##VIDEO ID:xL02m6uRigM## well that's a week away confence next oh I was G to ask you about that I adjusted the other reservations but I chance to ask you about it forgot to ask I had your hotel reservation for the night that would mean you need to drive five hours after the bo meeting that night I changed the others to be the next night is that okay with you as absolutely now when is that when does when is it for so it's next week okay and it'll be wednes through Friday is that out west e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e again um welcome to everyone that is here it is now 5:00 and our bord County Board of accy commissioner Workshop um budget Workshop is now called to order if you would all stand with me as we do our invocation and pledge of allegion heavenly father we thank you for this time to be here um to share in our community in this budget workshop and we welcome thank you the Lord for everyone that is here help us and guide us dear Lord as we deliberate this evening and hear from all of the Departments that we dialogue with open communication um and ask that you bless this meeting for the betterment of our community in Jesus name we pray amen amen indivisible andice good evening again and um like to record show that commissioner D is not present with us tonight so therefore Commissioners start are here um and at this time um we going to have um we have the city of stock agreement for the provision of the police and fire dispatch services and I understand you don't understand to say that cheff Smith was he won't be here but uh Colonel Smith is here if you would come up and share with us uh thanks for having me Sheriff had a previous um agreement to be down in um an event for the um State Attorney tonight and he's a a speaker for him so he couldn't back out of that one but he's asked me to come up and uh discuss the the contract that we had in the past with the city um the contract back in those days was mainly for the police dispatch um the fire U was previously dispatched by the uh County before the original agreement was made when they Consolidated the Communication Center so um was a negotiation that the sheriff entered in with the city in order to um dispatch the uh police officers inside the city and when we um did the contract to actually be the officers that responded to the city's calls now um that um agreement wasn't discussed at that point and we don't have anything on the table right now for that agreement to continue I I think it was $138,000 per year that sounds about right I don't have it in front of me 130 somewhere 34 138 that's my recollection correct and so what happens is the clerk's office currently invoices the city of Stark for that dispatching service and since it's been disbanded we will just need authorization from this board to either terminate that agreement um so that way we're no longer in inv voicing them and so um when it was brought to our attention we wanted to make sure that we had the opportunity for there to be a discussion with the board so you were aware that there is an agreement in place and that there needs to be a discussion on how you want to uh proceed with that agreement um it sounds like since it's been disbanded we probably can just terminate it and then that will allow us to no longer invoice them yeah so I I would point out that on page one of the of the current agreement or the previous agreement um one of the paragraph states that whereas the county acting through its Sheriff's Office is willing to provide dispatching services to the Stark police department and the City of Stark fire department if the city agrees to reimburse the county for costs applicable to and budgeted for said dispatching services within the sheriff's annual budget so the language that's in the uh in the contract does include power right so yeah I mean it's like the deputy clerk said we just need direction on whether to modify the contract or or cancel the contract or whatever whatever we need to do um I don't know just just getting this to read it doesn't give me a chance to absorb what the depths of what this mean so in terms of the invoice that's a process that you had been doing in the past and basically the question is do we continue to doing that or do we have a new agreement and so forth correct yes so it when the city uh it came to our attention why is the clerk's office invoicing Police Services have been disbanded we had not received any direction to stop invoicing them and so that's when it came up well we do have this agreement in place and so it looks like we probably need to bring this back before the board and have a discussion on how we need to proceed like the county manager indicated the agreement does indicate that dispatching services will also be for fire if we're saying we're not dispatching for fire that just probably needs to be part of the discussion on whether we we're definitely still dispatching for fire and then after hours for the um Line crew um when there's electrical issues in the city will call uh whoever the on call lineman is to come out and fix that um at the very least um you know if there's any type of uh negotiation with the city at this point it would just be for the fire service and that lineman call and those lineman calls are not that often um so it would be mainly for the fire rescue um we I having been privy to the negotiations um of increasing the amount that we charged on that agreement um every couple of years we would come back and renegotiate with them um when they would talk about the fire Services you know because we were throwing that in there as part of the negotiations um they they would regularly say that the fire department the city Fire Department responds to as many if not more calls out in the county than the county does inside the city and I had a quick little conversation with the chief just a minute ago and he was saying you know it's it's close to even how many they come out and assist out in the county is the county going in to assisting the city um but that was always their argument why why are we paying you know extra money for dispatching the firefighters or the city fire department when we do more calls out in the county than we do inside the city what is the will of the sheriff and the your department we're comfortable with just uh voiding the contract altogether um you know we're we're dispatching all of deputies now inside the city and they pay us uh two and a half Mills to cover those costs okay um so so what you're saying abolish at that that's what the sheriff's office would recommend now I don't know uh if the sheriff had a different conversation with the county manager well I just got it that was who I was talking to when I walked out and the the county attorney and I just had a conversation and we all believe that it's probably best just to terminate the agreement all together okay all right so in that um case you I don't think we can take action it's not it's not an agenda