agenda jefferson county community service … · 2020. 8. 7. · agenda jefferson county community...

AGENDA

JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE

April 7, 2020 – Special Called Meeting Summary

Zoom Conference Call

I. CALL TO ORDER

A. Opening Remarks – Gwen Amamoo

• Ms. Amamoo opened the meeting at 2:05 PM. She discussed the current

Covid-19 situation and the affect it has had on the community.

• Mr. Rick Stotser, Committee Attorney, stated that the Committee may discuss

matters responding to Covid-19 & matters necessary to maintaining essential

minimal functions of the Committee. He explained that most requests the

Committee receives probably will address Covid-19 matters and therefore will

be permissible to discuss

B. Introduction of new committee member, Sid McNeal and all in attendance.

C. Approval of the agenda for April 7, 2020 Committee meeting – Gwen Amamoo

• A motion was made and seconded for the agenda to be approved. The

Committee voted to approve the agenda.

D. Approval of minutes from the February 06, 2020 Committee meeting and

February 17, 2020 Special Called Committee meeting – Gwen Amamoo

• Motions were made and seconded for the minutes from both the February

06, 2020 meeting & the February 17, 2020 meeting to be approved. The

minutes from both meetings were approved.

II. OLD BUSINESS

A. Disbursements for February 17, 2020 approved projects

• Ms. Amy Leslie discussed the projects approved during the previous

Committee meeting held on February 17, 2020. There were 47 projects

total approved by the Committee totaling $302,200.00. There were 3

projects that were still categorized as incomplete from the previous

meeting due to missing documentation, totaling $30,000..

B. Check Disbursement Procedure • Mr. Tyler Lowros presented a check distribution process based upon ideas

gathered from Committee members & members of the delegation.

• The Committee took feedback from Representative David Faulkner and

finalized procedures for distributing checks to recipients. A motion was

made and seconded for the approval of this process. The Committee

directed administrators of the fund to send a copy of the final process for

their review before announcing to members of the delegation.

III. NEW BUSINESS

A. Covid-19 Jefferson County Community Service Fund Operating Procedures

• Fund Administrators communicated that as the office is not open to the

public due to Covid-19, mailing check directly to delegates will be

necessary for their distribution under the procedures the Committee

adopted.

B. Review outstanding funding requests

• Review of complete requests

• The Committee discussed their review of projects deemed to be

complete. A motion was made and seconded to approve projects

deemed to be complete. The Committee approved 10 projects

totaling $53,000.00 for projects related to responding to Covid-19.

• Discussion of potential non-permissible requests

• The Committee discussed their review of projects deemed non-

permissible. A motion was made & seconded to deem two projects

as non-permissible. The Committee directed appropriate follow up

to administers on these projects.

C. Current Fund Status

• The Committee reviewed an overview of the current status of the fund

for 10/1/19 – present and the remaining balance of $2,187,909.03.

D. New Committee Positions

• The Committee voted Mr. Shan Paden as Vice Chair of the Committee.

The Committee added electing a Treasurer & Secretary to the agenda for

the next Committee meeting scheduled for May 7, 2020.

E. Committee Sharefile Training Zoom Meeting

• Administrators of the fund asked the Committee if they would like any

training regarding operating Sharefile. Committee members stated that

they did not need this currently but would reach out if they encountered

any issues.

F. Delegate Meet & Greet & Question/Answer Zoom Meeting

• Administrators of the fund asked the committee if they would like to

schedule a meet and greet meeting with the delegation as there are two

new committee members. Ms. Amamoo stated that this could be

addressed when normal operations resume.

G. Jefferson County Community Service Fund Newsletter

• The fund administrators discussed sending a newsletter after each

committee meeting to the delegation and were instructed by the committee

to reach out to Representative Faulkner for his suggestions regarding

this.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

• There were no public comments voiced at this time.

V. ADJOURNMENT

• The Committee adjourned at 3:38 PM

This is not to be considered official minutes for the April 7, 2020 Committee meeting as they

have not been approved by the Committee, this is a summary to comply with Covid-19 Alabama

Open Meetings Guidelines.

AGENDA


April 27, 2020 Summary Special Called Meeting Summary


I. CALL TO ORDER

• Opening Remarks – Gwen Amamoo called the meeting to order at 10:10 AM and

took roll call. All Committee members were in attendance during roll call except

Mr. McNeal who entered the conference call minutes later.

