Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 12/15/2014 - MINS 12 15 14 REG (Migrated from Optiview)Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15, 2014 at 6:00 pm Page 1 of 11 This summary is provided as a convenience and service to the public, media, and staff. It is not the intent to transcribe proceedings verbatim. Any reproduction of this summary must include this notice. Public comments are noted and heard by Council, but not quoted. This document includes limited presentation by Council and invited speakers in summary form. This is an official record of the Milton City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Meetings are audio and video recorded. The Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on December 15, 2014 at 6:00 PM, Mayor Joe Lockwood presiding. INVOCATION Pastor Brent Deakins, Reach One Church, Milton, Georgia. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Joe Lockwood called the meeting to order. ROLLCALL Councilmembers Present: Council member Thurman, Councilmember Kunz, Councilmember Lusk, Councilmember Hewitt, Councilmember Longoria and Councilmember Mohrig. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (Led by Mayor Joe Lockwood) APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA (Agenda Item No . 14-335) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve the Meeting Agenda with the following changes: • Add an Executive Session to discuss Personnel. • Move Agenda Item No. 14-343 under New Business to after Consent Agenda. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). PUBLIC COMMENT Francia Lindon, 14810 East Bluff Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I have been very actively involved in Milton Grows Green since its beginning in February 2008. What J say here today represents my personal opinion based on first-hand experience. J know the changes that have taken place in MGG since our early days and how the committee has progressed under Cindy Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 2 of 11 Eade's four year leadership. I've put together a packet for you all in the hope that it will give you a better understanding, in metrics, of MOO's broad reach. When MOO was formed, there was some confusion over where we belonged. Liaisons with city government came and went with minimal impact because their primary focus wasn't the environment. Eventually, we wound up under Community Development, which seemed like a good fit since our main objective as to protect natural resources. When Cindy was hired in January of2011, we (and the city) entered a whole new era. She was someone who had been involved in sustainability for many years with a nonprofit. She knew the larger Atlanta environmental community, what projects and possibilities were available, and she had a network of invaluable contacts. She brought these to the city and to us. For the first time, we had tangible direction. Just as important, Cindy understood how to work with volunteers. She knows you can't just put up multiple roadblocks without looking for other ways to make things happen. You have to be a facilitator. By the city's own metrics, she was clearly a star at bringing in volunteers. At one point, the city recognized this and gave her the award of "Volunteer Wrangler." All of her efforts and expertise nicely tied in with building bridges between the city government and the community, giving residents an avenue for engagement. Every time I look at something from the city, I see tangible evidence of her contributions. She introduced the ARC's Oreen Communities Initiative which Michelle McIntosh-Ross ably took over. Also, it was Cindy who shepherded through the National Wildlife Federation's Community Wildlife Habitat Program in record time. These are two of the four symbols that appear at the bottom of all city correspondence. Behind the scenes, Cindy also interacted with city staff on our behalf saving mUltiple hours of staff time in having to deal with committee members one-to-one. I just want to briefly mention two recent events as examples of her team spirit that went above and beyond a job description. The first took place on a Saturday morning. A small group including MOO volunteers, Bill Lusk, Wayne Boston, Cindy and her personal landscaper, spent about four hours at Hopewell House cleaning out overgrown brush. This was done so the ribbon cutting ceremony for the renovations would have a presentable photo op backdrop. Cindy brought in her landscaper because he had the tools, she knew how efficient he was, and she paid him out of her own personal funds. The second event is the recent Septic System Workshop done with Better Together. The idea for the event was hers. She contacted and organized the speakers and provided the written information for a handout. Most of Milton's residents have septic systems and it is amazing the number who said, "I have no idea what a septic system is." This workshop was designed to fill that void by giving critical information, which could save homeowners hundreds of dollars while protecting the purity of our water. I am speaking now because I want this loss to be publically recorded. It is huge for all of us. The Young Men's Service League's City of Milton's Ambassador sent this in an unsolicited email: "J am still in absolute shock over the news about Cindy Eade. What a wonderful person she is! J do not understand why she was let go when she is so great at her job. She will be greatly missed by everyone at Milton-Young Men's Service League. " I personally can't imagine the city finding a replacement with her resources, energy and understanding of relevant environmental issues. As a citizen, I would hope that my local government is able to recognize competency and reward effectiveness, and not let personalities or petty grievances interfere with a smooth running operation. That hopeful expectation has bumped up against a difficult and different reality. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 3 of II CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approval of the November 10, 2014 City Council Work Session Minutes. (Agenda Item No. 14-336) (Sudie Gordon, City Clerk) 2. Approval of the November 17,2014 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. (Agenda Item No. 14-337) (Sudie Gordon. City Clerk) 3. Approval of the December 1, 2014 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. (Agenda Item No. 14-338) (Sudie Gordon, City Clerk) 4. Approval of the Financial Statements for the Period Ending October, 2014. (Agenda Item No. 14-339) (Stacey Inglis. Assistant City Manager) 5. Approval of a Contract with OpenGov, Inc. to Provide a Web-based Platform to Share the City's Financial Data. (Agenda Item No. 14-340) (Stacey Inglis. Assistant City Manager) 6. Approval of a Fourth Amendment to an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Milton, Georgia and the City of Johns Creek, Georgia for the Provision of Information Technology Services. (Agenda Item No. 14-341) (Chris Lagerbloom. City Manager) 7. Approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement (lGA) Between Fulton County and the City of Milton for 800 MHz Radio System Access Beginning January 1,2015. (Agenda Item No. 14-342) (Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Lusk moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). REPORTS AND PRESENTA TIONS (None) FIRST PRESENTATION (None) PUBLIC HEARING (None) Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December J5,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 4 of II Zoning is transcribed verbatim ZONING AGENDA l. Consideration ofRZ14-16 -To Amend Chapter 64, Article XVII, Development Regulations. ORDINANCE NO. 14-12 -230 (Agenda Item No . 14-327) (First Presentation at December I, 2014 Regular Council Meeting) (Discussed at December 8,2014 City Council Work Session) (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager Mayor and Council, Kathy was not scheduled to be here today and Robin had a family emergency this afternoon. I apologize for me having to present these two items. They would have candidly done probably a much better job than I am about to do, but I am going to take a stab at it anyway having just heard these items discussed in work session. The first item as you recall is the addition of a new permit. It is a new pennit that deals with the clear cutting. There were some concerns that our existing code would allow for essentially clear cutting to almost masquerade as timber harvesting. This is a permit that goes into place that would allow for clear cutting in certain areas but there are certain penalties that would kick in if in fact somebody clear cut with ill intent. I think you will remember that if somebody were to clear cut then all of the sudden decided to change the use, there was a period of time (five years) that was in place that they would have to maintain the land in a certain capacity without additional development. This new pennit would be in the Zoning Ordinance. It would apply to certain properties that are zoned AG-I, R-I, R-2 and R-2A which do not have an approved Land Disturbance Permit. I think Mark Law is in the room and he would be a great one to answer any questions you might have that may have come up since our work session last week. Councilmember Lusk I have one question as it relates to specimen trees, how would you handle that situation with a clear cutting permit? Mark Law, City Arborist Specimen trees will still be addressed individually as a" specimen. They will be addressed under all circumstances and be either preserved or recommended for if they were to be removed. Chris Lagerbloom This one was unanimously supported by the Planning Commission and they voted with their recommendation for approval. Mayor Lockwood I am going to close the Public Hearing since we did not have any comments. Is there any other discussion on this? Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-327. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 5 of J I 2 . Consideration of RZ14-17 -To Amend Section 64-1 Definitions. ORDINANCE NO. 14-12 -231 (Agenda Item No . 