OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Baldwin County Commission Regular Meeting - November 19, 2024

County Commission — Tuesday, November 19, 2024
BodyBaldwin County, Alabama
SessionCounty Commission
DateTuesday, November 19, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:37:20

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

Good morning, everybody.

0:05

Welcome to uh our work session.

0:08

Today is November the 19th.

0:10

It's nine o'clock.

0:12

Um I've asked um Commissioner Groover to do the invocation.

0:15

I've asked Commissioner Ball to do the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:18

Please bear with uh good morning.

0:23

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to be here today.

0:28

As we take on the task of doing looking over the agenda and everything that's on it to make the best judgments and calls that we possibly can.

0:42

Please watch over our men and women who are in uh the military, our first responders, and all those people who serve us in this day we pray.

0:57

Amen.

0:58

Amen.

0:58

Please join me in the pledge.

1:00

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

1:06

For which it stands.

1:07

One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for law.

1:13

Thank you.

1:23

All right, we're gonna go ahead and get started with the can um the consent stuff, the administration.

1:30

Anyone got any questions?

1:31

Let's see, we got uh 11 items on administration don't hear anything.

1:44

Hey, let me just look at something real nice.

1:57

I'm good with them, Commissioner Grubers.

2:02

Okay, you're good.

2:03

All right, we can put those on consent.

2:08

Uh we got uh CD uh Baldwin Regional Area Transit Systems, Bratz.

2:13

We got two items, good with that.

2:16

Good here.

2:17

All right, budget and purchasing.

2:21

There's uh seven items, and Roger, I want to tell you thank you for explaining some of these to us.

2:33

Send me that email, so thank you.

2:36

I'm good.

2:37

You good, Commissioner Ball.

2:39

I am good.

2:44

All right, communications information system, CIS.

2:49

Two good.

2:51

All right, add those to consent.

2:54

Elected officials, sheriff's office, memorandum of understanding.

2:59

I'm good with that.

3:01

Good here.

3:05

Emergency management.

3:07

We have five items.

3:11

I'm good with those.

3:18

Good here.

3:18

All right.

3:19

The only one that I have is uh I asked um earlier, CK4, and I know it seems like that's just a yearly thing that we pay eighty-nine thousand just for them to put some gauging things around our rivers and bays.

3:34

Yes, sir.

3:34

It's maintaining screen gates.

3:37

Interesting.

3:38

But it's being discussed on a day like today where we've got so much rain coming, but um partners, federal, state, and local, all over the county use the data derived from those.

3:48

That's a a cost share.

3:50

Okay.

3:51

Most of these are uh are in Fish River and um Pedita River, right?

3:56

Yeah, sticks real and stickers.

3:58

Yes, sir.

3:59

Yeah, I meant stick's roots.

4:01

Yes, sir.

4:02

Okay, all right.

4:03

Thank you, Tom.

4:05

All right, we go to grants, CN1.

4:08

We only got one item.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning██████████████████████████████30%
Master Planning██████████████████18%
Procedural███████████████15%
Flooding████████████12%
Community Engagement█████5%
Flood Mitigation████4%
Active Transportation███3%
Transportation Safety███3%
Personnel Matters██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Baldwin County Commission Regular Meeting - November 19, 2024

