11/2/26 - Bradley County Finance Committee Meeting

Transcript

Machine-transcribed from the public meeting video, with speakers identified. Times link to that point in the video. Use your browser’s Find (Ctrl/⌘-F) to search within this meeting.

[0:00] SPEAKER_08: Join me in standing, please.

[0:03] SPEAKER_03: Most gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for today. Lord, I pray, Lord, that I'm here today. All the way.

[0:16] SPEAKER_08: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice,

[0:32] SPEAKER_08: Welcome to committee members, Louie Offord, Denny Collins, Mike Hughes, Josh Taylor, and of course, Mayor Davis, also Commissioner Blake and Commissioner Ledford are with us today. And I'd like to welcome everyone that's in the audience today. Appreciate you being here today. Mayor, we'll turn it over to you.

[0:52] SPEAKER_01: you madam chairman i don't have anything to report other than your credit card report and i could simply say it's all good but fire five times all good assessor ten times all good sheriff seven times all good mayor twice all good ema four times all good juvenile once all good and ems all good so nothing really to report okay any questions for the mayor

[1:19] SPEAKER_08: Thank You mayor appreciate it so be going to our budget amendments if everybody has those and we will start with Briley County Schools and this is an increase to their revenue of 1.8 million dollars and it's a decrease or it's an increase for their expense to education capital projects and And this $1.8 million is to fund the track at Bradley Central High School. Do I have a motion to approve this?

[1:58] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Collins, do I have a second?

[1:59] SPEAKER_03: Second.

[2:01] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Taylor? Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

[2:07] SPEAKER_03: Aye. Aye.

[2:10] SPEAKER_08: The next one is still with Bradley County Schools. They're decreasing their fund balance $129,910.58 and they're increasing their expense for the same amount and this is moving money from the PIE Center to the remaining programmatic funds to fund fiscal year 2027. Do I have a motion to approve this amendment?

[2:37] SPEAKER_03: I make a motion.

[2:38] SPEAKER_08: Okay. Do I have a second? Commissioner Collins with a second. Is there any discussion? Mayor, you have a question? Okay. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Thank you.

[2:57] SPEAKER_08: Still with Bradley County Schools, they are decreasing fund balance $177 for $1.654838 million and increasing their expense for

[3:09] SPEAKER_08: educational capital projects for the same amount. And this is going to go for expenditures remaining for physical year 26, contributions and gifts for the Inspiration Hub for BizTown, fund 144 for the E-rate category for match for construction projects, and for the North Lee expansion of the road. Do I have a motion to, Commissioner Hughes, do I have a second? Commissioner Alford, any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

[3:44] SPEAKER_03: Aye.

[3:48] SPEAKER_08: Still with Barley County Schools, they are increasing the revenue in account 141, early childhood education, $1.2 million, $1,262,723, and they're increasing their expense with early childhood education And this is for the voluntary pre-K for the original budget per their plan. Do I have a motion to accept this, Mr. Hughes? Do I have a second? Mr. Taylor, any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition?

[4:28] SPEAKER_08: Still staying with Bradley County Schools. This is 141, fund 141, their general fund. They're increasing their revenue $367,476, and they're increasing their expense for the same amount. And this is for their innovative school models grant. And this is just carrying over from 2026. So I have a motion to approve this request. Commissioner Hughes to have a second. Commissioner Collins with the second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

[5:05] SPEAKER_08: Aye. Any opposition? Still with Bradley County Schools.

[5:26] SPEAKER_08: Oh, I'm sorry. My bad. Sorry about that. OK, so this is for a Bradley County school still in fund 141 and they're increasing their revenue by four hundred sixty three thousand nine hundred and fourteen dollars and also decreasing their expense by the same amount. And this is for the donation from the Bachman Memorial Home and it is for a state special education preschool grant. and transition school to work grant.

[6:02] SPEAKER_08: So this is all related to grant. Is that correct? Do I have a motion to approve Commissioner Hughes? Do I have a second? Commissioner Taylor? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Okay. So now we are back on page 19. Is that correct, Lori?

[6:27] SPEAKER_08: They're increasing their revenue still with Bradley County Schools and their General Fund 141, $367,476.04, and they're increasing their expense by the same amount. And this is for the Innovative Schools Model Grant. Do I have a motion to approve this request?

