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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 02/09/2015 - MINS 02 09 15 WS (Migrated from Optiview)Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00 pm Page I of32 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 s ummary form . Thi s is an official record of the Milton City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Mee tings are audio and video recorded. The Work Session of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on February 9, 2015 at 6:00PM, Mayor Joe Lockwood, presiding. Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Karen Thurman, Councilmember Bill Lusk, Councilmember Matt Kunz , Councilmember Burt Hewitt , Councilmember Joe Longoria, and Councilmember Rick Mohrig. 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 four (4) 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 1 0 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. Agenda Item #1 was read. 1. Update on Milton Connection to Big Creek Greenway Concept Study. (Sara Leaders, Tran sportation Eng in eer) Sara Leaders, Transportation Engineer We started this project about ten months ago which is an update to the Milton connection to the Big Creek Greenway . In 2014 , Milton was awarded Transportation Alternative Programs funding which is known as TAP funding. This funding was to be used to develop a concept study for connection from Milton to the Big Creek Greenway. We have partnered with the City of Alpharetta as well as the North Fulton Community Improvement District. The goal of the project is to enhance the alternative transportation and recreation options available to citizens , businesses and visitors in the area. This project has been identified in the past in several planning documents and demonstrates a regional significance and importance to the area. It was first identified in the Milton Comprehensive Transportation Plan as well as the North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan, the GA 9 Livable Centers Initiative Study, and the North Fulton CID Blueprint 2.0 . This project provides an opportunity Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00 pm Page 2 of32 for Projects Partners to develop and implement a plan that makes this connection a reality. Our consultant on this project is Stantec and Andrew Kore will give us a presentation on the project. Andrew Kore, Assistant Project Manager, Stantec Consulting We have been working with Milton for the past ten months. This is an exciting project because it is a win-win for everyone . Our first and most important effort to this project is the collaborative effort we are putting forth to expand the greenway. Most importantly , that Milton has a connection to the greenway. As you know, we have a barrier to the greenway which is GA 400. We want to strengthen the infrastructure of Milton as well as connect it to the Big Creek Greenway. This project involves several facets coming together. We have incorporated the work of transportation engineers , planners , landscape architects , tunnel engineer, etc. We have a very large and comprehensive group working on this project. We began the project by identifying where the existing sidewalks , multi-use trail systems , and the larger sidewalks which can accommodate bicycle s and pedestrians are located. We looked at where there were gaps in the system. Comparatively , Milton has a good sidewalk system already in place . We did not look at the entire City of Milton or the City of Alpharetta. The McGinnis-Ferry area is at the top of the area of detail going down to Webb Bridge Road. We looked at GA 400 and tried to determine the best place to cross over it. In addition , our team actuall y walked and rode bikes throughout the entire area so we are very familiar with it. We wanted to determine which areas were safe to walk versus bike. We also want to develop a very attractive natural area for people to enjoy. We like the eight foot sidewalks or multi-use paths as they are referred to. They are wide enough for pedestrians and bicyclists. We would like to use the multi-use paths that are already in place and retrofit or enhance them. We have to consider fire hydrants and water lines when developing the area. There are also utilities that are located in undeveloped areas and we have to take into consideration the buffering guidelines set by the city. All of these factors will affect our approach to implementing and funding this project. We have not made any major decisions yet regarding the project. We are still in the gathering data and discovery stage. We walked Highway 9 and it is one of the areas that may need sidewalks installed . One of the challenges that Milton has is the large area between intersections. In addition to looking at multi-use pathways, we also have to consider significant intersections and how they can be safely crossed given the distance from one side to the other. Another challenge that has to be taken into consideration is that the city has a large number of dedicated right-tum lanes which are required by code . After looking at all the data and research , we are at the point of determining the best course of action regarding various ideas to implement. We have put together an initial phasing plan to implement our ideas for connecting the Big Creek Greenway with Milton. This is not a final plan but the initial suggestion based upon our research to date. We looked at the major roads of traffic , the major areas of commerce , and areas where it is the safest to navigate the roads. The easiest path seems to be to follow Deerfield , cross over Webb Bridge Road , then cross over GA 400. We are looking at short term and long term alternatives to gain access to the Big Creek Greenway. We are also researching a way to cross in the middle of the project area so acces s would be conducive to all residents of Milton. It currently does not exist. We ideally want to get to Marconi Drive where there is currently a trail head. This is one of our logical connections. We have looked at numerous ways to cross GA 400 ; above and below. We have looked at creating a tunnel under GA 400 to gain access and bridge the gap. We have to evaluate the cost and liability that goes along with each idea we want to implement. There are about forty different criteria that have to be analyzed when building a tunnel. We also looked at an area further north where bridges could be built over GA 400. We are still evaluating all of our options. However , creating the bridges gives Milton an opportunity to let people know that they are in the City of Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 3 of32 Milton. The bridge could be a symbol that people could use to identify that they are in the city. By this summer , we will have a project identified to submit to the GDOT. We will also submit to the city the entire plan including the cost , prioritization plan and the next steps. At the end of March, we are anticipating having a public meeting/workshop and encourage all of you to attend. We want as many people as possible to join in the discussion. So , please get the word out to your constituents and encourage them to attend the meeting to engage in this very important endeavor. Agenda Item #2 was read. 2. Update on the Future of Milton 's Tackle Football Program. (Jim Cr egge, Parks & Recreation Dir ec tor) Jim Cregge, Parks and Recreation Director As historical background, when the city was formed in December 2006 , the only actual program that existed was Hopewell Baseball at Bell Memorial Park. Citizens that were playing football in Milton were playing at North Park at the Alpharetta Youth Football Associating program. At the time, about 48% of the participants consisted of Milton residents. In the spring of 2011 , the city attempted to create a flag football program with i9 Sports Company. It was an interesting model. The participants practiced for an hour and played for an hour which was all done in one day. The city had about sixty participants but the director at the time wanted something a little more competitive. We tried contracting with North Georgia Recreation for a football program for two years but it never produced a sufficient registration to have a successful program. In the summer of2014 , we contracted with New Found Life Youth Football League (NFL) and they put together a successful youth sports camp in which 33% of 115 participants were Milton residents. We started a flag football program this past fall with 35 residents out of a total of 42 participants. NFL also had its own separate tackle football program that was not sanctioned by the city. They were conducting this program on their own under the name Milton Steelers. They started with three teams and ended with two teams . Approximately two-thirds of the participants were Milton residents. In August 2014 , we started the construction of the new park which would produce two rectangular fields. From a program perspective , one of those synthetic turf fields will predominantly be used for boy 's lacrosse which is a very successful program. Then the question arose about a tackle football program provider. I asked our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to put together a football sub-committee to study the issue. I asked them to look at three different ways to do it which are: • Partner with A YF A • Partner with NFL • Create something in-house The sub-committee consists of Dave Duley , Ron Hill , and Scott Stachowski. They put a great amount of effort into this process. They immediately rejected the idea of creating an in-house program. It would put too much of a strain on our system. At the No vember 2014 meeting , the PRAB Advisory Board Subcommittee recommended to the entire Parks and Recreatio.n Board to contract with A YF A. At the conclusion of the meeting , it was suggested by both parties that there might be an opportunity to get the two programs put together. I was asked by the Advisory Board to pursue this as an option but recognized that they had chosen the AYFA as their first choice. Beginning in December 2014 , there Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 4 of32 was a series of private meetings held with individuals from NFL, Chris Lagerbloom , and myself. We also had private meetings with A YF A. We discussed the possibility of the two groups working together and at one point it seemed promising. On January 14 , 2015, we held a meeting with representatives from A YF A and NFL. Early into the meeting, it became apparent that the two groups were not going to be able to work together. Then, we asked the two groups about the possibility of the city supporting both programs. Both parties indicated that was an acceptable arrangement. We now have options and we would like your guidance on which way is best for the city. Our options are as follows: • • • • • • Create our own new program Partner with A YF A only Partner with NFL YFL only Partner with both A YF A and NFL YFL Partner with one, wait , then reassess the other Do not select a tackle football partner Below are the Pros and Cons of each option: Create Our Own New Program Pros • Ability to establish the "Milton" brand • Maximum control over the program Cons • The most expensive approach of all • Insufficient staff • Low probability of success • Would require partnerships with other programs to join a league Partner with A YF A only Pros • Supports the CoA -CoM parks agreement • Over 