• Ms. Amamoo discussed Covid-19 and the impacts it was having on the

community. She also shared a reading that encouraged appreciating

lessons all could learn during this time.

• The Committee reviewed and voted to approve the agenda for the meeting.

II. NEW BUSINESS

• Review outstanding Covid-19 funding requests

• Review of complete requests

o The Committee reviewed the completed projects. The Committee

discussed Representative Faulkner’s requests for the City of

Mountain Brook, the City of Hoover, and the City of Homewood

for Covid-19/Camera Equipment. The Committee discussed with

Representative Faulkner that at this meeting they were only

approving funds that directly respond to Covid-19. The

Committee discussed that they would approve the funds to these

municipalities with an alteration of his request to make the

allocation request only for Covid-19. Representative Faulkner

agreed to change his projects for this. The Committee approved 12

projects totaling $127,000 for Covid-19 projects.

• Discussion of potential Covid-19 non-permissible requests

o The Committee discussed a request made by Representative

Faulkner for the United Way Covid-19 Crisis Fund and a request

made by Senator Smitherman for Birmingham Strong. The

Committee decided to wait on making a determination decision

regarding these requests until the May 7th Jefferson County

Community Service Committee Meeting to allow time for

administrators to gather additional documentation and

communicate with the delegates the Committee’s concerns

regarding the permissibility of the projects. The Committee

suggested that the prospective recipients may need to change for

the requests to be permissible under the legislation and directed

administrators to communicate with the delegates making these

proposals.

• Discussion of Covid-19 incomplete requests

o The Committee discussed the projects deemed incomplete and the

information that is currently missing from these requests. The

Committee voted and approved 3 projects totaling $25,000

contingent on administrators acquiring needed documentation. The

Committee voted 3-1 on this vote. Ms. Amamoo stated that she

voted, “No” because due to the extreme impacts of Covid-19, she

wants the fund allocations to be processed quickly.

III. OLD BUSINESS

• Disbursements for April 7, 2020 approved Covid-19 projects.

• The Committee reviewed the disbursements from the April 7, 2020

Special called Committee meeting for Covid-19 funds. At this meeting, a

total of $53,000 was approved in response to Covid-19.

• Fund Overview • The Committee reviewed the current balance of the fund: $2,104,909.03. • Administrators asked the Committee if they would like to schedule

additional meetings so the Committee may review Covid-19 requests. The

Committee decided to add this discussion to the agenda for the May 7,

2020 meeting.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

• Representative Faulkner expressed appreciation for the ability to witness the

Committee’s operations.

I. ADJOURNMENT

• Ms. Amamoo adjourned the meeting at 11:18 AM.

Next Committee meeting will be on July 9, 2020.

AGENDA

JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE May 7, 2020 –Meeting Summary


I. CALL TO ORDER • Opening Remarks – Gwen Amamoo

• Ms. Amamoo called the meeting to order at 2:06 PM and thanked all meeting attendees. Ms. Amamoo discussed the meaning of public service and requested Ms. Amy Leslie call roll. Ms. Leslie called roll. All Committee members were present for roll call except Mr. Shan Paden.

• Approval of the agenda for May 7, 2020 Committee meeting – Gwen Amamoo • A motion was made and seconded for the agenda to be approved. The

Committee voted to approve the agenda.

• Approval of minutes from the April 07, 2020 Covid-19 Committee meeting – Gwen Amamoo

• A motion was made and seconded for the minutes to be approved. The Committee voted to approve the minutes from April 07, 2020.

II. OLD BUSINESS • Discuss Meeting Schedule for Covid-19 Requests- Gwen Amamoo

• The Committee discussed holding an additional Special-Called Meeting for Covid-19 funding requests before the next scheduled meeting of August 6, 2020. Ms. Gwen Amamoo suggested to the Committee that this be held on July 9, 2020. She also suggested that the deadline for legislators to submit requests to administrators be June 12, 2020. A motion was made and seconded for this to occur. The Committee voted & approved having a special-called meeting on July 9, 2020 for Covid-19 requests.

• Approval of the Check Disbursement Procedure- Gwen Amamoo • Ms. Leslie communicated feedback from the legislator’s liaison to the

Committee, Representative David Faulkner, regarding the Check Distribution Process to the Committee. Representative Faulkner had previously stated that he had no additional suggestions for the final draft of the check distribution process. A motion was made and seconded for the Committee to approve the Check Distribution Process. The Committee voted & approved the new process.