[6:46] SPEAKER_02: So moved.

[6:47] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Hughes, do I have a second? Commissioner Collins, any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? The next one is still Bradley County Schools General Fund 141, increasing their revenue $272,150, and they're also increasing their expense by the same amount, and this is going for the K-12 Mental Health Trust Fund infrastructure grant, and this is for the Oak Grove Elementary Mental Health Hub. Do I have a recommendation to approve this?

[7:31] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Hughes, is there a second? Commissioner Taylor? Any discussion? Commissioner Alford?

[7:51] SPEAKER_06: don't have my mic on the architecture fees are related to our design our permitting and then it's also related to structural engineers and permits would you repeat that please yes it's for our design design work schematics and then it's also related to our structural engineers and our permits that we have to pull at the state is that all with cope still our architects is with copious

[8:19] SPEAKER_09: So all that is architectural fees goes to Cope, basically.

[8:23] SPEAKER_06: And this $66,000 encompasses several other fees. Cope's price on this particular project is $10,000, is all they're collecting on this. The other is related to engineering and structural and design for the fire department.

[8:40] SPEAKER_09: Is that Cope also?

[8:41] SPEAKER_06: No.

[8:42] SPEAKER_09: Who does that?

[8:43] SPEAKER_06: It's contracts that we have with various, through the state, there's various, that through the state that we were required to have.

[8:55] SPEAKER_08: So we have a motion and a second. Is there any other discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Let's deal with Raleigh County Schools. I think we're on page 25 right now. 141 General Fund, they're increasing their revenue $25,000 and they're increasing their expense.

[9:21] SPEAKER_08: for $34,505.82. Is that correct, Ellen?

[9:34] SPEAKER_08: So do we need to change this one or do we need to move it to next month?

[9:47] SPEAKER_08: Okay, so we'll roll this one to next month, Lori.

[9:53] SPEAKER_08: Okay, page 27, still with Bradley County Schools.

[10:00] SPEAKER_08: Fund 141, which is their general fund, they're decreasing their fund balance $198,150, and they're increasing their expense by $198,150.

[10:18] SPEAKER_08: And you can see at the bottom that this is going, again, for North Lee Access Road. It's the COPS grant and the E-Rate Category 2 funding. Do I have a motion to approve this, Commissioner Hughes? Do I have a second? Commissioner Taylor? Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

[10:40] SPEAKER_00: Aye.

[10:40] SPEAKER_08: Any opposition? Page 29, Briley County Schools still fund 141 as their general fund. They're decreasing their undesignated fund balance, $24,545.89, and they're increasing their expense for the same amount, $24,545.89, and this is just moving their year-end reserves back into the 2027 budget.

[11:10] SPEAKER_08: and part of it goes to the Public Education Foundation, BCS STEM Lab. Do I have a motion to approve this amendment? I have a motion from Commissioner Taylor to have a second from Commissioner Hughes. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Page 31, still in Bradley County Schools Fund 141, they're decreasing their fund balance. $982,524.34, and they're increasing their expense for the same amount, and this is going for a bonus for 2027, which is $750 for all full-time employees and $375 for all part-time employees.

[11:57] SPEAKER_08: Do I have a motion to approve this amendment? Commissioner Hughes, do I have a second?

[12:01] SPEAKER_04: Second.

[12:02] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Collins, is there any discussion? Commissioner Blake.

[12:09] SPEAKER_10: So this wasn't budgeted, right? So you're moving $982,000 from your fund balance into these salary lines, but this wasn't budgeted?

[12:20] SPEAKER_06: Correct. It was not in the original budget. This was a decision after we closed the year after we saw the final roll.

[12:27] SPEAKER_10: So this will impact your fund balance percentage?

[12:32] SPEAKER_06: Yes, it will.

[12:35] SPEAKER_08: Okay, so I have a motion from Commissioner Hughes. I have a second from Commissioner Offord. Yes, and then discussion. Okay, Commissioner Offord, do you have a question?

[12:44] SPEAKER_09: Yes, on the undesignated fund balance, what's that going to leave you?

[12:49] SPEAKER_06: So after all of these amendments that we've discussed today, we'll have about 9.2 million or 7.74%, so we'll be sitting just under the required board policy of 8%.

