HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 07/08/2013 - MINS 07 08 13 WS (Migrated from Optiview)Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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This summary is provided as a convenience and service to the public, media, and staff. It is not the
intent to transcribe proceedings verbatim. Any reproduction of this summary must include this notice.
Public comments are noted and heard by Council, but not quoted. This document includes limited
presentation by Council and invited speakers in summary form. This is an official record of the Milton
City Council Meeting proceedings. OffiCial Meetings are audio and video recorded.
The Work Session of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on July 8, 2013 at 6:00
PM.
Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Matt Kunz, Councilmember Karen Thunnan, and
Councilmember Burt Hewitt.
Councilmembers Absent: Councilmember Joe Longoria, Council member Lance Large, and
Council member Bill Lusk.
Mayor Joe Lockwood:
• Work Sessions are an informal setting to update Council on business items.
• No votes will be taken during these sessions.
• There are three (3) items on our Agenda tonight.
• Public comment is allowed that is germane to an Agenda Item.
• If you wish to speak you are required to fill out a comment card and turn it into the City Clerk
staff.
• Public comment will be allowed for a total of 10 minutes per agenda item and no more than 2
minutes per person.
• Public comment will be heard at the beginning of each Item.
• Once the item is called, no other comment cards will be accepted.
Sudie Gordon, City Clerk, read Agenda Item #1.
1. Discussion of City Board/Commission/Committee Selection Process.
(Chris Lagerbloom. City Manager)
Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager:
This is the first of many discussions we will have on how our City Boards and Commissions are
selected .
However, I am asking that you do not give me any direction tonight on how to move forward with this
process since that would be in direct violation of our City Charter.
Later in the year, sometime around August, you will be allowed to make changes to the Charter under
the Home Rule Provision Georgia Law.
There is a very specific set of advertising criteria that we have to go through over a period of 60 days to
be able to make the public hearings and the changes to the Charter valid.
I would hope that one of the changes that you will make to the Charter is that it does not specify how
Boards and Committees are appointed .
It is perfectly acceptable to have ordinances that reflect the way that Boards and Committees are
appointed; however, it is too restrictive when a Charter dictates those actions.
Work Session of the Milton City Counci I
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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Tonight, we would like to focus on some of the reasons why people want to serve on these boards, what
makes a good committee member, and how other jurisdictions select their board members.
We found some academic research on why cities use these boards, what their intended purposes are and
what qualities ensure a successful board member.
It is very helpful if a board member has a skill or some knowledge of the type of board they will serve
on.
Typically, most people want to serve on a board because they want to be involved in their community.
Most of the boards we have are advisory boards.
We asked several cities how they go about obtaining board and committee members.
There are many different ways that members are selected.
Some cities advertise vacant board positions, council members appoint members, mayors select the
candidate from a list, etc.
One way we could change our selection process would be for interested individuals to complete an
informal application that we would keep on file.
This would provide us with an "applicant pool" to select from when an opening occurs.
Mayor Lockwood:
I like the way we are currently appointing board and committee members.
Now that the districts have changed and are larger, council members should now have a bigger pool of
individuals to choose from.
I think we could keep the process we have and maybe adjust it a little for certain boards and committees
that we may be having a difficult time finding qualified candidates.
Councilmember Kunz:
I agree that now that the districts are bigger, we have a larger group of citizens to choose from to appoint
to certain boards.
However, I like the "at-large" appointments.
Mayor Lockwood:
My only concern about opening up appointments "city-wide" or "at-large" is that, potentially, the
majority of our board members might invariably come from one section or subdivision of the city which
would not be an equal representation of our citizens.
Councilmember Hewitt:
I like the way we select members now; however, sometimes it is difficult to find a truly qualified
candidate for a specific board in your district.
Maybe in certain situations, appointments could be made "at-large."
I like the idea of keeping interested candidates on file for a year.
It is certainly nice to have people on each board that have experience in the particular field of the board;
however, for example, I don't think we would want to have seven architects on the Design and Review
Board. We need a variety of input and ideas from board members.
I don't have a problem paying board members for their time.
Maybe $25-50 dollars per member and also pay for any training that may be required.
Councilmember Thurman:
I agree that the rules and regulations for selecting board and committee members should not be a part of
our charter.
Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6 :00 pm
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I like the idea of having a pool of letters available to choose from as long as the applicants know that
they mayor may not be selected.
I do not like the idea of advertising for an open board position.
I do think it is a good idea to have a few people on each board that are professionally trained in the
particular area of expertise to ensure that the intent of the board is fulfilled.
We need an accountability factor as a part of the agreement with a board member who accepts a
position; therefore, some type of standard needs to be established about meeting attendance and how
many excused absences is acceptable.
