. Section 47-1-21 of the code applies to pension plan participants who were hired before 1985. This section is applicable in the present case. Under this section, a plan participant who is convicted of an employment related crime ceases to be a “member” of the plan as of the date of his conviction. This means that the convicted person cannot accrue future benefits under the plan. The next sentence of the section provides that “the right to any benefit or other right…shall be determined as of the date of final conviction.” Since former Chief Lovett had already retired and was receiving benefits at the time of his conviction, the conviction did not result in a loss of the vested benefits. Thus, the law allowing reduction or forfeiture upon conviction of certain crimes does not apply in this case. This would be true whether former Chief Lovett had retired, resigned, or been fired. This is an unfortunate result, but the City is bound to comply with State law. The following statements and questions were made: Alderman Bordeaux asked if former Chief Lovett and the City of Savannah are named or were named in any of the suits or future suits can the City of Savannah seek contribution from him whether it is from his pension or his private funds. Attorney Stillwell replied it would depend on the facts of the particular case, but as a general rule, yes. He stated he does not know of any situations that are currently out. There is a suit where the City and he were both named as Defendants the judgment was retendered in favor of the City and Chief Lovett the case is currently on appeal but the Plaintiff dismissed the City as a party and the claim is only against Chief Lovett. Alderman Thomas asked did Chief Lovett have a contract with the City when he became the Police Chief. Attorney Stillwell replied, no for most City employees there’s no contract you are an at will employee. Alderman Thomas asked if former Chief Berkow was given a contract and package when he came to Savannah. Attorney Stillwell replied he is unsure and instead of speculating he will look and report back to Council. Alderman Thomas stated he is extremely bothered by this and wants to know how the City can prevent another employee from doing the same thing. Attorney Stillwell stated anyone hired after 1985, it won’t happen. Alderman Thomas requested any information in his personnel file that states what his compensation package includes. City Manager Cutter stated if Council goes into discussing personnel we will have to go into Executive Session. Mayor Jackson asked Attorney Stillwell to get with the Attorney General to interpret the State law. 4  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 Alderman Johnson stated the possible reason former Chief Flynn and Berkow were treated differently because they came into the organization and Chief Lovett was already an employee and came up through the organization. Alderman Thomas stated the Police Chief is a position of trust that is not similar to many other department heads and that is a fact. The Police Chief is someone the community should put on a pedestal and look up to and know their best interest of safety and protection is in mind. He stated that person should be above reproach. Alderman Thomas asked if Council can take action to prevent this from happening in the future. Mayor Jackson asked that the years for vested employment changes from five years to ten years. Alderman Sprague stated this is a miscarriage of justice and for him to get such a huge pension is frustrating. She stated she remembers the conversations about his salary when he was hired and suggested they disappeared with the last City Manager. Alderman Hall asked if she was implying the former City Manager took the files, and if so he felt it should not be stated. Alderman Sprague replied she doesn’t know what happened to the file but it should be there. She also stated a tally should be kept of anything he spent or misused in terms of police time or resources for his own personal benefit in ways that are illegal. She stated when this was brought before the Pension Board Chief Lovett had to convince them and the representative from the Police Department was the most upset. Mayor Jackson asked Attorney Stillwell to raise those issues with the Attorney General. Alderman Hall suggested Council shouldn’t make implementations in reference to the former City Manager. He stated we are a nation of laws and a City of laws and that’s all we have, everyone may not agree with it but that’s the way it is. He stated Council sounds vindictive by making statements in regards to leaving no stone unturned and revoking the pension of Chief Lovett. Mayor Jackson stated she has requested that the information be given to Attorney General Sam Olens with all the questions from Council. She stated whether Council agrees with the law or not doesn’t matter as Constitutional Officers they all took an oath to follow the law and that’s all that can be done. Alderman Bordeaux stated he’s read the same laws Attorney Stillwell read and in terms of forfeiting the pension it is a closed door. The law is crystal clear that he does not forfeit his pension. He stated if there are ways to peruse getting back some of the funds Chief Lovett cost the City while doing illegal activities the City would not be limited to trying to collect from his pension they can do so from his cars, boats or whatever else he may have while he is away that is not being used and Council should find out the answer to that question. Alderman Johnson stated Council is sworn to uphold the law, whatever that is he thinks what needs to be remembered about a pension is that employees contribute into it. Mayor Jackson stated the recommendation coming from Council is that Attorney Stillwell send a letter to the Attorney General to define for Council if they are right in what the law has stated and if there are any alternative they be clarified so Council can have a document stating the law has been followed. Alderman Bell stated for the sake of the media everyone who stated had he been terminated or resigned versus retire that was incorrect. Mayor Jackson asked that it be placed in the document to the Attorney General for clarification as well. Alderman Bell stated the point is that it isn’t true he earned his pension and would have gotten it under State law anyway. As Alderman Johnson stated all of that aren’t City funds, the larger percentage is what he contributed himself plus interest. 5  Summary/Final Minutes – Work Session – February 19, 2015 Mayor Jackson asked that Council and the City Manager receive a copy of the document Attorney Stillwell sends to Attorney General Olens. Upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Bordeaux and unanimously carried the agenda was amended to add Personnel and Real Estate. Executive Session Upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Bell and unanimously carried, Council went into an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing Personnel, Litigation and Real Estate. Upon completion of this session, a motion was made to come out of Executive Session by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Shabazz and unanimously carried. City Manager Stephanie Cutter presented the City Manager’s Briefing of the agenda items for the Council Meeting of February 19, 2015. The agenda is attached and made a part of the permanent record. Mayor Jackson adjourned this meeting. Dyanne C. Reese, MMC, Clerk of Council 6