BUTTS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
123rd Session Covering Calendar Year 2021
2021-2022 Biennium
Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for October 4, 2021

Commissioners:
☐ Ken Rivers, District 1
☐ Robert Henderson, District 2
☐ Joe Brown, District 3, Chairman
☐ Keith Douglas, District 4 Vice Chairman
☐ Russ Crumbley, District 5

Executive Staff:
☐ Brad Johnson, County Manager
☐ J. Michael Brewer, Deputy County Manager

Section 1: Workshop
Chairman Joe Brown called the workshop to order at 5:00 PM with all Members seated. Items discussed included:

36. A Corporate Resolution Change Form from United Bank (Removed from Docket)
37. Discussion on establishing a Capital Improvement Funds Bank Account
38. Discussion on a restatement of resolution creating Joint IDA of Butts & Spalding Counties
39. Contractor discussion on debris removal and monitoring for EMA on as-needed basis
40. Discussion on E-911 phone system update
41. A lighting agreement with Georgia DOT
42. Discussion on approving the LMIG for 2022
43. Discussion on licensing the “See-Click-Fix” program from CivicPlus
44. Premium Pay Discussion (Added)
45. Update on purchase of body scanner for Sheriff’s Office

Following these discussion items, the workshop was adjourned at 6:15 PM.

Section 2: Opening of Meeting

Chairman Brown opened the October meeting, which began at 6:15 due to the workshop running over.

Item 2021-10-153 Approval of Docket
Mr. Douglas made a motion to approve the docket with revisions and the addition of Mr. Byrd Garland, representing the Board of Education, for approval of bonds. This was seconded by Mr. Henderson, with unanimous consent, 5-0.

Item 2021-10-154 Approval of Minutes
Mr. Douglas made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Mr. Henderson, with unanimous consent, 5-0

Section 3: New Business Presentations

Governmental Affairs
Item 2021-10-155 Approval of Corporate Resolution Change
This item was removed from the docket.

Item 2021-10-155 Approval to Create Capital Funds Bank Account
Following presentation by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Rivers moved to approve the creation of a new Capital Improvement Funds bank account, seconded by Mr. Douglas with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-156 Restatement of Joint Development Authority of Butts & Spalding County
Mr. Johnson presented to the Board the need to restate the Joint Development Authority resolution currently in existence. Mr. Welch also presented information related to the Intergovernmental Contract of 2016 and suggested that this be amended as follows:

“I move to amend Section 5 of the Resolution to add new Subsection C as follows: The intergovernmental contract attached herewith and referenced in Subsection D of this Section 5 is hereby amended to include the following provisions:

To the extent permitted by law, Spalding County Board of Commissioners and the Butts County Board of Commissioners agree that all permits and improvements required for development of a site (including, but not limited to, land disturbance, land development, building construction and other construction, life safety compliance, certificates of completion, certificates of occupancy) shall be administered by the County in which more than 50% of the encumbered square footage of the primary building is to be located; correspondingly, to the extent permitted by law, Spalding County Board of Commissioners and the Butts County Board of Commissioners agree that the administering county shall be required to perform all administrative services associated with such permitting, including but not limited to, plan review, inspections, state or regional compliance, issuance of permits and certificates associated with development, and shall receive and retain any and all fees, assessments and all revenues associated with the development”.

Mr. Rivers moved to adopt the amendment as stated by Mr. Welch, seconded by Mr. Douglas and approved with unanimous consent.

Public Safety
Item 2021-10-157 Resolution CR2021-21 Approving Contractors for Debris Removal Pt 1.
Mr. Goens presented part one of this resolution to approve contractors for debris removal, on a two year basis, in the event such services were needed. Mr. Douglas motioned to approve this portion of the Resolution, seconded by Mr. Crumbley and passed with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-158 Resolution CR2021-21 Approving Contractors for Debris Monitoring Pt. 2
Mr. Goens presented part two of this resolution to approve contractors for debris monitoring, on a two year basis, in the event such services were needed. Mr. Douglas motioned to approve this portion of the Resolution, seconded by Mr. Henderson and passed with unanimous consent. The Resolution shall be filed in the Book of Resolutions, Volume 1.

