Official Minutes of Council Meeting - October 6, 2011
Approved by Council October 20, 2011
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tipton with Councilwoman Griffin giving the invocation. Councilmembers Baxter, Griffin, Myrick, City Administrator Akridge and City Attorney Dickey were present.
Councilman Baxter made a motion to approve the draft copy of the September 15, 2011 council meeting minutes, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve the agenda for the October 6, 2011 meeting with the removal of item #4. Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton stated that Councilmen Crosby and Rawlings are out of town and Councilman Kerby is working and would not be in attendance. Attorney Dickey confirmed that the meeting could be conducted with the three councilmembers present.
Mayor Tipton recognized Rhonda Hammond, retiree of the US Postal Service and currently Human Relations Director for the state of Georgia representing 14,000 union members. Ms. Hammond gave a brief overview of an “Area Mail Processing” study underway by the Postal Service looking into the possibility of closing the Savannah plant. If the Savannah plant is closed the mail will have to go to Jacksonville, Columbia or Macon for processing. The Postal Service has stated that the financial crisis is due to low mail volume but Ms. Hammond stated that low mail volume does not affect the work load. The financial crisis is contributed to the fact that the Postal Service is the only business in the country that is obligated to “Pre-pay” into the employee retirement program, which to give an example, the Postal Service paid into retirement for 75 years prior to her birth which cost the Post Service five billion dollars a year that is paid to the government. Due to this pre-payment requirement the Postal Service has overpaid into the Federal Employee Retirement system seventy billion dollars that Congress will not release and this has contributed to the financial crisis of the Postal Service. The money paid into this retirement is not tax payer money it is employer/employee money. Ms. Hammond also pointed out that NO tax payer money is used in the operation of the Postal Service and the Postal Service is not a government agency but it is ruled by the government. The Postal Service is proposing a legislation act to “relax service standards”. At this time when mail is sent from Bloomingdale it is taken to the Savannah Plant for processing and mail addressed to 299, 313 or 314 zip codes are delivered the next morning but if the service standards are relaxed, the postal service can push back the mail and run it whenever they want to. If they don’t relax the service standards and proceed to shut down the Savannah plant the mail will be picked up at the end of the evening then trucked to Jacksonville, Columbia or Macon for processing which would be a 2-3 hour trip to the plant and a 2-3 hour trip back so it would then take 3-5 days to receive mail. The Postal Service is also petitioning to have the authority to shut down any Post Office they wish without any public input and they are looking at the option of centralized mail, which would mean Bloomingdale citizens will have to go to Savannah to get their mail. Ms. Hammond informed citizens of a rally “for the right to have input” that will take place on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 from 4 to 6pm at the corner of Coleman Boulevard and Hwy 80. Mayor Tipton advised Ms. Hammond if you would get him the address of the appropriate party he would write a letter to support the need to keep the Bloomingdale Post Office open.
Administrative & Committee reports:
City Administrator Akridge gave the following report:
1. Financial report through September with the standard being 25% - the general fund revenue is at
15.21%, making note that the LOST revenues are lagging behind but we have received $126,939 in
LOST revenue since July, the expenditures are at 23.73% and the water/sewer revenue is at 23.89%
and the expenditures are at 16.68%
2. An application was sent last week for a Firefighter grant in the amount of $214,000 for
equipment/breathing apparatus’ and should the grant be awarded the matching fund requirement
would be $10,726
3. The Department of Community Affairs has sent a correspondence advising that our Short Term Work
Plan Update has been approved and our Qualified Local Government status will be extended once we
adopt the plan
4. The Water Reuse Feasibility Analysis was submitted to Brian Baker with EPD by HGBD
5. SPLOST for the month of August was $49,183.27
6. The GMA 2011 Fall District meeting will be held at the Civic Center at 12:30 on December 7, 2011
7. Senator Buddy Carter was appointed Chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee
Mayor Tipton thanked the General Services employees for the work done at the Fire Station in preparation of the dedication.
Councilwoman Griffin reported on the following:
1. Football season has begun with three football teams and three cheerleading teams
2. A new Co-Ed church softball league with eleven teams has started up. The league will have an “A”
league, which is a stronger, more competitive league and a “B” league, which is a less competitive league
3. Volunteers are always encourage to come out and support the recreation department
Mayor Tipton made a special presentation to Ms. Dorothy Adams in honor of her many years of devoted volunteer service to the citizens of Bloomingdale. Ms. Adams has managed the food bank for many, many years distributing food to many citizens as well as many contributions to her church and other areas of the community.
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Consider pay request by Marchese Construction in the amount of $32,831.39 for work completed at the Fire Station. Councilman Baxter made a motion to approve a payment of $32,831.39 to Marchese Construction for work at the Fire Station be released by the City Administrator once the warranty on the floor has met his satisfaction. Councilwoman Griffin seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes.
2. Consider request from Thomas Zachary for a mobile repair business/office at his residence a #112 Hickory Street. Councilman Baxter made a motion that due to Mr. Zachary not being in attendance that this item be removed from the agenda until such time as Mr. Zachary is able to appear before council for consideration of his request. Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes.
The accounts payables were presented with Councilman Myrick making a motion to pay the bills. Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes.
There being no further business, Councilwoman Griffin made a motion to adjourn at 7:23pm. Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with three affirmative votes.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Proudfoot, Asst. City Clerk
Note: Section § 50-14-1 of the Official Code of the State of Georgia Annotated requires that the minutes shall, as a minimum, include a description of each motion or other proposal made, and a record of all votes. These minutes meet the minimum requirements. However, in an attempt to provide as much information as possible to the citizens, the recording clerk has included additional background data and discussion on the subjects presented to council. The statements of individuals are not verbatim and may be summary in nature.