item to take action but at least we can give directions of what our intent is to to be right we can take a consensus okay um so okay what would you Mr Thompson is that your consent IAM would you consent to terminate what are your thoughts yeah okay what you I mean we ain't got to vote on this let me just say no he just wanted to know what was um what direction we want to have it's not an item that we would take action on tonight but at least give them a direction of what our intent is and the consensus of the board is to uh to terminate it yes ma'am thank you madam chair do we need to say I no it's just it's not voting it's not a motion just giving him the direction in which we intend to go and based on that consensus Madam chair our office will no longer invoice the city of Stark for that service and then we'll put it on the agenda at a later agenda to terminate that agreement all right okay thank you clarify okay now I'm going to move on to the was there something else no ma'am not for me all right to our budget um by department and so should I turn that over to you uh Miss Ren or just have them to proceed no ma'am that'll be your County Manager okay right so first up we have uh Miss Barbara Fischer with the Department of Veterans Affairs um her budget is uh in your packet and also up on the screen so if you have any questions uh she'll be more than happy to answer good evening my fishous and thank you for being here with us this evening thank you for listening all right you want to say anything about your budget or just um any questions just give you any questions if y'all have any questions in regards to my budget there's not a whole heck of a lot to it it's what I use to do the job I do and get my training every two every uh twice a year okay any questions for um miss barara any a question from the board all right Miss Fisher thank you thank you thank you Miss Fischer next up is Dr candy Sanders with the UF Extension Office Amanda have it up there in just a second that's the senior I don't think I guess DR Sanders if you just want to give a high level recap of it then that would be um I'll just say that um FY 2023 last year um you'll see a difference in salaries because you were down to two agents that are only 40% paid by the county our agent positions are 6040 split roughly 60% paid by ufi and 40% paid by the county and so when I came in May um of last year year you were down to two agents and no staff so um we are fully staffed now as I stated last week in our presentation um we had um we did have a budget little bit of a budget increase because UF did a salary compression model with all faculty and our extension agents and um we I did um turn that increase in to Mr corn and um that will be in the fy2 budget um the only other thing I have to say is you're saving money right now on salaries because you do not have a County Extension director you have an interm director that this County does not fund that's funded by ufas so that's for the past 16 months so Dr Sant did I hear you say you're going to be here forever I don't about forever just other few more years than I can join drop but I'm more than happy to stay um it's working out very good um and like I said last week we have a full staff we have some great staff on board now okay thank you DR Sanders any questions from the board just a comment I just appreciate you doing such a good job with your budget and staying as close to it as you can and um for hiring the staff that we needed to to cover those positions I think you guys have done an amazing job down there we're just very very proud thank you yes ma'am we're we're trying to stay in within budget and um our staff there does an excellent job of keeping me straight too on a monthly basis of our budget but um we've got excellent agents and excellent staff in the in the office now so yeah I'm fine with your do have a question about the new items requested you have up there so I requested um a TR an increase in travel for the agents um was $600 increase just because we now have three full staff uh or agents extension agents and so the county is responsible of course for our building our office supplies travel um and so that's why I increased $600 there um I did recommend an increase of painting the interior and exterior of our building [Music] um and other than the UF salary compressions um that I Inc that I requested that's the only request we had okay good thank you and I think you guys covered that in your presentation too as far as doing some more of this uh like not necessarily Outreach but more of the educational you know type travel and stuff right and as these agents progress and they we go through the same per permanent status and promotion that UF faculty does because we are UF faculty and they have they're doing great programming and so you heard some of the program they're doing and presented at a state conference just two weeks ago and also Lizzy Whitehead has presented at a National Conference in July so it's important for them to share across the state locally State and the country with their professional association on the programs that they're doing and the impacts they're making in this County okay any other question for Dr Sanders just thank you very much for all you do thank you thank you very much thank you DR Sanders excuse me you had one other question no no no no go ahead I was just going to say you department heads after you finished your presentation you're free to go you don't have to leave but you're you can if you want to commissioner yes commissioner I I should have said something earlier but Mrs Fischer I just wanted to tell you that you do a great job and those veterans really really rely on you and depend on you because a lot of them aren't could even turn on a computer I'll just be honest with you and I I've got one that you're helping right now and I just wanted to say I really do appreciate you know the way you help them and make it clear for them because a lot of them really really truly don't understand so but thank you thank you I should have said that while ago all right great thank you uh next Madame chair is uh Miss Diane Gaskins with the senior center okay Miss gasin thank you for being here hello everybody hello Okay um my budget is pretty easy it's plain um I try to be as fiscally responsible as I can um my seniors all have grand ideas that we could do to the senior center and I just like go whoa whoa but um um this everything all my expenses are pretty much the same as they were last year and the year before except for the increase in the employee um raise um but yeah it's pretty much the same as it has been for the last few years Miss gas and I'm just in awe at the many services that you all provide at the senior center and all of the activities that go on there and and their participation yeah yeah any particular questions regarding um the budget for the Senior Center thank you for what you oh you're more and y'all can come down and hang out