[13:01] SPEAKER_09: Is there really a board policy on that?

[13:03] SPEAKER_06: We do have a board policy effective 7-1.

[13:06] SPEAKER_09: When was that passed?

[13:08] SPEAKER_06: Passed, I believe, in August or September.

[13:12] SPEAKER_09: What's your projected fund balance at the end of the year?

[13:15] SPEAKER_06: We will have to have a minimum of an 8% fund balance by June 30.

[13:19] SPEAKER_09: In your budget, you projected what, $11 million?

[13:22] SPEAKER_06: The budget for this year, no, we were sitting just shy of eight. We were projected just shy of eight at the end of the year, so we're holding pretty steady.

[13:35] SPEAKER_08: Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion? Okay, so we have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Okay, motion passes. Thank you, Alan.

[13:51] SPEAKER_08: And you see all of the documentation that goes with it. So this brings us to page 39. This is a decrease...

[14:03] SPEAKER_08: in expense of $50,000 from the Sheriff's Department from 54-110 and an additional $50,000 from 54-2110. So we're decreasing both of those line items $50,000 apiece.

[14:24] SPEAKER_08: And we're increasing line item 101-514-00, which is county attorney, for $100,000. And this is excess salary money that was in the sheriff's line item that we will take to use for the lawsuit related to the data center. And this amendment was approved from the sheriff department. So do I have a motion to approve this, Commissioner Hughes? Do I have a second? Commissioner Taylor? Any discussion related to this amendment?

[15:01] SPEAKER_08: Yes.

[15:02] SPEAKER_00: Just for clarity's sake, so we're taking, I'm just clarifying, and I know it says it in there, and I get it. So we're taking $100,000 from the Sheriff's Department, putting it over, I guess, into Crystal's budget for the data center on Project Midspan or whatever.

[15:21] SPEAKER_08: To fight the lawsuit.

[15:22] SPEAKER_00: Okay. That's what I was curious about. Thank you.

[15:24] SPEAKER_08: Yeah, to fight the lawsuit. Is there any other discussion?

[15:33] SPEAKER_08: All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Okay. Motion passes. Brings us to page 41. And this is from the juvenile court. They're increasing fund 101-44-145 for $194.50. This is where they sold some recycled material. And they're increasing their account 101-535-100

[16:03] SPEAKER_08: for the same amount. Do I have a motion to approve this from Commissioner Hughes? Do I have a second from Commissioner Taylor? All those in favor say aye.

[16:11] SPEAKER_01: Aye.

[16:12] SPEAKER_08: Any opposition? That takes us, yes ma'am.

[16:21] SPEAKER_08: Oh, I'm sorry.

[16:25] SPEAKER_08: That's what I get for putting them on the front and back page of my paper.

[16:32] SPEAKER_08: So we have Browley County Fire and Rescue. This is a decrease to their fire fund balance of $9,600 and they're increasing their expense and 121. And this is a grant that they received in June and they're just amending it to their budget for this year. Commissioner Hughes on the motion. Do I have a second? Commissioner Collins, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Okay, and then we have one that Caleb passed out today, and it is EMS, and it's a decrease to their fund balance for $45,000, and they're increasing their expense in 54150 for drug enforcement.

[17:18] SPEAKER_08: And this is funds to cover increased participation in first responder mental health support program for the remainder of 2027. Do I have a motion to approve this, Commissioner Hughes? Second from Commissioner Taylor. Any discussion?

[17:33] SPEAKER_01: This is the opioid fund.

[17:35] SPEAKER_08: Yes, this is from the opioid fund, opioid abatement.

[17:43] SPEAKER_01: It's coming from the fund balance of opioid funds. yes i'm sorry one one one sorry what's happened here we arbitrarily budget amount for mental health help for emergency services and it's starting to be used a lot so we didn't budget enough this year and there is money in the fund balance of that fund all those in favor say aye aye any opposition okay

[18:09] SPEAKER_08: right so that takes care of all the budget amendments so now we will go to a which is the opioid abatement grant applications and you can see that on page two of you can see you can see that on page two and lori has put together a spreadsheet of the applicants that we received so it looks like we will have somewhere between a hundred and sixty and a hundred and seventy thousand dollars to use and if you remember Bradley County received money or is receiving money from national opioid settlements involving pharmaceutical manufacturers distributors and other companies these funds are in are intended to address

[19:06] SPEAKER_08: the damage caused by opioid addiction in our community. So I think so far, in the past few years that we've received this, we've received a little over a million dollars. You can correct me if I'm wrong, Mayor. 1.53 million or something like that. So you might ask, what can this be used for? Well, it can be used for various things to treat opioid addiction. It can be used for addiction treatment and recovery centers, mental health and substance abuse services, overdose prevention including NARCAM, programs supporting children and families affected by addiction, recovery housing and employment assistance, and prevention and education initiatives.

