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REGULAR MEETING
Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.
Commissioners’ Public Meeting Room
Dade County Government Administrative Building
71 Case Avenue, Room 259
Trenton, Georgia 30752
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MINUTES
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This document is tentative until ratified and approved by the Historic Preservation Commission;
and therefore shall not be binding on the county or any officer.
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Scheduled date for ratification: October 20, 2021
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CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Donna Street called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
ROLL CALL ~ COMMISSION MEMBERS
Donna Street, Chairperson PRESENT County Representative
Audrey Clark, Vice Chair PRESENT City Representative
Rex Blevins PRESENT County Representative
Sarah Moore PRESENT County Representative
Cindy Richie PRESENT City Representative
Chairperson Donna Street announced a quorum of Commission members present, and
therefore a legal meeting was called to order and in session.
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
Ted Rumley, County Executive ABSENT Ex-officio member for Dade County
Alex Case, Mayor of Trenton ABSENT Ex-officio member for City of Trenton
COUNTY STAFF IN ATTENDANCE
Don Townsend, Clerk to the Board of Commissioners PRESENT
Carey Fauscett-Anderson, County Public Information Officer PRESENT
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APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Chairperson Donna Street called for any changes or updates to the published agenda, hearing
none, the Chair called for approval of the agenda as presented. Commissioner Rex Blevins
moved to approve the agenda as presented, and Commissioner Sarah Moore seconded the
motion on the floor. The Chair called for approval of the agenda by polling each Commissioner
whereas the board unanimously approved the agenda as presented:
Motion made by: Mr. Rex Blevins
Seconded by: Mrs. Sarah Moore
Those voting in favor: 5 – Blevins, Clark, Moore, Richie, Street
Those opposed: 0 – N/A
Decision: Passed by unanimous vote
READING OF MINUTES
Chairperson Donna Street announced the reading of the minutes from the previous regular
meeting of the Trenton-Dade County Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) held on August
25, 2021 would not be necessary since all commissioners were provided an electronic copy of
the minutes prior to today’s meeting. The Chair called for any corrections to the minutes, hearing
none she entertained a motion to accept the minutes as presented by Mr. Don Townsend,
Recording Secretary of the HPC. Commissioner Mrs. Sarah Moore moved to approve the
minutes as presented, and Mr. Rex Blevins seconded the motion on the floor. The Chair called
for approval of the minutes by polling each Commissioner whereas the board unanimously
approved the minutes as recorded:
Motion made by: Mrs. Sarah Moore
Seconded by: Mr. Rex Blevins
Those voting in favor: 5 – Blevins, Clark, Moore, Richie, Street
Those opposed: 0 – N/A
Decision: Passed by unanimous vote
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS APPLICATIONS
There were no applications presented or decisions pending at today’s meeting.
APPEARANCES
Chairperson Street welcomed County Commissioner Melissa C. Bradford, Mr. Russell Brown,
Mr. William Back and Mr. Jamey Blevins attending today’s HPC meeting
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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Ms. Street introduced the first item under unfinished business ~ Historic Courthouse Renovation
Project. The Chair recognized Mr. Jamey Blevins to discuss options regarding the renovation
project. Mr. Blevins announced meeting with Mr. Ted Rumley and others after the last regular
commission meeting to review the proposed contract/agreement to assist with the renovation
efforts to the old historic courthouse.
Mr. Blevins recommended his family’s company, BCM, Inc. be hired as Construction Manager
as Adviser (CMa) to act as an advocate and adviser for the project owner (the County). The
singular purpose of the CMa is to look out for the owner’s and project’s best interest, with the
project taking precedent. This is accomplished with the CMa assisting in compiling bid packages
to ensure complete scopes of work, solicitation of bids, vetting of trade contractors’ proposals
and capabilities, reviewing and approving payment requisitions, overall project planning and
scheduling, and providing inspections of work to ensure conformance with the contract
documents. The CMa would also provide a monthly report documenting the project status for
the commissions review. These are the base services a CMa would provide.
The CMa contract arrangement provides the county with a management option to have better
control of the project while also reducing cost compared to a traditional hard bid procurement
method. The trade contractors would be contracted directly with the county and managed by
the CMa. Additional services, i.e. full-time onsite supervision, can be provided if requested.
