February 18, 2020
The Town of Glen St. Mary held the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday,
February 18, 2020 at 7:52 P.M. at the Town Hall with Council MembersHodges, Reneau, and Rhynehardt present. Mayor Dickie Foster presided over the meeting. Council MemberReneau 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.
Minutes: Consideration:
A) Approval of minutes ofJanuary 21, 2020 – Regular Monthly Meeting–Mayor Foster asked Council if anyone had any comments or concerns about the minutes. Council member Reneau asked about the Sheriff’s office closing the railroad recently, whether they are trying to force a reaction from the railroad. Mayor Foster told Council he has spoken with a guy from the railroad company several times and keeps getting the same answer that they are waiting for something from the State. Mayor Foster has also been in contact with State Representative Brannon to try to have something done with the railroad crossing. The road department is not able to do anything to it for liability purposes. It is unknown if the railroad can be held responsible for damages to vehicles. On a motion by Councilmember Hodges, second by Council member Reneau, the Board voted to approve theminutes as presented. (Vote 4-0)
Policy Agenda Items:
A) Review Resumes and ask questions of Applicants for Vacant Group 3 Town Council Seat. We Receive Paperwork from Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough and Charles “Jack” Reneau. – Council member Reneau recused herself from voting since Mr. Charles Reneau is her father-in-law. Council member Hodges thanked both applicants for their input and concern for the Town. Attorney Bense read the initial ballot vote which was as follows: Councilman Rhynehardt voted for Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough. Council member Hodges voted for Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough. Mayor Foster voted for Charles “Jack” Reneau. Attorney Bense then told Council that since there was a lack of three votes per the requirements of the Charter for any business to pass, this will have to go to a special election. Mr. Charles “Jack” Reneau then withdrew his name and Council then re-voted. The second vote was as follows: Councilman Rhynehardt voted for Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough. Council member Hodges voted for Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough. Mayor Foster voted for Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough. Council member Reneau did not vote.
B) Vote to Appoint a Group 3 Council Member until the Next General Election in September 2021. Attorney Bense to Administer Oath of Office. - Attorney Bense administered the Oath of Office to Mrs. Jeaneva “Annie” McCullough to serve as Council Seat 3. She then took her seat at the Council table.
C) Discuss and Decide How Council Wants to Proceed with Maintenance Worker/Water Plant Operator Matt Torgerson. He would like to stay on as Water Plant Operator and Mosquito Sprayer only. He doesn’t want to continue doing any maintenance work or be the one spraying for Mosquitoes. – Councilman Rhynehardt stated he was ok with the 20 hours but has a problem with him not wanting to do any maintenance or spraying. Matt had revised his request to stay at $17.50 per hour and any work the Town requests of him. The new form was then handed out. After some discussion, Councilman Rhynehardt stated he would like to put him on probation. Council member McCullough suggested a performance improvement plan so that everyone knows what is expected of them. No one knows what the cost would be for the City of Macclenny to take care of the water plant. Councilman Rhynehardt wasn’t given a price, only that the City of Macclenny would help us out for 90 days. He wants to make sure that Matt is going to be doing everything including the regular maintenance, lawn mower maintenance, and everything else. Council member Reneau asked if Mayor Foster was going to keep an eye on him to make sure he is doing what he is supposed to be doing. Mayor Foster responded when he got back to work tomorrow, he is going to call him in and tell him they need to start work at 8 o’clock from now on and he will be here at 8 to cover it. He will have them write down what they need to do and have a checklist to follow behind them and see that it is done. Councilman Rhynehardt asked if they are going to start having Monday meetings so that everyone is on the same page. Council member McCullough was in agreement to have written communication as well as verbal communication. Attorney Bense mentioned the work orders that were used in the past. Council member Hodges suggested having both the maintenance employee and Mayor sign off on the list on Friday. Council discussed how long to put Matt on probation. Council agreed to 20 hours at his current rate of $17.50 and new maintenance employee set at 20 hours at $11.00 per hour. Mayor Foster thinks he can contact the Sheriff and get extra help with the roadways. Councilman Rhynehardt was concerned with the possible liability.
D) Letter of Resignation from Town Clerk, Donna Loadholtz Received February 10, 2020 allowing Sixty Days to Train New Employee. Council will need to Vote how they want to Proceed to Fill the Position. – Council member Hodges asked if a notice has been put out advertising the position. Councilman Rhynehardt asked for clarification that if someone is hired in a week, how long will the clerk stay beyond that. Town Clerk Loadholtz responded she would stay to train someone for two months. She stated you can’t just do two weeks as there are different things to do throughout the month in the billing system. You have bill outs, then late notices, then month end close out and lockouts and refunds. She explained that it will take two full months for the water billing system. You can’t just train for two weeks. They would be lost. Councilman Rhynehardt then told Council that she has a lot of unused sick time that he would like to see if she could be paid for as he feels she has been dedicated to the Town for the past seventeen years. Attorney Bense suggested asking Lyons & Lyons about the matter as there was an issue with the last bonus request. He added the Charter has the Town Clerk position as an appointed position so the Council would need to have a special meeting next month following the regular monthly meeting to appoint a replacement. Council asked that she think about her decision and see what it would take to possibly change her mind. She responded that she isn’t here to ask for more hours or money. Mayor Foster stated he has been completely satisfied with her work and hates to see her go. He said he would leave his phone out of the office and take care of whatever he needs to in the office.