[19:55] SPEAKER_08: It also can go to certain law enforcement and first responder programs directly related to opioid abatement. So these are the eight that have applied. Lori sent those out as we received them. So it is our job to decide today which of the eight that we want to move forward and have a full proposal from them. So I'll open the floor for discussion. Commissioner Alford.

[20:22] SPEAKER_09: How much did you say we had?

[20:24] SPEAKER_08: I think it's between $160,000 and $170,000. Is that correct?

[20:29] SPEAKER_09: Do we have a total of what they're asking for right here yet, Laura? Do we?

[20:45] SPEAKER_08: It's about $300 and something thousand dollars, I believe.

[21:06] SPEAKER_09: How many of these received aid last time? No, okay.

[21:16] SPEAKER_08: So Willow Bend Farms, I believe, received money last time. The Caring Place. I believe Foundation House. Cleveland Emergency Shelter. I don't remember. I don't think they did. Boys and Girls Club. The very first one, Addict to New Adventures, is a brand new organization that is just now beginning.

[21:44] SPEAKER_08: And if we want to just go down through here one by one and discuss them, we can. So any comment related to Addict to New Adventures? Commissioner Offord?

[22:00] SPEAKER_09: Do we have any idea exactly what they're doing? I don't have the application. Okay, yeah.

[22:19] SPEAKER_09: Okay.

[22:38] SPEAKER_09: One other question, and then I don't know this for a fact, and I may be off base again. Do we have anything, once we give these folks money, I'm talking about all of them in general, do we have anything that they come back to us with exactly what that money was spent for? Is there any kind of report that we require them to bring back to us?

[22:59] SPEAKER_08: I think they have to because of it being grant money.

[23:02] SPEAKER_09: And who reviews that?

[23:09] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he takes what they report and it becomes part of our opioid report to the state. But is he the only one that gets it? Because it should go to everybody when it comes in. But we require it because of the report we have to give to the state.

[23:33] SPEAKER_08: We can start asking for that, Commissioner Alford, so we can review it if you want to.

[23:37] SPEAKER_09: I think it's critical that we, since we're the one putting the money out there, that we find out exactly how they're spending their money. I think it'd be important for us to know that information also other than just Bentley, maybe.

[23:49] SPEAKER_08: We can do that.

[23:50] SPEAKER_09: Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

[23:53] SPEAKER_08: Okay. Any comments related to who we want to ask for a full proposal?

[24:01] SPEAKER_10: Just an FYI, this is just the part that we're granting out. The opioid fund also funds some items in the budget as well, so this is a percentage of the total of opioid money. That money is also in the report that Bentley sends.

[24:16] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he has to report on the entire budget that you all have. This is just a part of that. Bring in whoever you want to, or all of them if you want to, but you do need to get it trimmed down.

[24:28] SPEAKER_08: Correct.

[24:34] SPEAKER_04: madam chair the attic to new adventures from what i can tell is not a i mean we're not up and running yet is that correct that's the way i read that that's the way that i took it this is application i think the application in fact says seed money um i i would i would like to see them get off the ground and move forward so they can establish

[25:02] SPEAKER_04: some some level of uh evidence that what what they're doing is successful and they're pushing towards goals etc etc and before we consider the opioid so i i would not support bringing them in at this point in time okay are there others on here or do you want to bring the rest of them in

[25:36] SPEAKER_04: I'm fine bringing the rest of them in.

[25:42] SPEAKER_04: I have no objection to the rest of them.

[25:46] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Hughes, Commissioner Alford?

[25:48] SPEAKER_02: I have no objection to the rest of them either. I had the same worries about the first one.

[25:55] SPEAKER_08: So we need to make a motion and a second. Okay. So if someone will make a motion.