The Baldwin County Commission held its pre-meeting work session at 9:00 AM and regular meeting at 10:00 AM on November 19,2024 at the Fairhope Satellite Courhouse. Commissioners James E. Ball, Matthew P. McKenzie, and Charles F. Gruber were present (with Billie Jo Underwood absent). The meeting included a large consent agenda, several public hearings on zoning cases, and final commissioner comments. The commission approved resolutions including holiday closures, a $1.5 million Taser contract, and multiple rezoning requests while denying three related to the Cambridge area.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved consent agenda (with addition of Resolution #2025-045 for holiday closures and addenda items GA1 and GA2) by a vote of 3-0.
  • CA1-CA3: Transferred alcohol licenses for VFW Post 5658, Country Convenience, and SS Package Store.
  • CA4-CA5: Approved parade route for Gateswood Volunteer Fire Depart ment annual Christmas parade (Dec7) and 5K fun run for Hpe Community (Jan4).
  • CA6: Approved revised intergovernmental agreement for Baldwin County Public Library System, enabling $171,000 more in annual funding for municipal libraries.
  • CA7: Approved intergovernmental service agreements with 14 municipalities for use of county voting machines for three years.
  • CA8-CA11: Approved sale of a 2010 Merury Mariner on GovDeals.com, space allocation resolutions for Fairhope Satellite Courthouse, Oak Street Complex, and Annex I Building, and reappointed Locke Williams to Public Building Authority for six years.
  • CD1-CD2: Authorized auction of 11 BRATS vehicles (minimum bid $1,500 for nine, $500 for two) on GovDeals.com.
  • CE1: Approved purchase of TASER weapons and accessories for Sheriff's Office from Axon Enterprise for $1,545,588 over three years (with auto-renewal for two years).
  • CE2: Awarded resurfacing bid for Group #1RA to Ammons & Blackmon Construction for $429,213 (30 working days).
  • CE3: Awarded on-call fiber optic installation and repair contract to B & L Cable Construction for 12 months with two renewal options.
  • CE4: Requested fee waivers from City of Bay Minette for several county construction projects.
  • CE5: Awarded HVAC duct cleaning for Central Annex II to Air Specialty for $34,279 (30-day contract).
  • CE6-CE7: Adopted resolutions amending FY2024 and FY2025 budgets to establish capital lease and reallocate funding.
  • CH1: Extended consulting contract with David Pimperl for IBM I servers support at $85/hour (max15 hours/month) through Dec 18,2025.
  • CH2: Authorized termination of unused Orcle licenses effective Oct1,2023.
  • CJ1: Authorized MOU with HealthPlan Freedom for pre-trial health insurance program for jail inmates.
  • CK1-CK5: Appointed Joey Darby as LEPC chairman; approved purchase of $400 meat for LEPC luncheon; adopted pet-friendly shelter rules; approved $89,670 joint funding agreement with USGS for gaging stations; signed MOA for pre-positioned generators.
  • CN1: Approved first amendment to ACCA Investing in Alabama Counties Program agreement for ARPA administration through Dec31,2027.
  • CO1: Accepted roads (Cesta Way, Rodina Lane) in Pecan Grove Subdivision and approved $287,312 surety from Lennar Homes.
  • CO2: Approved Highway Department to pave parkinglot at Crossroads VFD Station #2 for estimated $57,900 labor; fire depart ment will provide materials; county donates equipment.
  • CO3-CO9: Accepted donated right-of-way on Woerner Road (Tracts2-5,10-12) from multiple doners and authorized IRS Form8283.
  • CR1: Abolished Government Relations Director position (grade S319).
  • CR2: Reclassifed Facilities Maintenance Coordinator to Director of Facilities and Maintenance (grade S320); used $16,000 from abolished position.
  • CR3-CR13: Employed Latisha Smith (Buyer I), Bianca Contreras (Permit Technician I), Makayla Hill (Revenue Clerk I); transferred Timothy O'Brien (Information Security Analyst), Barbara Pate (Exec Assistant); promoted Nicholas Brown, Marcus Dubuisson, Bryan Farnham, Trent Salac, Phillip Peterson, John Lundy; reclassifed and promoted Kimberly Chatwood; temporarily increased salary for C. Renee Hawsey; approved position description updates.
  • CR14: Appointed Donne Richardson to Personnel Appeals Board (term expires Dec31,2025).
  • GA1: Approved unpaid leave of absense for Revenue Commission employee for up to 3 months from Nov20.
  • GA2: Authorized letter of support for City of Bay Minette's ATRIP II grant application for Redhill Road Extension project.
  • Resolution #2025-045: Adopted closure of county facilities at noon on Nov27 and all day Dec23 for holidays.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • ES4 (Keifer Property): Speakers in favor (Tracy Gambill, David Williams, Cathy Barnette) cited compatibility with master plan and surrounding area. No opposition.
  • ES7 (Hamm Enterprises): Over a dozen speakers opposed rezoning of 22.87 acres from RA to RSF-3, citing concerns about stormwater erotion, drain age, traffic s afety, flood ing, environmental impacts to Perdido Bay wetlands, sewer plant issues, and inconsistency with master plan. Opponents included Jeanne Ravan, Elizabeth Sullivan, Tracy Gambill, Robin Newell, Andrea Andrews, Loni Cameron, Dan Church, Fred Lurwig, David Schuman, Connie Gowan, David Williams, Boby Beck, Jenifer Lilley, and Ronald Ravan. Several speakers noted the property was originaly designated as common area for Spanish Cove amenities. Supporters inc luded David Shumer (engineer) who argued the zoning was an error and it should be RSF-3 to match Spanish Cove, and Jeff Wyndham (representing Hamm Enterprises) who said infrastructure would be addresed during subdivision process and noted the property is the last piece of Spanish Cover. Public hearing lasted apporximately one hour. The commission voted 2-1 to approve (Ball and Gruber yes, McKenzie no) despite planning commission recomendation for denial (8-1).
  • ES5, ES6: No public comments; both approved unanimousely.
  • ES1-ES3 (Bengston, Childress, Cambridge PRD): Combined public hearing. Many opp osition speakers (Tim Mullek, Robina and Steven Moore, George Wallers, Steve Pumphrey, Terry Whiteside, Joice Kent, Wayne Kentie, Donny Dearborn, Shannon Biggs, Elizabth Wheeler, Catherine Elgie) raised compatability, stormwater runoff, traffic, flooding, infrastructure, and master plan concerns. One speaker in favor (Dwayne Smith, representing KAD Properties) discused density and drain age analysis with proposed lakes. The commission later voted unanimousely to deny all three.

