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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 12/02/2013 - MINS 12 02 13 REG (Migrated from Optiview)Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page I of 11 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 ofthe Milton City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Meetings are audio and video recorded. The Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on December 2, 2013 at 6:00 PM, Mayor Joe Lockwood presiding. INVOCATION Pastor Jeff Kane, C3 Church, Milton, Georgia CALL TO ORDER Mayor Joe Lockwood called the meeting to order. ROLLCALL Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Thurman, Councilmember Kunz, Councilmember Lusk, Councilmember Hewitt, Councilmember Moruig, and Councilmember Longoria. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROV AL OF MEETING AGENDA (Agenda Item No. 13-279) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Lusk moved to approve the Meeting Agenda with the following changes: • Add an Executive Session to discuss land acquisition and lease negotiations. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). PUBLIC COMMENT Patricia Fredlund, 320 Stonehill Point, Milton, Georgia 30004 I am speaking in regards to the nine acres located on Bethany and Cogburn. A year ago, when the process began, I knew nothing about the situation. I wish I did not know what I know now. I do not trust any of you and the process by what has happened. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 2 of 11 I have contributed , participated, showed up, listened and things were half way presented to each of the different committees. I've had various people tell me different things. We were first told stakeholders, but no one could give us a description of a stakeholder. So, we were told we were stakeholders but then I was told by her (points to Kathy Field) to only invite a small amount of people so we would not have a big discussion. Well , that is not fair. I don't represent anyone but myself. In meeting with the mediator that you hired , he represented you and the opposing landowner. He did not represent us fairly. He brought nothing to the table except what the landowner wanted to do. We talked to him about the different things he could do with the property. They aren't considering doing the 95 bed nursing home but they are considering the 28 new homes. There were supposed to be 14-17 meetings but there were only four. Since the meetings, things that have been said have not been truly represented. I don't feel like you have had the opportunity to really speak with us. You stepped away from the process because it was difficult and you brought in a mediator. I don't think he did his job. I spoke at each of the meetings and said that I did not represent anyone but myself. I was not in favor of the nursing home but I am still not happy with the 28 homes they want to build. Since the negotiations of the four meetings, the value of the homes have gone down, the square footage of the homes have gone down, but that was discussed by two different people and two different numbers were given. It started with the process of the community coming together to voice that they did not want commercial use on the property. The community spoke but you didn ' t want to deal with the difficulties of one landowner who claimed hardship. He bought the property hoping to turn around and make a quick buck . He got screwed by the economy, I'm sorry, I got screwed too. I'm unemployed, I have a child in college, I have a brother who is dying and has no insurance and I am helping to pay for his medical bills. I have another brother who served this country and can't get a job and now lives with me. I've got a hardship; do you want to take that into consideration? By allowing the developer to build what they are planning to build, it will directly affect the value of my home and my neighbors. I wish you would listen to everybody and consider the community, not just one person, and not what the Good ' Ole Boy Club discusses privately. I ask that you include all of us. I have circled around all of you this past year, socially and in meetings, and I am not impressed by you. I will not vote for any of you again. William L. Colvin, 11080 Old Roswell Road, Suite 103E, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 I 've been an attorney for about 22 years. I started representing Mr. Adams a couple of years ago and, quite honestly, he would not listen to me. I am a problem solver, not a problem creator. Since Mr. Lucas reviewed the property on November 18 th , Mr. Adams has made some significant progress. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 3 of II This is a grave situation. I realize that you and your predecessors have had to deal with this issue for a long time. Mr. Adams and I are communicating well now and things are happening. One of your photos shows a travel trailer which was blocked by a pile of sand probably 15 feet by 75 feet wide. Mr. Adams wants to use this sand for weed control. He has a vision of a wheelchair garden and his wife, Mrs. Green, has been pennitted since the 1970's to grow plants and possess related gardening and landscape materials. I certainly agree that these materials are in excess and there has been significant accumulation over the years. The sand in front of the travel trailer has been leveled. Mr. Adams told me this evening that the trailer will be removed within the next day or two. There is a bulldozer on the property that Mr. Adams has told me would be sold for scrap this week. I realize this situation has been going on a long time. I have only been involved about 60 days. I have been representing Mr. Adams and Mrs. Green on criminal proceedings in the Milton Municipal Court as well as the civil proceeding from Mr. Jarrard's office, the abatement action, which has been successfully resolved. We allowed the city inspectors to inspect the property and Mr. Adams has worked directly with Wade Green, Chief Building Inspector, to get the building into compliance. That abatement action was dismissed. I am not asking for more time for Mr. Adams without letting you know that improvements have been made within the last 60 days. I believe you have seen more results and cooperation within the past few days than you probably have in the last eight years. Mrs. Green has some medical issues that I am trying to help with as well. There is a lot of work to do in a lot of different areas. I just wanted you to know that I am still Mr. Adams' attorney today and I will continue to be his attorney on Friday when we go before the court on the criminal charge. I would appreciate any considerations you could give Mr. Adams. Thank you. Mayor Lockwood I think the council was generous and it just happened to be logistical when Mr. Adams asked for 30 more days that, even though we were pursing the process, it would take us at least 30 more days. It seems to me that Mr. Adams waited until the last minute to make any effort regarding this situation. We are not trying to bring someone else in and cost Mr. Adams and Mrs. Green any money but this has been going on for years now. William Colvin That was my concern as well. Mr. Adams has made it very clear that he is the only income source. Unfortunately, Mrs. Green does not provide any financial assistant and she has the ability to do so. He is frustrated that she won't help him deal with this situation. At the same time, he is respectful of her decision. So, part of the problem in resolving this situation is that Mr. Adams has not had the funds to do so . He has now contracted with an individual who has helped him make the progress that he has made in the last two weeks. He has traded some of the equipment with this individual as payment. So, this individual will soon take possession of some of the equipment that has contributed to this problem. Certainly, this has occurred at the last minute. However, Mr. Adams' perspective has changed tremendously and it has been impacted by Mrs. Green's mental status. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 4 of II Councilmember Hewitt Has the progress happened in the past 30 days that we hoped would happen? Ken Jarrard, City Attorney Yes, one of the things that had to happen during the 30 days is that we had to petition the Superior Court for an order and I wasn't sure how long that would take. The order has been issued. Mr. Colvin has sent a letter to the court objecting but, otherwise indicating that they wanted a chance to respond. Mr. Adams and Mrs. Green's position is that the order was entered prematurely before they had an opportunity to respond. I suspect the judge will want to hear from the city and from Mr. Colvin again even though we have the order. Councilmember Hewitt As long as this issue has been dragging on, I don't think any "gun has been jumped." Councilmember Thurman The ultimate goal here is to get the property cleaned up. I don't really care who cleans it up but we have given Mr. Adams seven years to clean it up and the property has gotten worse, not better, during those seven years. Do you honestly believe that if you were given 30 days the property could get cleaned up to our satisfaction? William Colvin I do not think the property can be completely cleaned-up in 30 days whether Mr. Adams spent every day cleaning up or a contractor. I think it will take more than 30 days to clean up the property. I can tell you that I believe there will be much more significant progress made now in that he can access the big pieces of equipment. My guess is that it would take Mr. Adams about three months of a very good effort to get the property cleaned up. It would probably take a contractor 45-60 days. Mayor Lockwood Ken, what kind of timeframe are we talking about? City Attorney Jarrard We are certainly going to spend more money on this issue whether in the proceedings in front of the judge or the clean-up. Mr. Colvin worked with the city in respect to the structure which is why the city did not have to go forward with the abatement of that nuisance. It may be critical, at this point, to set up a timeframe in which things need to happen. For example, these things need to be removed by this date, etc. Mayor Lockwood I am open to some type of timeframe and our staff monitoring how much work is actually getting done, however, I cannot speak for the council. Councilmember Longoria Part of our challenge is establishing objective criteria on the progress of the clean-up. As long as there is substantial progress, I think we should continue to offer Mr. Adams some type of opportunity to continue to make progress. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6 :00 pm Page 5 of 11 Councilmember Lusk I agree with Councilmember Longoria but I think we need to define what "real progress" is. This has been going on for seven years and, of course, we don't want it to go on for another seven more. We need to establish what "real progress" is by establishing a reasonable schedule and adhering to it. I don't think we need to address this issue every 30 days for the next seven years continuing to talk about the same thing. Mayor Lockwood It is not the responsibility of the council to establish a reasonable schedule. Staff needs to establish a fairly strict but reasonable schedule with timelines, etc. City Manager Lagerbloom We have been looking for progress on this issue for seven years and we have not seen it yet. I appreciate stories of people who have finally "seen the light"; however, we have citizens that have to drive past this site and live next to it and it is an absolute disaster. We have spent an extraordinary amount of tax dollars on the property, we have the orders we need to go in and fix this situation, and we need to keep moving forward. We have been waiting for progress for seven years. It hasn't happened and it is not going to happen. We have the court orders to move forward and we need to move forward. CounciJmember Kunz I agree that staff needs to establish what "real progress" is and determine if "real progress" is being made. Having the situation resolved as quickly as possible makes the most sense. City Manager Lagerbloom That is part of the problem of observing progress, we lose a boat and we get a trailer; we lose two jet skis and you get a camper. Every time something leaves the property, something comes back in its place. Does the stuff get moved around and does it look different? Yes, but we have looked at this public nuisance for long enough. We exercised some self-help options and the court has seen it our way and we need to keep moving forward. Councilmember Lusk There must be some legal precedence for operating an illegal landfill but I think that is what we have here. Mayor Lockwood There is some legal timeline that we can 't move forward but I would send the message to Mr. Adams that during those two weeks, 30 days, or whatever that legal timeline is, if he makes a huge difference maybe Mr. Colvin can come back and report to us on the progress that has been made. Our staff and council might think differently. Mr. Adams may want to use this time to make a huge difference and if progress has not been made then we need to move forward. Councilmember Hewitt Ken, I would like to know whenever you are comfortable with us moving forward. Whenever that is, I would like to request that we have access to the property to see what progress is being made. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 6 of 11 William Colvin First of all, I do not tell stories. I went to the property this evening and progress has been made. If Mr. Lucas will meet me at the property first thing tomorrow morning, I'll show him exactly what I have reported to you tonight. But, you are exactly right. There needs to be a progress schedule. That is one of the frustrations I have as well. I don't know when things are going to happen either. City Manager Lagerbloom This court order exists. It contains a list of the items that can be seized and sold according to the auction requirements of the state and which items have to be disposed of in accordance of the law. So, there is a list that exists that indicates what is out of compliance and how it can be disposed of by the city. My suggestion is that if you want to give some more time to Mr. Adams, then take the list and in the next fifteen days, 25% of the items on the list need to be off the property. In the following fifteen days then another 25% of the items must be off the property. That is a very easy way to monitor the clean-up. Individual items are listed by number so I could easily go to the property and for example if I see a bicycle or a jet ski on the property then I can look at the list and indicate that those items have not been removed. If25% of the items have been removed within the next fifteen days then we can go into the following fifteen days. This would be working toward substantial compliance. Councilmember Mohrig Does Mr. Adams understand that ifhe removes an item from the property that he cannot bring another item onto the property? William Colvin I'm not sure he understands that. I will make sure he understands your concern about that. I think the fifteen day/25% idea is a great idea. I would like to speak to Mr. Jarrard about the items that are on the list. Mr. Adams and Mrs. Green have a valid permit for construction materials to be on the property. I want to make sure that some of the items that are allowed on the property are not on that list. Mayor Lockwood While we are waiting on the court, we will let you move forward in the next two weeks with making progress to clean up this property. Staff will report back to us on the progress of this clean up. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approval of the November 13,2013 Special Called Regular City Council Meeting Minutes. (Allcndll Item No . 13-280) (Sudie Gordon, City Clerk) 2. Approval of the November 18,2013 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes. (AK~ndo ltelm No. 13 -281) (Sudie Gordon, City Clerk) Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 7 of 11 3. Approval of a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Milton and Blount Construction, Inc. for Sidewalk & Curb Replacement at Deerfield Parkway, Webb Road, Morris Road, Fire Station #43 and Wyndham Farms Subdivision. (Agenda Item No . 