• Jefferson County Community Service Fund Newsletter- Amy Leslie • Ms. Leslie presented the Jefferson County Community Service Newsletter

to the Committee. The Committee stated they liked the newsletter and made suggestions for it to possibly be developed to be more focused on


beneficiaries of allocations from the Jefferson County Community Service Fund.

• Disbursements for April 27, 2020 approved/incomplete projects- Amy Leslie • Ms. Leslie gave an update on incomplete projects from the February 17th,

2020 meeting, and the April 27, 2020 meeting. • 3 projects from the February 17, 2020 Committee meeting remain

incomplete and are nearing the final days in the 90 day incomplete process.

• 1 project from the April 27, 2020 meeting remains incomplete. • Mr. Tyler Lowros asked the Committee if they wished administrators to

communicate with Representative Faulkner regarding the projects that are close to expiring. The Committee directed administrators to communicate with Representative Faulkner about projects that are close to expiring during the conclusion of the 90 day incomplete process.

III. NEW BUSINESS

• Updated Committee Operating Procedures- Rick Stotser • Mr. Stotser discussed previously updates to the Committee’s Operating

Procedures that were previously requested by the Committee in detail. He provided the Committee an overview of these changes including:

• Adding to the Operating procedure that the Committee’s Annual meeting held in conjunction with the first Committee meeting of the fiscal year.

• Defining what constitutes a Neighborhood Association. • Stating that accumulated interest would be used towards

operating costs. • A motion was made and seconded to approve the updates to the

Operating Procedures. The Committee voted & approved the updates to the Operating Procedures.

• Review outstanding funding requests- Amy Leslie • Review of complete requests

• Ms. Leslie presented the current completed requests. There were 75 completed requests totaling $549,420.13.

• A motion was made and seconded to approve the current completed projects. The Committee voted to approve the completed projects.

• Review of potentially non-permissible requests • Ms. Leslie presented the current requests that administrators found

to be potentially non-permissible requests. There were 4 potentially non-permissible requests.

• Mr. McNeal stated that Representative Faulkner may like communication on the potentially non-permissible requests. The Committee directed administrators to send information on the potentially non-permissible requests to Representative Faulkner. The Committee also directed


administrators to continue working with the legislators who proposed the projects and the proposed recipients.

• Review of incomplete requests • Ms. Leslie presented the incomplete requests for the May 7, 2020

meeting. There were 3 requests totaling $21,000 that were not currently complete due to missing documentation. Ms. Leslie reviewed the specific documentation that was missing from each request.

• A motion was made and seconded to approve the current incomplete projects contingent upon administrators receiving the necessary missing documentation. The Committee voted to approve the incomplete projects contingent upon administrators receiving the noted documentation.

• Current Fund Status- Amy Leslie • Ms. Leslie reviewed the current status of the fund as noted below:

• New Committee Positions: Treasurer & Secretary- Gwen Amamoo

• Ms. Amamoo discussed the rotation of Committee positions. The Committee did not currently have an elected Treasurer or Secretary. A motion was made & seconded to nominate Ms. Samuetta Drew as the Committee’s Treasurer and Mr. Sid McNeal as the Committee’s Secretary. The Committee voted to approve Ms. Samuetta Drew as the Committee’s Treasurer and Mr. Sid McNeal as the Committee’s Secretary.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

• No members of the public were present, and no comments were stated.

V. ADJOURNMENT • Ms. Amamoo adjourned the meeting at 2:51 PM.

Next Committee meeting will be on Thursday, July 9, 2020.

SUMMARY

JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE June 15, 2020

I. CALL TO ORDER

• Opening Remarks – Gwen Amamoo o Ms. Gwen called the meeting to order at 10:03 AM. All committee

members were present except Ms. Samuetta Drew. • Agenda

o Ms. Amamoo made a motion to approve the agenda with one edit: changing the order of business to be conducted so that Representative Alexander’s request changes would be discussed before discussion of the Committee’s procedures. The motion was seconded and passed to approve the agenda with this change.

II. NEW BUSINESS

• Representative Alexander’s request changes. o The Committee reviewed Representative Alexander’s request changes.

Ms. Amamoo made a motion to approve the new request amounts. The motion was seconded and passed to approve the requested changes.

