Live Blogging, County Commission Committee Meeting

The expectation is that the Natural Resources Recovery issue will be the biggest thing on the agenda. There is one resolution to accept the mediation, the second is to accept the lease agreement contract. To say that this is a complex issue is an understatement.

We're already jumping to it, as we have a woman in the audience (Diana Pott) stating that the ruptured runoff ponds (collapsed and spilled into a sinkhole, a direct injection to groundwater...) contaminated her well and made her sick. My understanding is that no well testing was done after the rupture, but well testing is being done this week.

A little humor- Mr. Pott addressed Paul Pinkston as "Mr. Ragsdale." Paul was more than happy to correct him. DVD is already talking to them about the well testing schedule.

Mr. Mayes, a party to the lawsuit, is at the podium saying he had not agreed to the mediated settlement, and is arguing against acceptance of the settlement.

Points of contention:
- Was NRR left with no raw materials (as they/county claim) or did they have material that was sold off for cash (as Mr. Mayes claims, and indicates he has letters)?
- Is 'casual contact' with contaminated mulch hazardous to health or not?

There's little debate over the fact that the contract was poorly managed with little oversight, and that both parties in the contract (NRR/County) didn't do what the contract required. I'm a bit surprised that issues were not caught earlier when John Evans' budget didn't show income from the NRR contract. (update- Lewis Cosby just asked the same question!)

Mayes just said he bought some mulch from NRR last year for a job and ended up with a lung infection (Commissioner Briggs may offer some expertise on this issue with a little research).

Finance voted to Deny. Mediated agreement is in for rough waters next Monday. John Owings just agreed that an agenda item that fails in both committees is removed from the final Commission meeting agenda.


Other topics:
- Gay Street redevelopment TIF: general agreement, as long as the city participates as well.

-Mosquito spraying- to move from notifying neighborhood associations to notifying individual homes by postcard. Motion to recommend fails, I think partly because the costs to expand the notification was unknown (no fiscal note).

- A resolution to partner with the City's Energy & Sustainability Task Force, but Mike Hammond pulled it from the consent agenda, so apparently he has something to discuss there. Lynn Liddington has already indicated that some work has already started in the Health Department to curb energy usage, expand recycling, etc. This partnership resolution would include an overall audit. Hammond is opposed to spending more money for an audit. Mr. Hammond, I hope we also consider how much can be saved by improving efficiency in the millions of square feet of our county buildings, not even considering the air quality improvements gained from energy use reductions.

- Rushing through the rest, no recommendations. Daniels said he had questions for PBA, but they did not attend this morning.

- Midway Road: withdrawn.

- Civil Service: pass with no recommendation, public hearings coming up. It would be nice if public hearings were posted on the Commission web site!

- Charter Review Committee Change: voted to Approve.


... more to come....