HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 12/16/2019 - Regular Meeting Minutes1
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 1 of 46
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 16, 2019 at 6:00 PM, Mayor Joe Lockwood presiding.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Lockwood: Let's call the regular meeting of the Milton City Council for
Monday, December 16, 2019, to order. The city strongly
recommends that you review tonight's agenda carefully. And if
you wish to speak on any item on the agenda, please bring your
comment cards, which are back to my left on the table back there
up to our city clerk, Sudie Gordon, right here to my right. And
while our rules allow a speaker to turn in their comment card up
until the city clerk calls that agenda item, once the agenda item is
called, there are no more comment cards that can be accepted.
So, if anybody has any public comment on an item or general
public comment, please turn in a card to Sudie. Sudie, if you'll
please call the roll and make general announcements.
Sudie: Good evening, Mayor and council. I'll be happy to call roll for the
December 16, 2019, regular meeting. I would like to remind those
in attendance to please silence all cell phones at this time. Those
attending the meeting who would like to make a public comment,
you're required to complete a public comment card prior to
speaking on the item. Your comment card must be presented to the
city clerk prior to the agenda item being called. All speakers please
identify yourself by name, address, and organization before
beginning your comment.
If you are representing an organization, an affidavit is required
stating you have the authority of that organization. Please review
tonight's agenda. And if you would like to make a comment,
please bring your comment card to me now. Demonstration of any
sort within the chamber is prohibited. Please refrain from any
applause, cheering, booing, outbursts, or dialogue with any person
speaking. Anyone in violation will be asked to leave. As I call roll
this evening, please confirm your attendance. Mayor Joe
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 2 of 46
Lockwood.
PA
Mayor Lockwood:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Peyton Jamison.
Mr. Jamison:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Matt Kunz.
Mr. Kunz:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Laura Bentley.
Ms. Bentley:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Carol Cookerly.
Ms. Cookerly:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Joe Longoria.
Mr. Longoria:
Here.
Sudie:
Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
Mr. Mohrig:
Here.
Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Jamison, Councilmember
Kunz, Councilmember Bentley, Councilmember Cookerly, Councilmember
Longoria and Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Sudie: Would everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance?
[Pledge of Allegiance]
1
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 3 of 46
3
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'd like to just take a moment and thank everybody for being
here whether you're here for business or we've also got folks that
are here to wish Matt well and also have Ed Mitchell from the
Census Bureau. I've asked him to say a few words. So, I appreciate
you guys being here tonight. I also want to recognize I see ex-
Councilmember Karen Thurman and Bill Losk who had served on
our council for several years. So, thank you for being here tonight.
Sudie, if you'll please sound the next item.
APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA
(Agenda Item No. 19-261
Sudie: Our next item is approval of the meeting agenda, Agenda Item No.
19-261.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I would like to add an executive session to discuss land
acquisition and also withdraw an agenda item, Item No. 19-272,
consideration of an ordinance to adopt amendments to the fiscal
year 2019 budget. Are there any other items, Matt?
Mr. Kunz: Yeah. In reports and presentations, I would like to switch Items 1
and 2. I just want my team to go ahead of me. It's how I've always
felt. So, make two become one and one become two.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'll open up for motion on the agenda as amended.
Mr. Kunz: Mayor, I'll make a motion that we approve the agenda as amended
with the executive discussion to discuss was it land acquisition.
Ms. Cookerly: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Land acquisition and to remove Agenda Item No. 19-272.
Mr. Kunz: Correct.
Mayor Lockwood: And then, also with the changes you — okay. I have a motion from
Councilmember Kunz, second from Councilmember Cookerly. All
in favor, please say aye.
Group: Aye.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 4 of 46
M
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Kunz moved to approve the Meeting
Agenda with the following amendments: "Add an Executive Session to
discuss land acquisition and withdraw Agenda Item No.19-272,
"Consideration of an Ordinance to Adopt Amendments to the Fiscal Year
2019 Budget" and under Reports and Presentations, "switch items no. 1
and 2." Councilmember Cookerly seconded the motion. The motion
passed (7-0).
PUBLIC COMMENT (General)
✓ Ed Mitchell, 660 Greenview Terrace, Milton, GA 30004
✓ Scott Reece, 13685 Highway 9, Milton, GA 30004
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Okay. Our next item is public comment. Sudie,
do we have any public comment?
Sudie: Yes, we do, sir.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Would you please call the first speaker?
Sudie: Our first speaker this evening is Ed Mitchell.
Mayor Lockwood: And I'd like to, again, introduce Ed Mitchell and Sky Coffee,
correct? Thank you for being here.
Mr. Mitchell: Yes. We're with the Census Bureau. And, basically, what we're
here tonight to do, we have — you can see the table set up on the
outside here. We have a massive recruiting going on with the
Census Bureau right now. And we need about 33 more volunteers
for the city of Milton. So, if any of you are so inclined tonight, just
come out and see us at the table before you leave. And we'll be
happy to get you signed up to become a part of the census for
2020. And for you all that don't know, in 2020 is the decennial
census. So, it will be the 24th decennial census. That means it's the
one that's done every 10 years.
So, that one is very, very important because it determines who
much money comes to Milton. So, if everybody signs up and when
the forms come out in mid -March and start coming in the mail in
March 12 through 20, we need everyone to sign up. And for those
few that don't, we need help in actually going door to door to get
them to sign up as well. So, that's what we're here for tonight. So,
if you would, before you leave tonight, come by to see us. And
we'd love to get that 33 tonight before we leave. Thanks a lot.
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 5 of 46
5
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Ed. And I actually volunteered myself. I'm sure people
will wonder why the mayor is knocking on their door. All right,
Sudie, do we have any more general public comments?
Sudie: We do, sir. And the next is from Mr. Scott Reese.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
Mr. Reese: I'm Scott Reese, 13685 Highway 9, Milton, Georgia, 30004.
Mayor and council, I have been asked by the family of Fanny
Eatrice Holkum to read a letter of thanks to the city of Milton. The
family and friends of Fanny Eatrice Holkum and the entire
congregation of Providence Baptist Church offer their most sincere
thanks to the elected officials, employees, and everyone connected
to the city of Milton for helping to celebrate the 100 birthday of
Fanny Eatrice Holkum. We believe Aunt Fanny to be the oldest
living resident and oldest to have been born in Old Milton County
and continuously to have lived in the now city of Milton.
The family would especially like to thank Mayor Joe Lockwood
and members of council, Jamison, Bentley, and Cookerly who took
time out of their busy lives on a Saturday to help Fanny celebrate
100 and hope to see you again at her 110t' in 10 years. Thank you
one and all. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thank you. A quick side story. I had a call. I not only
enjoyed attending Fanny's birthday but I got a call a couple of
years back from a family and they said, "Mayor Lockwood, do you
remember when you came to Granny's 100t' birthday party?" And
I said, "Absolutely. I remember dancing with her and enjoying the
party and whatnot." And they said, "Would you mind coming this
next Saturday to her birthday party?" And I said, "Absolutely."
And then, I hung up and I thought, wait a minute. That was 12
years ago. Anyway, that's part of the fun parts of the job. All right.
Do we have any more public comment, Sudie?
Sudie: That's all general, sir.
CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Then, if we could move to the consent agenda. If you'll
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 6
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 6 of 46
please call those items.
Sudie: The first item is approval of the November 18, 2019, city council
meeting minutes Agenda Item No. 19-262. Approval of the
financial statements and investment report for the period ending
October 2019, Agenda Item No. 19-263. Third, is approval of the
audit engagement letter with Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC to audit the
city's financial statements for the fiscal year ending September 30,
2019, Agenda Item No. 19-264. Next, approval of a services
agreement between the city of Milton and SiteMed North America,
LLC for firefighter wellness physicals, Agenda Item No. 19-265.
Our fifth consent agenda item is approval of a construction
services agreement between the city of Milton and Anderson
Atlanta Inc. regarding the pool pump house renovation at the
former Milton Country Club, Agenda Item No. 19-266. Next,
approval of Change Order No. 3 to a professional services
agreement between the city of Milton and InterDev, LLC, Agenda
Item No. 19-267. No. 7 is approval of Change Order No. 1 for
construction services agreement between the city of Milton and
Blount Construction Company, Inc. for resurfacing and
reconstruction project, Agenda Item No. 19-268.
Next, approval of a contract with Basic Benefits to provide
administration of services for employee FSA, flexible spending
account, HRA, health reimbursement account, and COBRA,
Agenda Item No. 19-269. Our ninth and final consent agenda item
is approval of subdivision plats and revisions. First is Ray Pendley,
Land Lot 187, 2435 and 2445 Mountain Road. This is a minor plat
reconfiguring two logs, 6.97 total acres, .28 lots per acre. Next is
Charles Magbee, Land Lot 539, 15820 Thompson Road. Minor
plat creating two lots, 2.58 total acres, 0.77 lots per acre. This is
Agenda Item No. 19-270.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a motion?
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as
read.
Mr. Longoria: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Bentley, a second
from Councilmember Longoria for approval of the consent agenda.
All in favor, please say aye.
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 7 of 46
Group: Aye.
W
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Okay. Sudie, if we can move on to our reports
and presentations with — actually, I believe we're going to hear
Item No. 2 first.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the
Consent Agenda Items. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion.
The motion passed (7-0).
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Items No. 1 and 2 were switched by Motion and Vote under Approval of
Agenda
Sudie: This is appreciation plagues for city of Milton Board Members
Mark Bittner, Joey Costanzo, Lauri Goodling, Brenda Hamstead,
Susan Kimball, and Mike Stevens. This is being presented by
Councilmember Matt Kunz.
Mr. Kunz: It's always dangerous to have a microphone in front of a politician
at this point in time. Okay. Thank you all very much for coming.
