At a Regular Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners Held in and for Gadsden County, Florida on January 7, 2003, the Following Proceedings Were Had, Viz
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AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HELD IN AND FOR GADSDEN COUNTY, FLORIDA ON JANUARY 7, 2003, THE FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HAD, VIZ. PRESENT: BILL MCGILL, CHAIR STERLING L. WATSON, VICE-CHAIR CAROLYN ROBERSON BRENDA HOLT EDWARD J. DIXON NICHOLAS THOMAS, CLERK HAL RICHMOND, COUNTY ATTORNEY HOWARD MCKINNON, COUNTY MANAGER 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair McGill called the meeting to order. Commissioner Holt led in pledging allegiance to the US Flag and Commissioner Watson led in a prayer. 2. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The agenda was amended by removing Item 14a (FY 2003/04 Budget Calendar) and 14d(Appointments to ARPC) from the Consent Agenda and place them under the County Manager’s Agenda for discussion. UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER WATSON AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOLT, THE BOARD VOTED 5 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED ABOVE. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – DECEMBER 3, 2001 UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER WATSON AND SECOND BY COMMISSIOONER DIXON, THE BOARD VOTED 5 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE ABOVE STATED MEETING. 4. COUNTY ATTORNEY’S AGENDA Mr. Richmond had nothing to report. 5. LORAINE ELDER, BIG BEND CARES Ms. Loraine Elder addressed the Board. She told them that Big Bend Cares is a non-profit organization that serves eight Page 1 of 18 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners January 7, 2003 Regular Meeting counties of which Gadsden is one. She said that they work to provide education and comprehensive support to people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. She outlined how the program works and gave statistical information supported in the attached information. She then told the Board that Big Bend Cares has the opportunity to receive grant funds with the County being the conduit through which the funds are received. She said that they would like to work in partnership with Gadsden County to get those resources. She said that the grant would allow them to locate a fulltime permanent staff person in Gadsden County. That person would then be able to identify HIV/AIDS clients link them with the much needed services. She asked the Board for a letter of support and their blessings in their pursuit of of the grant that would allow for a full time worker for Gadsden County. She also asked for their input and ideas for other ways they can work with the County to enhance and expand their services. Discussion followed. UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER DIXON AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER ROBERSON, THE BOARD VOTED 5 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR BIG BEND CARES IN THEIR PURSUIT OF GRANT FUNDS FOR HIV/AIDS SERVICES AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. 6. DR. MAURINE JONES AND MRS. ARRIE BATTLES GADSDEN WOMAN TO WOMAN Dr. Maurine Jones and Ms. Arrie Battles appeared before the Board. Dr. Jones stated that Gadsden Woman to Woman is a federally funded project implemented throughout Gadsden County by the FSU Center for Health Equity. She said that they have two funding sources. The major source is the Human Resource Services Administration (HRSA) and Office of Minority Health (OMH). She said that their objective is to reduce the disparity in infant mortality among African American women in Gadsden County. She said that black babies die two to four times more often than white babies. She explained that Gadsden Woman to Woman is focused on eliminating the disparity. Dr. Jones then stated that they contract with the Gadsden County Health Department to provide case management to pregnant women who are at risk for poor birth outcome. She outlined other services that are available. She listed the following Page 2 of 18 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners January 7, 2003 Regular Meeting among other issues that are addressed through the program: maternal nutrition, maternal infection, stress, self esteem, self advocacy. They try to reach women and get them into the health care system. She said that they also coordinate with other agencies – Healthy Families, Early Head Start, Maternal Depression Project, Gadsden County Health Department. Ms. Battles then introduced the facilitators who serve in the various communities. She asked for the Board’s support in their efforts in reducing the infant mortality rate. Through questions of Dr. Jones and Ms. Battles, the following facts were learned. • The grant has been in Gadsden County for two years. • The office is located at 215 West Jefferson St., Suite B. • The project is funded through the year 2005 – a four-year grant. • The grant was received by FSU and the FSU Office is in Tallahassee. Some of the grant goes to support