240 Milton residents already participating • Well established organization with over 30 years of operation • NFL Heads Up certified program • Provides a Cheerleading program • The recreation program is similar to HY A baseball Cons • No "Milton" branding • Program is being rebranded as North Atlanta Football League (NAFL) • Program revenues to CoM will be limited • A YF A's flag football (K & 1 st grade) could overlap with NFL YFL flag football program Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 5 of32 Partner with NFL YFL only Pros • NFL Heads Up certified program • Already operating in CoM and FCBoE schools • Already providing flag football programing and summer camps in Milton • Opportunity for "Milton" branding • Currently has 2 teams but is eager to grow. Cons • This is a new start up program • Organizational structure is lacking • Currently serves a much smaller group of CoM residents than A YF A Partner with both A YF A and NFL YFL Pros • • • • Cons • • • • Supports programs that CoM citizens are already using Supports CoA-CoM parks agreement Provides new participants options Provides a "Milton" branding opportunity and a non-branding opportunity Coordination of field space Possible citizen confusion Perceived risk to other program partners of competition for field space and participants There would be CoM fee structure challenges Partner with One, Wait, then Reassess the Other Pros • Gets the City started in Tackle Football programming . • Provides the opportunity to verify that there is field space available . Cons • Potential for disappointment to citizens participating in the program not selected. • Based upon the first choice , potential of risk to the COA-COM agreement of the loss of the initial opportunity for "Milton" branding PUBLIC COMMENT Scott Stachowski, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Member A lot of work went into this task. We had numerous hours of meetings and discussions with the various providers. In our mind , the issue boils down to three very simple things. 1) going back to the land acquisition of Bell Memorial Park ; it was acquired with the idea of expanding the park to enhance the opportunity to remove the "out of city fees " between the two cities. So , Milton citizens playing tackle football would not be subject to the "out of city fees " in Alpharetta. That was the first part of the agreement of acquiring the land . 2) the second item that concerns us that supported the recommendation Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday , February 9, 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 6 of32 that we made was that at this point we are sort of considering giving away field space to a second provider which we don 't even know if we have the field space to give away with the idea of letting the North Atlanta Football League come into the park and schedule out their field space; we don 't know that there is available time yet to be able to consider a second football provider. 3) most importantly , the history of exclusivity that existed in the partner provider programs. I have been in front of you many times speaking on behalf of Hopewell Baseball. We have talked about many numerous challenges and threats and I could assure you then and I can assure you now that if a second organization stood up and said they wanted to be the Yoga Provider, the Baseball Provider, in this case , the Football Provider, I would feel very strongly , and the Parks and Recreation Board does , that we should honor our commitment to the first provider. So , our support of the land acquisition and for the park , the issue of scheduling before we have even opened the park and then, lastly , our history of having exclusivity with our football program providers are the three criteria that sum up another 22 criteria that we evaluated when we made our recommendation. Alan Brock, 15036 Freemanville Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 My family and I have lived in Milton since 2008 . We are new to the Milton Steelers organization. We joined the organization last year. I consider the program an asset to the community. I was in the A YF A program for two years so I am familiar with them . The program is not just about football. There are life lessons that these young individuals will learn. It is about sportsmanship , honesty , integrity , fellowship with other people in your community, and most of all , safety for our kids. The program is an asset to the community. I think as a community we should help nurture the smaller program which I chose to be a part of. Let 's help grow the program so we have a Milton brand. There is a sense of pride when I can say that my child plays for the Milton Steelers . These kids will be playing high school football together. I think it is important to keep them together. Mark Hilderbrandt, 257 License Trail, Milton, Georgia 30004 I have been a coach at A YF A and I have helped Tim coach this program this past season. Both of the programs have great merits and I really want to encourage you to have both programs represent Milton. Everything we did as a team leading the kids was to teach them how to play the game of football in a safe way and everything was done for the betterment of the child to help them develop their character, have a great time , and build strong relationships. It was a challenging time. We had a large team to work with was great because the parent involvement was fantastic. We had roughly ten Dads that would come out to help us which allowed us to really focus on each child individually. We were able to group the kids based on their skill level which greatly contributed to the safety of the game. Tim led the charge within the league to encourage all the parents to buy head gear that would diminish the chances of concussions. More importantly , the kids built confidence and knew what it meant to be a team. I would like to read an essay that my son wrote regarding youth football. A helpful person in my life ; my football coach. Have you ever had a helpful coach ? My football coach is very encouraging. I was not that good at the beginning but my coach encouraged me to never give up. Mr . Lester is a great football coach. He is one of those godly people I know and a great helper. Coach Lester has helped me be a better football player this season. He helps me get better by encouraging me every time I come to practice. I can run better now because he makes us run sprints. He also makes me tackle the dummies to help me learn how to tackle better. We pray before and after every practice and game. Coach Lester always says, "Clear eyes, full heart, can 't lose . " Coach Lester 's help is so important to me because I want to be a better football player. At practice, Coach Lester pushes me to do my best on all the drills. He never gives up on me and always makes me feel confident. Whenever there is something I can 't Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6:00pm Page 7 of32 do , Coach Lester is there to help me. I don 't know what I would do without Coach Lester 's help. The day I lost my playoff game wa s horrible. My coach encouraged me to play next season. I'm glad he is my coach and he is so important to me. That is the type of man that I want leading my son. I am so glad he is here running the Milton football league and I think you should really encourage that. Lonnie Estees, 126 Weatherburn, Roswell, Georgia 30004 I teach at Milton High School. A lot of our coaches volunteer for this organization. The passion that they have for the kids and community is unmatched. I have coached in a lot of different places but I have never seen the involvement that this organization puts into the community. They talk about branding and the Milton Steelers. At Milton High School we talk about "representing the M"; represent Milton. They do it very well. They are present at our football games, they are on the sidelines, and the kids are running through the helmet. The level of involvement and the support they show for the Milton area and the high school is unmatched. Not only do they play football , but they also impact kids in other areas. They have the track program, the indoor running program, etc. It not only addresses football players but other athletes as well. It is a universal program and I am glad that it is in Milton. I appreciate what they do. Ryan McKeean, 1540 Hemeoda Ridge, Milton, Georgia 30004 I want to read a letter that was given to me by one of the teachers at Hopewell Middle School. To whom it may concern : Tim mentions to the players, "We are not born winners, we are not born losers, we are born choosers. " These are the words of legendary Tim Lester, the driver of the bus. I am writing to recommend Tim Lester for leading the youth football program for the City of Milton. Here at Hopewell Middle School, he is known as Coach Lester and he leads our NFL Play 60 Program after school each Wednesday from 4:30 to 5 :30. In addition , he is involved in the health class with the drug unit by sharing his personal life stories and balancing outside influences. Coach Lester is dedicated to promoting the NFL Play 60 Program promoting youth to be physically active for sixty minutes a day. Furthermore , he directs our Mustangs Hopewell Leadership to their peers throughout life skills and lessons. The leadership talks prior to the sixty minutes of structured activities to their peers about thinking through their everyday choices and respecting others. Coach Lester 's energy and optimisim are infectioius and the City of Milton will be energized by their appointment of him leading the youth football program. His depth and knowledge of the game of football is undeniable. But, what is most impressive is his passion and drive to give back to the youth of the community and influence proper development not only for the sport but for life. I have no doubt that Tim Lester will be a valuable asset to Milton 's recreational program and I give my highest recommendation. If I were to write a letter off the top of my head, I think it would mirror this letter. My son goes to Birmingham Falls Elementary School so , as you can see , Tim makes a big impact on multiple schools throughout Milton. I have been involved in organized sports since a young boy and one of the things that I have noticed that makes such an impact is that many times after practice my son talks about the different life lessons that he has learned from Coach Lester and the other coaches. The things that Coach Lester has been able to instill in the kids that they take to school and home is incredible. Last year, we had a fundraiser for the Milton Steelers, and we went to neighborhoods where we did not know Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 8 of32 anybody. It was the easiest sale I have ever had. Everyone was so excited that there is a Milton football team and the y wanted to be a part of it. Dr. Penny Brucker, 1530 Hemeoda Ridge, Milton, Georgia 30004 My son , Nathan, is on the Milton Steeler football team. We moved to Milton about a year ago and embraced the community . The community also embraced us . Without a doubt , Tim and Natalie Lester, is one family that absolutely embraced my family. My son attends Birmingham Falls Elementary School and I volunteer there at the front desk. I am also a substitute teacher about once a week. Since I am at the school often , I get to see Tim on a regular basis in many capacities. He exemplifies a community