And one thing I've always believed is, as many of you know, this
is my last meeting here. And I couldn't have done it without the
help of so many people. And one thing I've always done is try to
recognize those people that have really done the work in all of the
committees that we serve as volunteers. You may not realize this
but a lot of people take time away from their families to help
decide on the direction of our city and give advice to the council
that a lot of times we agree with. Sometimes we do not.
But in any case, we really work on this. So, as councilmembers, we
all get a stipend that we can use. And I've always chosen to use my
stipend to say thanks to my appointees because maybe it's from
my old football coaching days. When you're an assistant coach or
whatever, you just do that sort of thing. But I really appreciate it
and just want you to know. So, what I will do is I will call you one
by one and have you come up here. I have a plaque for all of you.
And when you get it, I'd like you to come up here and with your
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 8 of 46
8
family. And then, we're going to all take a picture together. And
that will be for Tammy to do as well.
And then, we listen to her and she'll tell us what to do. First of all,
I'm going to talk on the Milton Planning Commission. Mark
Bittner. Mark is a neighbor of mine. He served on the HOA at
Sable Point for a lot of years. And the HOA's are tough. And they
don't even get paid for it, which is crazy. But Mark did it well.
And I've always respected that. And so, when I asked him to be
my appointee on the Planning Commission, he has been there the
entire time all eight years. And he did a heck of a job. So, Mark, if
you and Debbie would come on up and bring your family as well, I
just want to say thanks.
Come on right over here and just stand over here. So, Joe is not
here, is he? So, on the Parks and Rec Committee, I have Joey
Costanzo as well. Joey was actually a — he moved from Rick
Mohrig's appointee on that position. He moved over to my district
and I kept him on because he thought independently in a lot of
ways. And we had a great relationship and a lot of tough Parks and
Rec issues. And I just want to say thanks to Joey. He's not here
right now but thank you, Joey Costanzo. We have a plaque here for
him. Mike Stevens isn't here as well. I also want to say thanks to
Mike Stevens. Mike sits on the Design Review Board and is a real
estate agent around town.
Very passionate about everything with regard to the city. And he's
very influential on my campaign. He was not originally on that
position but I put him on there later on and just want to say thanks
to Mike Stevens as well. So, next, I'm going to go — we talked
about the Milton Arts Committee. We created that a long time ago.
And the idea for some of these committees is to go independent
and become their own' 501 C(3). And the Milton Arts Committee is
now independent, which is exactly as it was designed. And Lauri
Goodling was my appointee on there. And she's different because
while a lot of people talk about painters and sculptors, I wanted a
storyteller.
And so, she teaches creative writing at Georgia State. And I've
written five books as well. And so, the stories are extremely
important. That's why I put her up there. And a great asset to the
city. And so, Lauri, come on up here. I've got a plaque for you. All
right. Next, I'm going to do — on August 8, 2016, I decided we
needed an equestrian committee. And with all of the horses that we
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 9
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 9 of 46
have and our logo, we really didn't have a group of people coming
together to really work together in my mind. So, I said, "Darn it,
let's make them come together."
So, I actually proposed the idea of creating an equestrian
committee that the council accepted for the idea of trying to
preserve that rural equestrian character of our community. And so,
in doing that, we had now Councilmember Bentley and
Councilmember Cookerly were members of that committee. But
they also served with Susan Kimball. And Susan is a data person.
She's very passionate about that, very rational in her approach.
And I've had a couple of members of the current equestrian
committee just say all kinds of great things about your being there.
So, I just wanted to say thank you.
And her husband, Drew, also lets me borrow her as well in this
position. I'm so glad you're here. I couldn't have done it without
you. So, Brenda, Hamstead. So, Brenda I met through the
Republican Party. And she's very active in federal politics and
state politics. And she's very influential in trying to deal with
causes up there. But then, she had an interest in the local level as
well after we got a chance to meet at some political events that
were non -city related at first. And so, when I had an opening that
came up on the Board of Zoning Appeals, which is a legislative
body, your decisions are legal and legally binding in a lot of ways,
I thought that was the position that she would take seriously.
So, at first I put her on a couple of committees as well that were
available. But then, when that came open, she jumped on there.
She's done a great job. And she realized sometimes, it's not so
black and white. Sometimes, you've got to figure out what does
make sense. And so, I've told all of my committee members but I
never told them how to vote. I've always asked them to vote how
you want. Just let me know why you did the way you did. And that
way, I'll be better informed about the decision. And that way, we'll
make a better decision.
So, Brenda, if you and Julian would come on up. And Julian,
thanks for letting us borrow her as well. Thank you, Julian as well.
And that's it for this section. So, do you want to take a picture?
Mayor Lockwood: Does council want to stand up and everybody can get in here.
[Picture taking]
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 10
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 10 of 46
Brenda: So, I'm speaking for all of the appointees. So, we got together and
got you something. But we have loved our positions and our
opportunities to serve that you gave to us. So, when we heard that
you were giving us plaques, we wanted you to know how grateful
you are for giving us the opportunity to serve the city and to put
your trust in each one of us. So, this I hope you can remember
well.
Mr. Kunz: Yes. Oh, my gosh. We all make mistakes.
Brenda; No, these were all great moments.
Mr. Kunz: Thank you.
[Picture taking]
Mayor Lockwood: Can I just add one more thing, too. Just a heartfelt thank you to all
of the volunteers and everything you guys have done because, as I
always say, that's what makes the city of Milton so great is all of
the citizens and folks that care and that volunteer their time and
effort. So, you really do make a difference. So, thank you very
much. Okay, Sudie, if you would please sound the next item.
Sudie: Our next item, as recognition of Councilmember Matt Kunz, and
this is being presented by Mayor Joe Lockwood.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Tonight I have the pleasure of recognizing Matt Kunz for
his service to the city of with a proclamation. Whereas Matt Kunz
has a long history of tirelessly serving the city of Milton and its
residents; and whereas he was elected as councilmember to
represent District 2 in 2012 and has served in that capacity
continuously to this day and served as mayor pro tern in 2016. And
whereas Matt began his public service career as a six -year
defensive coordinator for the Alpharetta Eagles football team at
North Park.
And whereas in addition to his duties as a city councilmember,
Matt was a founding member, former president, and friend for life
of the Friends of the Milton Library. And during his tenure the
friends obtained permission to rebuild the Densmore Book Barn on
county property. And whereas Matt has selflessly given countless
hours of his personal time to work for and with the citizens of
Milton to make this city that its residents are proud to call home.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 11
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 11 of 46
Now, therefore, we the Mayor and the City Council of the city of
Milton hereby recognize and with heartfelt gratitude thank Matt
Kunz for his dedicated service to the city and its citizens.
And this is given under my hand and the seal of the city of Milton,
Georgia on the 16th day of December 2019. And Matt, if you could
step forward. And council, if we could present you with this
proclamation. And also, Matt, while I've got you up here, I've got
a plaque here. And it reads, "City of Milton, Matt Kunz, our
heartfelt gratitude for your service for the city of Milton and for
your commitment as a member of Milton City Council, thank you.
January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2019."
Mr. Kunz: So, if my wife would come up here as well. She's as much
involved in this as I am. I can promise you that.
Mayor Lockwood: Next, I'll present you with the key to the city and you can
[inaudible] [00:25:18]. Unfortunately, we changed all the locks in
the city because of Matt.
[Picture taking]
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you very much.
Mr. Kunz: So, I can't believe it's been eight years. So, there is a joke that
President Regan told that I love. So, a Baptist minister and a
politician both die in the same day and they go to the gates of
Heaven. And they suddenly see St. Peter there. And St. Peter says,
"I'm glad you're here. Let me now show you to your quarters."
And the Baptist minister is all excited and he's walking behind St.
Peter along some golden road. But the politician is a little bit
nervous because he's a politician in Heaven. So, they're going
through this golden road along some beautiful countryside. And
there is a city that's just immaculate. And they walk up there and
it's just fantastic.
And they go make a left and they go over the hillside and they see
this humble little cottage. It's not a whole lot, maybe the shire out
of the Lord of the Rings. And they open up the door and there is
inside a kitchenette and a cot and a bed and that's it. And the
politician says, "If this is all I get, I'm okay with that." But St.
Peter says, "Mr. Baptist minister, this place is yours." And the
minister happily takes it and steps inside. And St. Peter shuts the
door and says, "Now, sir, let me take you to your place." And he's
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 12
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 12 of 46
getting a little nervous, right. So, they start walking through the
golden pathways and through the countryside.
And they go over this hill and they see this enormous castle. And
I'm talking with knights in shining armor riding around and
sentries on top with flags up top. And you've got a mote around it.
and you've got a draw bridge. And you walk inside and the draw
bridge comes down. They go and see this feast on this elongated
table that's just immaculate with servants and more knights and all
of this. And St. Peter says, "Now, sir, this place is yours." And the
politician says, "Okay, wait a minute. Don't you know what I was
when I was back on earth?" And St. Peter says, "Oh, yeah. I forgot
to tell you.
We see thousands of Baptist ministers up here. But you, we're
excited about you because you're the first politician that we've
ever seen." I say that to keep it in mind because of what we do up
here sometimes. And in 2011, my wife, Radonna, we've been
through so much. This is all on tape, too. This will be great. My
wife Radonna encouraged me to run. What I've realized is that
none of the effort that I could have given would have been possible
without her. The citizens of Milton have no idea how important the
spouses are of us as candidates. This is your fault. You told me not
to cry, right.
So, I've depended on my wife's wisdom and her intuition and her
compassion, her foresight, and I wouldn't have been able to give
half of what I have without her. She's the strongest woman I've
ever known. And before she leaves, you all have an obligation to
go and thank her for all we've done in the city because I couldn't
have done whatever I've done without her. So, Radonna, thank
you. I want to thank the members of the staff, both past and
present. You're the hardest working staff in Georgia. And it's
always been my objective to give you the clearest direction
possible. And I thank you for the help and support over the years.