thank you they have closer and closer yeah all kinds of things if you want zomo if you want something about sewing clothing or whatever um exercise very good yeah thank you oh you're welcome thank you Miss Gaskins next is Miss Kelly Kennedy with the ship office good evening commission good evening um on my budget just the increases was with um slight increase with salaries and there was a slight increase for the rehab and demo just because we did increase the maximum amount per project so those are the two increases everything else stayed the same okay and pretty much that increase was due to the cost of um materials and so forth yes ma'am yes that is correct yes ma'am okay um from the board any questions for Miss can thank you so much for all you do thank you I appreciate it all right yes ma'am you're welcome thank you thank you thank you thank you Miss Kennedy next is uh Mr Benny Jackson solid waste and mosquito control good evening thank you Mr good evening I have the right as you can see most of our increase was with salaries um we do have some increases in our tipping fees it' be uh instead of 500,000 this year it' be 530,000 um that's because of the tires and stuff that we haul off we had to increase that and the uh new items requested usually we don't get too many new items but uh that's just to replace the two compactors that are very very old we got one in ly that uh we've been having to have repaired quite often and one in Stark that is not operational anymore it's the oldest one of our Fleet and we are fully staffed we have uh 20 employees including myself and I wanted to express my appreciation for you getting those um getting and spraying the mosquitoes with all of the issues that um they could Rec have in our community appreciate your your quick responsiveness on that and mosquito control is a it's a dollar for dooll match amount um whatever the state gives us the county has to put in and usually y'all are very generous and put a little bit for and the particular questions from the board uh of Mr Jackson regarding his budget you have someone that helped you know the BR mosquito yes ma'am we have two other employees that help me spray that's a Marvin Sanders and Patrick brand I know you'll do a lot with actually trying to find tires and things to pick up yes and that that goes above and beyond and I just thank thank you for doing that yes no problem for taking care of those those guys out there manam thank you thank you I just want to say your site attendance are are great too appreciate it very very helpful they don't get that very often yeah they're helpful excuse me helpful and and they do a good job you know keeping the SES you know cleaned up you know there's not uh in the past you know sometimes it was stuff laying in the drive you know things like that they've done a really good job at keeping all that up so thank you I appreciate it thank you all right thank you please pass that on to me okay thank you Mr Jackson next is uh planning our um yeah Planning and Zoning Mr Randy Andrews good evening good evening board good evening as you can see again like everyone else mostly um we're right on target where we were last year very few expenditures a little bit of a salary we have no expenditures uh if you have any questions willing to take them we uh we're right where we should be we've already taken in we've already had six or seven land use change and Zoning changes so that roughly relates to about $3 $25,000 we've taken in since the first of the year so that's that'll help a little bit of course variances and uh especially exceptions but for the most part uh our equipment's fine everything's good so uh yeah is there any questions any questions for Mr Andrews I always but not tonight but he's always great about um getting back with me and answering any question I have so I just want to thank your office for always being there and BRAC I can't speak for Rob he's pretty much right in line with his budget he's been in talks with Mr corn so that he's uh his eyeballs have been aggravating quite a bit here lately so he'd be here but I think uh you know he's right in line with what you guys are expecting also nothing out the ordinary would show up all right thank you for your responsiveness yep any any questions for the questions thank you Mr Andrews thank you thank thank you Mr Andrews next is Kim Crawford and Trisha Wy with the library good evening good evening good evening so we've had a big good evening we've had a year change this year um and I think we have recovered nicely and that's all credit to the staff on the front lines um we do have fewer staff but we are continuing to provide the same awesome service or they are continuing to provide the same off awesome service to the community we have tried to be as efficient as possible this year um we do get revenue from two sources we get it from the county as well as our state aid grants and our state aid grant um is based on how much the county kicks in as everyone's probably already aware um so we do have our biggest savings here on the state aid side um and the you know the budget line items we do have we hope to not have to zero those out we'll do our best to just be as responsible as possible and yeah um kudos to the staff they're they're awesome and if you haven't been to the library lately stop by um we've been doing some rearranging and uh it looks great off is a host of serves to our community which we are very very grateful for especially um a lot of the activities for the children and that um that goes to the staff definitely latan Melanie um Amy turny and Kathy and Kimberly and everybody okay any questions um for Miss Crawford or Miss Riley I just want to say thank you to for stepping in and and being there for us and uh you had a great crew down there but you know we really appreciate you thank you it's a pleasure and we appreciate the board's support always and thank you guys as well if I can just comment also um Miss W is also over she's Tri count so she's not just here as you all know and she does an excellent job with Pap in Union County as well so thank you thank you very much Jim thank you sorry I just want to thank her personally too because this budget was tricky for me so believe me she's helped out so much I'm still learning so I couldn't have done it without your help got a good teacher yes I do any other U questions for the library if not thank you all so very much thank you thank you ladies all right all right Madame chair next up is uh Road Department Public Works uh Mr Jason dods Mr do good evening good evening can I say something before he or go ahead them let them do it yeah go ahead yeah I got I got plenty to say um so I'll start off by saying this we're still working off the same budget y'all reviewed and we presented to y'all before um I did just want to point out one thing to y'all that um sometimes there's a misconception on fuel gas and diesel in our budget because everything is filtered through the