[25:59] SPEAKER_04: I'll make that motion to bring in seven of the eight with the exclusion of the attic to new adventure application.

[26:05] SPEAKER_08: Okay.

[26:05] SPEAKER_04: I'll second that.

[26:06] SPEAKER_08: Second from Mr. Hughes. All those in favor say aye.

[26:10] SPEAKER_04: Aye.

[26:10] SPEAKER_08: Any opposition? Okay. And so Lori will take care of notifying them, correct? Okay.

[26:19] SPEAKER_03: All right. Yes.

[26:21] SPEAKER_08: Yes. We have the December meeting.

[26:24] SPEAKER_03: Yes.

[26:25] SPEAKER_08: Okay, next on our agenda, if you'll turn to page three. Yes, sir.

[26:30] SPEAKER_09: One other question. I'm full of them today. When we ask these folks to come in, would they also, if they don't mind bringing us what they did with the money we gave them last year? I know Bentley's got that. Could we get a copy of that before we bring those folks in?

[26:46] SPEAKER_08: We can do that.

[26:47] SPEAKER_09: Thank you.

[26:50] SPEAKER_08: Okay, ready to move on to HCI? So also in your packet, HCI committee has met and we have the recommendations that they are recommending for the HCI money. As you remember, the HCI money is money that we have from the sale of the hospital many years ago. And so, Lori, do you want me to turn it over to you to talk about what the recommendations are? Because we'll have to bring this to the full commission once budget finance approves it.

[27:44] SPEAKER_07: okay so the hci committee met last week and considered all of the proposals and the best way to expend the approximately 591 thousand dollars that's available to award this year and that may be found on page three they did decide to not fund two projects the first one that i'll talk about is real life village they requested a hundred thousand dollars And while the committee thought that it was an extremely worthwhile project, they just did not feel like they were far enough down the road to be ready to expend our monies and to complete their project within the term of the grant, which is December of 2027.

[28:28] SPEAKER_07: So they decided not to fund that one. And then the other one, Bradley County Parks and Recreation Disc Golf Restroom. And I thought this was pretty interesting in the way that they viewed this application. The application did talk about how Bradley County is now in the top 10 as a destination for disc golf, which was news to us, and they had the data to back that up, and a couple of the board members thought that perhaps the hotel motel tax would better serve funding this tourist destination since so many people are coming in from out of town, or at least

[29:06] SPEAKER_07: not all of it, but perhaps get some funding from the hotel motel tax to go along with MHC. So maybe they can get that figured out for next year and reapply. Other than that, we've got some really, really good projects. You can see the requests actually totaled about 732,000 after we took off those two that I just referenced. They decided to to fully fund some projects and partially fund others, and to fund some with some contingencies, which are also listed on page three of your packet.

[29:45] SPEAKER_07: The award that they voted to recommend totals $574,723, which leaves $16,856 on the table, which will roll back into the HCI fund. So if you have any questions about any of these projects,

[30:05] SPEAKER_07: I'll do my best to speak on behalf of the committee.

[30:10] SPEAKER_08: Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Moultrie?

[30:18] SPEAKER_04: I would add.

[30:20] SPEAKER_03: I just had one. Could you repeat the total on that again? It was 570.

[30:24] SPEAKER_07: So the HCI recommendation totals 574,723 dollars.

[30:33] SPEAKER_07: And what we have available to award is $591,570.

[30:37] SPEAKER_03: Okay, so with the exclusion of those two, is that kind of at the bottom of the page, there's enough to cover all these?

[30:44] SPEAKER_07: That's correct, with about $16,000 remaining.

[30:47] SPEAKER_04: Thank you very much.

[30:47] SPEAKER_07: You're welcome.

[30:48] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Collins?

[30:49] SPEAKER_04: Thanks, Madam Chair. With the $16,000 remaining, can you speak to the, it looks like a little under $2,000 that was excluded from the Taylor School project?

[31:00] SPEAKER_07: Yes, certainly. So you may recall that we've done a couple of playgrounds now. It seems to be that the word is out. And I think that the committee believes that based upon past projects where PTOs and schools have contributed some sources to the project, they want to see that the school actually has some skin in the game as well, if you will. So that's one of the reasons why when you look at their project compared...