You have no idea how much I've needed you and even though I
frustrated the you know what out of you many, many times. So,
thank you. I want to thank the members of the council both past
and present. Politics is a contact sport. And I enjoyed the game. I
appreciated all your willingness to serve. And I know there are
both good and bad days in this role. You never know how much
good you can do or how much you can screw it up until you sit in
this seat. I promise you that. And what we did well, we did well
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 13
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 13 of 46
together. What we didn't do well, we usually had a split decision.
So, just keep that in mind going forward. And finally, I want to
thank the citizens of Milton. You'll never find a more engaged
group than all of you in our community. Our legacy is not our
roads, it's not our bridges, it's not our buildings or our trees or any
of that. Our legacy is in the hearts and God given talents of every
single one of you. And I've always done my best to bring out those
talents in a positive way. Bringing out your creativity and belief in
a vision for tomorrow that is greater than where we were
yesterday. You're the best part of Milton. And all you have to do is
remember to believe it.
As for me, thanks again. Radonna and I are looking forward to new
adventures. And whatever we wind up doing, we'll do together.
And that's the only way to do it. And one day, our roles end for all
of us up here. And 1, too, hope to see St. Peter up above. And he if
he lets me in Heaven's back door, that's good enough for me being
a politician. I'd be eternally grateful. And so, I just want to say
thank you all. And I'm sure I'll be seeing you all around. Thank
you.
Mayor Lockwood: Well, again, I want to thank you, Matt. And thank you all in the
audience here for being here tonight. Sudie, if you would please
call the next item.
Sudie: Our next item this evening is a presentation and proclamation
establishing the partnership between the city of Milton and the
2020 United States Census. Ms. Michelle McIntosh -Ross.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Good evening. All right. Good evening, again. So, I just wanted to
give a presentation before we do the proclamation. Most of these
slides we looked at October 21 to be exact. But since we're getting
closer to the census and, in fact, next Monday is 100 days from the
census, I just figured we'd talk about it a little more. And I have a
couple new slides. So, now we're 107 days away from census. And
so, we're going to commemorate that with the proclamation. So,
this is what we'll talk about today. Most of the slides you've seen.
And then, we'll have a few new ones. Introductions and talk about
what and why the census.
Also, what the city did to prepare until now and what we will do
r moving forward to get everyone counted. And then, I'll just remind
everybody about the schedule. And then, we'll look at some of the
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 14 of 46
14
local implications. So, the census is the official count of the
population. And it happens every 10 years. And so, we have the
census coming up 2020. April 1 will be that date. The census has
been going on since 1790. And it divides up based on the
population what has been in the past $675 billion in federal funds
or so that goes towards roads, public works, hospitals, schools,
etc., social programs.
And of course, that number will increase but that's the number we
have. And it's allocated to the states and counties and so on every
10 years. The amount that Georgia worked out for each person is
$1,600.00 per person based on that $675 billion and per the
population that Georgia was able to collect in 2010. And we're
going to do a math exercise a little later on in here. So, if you think
of folks who hadn't responded to the census, we would be short by
$1,600.00 for each of those people who didn't respond to the
census.
Another thing about the census, it's used to determine the
legislative representatives at every level of government, including
city of Milton because the districts are based on where the
population lives and so on. So, those can move around based on
additional populations and so on. Therefore, any under count could
skew those district lines. The census is used to calculate population
projections for all of the things we do in business, location of
businesses, services, and in long range planning. And we'll talk a
little bit about that moving forward. This is just a snapshot of the
2010 census of those states that gained and lost district
apportionment, congressional districts.
So, this is one of my new slides. This is what the questionnaire
would ask for. So, they're saying it's going to take 10 minutes to
fill out this questionnaire. It's all answers that you know already.
It's all about yourself. So, it says here how many people are living
or staying at your home. So, that includes if you're renting or if
you own, the situation of I know some folks are renting and they're
building their house out in Cherokee. Even if you're going to be
moving in two months, if you're in Milton on April 1, you need to
be counted so that we can get that count. And the same for
anywhere.
Wherever you are on April 1, that's the address that you need to be
counted at. So, don't think because you're moving in two months
or two days — if you're there on April 1, that's your address. Also,
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 15 of 46
15
the questionnaire will ask about the sex of each person in the
household and age of each person in the household, the race of
each person in the household, whether each person is Hispanic,
Latino, or of Spanish origin and also the relationship of each
person to the head of household or whoever is filling out the
questionnaire.
Something we mentioned last time, this year — this census coming
up will be the first time that the questionnaire will be available
online. And you can fill it out online. You can use any platform,
desktop, laptop, cell phone, iPads, whatnot. You can fill it out at
kiosks. Kiosks would be provided at maybe the library, post offices
I've heard also. We're thinking of providing some kiosks here at
City Hall and some other places to get folks who don't have
internet to be able to use it. Also, you can ask for a questionnaire
by phone. You can talk with somebody on the phone and they'll
help you fill out that questionnaire.
And it can be — it's 12 languages. So, there are a lot of languages
that you'll be able to talk to somebody. Also, you can request a
paper copy and fill that out the old-fashioned way and put it in the
mail. Your information is private and secure. And it's your civic
duty to do this. So, hopefully, everybody will respond. Just two
points here that in 2010, Milton's published number was 32,661.
And we didn't have 100 percent response rate. It was more like 80
something. We'll get into that a little bit later. But that's the
number that we have. And based on that number, we do
projections.
And our estimated 2020 population is 40,000. And several
statisticians projected this. Also, my estimates, I've pulled building
permit numbers with the residential units. And then, I multiply by
2.7, which is the estimated average household size, which, again, is
an estimated number from the 2010 census. So, there is a lot that
goes into that number. So, we're projecting to be 40,000. This is
just a little bit about we've been working on this for years now
since 2017. We've been working with the census on updating
addresses. And then, we also worked this year to hand them the
new residential permits, residential homes that would be built by
April 1. So, we should have all of those addresses.
And this is what we're going to be doing moving forward. We've
already started with some community engagement, which is why
I'm here again on this last day of council meetings. But next
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 16 of 46
16
Monday is 100 days from the census but we won't be meeting. It
will be almost Christmas. That will be 100 days from the census.
We're going to be promoting it at events. We had our table out
here at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. And we'll have tables
and try to promote throughout. We also are forming a committee
with volunteers. And if you guys have any names that you want to
pass on to be on the committee, let me know or let Cody Hendricks
know.
We'll work it out. We're thinking we'll have our meeting January
23 or so. We'll have our first meeting. And what these folks would
do is help us go out and talk to their HOAs and talk to their
churches and whatnot about the census to help with the awareness.
That's what it is about the — out into the community. So, again,
here is the schedule. So, early March of 2020, you will get a post
card in the mail letting you know that the census is coming. And it
will give you information about going online to fill your
questionnaire out. If you snooze on that then, you'll get another
reminder.
But please try to fill it out. I'm talking to the folks at home as well.
Then, census day is April 1. And then, after that, if we didn't get a
response then, this is when we'll have the door to door. And we
need the volunteers to try to come out to help people respond to the
census. So, come May and July of 2020, that's when they'll deploy
folks to come out to knock on doors to make sure to count
everybody. And then, in August, the data collection is over.
Hopefully, we'll have 100% count by then. And then, by
December of 2020, the number will be reported to the president of
the United States. Okay.
So, here is my new slide. And this is my math exercise, which just
talks about that $1,600.00 per person that Georgia was able to
work out what they estimated dollar amount for each person in
federal funding is. So, let's just say to be easy with the math if we
missed 100 people in the county then, $1,600.00 times those 100
people times 10 years because it's every 10 years. So, then the
state would have missed out on $1.6 million. Now, I have a note
down here that my response rate numbers are just for
demonstrating purposes because I recall what the response rate
was, but I don't remember exactly what number it is.
But I know Georgia's response rate for the 2010 census was
something like 72% or so. So, Georgia's population is about 10.5
d
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 17 of 46
MA
million people as of 2018 or so. That's an estimate. Then, with the
72% response rate then, that's $7.56 million. We were short by
2.94 million people. And then, if you do the $1,600.00 times the
2.94 million people over the 10 years then, Georgia missed out on
$47.4 billion over those years. Now, just take, for instance, Milton,
our response rate was something like 87% or so. And we're
estimating that 40,000 people. So, then at 87%, that's only 34,800
people that would have been counted.
And then, we would be short by 5,200 people. If you do the math
with the $1,600.00 times the 5,200 over the 10 years that loss of
response rate would have equaled something like $83.2 million.
So, if you think of it that way, you'll see how important it is to get
everybody counted. So, this slide talks about, as you can see, these
are council districts. And you can see how it's jagged and whatnot.
And so, based on the fill of residential units throughout, you can
have changes in those district lines. Now, as far as the Finance
Department goes, these are our departments, the sales tax share and
the local option sales tax as well as the transportation special
option sales tax, those are all based on population.
And it's based on when Fulton County gets those tax dollars, it is
spread out through the Fulton County cities based on the
population. So, think of it this way. If Milton were to get 100% of
our folks counted and then, Johns Creek and the rest of them didn't
get 100%, we actually will get more. So, we'll see. Also, public
works. We need that population data for infrastructure projects. A
lot of the funding that we use for our roads and bridges and all of
those things, portions of that is federal money. Of course, that all
comes to Georgia based on what Georgia population is and
distributed throughout.
Also, public safety, the Fire Department, the ISO rating, which is
the insurance service office rating, there is a lot of check points in
there that rely on census data. Also, crime stats is based on the
population and census data. Parks and Rec needs these numbers as
well for all of the service provision. We need to know what the
level of service is and what it should be. There are also
benchmarks in Parks and Rec that use population data in
community development and economic development. It's very
important for long range planning and to figure out the market in
every economic development study, every market study.
We need to know what our population is. All of the businesses
,v1J. "VIlItIGy. JV, 11 ulcy 1caluc 111 lvlllwll uut a11c; away at wllcgc, yvu UU1I i
count them.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 24
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 24 of 46
the December 2 city council meeting. Mr. Parag Agrawal.
