Commissioners approve new asst. public defender

The Houston County Board of Commissioners, led by Chairman Tommy Stalnaker, met on Tuesday to present several new items of business for discussion and approval. However, prior to doing so, Stalnaker introduced USAF Lt. Col. Donnell Pittman, who attended the meeting with his wife. For the first several minutes of the evening, Pittman, who currently serves as the Commander of the 410th Supply Chain Management Squadron at Robins Air Force Base, shared his 26-year military journey.

As the meeting shifted to its normal agenda, several items of new business were presented. Commissioner H. Jay Walker spoke on behalf of Public Defender Claudia Meier’s request to approve the hiring of Duncan Munn for the vacant Assistant Public Defender position based on his experience. Walker motioned that they approve this particular hire, but that they take 30 days to review the policy of hiring based on experience (which is a very long-standing policy; very old in nature, according to a remark from Stalnaker) before they approve any further hiring requests based on a candidate’s experience. The motion, along with Walker’s 30-day review recommendation, was approved.

Walker then presented a request from the Board of Elections to hire necessary workers for the March 24th Presidential Preference Primary. The total expense would be $28,809.50. Commissioner Tom McMichael raised the question of whether 132 clerks were really necessary to carry out the task, noting that the number seemed rather high. Stalnaker revealed that 16 of that number represented people who would be on-call to fill in just in case others didn’t show up, explaining that 132 people were not necessarily going to be used or get paid for services. After some discussion, the motion was approved.

Commissioner Larry Thomson made the motion to approve the appointment of Mr. Sherman Falana to the Board of Elections to complete the unexpired term of Ms. Phyllis Taylor, whose term will expire December 31, 2020. Stalnaker mentioned that he’d interviewed Falana last week and was very impressed with his background, knowledge and level of expertise. The board approved this motion.

Additionally, Thomson presented a request from Public Works staff for Chairman Stalnaker to sign a proposal from Edifice Consulting, Inc. of Byron for the roof repair project at the Houston County Detention Facility. The contract will pay Edifice six percent (6%) of the contract total for production of the project documents and four percent (4%) of the contract total for project administration. The estimated budget is not expected to exceed $120,000. This motion, as outlined, was approved.

Commissioner McMichael presented that The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requires the County to have a bi-annual valuation performed on other post-employment benefits (OPEB) provided to retirees. Previously (in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017) Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting of Kennesaw had been employed to perform the valuations. Their cost would include a base fee of $8,000 plus a per participant fee of $2.50 in the 500 or more total active and retired participants category; totaling $9,650. McMichael presented a motion requesting authorization to execute the Memorandum of Participation with Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting for actuarial services associated with our OPEB valuation. The board approved this motion.

At their August 16, 2019 meeting the Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of two new Chevy Tahoe pursuit vehicles, at a unit cost of $33,404 each, from Hardy Chevrolet for use in the Sheriff’s Department Patrol Division. Six months after the initial order, Hardy Chevrolet still cannot give a date of when the vehicles will be manufactured and delivered. As a result, staff recommended cancellation of the order and instead, requested approval to order two replacement Tahoes from Freedom Chevrolet of Texas at a unit cost of $33,796. SPLOST 2018 funds are available to fund the additional cost, and these two vehicles can be delivered immediately to equipment outfitter, Dana Safety Supply.

McMichael motioned that the request be approved, but during discussion, Mark Baker, purchasing agent for Houston County, stood and revealed that he had received a phone call earlier in the day from Freedom Chevrolet that a production date of March 16 had now been assigned to the requested vehicles, and they should have them by the end of April. After some further clarification, Stalnaker requested that McMichael amend his motion so that they would not cancel the original plans and move forward to get the vehicles from Hardy Chevrolet in Dallas, Ga. The amended motion carried.

Commissioner Robinson motioned to approve the Resolution Abandoning Houston County Drainage Easement, approving William R. Taylor and June M. Taylor’s application for Abandonment of the Houston County Government Easement further upon the reporting of the plat survey submitted with the request form prepared by Theodore W. Waddle, Jr. authorizing Chairman Stalnaker to sign the Quit Claim Deed. After some discussion between Attorney Tom Hall and Chairman Stalnaker, regarding fees involved and verifying that there would be no additional direct cost, this motion was unanimously approved.

On behalf of Public Works, Robinson presented a request for approval to enter into an agreement with Flint Energies for the outdoor lighting at the new Lake Joy Fire Station #5 / Emergency Management Agency Headquarters. The one-time upfront cost for installment is $11,227 and the monthly maintenance and consumption costs would be $93.10 (seven fixtures at $13.30 each). This motion was carried and approved.

The final business item presented came from Robinson who motioned that the bills in the total amount of $2,171,093.52 be paid. The breakdown is: $283,165.33 (General Fund), $3,769.46 (Emergency 911 Telephone Fund), $32,265.71 (Fire District Fund), $26,700.00 (2006 SPLOST Fund), $63,717.89 (2012 SPLOST Fund), $263,521.78 (2018 SPLOST Fund), $192.203.80 (Water Fund), and $1,305,749.55 (Solid Waste Fund). The motion was unanimously approved.

Public remarks followed to include comments from Dan Rhoades (Chief Operations Officer, 21st Century Partnership) who gave an update on things going on with the organization. As a part of his comments, Rhoades stated that the President’s budget was released last Monday, which included the budget for the Air Force. Rhoades shared the details of an overall budget of $153.6 billion with a 3% military pay raise, a 3.3% basic allowance for housing and a 3.2% basic allowance for substance.

Jamie Cook (STEM Outreach and Workforce Coordinator, 21st Century Partnership) shared that the organization would have items on display this weekend during the season for middle school robotics. He said they started several middle school robotics teams across the central Georgia region and stated that having been in discussions with the school superintendent, he hopes to get some started in Houston County next season. The state championship will host several schools from the middle Georgia region in Marietta this weekend.

As a part of closing comments, Chairman Stalnaker requested prayers for Commissioner McMichael’s sister who is battling with illness. Additionally, McMichael made the announcement that the body of missing FVSU student, Anitra Gunn, had been found in Crawford County, and he requested prayers for her family.