transportation budget um just for clarification out of that gas and Diesel budget of 845,000 to date the transportation department between gas and Diesel is only used 100 6 4,725 76 of that so that is in our budget but that covers all the county um Fuel and uh gas and Diesel so thank you for clarifying that yes ma'am any other questions on the transportation no any questions from the board on the transportation Bo I do I I have some questions about um and it's probably more to Rachel well maybe not um like Miss Andrews I'm sorry do you mind pulling your your microphone down please hold on I'm sorry that's okay um well if you you have what you want I'll she's looking we'll go ahead Mr Thompson did you have a comment that you wish to make yes ma'am I yeah I got a bunch of comments uh number one this department right here every Department in this county is valuable but this department has been kicked it has been belittled it has been talked about and we got one of the best road superintendent that this County's ever had amen how many hats she wear um six seven seven typically but yet we got people that will stand there and ridicule him hey this stuff is stopping tonight we got some hey what they used to I mean what we had here hey this board ought to be sitting in front of that this man has helped this County unreal and far as people ridicule and the board's ridiculing him this stops tonight I mean he's transparent he's not wasting no money this stops tonight and I F you Jason for the job you do with a small crew you have I mean you ain't got no Army but look what y'all do when the Storm come how many hours of sleep did you get a night I can tell you about 3 and a half a little bit less than that but yes sir yeah I know I'm just stretching it a little bit this man worked around the clock but then you got people on this board that ridicules him this is wrong boor this is wrong we ought to appreciate him but what money he is making and this County's giving him his heart is in this County so let's take care of him don't ridicule a man that's working and hey it's best thing we ever had I mean I've I went through the old ones hey you couldn't oh well I mean I could say a bunch more but I don't want to but it aggravates me when you got a horse that's pulling a plow hey pull it let him pull it don't ridicule him hey give him some oats give him some corn let him pull that plow and I put appreciate you Jason and your crew I mean I'll pass it on to my staff yeah you do that thank you Mr Thompson um Madam chair I think Miss Andrews you find your thing question okay um commissioner dhy I just want to Echo exactly what commissioner Thompson said um and I think that there's been some instances where some employees have been contacted directly I think that's wrong I think that there's a chain of command your employees answer to you you answer to the County Manager the county manager answers to us yes sir and that's it and nobody should be called for special favors amen or for anything else and I'm sorry if you've been put in that position and I will back you 100% as you know and uh as commissioner Thompson said I've been on this board with commissioner Thompson and with commissioner rck when we had a different scenario and I can promise you that the phones don't stop ringing back then because people were not getting things done when they should have got them done I know you're doing everything you can what you have and we certainly appreciate that and we hope that one day this County will get to a point to where it'll grow up a little bit and be able to draw in you know more of a tax base to be able to supply more to all the Departments so that the citizens you know will understand that you know we can only do what we can with what we have yes and so again you know thank you very much and and you you stretch your resources out as far as they can go yes sir and so again thank you yes sir yeah um I like Mr R if you'll pull your mic down just a bit thank you sir my bad y all right two I I just want to start off I I agree with everything both the other Commissioners have said and uh just want to add on to that I mean before they don't realize how bad it was I mean like commissioner do said my phone rang every single day and uh Jason I just thank you for all you're doing and um and and I'll be honest with you I ride around my part of the county I see the weeds are high I see the grass is high I see ditch is not mowed and sometimes it's very overwhelming I'll be honest with you you know so so I understand but but that's just in my district so I think about how much stress and how much it must be overwhelming for you when you've got five Commissioners calling you plus citizens plus everybody else and but at the same time I'll say this then I ride around and I look at all the stuff that's accomplished and and that's what the amazing part is I mean I think and please correct me I think in about the past 2 and a half years you have paved three roads three nice size roads you have resurfaced two roads where our Paving machine um and I said the other day you were chip sealing seven roads and then you corrected me we're chip sealing nine roads right now yes sir and you know and that's all in about the pass two two and a half years and you know so when you start looking all the things that are getting done it's just amazing and I and I'll tell you this board I I'll be perfectly clear if we ever lose Jason dods we're going to set this road department back at least five years it will take us at least five years to even get back to where we're at now with the connections Mr dods has and and if you don't mind me I'll just share it when when that hurricane came through he needed millons for for some road I don't even know what road but nobody would sell to him he used his connection got him got his connection used at um was it um pret Trucking pret yes PR they' been over backwards lined their trucks up got those millings so that he could go out there and use millings to fill in those roads that were washing out these are all things that go on behind the scene that that we don't even know about you know un unless Jason shares it with us but um I'm just saying there's there's a lot of stuff that Jason do does and um and we need to bend over backwards to help him and and I guess when another issue comes up um here I'll I'll wait until then to to talk about something else but but um but but I will say this even with the mowing you know I was trying to figure it out in my hand we got two mowers do you know if he's starts right here today it takes at least didn't we figure out 45 days days before he back around to the same spot he started from one District takes 18 days this is one of the districts I won't name the number but one of the districts takes 18 days it's one of the biggest districts in our County it goes from east to west and um you know so when you look at that and and today I just happen to be walking around him lake and a man