Mr. Agrawal: So, thank you, Sudie. You have done most of the work already.
Parag Agrawal, Community Development Director. Today, we are
here to present you the Application No. U 19-02. Along with this
use permit application, we also have a 15-part concurrent variance.
The application number is VC19-03. The property is located at
16040 Birmingham Highway. Today I also have with me our
zoning manager, Robin McDonald. Robin is the project manager
of this use permit application and she is also the primary author of
the staff report.
Moving forward, the applicant is requesting a use permit to operate
a landscaping business in the AG1 zoning district. Along with this
use permit, they are also requesting a 15-part concurrent variance.
Just some general information, which is part of the application
itself. The applicant is Ashford Gardeners. The business is
currently in operation. In fact, this business has been in operation
since 2000. And as part of this application, the applicant is not
proposing to expand its existing business operations. The total
property is around 3.5 acres. And as I mentioned, it is zoned as
AGI.
This property lies in the Birmingham Comprehensive [inaudible]
[01:05:131 area of the city's comprehensive plan. Some more
general information. As I mentioned, this business has been in
operation since 2000. And this business, basically, specialized in
landscape maintenance and installation of plants on both
commercial and residential properties. This business employs
around 20 employees. There are three maintenance and three
installation vehicles and several small trucks and equipment on the
property.
Just as a background, recently it was discovered that this business
does not have any use permit, although it has been in operation
since 2000 either from Fulton County or from the city of Milton.
The use is not grandfathered in and, therefore, the need of a use
permit for the landscaping business. Coming to the location map,
the subject property is shown by this red highlight. This is
Birmingham Highway. This is the Birmingham Crosses Area.
Coming to the zoning and the future land use map, the zoning map
as zoned is basically shown on the left-hand side of this image. As
you can see, this property and the area adjacent to this property is
zoned as AG 1.
1
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 18 of 46
18
want to know what the head count is, the households, number of
households so that they'll understand how much sales potential
retail impact that we can have. So, very important numbers. Also,
for in writing grants. There is a lot of formula -based funding
grants, which just completely based on what your population
census data is and they distribute money based on that alone and
some other things. Other grants are evidence -based funding. You
have to provide evidence for why you want this money.
And so, I and any other grant writer needs to have that population
data to submit to fulfill that requirement for the grants. Also, state
agencies. The very folks that offer the grants, DNR, VCA, ARC,
they all get their federal funding from the Georgia population
count. So, it just really all goes back to the census. So, now here is
just a graphic of our TSPLOST. As you can see, it says here
TSPLOST funds are split between the cities and the
unincorporated areas of the county based on population. So, based
on census data, the anticipated TSPLOST, and it's already been
passed, this was a 2016 text, the TSPLOST revenue was calculated
and allotted to Fulton County and the cities as follows.
So, it shows here. And as you can see, it's all based on what each
of the city's population was. So, like I said, if we can get our
100%, we'll be doing better. So, just to recap. The 2020 census
will be easier than ever, hopefully, to be able to fill out online. Do
your civic duty to fill out the questionnaire. All of your data will be
private. We're going to be sharing up maybe, I don't know, $700
billion. Who knows? And it also, like I said, is fair representation
at stake for Georgia and the city of Milton. And this data is just
invaluable. Any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Laura?
Ms. Bentley: If you have college students, they don't reside there on April 1,
how do you handle that?
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Well, the census goes out to college campuses, group quarters and
whatnot. So, if they are there on April 1 then, that's their address.
If they are home on April 1 then, their address at home will be
counted for.
Ms. Bentley: So, if they reside in Milton but are away at college, you don't
count them.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 19 of 46
19
Unknown Male: They get counted where they're in school.
Ms. Bentley: Okay. And then, my second comment is about our gates for when
you do have to go to knocking on doors. We have a lot of gates.
You just might want to let people know. I don't know if we give
the gate codes out.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Oh, for the subdivision gates? Okay, yeah.
Ms. Bentley: Or the farms.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Yeah. That's true.
Ms. Bentley: Just as a thought, you might want to let people know that the
people coming in the gates are the census.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Yes. You have a comment?
Unknown Male: Yeah. One of the things that we're trying to do as part of the
recruiting is that we want to make sure that we have people that
live in those gated communities be part of the volunteers so that
when someone has to go knock on a door, it's somebody that
you're familiar with so you'll be more than likely to let them come
in and actually help them fill the form out. So, that's why the
recruiting part is so critical because we do have so many gated
communities here in Milton.
Mayor Lockwood: Matt?
Mr. Kunz: This should go without saying but if someone next week or a few
weeks from now decides they want to volunteer; they can contact
the city as well and we'll get them in touch with —
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Yeah. And then, we'll pass it on.
Mr. Kunz: You guys will pass it on. Okay.
Mayor Lockwood: Anybody else?
Unknown Male: Or they can just go to our 2020census.gov/jobs website.
Mr. Kunz: There you go. Good plug.
Unknown Male: Not only do we have volunteers, but we pay you if you volunteer
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 20
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 20 of 46
$22.00 up to $24.00 an hour.
Mr. Kunz: All right.
Unknown Male: Decent money.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Does that change some minds here?
Unknown Male: Tammy says I'm signing up, right.
Mayor Lockwood: Well, a couple of things. A takeaway to kind of recap and things
that I think are important are 1.) that the information is private.
Some people might be concerned about that. But it's not. 2.) The
dollar amount is huge for what the city gets and for every lost
opportunity. So, that's a really big deal. I know, Ed, you said you
were 33 folks short. That's why I kind of had you mention
something before everybody left. So, before I think we had it
covered in the audience. But, unfortunately for those that have
stuck around here, you better get yourself and a significant other or
a spouse or a friend and get out there.
I want to say, obviously, too, as far as from the city's perspective,
obviously, it benefits our citizens. So, if we can communicate that
through our Communication Department as heavily as we can to
get the word out because, again, it's very important to get an
accurate number. So, we appreciate everything you guys have
done. And thank you, Michelle, for the presentation.
Ms. McIntosh -Ross: Okay. Thank you. So, there are no more questions. So, the mayor
will now read a proclamation. And this proclamation is established
in the partnership between Milton and the census and also to
commemorate that next week will be 100 days from April 1, 2020,
which is census day.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'm going to read the proclamation first and then, I'll ask Ed
and Sky to come up. And I'll present it to you. And this
proclamation that I have is a proclamation establishing the
partnership between the city of Milton and the 2020 United States
census whereas April 1, 2020, commemorates National Census
Day. And December 23, 2019 marks 100 days until Census Day.
And whereas the US Census Bureau is required by the US
Constitution to conduct a count of the democracy. And whereas the
city of Milton is committed to ensuring every resident is counted.
And whereas an accurate census count is vital to our community
I
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 21 of 46
Picture taking
21
and residents' wellbeing by helping planners at the city, county,
and the state determine how to better serve the community. And
whereas federal and state funding is allocated to communities and
decisions are made on matters of national and local importance
based in part on census data. And whereas census data helps
determine how many seats each state will have in the US House of
Representatives and is necessary for an accurate and fair
redistricting of state legislative seats, county, and city councils, and
voting districts.
And whereas information from the 2020 census are vital tools for
the city's budgeting process, community and economic
development, planning for levels of service, and provision of
roads, parks, and public safety. And whereas the information
collected by the census is confidential and protected by law. And
whereas a united voice from business, government, community
based, and faith -based organizations, educators, media, and others
will enable the 2020 census members to reach more of our citizens.
And now, therefore, be it therefore resolved that the city of Milton
is committed to partnering with the US Census Bureau and the
state of Georgia and will 1.) support the goals and ideas for the
2020 census and will disseminate 2020 census information. 2.)
Will encourage all city residents to participate in events and
initiatives that will raise the overall awareness of the 2020 census
and increase participation. 3.) Provide census advocates to speak to
city and community organizations. 4.) Support census takers as
they help our city complete an accurate count. 5.) Strive to achieve
a complete and accurate count of all persons within our borders.
And this is given under our hand and the seal of the city of Milton
Georgia on the 16t' day of December 2019. And if council would
join me with — if Sky and Ed would step forward.
FIRST PRESENTATION
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. We'll move on now to our first presentation. Sudie, if you'll
please read that item.
Sudie: Consideration to amend a Milton tree canopy conservation
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 22
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 22 of 46
ordinance to provide for a time extension on the ability to use the
density -based tree conservation ordinance or the canopy -based tree
conservation ordinance in the city code, Agenda Item No. 19-271.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a motion on the first presentation?
Mr. Kunz:
Yeah. I'll make a motion that we approve the first presentation as
read.
Mr. Mohrig:
Second.
Mayor Lockwood:
Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Kunz with a second
from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor, please say aye.
Group:
Aye.
Motion and Vote:
Councilmember Kunz moved to approve Agenda Item
No. 19-271. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion
passed (7-0).
ZONING AGENDA
Mayor Lockwood:
That's unanimous. All right, Sudie, we will move on to our next
new business item.
Sudie: The next item is our zoning. At the second regularly scheduled
meeting of the month, the Mayor and City Council considered
zoning agenda. These items include rezoning petitions,
modifications of zoning, use permits, and associated concurrent
variances in addition to ordinances, resolutions, and text
amendments. I would like to acquaint you with some of the rules
and procedures for the zoning item. The applicant and all of those
speaking in support of an application will be allowed a total of 10
minutes to present the petition.
Those called to speak will be taken in the order that the speaker
cards are received by the City Clerk Department prior to the
beginning of tonight's meeting. If you are speaking on behalf of a
group or organization, an affidavit must accompany your public
comment card. Before beginning your comment, please identify
yourself by name and address.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 23
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 23 of 46
We have one zoning item this evening. Consideration of U19-
02NC 19-03 located at 16040 Birmingham Highway State Route
372 by Northleach, LLC, Ashford Gardeners, Inc., for a use permit
for a landscape business, Section 64-1820, with a total of 5,900
square feet, 3,443, square feet existing of structures on 3.5 acres
with the following 15-part concurrent variances. Sec. 64-416 (c)
(1) Part 1: To reduce the side building setback from 25 feet to 4
feet on the south property line to allow the existing barn/storage
building to remain.
