MINUTES

CALLED MEETING

STEPHENS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

MAY 9, 2006

 

Chairman Steve Chitwood called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m.

 

PRESENT:     Commissioners Steve Chitwood, Kenneth Peeples, and Rex Anderson; County Administrator Darrell Hampton,

Finance Director Phyllis Ayers, County Clerk Donna Patterson and County Attorney Brian Ranck

 

Chairman Chitwood welcomed those in attendance.

 

I.          APPROVE AGENDA

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the agenda as presented.

  Motion carried unanimously.

 

II.        MATTERS FROM COMMISSION / DEPARTMENTS / ATTORNEY

 

            1.      UPGRADE TO AS400 COMPUTER SYSTEM

 

This item was brought before the Commission at the May 2^nd Meeting, but the equipment bid was understated by $3,000 and did not include travel costs.

 

Finance Director Phyllis Ayers reported that the updated cost for installation of a new AS400 including firewalls, printers, training and travel will not exceed $35,595.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the upgrade, not to exceed $35,595 as presented.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

2.      CONTRACT / SUNBELT STRUCTURES, INC.

         WARD CREEK BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT

 

County Attorney Brian Ranck came forward to report his review of the contract from Sunbelt Structures, Inc. regarding the Ward Creek Bridge Replacement Project.

 

Mr. Ranck recommended approval of the contract with changes and clarification to be negotiated as follows:

 

§         Under Item 11 Delays and Extensions of Time

 

The addition of a statement in paragraphs 11.1 and 11.2 stating that Sunbelt will not be entitled to compensation or additional costs if a delay is not directly caused by Stephens County.

 

§         Under Item 18 Claims and Dispute Resolution

           

            Rewording of certain paragraphs using ‘may’ instead of ‘shall’. 

            Changes to the ‘arbitration / litigation’ rules.

            The addition of a statement clarifying that venue of litigation would be handled in Stephens County.

           

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to approve the contract with Sunbelt Structures, Inc. with changes to be negotiated by the County Attorney.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

III.       EXECUTIVE SESSION

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adjourn to Executive Session at 11:10 a.m.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

            1.      DISCUSSION OF PENDING / POTENTIAL LITIGATION

 

            2.      POSSIBLE FUTURE ACQUISITION OF REAL ESTATE

 

After discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to adjourn to Regular Session at 11:35 a.m.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

IV.       MATTERS FROM COMMISSION / DEPARTMENTS / ATTORNEY

 

            1.      FLAGSHIP GIS, INC. CONTRACT

 

Chairman Chitwood explained that this involves the Flagship GIS contract for mapping and addressing services with Stephens County.  During the Executive Session, County Attorney Brian Ranck advised that he had reviewed all the provided information and it would be in the best interest of the County to seek a settlement regarding this contract and to also request that Flagship GIS provide a statement accepting responsibility for the delay in implementing the E911 system.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to authorize the County Attorney to negotiate a settlement with Flagship GIS, Inc.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

            2.      MARTIN CONSTRUCTION & GRADING

 

Chairman Chitwood explained that this involves the paving contract and equipment rental with Martin Construction & Grading.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Peeples, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to authorize the County Attorney to negotiate a settlement with Martin Construction releasing Stephens County from the paving contract and equipment rental by accepting a full and final payment.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

            3.      LAND ACQUISITION / GULLEY ROAD

 

Road Superintendent Clayton Haynes has requested that the Commission consider purchasing right-of-way that is needed to complete the construction of Gulley Road.  The right-of-way is a total of approximately three quarters of an acre.

 

A motion was made by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Peeples, to authorize the County Attorney to negotiate the purchase of property on Gulley Road.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

[15 MINUTE RECESS]

 

            4.      STEPHENS COUNTY JAIL PROJECT / PETER BROWN CONSTRUCTION

 

This was originally placed at the beginning of the agenda as Item #1, but the representatives of Peter Brown Construction had not arrived at that time.

 

Administrator Hampton stated that the purpose of this meeting was to obtain direction from the Commission regarding the new jail project so that a time-line can be defined.