cornered me and um a little bit upset about the Mowing and I told him I said do you realize we only have two mowers for the whole County when I said that he couldn't even believe it but then when I told him we only have 13 full-time Road employees and if you ever if you start looking at these lists Jason are giving us he doesn't have 13 men every day because you know somebody's sick or they take off or whatever so that last meeting we had if if you looked at the paperwork there was seven employees out of 13 that was off and I'm not I'm not knocking it they got to take their time off like everybody else but I'm just saying it you know I I appreciate all you're doing and uh and we need to do everything that we can board to make sure that Jason stays here and can I say one thing just to let him finish amen let him well and I would like to say something yeah and I would like to say something just a minute we we're we're we Ain not old we're going to stick with doing the budget and yes Mrs commissioner Andrews you'll have a say but I [Music] am we're just going to keep what we're starting out to do here so go ahead and make your comment well I would just like Jason to know that um I I won't be calling anymore I'll call Mr corn and everything that we need done will run through his office as well as um Brooker received the message that you couldn't help with um projects anymore so at least you won't have to worry about that so as far as our end um we we'll eliminate that that pressure off of you okay well and I will address um the Brooker comment Miss Andrews because uh if it's in reference to where they're putting the new fire station I told them I did not have staff to dedicate for that long of a period but that does not mean we will not continue the effort to help Brooker Hampton or lah okay I'll let no yes ma'am okay um as far as um your your your budget that you have um presented to to us here um it seems that you're as close that you can be within the means that you have yes ma'am there there was no changes to it or additions to it from what I previously had provided to y'all before um and that's also the same with our maintenance custodial budget as well okay com I just one last thing I want to add to um and I think you all know this too but Jason also provides CI services for our do projects and uh being in the industry myself when you're working on a roadway project and you have to hire a CI company it's very costly and so the the the savings uh that Jason has you know provided you know with the uh dot projects is it's an enormous amount of money three 3.2 million 3.2 million I thought it was somewhere in that neighborhood yeah so that that that right there is U very admirable and and uh certainly appreciate you doing that I just want wanted to add that you to the resume of of of Mr dods yes sir and we've got you know three projects coming up this year um that are going out the bid currently um so those that'll add an additional 1.2 1.3 million to that from the time a project goes from design to construction you know sometimes you know the hiring a CI could take us out of the budget to be able to complete the project so your service is there yeah when Chris get you every project that we've encountered so far has been out of budget to where if that service wasn't provided inside we would have had to come up with additional funding that the state couldn't give us yes thank you okay Mr Excuse me commissioner Tompson had asked so board can I say one thing we are blessed we are blessed we I mean we getting service that we ain't playing paying for we are blessed with the road to superintendent thank you Mr J than you reic yes um and Bard I know we can't take action on this tonight and I know we talked about it the other day but um I just wanted to run this something by you I've already talked to Mr dods about it I've talked to Mrs rhen about it and um so I just like I said we can't take action but if you all wanted to we could um get them moving in Direction but like I was explaining earlier about the mo the mowing um this situation comes around every single year it's not going to go away um and it's something I was I was I was uh reading this morning I came across this thing and and basically it's our it's our job to recognize where the where the problem is and the problem is two Moes for the whole County that's the problem I mean we know where the problem is that's it I mean it's cut and dry um if I mowed my yard every 45 days I have to get a bush hog so um but here's what I'm getting at um I I don't know who got this email or who did or who didn't whatever but um anyway Jason found a use more just like what we were looking at um for 99 it's got low hours uh between 3 and 400 didn't you tell me yes sir 3 to 400 hours and um and they're going to put a they'll put a brand new back Wi on it and the the whole setup would be 999,000 now here's here's the um the part available in Jason's um um Reserve I guess or fund balance fund balance it' be the reserve Reserve is uh $212,000 if if we allowed him to take 99,000 to purchase this used more then out of that same fund balance he could take uh 55,8 74 $4 to hire one person and then that way it would not mess with the budget because this be coming out of last year's budget and then next year instead of having a 400,000 contingency he would have to reduce it to 350,000 contingency is that is that correct am I saying this right I'm going to lean on Rachel for that okay and then but but what I'm saying is board the the money is there uh I know it's I would like to get two but but one would be better than nothing and um so I'm just asking the board what do you think about that especially since he found a use more for 999,000 otherwise uh one of those Moors would cost 140,000 and so that's that's what I'm asking and then this would help him to um possibly get you know it's got to help getting a little bit more stuff mowe and also during and they the Ming season is usually 6 to 8 months so in the time when the man's not mowing we could sure use the help on other projects so um just I just want to run it to by you like I said I know we can't take action on it but we could sure tell the board or make them recommendation which way to go and then Jason could call Ad Pro and tell them yay or nay so I just I wanted to bring that up to everybody and Madam chair Just for information uh Baker County just purchased one of those units new and paid 200 $190,000 for it well um and we appreciate the um information from commit commissioner Ric um tonight was just a discussion of the of the right the budget just our Workshop that we wouldn't take action but the information is important um to have um but we're certainly open for the discussion um comments but not action so okay I think the chief Deputy clerk has some comments and then after she's done I guess will ask for a consensus on whether to you know do the numbers and put it in the budget should you decide to to move forward