member of Milton . He spearheaded the Bobcat Dad Program at our school where he has a community of dads join him on Friday mornings to welcome the kids into school. He has implemented several afterschool programs. He has arranged for speakers to talk about anti-bullying. Tim has also been a speaker at the school to motivate our kids to do their best. I have heard that Tim even helps the janitorial staff at our school mop floors. And , I have seen him sitting in a rocking chair among the Christmas Trees reading stories to our kids at school. I could go on and on about Tim and Natalie and their good works , their genuineness , and their desire to help Milton grow and mentor youth in the community. I can tell you in detail how I was standing with one of Nathan 's old football coaches and we were talking football . Nathan was listening to the conversation and his previous coach said, "Do you know Tim Lester?" and Nathan said , "I absolutely know Tim Lester. Tim Lester is my coach." My son loves Milton football. He wears his Milton football sweatshirt to school every day and he sleeps with it as an extra blanket. Milton won 't be disappointed to be associated with Tim Lester on a professional level. He is a man of integrity and values and anyone who says otherwise is very much mistaken. Regardless of how much esteem I place on Tim , the bottom line is that Tim is a good person who is highly invol ved in the city and our youth. He happens to have a great phenomenal football program that is growing. He is a Milton resident with a Milton organization and he serves Milton youth . The City of Milton should support Tim at the highest level. He will make you proud. Matt Dawson, 1530 Hemeoda Ridge, Milton, Georgia 30004 I coach with Tim on the Milton Steelers football team. One of the things we are always talking about to our kids is that it is more than just sports . Tim embodies that spirit and is also a huge supporter of Milton. He is not just in Birmingham Falls Elementary but he is in Summit Hill , Crabapple , Hopewell Middle School. He is about helping kids be the best they can. That is what we want out of our athletes , our football program. It is not about chasing trophies or how many championships you win. We are a very successful football team. On our third grade team we had 28 kids. Only four of those kids had ever played tackle football before. We came within three yards of winning a championship game in a very competitive league . We have great coaches and great passion for helping the kids. Not only to be good football players but to be good kids . That is really what the program is about. I hope that you help support Tim support the city and bring this really great program to a much wider audience that it deserves. Bob Stewart, 16725 Quayside Drive, Milton, Georgia 30004 I live in the Kingsle y Estates subdivision. Tim Lester is a passionate leader and he is a natural leader. People just want to help him and coach with him. That is how I found Tim and this great league. I played a lot of sports growing up and I had a lot of good coaches and bad coaches. I can tell a good coach when I see one. Tim has the gift of finding the sweet spot. When you play football you want to have really good discipline but you also want to teach heart. If you go in one direction you are not doing the child a service . I think Tim has a very good understanding of what that sweet spot is. Our boys identify with Milton. I think this is a situation where rising tide floats all boats . By that I mean, for the Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2 015 at 6 :00 pm Page 9 of3 2 past several years there has been a lot of bad press about football mainly with concussions. A lot of that has to do with some of the ways the leagues were coaching. They weren 't coaching heads up. We now have two leagues here that are coaching heads up. I think there are some phenomenal coaches in this room. Now that the hard part of that has been absorbed by the public , we are going to see a new surge in youth football interest. People are not going to be afraid of it anymore. They are going to continuall y see coaches coaching the correct way. There is going to be enough demand for both leagues here. I think the space is just going to have to be something that will have to be worked out and I think we can do that successfully. Naomi Brown, North Park Estates At first , I was scared to get my son involved in football. I was worried he would break his bones. But , I was thrilled that the number one priority for Coach Tim and all the coaches is safety . Another thing that attracted me to the program was the integrity of the coaches , character building , and the emphasis on doing well in school. I wish there were more coaches like Tim. He has a big heart and really cares about the kids. My son has a lot of pride about being on the Milton Steelers team. I think Coach Tim has a good program and I hope you give him a chance. Tim Presley, Dorris Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 We are here today to speak on behalf of the Milton Steelers and what Tim and Natalie have built. My son, Jack, really enjoys the program. They are building more than good football players. I can 't speak enough about what they have done for Jack. I am reall y excited for what the future holds. They bring what it takes to make the kids bond together. I am proud of what Tim and Natalie have built for our kids in Milton. These are life lessons that our kids are getting and it is worth taking a look at. The y are a good family and are building a great program for the kids . Tim Lester I am so thankful for all the support I have from all of these Milton residents. I came to Milton in 2007 . When I first got here I was actually running from football. I had retired from the NFL. I had no plans on being involved in football. However, I ran into a friend of mine at Milton High School , Mike Scott. Mike recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. He convinced me to get back into football. I started to coach at Milton High School and while I was there I met a lot of people. I had burned out from football. But , I realized it wasn 't reall y about football. It was about life and choices. I left football and went into the ministry and spoke to young people all over the world. The message was ... You are not born winners , You are not born losers , You are born choosers. That means that every day that you get up you have a choice. You can choose to follow the world or you can choose to follow God but it is your choice. I went to Hopewell Middle School and spoke to the entire PE Department. I spent probably six hours at the school. All of the kids responded to my message. The message was that all it takes is one time to get addicted. The reason why I said that is because I shared my message about how my brother got addicted to drugs off of one choice ; trying drugs one time. I also shared with the students how I started to take pain killers while I was in the NFL. I got addicted to the pain killers. I needed to take them every game to play and it ended my football career. I shared with the students how I made a losing choice. That choice cost me my career. I let the students know that trying drugs and alcohol could cost you your life . My message is bigger than football. I have after school programs at Birmingham Falls Elementary. I have after school programs for at-risk kids at Hopewell Middle School. I am starting a mentoring program at Milton High School. In the next month or so , I will be in every Milton elementary, middle , and high school mentoring through football. God gave me football for a reason. It wasn 't just for football. It was to change people 's lives. At the end of the day , it is about ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~ Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 10 of32 making choices. And, we have to inspire our kids to make winning choices at a young age. I want to read a letter from Hopewell Middle School. Thank you so much for the educational speech you gave us yesterday. I learned so much. I love how you use music shows and stuff like that. Things that are relevant in our lives to make us see that whatever we do affects our future. I really appreciate that. You use your brother 's story to tell us about awareness. I have thought about what you said, "We are not born winners, we are not born losers, we are born choosers. " I love that quote because my grandpa used to say the exact same thing to me. I really appreciate what you did for us yesterday. You could have spent your time with someone else or with your family, but instead, you came to our school to give us awareness. Thank you so much. We really loved your speech and I am very thankful to you. As I mentioned, it is not about me. I am proud to be a Milton Steeler. I wanted a brand for the Milton community. This is Milton ; not Alpharetta. I am proud to be in Milton and I want to represent Milton in the right way. Mo Lewis, 22012 Gardner Drive, Milton , Georgia 30004 I played football at the University of Georgia and played for the New York Jets for thirteen years. My family and I moved to Milton about five years ago and my sons went to Milton High School. My oldest son is at the Naval Academy and my youngest son has committed to Harvard. I am here to support the Milton Steelers. Todd Perry, 13805 Brittle Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 We moved to Milton eight years ago . I met Tim the first year we lived here. I coached with him and helped any chance I could with his youth programs. My son played football for Milton High School and will graduate in May. Tim had a tremendous impact on my son when he was in the sixth grade. Tim teaches the qualities that you want in your son. As a father and a resident of Milton, you will not be able to find a better ambassador for the city in regards to football and his community service. Brandon Jacobs, 153 Eagles Ridge, Milton, Georgia 30004 I live in Milton and my wife and I love living here . She fell in love with Milton High School and that is why we moved here. However , I am here representing A YF A tonight. It is a program that has been in existence for forty years and it is a great program. My son attends Birmingham Falls Elementary and my wife wanted him to play football. I was against it. I thought he was too young and didn 't know enough about it. However, if he wanted to play , I wanted to be his coach. We teach kids the right way to play. We teach the philosophy never give up , never quit, always believe in what you want. I grew up in New Orleans and was homeless. My mother worked for a lady that eventually won the lottery; $27 million. She then started a landscaping company that my mother managed and so we then had enough money to move into a trailer. I know what it is like to work up from the bottom. I am not worried about the financial end of this decision; I am just here to give back to the community. I have noticed that this area is not really a big football place. Most parents around here do not want their sons to play because of all the hype in the media about concussions. I volunteer for this program because I want to teach kids the right way to play to avoid injuries. I think you guys will have a hard job figuring this out because both of the programs are good. Bill Weaver, 1675 Evervest Drive, Milton, Georgia 30004 Like no other sport, football evokes serious passion and emotion. It