Sec. 64-1820 (1) Part 2: To allow retail or wholesale sales on the
property. Sec. 64-1820 (2) Part 3: To allow the proposed building
to exceed 2,000 square feet and the total square footage to exceed
5,000 square feet. Sec. 64-1820 (3) Part 4: To permit the design of
the proposed 2,400 square foot building not comply with the Rural
Milton Overlay District. Sec. 64-1820 (4) Part 5: To delete the 75-
foot use area, storage areas, or structures setback adjacent to the
north and south property lines. Sec. 64-1820 (5) Part 6: To allow a
total of 14 employee parking spaces on the site.
Sec. 64-1820 (7) Part 7: Hours of operation and vendor material
deliveries shall occur between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 7:30
p.m., Monday through Friday. Sec. 64-1820 (9) Part 8: To allow
the landscape debris/soil composting area to be located on the
ground. Sec. 64-1142 (a) (3) Part 9: To delete the requirement of
the 50-foot undisturbed buffer and 10-foot improvement setback
adjacent to the north and south property lines. Sec. 64-1142 (b) (2
Part 10: To delete the requirement for parking lots to be screened
from view of any public street by a 15-foot-wide landscape strip
planted to buffer standards.
Sec. 64-1142 (b) (3) Part 11: To allow the dumpster not to have an
enclosure. Sec. 64-1142 (g) (3) b. Part 12: To allow a 2,400 square
foot new building to be located 165 feet from the landscape strip.
Sec. 64-1142 (h) (2) a. Part 13: To allow none of the following
materials to be used on the new 2,400 square foot building;
clapboard siding, brick, and stone. Sec. 64-1142 (h) (2) c. Part 14:
To allow the exterior building walls to be made of metal panel
systems on the new 2,400 square foot building. Sec. 64-1142 (h) (4
Part 15: To allow no windows on the new 2,400 square foot
building.
This is Agenda Item No. 19-259. It was under first presentation at
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 24
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 24 of 46
the December 2 city council meeting. Mr. Parag Agrawal.
Mr. Agrawal: So, thank you, Sudie. You have done most of the work already.
Parag Agrawal, Community Development Director. Today, we are
here to present you the Application No. U19-02. Along with this
use permit application, we also have a 15-part concurrent variance.
The application number is VC 19-03. The property is located at
16040 Birmingham Highway. Today I also have with me our
zoning manager, Robin McDonald. Robin is the project manager
of this use permit application and she is also the primary author of
the staff report.
Moving forward, the applicant is requesting a use permit to operate
a landscaping business in the AG1 zoning district. Along with this
use permit, they are also requesting a 15-part concurrent variance.
Just some general information, which is part of the application
itself. The applicant is Ashford Gardeners. The business is
currently in operation. In fact, this business has been in operation
since 2000. And as part of this application, the applicant is not
proposing to expand its existing business operations. The total
property is around 3.5 acres. And as I mentioned, it is zoned as
AGI.
This property lies in the Birmingham Comprehensive [inaudible]
101:05:131 area of the city's comprehensive plan. Some more
general information. As I mentioned, this business has been in
operation since 2000. And this business, basically, specialized in
landscape maintenance and installation of plants on both
commercial and residential properties. This business employs
around 20 employees. There are three maintenance and three
installation vehicles and several small trucks and equipment on the
property.
Just as a background, recently it was discovered that this business
does not have any use permit, although it has been in operation
since 2000 either from Fulton County or from the city of Milton.
The use is not grandfathered in and, therefore, the need of a use
permit for the landscaping business. Coming to the location map,
the subject property is shown by this red highlight. This is
Birmingham Highway. This is the Birmingham Crosses Area.
Coming to the zoning and the future land use map, the zoning map
as zoned is basically shown on the left-hand side of this image. As
you can see, this property and the area adjacent to this property is
zoned as AG1.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 25 of 46
25
We have the land use map. This property is classified as AEE on
the future land use map. AEE stands for agriculture, estates, and
equestrian land use category. We have some LDR, which is low
density residential, right in front of this property. And then, there is
the PRC, which stands for parks, recreation, and conservation, at
the rear side of this property. Just to summarize the request, the
applicant is requesting a use permit application to operate a
landscaping business.
There will be approximately 5,900 square feet of buildings on this
property, on this 3.5 acres. And they are also requesting a 15-part
concurrent variance. Coming to the site plan —
Unknown Female: So, you're not going to be able to show both.
Mr. Agrawal: So, this is the Birmingham Highway. This is the existing office
building, which is around 1,800 square feet of existing office
building. Along with this existing office building, there are three
additional existing buildings, three additional storage buildings.
This is the first building. And the first building, second building,
and this is the third storage building. The applicant is proposing to
have the fifth building, so there are for existing buildings, one is
the office building, and three are the storage buildings. The
applicant is proposing to construct a pole barn building to store the
vehicles to park the vehicles over here.
So, they are proposing to construct 2,600 square feet of a proposed
building to park the vehicles at this location. Currently, there are
two entrances. This entrance is, basically, used for the office
workers. And the entrance over here is, basically, used for the
vehicles. This property at the back also has these stream buffers,
25, 50, and 75 feet stream buffers. And the applicant is not
proposing to disturb these stream buffers over here. The applicant
is also proposing to plant this tree line on the northern part of this
property. Coming to the public parks space, a CZIM meeting was
scheduled on October 29 and five community members
participated in this CZIM meeting.
There were some questions, some concerns. 1.) Were citizens
wanted to know the location of the new building or whether it
would be seen from the Birmingham Highway. The second was the
applicant proposing to expand the business operations as part of
this use permit application, which they are not. There were also
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 26 of 46
O
some questions about the hours of operation. This application went
in front of the Design Review Board on November 5, 2019. The
Design Review Board was in favor of this project. And some of the
comments were the pole barn building for storage is a great idea
and we do not want to turn away the existing business owners.
This application was also supposed by the Planning Commission
on November 20, 2019. Starting with the use permit application,
whenever we look at the use permit, as per the City Zoning Code, a
property has to comply with 10 conditions. So, the first condition
is whether the proposed use is consistent with the city's
comprehensive land use plan. The existing landscape, as I
mentioned, is an AEE land use category. A landscaping business is
allowed to use if a use permit is granted by the city council. So,
therefore, the proposed use is consistent with the current
comprehensive land use plan.
The second condition is whether the landscaping business is
compatible with the land uses and zoning districts in the vicinity.
So, as I mentioned, this is the property. And as you can see, it's
AG1. Surrounding this property, it's all AG1. And we have some
Cl, which is the Birmingham Crossroads Area. So, landscaping
business is compatible with the land uses and the zoning districts
in the vicinity. So, I will not go line by line. I will not go all of
these 10 conditions. They are stated in the staff report. But the
third condition is whether the proposed use violates the local state
and the federal statutes.
Fourth is the impact on traffic flow and on adjacent streets. Fifth is
location and number of off-street parking spaces. Sixth is amount
and location of open space. 7.) Is [inaudible] [01:11:54]. 8.) Is
hours and manner of operations. 9.) Is outdoor lighting. And the
last is egress and ingress requirements. So, as stated in the staff
report, based on the discussion of the staff report, the staffs
recommendation is approval with conditions for the use permit
application for the landscaping business. So, as I mentioned, the
applicant is also requesting a 15-part concurrent variance, which
we have basically classified into three categories.
The first category is to get relief from the AG1 category. Parts 2
through Parts 8 is to get relief from the landscape use permit
development standards. And from Parts 9 to Parts 15 is to get relief
from the [inaudible] district. So, as you know, whenever the city
council reviews the variance applications, there is a four-part test.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 27 of 46
27
1.) You have to look at whether the relief, if granted, will not
offend the spirit or intent of the zoning ordinance. 2.) Talks about
the hardship and unnecessary hardship due to size, shape, or
topography. 3.) Is relief, if granted, would not cause substantial
detriment to public good.
And 4.) is public safety health and welfare are secured. And each
of these considerations were discussed for each of these requests in
the staff report. And the staff recommends approval conditional for
all of the 15 requests. So, although it's stated in the staff report but
Robin would, again, just would like to go over all of these 15-part
concurrent variances just for the public record.
Ms. McDonald: Good evening, council. I'm glad to be here tonight. I just wanted to
reiterate the Planning Commission recommended approval six to
zero for both the use permit as well as all fifteen concurrent
variances. So, that was the result of the Planning Commission
when it went before them on November 20. But to continue on
with the report, again, I went into detail about the different four-
part consideration for each concurrent variance. So, if you have
specific questions after I go through these 15 items, I'd be happy to
review that with you. The first item, as Parag had said, was the
variances are put into three different piles.
So, the first one is we look at the AGl district. And there is an
existing approximately 100-year-old structure that's on the
property. It's been there. This property had previously been
subdivided at some point in Fulton County. And just for your
information as staff looks at subdivision of property, if we see that
it causes a nonconformity, we asked the property owner either 1.)
to remove it or to come to the Board of Zoning Appeals to fix that
problem. So, for instance, this barn is 4 feet away from a property
line. So, the ordinance requires 25 feet. So, therefore, the applicant
is asking to make this into compliance at this point in time.
So, again, we recommended approval based on the location df it.
It's not seen from the street. And it's existed there for
approximately 100 years. Part 2, this is going to — we're going to
start looking at the concurrent variances that deal with the use
permit itself, the landscape business. And there are quite a few
different development standards. And because this is an existing
business, there were requests for quite a few just in regard to the
development standards as a use permit. The first one is to allow
retail or wholesale sales on the property.
