Dougherty County Commission votes to extend services agreement

ALBANY — The Dougherty County Commission agreed to an extension Monday morning that will keep the county’s service delivery agreement with the city of Albany in place through June 30.

The city and county negotiate reimbursement figures for a number of agreements through which they provide specific services — such as the county’s EMS service and the city’s fire department — and each pays the other a prorated amount to provide those services countywide. The two bodies agreed last year to keep their current agreement in place while they negotiated the county’s requested increase in the agreement through which the two entities share cost of the upkeep of the city-county Government Center, the Government Annex and the county Courthouse.

City and county staff were to negotiate a new agreement on the cost of building maintenance, but that agreement ends soon.

“Ideally, we all expected to be further along with the negotiations than we are,” County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said after Monday’s commission business meeting. “But the reality is two tornadoes hit our community, and that has put our focus elsewhere.

“I feel certain city and county staff will get the opportunity (within the extended negotiation period) to weigh our options.”

After an extended executive session, during which the board discussed “potential litigation and the purchase of real estate,” the commission quickly moved through a relatively light agenda. Legal discussions and real estate purchases are two areas of discussion that are allowed by state law to be carried out in closed session.

At the meeting, the board:

— Approved a $52,800 consulting contract with Edifice Consulting — an amount that is 10 percent of the projected cost — to develop bid specifications and provide project administration to replace the roof on the county building at 200 W. Oglethorpe Blvd. that is used by the state Department of Human Services;

— OK’d a $33,650 contract with A. West Enterprise electrical contractors to purchase and install a new main breaker for the Government Center;

— Voted to return William Walker as a joint city/county appointee to the Gas Board;

— Signed off on a procurement policy for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council grant;

— Gave EMS approval to apply for a Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission reimbursement grant in the amount of $10,590.89.