14-328) (First Presentation at Decemb er 1, 2014 Regular Council Meeting) (Discussed at December 8, 2014 City C ouncil Work Session) (Kathlee n Field, Community Developm ent Director) Chris Lagerbloom Mayor and Council this one is a little easier to explain but probably a little more to debate on it. As you recall there was calculation oflot size excluding certain things: golf courses, bodies of water and streets in our code . We ran into a situation in some of our larger neighborhoods where when you exclude a golf course from the lot area you thereby reduce the footprint of the other buildings that can be built on the property. We ran into this in the Manor where you have some rather large footprints on some houses and if they happen to back up to the fairway of the golf course and you do not have that as calculated green space the lot essentially shrinks. This one was brought in front of the Planning Commission and was highlighted at the work session that the Planning Commission does not support this modification to the code. They suggested and voted unanimously that it should stay as is and that golf course, bodies of water and streets should not go towards lot coverage . That would ultimately be a decision for the Council to make. Further this makes one modification, I will just point it out, that we added the clear cut permit definition to this section as well, which was the action item just prior approved. Two things potentially changing in this if you approve it: 1) definition and 2) is to whether or not you believe that golf courses, bodies of water and streets or any of those individually or collectively should be used to determine the lot area and the lot coverage. Mayor Lockwood Do we have any questions ? Councilmember Kunz If I remember from the work session, Councilmember Thurman mentioned about streets as a possibility of removal. Was the streets aspect something that would also affect any development in the Manor too? Chris Lagerbloom I do not believe we have seen that streets were affecting anything in the Manor. The big one there is the golf course and what we have run into the most. In certain private neighborhood streets that are abandon to the center line and that are owned in fee by the house that fronts it to the center line, I can see how that calculation would potentially skew a lot size. But what we really have run into has been the golf courses. Mayor Lockwood Anybody have any comments or questions? Councilmember Thurman Personally, I feel like the golf courses and bodies of water ought to be excluded here . Those are two pretty green things . The streets I am much more neutral on than the golf courses or bodies of water. Councilmember Hewitt I agree with Council member Thurman on that as well. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday , December 15 , 2014 at 6:00 pm Page 6 of 11 Mayor Lockwood How often has this issue come up or do we expect this in the future? Chris Lagerbloom At this point, I can count them on one hand. But there are still some lots to be developed. Milton is no stranger to large footprint houses on golf courses so just the fact that we identified a couple in the Manor at this point, I would guess there are some others out there that we do not know about yet , but just a hand full. Councilmember Kunz If a situation would occur that a street would have an impact, they could come before us for a variance? Chris Lagerbloom That is right. Being this would reside in the Zoning Code there would be a variance opportunity. Whether it came in the form of a variance or came in the form of a rezoning. The thing we are trying to be most careful of is that our code does not automatically strict a certain lot beyond what the protective covenants of a neighborhood would do. That is where we get the conflicts. We could leave all this stuff in the code and you could find a house that would fit that you could still build. It is not a question of whether or not the lot is buildable or whether or not the lot is buildable to a spec that would match the particular protective covenants of a neighborhood. Councilmember Kunz Is it the Manor's request that we include streets in this ordinance? Have they made that known to us or not? Chris Lagerbloom They have not made that known to me that I am aware of. What they want to start with is to have their protective covenants in their neighborhood be at least as strong as or stronger than our code and then have them be exempted from our city code. We do not know if that necessarily makes a good professional decision. That is why we brought something forward to you that would modify our code rather than exempt one neighborhood. The hard part about doing that is how you pick the next neighborhood, are they exempt or not... what criteria did we use to apply the exemption or not. We think this is a better solution that will accomplish the same thing . Motion and Vote: Councilmember Hewitt moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-328 with the following change: • Leave the streets in the definition. Council member Thurman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). End of verbatim transcription Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6 :00 pm Page 7 of 11 UNFINISHED BUSINESS (None) NEW BUSINESS 1. Consideration of Appointments and Confinnation of the Milton Grows Green Committee Officers for 2015. (Chairperson -Jack Lindon; Vice-Chairperson -Teresa Stickels; Director of Natural Resources Subcommittee -Barbara Peck; Director of Land Conservation Building Standards Subcommittee -Kathy Johnson; Director of Education and Outreach Subcommittee­ Margaret Lamb and Director of Communications Subcommittee -Jennifer Griffiths. RESOLUTION NO. 14-12 -319 (Agenda Item No. 14-343) (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-343. Council member Thunnan seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). 2. Consideration of a Resolution and Ordinance Amending the Charter for the City of Milton, Georgia. (Agenda Item No . 