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 28 of 46
28
The applicant states that there are occasions when clients want to
purchase extra plants from the business. And the applicant wants to
continue allowing this to happen. So, what their example was, they
go out, do an installation to a private residence. And they love the
flowers, the flat of pansies or whatever it is. And they're like,
"Man, can you come out and plant some more?" And it's like that
would be a bunch more money but okay, I'll just come and buy
some from you and I'll go ahead and put them in myself. So, that's
the example of retail. So, it typically isn't like maybe at Scottsdale
down the road where people go.
And that's the reason why they go there is to purchase on a retail
basis. So, staff recommends approval of this request as well. And
there is explanation in the staff report. The third one is to allow the
proposed building to exceed 2,000 square feet and the total square
footage to exceed 5,000 square feet. And so, a few years back, just
for some background, the Planning Commission did a great
amount of work in reviewing and revising the landscape business.
So, this is use permit. This is not the same use permit that existed
when we became a city. And so, they really looked at it as a case
by case basis when somebody would come to do a landscape
business.
And they also — I think the goal for them was to keep it as
uncommercial looking as possible. And so, one of the ways that
they did that was to make a proposed, and you all approved it, I
don't want to make them — you all, ultimately, approved this use
permit when it came before you the standards. And so, one of the
requirements is that you can't exceed 2,000 square feet and a total
of 5,000. So, the applicant proposes a 2,300 square foot building.
It's actually a pole barn, a one-sided pole barn for commercial
vehicles since only 2 commercial vehicles are permitted to be
parked in the open. Vehicles will be parked in and away from view
from Birmingham Highway.
So, it was chosen by the applicant to go ahead and tuck all of the
remainder of the work vehicles behind in the back and then, to
cover it as required by the use permit. But it was a double-edged
sword because the use permits also said you can't exceed 2,000
square feet. But really to fit all of the vehicles in correctly, you had
to have 2,300 square feet. So, it was decided that it would be better
to put them under cover than to leave them out. And so, ultimately,
staff recommends approval conditional of Part 3. Part 4, to permit
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 29
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 29 of 46
the design of the proposed 24 square foot building not comply with
the rural Milton overlay district.
So, many of the rural Milton overlay district is more traditional
building. Whereas what they're proposing to do is a traditional
pole barn, which is very typical and similar to many structures in
Milton's rural past. Additional related variances will be discussed
under the rural Milton overlay as well. And staff recommends
approval conditional of this request. So, this is a little confusing
because the use permit says that it shall comply with the overlay
district. So, when we sought advice from the City Attorney, I
couldn't just push this away and ignore it and then, just go on to
the rural Milton overlay.
I needed to deal with both of them. So, that's why it seems a little
contrived and a little confusing. But we have to cover everything.
But it will become clearer as we get to the third pile of variances.
Part 5, to delete the 75-foot use area, storage areas, or structure
setback adjacent to the north and south property line. So, on the
site plan, there is a lot of existing — there are some existing
structures. For example, the old barn is too close and there are
some other storage structures on the north property line. And so,
instead of taking everything away, the applicant is requesting relief
from that setback standard.
And also, the fact that if you put that setback standard in, 75% of
the site could not be utilized. And I just want to make a note that
the new proposed 2,400 square foot pole barn is not within that 75
feet. So, it's being built outside of the required 75-foot use area
setback. And we, again, recommend approval. Part 6, to allow a
total of 14 employee parking spaces on the site. Again, the use
permit speaks to only allowing six employee parking spaces. The
applicant states that 14 spaces are needed for the 20 employees of
which some carpool to work. The location of the spaces is not in
view from Birmingham Highway, except two spaces by the office.
And staff also recommends approval. So, this is a picture on the
southern portion of the property looking from Birmingham
Highway. And it's kind of hard to see and this is wintertime, too.
So, staff recommends approval. Part 7, hours of operation and
vendor material delivery shall occur between the hours of 6:30
a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The applicant states
that due to peak traffic congestion in the a.m. and p.m., employees
arrive before and leave after the heaviest congestion. And that was
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 30
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 30 of 46
their reasoning and request for one hour earlier to be started at 6:30
a.m. instead of 7:30.
Part 8, to allow a landscape debris soil composting area to be
located on the ground. So, if you look at the site plan halfway back
on the site, you'll see an area that has defined as the composting
area. And what happens is that there is a large farm about 40 acres
just north of the property. And Ashford Gardeners has an
agreement with the farm that they take their manure and they have
a gate opening and the farm brings the manure over to Ashford
Gardener to this composting area. And they have the manure
brought there and then, Ashford Gardeners uses lawn and
landscape debris and they create a composting area.
So, it's on the ground. It's not in a structure. And if you have more
questions for the details, you can I'm sure be able to ask them
about it. But that's the reason why they are asking for that variance
is that it's not very practical to be able to create this composting
material in a structure or in a container. And, therefore, staff is
recommending approval conditional. Here it is. So, you'll see here
is the composting area. And on the north property line where the
farm is, there is a gate that they are able to access the composting
area. I think it works a really nice, symbiotic relationship between
the two uses.
Part 9, to delete the requirement of the 50-foot undisturbed buffer
and 10-foot improvement setback adjacent to the north and south
property lines. So, based on the size and shape of the site, the
required buffer and improvement setback would render the site
undevelopable for the landscape business. And staff recommends
approval of this. And this is where we're beginning to deal with
variances relating to the [inaudible] [01:24:331 district of rural
Milton. So, I just want to show you a little bit. On your site plan,
you see this tree line. And it continues on down to the west. And
then, there is tree line here.
And they're proposing to have plant storage in other areas. So, this
doesn't meet that 50-foot undisturbed buffer and that's why we're
asking to delete it. But at the same time, if you end up approving
this use permit, there is a condition in the set of conditions that say
that, basically, it needs to remain in this state. So, let's say if in 10
years Ashford Gardeners sells to another company, the new
company can't go and take down all of the tree line and take down
all what's already there. They need to comply with this site plan if
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 31 of 46
31
you so choose to approve it. Now, if for some reason they want to
modify it, they would be required to come back to you for zoning
modification to the site plan.
So, I just want to explain that a little bit more because it sounds
very intense that it's deleting. And it's really not deleting it. It's
just letting it allow to remain the way it is, but it does not comply
with the letter of the law of the 50-foot buffer and 10-foot
improvement setback. Part 10, to delete the requirement for
parking lots to be screened from view of any public street by a 15-
foot-wide landscape strip planted to buffer standards. And due to
the minimum site distance requirements for the two entrances, this
required landscaped strip planted to buffer standards can't be
planted in such intense way.
So, the applicant has proposed a landscape plan as you see before
you and has supplemented the landscape along the frontage in such
a way to still allow the site just at this required but to beef up some
of the landscaping. And this is also included in the set of
recommended conditions so that if you so choose to approve this,
this will be the requirement for them to plant. Part 11, to allow the
dumpster not to have an enclosure. So, in the rear — let me just go
back to here. There is a proposed roll off dumpster location. So,
this is, I believe, a 20-yard dumpster. And I wasn't really familiar
with sizes, so I had to go look it on Google.
And I'm like oh, my goodness, that's a big construction roll off
dumpster. And so, the intent, typically, of the overlay district for
an enclosure is your typical commercial strip that you have a
dumpster with an enclosure and gate. And so, in this instance, staff
is recommending approval because it doesn't make sense to put an
enclosure around a 20-yard dumpster that nobody sees, and it rolls
on and off of trucks. And, again, if you need more detailed
information on the operation, I ask you to ask the applicant. Part
10, we did that one. And then, 11, the dumpster. We're
recommending approval not to have an enclosure.
Part 12, to allow a 2,400 square foot new building to be located
165 feet from the landscape strip. So, this speaks to the overlay
district where we want buildings to be close to the street. And,
obviously, having one-sided pole barn for the storage of trucks is
not an appropriate placement of that type of building close to
Birmingham Highway. And it doesn't function the way it would
need to function. So, therefore, staff is recommending approval of
that request. Part 13, to allow none of the following materials to be
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 32
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 32 of 46
used in the new 2,400 square foot pole barn. Clappered siding,
brick, and stone.
Again, this is a three -sided open pole barn design. And it does not
fit with any of these building materials. The applicant's intent is to
mimic the look of hay and tractor barns that were once prevalent in
Milton. And the structure will also be hidden from view of the
existing privacy fence. And staff recommends approval of this
request. Part 14, to allow the exterior building walls to be made of
metal panel systems on this new building. And the overlay district
prohibits metal panel systems on buildings. There will be only one
side of the structure with a wall. The proposed color will be a rural
red color that is a typical color on agricultural buildings in Milton.
In addition, it will be screened from view from Birmingham
Highway and staff recommends approval. And lastly, Part 15, to
allow no windows on this 2,400 square foot building. And, again,
staff recommends approval of this. It's not consistent with the type
of building that is being proposed to store the work vehicles that
are required by the use permit. So, in conclusion, if approved with
the recommended conditions, the proposed landscape business is
consistent with the city of Milton comprehensive land use plan
update and, therefore, staff recommends U 19-02 be approved
conditional.
Additionally, staff recommends VC19-03 Parts 1 through 15 be
approved conditional. So, again, here are the conditions. You have
them in your packet as well. I'll just go briefly over the highlights
of them. If approved with all of the concurrent variances, days and
hours of operation, including deliveries are Monday through
Friday 6:30 to 7:30. And then, Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.,
which I just put that in there. But that is what is permitted by the
use permit. To allow retail or wholesale sales on the property
limited to the sale of plants, shrubs, and trees.
And I believe that on this Power Point, it's numbered incorrectly
but on the actual — so I don't want you to get confused. But in your
packet, you'll have a set of conditions. And they will be correctly
numbered. So, that would be 2A — I'm sorry, no. So, 2A is the site
plan. No, this is correct. So, 2B is the hours of operations, 2C is to
allow retail uses, 3A is — again, I'm just going through all of the
different concurrent variances putting conditions to each of them.