is a wonderful game and it teaches life lessons. I am honored to be a part of a community that has had a program for forty years. To be the Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00pm Page ll of32 president of an organization that has touched so many li ves means a lot to me personally. We have had 20,000 plus kids go through our program in the last forty years. Many of those have gone on to be college football players , pro football players , and more importantly, community leaders and residents. A lot of them are now coaches in our program. The cycle of football is great. It is great to see a dad that played at A YF A coach his son. We are fortunate to have a big community of volunteers that can make the program possible. A YF A is built on volunteers . We have 150 coaches that come out every year to coach our kids. In addition, we have player safety coaches, equipment managers, registration volunteers, etc. The most important thing is that we have kids that come out to play, have fun , and are taught by tremendous role models. Cindy Orr, 490 Glen National Drive, Milton, Georgia We wouldn 't be the City of Milton if we just went along with the status quo. Just because A YF A has always been here doesn't mean they are the best program to be. I could speak volumes on what Tim Lester has done for my son and what I have seen him do for the other kids in the program but I think we need to open up and realize that he is a Milton resident and is trying to do good by us. We need to look at the overall picture as opposed to doing what we have always done . Mayor Lockwood I want to thank everyone for being here tonight. Everyone truly has an inspirational story. I did not play football growing up but you have inspired me to want to start playing. I want everyone to know that this is not about Coach Lester versus A YF A. This is a programming decision and it should not be taken personally. Councilmember Kunz It is great that we have so many people here tonight talking about football. As you all know, I love this sport. My father played in the NFL for twelv e years and I played for Lou Holtz. I coached at A YF A for six years and left on good terms. I went to coach football at Chattahoochee High School and coached that team to a championship. I had my own business coaching football for four years and I have written two books about coaching football. In all due respect to the Parks and Recreation Board and all of their effort researching, I've got a commitment as a councilmember as to what do we want to be. One of the things I said when I was running for Milton City Councilmember was to see a Milton Youth Football Team beat up on a Roswell Youth Football Team. We now have the opportunity to create a Milton football team that teaches values that we believe in. Football doesn 't mean anything but at the same time it means everything. We are a community that is passionate about football. Councilmember Lusk I can remember back even before Milton became a city discussing youth playing football at North Park. We were faced at that time and ev en for a couple of years after we incorporated , dealing with the non- resident fees. How did all ofthat shake out over time and how does it involve AYFA? Jim Cregge I am an Alpharetta resident but I have been volunteering at Bell Memorial Park for twenty years . I knew that the City of Milton had acquired additional land at Bell Memorial Park and it was through m y connections with the people at the City of Milton and the residents of unincorporated Fulton County that I was asked by the City of Alpharetta to conduct a study of the Parks and Recreation Facilities around the community and give a workshop of m y findings . At the conclusion of the workshop , one of the points I made is that the city of Alpharetta and Milton combined have four rectangular fields. Two of the fields are soccer only due to their shape and dimension. In addition, there are twenty-six diamond Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 12 of3 2 shaped fields. The growth of sports in the area needed additional rectangular shaped fields. If we ever wanted to partner, now is the time to do it because the city is expanding Bell Memorial Park. I was asked by the Mayor to start some initial dialogue with the city and if anything came of it to get the appropriate representatives involved. At that time , I was hired as the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Milton. Councilmember Lusk So, the original agreement was between the City of Milton and A YF A for sharing facilities particularly rectangular fields. Jim Cregge For clarification, it wasn 't necessarily an agreement with A YF A it was an agreement with the City of Alpharetta and the City of Milton with the key focus being the development of rectangular shaped fields of which A YF A uses rectangular shaped fields as does lacrosse and soccer. Councilmember Lusk At the time the agreement was made , we realized we needed "X" number more of rectangular fields. And , was that based on the existing program at that time ? Jim Cregge It was based upon the utilization of the growth trends in youth sports not looking just at Alpharetta but at Alpharetta and Milton combined. The overall trend in the industry was to start building more rectangular shaped fields. And , as you know , the y are expensive. So , the question was do we partner together with the two cities or do we try to compete building the same facilities . Councilmember Lusk So , when the city decided to build two more rectangular fields at Bell Memorial Park, was that decision made to accommodate the existing program as well as projected growth? Jim Cregge In rectangular shaped sports , yes . When we complete Bell Memorial Park in August, on time and on budget, we will have increased the overall volume of rectangular shaped fields between Alpharetta and Milton by 50 %. But, it will still be 26 versus 6 ; diamond versus rectangular shaped fields . Councilmember Longoria We engaged in a lot of discussion trying to decide whether or not to build turf or grass fields. We decided on turf because we projected a lot of growth in rectangular field sports. Once the fields are completed , how many hours of access will we have available for our two fields at Bell Memorial Park and what is the demand on the access? Regardless of who is going to run the program, the real difficult equation that we are trying to solve is that we have a certain amount of demand and a certain amount of supply. What is the supply and demand that we know we have ? Jim Cregge We know the supply will be that the fields will be available generally around 5 :30 or 6 :00 in the evening. The majority of the kids in youth football are in elementary school. So , most of the parents want practices to end by 7:30 or 8:00 so their children can get home , eat dinner, and get to bed at a reasonable time. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 13 of32 Councilmember Longoria I am trying to figure out if anyone knows exactly how many participants we have in the program and how much field time we have available. Does anyone have those numbers? Jim Cregge I do not have that information. However, I have looked at the scheduling that is likely to happen and concluded that the rectangular fields will be very heavily used at the maximum of their capacity for the children that are available. Councilmember Longoria What seasons overlap such as football and lacrosse; football and soccer? What are our challenges regarding overlapping seasons? Jim Cregge Boy 's lacrosse has evolved into a sport that runs spring, some summer, and fall. We have been running that program on leased field space at Hopewell Middle School and Cogburn Woods. Lacrosse has been very demanding on the field and that is one of the many reasons we are moving lacrosse to the synthetic fields at Bell Memorial. That move will save the city a substantial amount of money having to re-turf the fields every year. The other rectangular field will be dual utilized: Spring-fifth baseball field Summer and Fall-football field Both fields will be lined for football and have goal posts . We will be able to use the fields for tournaments and other special events for football and lacrosse (boys and girls). Councilmember Longoria So the demand is going to becoming from not only football but also lacrosse in the fall? And , you need to factor in soccer as well into the equation? Jim Cregge Yes. Councilmember Longoria Do you have an idea of when you can figure out what our excess or deficit availability of playing fields is going to be ? Jim Cregge I could probably make a good projection but certainly having a season of experience with the new field would allow my data to be more valid. Councilmember Longoria How do we figure the demand on the fields we have , if we run either program (NFL or A YF A) or if we run both programs together? Jim Cregge We would not be able to do it all at Bell Memorial Park. We would have to go back to using Cogburn Woods and Hopewell Middle Schools. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 14 of32 Councilmember Longoria Other than these two fields that are being built, what other access do we have to satisfy some of this demand? I know we have partnership with Fulton County schools, how much does that help? And what inventory from Alpharetta can we actually use? Jim Cregge In terms of inventory from Alpharetta we have none. What we have are Milton residents that sign up in programs running in Alpharetta. Councilmember Longoria We do not have the capability to schedule any type of activity on any field that is there? Jim Cregge That is correct. To answer the next part of your question ... we have IGA agreements at Crabapple Crossing (Friendship Community Park) which currently has no active programming on it. We have agreements at Northwestern Middle Schoo l where we are currently expanding those fields. These fields are the home of our girls lacrosse program, Eagle Stix . We have Hopewell Middle School and Cogburn Woods , where the boy's lacrosse is located. Birmingham Falls has two acre field that is open play space. We use this area for overflow of girl's lacrosse as well as the NFL flag football program. Councilmember Longoria Until we actually get an idea on how many programs, teams , what part of the calendar they operate , we can 't figure out if the supply gets outstripped by the demand? Jim Cregge At this point, no we cannot. Councilmember Longoria If you are asking the Council to make a decision that is largely going to be seen as an emotional one in terms of whom it includes or excludes, we really need to have a lot of good information to help us come to a decision that could be implemented without causing additional problems. Any additional information you can bring to us prior to the meeting where we decide which way to go , would be helpful. Mayor Lockwood This is a work session where we can have dialogue to learn about issues and have discussions. This is not an issue we are going to vote on tonight. Both these programs we are talking about tonight are going to continue no matter what the decision the city makes. Do the subcommittee or the Parks and Recreation Board have any of the facts and figures with them that might answer the questions Joe was having? Dave Duley I chaired this subcommittee along with Ron Hill and Scott Stachowski and yes, we did cover every one of these topics that has been brought up tonight as a