 

Executive Vice President John Stewart and Vice President of Operations Keith Leach (representatives of Peter Brown Construction) and Project Architect Blakeley Bruce (representative of Clemons, Rutherford & Associates) were present to review the current status of the proposed jail project,

 

Mr. Stewart stated that the two most important issues to review at this time include discussion of the proposed site locations and discussion of the floor plan.

 

Three sites have been selected for consideration as follows:

 

            1.  Site on the west side of Scenic Drive adjacent to Tugalo Construction

            2.  Site east of the current jail and EMA building

            3.  Site of the existing Road/Maintenance Department

 

Commissioner Anderson asked Mr. Stewart if they had visited the proposed sites.

 

Mr. Stewart stated that they have not been out to the sites, but they have seen aerial views.  Their Civil Engineer, Robert George, will review the sites and develop a synopsis of each location.  Then a cost analysis related to each location will be prepared.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated that the location chosen will have a significance bearing on the floor plans.  After reviewing each site, he thinks that site #2 is the most feasible location.

 

Mr. Stewart concurred that the location will be a big factor in the layout of the building.

 

Sheriff Sorrells stated that his first choice was site #1 but after looking closer at the site, he noticed that there is a creek behind it and it also steep terrain.  He now believes that site #2 would be the smoothest realm.  Also, there are gas and water lines already at that site.  The Maintenance Shop is located on site #3 and, at one time, a County Dump was located on the backside.  This might pose some environmental problems.

 

After further discussion, Mr. Stewart stated that he had enough information about the sites to draft a schedule and report back to their Civil Engineer.

 

Mr. Stewart questioned if they wanted to stay with the design that was originally presented or if they want to shell-out space for future expansion.  He stated that a $7.2 million budget would be a very tight budget.  If the Commission wants to shell-out space, it would be an additional cost.  They do not want to spend a lot of time preparing plans for additional space if the Commission doesn’t want to expend additional funds.  He wanted to confirm that $7.2 million is the total amount allotted to this project.

 

Chairman Chitwood stated that $7.2 million was the bid amount and he wants to stay within that amount.  He doesn’t want to see escalating change orders.

 

Commissioner Anderson agreed that $7.2 million is the amount they expect to spend.  However, he would like to see costs analysis for different options within that price range.

 

Commissioner Peeples stated that he has no intention of spending more money than has already been approved.

 

Sheriff Sorrells stated that when the budget was approved three years ago to build the jail, it was viable.  However, now prices have risen and there is no way that the approved $7.2 million will cover everything that was proposed for the new jail.  Also, items such as washers, dryers and other equipment were not included in the first bid proposal.

 

Mr. Stewart stated that they are here to serve the County and help with the pros and cons of the design because it will be harder and more expensive to make changes later.  This is the whole purpose of the Design/Build stage of the project.

 

Mr. Stewart stated that he will have figures prepared with different options and scenarios - starting with the basic budget - to bring back before the Commission for consideration. 

 

This will include evaluation of existing conditions and comparative studies of the prospective sites.

 

Their current goal is to bid out to all of the subs before the end of the year, therefore another meeting with the Commission should be set as soon as possible.  Mr. Stewart requested that the County Administrator, Sheriff, and Commissioners supply them with a list of all the vendors and any interested parties within the community that they would like contacted for bids.  They will also advertise locally.

 

The Sheriff and Commission agreed that they liked the Jefferson County jail design and the design that Peter Brown, Inc. presented to Stephens County when the SPLOSH IV was developed.

 

The Commissioners offered to take the representatives out to the proposed sites.  At this time, the Sheriff, County Administrator, and Commissioners left the Courthouse Annex building to go see the sites.

 

V.        ADJOURNMENT

 

After visiting the sites, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Approved this __________ day of ___________________, 2006.

 

 

 

 

                                                                        _______________________________________

                                                                        Chairman Steve Chitwood

 

ATTEST:

 

___________________________________

County Clerk Donna L. Patterson