And then, just looking at 3G to delete the requirement of the 50-
foot undisturbed buffer and 10-foot improvement setback adjacent
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 33
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 33 of 46
to north and south property lines as shown on the site plan
submitted on September 27.
So, this is the condition that holds them to what is out there
currently. So, with that, if you have any questions, we would be
happy to answer.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. At this point, are there any questions for our staff on this?
Laura?
Ms. Bentley: I have a question. So, one of the conditions is to condition this per
the site plan.
Ms. McDonald: Mm-hmm.
Ms. Bentley: And so, minor deviations are okay but major deviations would —
tell me how that process works. The applicant, if it changes, is it
the honor system, they come into us, or do we check the site? How
does that work?
Ms. McDonald: Typically, it would be the honor system. Once Ashford Gardeners
receives this, if they receive an approval for it and they build their
pole barn and they put their roll away dumpster and they do the
few things that are being added to it, they add their landscape strip,
supplement and then, we'll go out and we'll make sure all of those
things are done before they receive a CO for that work, a
certification of completion or occupancy. So, after that, you're
totally right. It's a matter of the honor system. It's hard to see what
goes on behind there toward the back of the property.
But I think an appropriate and a good business owner, if there are
going to be any changes, would come to staff and say, "Hey, I
want to do A, B, and C. Is that okay per these conditions?" And I
would speak with Parag and we would discuss them. And if it's
decided that it's of importance for you all to see again then, we
would require them to come back for a zoning modification.
Ms. Bentley: Thank you. Robin, I also just wanted to thank you for this report.
It's quite thorough.
Ms. McDonald: You're welcome.
Ms. Cookerly: Thank you to both of you. It's quite good.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 34
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 34 of 46
Mayor Lockwood: Any other questions for Robin right now? Joe?
Mr. Longoria: Do you know if we've given a variance to any other businesses to
operate outside of the normal business hours?
Ms. McDonald: I couldn't tell you off the top — I'm sure — it's been 13 years' worth
of use permits. And I'd have to do a little research. I suspect that
we have. I think we have but I can't give you specifics.
Mr. Longoria: Okay.
Ms. McDonald: Yeah. It's not uncommon.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do we have any public comment on this?
Sudie: We have two, sir.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
Sudie: First is from Scott Reese.
Mr. Reese: Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I'm Scott Reese, Brumbelow-
Reese and Associates doing business at 13685 Highway 9, Milton,
Georgia 30004. I'm here tonight representing the Whittle Brothers,
Ashford Gardeners, and their application for a special use permit to
operate a landscape business located at 16040 Birmingham
Highway, Milton, Georgia. A little background. George and Ed
Whittle graduated from University of Georgia with degrees in
horticulture, decided to pursue the American dream, start their own
small business. So, in late 1999/early 2000, they purchased, closed
on the property at 16040, trotted down to Fulton County and said
we are going to operate a landscape business at this property.
They were issued a business license and told go forth and prosper.
That business license was renewed every year by Fulton County
until, low and behold in 2006, the city of Milton was created. Once
again, they went to the city of Milton, in this particular case, and
said we have been operating this business since 2000 here at this
location. We need a business license in the city of Milton. So, that
business license was granted at that particular address, 16040
Birmingham Highway. And that business license has been renewed
annually every year since then until 2019. So, they thought they
had done everything that they were required to do.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 35 of 46
35
So, they operated the business for 20 years, went on and along.
And they put in a procurement bid and obtained a bid to do some
work for the city of Milton. And as had happened with our local
artist for the structure or the sculpture at Hopewell Park, it was
discovered that they did not have a use permit. And they were
operating in non-compliance. So, the reason we are here is to bring
them into compliance. They are not adding onto the business. They
are not changing the business. They are wanting to continue to
operate in the same manner that they have.
What happened is we took an existing business and then, we had a
group of rules and regulations and we overlayed that on top and we
ended up with 15 variances. And it sounds awful. And I hate it.
And anybody that comes in the office with a new business and they
say look, we need to do this, and I've said well, there are 15
variances, I'll take your money beforehand because you're not
going to get it. But in this particular case, the business was here.
They were there. I think Robin did a phenomenal job showing you
we're n to trying to recreate the wheel or do anything abstract or
detrimental to the community.
The only addition that we're making is a building that when we
met with staff and community input, would you rather have
commercial trucks parked outside or would you rather have a
structure that looks like a barn. And the consensus was the barn.
Well, we opened a can of worms and we got seven or eight new
variances that we needed. But we still feel like the barn is the best
option as opposed to the commercial vehicles parked outside with
their graphics and different things. I don't think it would really
help for me to go through each and every one of these variances.
I had rather as much as I like to hear myself speak and I know you
do, too, I'd rather just answer any questions that you have in
particular. And I think I'm going to try to reserve the rest of my
time, if that's possible, in case if we have any opposition that I can
try to address any concerns that they may have. George Whittle is
here. His brother still thinking was in his teens crashed a four -
wheeler yesterday and he is having an appointment with a knee
surgeon today and tonight for that. So, through no reason, he's not
here but George is here also. So, hopefully, he can also answer any
questions.
With that, I'm going to conclude my presentation. I have a Power
Point that has pictures of barns and the amount of area that would
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 36 of 46
NE
be taken by the — if we overlayed the buffers on there, a before and
after of the proposed planning. So, but I'm just going to hold that,
and I really think Robin did an exceptional deal on that. So, thank
you.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you. Sudie, you said we have another public comment?
Sudie:
Yes, from George Whittle.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
Mr. Whittle: Hello. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, council. George Whittle,
Ashford Gardeners. My brother and I own this business I guess for
20 years. And with what Scott said and Robin, I don't know that
there is much more to say other than if you all have any questions,
I'm happy to answer it. But we're happy to be here with the city of
Milton. And we continue to want to grow with the city of Milton
and provide. And I don't know if there are any questions you all
have so please let me know. I'm glad to answer.
Mayor Lockwood: All right. Thank you, sir. At this point, that's the last public
comment, correct? So, I'll close the public hearing. And now, if
there are any questions from council to either the applicant or Mr.
Reese. Laura?
Ms. Bentley: I do have a couple of questions. What is the percentage of — sorry.
What is the percentage of retail sales to the business?
Mr. Whittle: Very small.
Ms. Bentley: Less than 10%?
Mr. Whittle: Less than 10%.
Mr. Reese: And the reason really, we put in, and I'm sure you all are aware
that ag zone property by right, you can produce plants and sell
those plants on there. But what we wanted to do is get across to the
citizenry and the neighbors that we're not going to be selling
shovels or rakes or fertilizer. The only thing that they will be
selling is their plants. And it will be a —
Mr. Whittle: Or trees.
Mr. Reese: That's a plant. A tree is a plant. Flora, fauna, we're all right. So,
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 37
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 37 of 46
we're fine there. So, that was — Robin and I thought that was an
add in, even though a nursery is allowed in ag zoning that we're
overlaying that. But we wanted to make sure that no one thought
we were going to set up another Scottsdale Farms or a hardware
business or anything there. For clarification purposes, the only
sales will be plants, their plants on site.
Ms. Bentley: Thank you. And the new building, the pole barn, is to put the
vehicles in. And it goes down on that property.
Mr. Reese: Yes.
Ms. Bentley: So, how much of that will you be able to see?
Mr. Reese: So, the topography, it's about 14 feet of elevation below. But also,
we're going to have there is an existing privacy fence. And there
are additional plantings. So, you're going to possibly, if you strain
if you're in a very tall truck as you ride by Birmingham Highway,
you may see the peak of the roof.
Ms. Bentley: And I saw one of the notes from the CZIM is maybe there was one
instance where a truck was waiting for a delivery in the D cell lane.
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Mr. Reese: So, the existing condition there is a gate close to the street. Our site
plan we're proposing this delivery entrance, the northern entrance,
will now have a recessed gate far enough back. I don't know those
of you in the equestrian community realize when you're pulling
your truck and trailer off, it's not smart to put your gate 5 feet off
the edge of the road. So, we've lived and learned. So, hopefully,
that will never happen again. This new plan, the gate, if it per
chance a truck came in before the gate was opened that there is
room to now pull off Birmingham Highway on their property.
Ms. Bentley: Thank you. And then, finally, so you're at 20 employees now. And
one of the conditions would be that you wouldn't be able to expand
based on accepting that site plan. So, is that something that you can
live with?
Mr. Whittle: I think it's based on vehicles, right. We talked about if several of
the employees carpool.
Mr. Reese: Yeah. There is nowhere in there that we were aware that limited
the number of any expansion of a few additional employees.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 38
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 38 of 46
Ms. Bentley: Okay. It's parking spaces.
Mr. Reese: It's parking and work crews. It's a finite or a tangible addition. An
expansion of the use area that we're showing on there knocking
down more trees, expanding there. But we are limited with the
number. Most of their employees carpool. The citizens that need to
share rides and all. But where we're limiting our growth is through
making any changes to this particular property with hard surfaces
or something along that line.
Mr. Agrawal: If I may add, the changes to the site plan, there cannot be any new
changes to the site plan.
Mr. Reese: Or the use of the property per se, yeah.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Questions from any other councilmembers?
Mr. Kunz: I have one question.
Mayor Lockwood: Matt.
Mr. Kunz: So, there were conditions that the Planning Commission had
recommended as well. And so, what are your thoughts with regards
to those approval conditions?
Ms. McDonald: So, the Planning Commission recommended staff
recommendations. And that is what is before you. Everything
reflects what they approved.
Mr. Kunz: So, the conditions were all staff conditions as well.
Ms. McDonald: Yeah.
Mr. Kunz: Okay.
Mayor Lockwood: Peyton?
Mr. Jamison: So, Robin, have they had any complaints in the last 20 years since
— or they've been in business for 20 years. Have you all had any
complaints from neighbors or anything?