[31:30] SPEAKER_07: Relatively speaking about how much money they have to go towards the project versus say Blyth Bower that's on the list It makes it a little more equitable. I mean when you really dive into those applications you can see that there's a real difference there and in Additional funding.

[31:48] SPEAKER_08: Thank you, ma'am Other questions for miss mrs. Moultrie.

[31:53] SPEAKER_01: I just want to say something about the hotel motel I'm sure they understand it better than that, but they should know that Parks and Rec brings in a lot of the hotel, motel tax. You're welcome. But it's already committed to go to tri-state, to tourism at the chamber, and to industrial development at the chamber. And only a small chunk comes to the general fund. So based on what she told you, they're basically saying we need to fund this $163,000 out of the general fund.

[32:24] SPEAKER_01: and we only get a small portion of that hotel-motel tax, but we bring as much of it in as anyone. When they're coming from around the area to do this particular sport and they're staying in a motel, then we brought them here, but we don't get any credit for it except for the small chunk that goes into general fund.

[32:43] SPEAKER_08: Okay, any other comments?

[32:45] SPEAKER_09: Commissioner Alford. I kind of agree with the mayor on that disc golf restroom, $163,000 for a restroom.

[32:56] SPEAKER_01: i would i would like to see the plans for that particular project yeah i think and i agree and i can't justify the amount although they're going to have a lot of water lines to do because this is an undeveloped area so they've got to probably come all the way from the restrooms at the ballpark did you see the plans lord did they submit plans

[33:17] SPEAKER_07: They're not very detailed.

[33:19] SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I would assume they have to come from the restrooms to wherever. I don't know. But that would make it a little more than we would initially think. But I don't know about that amount.

[33:28] SPEAKER_09: Well, where I kind of have a problem there with that whole concept is that we've got non-restrooms out at Urbane Road. They've got port-a-potties everywhere out there. And they got restrooms at some of the parks, I mean ball fields, but there's a lot of other areas that they have to bring in porta-potties, like the pickleball courts up there. There's several. I guess they've got six or eight or ten porta-potties.

[33:58] SPEAKER_09: And I don't know how many people are, Going down here, I know if it's a destination, you're saying, how many people are actually using it? Do we have any kind of count on how many people actually go down there?

[34:10] SPEAKER_07: Well, actually, in your Google Drive is their full application. I can't recall. It's been a few days since I've reviewed their application, but there was quite a number of disc golfers.

[34:25] SPEAKER_09: I just wonder how they keep count of it.

[34:42] SPEAKER_07: It said that they have recorded 2,076 unique golfers and 13,742 rounds through the UDisc app. So it's my understanding that you need an app on your phone to play disc golf and that that app tracks use of the course.

[35:05] SPEAKER_08: Other questions?

[35:09] SPEAKER_03: I had one in relation to going back to what Commissioner Collins had made mention of on the Taylors. With that being, I know it's just a couple thousand dollars short of what they had requested, would they still be able to complete that project?

[35:29] SPEAKER_03: They had requested 33,400, and it looks like HCI had recommended 31,660.

[35:38] SPEAKER_07: Taylor or Oak Grove? Taylor. Taylor.

[35:40] SPEAKER_03: Okay, Oak Grove was fully funded, but this one.

[35:42] SPEAKER_07: Okay, I know that one of them had also included in the request playground balls, which was about $1,600 or $1,700, and they knocked that off because that's not a depreciable asset.

[35:52] SPEAKER_08: Okay.

[35:52] SPEAKER_07: And so since the other one's fully funded, I think that's probably from Taylor School. Okay. I can confirm that after I look at the grant, but I assume that's what it would be. Okay.

[36:04] SPEAKER_03: Okay.

[36:07] SPEAKER_07: Because you have to understand, we're capital projects, and so things like mulch and playground balls can't be funded through our HCI.

[36:14] SPEAKER_03: Okay, that makes sense. Thank you very much for clarifying.

[36:17] SPEAKER_07: You're welcome.

[36:18] SPEAKER_08: Any other comments related to HCI?

[36:22] SPEAKER_09: Are we voting on giving them this money today?

[36:24] SPEAKER_07: That was the assumption. I mean, we had hoped that We had hoped to get it voted today and then have the full commission consider it and perhaps vote it this evening. That allows time for the preparation of the contracts to be fully executed by December 31st, which keeps us on schedule of a contractual year of 2027, as opposed to, well, we didn't get started until February, so we have to roll into 2028.