Item 2021-10-159 Resolution CR2021-22 Approval of Telephone System Upgrade for 911
Ms. Sands presented information related to this purchase and the Resolution authorizing it earlier in the workshop. There was no further discussion in the meeting and the Chairman called for a motion. Mr. Douglas moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-160 Approval of School Board Bond Issue for ESPLOST
Attorney Byrd Garland, representing the Board of Education, came before the board to seek their approval for the school system bond issue pertaining to the most recent educational special purpose local option sales tax. Mr. Rivers moved to approve the bond issue, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent. This item was added to the docket, which moved all items down the docket.

Transportation and Infrastructure
Item 2021-10-161 Approval of Lighting Agreement with GDOT for 42 & 87 Highway South
Mr. Kip Washington presented the agreement but expressed concern over the requirements that in addition to electricity, the County would be fully responsible for all maintenance and upkeep of infrastructure, including underground utilities, light poles and other parts of the project that might be damaged. Mr. Johnson recommended approval of only supplying electricity. Mr. Rivers moved to this effect, seconded by Mr. Crumbley with unanimous consent. This will be presented back to GDOT.

Item 2021-10-162 Approval of LMIG Project Award to C.W. Matthews for Let
Mr. Washington recommended approval of this project award to paving company C.W. Matthews. Mr. Johnson stated that while the LMIG fell short of the escalated costs, that SPLOST money be used to supplement this. Mr. Henderson moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Douglas, with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-163 Approval of Service & Licensing Agreement with CivicPlus
Mr. Brewer presented a service agreement with CivicPlus for licensing of their “See-Click-Fix” program for deployment in Public Works and possibly Code Enforcement. The first year cost for this $8,600.00 for year 1 and subsequent years, if chosen to continue, would include an annual 5% upgrade fee. Mr. Rivers moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Douglas with unanimous consent.

Human Resources and Personnel
Item 2021-10-164 Approval of Premium Pay Proposal (Added)
Mr. Johnson presented a proposal to the Board which was added to the meeting that would utilize American Rescue Plan Act funding given to the County to provide “Premium Pay” to all County employees meeting certain criteria as outlined by Mr. Johnson in presentation during the workshop.

Mr. Rivers made a motion to approve the proposal with the provision that the Constitutional Officers would not be a part of the Premium Pay. Mr. Crumbley seconded the motion and asked for clarity that the Commissioners would not be included in the Premium Pay, which was confirmed. Mr. Brewer asked for clarification as to whether the motion included non-Constitutional elected officials such as the Magistrate Judge and Coroner.

Mr. Rivers rescinded his previous motion and stated that the intent of his original motion was to exclude all elected officials. Discussion ensued about whether the Sheriff and Coroner should be excluded due to their being part of public safety. Mr. Rivers then moved that the proposal be accepted, excluding all elected officials. The motion died due to lack of a second.

Mr. Douglas then moved that the proposal be accepted, including all Constitutional/Elected officers except the Board of Commissioners, other Boards and the County Manager. Mr. Henderson asked for clarification on whether the County Manager would be included and it did not under the motion. The Chairman asked for a second and the motion died due to lack of a second.

More discussion ensued. Mr. Douglas then moved to give everyone Premium Pay. Mr. Crumbley seconded the motion only for discussion. Discussion ensued about including the County Manager. Mr. Welch recommended the motion and second be withdrawn and a new motion made to include the recommended proposal with the inclusion of the County Manager. The motion and second were withdrawn.

Further discussion ensued, after which Mr. Rivers made a motion to accept the original proposal, plus the County Manager and the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Douglas seconded the motion. The Chairman called for a vote and the motion passed 3-2, with Mr. Rivers, Mr. Douglas and Mr. Henderson voting in favor of and with Mr. Brown and Mr. Crumbley in dissent.