Ms. McDonald: Not that I've received myself, no.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 39
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 39 of 46
Mayor Lockwood: Carol?
Ms. Cookerly: I feel like I've been through this extensively. And I'm very much
inclined to support it. And I like what you're doing with the trees
where in the plantings with the neighbors. So, could you just
amplify are the neighbors wholly in support of this? I've heard that
they are.
Mr. Reese: Well, we have a letter that we submitted from the horse farm to the
north. And that's back to this symbiotic relationship. So, a horse
farm of that magnitude, it's not a hobby farm. It's a real horse
farm. They generate a lot of waste. And that becomes a real
problem. So, when they go out and prune and create, they bring the
plant material in, stockpile it. And they've got a [inaudible]
[01:48:161 on site and all. That makes that —
Ms. Cookerly: My last question for Mr. Whittle is how is the American dream
going?
Mr. Whittle: Tough. It's not easy, I'll tell you. It's not easy at all.
Ms. Cookerly: Well, you make it look easy.
Mr. Whittle: Oh, well, I wish that was the case. Any business is not easy. But
we are working hard.
Mr. Reese: We're like ducks. What's under water is what's going on.
Ms. Cookerly: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Any other questions? If there are no other questions, I'll open up
for a motion.
Ms. Cookerly: Mr. Mayor, do you want me to take the lead here?
Mayor Lockwood: Sure. You're welcome to take the lead on it.
Ms. Cookerly: It's awfully complicated. Do I have to read all of these things or
can I —
Mayor Lockwood: No. You can say just the — as recommended by staff.
Ms. Cookerly: Mr. Mayor and Council, I recommend we approve Agenda Item
No. 19-258 as read and approved by staff.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 40
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 40 of 46
Mr. Kunz: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion for approval from Councilmember
Cookerly, a second from Councilmember Kunz. Any discussion?
One statement I want to make. As we all have been looking for,
again, the vision of the city and our citizens is to keep our city
looking rural. And to me, this is an example. Obviously, this
allows somebody on AG1 to at least have some income off their
property, have a local business. And it also supports the horse farm
behind it and whatnot versus three, four houses or whatever, new
houses being built. And so, again, this is, I think, a good example.
And we appreciate you guys being in the city of Milton. So, with
that, all in favor, please say aye.
Group: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? It's unanimous.
Mr. Reese: Thank you so much for your time.
ORDINANCE NO. 19-12-410
(Agenda Item No. 19-258)
(First Presentation at the December 2, 2019 City Council Meeting)
(Parag Agrawal, Community Development Director)
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve Agenda
Item No. 19-258. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion
passed
(7-0).
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you. All right. Sudie, if you'll please sound the next item on
unfinished business.
Sudie: This item is consideration of an ordinance reaffirming and
establishing Chapter 46 of the Milton Code of Ordinances
governing solid waste collection services within the city of Milton,
Agenda Item No. 19-259. First presentation was at the December 2
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 41
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 41 of 46
City Council meeting, Mr. Parag Agrawal.
Mr. Agrawal: Good evening, Mayor and city council members. I also have with
me our conservation project manager, Theresa Stickles. Today, we
are here in front of the mayor and the city council to reaffirm
Chapter 46 of the city of Milton Code of Ordinances. Chapter 46
basically regulates the disposal of waste and garbage in the city of
Milton. The littering and collection services are also [inaudible]
[01:51:181 through this chapter. The ordinance was originally
adopted by the city council in 2006 when the city of Milton was
incorporated.
The ordinance has been reaffirmed each year since then. I have
been told that there are some state laws, state regulations that,
basically, requires the reaffirmation by the city council every year.
No changes are requested to this ordinance at this time. That's
pretty much it. Any questions? But moving forward, I would like
to work with the City Attorney's Office to make sure that this is
required every year.
Mayor Lockwood: Do you all have any questions? Matt?
Mr. Kunz: Theresa, you're sitting there. But we've mentioned the law. We'll
be asking questions about some people not getting trash pick up in
some areas of Birmingham Highway. You answered all of those
for people individually that have contacted you. And if they have
any questions about that, they can contact you. Is that right?
Ms. Stickles: That's right.
Mr. Kunz: Okay. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Anybody else? Okay. I'll open up for a motion.
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item No. 19-
259.
Mr. Kunz: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley, second
from Councilmember Kunz. All in favor, please say aye.
Group: Aye.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 42
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 42 of 46
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? That's unanimous with the record showing that
Councilmember Cookerly did not vote, was not in the room. Okay.
We've got no other items under new business. We'll move on to
reports. Is there anything council wants to report on?
ORDINANCE NO. 19-12-411
(Agenda Item No. 19-259)
(First Presentation at the December 2, 2019 City Council Meeting)
(Parag Agrawal, Community Development Director)
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve Agenda
Item No. 19-259. Councilmember Kunz seconded the motion. The motion
passed
(6-0). Councilmember Cookerly was absent from the vote.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS
Mr. Kunz: Thank you all, again. It's been a fun eight years.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Matt. Staff reports. We've got community
development.
STAFF REPORTS
Department Updates
1. Community Development
Mr. Agrawal: Good evening, Mayor, city councilmembers. Just presently some
highlights from the department. First starting with the zoning
applications. Our office has received one use permit application for
the Ebenezer United Methodist Church, which is located on 12900
[inaudible] 101:53:491 property. A use permit to construct only
3,000 square feet of activity center on the existing church, which is
around 5,000 square feet has been submitted to our office. Along
with this use permit application, the applicant is also requesting a
three-part concurrent variance. A CZIM meeting has been
scheduled for December 17.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council 43
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 43 of 46
And it will come in front of the city council on March 2, 2020.
Michelle has already given the presentation on census. She gave a
[inaudible — coughing] so I will skip that. Update on the Smart
Communities Challenge Grant. On December 5, our office held
our first stakeholders' meeting with parents and the students in the
Crab Apple area. The meeting was very well attended. And we
were, basically, talking to the parents what are some of the
impediments of walking to school. Many parents came in. Many
kids came in. And they were talking about the reason why they
cannot walk to school is because their backpacks are too heavy.
So, no matter how many apps we create, unless the backpacks are
lighter, they cannot walk to school. Very soon, we will be issuing
an RFP to develop an app for our smart phones. On March 12,
2020, we have also scheduled an event. In that event, that app will
be launched. We are expecting some folks from the Department of
Community Affairs and some of the professors from Georgia Tech
will be coming to the city of Milton. Our city's comprehensive
plan. As you know, we have to update the city's comprehensive
plan. The RFP should be on the street by next week. We are
putting together a CPAC, comprehensive plan advisory committee.
And most likely, this project will be launched by January and
February. So, I will request each of the city council members to
appoint one member to the CPAC. Green space barn updates. The
city of Milton closed on our newest green space property, which is
located at 14620 Freemanville Road. That 1-acre property could
provide access to the southern portion of the former Milton
Country Club. At this time, both this property and the former
Milton Country Club are closed to the public. Rivers Alight Event.
This past Saturday on December 14, there were 15 volunteers that
came out and picked up around 350 pounds of trash at the city's
Cooper Sandy property.
The group of volunteers were the National Charity League. The
last update is our septic tank workshop that was supposed to be
scheduled for December has been pushed back for January. Very
soon, we will be sending the dates for our new septic tank
workshop date. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Agrawal: Any questions? Thank you.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 44 of 46
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Parag. Next, HR.
Department Updates
Human Resources
44
Sam Trager: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and council. I wanted to speak
tonight mostly about our wellness efforts that we've been working
on recently and what we're looking forward to in 2020. On
December 4, we brought in the end to city hall and the parking lot
here. And we provided angio screens for our employees. We had
48 slots and employees made appointments within 2 days and
booked all of those spots.
The company came in and provided the tests, provided EKGs,
blood pressure tests, arterial scans of your neck, and actually
caught a few thyroid issues with some people because it was right
in between, abdominal aorta scans where they check for aneurisms
for our employees. And they checked ankle pressure to ensure
blood flow was working properly throughout the cardiac system
and lower extremities. The best part about all of this was that Signa
provided $5,000.00 for us to do these tests. And we had no out of
pocket costs for this. They're so popular that we're bringing them
back because a lot of employees didn't have an opportunity to do
it.
And we're going to have another session on January 14 out at the
Fire Department to mostly accommodate some of those folks who
missed. We also started discussing what our next steps were for
2020 with our employee wellness programs. And we're going to
start with a series of quarterly lunch and learns in January talking
about nutrition for our employees and getting back to basics on
nutrition. We have a series of wellness champions who are going
to work with us throughout the year. They're going to hold their
first meeting in January as well and finish out our calendar for
wellness for the year there.
It will include some step challenges and, hopefully, some more
lunch and learns and some other things that we can bring in for our
employees. As we look forward to 2020, we might consider some
big ones for HR. We're looking at completion of our personnel
policies. We hope to have those in front of you by early next year.
We're switching our deferred compensation plan to a different
provider. You should see that in January coming forward.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 45 of 46
W
Completing an employee engagement survey and implementing
those results as well as, once again, looking at our performance
management system. Are there any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Questions? All right. Thank you. Take care. Okay. We added by
motion and second to add an executive session to just discuss land
acquisition on our agenda. So, do I have a motion to adjourn into
executive session?
EXECUTIVE SESSION (Land Acquisition)
Councilmember Kunz moved to go into Executive Session to discuss
land acquisition at 7:59 p.m. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mr. Kunz: So, moved.
Mr. Longoria: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion and second. All in favor, please say aye.
Group: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. We'll move into executive session.
RECONVENE
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Kunz moved to reconvene the
Regular Meeting at 8:10 p.m. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
ADJOURNMENT
(Agenda Item No. 19-273)
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the Regular
Meeting at 8:1 1 p.m. Councilmember Jamison seconded the motion.
The motion passed (7-0).
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Page 46 of 46
Date Approved: February 3, 2020
Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk Joe Lockw , Mayor
46