[36:54] SPEAKER_07: We're just trying to keep it nice and tight in time.

[37:00] SPEAKER_09: I just have a lot of questions on a lot of this. I can't vote on it today. I'll put it that way.

[37:08] SPEAKER_08: So what are your questions? Because if you have questions, we need to get them documented so we can find the answers.

[37:15] SPEAKER_09: Well, what's Real Life Village 100,000?

[37:18] SPEAKER_08: It's not funded. It's zero.

[37:21] SPEAKER_09: Requested.

[37:23] SPEAKER_08: HCI recommendation is zero.

[37:25] SPEAKER_09: Okay, we're not funding the golf course restrooms either. Okay.

[37:28] SPEAKER_08: Correct.

[37:31] SPEAKER_07: uh how many times miss laurie have we done playgrounds can you remember on basically back in the second i think we've done playgrounds for half the schools in bradley county probably well i i don't know that i would say half the schools in bradley county but uh they're for i've been on staff 13 years so this is my 13th 13th grant cycle and i think we've done probably maybe maybe five

[38:01] SPEAKER_07: four or five i can't can't speak on what happened prior to that commissioner hughes

[38:10] SPEAKER_02: Norrie, if I may ask, it looks like Cleveland Fire Department has asked for a ring cutter. Exactly what is that? It sounds like what would be general purpose equipment.

[38:19] SPEAKER_07: It's a piece of equipment, as I understand, and Adam may even actually be able to talk about this a little bit more astutely than I am, but as I understand it, if you're involved in some type of vehicular accident, sometimes your ring can get caught on something and you need something to cut it off with precision so that you can maintain and save the digit and that's what they've requested and also they the hospital needs it with that as well sometimes and they will call and ask if they have a ring cutter so it's the committee voted voted unanimously I recall to fund that one because it was a unique need and it does they felt in their opinion extended to anyone in the community at any given time it needs

[39:08] SPEAKER_02: No, I understand it. It was just when I was reading it, it looked like they already had one. It was a manual one where this is different, apparently. I couldn't figure out what the difference was exactly.

[39:20] SPEAKER_07: Again, I've never used one, but the way I read it is that it was with greater precision, and it will be, too. I think that they're going to maintain the one that they have, so that would also help, but I think the safety of of saving digits is the main reason I want to upgrade to this type of equipment.

[39:39] SPEAKER_02: Thank you.

[39:43] SPEAKER_08: Other questions?

[39:51] SPEAKER_01: Commissioner Collins?

[39:52] SPEAKER_04: I'll say this, Ms. Moultrie. Do you want to walk through just quickly what the process is for the HCI committee, like timelines and the process that the committee has gone through to evaluate this, just in broad terms so people will know?

[40:03] SPEAKER_07: Certainly so so when I apologize, I don't have my timeline in front of me, but the application opened I believe It was announced late mid-august. We had a grant workshop for folks to attend Physically here in the County Commission room it was also live stream for any interest to attend to get information about the process as well as how to bolster their applications and And then we opened that until I believe the deadline was September 22nd or 23rd.

[40:35] SPEAKER_07: Don't hold me to that please. Our nine member committee studied over all of those. They completed a new scoring rubric that we've upgraded this year. It was a really good process this year. The scoring rubric was comprehensive. So they scored all of those applications. We averaged those together. We got the average and we ranked them all. And then they sat down Thursday night here in the conference room and talked about each project in depth and which one should be funded, which one should not.

[41:11] SPEAKER_07: Like I said, there's a couple that have some contingencies. And then they brought this recommendation to you all. And then we'll make a recommendation to the full committee. And then after that, we'll secure signed contracts, and they may begin on their project after fully executing the contract with Bradley.

[41:32] SPEAKER_04: Not asking you to speak for the whole group, but you would say personally that you feel positive about the thoroughness of the committee.

[41:39] SPEAKER_07: I certainly do, yes. Absolutely, I do.

[41:44] SPEAKER_04: Thank you. With that, I would like to make a motion that we move forward with the recommendation from the HCI committee regarding this specific funding for these specific projects. I'll put that in the form of a motion.

[41:55] SPEAKER_08: Is there a second?

