Town Council Regular Meeting

Town of Tyrone Special Called Meeting Council Meeting Minutes June 18, 2012 Present: Mayor Eric Dial Mayor Pro Tem Gloria Furr Council Member Ken Matthews Council Member Ryan Housley Arrived Late Council Member Linda Howard Police Chief and Interim Town Manager Brandon Perkins Finance/HR Manager Penny Hunter Town Attorney Dennis Davenport Town Clerk Dee Baker Also in attendance: Recreation Events Programmer Jennifer Patton Library Supervisor Julie Digby Senior Library Assistant Patty Newland Call to Order, Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Dial called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The invocation was given by Mayor Dial. The invocation was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comments: Approval of Agenda Council Member Matthews made a motion to approve the agenda. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 3-0. Approval of the Consent Agenda: Approval of Minutes May 17, 2012 and May 31, 2012 Consideration of approval to hire applicant Jacob Collins as a Police Officer. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Consideration of approval of bid to Rushton and Company for Audit Services. Penny Hunter, Finance/HR Manager 1|Page Consideration of approval of the contract from Gold Medal Shows for Founder’s Day. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Council Member Howard made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Council Member Furr seconded the motion. Motion was approved 3-0. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. Public Hearing on the proposed FY 2012-13 Budget. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Revenue: Mr. Perkins briefed Mayor and Council on the proposed budget. He informed them of a change in the LOST account line item number 31.3100 from the initial amount of $375,000 to $150,000. He stated that this is due to the continuing LOST negotiations with the County. Mayor Dial added that the scheduled mediation date with the County would be on July 10th, 11th and 12th. Personnel: He stated that for the organizational chart, the Police Department and Police Chief will need to be added. He added that per Mayor Dial’s request the budget is also presented with a 2 ½ % merit raise based on each employee’s date of hire. Administration: Mr. Perkins stated that line item number 52.1100 (official/administrative services) the line item was originally $1,000 it has been raised to $10,000 based upon the estimated cost for the coming year’s elections. Mr. Perkins stated that line item number 52.3500 (travel) was increased from $3,200 to $5,000. Line item number 52.3700 (Education & Training) was increased from $11,000 to $12,500. Both increases were due to training requests throughout the year. Council Member Furr asked why Education and Training should be increased when there is still a $6,600 balance. Ms. Hunter stated that there were three employees that were budgeted for training last year that did not utilize the funds. Mr. Perkins declared that he believes that it is up to management to make sure their employees are taking classes on a regular basis. Mayor Dial asked if budgeted classes were denied in the past. Ms. Hunter stated that requests had been denied in the past. Mr. Perkins stated that it is management’s goal to make sure the budgeted classes are attended. Mr. Perkins stated that originally $30,000 was placed into line item 54.2400 (computers). That amount was moved to Capital Improvements and increased to $60,000 for the cost of the financial software upgrade. 2|Page A discussion took place between Mayor Dial and Town Engineer David Jaeger regarding the past practices for billing from the prior Manager. Council Member Furr asked for clarification on line item number 52.1204 (Building Inspector). Ms. Hunter stated that she felt the building industry would increase and increasing the line item would be prudent. Court Administration: Mr. Perkins stated that the requests of the Solicitor and the Municipal Judges requests for an increase were now reflected in the budget. Public Safety: Mr. Perkins stated that Council had asked staff to ascertain a way to make Public Safety’s officers salaries more competitive. Mr. Perkins suggested that Council allow an additional line item for salary adjustments to be used when recruiting new officers. He stated that the Police Department’s average turn-over is two a year. If Council allows $5,000 for that line item it would allow $2,500 leverage per recruit. Council Member Howard opened a discussion regarding employee morale and the ramifications if new recruits made more money than current employees. Public Works: Mr. Perkins stated that line item number 51.1300 (Overtime) was decreased to $4,021.98 per the request of Council. Ms. Hunter stated that line item number 51.1101 (part-time employees) is now at $23,920. CIP-Capital Improvements: Mr. Perkins stated that on line number 12 (LARP) Laurel Circle was not completed due to a lack of funds. Laurel Circle was placed in the last bid for resurfacing at $55,248. Mr. Perkins suggested putting that amount back into the budget. Council Member Furr inquired about line number 11 (Third Soccer Field at Handley). A discussion took place regarding the scope of the project. Council Member Furr stated that the Town is only required to have one soccer field. Mr. Perkins stated that the engineer study will determine how to repair the land in order for soccer to resume. Mr. Jaeger stated that the survey should cost around $10,000. Council Member Furr stated that the Farr Road sidewalk project amount seemed high compared to Senoia Road sidewalks. 