TALLADEGA COUNTY — The E911 Board took no action Thursday on a proposal to accept vice chairman Jake Montgomery’s resignation as a regular board member and appoint him board member emeritus and general legal counsel.Under the proposal Montgomery submitted Thursday, as board member emeritus he would draw a salary of $150 per month, but would no longer have a vote on the board.
As the board’s general counsel, Montgomery would be paid a $600 per month retainer, and would give the board 2 free hours per month. After the second hour, he would charge the board $200 per hour, which he said was slightly lower than the $250 per hour he normally charges.
Montgomery pointed out that his current term on the board had expired some time ago. He said he had spoken with members of the County Commission and had been told that there were two candidates being considered for his seat.
“I agreed to take emeritus status without a vote and to become the board’s legal counsel,” he said.
Board chairman Doug Blair pointed out Montgomery had already been doing legal work on behalf of the board.
The board voted to accept Montgomery’s resignation, with board member Nelson Bates abstaining. Board member Steve Hurst then made the motion to hire Montgomery as the board’s attorney.
Blair then said he wanted to appoint a committee to negotiate the terms with Montgomery as the board’s lawyer.
“It’s already set out in this letter,” Montgomery said. “There’s no need for a committee.”
“If the committee comes back with the same recommendation, that’s fine,” Blair said. “If not, that’s between you and them. I personally don’t have the authority to say ‘this is the agreement Jake and I have come to.”
At this point, Bates said, “I don’t really know if we need an attorney at every meeting, do we?”
”I don’t either,” Blair responded, “but we do right now. Bonds and insurance is over my head, and right now I’m very leery about doing anything.”
Blair said at least two county commissioners had approached him about the need for the board to have legal representation.
“I know I can’t hire a former employee of mine as a contractor for two years,” Bates said. “I think we should at least get an Attorney General’s opinion on whether or not we can do this.”
Blair said since Montgomery was not an employee of the county, he would not be covered by this law.
“I’m not going to hang myself out to dry here,” Montgomery said. “I’m just trying to accommodate the County Commission.”
“If that’s what the board wants, that’s fine, but I’m going to vote no and I want that on the record,” Bates said.
Blair added, “I wasn’t trying to make it positive or negative, I just wanted to negotiate the price. That’s fairer to you, and it’s fairer to the board.”
“We need an attorney that’s knowledgeable about the issues we face,” Hurst said.
“I just want to make sure we do this legally and economically,” Bates said.
Blair then pointed out the board had previously given Montgomery the authority to hire an outside lawyer, Charlie Gaines, to work with the “the former account,” who is currently facing theft of property charges for embezzling upwards of $240,000.
According to board director Larry Wright, Gaines was never actually hired, however.
Board treasurer Ron Webster then asked if the board had the authority to appoint a director emeritus. Montgomery said that former board member Emmett Gray had been appointed to this position by the board, although there was no agreement on whether or not Gray had been paid in that capacity.
Montgomery said it could take the attorney general 60 to 120 days to issue an opinion, and he would rescind his resignation for the time being.
According to Wright, the board agreed to strike all references to the stalled proposal from the official minutes.
Most of the rest of the meeting was spent discussing the fall out of 18 Oaks Construction, the contractor that was building the consolidated central dispatch facility in Mardisville, going out of business when the building was only half-way finished.
According to Wright, the board spoke with the bonding agent on the project, the Hartford Group, via conference call. Three new contractors have expressed interest in the project, and will submit bids Dec. 20.
The board has also received several invoices from vendors through various subcontractors, but is waiting for the bonding company to sign off on them before paying them.
There are also problems with the builder’s risk insurance, which lists the contractor rather than the ultimate property owner.
Also Thursday, the board:
O Agreed on a 2.03 percent one-time longevity payment for employees.
O Announced that more than 30 people had applied for the position of office manager/accountant. The top five candidates will be interviewed by the full board at a date to be announced.