[41:57] SPEAKER_04: I'll second.

[41:57] SPEAKER_08: Mr. Tyler? Any further discussion?

[42:00] SPEAKER_09: Another question. Ms. Smith, did y'all fund and did y'all build a playground at Park View recently?

[42:11] SPEAKER_06: Yes, we did the playground at Parkview and at Hopewell because we had to relocate them as a district to proceed with our expansion plans at both of those.

[42:20] SPEAKER_09: How much were those playgrounds? Do you remember off the top of your head, $30,000 or something?

[42:24] SPEAKER_06: Oh, goodness, no. I'm just guessing. I don't know. Hopewell's was just over $100,000, and Parkview's was done in a couple of different parks that I think was about $75,000 or $80,000.

[42:36] SPEAKER_09: So y'all are funding some playgrounds?

[42:38] SPEAKER_06: If we have to relocate them due to expansions that the board has prioritized, we are replacing the playgrounds, yes.

[42:49] SPEAKER_07: Might I also add, Madam Chair, the committee looked at each neighborhood of these schools and took into consideration the amount of traffic and the number of family visits that are received after school hours and on the weekends because many of them are in some neighborhoods that they felt like that would be very appropriate to help out those families.

[43:15] SPEAKER_08: Commissioner Tyler?

[43:17] SPEAKER_03: Yes, I have one other question about the contingency. Are the recipients aware of those contingencies that would be Rattler County Fire and Rescue and City of Charleston as well?

[43:27] SPEAKER_07: They are not, simply because this is a recommendation. And so subject to your approval, the county commission's approval, that contingency may or may not.

[43:38] SPEAKER_03: Okay. And if those contingencies are met, then they would kind of follow through. But if not, then those would drop off?

[43:44] SPEAKER_08: That's correct.

[43:44] SPEAKER_03: Okay. Thank you for the clarification.

[43:47] SPEAKER_08: Any other discussion? Commissioner Offner? Alford?

[43:54] SPEAKER_09: I was looking at the ring cutter. I was curious. Do you have any knowledge of our fire department using ring cutters?

[44:04] SPEAKER_05: Yes, both fire departments do. EMS has a much lesser tool, but what the fire departments use is quite a bit more advanced. I don't know how often it's used, but it does get used more than you would think. And as I've learned, what sounds like a simple tool is not cheap in the world of emergency services equipment, unfortunately.

[44:32] SPEAKER_09: Are you aware that our fire department's got one?

[44:35] SPEAKER_05: I would suspect they do. I can't say for certain.

[44:38] SPEAKER_09: Do you have any idea on that, Mayor?

[44:40] SPEAKER_08: Okay, any other questions? Commissioner Blake?

[44:51] SPEAKER_10: So, at one of Arnold Elementary, Arnold School, the other one,

[45:07] SPEAKER_07: I can't necessarily explain. That was not part of the application. I would assume that the larger grant for Arnold went through Community Foundation because they were able to secure so many other funds to go along with ours.

[45:25] SPEAKER_10: Did they say, because we funded them last year, Arnold Playground, just a continuation of

[45:33] SPEAKER_07: It certainly isn't, and their funds were cut last year, so this is finishing that project.

[45:43] SPEAKER_07: And Commissioner Alford, to answer your question, the application for Cleveland Fire Ring Cutter, it states that the equipment would be used on approximately 100 patients annually though incidents fluctuate.

[45:58] SPEAKER_08: Other questions? So we have a motion and a second on the floor to approve the HCI 2026 funding recommendation. All those in favor say aye.

[46:11] SPEAKER_06: Aye.

[46:12] SPEAKER_08: Any opposition? There is none. Okay. Thank you very much. And Lori will vote on this tonight, correct? Yes.

[46:21] Okay.

[46:22] SPEAKER_08: So that concludes all of our agenda items. Other business? Is there any other business that we need to discuss today?

[46:33] SPEAKER_08: Seeing none, we'll move to communication from the audience. I'll recognize anyone that wishes to speak. Speakers must speak into the microphone, identify yourself for the record, and address their concerns to the commission as a whole. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to speak today?

[46:53] SPEAKER_08: No one? Okay. Our next meeting will be held on Monday, December the 7th at 11.30 a.m., Commissioner Collins, in this commission room.