14-344) (Discussed at December 8,2014 Council Work Session) (Ken Jarrard, City Attorney) Ken Jarrard, City Attorney Mr. Mayor and members of the Council, thank you. You have in front of you this evening the first fonnal presentation of a proposed modification to the City of Milton Charter. At the work session you may recall I went over with the Council how extraordinarily broad your Charter was with respect to basically the powers that have been given to the City by the General Assembly. However, as broad as those powers are and as good an argument I can make that gives you the full range of powers with respect to the disposition and handling in conveyance of property to include the ability to lease and to enter into management operation agreements, I will still like it better and think it preferable that be called out expressly in your charter. I think that is clearly what the General Assembly intended but it was not set forth with specificity. Therefore under the Home rule power that is given to all municipalities, I am asking that we modify Sections 1.12(b )21 and Sections 6.32. Both of them pertain to the same subject matter which is the disposition use of property owned by the City to provide the following: The City of Milton has the existing power to acquire and dispose of and (add this additional power): "to lease or enter into a contract for valuable consideration for the use, operation or management of'. Then continue on with the remainder of the powers already granted to the City. Under the Home rule modification process we were required to provide legal notices of this which your clerk has already done. Then to make it binding, we have to adopt this proposed resolution at two back-to-back meetings. To move forward tonight the Council would need to adopt this resolution by way of formal vote but then will see it again at the next meeting and will have to adopt again there as well. We then send it to the Secretary of State and it becomes part of the official Charter. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December J 5,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 8 of II Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-344. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). 3. Consideration of a Resolution of the Milton City Council Affirming Its Commitment to Conservation and Green Space Preservation in the City and the Dedication of Certain Funds for Such Uses. RESOLUTION NO. 14-12-320 (Agenda Item No. 14-345) (Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager) Chris Lagerbloom Mayor and Council, I am happy to make a presentation on this resolution but I will defer before I do that to Councilmember Thurman, who crafted this concept. Councilmember Thurman When we were looking at the TDR and the possibility of selling TDRs on City owned properties, I thought it was very important that any money we make from the sale of those would not go into the general fund but goes back into the conservation efforts. At this time I do not think any TDRs are out there, so this is a good time to put this in writing disclosing our intent. Any time a TDR would be sold for city owned property those funds would go back into the conservation efforts. Also leases that are longer than five years, any money gained from those leases, would also go into the Conservation efforts. We are using the resources of the city for this effort. Mayor Lockwood Just to clarify, when we are talking about conservation are we talking only about purchasing land to conserve or just in the effort of conservation? Chris Lagerbloom This particular resolution speaks to purchasing. Taking those dollars and putting them into a fund to acquire future land in fee. Mayor Lockwood That is fine with me but with Milton Grows Green here tonight we could put this fund toward an effort of conservation, conservation easements, maintaining those, etc. Again, I am fine if this is specific to land too. Council member Thurman My hope in the long run is we will be able to put additional money into this 'fund and set it aside for conservational efforts. It does say acquiring additional public lands but it could also say acquiring conservation easements or something like that. Mayor Lockwood That was my only concern. We may not have enough money to ever purchase much but may be enough to purchase a conservation easement or handle the annual cost. Do we want to amend it a little bit? Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15, 2014 at 6:00 pm Page 9 of II Council member Thurman At the bottom of page 1, it could state that "Shall be placed in a restricted account and used exclusively by the city to acquire additional land for conservation, green space purposes or other conservation". Chris Lagerbloom You could put an "or" after the word "land" and add the word "other" after the word "for". Councilmember Mohrig Can you give me an example of the long term lease? Chris Lagerbloom The cell towers. The revenues received from that monthly could be earmarked for this. Councilmember Mohrig So instead of it going into the General Fund we are dedicating anything from long term leases to go to conservation/green space purposes . Motion and Vote: Councilmember Thurman moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-345 with the following change: • At the bottom of page 1, add the word "or" after the word "land" and add the word "other" after the word "for" so the sentence reads as follows: That funds received by the City of Milton based upon (1) the sale of TDRs severed from eligible City of Milton public land, or (2) payments received by the City from private parties having short or long term leases on City property, shall be placed in a restricted account and used exclusively by the City to acquire additional land or for other conservation/green space purposes. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). 4. Approval of a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Milton and Cooper Carry, Inc. for the Design of the Milton City Hall Facility. (Agenda Item No. 14-346) (Carter Lucas, Assistant City Manager) Carter Lucas, Assistant City Manager Good evening Mayor and Council. Tonight for your consideration we have a design service contract with the architectural firm of Cooper Carry, Inc. This is for the development of the City Hall down in the Crabapple area. Back in July we issued an RFQ for these services. From that we got 11 submittals that we went through. We had a committee that represented four different departments throughout the City that would be users of this facility and through that process the committee selected Cooper Carry, Inc. as the most qualified firm to provide those services for us. Tonight, we are bringing forward the design contract and not to exceed the amount of$744,135 for your approval to provide those services. would be happy to answer any questions you may have on that. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 10 of II Councilmember Lusk What size project is the architectural fee based upon? Carter Lucas The overall project right now is at the $10 million budget. Councilmember Lusk Does this include the design of the storm water detention facility? Carter Lucas Yes. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Hewitt moved to approve Agenda Item No. 14-346. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). MA YOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS STAFF REPORTS EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion and Vote: Councilmember Thurman moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel at 6:57 p.m. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). RECONVENE Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to reconvene the Regular Meeting at 8:57 p.m. Councilmember Hewitt seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Monday, December 15,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 11 of 11 ADJOURNMENT (Agenda Item No. 14-347) Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:58 p.m . Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). Date Approved: January 5,2015 STATE OF GEORGIA ) ) AFFIDA VIT RE: CLOSURE OF COUNTY OF FULTON ) OPEN MEETINGS ) CITY OF MILTON ) Personally appeared before the undersigned officer, duly authorized under the laws of the State of Georgia to administer oaths, JOE LOCKWOOD, who in his capacity as Mayor and the person presiding over a Council meeting of the CITY OF MILTON, and after being first duly sworn, certifies under oath and states to the best of his knowledge and belief the following : At a Regularly Scheduled City Council Meeting held on December 15, 2014, at 6:00 PM the Council voted to go into closed session and exclude the public from all or a portion of its meeting. The legal exceptions applicable to the exempt matters addressed during such closed meeting are as follows: [Check or initial as appropriate] 1. discussion or voting to authorize negotiations to purchase, dispose of, or lease property; authorizing the ordering of an appraisal related to the acquisition or disposal of real estate ; entering into contract to purchase, to dispose of, or lease property subject to approval in a subsequent public vote; or entering into an option to purchase, dispose of, or lease real estate subject to approval in a subsequent public vote pursuant to O.C.G .A, 50-14-3(b)(1)(B-E); 2. X discussing or deliberating upon the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee or interviewing applicants for the executive head of the city with the vote on any such matter coming in public pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-14-3(b)(2); 3. attorney/client privilege in order to consult and meet with legal counsel pertaining to pending or potential litigation, settlement, claims, administrative proceedings or other judicial actions brought or to be brought by or against the agency or any officer or employee or in which the agency or any officer or employee may be directly involved, pursuant to O.C.G.A. 50-14-2(1). 4. other (explanation): I certify that the subject matter of the closed meeting or the closed portion of the meeting was devoted to matters of official business or policy , with the exceptions provided by law as set forth above. SWORN TO AND SUBSCRlBED before me ,\111'", this 15th day of December, 2014. ' ,,\\~ G0f16"',,'b... ........ 0"., ,:. T -••:~,SSIO~ ~.. 'A. ~ ... r_ ••.'-". ...of: ••y .. ... -J.·o...· ~... &.' ~.... :CJ ~OiA.-9L ~~ _~ ... ":>-~ r (I)-..:, ...~= 0 :~ ~... : (!) =,?;rn AnAt) -'&. .cr­i " s \ .008& <0; 0 : ,'OJe. v ""'" •• -. ,Notary Public ~ ....., .•'1"" ",<:l •• ki ~. ~ ~:·••~"'RY 16~••• 0' '" My Commission Expires: ',rT ........ "" " ."" COUt-l~ ~", 111",.1\"'\