13-282) (Carter Lucas, Public Works Director) 4. Approval of an Agreement between the Georgia Department of Transportation and the City of Milton for Transportation Facility Improvements of Multi-Use Trail Connection to Big Creek Greenway Scoping and Concept Study. (Agenda Item No. 13-283) (Carter Lucas, Public Works Director) 5. Approval of a Construction Services Agreement between the City of Milton and TriScapes, Inc. for Storm water Pipe Repair on Bethany Road. (Agenda Item No . 13-284) (Carter Lucas, Public Works Director) 6. Consideration of the Approval of Canine Program Implementation Agreement. (Agenda Item No . 13-285) (Sam Trager, Human Resources Director) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Thurman moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS 1. Recognition and Presentation of Milton "Five" Year Anniversary Service Award Pins. (Presented by Mayor Joe Lockwood) FIRST PRESENTATION 1. Consideration ofRZ13-16NC13-06 -Northeast Comer of Bethany Bend and Cogburn Road by Arrowhead Real Estate Partners, LLC to Rezone from AG-1 (Agricultural) to NUP (Neighborhood Unit Plan) to Develop 28 Single Family Residences at a Density of 3.08 Units Per Acre and to Request the Following Concurrent Variance: To Reduce the Interior Building Separation from 14 Feet to 10 Feet for the Entire Development [Sec. 64-921 (k)]. (Agenda Item No. 13-286) (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) 2. Consideration of U13-03/U13-07 -13440 Cogburn Road by St. Francis Day School, Inc. for a Use Permit (Sec. 64-1831) to Increase the Area of the School and the Total Square Footage from 92,616 Square Feet to 109,116 Square Feet that Includes a Practice Gym and Two Maintenance Buildings. A Two-Part Concurrent Variance for the Following: 1) Buildings Shall be Set Back More Than 30 Feet from the Edge of the Required Landscape Strip or Easements [Sec. 64­ 1145(3)(b)]. 2) Buildings Shall Not be Oriented to a Public Street [Sec. 64-1145(2)(a)]. (Agenda Item No . 13-287) (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2,2013 at 6 :00 pm Page 8 of 11 3. Consideration ofU13-04NC13-04 -13895 Hopewell Road by leffRunner for a Use Permit to Use the Existing House and Approximately Five Acres for a Special Event Facility (Sec. 64­ 1812). A Four-Part Concurrent Variance for the Following: 1) To Delete the 8 Foot High Opaque Fence Along the South Property Line [Sec . 64-1812 (b)(2)]. 2) To Delete the 75 Foot Undisturbed Buffer and 10 Foot Improvement Setback Along All Property Lines [Sec. 64­ 1141(3)(b)]. 3) To Delete the Three Year Period Requirement [Sec. 64-1812(b)(6)]. 4) To Allow Access from a Local Street [Sec. 64-1812(b)(1)]. (Alltindn Item Nu, lJ ·188) (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Lusk moved to approve the First Presentation Items. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). PUBLIC HEARING (None) ZONING AGENDA (None) UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Consideration of an Ordinance Reaffirming and Establishing Chapter 46 of the Milton Code of Ordinances Governing Solid Waste Collection Services Within the City of Milton; Providing for the Scope and Nature of the Operation; Providing for the Disposal of Garbage , Solid Waste and Refuse, Requiring the Execution by Service Providers of a Non-Exclusive Agreement with the City of Milton; Providing Procedures for the Handling of Complaints; Providing for an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee; Requiring Indemnity Insurance; Providing for Revocation and Amendment; Prohibiting Assigrunent and Subletting Without Consent; Providing for Forfeiture; and for Making Other Provisions. (AKclldn Itern No. 13 273) ORDINANCE NO. 13 -12 -191 (First Presentation at November 18, 2013 Regular Council Meeting) (Cindy Eade, Sustainability Coordinator) Cindy Eade, Sustainability Coordinator I am here to ask for your approval of the reaffirmation of our Solid Waste Ordinance. There have not been any major changes this year. Things have been going smoothly with our solid waste haulers, for the most part. We do get occasional complaints which are taken care of quickly. The infrastructure maintenance fee has been fairly timely this year so everyone is fairly current at this point. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2,2013 at 6:00 pm Page 9 of II We need this reaffinnation in order to move forward with a new contract with the haulers which is a statement of the ordinance. We ask them to sign the letter stating that they are in agreement with the tenns of the ordinance and then that becomes the contract that we have with the haulers. Councilmember Longoria Are we extending the contract to all of our waste haulers? Has anyone been problematic to the point that we will not renew their contract? Cindy Eade I cannot say that we have experienced a perfect record with all of our waste haulers. I probably receive one complaint about every two weeks about a hauler. It may be that they are picking up earlier than the ordinance allows or, maybe they are not doing recycling like they are supposed to, etc. I receive fairly minor complaints. So, generally the waste hauler indicates that they will fix the problem and I don't hear back from the resident so, for the most part, any issues are handled immediately. Councilmember Longoria Have we had any issues with the fees associated with the pennits? Cindy Eade Everything has been okay with that issue. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Hewitt moved to approve Agenda Item No. 13-273. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). NEW BUSINESS (None) MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmember Lusk I wanted to comment on the Consent Agenda item that we passed tonight which is the agreement with GDOT. This involves Milton connecting to the Big Creek Greenway. This agreement provides $200,000 in funding from GDOT along with a $50,000 match from the city. We are going to also try to get some funding from Alpharetta to help supplement the agreement. Hopefully, in the next couple of years we can start construction which will be approximately eight miles in Alpharetta, a couple of miles in Roswell, and ultimately about 15 miles in Forsyth County. It will serve a lot of people. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 10 of 11 STAFF REPORTS Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager We have an update tonight in the Justin Adams case. So, I will tum the presentation over to Carter Lucas for an update. Carter Lucas, Public Works Director About 30 days ago , we approved a contract with Dinsmore Grading to clean up the Justin Adams property on Cogburn Road. At that point, Mr. Adams asked for a 30 day extension to allow him some time to clean up his property . We wanted to give you an update since that 30 day extension. We did an extensive walk through with the contractor on November 18 th . In front of you are some photos from that observation. At that time, the only thing that had been removed was a boat and a couple of jet skis. The remainder of the property was in the same condition that we had seen before. We did a drive-by today to see if there had been substantial progress on the site since the 18 th , and from the road, there had been no significant changes that we could see. Mr. Adams' attorney is here tonight and he has indicated that in the back of the property some of the rock has been removed and plans to remove some of the equipment from the site have been made. We would leave the rock on site for landscape use on the property. The remainder of the equipment on the site would be removed. The contractor is on hold waiting from a notice from us to proceed with the clean-up. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion and Vote: Council member Longoria moved to go into Executive Session to discuss land acquisition and lease negotiations at 7: 14 p.m. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). RECONVENE Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to reconvene the Regular Meeting at 7 :59 p.m . Council member Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm Page 11 of 11 ADJOURNMENT (Agenda Item No. 13-289) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8 :00 p.m. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). After no further discussion the Regular Council Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Date Approved: December 16 , 2013. Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk STATE OF GEORGIA ) ) AFFIDAVIT RE: CLOSURE OF COUNTY OF FULTON ) OPEN MEETINGS ) CITY OF MILTON ) Personally appeared before the undersigned officer, duly authorized under the laws of the State of Georgia to administer oaths, JOE LOCKWOOD, who in his capacity as Mayor and the person presiding over a Council meeting of the CITY OF MILTON, and after being first duly sworn, certifies under oath and states to the best of his knowledge and belief the following: At a Regularly Scheduled City Council Meeting held on December 2, 2013, at 6:00 PM the Council voted to go into closed session and exclude the public from all or a portion of its meeting. The legal exceptions applicable to the exempt matters addressed during such closed meeting are as follows: [Check or initial as appropriate] 1. X discussion or voting to authorize negotiations to purchase, dispose of, or lease property; authorizing the ordering of an appraisal related to the acquisition or disposal of real estate; entering into contract to purchase, to dispose of, or lease property subject to approval in a subsequent public vote; or entering into an option to purchase, dispose of, or lease real estate subject to approval in a subsequent public vote pursuant to O.CO.A, 50-14-3(b)(l)(B-E); 2. discussing or deliberating upon the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the executive head of the city with the vote on any such matter coming in public pursuant to O.CO.A. 50-14-3(b)(2); 3. attorney/client privilege in order to consult and meet with legal counsel pertaining to pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings or other judicial actions brought or to be brought by or against the agency or any officer or employee or in which the agency or any officer or employee may be directly involved, pursuant to O .CO.A. 50-14-2(1). 4. other (explanation): I certify that the subject matter of the closed meeting or the closed portion of the meeting was devoted to matters of official business or policy, with the exceptions provided by law as set forth above. MAYORJOE~OOD Notary Public " u, ..•'•..•...O~ ,'" '"'' "'lTv G€ \",My Commission Expires: """,',,,'\\\