E) Review Prior Month’s Expenditures (Check Register) – Councilman Rhynehardt asked if we knew how much more revenue we are bringing in since the new sewer lines have been put in than before. She will look it up and bring it back to Council next month. Councilman Rhynehardt then asked if the uniforms have been turned in by Charlie. He had worked the last Saturday, but hadn’t turned in a time card to be paid for the hour and a half. Council has no problem paying him for the time, but want the shirts and jacket returned. Attorney Bense stated he wasn’t sure if you could hold his pay. It is in the handbook that you must return all property to receive last paycheck, but a timecard is needed as well. Council had no other questions about the prior month’s expenditures.
Attorney Bense told Council he hates to digress before we move further, but that Item D) did state there would be a vote on how to proceed with Donna’s decision. He said he knows the hope is that there is no action necessary, but they need to know how to move forward. Councilman Rhynehardt stated if there is no resolution or anything that will keep her here, he hates to say it but he accepts her resignation on the stipulation that she takes a couple of weeks and think hard to see if there is anything that they can do. He added he knows that is putting a lot on her. Former Mayor Juanice Padgett addressed Mayor Foster and asked if he would be willing to let her be Town Manager and he be the Mayor. She compared it to the City of Macclenny. The Baker County Press Editor, Joel Addington told Mayor Foster it would be like a ceremonial position in that he would still run the meetings and be the public face of the Town. He just would not be responsible for the day to day running of the Town or the employee management. Council asked about the pay comparison. Mayor Foster responded he doesn’t have a problem running the Town day to day. He said he was under the impression that she didn’t want to be responsible for the men that we had. He added that he can’t get her to talk to him about it. Former Mayor Padgett said she heard her to say that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to be responsible for them, but that it aggravates her with what they were not doing and she has no control over it. Attorney Bense pointed out the Charter’s positions and told Council if they are going to change those, that would be changing the Charter. He gave an example of the Mayor’s and Town Clerk’s duties that may be changed. He stated Council does have the authority to create new positions so without affecting the duties that are set forth in the Charter a Town Manager could be created, but to the extent that the Town Manager would have any of the duties that are designated to the Mayor, that would require an amendment to the Charter. To do that, the Council would have to determine what the proposal would be. We would probably need a workshop for that. A document would need to be drafted to put before the voters of the Town. He stated if they are working with a sixty-day timeline, that would mean that everyone on the Council would have to agree exactly what’s going to be done pretty quickly. If that doesn’t happen, we would need multiple workshops and it would take more time. He thinks it all boils down to what Donna would be willing to do. Whether it is a matter of changing the structure of the Town or the day to day operations. Councilman Rhynehardt said if the Town hired someone to help Donna, then that person would be trained to do whatever she had to do if she left. Council member Hodges stated she thinks they may have to face the facts that they may not find someone that is qualified to take on all of her duties for the amount of money she makes. Council asked if she was willing to stay on a probationary basis. She agreed to stay and see if things change.
Mr. O.D. Rewis came before the board to ask permission to put a camper on his empty lot for about eight months. He explained the camper owner is coming to work at a solar panel plant. The camper is a 2018 pull behind camper with slides and would only have two occupants. Attorney Bense stated this does not fall under the current special exception that he has there now. Mr. Rewis told Council that he had the property long before the land rules came into place. The special exception process would take a month to process. Mr. Rewis told Council he needed to give the man an answer tonight. Attorney Bense asked if we knew where the medical hardship provision is located. Town Clerk Loadholtz responded it isn’t a medical hardship. She added that when she did code enforcement, campers were a violation within the Town outside of it being a medical hardship. Attorney Bense felt the only way for him to petition the Council to possibly allow a camper to be placed there, would be to submit formal request. Mr. Rewis reminded the Council he was approved last year for Mr. Sands to put a camper on that lot. Council responded that matter was for a medical hardship. This is not a medical hardship situation. It would take until the next town meeting to vote on the matter. Mr. Rewis told Council he did not think he would have a problem getting it approved. After hearing it would not be approved tonight, Mr. Rewis left the meeting.
Mayor Foster attempted to close the meeting but former Mayor Juanice Padgett asked if Council had voted on Donna. She asked if it was a formal motion. Councilman Rhynehardt responded that he had made a motion that if nothing changes, then the Council accepts her resignation. Attorney Bense asked how much time the Council wants to put in the request for application. Council has asked for a two-week period, then if nothing changes put an ad in the paper for applications. The sixty-day window would not start until Council hires someone. Ms. Padgett asked if they knew how much they were going to advertise for pay. Council was told that Clerk Loadholtz made $16 per hour. Council agreed the rate would be based on experience. A range of $11 - $16 was suggested by Attorney Bense, based on experience. Councilman Rhynehardt stated that he hopes in the next two weeks that something will give and it all can be worked out. Council member Hodges asked if this position would be for the Council to vote on or is it like the maintenance position that the Mayor can just hire. Attorney Bense responded at least three members of the Council would have to approve it. Town Clerk Loadholtz informed Council the maintenance ads did not advertise an amount when we put them in the paper. That is something they ask when they come in to discuss the position. On a motion made by Council member Amanda Hodes, second by Council member McCullough, the Council voted to run the advertisement in two weeks for a Town Clerk in the newspaper with the pay scale to be between $11 - $16 per hour based on experience. (Vote 5-0)
On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Council member Hodges the Town meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M.