the Tallahassee Office but 65% of the budget is expended in Gadsden County. • The HRSA grant amounts to $750,000 per year and the OMH grant amounts to $150,000 per year. $587,000 is actually expended in Gadsden County. • The OMH grant is registered with ARPC, but it could not be determined for certain whether the HRSA grant is registered with them. • It could not be determined how many FSU grants are registered in Gadsden County. (OMH and Maternal Depression and HRSA are through FSU, but they were the only ones that Dr. Jones was certain about.) • Success of the program will be measured by the decrease of infant mortality rate among black babies. The disparity would be reduced. Interim outcomes will be used as measuring sticks until sufficient time has elapsed to effect the rate reduction. • There are approximately 17 deaths per 1,000 black baby births. That rate has been as high as 20 per 1,000. The typical rate for white babies are 5 – 7 per 1,000 babies. • The services are limited somewhat by funding. They expect to be able to serve 400 women a year. • They expect to apply for more funds so that community health facilitators can be placed in the county and Page 3 of 18 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners January 7, 2003 Regular Meeting identify other family health needs which currently exist in the communities. Commissioner Holt stated that if their grants are not registered with ARPC, they should do so. She asked for copies of their previous two years of reports. Commissioner Dixon asked Dr. Jones to furnish the Board with interim reports which reflect the number of women who are served, where they are served, what kinds of services are provided and it also gives interim outcome indicators. (What is the low birth weight rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What is the very low birth weight rate?) Chair McGill asked that they provide quarterly information as to the number of women who are being served. Commissioner Holt stated that some of her constituents have complained to her that these grants have been in the county for two years, but they were not aware of them. She stated that she was concerned about the lack of printed materials for the Hispanic population – written in their native language so that they can understand the material. She asked for greater public relations efforts from them so as to make the program more widely known and inform clients as to how they can access the services. 7. ANGELA MCkENZIE-JAKES – FAMU – GOAT INDUSTRY Ms. Jakes addressed the Board. She said that she works for the Florida A & M University, College of Engineering and Science Technology in Agriculture. She said some of the difficulties confronting the small-scale goat producers in the southeast result from the lack of access to viable profitable markets. The farm families lack the necessary skills, knowledge and resources to adequately produce quality animals on a consistent basis to meet market demands. Ms. Jakes stated that FAMU has developed training materials, conducted workshops, provided technical assistance, performed at-farm consultations to the goat producers. She said that there were several things learned from that direct assistance to farmers. Among others she learned that there is not a consistent market for the goat and lack of knowledge about herd healthiness. In response to that awareness, she said that FAMU is now engaged in trying to find markets to facilitate the sale of the Page 4 of 18 Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners January 7, 2003 Regular Meeting animals. They are also trying to help the farmers to develop a network to solve common problems. Ms. Jakes said that she is now writing a grant to the Southern Region Research and Education (SARE) program. She said that a letter of support from the Board of County Commissioners could greatly enhance the chances of getting the grant funded. She then said that she was partnering with Nancy Gee (Gadsden County Grants Coordinator) and Christopher Hodge (founder of Minority and Disabled Farmers in Gadsden County) to target minority producers in Gadsden County. She stated that the ultimate projected outcomes are: to increase the number of African-Americans and other minorities as goat farmers; train the farmers on pertinent issues; lend technical assistance; work to increase the income potential by implementing methods to increase the end products; establish a network among/between the farmers and the university. Upon questioning the following facts were learned: • There is an increase demand for goat meat as a nutritious gourmet food item. It is considered to be a healthy food alternative – it is low in fat, low in cholesterol, high in protein and high in iron content. It is a healthy alternative red meat. • The effort to establish goat farms in Gadsden County have not been successful. UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER WATSON AND SECOND BY COMMISISONER ROBERSON, THE BOARD VOTED 5 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO WRITE A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR THE GRANT DESCRIBED ABOVE.