subcommittee. Then we brought it to the Board who unanimously made the recommendation to the Council. Does the board have the facts from the subcommittee in front of them? This will answer a lot of questions on the field usage and why we came up with the recommendation we did. Both programs have great people , great history and there is a lot of emotion with regard to this. At the end of the day all those were considered by the Parks and Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 15 of32 Recreation Board and we took as much time as we did to dig into this particular subject because we represent each one of you. Councilmember Rick Mohrig One of the considerations was if the two organizations could work as one program , were you all open to that? Dave Duley Yes. We took about 90 days meeting with both programs. Based on how both programs look currently , not in the future , we felt the citizens of Milton would be best to go this route for this upcoming season. There was some urgency because of the park opening August 1, 2015 and registration started last month. Both organizations needed to know whether or not they were awarded the program from the city to get their registration underway and to find out if they would even have space to expand their programs further. That was another consideration on behalf of the Board as well. During that process we talked about both parties working together. To the Board it came down to strictly field usage. If we have multiple programs , do we have the fields to accommodate them all? The quandary we got into was how much space we have , should it be one program or the other, what would be open and available with lacrosse , soccer and other sports. The Parks Board considered all of this when making their recommendation. Councilmember Rick Mohirg Your first recommendation would be to go with A YF A but if the two parties could work together and come up with one program , would the subcommittee and the Board be open to that? Dave Duley Correct. We looked at the fact that we have so many citizens representing so many schools in the Milton area (Cambridge , King 's Ridge, St. Francis) that we did not want to continue with the Alpharetta name but we do realize the bottom line was to allow it to be open to all the citizens no matter what school they were from. Councilmember Matt Kunz The concern that came up was with the Parks and Rec agreement that we have with Alpharetta would it be injeopardy. Dave Duley That was not a consideration. The fact we did a lot of work as two cities coming together to wave fees (non-resident fees) was never a consideration for us as a Board. Councilmember Matt Kunz What is the plan to counter the feeder programs m order to maintain the Milton's Park and Rec program? Dave Duley We did not want to tell anyone, whoever Milton picks , how to run their program. Otherwise , we would have started our own Milton program and not gone with A YF A or NFL , but we realized that we are not there as a city. Our job as a subcommittee was not to get into the feeder program point, but to look at a good comprehensive program , that is going to incorporate most of the citizens, at a fair price, that can run the program properly and represent the city. At this particular point that is the recommendation we Work Session ofthe Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 16 of32 are making for now. Our stress as a board was to tell both parties we would love for you to incorporate all the citizens of Milton , to expand your flag program, to expand your football so more can participate in the sport. Councilmember Lusk Were there any restrictions on adding anymore programs to the existing Parks and Recreation agreement with Alpharetta? What constitutes support of the agreement and what violates the agreement? Councilmember Thurman I know the agreement is based on us paying Alpharetta a set amount each year to partner with them , when does that amount change , when we have their programs using our fields ? Jim Cregge I can answer both your questions in terms of generalities. The current MOU agreement does not specify what is considered support of the agreement. Mayor Lockwood The main intent of the agreement was to eliminate, for our citizens , the out of the city fees. Isn 't that correct? Jim Cregge That was one of the main reasons. Anothe r reason was to try and work together where it made sense as compared to competition. My sense was as we build , build it together not compete against each other. To Councilmember Thurman 's question, the spirit of the agreement was as we start to build and more things come online in Milton then these numbers will start to come down. If we ever get to the point where we have parks on equal footings , then everything will be open because we are providing similar services , assets and resources to the citizens . Councilmember Burt Hewitt On your January 14th meeting , it was stated that the two individual providers could not work together. What are some of the major stumbling blocks that are not allowing them to work together? Jim Cregge It was more of a philosophical approach to how they do things. Tim has prayer before and after each game. There is definitely a faith component to his program. A YF A is teaching appropriate conduct and behavior as well as teaching football. However , both programs approach the teachings differently. Tim Lester AYFA wanted us to become North Park and that wasn 't going to happen. We wanted to keep our identity as Milton. That is the onl y reason wh y the two programs could not reach an agreement to work together. Mayor Lockwood If we go back to the original agreement with the City of Alpharetta and the City of Milton and neither council nor staff made any suggestions to change it, what would happen? Is it grandfathered in with A YF A? What would physically happen if no changes were made and discussions were not held? Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 17 of32 Chris Lagerbloom A very brief and simple answer would be that we would allow the City of Alpharetta to continue to provide services in our park. Our City Attorney would have to review the agreement thoroughly but if no changes were made and no discussions were held , the agreement with the City of Alpharetta would continue as it always has in the past. Mayor Lockwood So , in that circumstance, I would be inclined to leave the situation as a free market and let both programs continue to exist and the citizens can decide which program they want to be a part of. Jim Cregge Regardless of what decision is made by council , both programs will continue to be here. The question is which team or teams (or neither team) do we want playing on our fields . Councilmember Mohrig So, whichever team we choose will be the "city-sponsored" team and they will be the team that is allowed to use our fields. Mayor Lockwood Does that mean that other teams will not be allowed to use our fields? City Attorney Ken Jarrard Not legally , but from a logistics standpoint there will probably not be enough playing time left on the fields once the "city sponsored" team reserves the field space. Councilmember Thurman It sounds like we have two great programs. The people who are participating in the programs seem to be happy with the program they have chosen. It is too bad that a joint agreement couldn 't be reached but I understand when things like that can't be worked out. It looks like the subcommittee has spent a lot more time and has a lot more information than we do about the two programs . I am not comfortable making any decision without all the pertinent information . Councilmember Kunz I think we have two great groups and whatever the council decides we will still have two great youth football teams in the area. Councilmember Lusk Are we considering a contractual agreement or is this an administrative decision? Ken Jarrard It may involve both a contractual agreement and administrative detail. Jim Cregge We are sort of in a time crunch. All the behind the scenes preparation for football season is beginning now so the sooner a decision is made, the better. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 18 of32 Councilmember Thurman Personally , I like the idea of a faith-based program. To me , that is very important. And , anyone who knows me knows how important my faith is to me. At the same time , as a city program, there are certain guidelines that have to be followed and what would those guidelines be and would it change your program too much to have to follow the government guidelines ? Tim Lester I am just passionate about the kids knowing that it is bigger than me . The city has a challenge and I have a challenge . Mayor Lockwood I am not sensing any clear direction. I am sensing that the council possibly wants more information from the Parks and Recreation Board. Again , we certainly want to make the best decision for the city as a whole. A lot of the decisions we make are very difficult. I believe this is also a personal decision for the actual players . I have heard a lot of great things tonight. Again , I don 't know if it is a workable option but if you have a prior agreement and you are not sure about making a new agreement that is set in stone , use the prior agreement that gives us a little direction and is geared more toward the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Board. Then the free market will take over and the desires of the citizens and the parents of the players will pick who they want. Obviously, two or three years from now we will know who needs more field space. I am just asking if it is an option not to make a new contract but re-look at it next year and see what our field space needs will be and the enrollment of each program . Councilmember Hewitt I would like to see both programs be able to work. Would the agreement be for a season, a year? Jim Cregge That would be entirely up to the council and the agreement that is made. Hopewell Baseball in the past has been a three year commitment but all of our other programs are one year contracts. Councilmember Hewitt My concern is that if both programs are in the mix then neither one of them will be able to live up to their full potential and we might not be able to get everything out of the football program that we are looking for or expecting. If it is just for a season the scheduling might be difficult to deal with , but we can always look at it again after a season and make a more informed decision then. I would like for both of them to have a chance for at least one season then see how it goes from there. Councilmember Kunz Is the team we choose going to be playing under the name the North Fulton Metro Football League ; youth football program? Are the y still doing that ; AYFA ? Is AYFA still playing against Sandy Springs , Roswell , etc.? Bill Weaver We do not play within North Metro. We did a number of years ago and then broke away from North Metro and formed a partnership with the City of Roswell where we play games against the City of Roswell. This past year , we also put together an agreement with Cobb Football League where we kick off our season with games against Cobb Football. This year , we are also bringing the older teams from Sharon Springs into our league as well. They have a little bit different structure of how they run their Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 19 of32 younger groups so we are going to see if that will work long term. In