Town of Glen St. Mary 

The Town of Glen St. Mary held a virtual Special Meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 7:00 P.M.  Council Member Hodges, Council Member McCullough, and Councilman Rhynehardt, and Mayor Dickie Foster were present at Town Hall and Council Member Reneau was remote.   Town Clerk Loadholtz was working the meeting from the Town Hall on her laptop.  Mayor Foster was present and presided over the meeting and opened 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@glenstmary.org.

 

Policy Agenda Items:

A)    Discussion with RV Park about the recent figures received from Engineer Tim Norman. (See Attached) – Mayor Foster told Council we are here to discuss the figures calculated by Engineer Tim Norman for the RV Park and asked the RV Park representatives to let the Council know what they thought about the recent figures.  Mr. Cosgray stated that if everyone agrees with the figures, they are good to go and will move forward.  He also stated they are not looking for any cost recovery for the line they install.  The RV Park will get a credit up to $125,000, but will be responsible for all additional costs installing the water main as well as the cost recovery to Davis Oil.  Council then had a discussion about a 6” water main that may need to be upgraded to an 8” line to increase the water flow needed out to the interstate.  Mayor Foster told Council we just are meeting state guidelines for the fire lines at the Journey store.  Councilman Rhynehardt asked where the money would come from.  Mayor Foster stated he was possibly looking to the RV contractor to possibly do the work.  The Town will have to pay for the upgrade and will need to be bid out.  That section of line would only be down a few hours when they switch it over.  The original Town water lines wend from an 8” line down to a 6” line then back to an 8” that breaks the flow of water.  Davis’s store would be the only one taken offline to do the upgrade.  Council member McCullough asked why the 600” of water lines were constructed this way.  It was originally engineered for a grant which did not plan for future growth, but for the immediate need.  Former Mayor Juanice Padgett asked if Mr. Cosgray has seen the specs for the meter from Mr. Norman.  They are in his plans.  The estimated expense about $82,000 for the first phase.  Mr. Tim Norman has done an initial study and he and Attorney Bense were fine in amending the fees for the RV Park based on these figures.  On a motion by Council Member Hodges, second by Councilman Rhynehardt, the Council voted to accept the RV Park’s proposal as presented. (Vote 5-0)  The Town will make the water revenue, but it is in the County so taxes will go to them.  It will open the door for growth.

B)    Vote to Amend the Capacity Fees based on the recent Impact Fee Study. – On a motion by Council Member Hodges, second by Council member McCullough, the Council voted to amend the Capacity Fees based on the recent Impact fee study. (Vote 5-0)  Councilman Rhynehardt asked what this meant for the rest of the Town.  It will reduce the costs for everyone.