I think that providing a nominal fee for serving on a board will help individuals look at the position
more as ajob and not just as volunteer work.
Mayor Lockwood:
The council needs to take responsibility for ensuring that each board is equipped with well-qualified
individuals. That issue needs to be taken into consideration when nominating a person to be on a board.
The council needs to look at the board as a whole and determine what type of qualifications are needed
that will benefit the board .
Councilmember Thurman:
I think that each board member should have to complete a certain number of hours of training. Each
board member should be aware of the purpose of the board they are serving on and the rules and
regulations that pertain to that board.
City Manager Lagerbloom:
We set aside funds each year for training for board members.
Those funds will pay for internal and external training.
If there are a certain number of people available for training, then we can bring training in-house so
individuals will not have to travel.
Sudie Gordon, City Clerk, read Agenda Item #2.
I. An Ordinance To Amend Chapter 54, Telecommunications Sections 54-3, 54-5(A), 54-6(f), 54
7(a)(1), and 54-7(a)(2) to Include the Definition of "Modification(s)", to Revise Maximum
Telecommunication Tower Heights, and to Provide for an Expedited Variance Process.
(Ken Jarrard, City Attorney)
Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager:
This is the procedural requirement for bringing a text amendment forward.
It needs to appear in a work session . .
This is the ordinance that will come forward next Monday night to seek to amend the
telecommunications ordinance.
We had a telecommunications application previously submitted which highlighted some things in our
code which would not necessarily allow us to do what would be practical and reasonable.
That issue was to incentivize co-location.
Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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It is very common to increase coverage where gaps or deficiencies exist.
You can look at towers that already exist and detennine what could be done to adapt that tower to meet
our needs; therefore, eliminating the need to construct another tower.
We have put safeguards in place to ensure that some of the issues that can cause towers to be offensive
are not acceptable.
One of the offensive attributes is when cell towers flash at night; however, this only occurs when a cell
tower is more than 200 feet high so we have limited the height of an acceptable tower in Milton to less
than 200 feet.
We added language to agree to an additional 30% increase in height as long as the FAA flashing light
height requirement is not met.
Today, our ordinance states a maximum cell tower height of 150 feet.
If a 30% height increase is added to 150 feet then the maximum allowed height would be 195 feet.
However, if the 195 feet mandates the FAA lighting requirement, then the lesser height requirement
would be accepted by the city.
We have added language that if the cell tower that already exists is a stealth type tower then we would
like for it to be replaced with new and better stealth technology.
We would like the end result to be for our citizens to have good cell phone coverage without having to
construct any new towers in the City of Milton.
Councilmember Thurman:
I fully support finding ways to utilize existing towers instead of having to construct new towers.
Sudie Gordon, City Clerk, read Agenda Item #3.
3. Discussion of an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 10, Buildings and Building Regulations, to
Provide for Enforcement of Certain Applicable Codes Relative to the Safe Use of Real Property
in Accordance with Georgia Law; to Repeal any Conflicting Provisions; and for Other Purposes.
(Ken Jarrard, City Attorney)
Ken Jarrard, City Attorney:
This is a proposed and recommended ordinance modification.
There are some events going on in Milton that are making it necessary to make these modifications.
The purpose of this is to ensure that any properties in the City of Milton that may contain structures that
are not suitable for human habitation are dealt with.
Our police department has the power to take action with respect to properties that are no longer safe for
humans to live in.
In the course of reviewing our city codes, we detennined that we needed to modify Chapter 10 with
respect to buildings and building regulations to ensure that it is consistent with the Georgia statute.
The Georgia statute clearly states how city's identify a piece of property that contains a structure that is
unfit for human habitation, how to investigate the structure, place the property owner on notice, bring a
complaint to the municipal court, if action is not taken, and have a hearing and receive relief.
We wanted to ensure that the City of Milton's ordinance emulates the Georgia statue almost verbatim.
This is essentially a housekeeping issue that is warranted at this time.
Work Session of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm
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The objective of the City of Milton is not to have people tear down their homes but that they must have,
at the very least, the minimum standards for a structure to be fit for human habitation.
We want compliance with the law.
We want people to be safe in their homes.
Councilmember Thurman:
Will this ordinance also apply to homes that have been foreclosed upon but are not currently being lived
in?
City Attorney Jarrard:
Yes, however, we have to let aJl interested stakeholders of a property be aware of its condition prior to
taking any legal action so they have a change to bring the structure in compliance with code.
After no further discussion, the Work Session adjourned at 6:56 p.m.
Date Approved: July 15,2013.
Joe LOCkwQ