addition , I wanted you to know that during the January meeting , I made it very clear to Jim Cregge and everyone there that we fully support two programs playing in this area . It is going to happen anyway. This situation simply comes down to a field usage agreement. The "A" in A YF A does stand for Alpharetta but when A YF A formed 40 years ago, that was the only city here and Milton was the only high school here so , naturally , we adopted the Milton Eagles and the Alpharetta name and affiliation was through field usage. We are not a city run program. We are a private organization. We have represented this entire community for the 40 years we have been in business. Half of our members , whether they are board members or players , are from Milton. We want to continue to support this community which is the reason we want to change our name so it will have a broader meaning and audience . We have kids in our program from John 's Creek, South Forsyth, Cherokee County , etc . We fully support having two programs. Whether you call it free-market or just common sense , we think it could go a long way to show that you are working in the best interest of everyone in this community by giving them a choice. If a choice can work then a choice is what we can have. Tim Lester My biggest concern is not about Sandy Springs or South Forsyth. I am worried about the City of Milton. As a resident of Milton, I want to know why Alpharetta youth football needs to use Milton fields. That is my biggest concern. The city doesn 't have a football program but we have fields and we are going to potentially give our fields to Alpharetta to use. I don 't understand . Alpharetta has 500-600 kids in their program but a very large percentage of them are not from either Alpharetta or Milton. They are from other communities. As a taxpayer and citizen, I want our fields to be for Milton citizens. I want Milton kids to be able to play on the fabulous turf fields that we are building with Milton taxpayer dollars. I want to build a Milton program from within and not have to go out and recruit from other communities. I want Milton kids to be able to compete. Mayor Lockwood We have had a very good relationship with Alpharetta over the years. Milton kids have used their fields and facilities over the years and we are now in a position to reciprocate the kind gesture that they have given us for many years. Councilmember Lusk The MOU that we have with A YFA and the City of Alpharetta is only one of the many MOU 's that we have with Alpharetta. We have a very good relationship with Alpharetta through Public Safety , Parks and Recreation, etc. Mayor Lockwood Between the two programs , is there opportunity for more discussion of working together and moving forward? Is that what both programs are willing to do? Tim Lester Coming from where I stand with the faith component in my program , Alpharetta was not willing to comply with this , so I do not think we could move forward. Bill Weaver I would like to say there has never been an issue with us regarding the faith component within the program. We have never discouraged faith but frankly encouraged it. We have said from the beginning we would like to find a way to work together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00 pm Page 20 of32 Chris Lagerbloom At some point we have to make a decision so that these organizations can launch their registrations , etc. Two takeaways I heard from tonight's discussions are: • Is there an agreement that already exists so this council does not have to take further action? • How to deal with master scheduling and capacity with both programs? Councilmember Kunz Everyone is trying to prepare for the season now. If we do not know how we want to roll this out are we doing a disservice to the programs by rushing this ? Do we have to make a decision this year or can we give it another year and prepare better? Chris Lagerbloom We can certainly do that where we work in a test environment for a year to obtain some real data points. Councilmember Thurman Our Parks and Recreation Board have spent a great deal of time looking at this and coming up with their recommendation. Councilmember Longoria What compelling evidence has come up since the Parks and Recreation Board made their decision? Why are we second guessing a decision that was founded on quite of bit work and research? I haven 't heard any evidence to counter that, all I have heard is that both are great programs and if we had space for them we could support them all. I want to see the details from Jim. It all comes down to how much field capability/capacity we have versus demand. Mayor Lockwood I want to address the comment about second guessing the Board. It is no reflection on the Board and their decision or their information. We have a lot of issues that come before us and our Boards make recommendations but this issue is very important to so many people , so we just want to get it right. It is not second guessing. By hearing this discussion tonight, the Board may have more information they can give to Staff that can help us make a better decision. Jim Cregge We do have a Parks and Recreation Board meeting February 19 , 2015 , and I am sure this will be a topic of discussion at that time. Ken Jarrard Based on the comments and discussions I have heard , I will get with the City Manager and put together something regarding our agreement. Mayor Lockwood Tonight we have only heard good things about both programs . I do want to say to Tim Lester , we are very proud to have you as a citizen. You have influenced the kids and parents so much in just a short time span which is very impressive. You have been very successful here and it makes us proud to have you as a citizen of Milton. -------- Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 21 of32 Agenda Item #3 was read. 3. Update on the Conservation Initiati ve. (Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager) Laurel Florio, Attorney Land Conservation Good evening Mayor and City Council. I am here to talk about the Conservation Initiative in Milton and give you an update as well as a projection for the upcoming year. Summary of2014 • Today there is less open space and rural character in the City of Milton • Definite increase in the developmental realm since the recession has come and gone • 3 86 new homes completed • 166 additional permits issued • 552 total building permits issued for the year 2014 • Anticipated number of building permits to be issued in 2015 ___ _ Conservation Plan • An average of 300 new homes per year • 5,000 acres developed over the next 16 years • Suggestion: balance of development and conservation Summary of2014 • Bottom Line o Conservation -0 o Development -approximately 350 acres • Establishment of Preserve Rural Milton (PRM) o Fundraising has begun -several hundred dollars to date • Community awareness of land protection o Approximately 2,000 supporters • Conservation Plan completed o Need for immediate attention to the preservation of Milton's rural uniqueness • Successful landowner outreach Status of Transfer Development Rights (TDR) • Still fine-tuning the process. • Landowner in place with five -seven acres • Confirmation of conservation values o Site visit by Georgia Land Trust o Procedures for closing by end February • Establishment of designated sending area TDR Sending Sites • Specific areas of scenic view Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 22 of32 Status of Land Trusts • Conservation Easements • Smaller parcels not as desirable • Connectivity to larger parcels • Larger parcels ideal • Potential donation of larger parcels • Potential purchase of development rights or fee interest o Landowners looking to sell • Preserve Rural Milton • Conservation easements -smaller acreage o TDR o "Pocket Parks" resulting from Conservation Subdivisions o Community Awareness Positive Overview • Private land conservation side o Conservation easements -donation o TDR o PDR o Conservation Subdivision "Pocket Parks " Current Objective One • Continued landowner outreach/education • Pri vate land conservation • Community Awareness • Utilization of local and area land trusts • TDR Transactions Current Objective Two • Conservation Subdivision • "Pocket Parks" must have conservation values o IRS Code o Relatively natural habitat o Public benefits such as scenic view Current Objective Three • Impact Fees • GA state law,[ O.C.G.A. § 36-71-1 (2009)], § 36-71-2(E) "Parks , open space , and recreation areas and related facilities" may be uses to which such dollars can be applied Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 20 I 5 at 6:00 pm Page 23 of32 Growth Trend Suggested Objective Four 37000 36000 35000 - 34000 33000 32000 31000 30000 2010 Growth Trend Population (estimated trend) 37, ---- 2011 20 12 2013 2014 • Modification in rules for building permits • DerryNH • Carroll County MD • Connecticut • Sonoma County CA • York County, NC • Mount Pleasant SC • 2002 -Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v_ Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Comprehensive Plan --- -- 2015 2016 • Heritage Preservation Objective. The traditional character of the community should be maintained through preserving and revitalizing historic areas _ .. • Open Space Preservation Objective. New development should be designed to minimize the amount of land consumed, and open space should be set aside from development for use as public parks or as greenbelts/ wildlife corridors. • Environmental Protection Objective. Air quality and environmentally sensitive lands should be protected from the negative impacts of development. • Proactive stewardship of the community's extensive green space and woodlands can be an asset for current and future generations. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00 pm Page 24 of32 Administrative Effectiveness • Public Perception o Comprehensive Plan o Milton Trail Plan o Conservation Plan • Bring intent behind these plans to the public • Seeing is believing Conclusion Milton is a distinctive community embracing small town life and heritage while preserving and enhancing our rural character I tell all the Land Trust people I work with to put their mission statement on the wall so they can see it every day. I think as a city, you need to have your mission statement on the wall to be reminded of the vision for the city when votes come before you for land disturbance decisions. Councilmember Joe Longoria What kind of work have you done to communicate and educate our citizens on land conservation? Do you have prepared materials that you have delivered? Is this really a one-on-one kind of education/messaging opportunity? Laurel Florio We talked about this in November. Going forward we talked about needing to enhance any kind of communications. Right now , it has been one-on-one and I have given them written materials, mostly general information , that I have put together. So far , I have been meeting with people who are already conservation aware because they have either come to me or I have found out who they are and contacted them directly. Now, the next step is to develop written brochures. That is why I mentioned the TDR program. If we choose to establish a specific sending site , it would be the perfect opportunity to develop an information pamphlet earmarked for the individuals that own that land. The brochure would outline the benefits ofTDR's and explain the program. PUBLIC COMMENT The following public comment was read into the record by Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager Kathy Johnson, Resident &Milton Grows G ree n Board member Dear Mayor, Council and Staff, My name is Kathy Johnson and I reside with my husband and two young sons at 385 Taylor Glen Drive in Milton. You may know that I am on the board of Milton Grows Green and have been an active volunteer for MGG for 6 years . I am also an attorney with an interest in environmental issues. Currently I am serving as a volunteer on the City's Community Development committee looking at impact fees which I am promoting being used as a tool to help fund the purchase of Conservation land or easements in Milton. I just want to say thank you for continuing to move forward with the conservation movement. This has been and will continue to be a journey and will need ongoing support in terms of educating staff, Council and the community on the various options for landowners to preserve their land from the rampant development that is now occurring. Thank you for hiring ---------------------------------------------.. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 201 5 at 6 :00 pm Page 25 of32 Laurel , our Conservation consultant, to put these somewhat complicated yet critical connections together. We have a small window in which to try and preserve the rural view shed and character of the City and I hope that Council and staff are willing to tackle the challenge . This is our city and I believe that most, if not all , of our residents desire to keep as much land as possible preserved in the natural rural character that attracted many of us here in the first place. I urge you to continue your commitment to conservation and preservation! Thank you so much. Jack Lindon, 14810 East Bluff Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I second what Kathy said in her email. I continue to be excited about what is going on here in Milton with the conservation efforts . I have been in Milton since 1994 and have been associated with the city almost from the beginning. We began our work with the Milton Grows Green organization in 2007. I have been really pleased with the way we have begun to involve the citizens in the various programs that are going on. It started with the TDR program about four years ago. MGG was asked to become part of the committee that was considering TDR's and the Form Based Codes for Crabapple and Deerfield . That was a good start. Since then, we now have a member of MGG that is on the Impact Fee Committee. It is really encouraging to see city staff involving people like us who are interested in these programs and also have some expertise in these areas . Recently , we had Professor Daniels here who put together a green print for the city . After that we had Randall Arndt come in to talk about conservation subdivisions. He is the national expert on conservation subdivisions . He has written about seven books on the subject. It was great to have him here and was a really good advancement in the cause. Now , we have the current consultants who are affiliated with Randall who are working on the conservation subdivision ordinance proposal. The main point I would like to make is that I am hoping that we can continue to involve people, especially citizens, in these ongoing discussions. I am not sure exactly what is going on now with the current conservation subdivision proposal. I was at the public meeting that they had and I made some comments. I have heard that they have been delayed because some of the issues dealing with septic systems have become pretty smelly issues. Professor Daniels suggested that there be a citizen 's committee put together that would address a lot of the conservation issues and provide guidance for the city staff on what the people think is important. One of the areas that I thought of is that we could identify areas that are particularly valuable not only from a conservation standpoint but also things like the trail plan. We could be identifying parcels that would fit into a trail plan and then when a TDR became available , a good example is Jim Bell 's property. If those three acres had been identified as a potential trail plan it would have been a lot less sticky of an issue then the fact that it didn 't quite make the five acre minimum that was specified in the ordinance. As it turns out , his property would be an ideal piece of property for the trail plan because it is right next to the utility easement which is probably going to be a part of any trail plan that we put together. So , it is those types of things that a citizen 's committee could help handle. I would hope that we begin to think about involving as many people as we can. We have people on MGG that are interested in being a part of that type of committee as well as Preserve Rural Milton . Councilmember Kunz I like the idea of identifying certain properties to remain rural but is that something that we would task a citizen 's committee to conduct? City Manager Lagerbloom It sounds exactly like what Milton Grows Green looks to do. Work Se ssion of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 26 of32 Laurel Florio That is the exact type of action that Preserve Rural Milton could undertake if they choose to be a land trust. Councilmember Kunz If Preserve Rural Milton becomes a land trust then the actually acquiring of the land comes in front of the city? Laurel Florio Preserve Rural Milton makes the decisions to what they can and wish to handle. They are pre- accreditation as of now, and must accomplished many transactions to even go for accreditation. Next they would choose how they would go forward. Either by raising money to buy , raising money to purchase developmental rights and put easements or by directly working with the Parks and Recreation. Councilmember Kunz Obviously, they would monitor and facilitate the land , what does that involve exactly? Laurel Florio It would be the same as what Georgia Land Trust is willing to do if they do the transaction. They monitor to make sure the terms and conditions are being met and conservation values are being protected and enforced. Councilmember Kunz As you approach these prospective landowners about their land as a sending sight, are they still altruistic in the process of preservation of land or are the y interested in the monetary value of what they would receive for the land ? Laurel Florio It is probably 80% what is the monetary value the y would receive for the land versus 20% preserving the land. Councilmember Rick Mohrig Under the law, can we use impact fees to purchase property for our Parks and Rec department, such as the trail plan? City Attorney Ken Jarrard I have seen jurisdictions that have used impact fees for Park and Recreational programming. The point of impact fees is to ensure that a base line level of a Park and Recreational service level is maintained. The actually question may be , could you use it for some sort of purpose that fits along the line of conservation or open space (green space)? I have not researched it specifically, but I think my preference and instinct is that it probably could be. We would have to identify what is the level of service within the realm of green space that we want to make payable to our citizens , then instruct our impact fee program around continuing to provide that level of service. There will be quite a bit of documentation that will go into that. Councilmember Mohrig Would it make sense when we look at the Milton Trail Plan to actually target certain parcels if we do have impact fees that could appl y? Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday , February 9, 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 27 of32 Laurel Florio That goes more to prioritization where an advisory board could make those decisions. Co uncilmember Lusk Regarding the sending sites , I think identifying them is a great initiative especially since we are dealing with approximately 25 ,000 acres in the city. How , when and who are coming up with these sending sites? I know there are criteria for coming up with those decisions, is it all based on that or something else? Laurel F lorio Ideally , I think we have to look at the IRS code that guides us in terms of defining conservation value and then apply it to the City of Milton protecting our rural open space view shed that exists. I think we take the available acreage that is left and possibly form a committee that would determine the conservation value and decide if that would be the first sending area. Cou ncilmember L usk If an area conforms to the specified criteria for a sending area but a developer comes in to develop the land instead, could we impose any restrictions on increased buffers , etc. for the land that meets the specific criteria of a sending area? Ke n Ja rrard Yes, I believe that is possible. Georgia law typically will view those sorts of buffers as not a regulatory taking as long as they remain or allow some viable economic use of the property . Georgia law is established very well on this. Mayor Lo ckwood This is more a comment on my behalf as a citizen. I moved here because I love the rural feel and the open area. Personally , I would love all of Milton to be very rural but I know that isn't possible. I bought my house and acreage because I love that feel but I am paying the price for it in escrow and taxes. I am willing to do that because that it what is important to me. I don't think it is fair for us to go to someone and impose something on them if we did not have that imposed on us. That comes across very hypocritical. If it is AG-1 land, they have the right to build on it. We need to come up with items that incentivize people to preserve the land. I am just struggling with how we can communicate with people that the city is trying to do this even though they do see the development continuing. L au rel F lori o Right now all the people are seeing is development and we need to find a fine balance between development and conservation. We can try to fight the perception that development is taking over and communicate better. We are not communicating well enough, especially if there are so many people that are attending these meetings opposing new development. The fact is we need to improve how we communicate and what we communicate. People are not seeing conservation and are not aware of what is going on in the background to try to promote it at this point. Mayor Lo ckwood We need you Laurel , Staff, Council , everyone to help us get the message out that we are working on this with professionals , citizens , MGG , etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 28 of32 Laurel Florio It has been a challenge to provide professional input at times during the process of developing certain programs here at the city. We might need to rethink how we team . I think there is great potential because there is a lot of support , a lot of knowledge , etc. but there still seems to be compartmentalization going on. We need to make sure there is input on conservation subdivisions because those conservation values are going to matter later. A good move was to put MGG people on the Impact Fees Committee. If we could do a self-assessment and look at some of the struggles we have had in the last few months and team up to clarify ambiguities , we might then could provide the impression that there is a lot of great things happening at the city and implore the people to be patient