C)    Discussion of Employment issues. – Councilman Rhynehardt stated he wanted to clarify a couple of things that have been said.  The Town Clerk had only brought her laptop in for the zoom meetings, not for personal use.  She has used her cellphone to monitor her kids zoom class in the background and it didn’t interfere with her daily work.  Donna told Council she had already disclosed this to the Council.  Council member McCullough stated a lot people are working from home during this corona virus and it is an unprecedented time for everyone.  Councilman Rhynehardt said her other option would have been to leave for two hours.   Council member Hodges agreed saying everyone is trying to juggle things as parents are making sure their work gets done and their kids are getting the schoolwork done that is sent home for them.  Councilman Rhynehardt asked if there have been any changes since the last meeting to learn the daily stuff she has to do.  He has heard from several people that say they don’t see them going into the neighborhood past highway 90 and 125 so they feel they are being left out.  We are obligated to keep the whole town up.  Mayor Foster replied they only have two people and we get paid to do Highway 90.  The sidewalks are edged and he is trying to keep it looking pretty.  The maintenance worktimes were discussed and how they have reduced the time they work.  Mayor Foster told Council they need another maintenance person.  The need for a weekly meeting and to do list was again discussed.  Councilman Rhynehardt stated that Matt had asked for more hours and pay last year and that’s what we budgeted for, but doesn’t see where the Town is getting it done.  He asked if Matt’s not here, how can he be doing it.  He has no complaints on his ability, but thinks he should be getting more out of them.  Former Mayor Padgett said they need two people working on the edging as it gets monotonous.  She told how she had a list to know about what was going on.  Mayor Foster stressed to Council that it has been raining this week so they have been edging, but not able to mow.  He said he meets daily with the guys.  Councilman Rhynehardt emphasized the need to have a list so they could plan for daily work.  Council member McCullough asked if they had incentives to get tasks done, or if they have certain tasks to be done.  Mayor Foster gave examples of having to stop to read a meter or fix a meter.  Ms. Padgett said that’s nothing new but that they would work an extra hour or two and get it done and get paid for it.  Councilman Rhynehardt then asked Mayor Foster what progress he’s had in the past twenty-one days.  Mayor Foster replied that he has sat behind Donna for several days and asked if he can do in order to satisfy her.  Council member McCullough asked to clarify that statement.  She doesn’t think it is a matter of satisfying Donna, but a matter of fulfilling the duties of a Mayor and being able to run the office if she isn’t here.   He said he can take the water money, but can’t do the reports yet, but is willing and trying to learn.  Councilman Rhynehardt asked if Donna was not here Friday, could he do paychecks.  He said he hasn’t been taught how to do paychecks.  Councilman Rhynehardt then said he could sit behind her all day and not learn a thing.  But he can learn hands on.  He doesn’t thing the Mayor is taking the initiative to learn, but is relying on her to be here every day.  She is not able to be off on bill out days, late notice days, or lockout days.  He asked if she leaves, what is he going to do.  He responded he is going to hire a secretary to come in and do it.  Several Council members rebutted that the Clerk is not a secretary.  Council member Hodges quoted Article 5 of the Town Charter which states “There shallbeaTownClerk,whoshallalsoactasTreasurer,TaxAccessorandTaxCollectoroftheTown.TheClerkshallbeappointedbytheTownCouncil”.   She then addressed an email that the Mayor sent out that addressed the Clerk as “my secretary” three times and then once as his “personal secretary”.  She said she feels this may be where some of the disconnect is coming from.  According to the Charter, the Mayor is elected by the residents of the Town, but the Clerk serves in the capacity as the treasurer and tax collector of the Town appointed by the Town Council, so she feels the two positions are almost equal in importance.  Mayor Foster told Council he can come in tomorrow and have Donna show him something.  Council member Reneau asked if Donna’s resignation was still on the table because she asked at the last meeting and did not get an answer.  She told Council she thinks they need to go ahead and put an ad in the paper to hire a new town clerk.  Town clerk stated she was told that her resignation letter was not recognized because it has been so long.  She was asked to stay and see how it goes.  She is only here for the citizens of the Town.  Council member Reneau said if she trains someone, it won’t leave the town in a bad way, but Councilman Rhynehardt said the old resignation is no longer on the table.  Council member Reneau said if they don’t do something about this, it will just continue.  Ms. Padgett spoke up to tell Council they don’t understand what shape the Town would be in, adding she has seventeen years of experience with the Town you can’t just hire someone to come in and do all that she does.  Council member Reneau stated she understood this, but there is always someone else that can do your job, maybe not as good as you, but there is always someone else that can do your job.  With that statement, Town Clerk stated that she would leave her resignation letter before she left the meeting tonight.   Mayor Foster disagreed and asked her to stay, reassuring that he would sit and learn and leave his other outside work alone while in the office.  Ms. Padgett suggested having an audit before leaving her position.  Council member McCullough said we have been in this same place for the past three months. Council member Hodges then cautioned the Council saying it isn’t just paychecks, but also child support payments and retirement.  If the child support payments aren’t sent, the parent could lose their license and she doesn’t want someone else to suffer because of her leaving.  Council member added that there is personal and sensitive information in the files that the you can’t just bring in any random person come in and try to figure out how to do it.  Council member Hodges said the Council appoints the Town Clerk and they would have to approve the person who comes in to do her job.  The timeframe of putting an ad in the paper, waiting for applicants, and having another Council meeting was then discussed.  Council member pointed out the newspaper articles that had been published recently and really wants to resolve the matter.  Council then turned their attention to the Mayor’s need to learn the office operations.  Mayor Foster said he is in the back with the guys in the mornings before the office opens.  Councilman Rhynehardt suggested making lists of how to do each step.  Town Clerk Loadholtz submitted her letter to the Council.  Town Clerk Loadholtz addressed the Council and stated she wanted to clear her name.  She presented several things that had been commented on Facebook and the accusations that she was slandering the Mayor.  She gave credit that the Mayor had sat behind her a couple of days to see her work and watched her update the website one day.  She told him the sign on passwords for the billing system and showed hm how to post payments, but when she asked him if he wanted to do it the next day, he commented that he wanted to get them off his back.  He took no notes and she doesn’t feel he had any intentions of learning.  She stated she is done with the lip service and added she would be here for her two weeks notice then she is out.  She said she has sat here for the past four months hoping something would change.  She told Council when it started that she can’t make anyone want to do their job, but she is not going to kill herself to try to keep it running.  Council then agreed to try to get an ad in the paper before it went to press.  Council then circled back to the Mayor needing to learn the running of the office.  He told Council she wasn’t willing to teach him and cited her attitude again.  Ms. Padgett defended her and he told her she was part of the problem and that she wasn’t down here when she was in office, to which she denied.  Councilman Rhynehardt then told them he had checked on things when the former mayor was in office.  He added they had Monday meetings and had a plan of action.  He feels it is his job is to make sure things are done and that the money is spent wisely.  He said he will continue to do this until they vote him out or until his term is up. Council member McCullough asked what our next step, that we are in the same place as her first meeting in February.  If this is the best that he can do, what is their next step.  Mayor Foster said the computer is set up differently.  Council is looking to him to see what to do next.  He has two weeks to learn the clerk duties, that he hasn’t learned in the past six months.  She feels it is a mindset not about the little things, but that your duty is to the Town and the Town’s people.  The Town is not going to continue to run the way it is now so maybe the best thing would be to merge with Macclenny.  Council member Reneau said that isn’t something the Council can just do, but that it would have to go to the residents of Glen.  Council was aware of that.  She said the Council should have addressed this several months ago instead of all the bickering to keep continuing.  She understands the Corona virus had things backed up, but wishes to get it all organized and done.  Attorney Bense clarified the Clerk’s resignation letter from February had a 60-day training period, but would need to revise it as it stands.  If things aren’t changing and she isn’t staying, the Council will need to proceed with an ad.  Council does not need a motion for her resignation.