• Discussion of Project Change Requests Procedures o Mr. Rick Stotser, the Committee’s legal advisor, advised the Committee

that request changes should be conducted through Committee vote. He and the committee discussed potential risk concerns that changing request amounts post committee approval may pose. As a part of this discussion Mr. Stotser & administrators brought up concerns regarding one of the prior approved project requests that is being requested to be changed during the meeting. It was communicated that one of the organizations purchased equipment based on the Committee’s approval of Representative Alexander’s original funding request. The committee discussed the details of this project.

o After this discussion, Mr. Paden made a motion to rescind the previous approval vote as it relates to Representative Alexander’s requested changes. Mr. Paden stated that changing the request post approval may pose legal issues for the Committee. This motion was not seconded at this time and Ms. Amamoo requested further discussion.

o The Committee discussed the recipient notification process. o Mr. Paden stated that he did not believe requests should be changed after

committee approval unless there were extenuating circumstances because the committee could potentially create and be held liable for misrepresentation.

o Mr. McNeil seconded Mr. Paden’s previous motion to rescind approval of Representative Alexander’s allocation changes.

Next Committee meeting will be on Thursday, July 9, 2020.

o Ms. Amamoo stated a motion was needed first to rescind the previous motion approving Representative Alexander’s requested changes. Mr. Paden made this motion. This motion was seconded and the previous approval was rescinded.

o Mr. Paden made a motion to deny Representative Alexander’s allocation amount changes. This motion was seconded and passed.

o The Committee discussed the procedures surrounding future allocation amount changes. The Committee directed administrators to only update the website after award notification letters are sent.

o Mr. Paden made a motion to update the operating procedures so that requests to the committee cannot be altered post committee approval unless extenuating circumstances exist. After further discussion, the motion was seconded & passed to update the operating procedures.

o Mr. Paden stated that he thought the Committee should contact Representative Alexander directly regarding the Committee’s vote. Ms. Amamoo requested administrators send her the contact information for both Representative Alexander & Representative Faulkner.

III. PUBLIC COMMENTS o No members of the public were present.

IV. ADJOURNMENT

o Ms. Amamoo adjourned the meeting at 10:50 AM.

SUMMARY


Special Called Meeting

July 9, 2020

I. CALL TO ORDER

• Opening Remarks

o Ms. Gwen Amamoo called the meeting to order at 2:03 PM. All

committee members were present, except Ms. Samuetta Drew.

• Agenda

o A motion was made to approve the agenda for July 9, 2020. This motion

was seconded & passed to approve the agenda.

• Minutes

o A motion was made to approve the minutes from the April 27th, May 7th,

& June 15th Committee Meetings. This motion was seconded and passed

to approve the minutes from the April 27th, May 7th, & June 15th

Committee Meetings.

II. OLD BUSINESS

• Procedural Changes

o The Committee reviewed the proposed amendments to the Committee’s

operating procedures regarding post committee approval for project

changes. A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the

proposed amendments to the operating procedures.

• Non-permissible Requests

o The Committee reviewed requests from prior meetings that have deemed

possibly non-permissible. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to

deny the requests and deem them not permissible under the legislation.

• May 7th Request Update

o The Committee reviewed a synopsis of the requests from the May 7th

Committee meeting.

o A motion was made, seconded, and passed to deny two incomplete

requests from the May 7th Meeting.

o A motion was made, seconded, and passed to have a meeting late August

so that legislators have the opportunity to submit requests to repurpose

funding projects that may not be approved at the August 6th meeting.

III. NEW BUSINESS

• Fund Status

o The Committee reviewed the current fund status. Pending approval of July

completed projects and requests submitted as of July 8 for the August

meeting, the remaining balance of the fund is $722,017.86.

• July COVID-19 Completed Projects

o A motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve 10 completed

COVID-19 projects, totaling $71,000.00.

• Non-Permissible Requests

o A motion was made, seconded and passed to deem 1 project not

permissible under the legislation, totaling $5,000.00.

• Non-Permissible Letters

o Amy Leslie provided information to the Committee regarding a delegate

request for a letter to be sent regarding a project deemed non-permissible.

After discussion, the Committee decided to reconvene on this topic at the

August 6th Committee Meeting.

• Representative Scott’s Cancellation Request

o Oxmoor Neighborhood Association - $24,500.00

▪ After discussion, a motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve

Representative Scott’s cancellation request contingent upon

administrators receiving confirmation that the recipient can no longer

use the funds for the approved project.

• Representative Alexander’s Cancellation Requests

o Oxmoor Neighborhood Association - $20,000.00


Representative Alexander’s cancellation request contingent upon



o Alabama Stem Education - $10,000.00





o Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office - $10,000.00





o Cornerstone Revitalization Foundation - $25,000.00





IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

• No comments were taken from members of the public.

