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OTHERS PRESENT Jennifer Nelson, Ga.
Dept. of Economic
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| CALL TO ORDER In the absence of Chairman Dave Wills, First Vice-Chairman, Roosevelt James, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Board Members present were given the opportunity to give a brief report on things of interest pertaining to their cities and counties. INTRODUCTIONS Don ten Bensel introduced new staff member, Sevanne Steiner. Sevanne is taking Matt McDaniel’s position as Historic Preservation Planner. MINUTES Minutes of the March 2006 Board meeting were presented for the Board’s review and approval. Motion: Motion was made by Clinton Perry and duly seconded that the minutes be accepted as presented. Vote was unanimous. FINANCIAL REPORT Don ten Bensel presented the financial report for the period ending April 26, 2006 to those present. OLD BUSINESS Multi-County Aerial Photography Project Gerald Mixon reported a sample of Crisp County’s aerial photography had been received and had been forwarded to the Crisp County tax assessor’s office for review for quality. Samples of other counties should be coming soon. Annual Work Plan Update Gerald Mixon reminded the Board that at the March meeting a resolution was passed authorizing submission of the RDC Work Program to the Department of Community Affairs for review in accordance with current contract requirements. Staff has received verbal notification that the program has been accepted by the state, and we are now awaiting official notification so the Board can adopt the Work Program at the May meeting. Dooly and Schley County Comprehensive Plans Gerald Mixon reported that the staff is continuing to work on the Dooly and Schley County Comprehensive Plans. Workforce System Update Mickey Holloway gave a brief update on the Workforce Program. He announced as of to date we are serving approximately 284 individuals. He said that there were two more stores closings in Cordele. This will affect approximately 80 individuals. He announced that we will have the Summer Youth Program again this year. Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) Kay Hagler reported that there were twelve CDBG applications submitted to the Department of Community Affairs. Award announcements for these are expected to be in early August. Kay said that the staff will begin in July working on projects for next year. NEW BUSINESS New Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) Process Presentation Jarrod McCarthy presented a PowerPoint Presentation on the new CEDS process. A few items that Jarrod explained were the purpose of the CEDS, responsibilities of different organizations and committees, identifying Strengths/Weaknesses and Problems/Opportunities, CEDS Goals and Objectives, identifying regional projects, programs, and activities designed to implement the Goals and Objectives of the CEDS, CEDS Plan of Action, Performance Measures, etc. Jarrod entertained questions at the completion of the presentation. A handout was included in the Board’s packet to follow along with the presentation. New EDA Requirements on Board Make-up As reported at previous Board meetings the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has established new rules on our Board make-up. The new EDA rule states that our Board make-up has to consist a minimum of 35% of private sector representatives. As of present, we only have 16%. This needs to be done by October to have the new ruling in place and operating by the January 1, 2007. If not, we do not receive any money from EDA. It was recommended to appoint a committee to study ways of meeting the new Board make-up. The committee consisted of Dave Wills, Jared Stevens, Jeff Couturier, Mary Ayers, and Willie Davis. Chairman Dave Wills reported that the Study Committee met prior to the meeting and recommends the following to the Board: Ask five existing board members, Jeff Couturier, Greg Speight, Willie James Larry, LaVonne Jernigan, and Melvin Crimes, to obtain letters of designation from owners/CEOs of private for profit companies. In addition, to meet the percentage required under Federal Guidelines the Board membership would be increased by two, to twenty-six total. These two new members would be appointed by the RDC Board and be comprised of the President of South Georgia Technical College and the Chairman of the Workforce Investment Board or their designees. Chairman Wills stated that in order to accomplish that, the By-Laws would have to be amended. It is required that the amended By-Laws be mailed out ten days prior to the next board meeting to give Board members time to review them before they can be approved. Recommendation was made by the study committee to accept the proposed recommendation and come back to the Board next month with the amended By-Laws for the board’s approval. Motion: Motion was made by A. J. Rivers and duly seconded by Clinton Perry to accept the recommendation as presented. Vote was unanimous. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting was adjourned. |
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