D)    Council Member Hodges - a Preliminary Discussion of Consolidation with the City of Macclenny.  She wants to officially discuss what that might look like and properly reach out to their representatives going forward to see if it is even a possibility. – Council member Hodges said this had been discussed sometime between 2003 and 2005.  She said with all the issues the Town has been having and some of the residents are concerned they are not getting service.  Stated the residents would be the ones to vote on it, but would like to reach out to Macclenny and see what it may look like.  She reassured everyone that no one’s address or zip code would change.  The City of Macclenny also offers trash pickup and superior fire service.  She would like to at least ask and discuss as a Council in light of the problems we have been having.  She would like to put the option on the table to move us forward.  She doesn’t know if the City of Macclenny would even entertain the idea.  She presented a sheet from the property appraiser’s office for Council to look at.  It included the number of properties and several tax category breakouts based on the 2019 Final Tax Roll.  Ms. Padgett had been involved with the previous consolidation discussions.  She told Council the Town residents would not be paying the county fire assessment.  Councilman Rhynehardt wanted to see who they would need to talk to in Macclenny and see if they would even entertain the idea.  Council member Hodges will meet with the City Manager and get more general knowledge and then bring the information back to the Council.  Ms. Padgett suggested a study to get a better financial picture to be able to answer questions that may be asked at a public meeting. 

 

On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Council Member Hodges, the Town meeting was adjourned at 8:52 P.M.