Mr. Crumbley stated for the record that his reason for voting against the motion was not that he was in disfavor of paying the employees Premium Pay but that he did not think the Board of Commissioners should be included in the proposal. Mr. Brown added that his dissent was that he was not going to vote himself a supplement.

Additional
Item 2021-10-165 Approval to Purchase Additional Whole Body Scanner for Jail
Following last month’s request where Mr. Johnson presented a request to use Federal funding to purchase a security scanner for the Court wing which will scan for weapons, temperature and contraband, it was determined that such a scanner was also needed for the jail. The funding source would be funds from the American Rescue Plan Act which are deemed suitable for such purchase and the previous unit cost $149,000.00 to obtain. Mr. Douglas moved to approve, with the stipulation that the priority on the first scanner being the Administration Building, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-166 Approval to Reclassify Existing Position
Mr. Johnson requested that the Board give approval to reclassify an existing position within the Commissioner’s Office that is vacant to that of a Procurement Officer/ARPA Project Administrator, using ARPA funds to pay the additional portion of the salary. In addition to procurement, the selected employee would also oversee Federally funded projects that use ARPA monies. Mr. Rivers moved to approve, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent.

Reports & Information Items

Item 2021-10-167 Monthly Reports
Deputy County Manager Michael Brewer reported on department statistics and call volume for the month of September in departments under the Board of Commissioners.

County Manager Brad Johnson reported on the results of a discussion pertaining to the City and County Fire Departments and their responses.

Section 4: Concluding Business

Item 2021-10-168 Executive Session for Personnel and Real Estate
Mr. Rivers moved to enter Executive Session for Personnel and Real Estate, seconded by Mr. Douglas with unanimous consent. Later Mr. Douglas moved to reconvene, seconded by Mr. Crumbley with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-169 County Attorney Report
Mr. Welch reported that the Board discussed one personnel matter and one real estate matter while in executive session. He then asked that the Board to allow for a clarification on the earlier motion made pertaining to the joint development authority between Butts County and Spalding County, which he had rewritten during the meeting. The motion would amend the vote taken earlier on item 156, to read as follows:

A motion to amend Section 5 of the Resolution to add new subsection (c) as follows:

“(c) The Intergovernmental Contract attached hereto and referenced in subsection (b) of this Section 5, is hereby amended to include the following provisions: To the extent permitted by law, Spalding County Board of Commissioners and Butts County Board of Commissioners agree that all permits and approvals required for development of a site (including, but not limited to, land disturbance, land development, building and other structure construction, life-safety compliance, certificates of completion, certificates of occupancy) shall be administered by the County in which more than 50% of the covered square footage of the primary building is to be located.

Correspondingly, to the extent permitted by law, Spalding County Board of Commissioners and Butts County Board of Commissioners agree that the administering County shall be required to perform all administrative services associated with such permitting (including, but not limited to, plan review, inspections, state or regional compliance, issuance of permits and certificates associated with the development) and shall receive and retain any and all fees, assessments and other revenues associated with the development and its impacts.”

Following the reading of the proposed motion by Mr. Welch, discussion then ensued about the location of the front door, the access to the property from County roads and related items. Mr. Rivers moved to accept the amended motion, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent.

Item 2021-10-170 Adjournment Motion
Mr. Douglas then moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Henderson with unanimous consent. The meeting was thus adjourned.

Ratified this 22nd Day of November, 2022

___________________________________________
On behalf of the Board of Commissioners
Joe Brown, Chairman of the Board

CERTIFICATION & ATTESTATION

I do hereby attest by my signature and seal below that the aforementioned minutes of the Butts County Board of Commissioners are an accurate representation of the official actions undertaken by the Board during the open meeting designated for the date and times stated herein and that the board did, during the course of the meeting, enter upon an Executive Session for the purposes of personnel and real estate discussion, as allowed by law.

J. Michael Brewer, Deputy County Manager
Sitting as Clerk of the 123rd Session
Butts County Board of Commissioners