because it does take time for programs of this nature to operate. Councilmember Thurman I agree we definitel y have a communication problem. Part being what people are hearing is based on hear-say not based on facts. We need to do a better job of getting the correct facts out there , managing expectations , getting a plan in place that incentivizing landowners to want to participate in the program and not penalizing them. Councilmember Kunz I concur and have an idea. I think the city should see what we are doing and have updates over time. I think we have done a great job with the Bell Memorial Park and the videos showing the progress happening at the park. I would like to task our communication director with creating videos with regards to our progress with conservation subdivisions or with the conservation process. We can take a drone like we did over Bell Memorial and fly it over land we think has the potential to be conserved. The attorney would have to tell us if this would be legal or not. I do think with our communication director we should do some kind of video communicating regularly about our conservation initiative. Councilmember Lusk I concur with what Karen said. I have been disappointed with the lack of comprehensive effort bringing these issues of TDR, Conservation Subdivisions, Impact Fees , etc. together. We need a commanding officer taking charge to bring it together. I have not seen a firm policy of TDR yet and we have worked on that for a year and a half. I do not see how we are going to make any of these issues work if we do not firm up these policies. Laurel Florio I totally hear you. I know we do have a working document for TDRs. I thought my role was to engage and guide and I do not feel that has taken place. Maybe that was my overstretched expectation. I do agree there needs to be direction for all these conservation issues and I thought that was an expectation of my role , but I have not seen that come to fruition. It is about the focus or the lack of because everyone is busy with so many things. It is almost like we need a conservation department. Councilmember Lusk It is not a consolidated effort. Mayor Lockwood I know I said I want there to be better communication from all parts with conservation. If you feel you need more from us to get the communication flowing and get this initiative moving better, I am sure we are all open to that. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9, 2015 at 6 :00 pm Page 29 of32 Laurel Florio I would just love to be able to make more of an impact. Mayor Lockwood That is what we want as well. Chris Lagerbloom At this point we have a professional services contract that has a cost cap at $30 ,000 for a consultant that charges $150/hour. That is very different than a City Staff member who works in the Community Development department that is being paid a salary to perform certain functions for the city. We have already burned through more than half of that available contract for the fiscal year and we are not even half way through this fiscal year. If the Council is interested in formalizing a person who does conservation on a full-time basis or a larger contract , I certainly am willing to accept that direction. If I can go to someone on staff and have them answer a question rather than go to a professional that is going to charge $150/hour for the answer then I will use our staff every time. This may have caused some to feel left out but that is a product of managing a contract like that to some degree. Mayor Lockwood That is good information, Chris. Conservation is very important to our citizens and to me as well. Councilmember Mohrig The reality is that people are uninformed and cannot see what we are trying to do. How do we get that information out there to change and improve their perception? Councilmember Lusk I would like to do a little more research on the idea of moratoriums. Ken Jarrard That is interesting you raise that idea. The jurisdiction I work in is considering a moratorium on building permits and I have actually written a paper on it. However, we were not able to find a moratorium on building permits in Georgia only zoning moratoriums which are totally different. You can expect a challenge on a permit moratorium much more so than a zoning moratorium because by the time you get into permitting, the investment into the property has been realized . None the less, my guidance is going to be that a building permit moratorium is likely lawful. I believe a couple of factors have to play into it: • It has to be of limited direction • It has to be supported by a reasonable and realistic justification • Have to know how many permits are enough • Designation of when the moratorium can come to an end. All of these factor in and will have to be defending in front of a judge who will be looking for why , how long , what is your rational relationship between the moratorium and your objective. I have been looking at this issue keenly and expect some pretty tough questions regarding it. Chris Lagerbloom If I was taking direction from the Council , you all are open to a more comprehensive proposal on this initiative that would either include additional funding toward consultant time or other structures that Work Ses s ion of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6 :00pm Page 30 of 32 would allow us to utilize those type of services on more than just a couple hours a week basis. Is that something the Council would support? Mayor Lockwood I believe that the Council would support funding something after you structure it legally and contractually. Councilmember Thurman I think it is a balance between using our internal paid staff and the $150/hour consultant to get the communication out to the public. Mayor Lockwood I think we are all open to working together. We need to form a stronger working relationship to help with communication. Councilmember Lusk I am looking for overall coordination of all of these different conservative aspects and I have not felt that we had that as of yet. Francia Linden, 14810 East Bluff Road, Milton, GA 30004 I agree with what Karen said , it is a matter of communication to the public at large about what is being done. Bill touched on a number of topics that we have looked at but I don 't see this message going out to the public at large. I have been somewhat involved in this for a while and even I do not have a clear picture of what options are available to landowners to offset the cost if they put up an easement. I do not understand what the IRS code is either. So if you had citizen 's academy v ideos for each one of these topics and you itemized it and publicized it out to the public as a PR campaign by stating here is what we are doing with the conservation topic , you can watch this video for this topic , this video for that topic , etc . I tried to find Laurel 's name on the city 's website under search and I could not find it. If it is hard for me , someone is familiar with the information then I know it must be hard for the public as a whole. You have to be really invested in aPR campaign. Mayor Lockwood Thank you to all the folks who have been here for this issue. Councilmember Kunz I would like to see a conservation functional based organization chart. Agenda Item #4 was read. 4. Discussion of Revisions to Chapter 4 , Alcoholic Beverages. (Stacey In glis, Assistant City Manager) Stacey Inglis, Assistant City Manager The content has not really changed since I brought this forth to you back in December. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00pm Page 31 of32 With regard to Publicly Owned Facilities, it discusses allowing Council to decide whether or not to permit somebody who would like to rent the park or a historic structure to serve alcohol within those facilities. Is this something you would like to do or would you like Staff to handle this? Mayor Lockwood I think we will trust the Staff to handle that. Stacey Inglis I went through what we presented and discussed in the December meeting. There were some questions on Special Event Facilities and how other cities handle them. Councilmember Thurman wanted to know how Roswell handled their Special Event Facilities. I honestly did not get a clear answer. They told me they needed to tighten down their ordinance and clarify who needs a Special Events Facility license. The way our ordinance is currently written is that a Special Event Facility itself would have the alcohol beverage license and then get caterers to come in and serve the alcohol. That is the model we had from Roswell , as well as Dunwoody. In Roswell , there are a couple of facilities that do not get the Special Event Facility license. Instead, they have caterers who serve the alcohol and therefore, do not believe they need Special Event Facility licenses. I need some guidance on how you want to handle this. Do you want to make the Special Events Facility be required to obtain an alcohol beverage license and then allow them to have caterers bring in the alcohol alleviating the caterers from having to get a separate license themselves? The only reason we would require a non-resident caterer to get a license in the City of Milton is if they had a Special Event permit requiring city resources. We also talked with the attorney representing Little River and based on his research, he could not find where any caterers would have to come in and pay for each catering event they have. He said if there was going to be a Special Event Facility license he would request it would be a minimal fee of $250. Is this something you want to get into or just allow them to have caterers to come in and they will have to get a business license? Councilmember Thurman For us with our situation, we have to provide the alcohol and the caterers have to get a pouring license . So the facility is not supplying anything and the caterer does not supply the alcohol either. They just provide the bartenders. Stacey Inglis I think for us the way our ordinance is currently written and also what we are proposing in the new revisions is that if it is associated with a non-profit organization they do not have to get pouring permits , if they are going to serve alcohol. In the new revisions , if it is a currently licensed consumption on premises and they want to have a Special Event then they can do so without having to be tied to a tradable organization but they would use their license pourers in that event. Councilmember Thurman And the pourers would have to be licensed in the city? Stacey Inglis Yes. Councilmember Longoria You are saying using the license for a caterer or at their facility? Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, February 9 , 2015 at 6:00 pm Page 32 of32 Stacey Inglis I am saying at their facility. There are also some provisions for alcohol beverage caterers for residential currently licensed consumption on premises that they can get a caterer permit and serve within the city. Councilmember Mohrig How would they work with Little River or Yellow Farm? Stacey Inglis That is what we are discussing. We can charge the Special Event Facility itself and not worry about getting the caterers to come in or just not have that provision allowing the caterers to do what they normally do within the normal course of business. Mayor Lockwood Do we want to continue this at another time? Stacey Inglis I am fine with that. Mayor Lockwood That will then conclude tonight 's meeting. Date Approved: March 16, 2015