with it okay so you are correct commissioner rck as far as what your balance is in your reserve fund and it's important that this board always understand that there's a difference between what you budget and what you spend just because you have a budget there doesn't mean you have to spend it that would impact your budget so yes you do have the budget there and you can spend it and that would be an increase in your spending especially if it's a recurring cost of hiring any new additional employees what you and I spoke about where you're coming from as far as presenting to the board the option of reducing your reserve next year by $5,000 and moving that budget money over to your salaries to account for that recurring salary cost you can do that but again it is now you are increasing your spending which is that's the board's pleasure you can do that the only thing I'm going to continue to repeat is that you all have not yet addressed fire rescue operations we still have not set a budget Workshop or a workshop to discuss that budget and that spending that has been bleeding for the last few years and so I'm going to continue to caution every time we increase our spending and remind you all that we have got to address that budget and I appreciate Mr um commissioner reik bringing um that suggestion to us but our this Workshop is not to take action tonight but to to receive that information um and give some indication how we may wish to proceed um Madam chair to the deputy Clerk's point and I know we discussed this in the last meeting that moving forward that you know next fiscal year we will start to have these Workshop budget workshops throughout the year to discuss these items and I know this just came up and you know I think moving forward that we have those discussions that are healthy discussions but um you know just right now at this time I'm I'm still holding my position that I held at the last meeting and uh when we talk about you know cutting departments and you know things like that and just as you mentioned you know with fire rescue um I just I I can't see moving forward with this tonight or you know for this year's budget just because again I think it should be a healthy discussion that we have throughout the year as far as needs in every department and not just you know I'm not saying you're the only one that has a need right now I know everybody does yes sir again that that's just going to be my position on that that we that we hold hold where we are right now uh but that we certainly Implement that into our discussions that we have moving forward with our budget workshops next year okay um any other comments at this time um I guess the only thing I can say is how can I put this I guess it kind of depends on what district you live in um as to how much Mo needs to be done um as I explained earlier we we've got several Commissioners that have huge districts and there's a lot of mowing to be done so they get a lot of calls I I they got to get a lot of calls because I get a lot of calls and my district isn't isn't as big as as some of the other ones so I I guess what I'm saying and I even get to thinking back when Ross Chanel was on the board we were having this same problem this same issue with the Mowing and um and and not that I want to just keep spinning and spinning because youall all know I was pushing hard for the uh for the fire assessment I mean a that that's out there everywhere I was pushing hard and i' I've caught a lot of stuff for uh pushing it so hard but anyway we need it period but um but on this I you know all I'm saying is we we just can't keep asking asking and complaining with Jason about the mowing if we don't give him the tools to work with um you know it just uh it it doesn't make sense so um so that that's where I'm coming from on this um I know every little bit um adds up in our budget but I'm just saying this is I I think this would be a cost that would that would help the road department and uh and also help us with some of our calls and and with the grass and and I I started to take some pictures cuz I did go down some of my roads and actually got out of my car cuz I I there is some that the that the um in the ditches it's up to about my Chase chess High and um you know about 3 ft so it that's why I brought it up boy it it's what whatever youall want to do but but there there is a problem here um and I don't know no other solution except to I I I appreciate this board's spirited discussion and and in terms of the needs and uh appreciate the comments from you Mr rck and also commissioner D and from everyone um but I tonight is the discussion about the various budgets from all other departments um not that we would take action on on any of them but we need to hear um and that's what the workshop is all about assessing what those needs are and um Mr do um the road Department of Public Works you know there's a tremendous tremendous amount of work um that these guys um have to to do um but for tonight's discussion is the discussion and looking at what we can possibly do in the future because our budget is pretty much you know set at this point but moving forward we can look at those things that we can you know that we can uh consider um Madam chair yes may I just clarify through the record earlier I may have used a very harsh term when I said that the fire rescue department is bleeding that is not in any way to indicate that they are mismanaging their funds or that they're irresponsible in fact I would say they're very responsible it's more of that is a big department that takes a lot of funding and we haven't identified yet how to um address that so I I did want to clarify that for the record I have tremendous respect for chief Carter and his team and so out of respect for them I wanted to clarify that record I apologize Chief Carter for that yeah and and you know and um as as a whole um we often get criticism of the condition the physical condition of our community in terms of Mowing and need for maintenance and repairs and we're cognizant of that but it's not not a reflection of the leadership that we have in terms of what it can do but it's the number of staff and how they are able to manage and um take care of that so we do need improvements in that in terms of Manpower and resources so that they can do a better job but our our goal tonight is to to Workshop um this take a look at what our current situation is what can we do going forward and for the next fiscal year and how how are things currently for this year coming um not to take away from what you're you're suggesting commissioner ready um but we do have a limited budget for this coming up year and so we have to stay within the the limits of it um but I would like to express my appreciation to you as well for trying to go above and beyond to satisfy all five of our our districts um um and the physical condition um with the accept of my good friend um commissioner Jord all of them need excessive I said excessive