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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 05/09/2016 - MINS 05 09 16 WS (Migrated from Optiview)Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 1 of 16 This summary is provided as a convenience and service to the public, media, and staff. It is not the intent to transcribe proceedings verbatim. Any reproduction of this summary must include this notice. Public comments are noted and heard by Council, but not quoted. This document includes limited presentation by Council and invited speakers in summary form. This is an official record of the Milton City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Meetings are audio and video recorded. The Work Session of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on May 9, 2016 at 6:00 PM. Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Karen Thurman, Councilmember Matt Kunz, Councilmember Bill Lusk and Councilmember Rick Mohrig. Councilmembers Absent: Councilmember Burt Hewitt, Councilmember Joe Longoria Mayor Joe Lockwood presided over the meeting. • 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 10 minutes per agenda item and no more than 2 minutes per person. • Public comment will be heard at the beginning of each Item. • Once the item is called, no other comment cards will be accepted. PUBLIC COMMENT Lisa Cauley, 14680 Freemanville Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I was unable to attend the April 25' council meeting, however, I was able to watch it online. I have serval questions and I am very concerned and wish I had been able to be here last week to speak. City Council denied the CSO. They denied the CSO based on community concern. The city council knows that the majority of the community wants to keep our density at one home per acre. City Council knows that the majority of the community does not want community sewer. City Council knows that they were elected to protect sewer expansion in Milton. This is the main concern in Milton in order to keep our rural nature and preserve our unique lifestyle. Every time there is a challenge to density or sewer expansion in Milton, it seems that the community is forced to rise up and plead the case again and again to council. I expect council to uphold their promises. The rezoning approved last week in regard to the Ebenezer property sets up the ground work for increased density all over Milton using community septic systems. The community has expressed concern since so many new developments have popped up all over Milton during the past few years. In fact, this is why a moratorium was placed on development last year. Approval of this Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 3 of 16 and will affect not only our property values but also the safety of our street for our families. I sincerely hope you will review the legal inconsistencies regarding the outcome of this rezoning request. A lawsuit would be costly to both the city and its citizens. I do believe that a better option can be had by all. Thank you. David Damian, 935 Post Oak Close, Milton, Georgia 30004 I am really confused about how you voted for something that you didn't even see. The burden is on the applicant to demonstrate that a variance request will make our community better. But, when you walked out of here that night, you did not know whether that will be the outcome. To me, that is reckless behavior. But, also what is reckless is the gentleman that sits between Councilmember Lusk and Councilmember Thurman, made a pitch advocating on behalf of the developer. That is appalling. I would ask that going forward, you take the facts and make an assessment. You don't come to the meeting with your minds made up. Unfortunately, our city with only 30,000 or so citizens has become divisive. You need to figure out a way to take the AG -1 and make it better. We all have ideas. Let's figure out a way to all work together to make our existing standards sustainable. Rather than allowing these "one offs" to come up every other month is killing us. We can't defend something that nobody wants every six weeks or so. I know we are trying to increase the tax base for our community but there are other ways to do that. If you need to increase the tax rate; I'm sure there are citizens who would be willing to agree to that and keep Milton the unique place that we all love. But, don't put more density on smaller lots. This variance request has nothing to do with preserving land, make no mistake about that. It is unbuildable land that is now being saved and the developer won't build on it. I would encourage the Mayor to put aside all the political aspects of the position and stand up to protect our community. We are a small town that is staying up past midnight to discuss an agenda item. Let's set standards and stick to them. David Gower, 825 Ebenezer Road, Roswell, Georgia 30004 During the meeting, I noticed that you allowed the approval of the variance after multiple tie votes. You did not allow all the neighbors to speak and those that did were only allowed two minutes to speak. One neighbor did not get to speak because he showed up late for the meeting. Another neighbor was sick and emailed her thoughts but it was not read into the record. There are only 15 residents on the street and many of them were at the meeting and wanted to voice their concern. However, you allowed the applicant 15 minutes at the podium which the residents were not allowed equal time. You also allowed a member of the council to participate in deliberations after recusing themselves. You expressed an unexpected and unexplainable familiarity with the applicant. Calling him by his first name on several occasions during the meeting. And, you did not use a critical eye when evaluating the application. Where are we going to find 45 people who are empty nesters who are going to buy five bedroom houses worth $1 million on I/4 acre lots. It doesn't seem realistic. The applicant then began to threaten us with filling the pond and striping the land and he is now going to add horses to the property which is somewhat ridiculous. Georgia law allows the neighbors to appeal your decision in court. And, to that end, I have approached the Galloway Law Group on behalf of myself and other neighbors. There is a component to this that the testimony is not sufficient. The reduction in property value, which is my complaint, as well as noise, privacy and odor issues. The power point presentation that was presented at the previous meeting regarding a similar type of septic system. When I walked in the vicinity by the shed there was an odor. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 5 of 16 Tim Becker, 15625 Canterbury Chase, Milton, Georgia 30004 I am going to talk about due process and the rule of law. Sandra Day O'Connor once said, "Commitment to the rule of law provides the basic assurance that people can know what to expect no matter what their representatives do, is popular, or unpopular at the time." This is my belief also. The citizens of Milton must have confidence that government processes are well-defined and fair. And, this applies to city council meetings. Unfortunately, the April 25th City Council Meeting was the antithesis of rigor and fairness. Quite simply, the citizens of Milton were denied due process. The same due process that one councilmember strongly insisted be provided to Brightwater Homes. Consider the issues: 1) Staff, City Attorney, and several councilmembers labored under the false assumption that the site plan is conceptual. This is false. The site plan and conditions approved by council were zoned for 745 Ebenezer Road. 2) Councilmember amended and approved a motion to substitute Brightwater's revised conditions for staff's conditions. No attempt was made to reconcile the developer's conditions with promises made earlier in the meeting by the developer or staff's recommended conditions. Brightwater's conditions were approved despite the fact that staff, some councilmembers, and citizens had not reviewed the revised conditions. This is wrong. 3) In voting on the amended motion that approved conditions more favorable to the developer and less favorable to citizens, prudence would dictate that council would defer such a vote to a later meeting. 4) One councilmember negotiated with and sometimes for the developer. This is an affront to citizens. 5) The developer and his attorney, freely and without censure interjected and interrupted with comments at will. At one point, even answered a question that was directed to our City Attorney. The meeting was, quite frankly, chaotic and confusing. 6) On multiple occasions, staff engaged the applicant in private conversation. This is inappropriate. 7) On nine different occasions, a recused councilmember commented on the proceedings. On one occasion, these comments were pivotal in redirecting the proceedings away from a denial which should have been the outcome. At no point was the councilmember willing to bough her comments. 8) The city attorney advised council only in the case of an emergency to extend the meeting past midnight, however, no emergency existed and council voted to extend its proceedings without even acknowledging the previous advice of the city attorney. Given all these issues, I am convinced that due process was denied the citizens. I urge council to vacate its decision to approve Brightwater's application. Council should reconsider the application and come to a decision the right way. Due process demands it. Scott Sawyer, 787 Quarterpath Lane, Milton, Georgia 30004 I request that you rescind the vote on the Ebenezer rezoning and reconsider the approval of the CUP. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 7 of 16 6.35 and 6.36 requires that a huge portion of a senior's retirement income must be subtracted from his adjusted gross income in order to qualify. In addition, they pay no attention whatsoever to the effect that their recommendation would have on 65 and 70 year plus Milton senior citizens at lower income levels. For example, if their recommendation were to be followed an elderly senior citizen living almost entirely on social security but with an adjusted gross income of $63,337.00 would be ineligible for a senior homestead exemption because it is one dollar over the social security maximum of $63,336.00 this year. In a brochure now being distributed by Milton's finance department titled, "Policy Statement Regarding Low Income Homestead Exemptions" the claim is made regarding the city attorney's adjusted gross income recommendation that "this approach is consistent with how similar exemptions have been applied in other counties and municipalities as well." While that may be true of some unidentified location somewhere, it should be noted that Fulton County and the City of Alpharetta both subtract retirement income up to the current social security maximum just as it is presently required by the Milton City Charter which is being ignored. I live in a community nearby with 96 individual living units; 118 residents, of which, 64 are elderly women or widows living alone. Nearly all residents receive social security and retirement income and qualify for Milton's senior homestead exemptions by the terms and provisions of paragraphs 6.35 and 6.36. By using the city attorney's recommendation, their senior homestead exemption for which paragraphs 6.35 and 6.36 now illegally qualify, would be denied and their property tax liability would go from as low as $0 with their present legal exemption to $400 or more depending on their property evaluation. That can only be construed as a huge tax increase. The city attorney's recommendation should be viewed from two standpoints. First, he recommends that you, the city council, remove the part of the charter that now gives legal tax exemption to 65 and 70 year plus senior citizens living on retirement income. Second, his recommendation targets those same 65 and 70 year plus citizens living on retirement income incur a potential tax increase. The city attorney was wrong with his opinion that the city has been correctly applying senior exemptions, he is wrong with his recommendations to use adjusted gross income alone to qualify for those exemptions, and it would be wrong for the City of Milton to target 65 and 70 year