Report to the Board of County Commissioners
July 5, 2011
1- (Discuss with Hubert present) The Board has authorized Mr. Chipman to advertise an opening with a starting salary of $25,000. According to the county employee rules, current employees are provided a notice of an opening in the event they want to seek a transfer. Mr. Chipman has advised me that at least one current employee from another department has expressed an interest in transferring to Public Works. I have spoken with Ms. Lucy Turner and she concurs with my assessment that Mr. Chipman should still advertise the position so that he has the ability to select the most qualified applicant from the total pool of transfers and new applicants. The personnel rules state, “The Department Head shall select the applicant/transfer candidate who is determined by management to be the most qualified for the position.” The personnel rules do state that the submission of new employment applications may be waived in the case of transfers, but the Board has not directed Mr. Chipman to favor a transfer so I believe he needs to advertise and select the most qualified applicant from either a transfer or a new applicant.
2- The Board directed me at the last meeting to review the county salary structure to see if additional changes should be made. I have been in consultation with the county Finance Office and there are some ideas that we are developing but I do not have a recommendation at this time. I hope to have it by the next Board meeting.
3- The Board asked for a cost estimate for improvements at the Armory and Lombardi Seafood Landing Park. I have extracted cost estimates for the Armory from the Architect’s Assessment that was done through a Historical Preservation Grant in 2006. Attached to my report is the prioritization of repairs/improvements recommended by the architect. The architects split the repairs into 2 phases- Phase 1 at $150,700, and Phase 2 at $645,570, for a total estimated cost of $796,270.
The cost of making improvements at Lombardi is harder to estimate because there could be a wide range in costs depending on how the existing building is used. The building is intended to hold museum displays but since the displays have not been conceived it is not possible to develop costs. But as a rough guide, the building could be dried in, secured, and made functional for $50,000.
4- Board action to expend $30,000 of Bald Point Trust to pay for the appraised value of land the county is seeking in condemnation along Tom Roberts Road. This expenditure is FEMA reimbursable.
5- Board action to sign Modification No.1 for an increase of $12,335 to the Stormwater Project at the Airport. The state has approved the modification and is providing 100% of the funds.
6- Inform Board that Senator Nelson has responded to the Board’s letter concerning North Florida Medical Center (NFMC). The US Dept. of Health and Human Services is monitoring NFMC to ensure compliance with federal requirements.
7- Mr. Chuck Tear has requested a letter of recommendation from the Board for his work during the BP oil spill. Board direction.
8- The Weems Hospital Board met in regular session on June 30th, and the following items were announced:
A) Weems received a $24K grant from the Office of Rural Health for upgrades in the way pharmaceuticals are dispensed.
B) The Hospital Board amended its governing policies to include the following checks and balances:
*All contracts or agreements for the purchase of equipment, goods, or services must be reviewed by the CEO, CNO, or CFO, the county attorney, and the Board before final execution.
*Any items paid for using sales tax funding must receive approval from both the Hospital Board and the Board of County Commissioners. (This last item I had been reporting any expenditures to the county commission but it had not been a rewritten policy of the Hospital Board.)
C) And on the issue of expenditures of the share of sales tax for capital outlay, the Hospital Board would like authorization to spend $34,680 for a dual die injector for the new CT scanner, and $14,000 to replace the engine and transmission in one of the ambulances. I advised the Hospital Board of the high rate of consumption that was currently going on with the capital outlay portion of the sales tax. The Board understood the ramifications but believe both expenditures are warranted.
D) Ms. Davie Lloyd, new Weems CEO, will start July 25. We will get her to a Board meeting as soon as possible. TMH is providing an interim CEO until then.
E) Board action to accept the resignation of Mr. Curt Blair from the Hospital Board, and to appoint Mr. Jim Bachrach. Mr. Blair was an appointment from Commissioner Parrish’s district and so the replacement is supposed to come from the same district. The Hospital by-laws call for the Hospital Board to make a recommendation to the county commission for filling vacancies on the Hospital Board, and the Hospital Board recommends Mr. Bachrach.
9- The Franklin County Election Office has contacted the Planning Office to say they have been unable to locate Mr. Bill Laine, a Planning and Zoning member, and Mr. Laine has been delinquent in filing his Financial Disclosure forms. Mr. Laine called me several weeks ago to say he was in North Carolina but he did not provide any address or phone number. Mr. Laine does not have a current valid Franklin County address as all our correspondence with him has been returned “No forwarding address.”
In order to satisfy the requirements of the Ethics Commission and their requirement for a timely filing of the Disclosure forms I recommend the Board remove Mr. Laine. Mr. Laine was appointed by Commissioner Lockley.
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