amount of moing and maintenance it's just because of the nature of the county in which we live get it's wet um and so a lot um has to get done but within the limited resources that we have but we do appreciate all that you you do and you're your crew yes ma'am thank you one one one last comment you know I just just wanted to say this because I was reading on this too you know because you know when your ax is dull you sharp it you don't just keep working yourself to death and I I think that's what we're doing here is we're working them to death with not the tools to work with and and the I know this is a budget uh Workshop but the reason I brought it up because if we did have a consensus of the board he could tell them to hold that tractor now if we don't want it then that's fine we'll just move on but don't think we can bring this up at our next meeting in two weeks and that more still be there it's going to be gone so so that's why I brought it up I mean it is urgent but it ain't urgent if we don't want it we don't want it but if we do that's why I was wanted to bring it up to get the consensus of the board if if yall wanted it thank you commissioner R Madam chair in in case um you or Miss Andrews never heard me say this before but I've always said I'm a county commissioner not a district commissioner and I've always said that we prioritize in this County where the needs are and so when it comes to roads I've never said anything about trying to put any of my roads in my district in front of anybody else's so I just want to make it clear to everybody that and and if if if the mowers are in another district for 18 days then that means that they're obviously not in mine for very much and I'm not complaining about that and I I need to make that clear but I just I want everybody to know and that goes and applies to and I'm sure all y'all are the same if you get a call from somebody regardless of what district they're calling from you take care of them absolutely from our job and and and our job again is to prioritize and and and Mr dods can attest to this we've had these conversations before about roads and I can tell you right now that uh I think one of the worst roads that we've been trying to get paav since I've been on this board is 177th runs through Pleasant roads absolutely one of the worst roads in this County it is and so I I'll continue to keep that at the top of my list so I just I that need needed to be said so I I want everybody to know that and I've never tried to put District three ahead of any other District yes you're right I do have more of the city in my district I understand that and I think that's also what puts me in a position to where I understand and I feel y'all's pain so I just you but as a board we've talked about this you know over and over and over again we have to get used to saying no okay we need to get there and when we get there then we can start cutting and we can start saving some money and then we still need to figure out again about you know fire rescue and and just other ways to you know eventually have the things that we need to do and that's it and thank you um commissioner Dy and and I affectionately said that um meaning that meaning that because of the um pleasure of being within the city many of those roads are paid um because the city helps provide that um and that's just the nature of the geography not that anything else um but I appreciate the spirit of what you you shared and we are we're one Community we're one we're bre County Strong no matter what area that we might represent we represent the entire braic County but anyhow getting back to your budget um any other significant um concerns regarding Mr do Bud anybody all right thank you all right thank you Jason thank you Jason thank you all right we're uh down to the Final Act Chief Carter must like coming on stage after Elvis really Madam chair board yes it's an honor to stand before you tonight to present the fire depart fire rescue Department's proposed budget for fiscal year 2425 this year's request reflects critical operational needs and the Department's significant strides in enhancing Public Safety without burdening local taxpayers I'd like to provide a detailed overview of why this proposal is both NE necessary and responsible especially considering the unprecedented improvements our department is poised to achieve over the next year important to note that our fire rescue Department generates more than 41% of its own budget through various sources including fees for service Hospital weight times special events grants and state Appropriations this level of self-sufficiency demonstrates our ongoing commitment to maximizing resources and doing all we can to minimize dependency on count County funding in the next year our department will receive two brand new fire engines as a matter of fact those will be ready in about two months as well as two possibly three new living quarters this scale of improvement is unprecedented for Bradford County Fire Rescue and represents a historic investment in public safety infrastructure our new engines are replacing trucks that are over 25 years old and no longer meet modern safety standards these aging trucks not only pose safety risk but also have plagued my department as well as the Public Works Fleet Department with excessive maintenance and repair costs the new engines will greatly enhance the safety and effectiveness of of our firefighting and EMS operations we are Al also replacing ing outdated and unsafe Portable Buildings currently serving as living quarters for our fire rescue Personnel these portable structures have long exceeded their functional lifespan and have resulted in frequent costly repairs including replacing replacing rotten subfloors in both stations the new living quarters will provide our personnel with the secure stable environment they need to perform their duties effectively one of the most critical aspects of these upgrades is that they have been secured with minimal cost to Bradford County taxpayers the new fire engines and stations have been largely funded through grants and state Appropriations Additionally the speedville living quarters project is being funded through private partnership this means that while the community will benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and Facilities the financial burden on the county remains minimal this level of external funding for such vital infrastructure improvements is unprecedented and speaks to the Department's diligent efforts to pursue all available Financial Resources the requested budget will allow us to continue providing the highquality emergency response the citizens of raer County expect and deserve happy to answer any questions you may have any questions of the chief regarding his budget this is not so much a budget question but on the quarters um with the floors that was just uh just poor workmanship and that went into those buildings when we got those buildings it was