old plus citizens living on retirement income to incur a property tax increase. The city attorney's opinion and recommendation should be rejected. And, finally it should be noted that the city charter's plain language both in the past and today means what it says and should be followed to the letter. Ken Jarrard, City Attorney We are here tonight to discuss proposed changes to the city's charter regarding senior homestead exemptions. The City of Milton has the authority to change its Charter provisions under the Home Rule Authority granted to both counties and cities. However, a city does not have the ability to impose new taxes. Aaron Meyer, City Attorney Section 6.34 states the general senior homestead exemption. Every city and county in Georgia has an additional low income senior homestead tax exemption. Milton's senior homestead tax exemption matches all of the sister cities in Fulton County. Fulton County's senior homestead tax exemption was established in 1978 and applied to each city as they were incorporated. The maximum social security benefit is established by the Social Security Administration each year. Currently, that amount is $63,336. Milton has historically interpreted the exemption as a "double Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 9 of 16 Agenda Item #3 was read. 3. Discussion of Greenspace Bond Criteria. (Kathleen Johnson, Conservation Project Manager) PUBLIC COMMENT Jack Lindon, 14810 East Bluff Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I am really pleased with the way the criteria came out as you can see in the handout. Especially, the first criteria which states that land shall be acquired from willing landowners and no bond funds shall be used to acquire land through the exercise of eminent domain by the city. Also, the inclusion that the preservation of trees should be strongly considered in each land acquisition decision based on any or all criteria. Clear cutting of trees shall be prohibited unless required to meet the needs of the approved project. Laura Bentley, 2500 Bethany Church Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I have attended a lot of the greenspace meetings and I really wanted to encourage you to look closely at the opportunity for the purchase of properties. A lot of the significant equestrian operations in our city are on leased property. Often, trainers who are in that business do not have the ability to purchase farms like that so they are leased property and are often at risk. They are usually investments and are sold when the opportunity comes up and they are very often our most beautiful equestrian operations. In the discussions that we have had, that option to purchase and then lease back was brought up so it is a great way to preserve the real equestrian businesses in this city. They bring a ton of revenue and it is preserving greenspace with pastures and horses. I encourage you to think about that, the lease back. Also, people come here to purchase small farms; 10-15 acres, because there is the opportunity to go to Birmingham Park and ride in a wide open space. There are not many places to trail ride so that is a great opportunity to keep and co -exist as a passive park. Lauren O'Neal, 14085 Freemanville Road, Milton, Georgia 30004 I would like to talk to you about preserving trails. Specifically, there is one on Freemanville Road that is owned by the Board of Education and has been trails forever. We have this beautiful piece of property that you can ride off of your property onto this wonderful piece of land that you can't build it anywhere else so we need to protect it. We have to protect what we already have. I talked to Katie Reeves who said we could get a MOU in which we could ask for the property and rent it then we can keep up the trails, etc. I looked at SPLOST and there is nothing allocated during the next five years for this property. So, if we can maintain it and keep it going we can keep it greenspace in Milton and a wonderful trail for years to come. In addition, when Jan Jones talked about having a trail system to connect all of the dirt roads so we can bring everyone together and enjoy all that we have. It is all great but they are all scattered and it would be wonderful to connect everything and it would be so much easier for everyone. It would be a wonderful marketing tool for Milton to let people know that you can gather people together who want to ride their horses. The trails and land are here we just have to protect what we have. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 11 of 16 • Land shall be acquired from willing landowners and no bond funds shall be used to acquire land through the exercise of eminent domain by the city. • The preservation of trees should be strongly considered in each land acquisition decision based on any or all criteria. Clear cutting of trees shall be prohibited unless required to meet the needs of the approved project. • Acquisition of land that is contiguous or adjacent to existing, protected green space parcels is encouraged. • Land acquired shall be mainly buildable land, unless a non -buildable portion of a tract is a small part of the whole tract or if land is for trails. • Land parcels that meet two or more of the three Criteria Categories may receive priority in land acquisition decisions. CRITERIA CATEGORIES: After hearing public input from a variety of sources and discussing this input at several meetings, the Planning Commission decided on a list Criteria to identify types of land areas within the city that should be acquired in order to preserve greenspace. These Criteria were then grouped into the following categories of related characteristics. 1. Greenspace/Open Space Preserve general areas of green or open space including pastures, horse farms, wooded areas, larger tracts of undeveloped land, and open space between new or existing subdivisions. This category also specifically includes: • Protecting natural resources from development especially wooded and tree areas with special concentration on preserving as many trees as possible. • Protecting wildlife habitat and corridors from development by preserving areas in their natural state that are home to wildlife, including identifying and preserving wildlife corridors. • Protecting water and watersheds from development by protecting areas with water, rivers, ponds, lakes, creeks, streams, stream buffer areas and watersheds. 