As we discussed, the more traditional option is design-build-bid, commonly referred to as hard
bid. This option will provide the county with a traditional relationship with a contractor(s) to
perform specified scopes of work. The lacking component with this method is the general
oversight provided by a CMa or general contractor. If the intent is to phase the project by
releasing specific trade packages over time, this method carries a larger risk of scope gaps and
additional work related to these gaps.
Mr. Blevins noted under the terms of this agreement a $10,000 lump sum fee would be invoiced
for phasing control estimates, development of initial schedules and phasing the entire project
into financially attainable blocks. He did mention under the general conditions of the contract
there are conditions that must be met to terminate the contract early. Mr. Blevins explained
BCM, Inc. would serve as CMa for contracts let between subcontractors and the County leading
to a reduction of overall costs for liability expenses e.g. bonding capacity requirements with
reputable bonding companies (not junk bonds). Furthermore, the $10,000 fee would be waived
by BCM, Inc. if the project moves forward as planned while continuing to utilize BCM, Inc. as
CMa at a rate of 5% of the project costs.
Finally, Mr. Blevins stated we simply want to assist our local government leaders to renovate the
building back to a scope of work that will successfully complete the renovation project of the old
courthouse as cost efficiently as possible. Chairperson Donna Street thanked Mr. Blevins for
his time today and noted she and Mrs. Audrey Clark would be available at the next commission
meeting to answer any questions the County Commissioners may have regarding consideration
of hiring BCM, Inc. for the role of Construction Manager as Adviser (CMa) as outlined above to
complete all renovations necessary to the old historic courthouse.
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Chairperson Street reviewed the list of available windows at the old courthouse. The last two
windows sold were to Ms. Kathleen E. Mackay in memory of her father Honorable James A.
Mackay; and a window sold to Mr. David Mann in memory of Sarah M. and Andrew J. Clark. Mr.
Townsend confirmed the new number of windows available for purchase were (13) thirteen as
of September 1, 2021. No official action was taken.
Ms. Street announced the upcoming Christmas calendar was on schedule. The proposed
calendar will exhibit the portraits painted by Ms. Meredith Brock-Bishop commissioned by the
Bank of Dade in the 1970’s. Our goal is to have the calendars produced by September 30, 2021
to go on sale as soon as possible. No official action was taken.
Ms. Street reviewed the grant opportunities and noted that most of the proposed grants rely on
information from the construction management company to calculate an accurate price and
timeline for beginning and ending each infrastructure project. This information is critical to grant
applications before submittal could be achieved. No official action was taken.
Ms. Street noted collectively we have decided to host virtual public information sessions to
educate local citizens on the happenings of the local Trenton-Dade County Historic Preservation
Commission. No official action was taken.
Chairperson Street called on Mrs. Audrey Clark to report on establishment of a new checking
account at the Bank of Dade for the State of Dade Historic Preservation, Inc. Mrs. Clark
announced this process was completed last week, whereas Mrs. Sarah Moore and herself (Mrs.
Clark) were listed as authorized signatories on the new checking account. The Chair thanked
Mrs. Clark for taking care of this matter and called upon Mr. Russell Brown, Treasurer of the
Dade County Historical Society to transfer funds into the new account so we could reimburse
Mr. William Back for expenses incurred setting up this not-for-profit group. No official action was
taken.
Chairperson Street tabled the agenda item regarding the phase 2 survey of the Piney area to a
later meeting. No official action was taken.
NEW BUSINESS
Chairperson Street called for discussion regarding the establishment for COVID-19 protocols for
times when holding a meeting may not be possible due to community spread of the disease.
After discussion concluded, Chairperson Street recommended following the advice of our local
government’s recommendation to cancel any upcoming HPC meeting due to excessive COVID-
19 outbreaks. At the present time the numbers continue to improve, so no immediate action
was required to be taken at the present time.
Chairperson Street called for any new business. Hearing no further business to discuss, the
Chair announced the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Trenton - Dade County Historic
Preservation Commission would take place on Wednesday, October 25, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. to be
held inside the Commissioners’ private conference room due to the advanced in-person voting
for the special called election.
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Chairperson Street announced upon adjournment we would take a tour of the old courthouse
building to discuss first hand with Mr. Blevins possible plans to reduce the expenses associated
with the renovation project. Furthermore, Ms. Street welcomed anyone who would like to take
a tour to reassemble in fifteen minutes across the street. The Chair then declared the meeting
adjourned at 3:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted as recorded,
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Don Townsend, Clerk to the Commission
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