and if you've ever been inside of them they're they're designed to be construction type trailers that are on site for some maybe one to two years while constructions occurring we've had those buildings since 2019 um and they're they're not meant to be lived in 247 they've served their purpose they were great for us what and what we needed at the time and we're fortunate to be able to be replacing those with you know minimal cost to the county through State Appropriations okay and and unfortunately the floors that have been replaced are also rotting rotting again currently so it's and I believe that repair is in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 $5,000 if I remember correctly we've got a lot of State support and and federal support right now and so we're we're in good good position to move the department forward again we we look at our our budget at a wants versus needs perspective um you know the needs or what we put into our budget the wants are what we go out and search for grants for and we've been very successful with that and we're proud of that and and chief if you um can you explain to us and you you did explain it to me I know that we have Thea and um the Hilburn station where we don't really have a full Cadre of people but the justification for keeping those um stations open absolutely so when you look at um your insurance your home insurance uh we look at things you know when they come in to do their evaluations on there's something called a property protection class or your ISO rating or things that you'll see on your insurance um and when they come in to do those evaluations or when we get somebody move into the county they the first thing they'll ask is hey can you send a letter to my insurance company explaining what my property protection class is so what that means is how far are you from a fire station and how far are you from a fire hydrant um and so those things go come into account so if we were to do away with any of those stations um you know that would affect the the people in that area within you know that would five mile radius or or more from that from that area and so it's uh that's why we keep those stations a flat is you know it increases our our response capabilities in those areas decreases response times and while we don't have a full complement of people there it does uh provide something there as a stop Gap until we can get a full unit on scene any um particular questions for the chief Carter regarding this budget Madam chair if if I could add to the chief's uh comments about the is rating it's also important to remember that EMS is not a component of the higho rating so they only take it take a look at fire suppression operations when they do their evaluation chair cor and chief Carter um I know that you know you spent some time in the iso office and certainly know you're the fire chief and so you understand it um but I wanted to ask because I know that there was a time when the city and and still the city would respond out to the the golf course area yes um and I was told at that time that the iso rating would would go down and my insurance company said that without a water source that it would not go down correct so I can explain that really briefly if you'd like so the way they determined the uh property uh protection class is is if you are Beyond five road miles of a fire station you are considered to have no fire protection you get in other words you get the highest rate that they charge if you're within five road miles and and within a th000 ft of a hydrant or an alternative water supply Source then you get the very best rate what's our P best PPC five five so you would get the five if you're within five road miles of a fire station but beyond 1,000 ft of a hydrant or alternative water supply Source then you get a raate in between the five and the 10 so that's that's kind of how that works so I ask a hypothetical so if you were slightly beyond the 5 miles to a fire station but within the required uh distance with the fire hydrant how would that impact you're a 10 a 10 yeah if you had a which you wouldn't but if you had a fire hydrant in front of your house uhuh it would still be a it still be okay thank you all right any other questions thank you Chief all right I would like to remind everyone uh 911 stair climb tomorrow at Bradford High School at 9:00 a. would love to have y'all join us so okay if you can't walk or climb stairs and come support and and uh just cheer cheer on so appreciate it and thank you all so much for your support we appreciate it thank you Chief thank you je uh any other presentations no ma'am that's all of the uh board supervised departments and uh any other comments from any of the board members um anything else it go to the order if not this Workshop is now joh thank you oh hold on one commissioner door I mentioned this the last meeting but you'd already gathered the meeting I will not be here at Tuesday meeting so I just wanted to let you all know that so the 17th if you buy anything while I'm gone it's on you all right and thank you for every all of the Departments for coming out this evening and we have um commissioner R do you want to introduce your young H student he's getting credit um for school yes thank you yeah that's my grandson BR uh Braden and uh and actually that's my son clay and um like I said um our other usually our meetings are on Thursday night he plays soccer on Thursday night so couldn't make the Thursday night meeting but um this worked out perfect for him to come up here to get extra credit so thank you for coming got more hair than you do Danny and and one one last thing um while y'all are still here one last thing um I I failed to mention this at the last meeting I no I got to do it oh no go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead um Noah tinsler was here Noah I think it was his Masters that he just finished in emergency management is that right his Masters or his Doctorate his Masters yeah um I'd seen that on Facebook and then after the meeting I saw him and so I failed to mention that so if anybody sees Noah tinsler out with our emergency manage Emergency Management Department please congratulate him so again thank you and I would like to to acknowledge um this evening and uh express our deep um sympathy to Mr con for the loss of his on and let us be lifting he and his family in our thoughts and prayers thank you thank you very much Madam chair I appreciate that there is one thing I wanted to mention that slipped my mind uh we've got the three bids in for the vegetation removal and uh of course we already had the one I think it was $6,200 was yeah and then the second one was $8,000 and the third one was like 60 something th000 so the $6,000 one was the one that the uh board The Soil and Water Board recommended and they were going to help find so uh I'm I made the decision to go ahead and move forward with that one okay thank you all right this meeting is officially adjured