2. Rural Views/Rural Character • Protecting or conserving the rural views along roadways. • Protecting or conserving the rural feel, look, setting and character of Milton. • Protecting Historic resources. • Protecting agricultural uses of land including farms, horse farms, etc. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 13 of 16 Seeking to gain a significant amount of public involvement, the Commission and city staff solicited public input in a variety of ways including: a series of Planning Commission meetings and work sessions with public comment time; a greenspace survey sent to 4,000 residents via email; an online greenspace link on the city website; and comment cards and surveys filled out by the public at various community events and meetings. The public input data from these sources has been compiled and set out in this document. Public comments were categorized and then tallied into percentages for each category. In person comments from the public at the Planning Commission meetings were not tallied into the percentages below but were considered and discussed by the Commissioners during their Criteria review and vote. Please note that due to the difference in terminology used by each citizen in a response, placement of comments in the criteria categories may not be exact. In addition, some comments which did not fit into an easily identifiable category but were related to greenspace acquisition or use in general, are noted in the "Factors" section below. Also note that the online survey gave three examples of possible greenspace types that the public could refer to in order to give some context to their answers but also allowed for other or different types of greenspace criteria to be submitted. Many respondents used one or more of those same examples in their responses to the survey. Thus, those specific categories may have a higher percentage of frequency than if the question was open ended with no greenspace examples given. The actual online survey question read: To help identify the land our citizens would like to preserve (through bond proceeds or otherwise), the Milton Planning Commission would like to hear what characteristics you feel are important for greenspace. In your opinion, what criteria should land be judged by? Examples include: • Protects important natural resources • Provides greenway and/or trail connection between parks and schools • Protects significant historic resources • Or any others that you feel are important Criteria Groupings from Public Input: 1. Protects important natural resources — includes natural resources in general and protection of trees, wooded areas and desire not to clear cut trees in land development. 2. Provides trails and/or greenway connections — includes the desire for trails in general, trails that connect parks and schools, and trials that connect to the established greenway. Trails include: walking, biking and horse trails. 3. Protects historic resources — includes defined historic sites (if any) and historical (long standing) horse farms, farms and barns/buildings. 4. Greenspace/Open space — includes many aspects of preserving open space in general such as pastures, horse farms, large tracts of land, space left open between subdivisions and other development, passive use areas. 5. Rural areas — includes things such as rural feel, rural views, rural look, rural setting. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00 pm Page 15 of 16 • Acquisition of land that is contiguous or adjacent to existing, protected green space parcels is encouraged. • Land parcels that meet two or more of the three criteria categories may receive priority in acquisition decisions. Agenda Item 94 was read. 4. Discussion of New City Hall Street Name. (Kathleen Field, Community Development Director) Kathleen Field, Community Development Director Per our previous discussions regarding this matter, staff sent notices to the residents who live along the street. There are seven homes. The top three names listed in red on the handout in front of you came to us from the citizens who reside in those homes. Those names are: Doublebranch Way, Crossroads Way (or Avenue) and Main Street; however, Main Street is prohibited by the post office. The handout also includes other names that we have previously discussed as well as some new suggestions. Norman Broadwell suggested the name Grandberry which is named after Grandberry Broadwell who is a decedent of Thomas Byrd during that era. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Potential Litigation at 8:45 p.m. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Councilmember Thurman recused herself. Councilmember Hewitt left the meeting early. Councilmember Kunz was absent from the meeting. RECONVENE Motion and Vote: Councilmember Lusk moved to reconvene the Regular Meeting at 9:45 p.m. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Councilmember Thurman recused herself. Councilmember Hewitt left the meeting early. Councilmember Kunz was absent from the meeting. STATE OF GEORGIA ) AFFIDAVIT RE: CLOSURE OF COUNTY OF FULTON ) OPEN MEETINGS CITY OF MILTON Personally appeared before the undersigned officer, duly authorized under the laws of the State of Georgia to administer oaths, JOE LOCKWOOD, who in his capacity as Mayor and the person presiding over a Council meeting of the CITY OF MILTON, and after being first duly sworn, certifies under oath and states to the best of his knowledge and belief the following: At a Regularly Scheduled City Council Work Session Meeting held on May 9, 2016, 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. 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. X 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 SUBSCRIBED beffttil/ll,f� this 9"' day of May, 2016. s 1* GOIQ fk% 04%SSIOAI 00. �OT'4O 0 ` MAYOR JOE LOKWO—OD • _ •�� Notary Public �;••:�ti� zo; •' My Commission Expir s: r��•' •28''�•,�.`