3|Page Sewer: Ms. Hunter stated that line item number 52.1300 (technical services) the current year was changed to $19,500 from $5,000. Sanitation: Ms. Hunter stated that the contract labor (administrative assistant) amount had been removed from this line item totaling $6,000. Founders Day: Mr. Perkins stated that $1,023 had been removed from line item 52.2110 (disposal). That is taken care of by our sanitation contractor. Mr. Perkins stated that fund for Founders Day now has a deficit of $116. He stated that line item number 51.1101 (regular employee) was reduced from $1,100 to $800. He stated that the bottom line is now a deficit of $7,178. Council Member Howard asked if Founder’s Day usually balances out with income and expense. A discussion took place regarding the history of Founder’s Day expenses. Council Member Matthews made a motion to transfer $8,000 from the General Fund account into the Founders Day account. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 3-0. Ms. Hunter addressed Council Member Furr’s concerns regarding Building Inspection Services. She stated that on May 31, 2012 that line item had a balance of $19,106. Safebuilt stated that there was an outstanding invoice of $3,000 from December 2011. The Town shows no record of ever receiving the bill. Ms. Hunter stated that the law allows 30 days for bills to be paid and every bill that the Town receives is paid within that time frame. A discussion took place regarding procedures. Council Member Furr expressed her frustration regarding this matter. Mayor Dial asked for a motion to approve the portion of the budget dealing with pay. No motion was made. Mayor Dial stated that this item will be continued to the June 28, 2012 meeting. Mayor Dial opened the Public Hearing for anyone speaking in favor of the budget. No one spoke. Mayor Dial invited those in opposition to speak. Mr. Dennis Chase a resident that lives on Crabapple Road spoke. Mr. Chase spoke regarding his background with the Handley Park soccer fields. He stated that in 1999 Bob Adams Homes approached him to perform an environmental study on the property for a possible future purchase. The results showed that the fields had a heavy concentration of wetlands. He stated that the Town then purchased the land and proceeded to construct playing fields much to Mr. 4|Page Chase’s objection. He stated that the Army Corps of Engineers also agreed with Mr. Chase and relayed that the Town was in violation of the Clean Water Act and EPA regulations. He urged Mayor and Council to cease any further improvements on the soccer fields before reviewing past records. Mayor Dial asked Mr. Chase if the soccer fields were re-crowned is there a possibility the fields could continue to sink. Mr. Chase stated that it is very possible and to delay the project. He added that this could essentially cost the taxes payers a substantial amount if the Corp of Engineers complete the study. Former Tyrone Mayor Mr. Rehwaldt who lives on St. Ives, discussed four issues; 1) He asked Council to consider providing Public Works with better salary and equipment. These changes would be very beneficial to their department. 2) He asked Council to consider adjusting the Library Supervisor’s pay and making her position a full-time position. 3) He asked Council to reconsider putting monies into the reconstruction of the soccer fields. He suggested researching the area to the right of the entrance into Handley Park and abandon the wetlands. 4) He empathized with the difficulty of complying with E-Verify and state immigration laws and stated his concerns for the future dealings in relation to these laws. Mayor Dial closed the Public Hearing. OLD BUSINESS: 2. Discussion regarding Recreation air-conditioner. David Jaeger, Town Engineer. Mr. Jaeger briefed Council on his findings. He stated that he contacted a mechanical and an electrical engineer to asses the air-conditioning system at the Recreation building. The study resulted in his firm preparing a bid for two new 5 ton units and a 2 ½ split unit. The bid was advertised three times. A total of four contractors responded and five others were informed of the project as well. Only one submitted a bid. Powers Heating and Air submitted a bid of $33,419 which included $6,400 for possible re-wiring of the transformer. Mr. Jaeger stated that he is familiar with Powers Heating and Air’s work and recommended Council to consider awarding the bid to them. Council Member Matthews made a motion to award the HVAC service bid to Powers Heating and Air not to exceed $33,419. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Council Member Matthews amended his motion to also include the signing of the contract by Mayor Dial due to the urgency of the matter. Council Member Howard amended her second. Motion was approved 3-0 3. Discussion regarding Handley Park parking lot extension. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager 5|Page Mr. Perkins stated that on May 17, 2012 a presentation was submitted to Council regarding bids received for this project. Council then asked staff to research the cost to the Town for Public Works to complete the job. Mr. Perkins stated that all bidders suggested laying 4 inches of crush and run which would require approximately 477 tons. He inquired if Council would consider reducing the amount to 2 inches of crush and run instead of 4 inches. He stated that he made calls to Hanson Minerals and Florida Rock seeking donations for the project. He added that Florida Rock has not returned his call. Mr. Perkins stated that Chad Brown with Hanson replied due to the economy, Hanson Minerals might be able to reduce the cost and is awaiting his call. He stated that 477 tons of crush and run (per spec to add 4 inches of depth) would cost $4,459.95. The Town’s dump truck capacity is 5 tons. It would take approximately 95 trips and about 3 days to haul the necessary gravel. Fuel, labor and equipment would cost approximately $600. Total cost of the project for Public Works would be $5,059.95. Mr. Perkins recommended approval. A discussion took place regarding using certain areas for parking at Handley Park. Council Member Furr reiterated using areas that were already in place for parking such as the top grassed field. Council Member Matthews stated that the field was grassed to assist with erosion not to be used as a parking lot. Ms. Patton stated that Town Environmental Technician, Beth Vaughn mentioned that adding crush and run would assist in the elimination of erosion and preserve the land for run-off into the soccer fields and Lake Pendleton. Council Member Matthews made a motion to proceed with the Handley Park parking lot project not the exceed $5,059.95 and instructed Public Works to complete the project. Motion dies for lack of a second. NEW BUSINESS: 4. Budget Amendment for the air conditioning unit for the Recreation building. Penny Hunter, Finance/HR Manager Ms. Hunter stated that the air-conditioner at recreation must be replaced immediately and $33,419 will be needed to fund this purchase as this expenditure had not been previously allocated. $33,419 is based on competitive bidding provided through Mallett Engineering. She added that Finance recommends funding this purchase with funds remaining in line item 40- 52.2205 (public works-road paving and repair). As of June 15, 2012, $84,613.95 remains in this line item. Council Member Matthews made a motion to transfer $33,419 from the Road Paving and Repair line item 52.2205 for completion of the HVAC project at Recreation. Council Member Furr seconded the motion. Motion was approved 3-0. FINANCE REPORT: 5. Finance Report for the month of May, 2012. Penny Hunter, Finance/HR Manager Ms. Hunter briefed Mayor and Council on the month of May’s finances. 6|Page Revenue: The Town has completed 91.67% of its fiscal year at the end of May, 2012. At this point, Tyrone had realized $2,895,074 in revenue against a budget of $3,506,255; this amount represents 82.57% of budgeted revenue. Real property taxes are now down $67,573 and Franchise taxes are down $32,603 from one year ago at the end of May. However, Property taxes are keeping ahead of budget at 100.54% collected while Franchise taxes are coming in just slightly behind budget at 89.89%. Local Option Sales Taxes are now ahead of budget by only 1.69% or $13,534. Expenditures: All Town Departments are currently under budget or right at budget for a total of $2,661,569 against a budget of $3,506,252. Overall expenditures are up from last May by $44,661. Of the $488,990 budgeted for Capital Improvements, $250,775 has been completed. 51.28% of C.I.P. has now been completed. Year-End Projection: I am projecting revenues to end the fiscal year at $3,177,091 and expenditures to end at $3,146,194. This will mean that the Town will not have to balance this year’s budget with reserves as projected and budgeted. Available Cash: The Town currently has 13 months of operating revenue for the General Fund in Reserves. Public Comments: None. Staff Comments: None. Council Comments: Council Member Matthews stated that in the past the issue to contract out the Public Works Department and all costs involved had been discussed. He suggested revisiting the matter and shared his concern with complaints received regarding incomplete projects. Council Member Matthews made a motion to direct staff to research how much it would cost the Town to contract out the Public Works Department, with the exception of one housekeeper and one road and building maintenance person. Council Member Furr seconded the motion. Motion was approved 3-0. Council Member Housley arrived at 6:32 pm. 7|Page A discussion took place regarding the method of grass cutting and tree trimming and the type of mower used on Castlewood Road. Mr. Perkins stated that he would discuss Council’s concerns with Ms. Holt. Executive Session: Council Member Furr made a motion to enter into Executive Session to review a document which is exempt under the open records act. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Council Member Matthews made a motion to reconvene. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Adjournment Council Member Furr made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Matthews seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm. By:________________________ Attest:______________________ Eric Dial, Mayor Dee Baker, Town Clerk 8|Page