Discussion Items

  • Work Sesion: Commissioners dis cussed setting consent agenda, potential reclassification of executive assistants to salaried positions (referred to Personel Director for review), and proposed holiday clos ure. Senior Staff Reports included presentation by Roger Rendleman on library system transition (resulting in $171,000 more for libraries) and by Jessica Mayo on Safe Routes to School program (reporting over 1,500 participants on October2 Walk and Roll Day). County Attorney Brad Hicks introdu ced three items for executive sesion.
  • Regular Meeting: After public hearings, commissioners made final comments thanking staff, citizens, and each other. Commissioner Gruber noted the importance of master plan updates. Commissioner Ball emphasized respect for property rights and thanked the public. Chairman McKenzie led the meeting concluding with a motion to adjourn.

Key Outcomes

  • Rezonings Approved: ES4 (Ki ef er) unanimous; ES5 (Dukes) unanimous; ES6 (Buc kley) unanimous; ES7 (Hamm Enterprises) 2-1 (Ball and Gruber yes, McKenzie no).
  • Rezonings/PRD Denied: ES1 (Bengston) unanimous; ES2 (Childress) unanimous; ES3 (Cam bridge Planned Residential Development) unanimous.
  • Consent Agenda Approved: Unanimous.
  • Resolution #2025-045 (Holiday Closure): Added to consent agenda and approved.
  • All other consent items (CA-CR, GA, etc.): Approved as part of consent agenda.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to uh our work session. Today is November the 19th. It's nine o'clock. Um I've asked um Commissioner Groover to do the invocation. I've asked Commissioner Ball to do the Pledge of Allegiance. Please bear with uh good morning. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to be here today. As we take on the task of doing looking over the agenda and everything that's on it to make the best judgments and calls that we possibly can. Please watch over our men and women who are in uh the military, our first responders, and all those people who serve us in this day we pray. Amen. Amen. Please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. For which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for law. Thank you. All right, we're gonna go ahead and get started with the can um the consent stuff, the administration. Anyone got any questions? Let's see, we got uh 11 items on administration don't hear anything. Hey, let me just look at something real nice. I'm good with them, Commissioner Grubers. Okay, you're good. All right, we can put those on consent. Uh we got uh CD uh Baldwin Regional Area Transit Systems, Bratz. We got two items, good with that. Good here. All right, budget and purchasing. There's uh seven items, and Roger, I want to tell you thank you for explaining some of these to us. Send me that email, so thank you. I'm good. You good, Commissioner Ball. I am good. All right, communications information system, CIS. Two good. All right, add those to consent. Elected officials, sheriff's office, memorandum of understanding. I'm good with that. Good here. Emergency management. We have five items. I'm good with those. Good here. All right. The only one that I have is uh I asked um earlier, CK4, and I know it seems like that's just a yearly thing that we pay eighty-nine thousand just for them to put some gauging things around our rivers and bays. Yes, sir. It's maintaining screen gates. Interesting. But it's being discussed on a day like today where we've got so much rain coming, but um partners, federal, state, and local, all over the county use the data derived from those. That's a a cost share.

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