September 15, 2015
The Town of Glen St. Mary held the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall with Council Members Davis, Foster, and Rhynehardt present. Mayor Juanice Padgett presided over the meeting. Council Member Davisopened the meeting with prayer followed by the flag salute.
Note: These meeting minutes are a summarized version of the actual discussions at the meeting. These are not verbatim transcripts. For a complete audio recording of the discussion please contact Donna Loadholtz at glenstmary3777@gmail.com.
Minutes: Consideration – Approval of minutes:
August 18, 2015 – Workshop - On a motion by Councilman Foster, second byCouncilman Rhynehardt, the Board voted to approve theworkshop minutes as presented. (Vote 4-0)
August 18, 2015 – Regular Monthly Meeting - On a motion by Councilman Foster, second byCouncilman Rhynehardt, the Board voted to approve theregular monthly minutes as presented. (Vote 4-0)
Policy Agenda Items:
Oath of Office for Mayor Juanice Padgett and Council Member Amanda Hodges. – Attorney Jon Bense performed the Oath of Offices first with Council Member Amanda Hodges, then with Mayor Juanice Padgett.
Vote to Adopt Following Budgets and Amended Budgets: (On File at Town Hall)
2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – General Operating Fund - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Councilman Foster, the Board voted to adopt the 2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – General Operating Fund as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Water/Sewer Utility Fund - On a motion by Councilman Foster, second by Councilman Rhynehardt, the Board voted to adopt the 2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Water/Sewer Utility Fund as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Capacity Fee Account - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Council Member Davis, the Board voted to adopt the 2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Capacity Fee Account as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Impact Fee Account - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Councilman Member Davis, the Board voted to adopt the 2014/2015 Proposed Amended Budget – Impact Fee Account as presented.(Vote 4-0)
2015/2016 Proposed Budget – General Operating Fund - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Council Member Davis, the Board voted to adopt the 2015/2016 Proposed Budget – General Operating Fund as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Water/Sewer Utility Fund - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Councilman Member Davis, the Board voted to adopt the 2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Water/Sewer Utility Fund as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Capacity Fee Account - On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Councilman Member Davis, the Board voted to adopt the 2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Capacity Fee Account as presented. (Vote 4-0)
2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Impact Fee Account - On a motion by Council Member Davis, second by Councilman Rhynehardt, the Board voted to adopt the 2015/2016 Proposed Budget – Impact Fee Account as presented. (Vote 4-0)
Vote to Authorize Mayor to Sign Letter of Engagement with Lyons & Lyons for Fiscal Years 2014/2015, 2015/2016, and 2016/2017. – Mayor Padgett told Council this is the same agreement as prior years with the same fees as before. On a motion by Council Member Davis, second by Councilman Foster, the Board voted to authorize Mayor Padgett to sign a Letter of Engagement with Lyons and Lyons for fiscal years 2014/2015, 2015/2016, and 2016/2017 as presented. (Vote 4-0)
Vote to Approve Employment Contract with Foreman, McInnis & Douglas, P.A. for the term beginning October 1, 2015 and Ending September 30, 2017. – Attorney Bense pointed out to Council that the firm is now Foreman, McInnis & Associates, as Mr. Wesley Douglas is no longer with their firm, but is now a judge. On a motion by Councilman Foster, second by Councilman Rhynehardt, the Board voted to approve the employment contract with Foreman & McInnis, P.A. for the term beginning October 1, 2015 and ending September 30, 2017 as presented. (Vote 4-0)
Discussion and Vote if Necessary for Engineering for Readiness to Proceed to Pursue Sewer Grant. – Mayor Padgett began by passing out a packet to Council to show information about various avenues she has explored to try to find money for expanding our utility services. From page one she explained to Council that with the last CDBG project, the Town connected sixty-five homes with forty-five of those being low to moderate income. The Town cannot get points for grant history, because it has not been five years since the grant closed. The Town can get points for having Readiness to Proceed. Page two shows the expenses incurred by homeowners to connect to an expansion of sewer lines. The low to moderate households would not pay to hook up, but the grant would cover the connection fees that are shown on the back of page two. Page three is an e-mail correspondence from our Grant Coordinator in reference to capacity fees and leverage points. Page four shows how much capacity the Town has already purchased from the City of Macclenny. The Town should be able to connect another sixty homes. Page five shows an income survey suggested by USDA Rural Development, but the Town would need to get one hundred percent participation for it to help securing funds from them. The Capacity Fee account has approximately $53,000. Mayor Padgett told Council the Town already has enough capacity paid to expand the North side of the Town’s sewer. If we get the grant, we would replenish the Capacity Fee bank account to be able to buy more capacity for the South part of Town. Kenda Robison form Rural Development uses the Census Data, but it does not show low to moderate income information. They will not use the income surveys used by our grant coordinator because they would get money from the grant project. Page six shows three options to pay the Readiness to Proceed. Mayor Padgett stated the Town could waive the tap fees and use that for leverage money to get points. The Town cannot charge capacity fees to the low to moderate households, but it could be paid out of the grant funds. We can e-mail the surveys with the regular bill, but we are not sure people would send them back. It would take several months to have the Readiness to Proceed ready. The next grant cycle is expected to be around mid-January. Mayor Padgett does not believe the points will be high enough for several years without the Readiness to Proceed. Councilman Foster stated he doesn’t believe we will get much response with the survey. He believes in order for the Town to grow, we need to move forward. Council Member Davis agreed. Mayor Padgett drew Council’s attention back to the 2015/2016 Budget. The Town is currently paying approximately $13,000 to the City of Macclenny for sewer usage. The cost would go up if we expand on the North side of Town, but not dollar for dollar. Council Member Davis stated that in order for us to grow, we need to install sewer lines. She suggested proceeding with Readiness to Proceed. Councilman Rhynehardt was okay with moving forward. Mayor Padgett asked new Council Member Hodges her thoughts on the issue. She responded that she thinks it needs to be done. Page six shows three options to pay the Readiness to Proceed. Councilman Foster liked the first option to pay less up front, but a little more over the next five years. Mayor Padgett liked the third option to get more paid up front and less over the next five years. She added that the Town can always pay more. After a little more discussion, Council was in agreement to take the third option of paying $49,000 up front out if the Capacity Fee account, with five annual payments of $8,000 thereafter. Councilman Foster stated he would like to pay this debt service as soon as possible. On a motion by Councilman Foster, second byCouncil Member Davis,the Board voted to authorize Mayor Padgett to sign a contract with Mittauer & Associates for engineering for Readiness to Proceed to pursue a sewer grant. (Vote 4-0)
Review Prior Month’s Expenditures (Check Register) – Council had no questions about the prior month’s expenditures.
On a motion by Council Member Davis, the Town meeting was adjourned at 7:21 P.M.