V. ADJOURNMENT

• Ms. Amamoo adjourned the meeting at 4:12 PM.

SUMMARY

JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE August 6, 2020

I. CALL TO ORDER

• Opening Remarks – Gwen Amamoo • Ms. Amamoo called the meeting to order at 2:05 PM. All Committee

members were present except Ms. Samuetta Drew who joined the call minutes later.

• Agenda • Ms. Amamoo suggested approving the agenda for the August 6th meeting with

one edit: changing the order of business to be conducted so that public comments would be held before the Committee discusses Old Business. A motion was made, seconded and the Committee voted to approve the agenda with this change.

• Approval of minutes from the July 9, 2020 Committee meeting

• A motion was made and seconded for the minutes to be approved. The Committee voted to approve the minutes from July 9, 2020.

II. PUBLIC COMMENTS • Ms. Amamoo called on Representative Alexander for comments.

o Representative Alexander expressed concerns regarding her pending cancellation requests and asked that the Committee not view new funding allocations or issue any checks until concerns have been addressed. Rick Stotser, the Committee’s legal counsel suggested that a meeting be held that would include: a Committee member, a representative from United Way, and Representative Alexander so the situation could be resolved. A motion was made, seconded and approved to move forward with scheduling the meeting as Mr. Stotser suggested.

III. OLD BUSINESS

• Cancellation Request Update • Administrators communicated that Oxmoor Neighborhood Association

confirmed to Administrators in writing that they could not use the funds for the Committee approved project, and they did confirm the cancellation for Representative Scott’s requests.

• Neighborhood Association Memo • The Committee’s legal counsel discussed a memo previously sent to the

Committee regarding Neighborhood Associations: communities vs. neighborhood associations and options for processing funds for Neighborhood Associations.

• After discussion, a motion was made to distribute funding requests directly to incorporated neighborhood associations but require funds going

to unincorporated neighborhood associations to continue to go through the City of Birmingham. This motion was seconded and passed.

• Non-Permissible Letters • The Committee discussed providing legislators the option of

Administrators sending recipients notification that a project was found to be non-permissible at the legislator’s request. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to offer this option to legislators.

IV. NEW BUSINESS

• Review outstanding funding requests • Review of complete requests

• Ms. Amy Leslie presented the current completed requests. There were 154 completed requests totaling $1,257,386.80.

• A motion was made and seconded to approve the current completed projects. The Committee voted to approve the completed projects.

• Review of incomplete requests • Ms. Leslie presented the current incomplete requests. There were 7

requests totaling $48,500.00. Ms. Leslie reviewed the specific documentation that was missing from each request.

• A motion was made and seconded to approve the incomplete projects contingent upon administrators receiving the necessary missing documentation by August 13th. The Committee voted to approve the incomplete projects contingent upon administrators receiving the noted documentation by August 13th.

• Review of potentially non-permissible requests • Ms. Leslie presented the current requests that administrators found

to be potentially non-permissible requests. There were 9 potentially non-permissible requests totaling $44,000.00.

• Representative Givan’s potentially non-permissible requests were discussed. A motion was made and seconded to table voting on these requests and instructed administrators to communicate to Representative Givan, with Ms. Amamoo, regarding amending her request to go directly to specific neighborhood associations as the Committee found communities to be non-permissible under the legislation. This motion was passed.

• A motion was made, seconded and passed to deem the other 7 projects non-permissible. Mr. Paden was absent during this vote.

• Current Fund Status • Ms. Leslie reviewed the current status of the fund as noted below:

• Scheduling next Committee meeting • A motion was made, seconded, and passed to schedule the final 2019-

2020 Committee meeting for August 27th at 10am. • Discussion of Administrator & Legal 2020-2021 Fees

• A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the 2020-2021 Administrative & Legal Fees.

• Committee Meeting Schedule for 2020-2021 • A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the 2020-2021

meeting schedule. 2020-2021 Funding Year Introduction Presentation

• 2020-2021 Kick Off Meeting • Administrators communicated to the Committee that they will work with

Representative Faulkner to schedule a 2020-2021 funding year kick off for the Legislators. This will be conducted remotely.

V. ADJOURNMENT • Ms. Amamoo adjourned the meeting at 4:05 PM.

This is not to be considered official minutes for the August 6, 2020 Committee meeting as they have not been approved by the Committee, this is a summary to comply with Covid-19 Alabama Open Meetings Guidelines.

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