HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 05/18/2020Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Stacey Inglis: Good evening and welcome. Tonight's meeting is being conducted
virtually by Zoom Webinar and is being livestreamed on the City
of Milton's Facebook page. Please note the only active videos and
microphones will be that of our panelists, which includes the
mayor, councilmembers, and city staff. All attendee videos will be
disabled and will remain disabled for the duration of the meeting.
All microphones will be muted except for the mayor's call for
public comment. At that time only and when notified, the
moderator will unmute your microphones to allow you to speak.
Attendees joining the meeting who wish to make a public comment
may do so by using the raised hand feature. For Zoom app users by
computer, tablet, and smartphone, the raise hand feature is located
at the bottom of your screen. Click "raise hand". Callers using
telephones can access the raised hand feature by using the phone
keypad. To raise hand press *9. To unmute press *6. Please do not
use the raise your hand feature until the mayor calls or announces
the appropriate time for public comment.
The Q&A function found at the bottom of your screen can be used
for procedural questions regarding the Zoom app only. Chat with
panelists and other questions are prohibited for tonight's meeting.
The meeting will now begin. Mayor Joe Lockwood.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Stacey. So, I'd like to call the virtual regular meeting of
the Milton City Council for Monday May 18, 2020 to order. The
city strongly recommends that you review tonight's agenda
carefully, and if you wish to comment on any item on the agenda,
then you may do so by public comment. There will be two
opportunities for public comment on tonight's agenda. One during
general public comment and two during new business. The
moderator will provide public comment instructions at that time.
While the Milton rules allow a speaker to request to make a
comment up until the clerk calls the item – the agenda item, once
the agenda item is called there is no more comment request – can
be accepted. So, will the city clerk please call tonight – call role for
tonight's meeting.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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ROLL CALL
CC Gordon: Good evening, Mayor and council. I'll be happy to roll for the May
18, 2020 regular meeting. As I call roll this evening, please
confirm your attendance. Mayor Joe Lockwood.
Mayor Lockwood: Here.
CC Gordon: Council Member Peyton Jamison.
CM Jamison: Here.
CC Gordon: Council Member Paul Moore.
CM Moore: Here.
CC Gordon: Council Member Laura Bentley.
CM Bentley: Here.
CC Gordon: Council Member Carol Cookerly.
CM Cookerly: Here.
CC Gordon: Council Member Rick Mohrig.
CM Mohrig: Here.
CC Gordon: And for the record, Council Member Longoria is absent. And now
we will have the pledge of allegiance.
Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Jamison, Councilmember Bentley,
Mayor Joe Lockwood, Councilmember Cookerly, Councilmember Paul
Moore and Councilmember Mohrig.
Councilmember Absent: Councilmember Longoria.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Lockwood: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Okay. I want to welcome everybody here tonight even though
we're all in different places and we're virtual. Hopefully we'll get
back to normal here pretty soon. Will our city clerk please sound
the next item, Sudie?
APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA
CC Gordon: Our next item is approval of the meeting agenda. Agenda item No.
20-134.
Mayor Lockwood: Do I have a motion for approval of the agenda?
CM Moore: Mr. Mayor, I move we approve the agenda item no. 20-134.
CM Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion for approval from Council Member Moore
and with a second from Council Member Mohrig. All in favor,
please say aye. I'm going to ask individually. Aye. Council
Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. That passes unanimous. Sudie, all right. Our next item is
general public comment. Public comment is a time for citizens to
engage or to share in information with the mayor and the city
council and to provide input and opinions on any item that is not
scheduled for its own public hearing during tonight's meeting. As a
reminder, there will be two opportunities for public comment. The
first of which is general public comment.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve the
Meeting Agenda. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion.
The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was absent from
the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
If you wish to make a general public comment, then please use the
raise hand feature located at the bottom of your screen now. If
you're using a telephone, press *9 to raise your hand. As a
reminder, when your name is called please unmute your
microphones and state your name and address before your
comment. And you'll have five minutes for remarks. Stacey, is
there and general public comment tonight?
Stacey Inglis: No, sir.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. We will move on to the consent agenda. Sudie, if you'll
please read the consent agenda.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approval of the April 15, 2020 Regular City Council Meeting
Minutes.
(Agenda Item No. 20-135)
(Sudie Gordon, City Clerk)
2. Approval of the April 23, 2020 Special Called City Council Meeting
Minutes.
(Agenda Item No. 20-136)
(Sudie Gordon, City Clerk)
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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3. Approval of the Financial Statements and Investment Report for the
Period Ending March 2020.
(Agenda Item No. 20-137)
(Bernadette Harvill, Finance Director)
4. Approval of Change Order #1 to an Agreement between the City
of Milton and Dynamo Pool Management to Change the Terms of
the Swimming Pool Management Agreement at the Milton City
Pool.
(Agenda Item No. 20-138)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
5. Approval of a Task Order with BM&K, P.C. for Design and Bid Support
for Saddlesprings Drive Culvert Repair Project.
(Agenda Item No. 20-139)
(Robert Drewry, Public Works Director)
6. Approval of a Change Order to Task Order to Provide Construction
Inspection Services for NE Crabapple Connector Project between
the City of Milton and BM&K, P.C.
(Agenda Item No. 20-140)
(Robert Drewry, Public Works Director)
7. Approval of an Agreement for Outside Providers & Facility Use
Agreement between the City of Milton and Wellesong, LLC to
Provide Adult Tai Chi Classes.
(Agenda Item No. 20-141)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
8. Approval of the Phase 2 Professional Services Agreement with Taylor
English Duma, LLP.
(Agenda Item No. 20-142)
(Sarah LaDart, Economic Development Manager)
9. Approval of Plan Adoption Agreements for Health Reimbursement
Account (HRA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Contract with
Basic Benefits.
(Agenda Item No. 20-143)
(Sam Trager, Human Resources Director)
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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10. Approval of a Professional Services Agreement between The City of
Milton and Pond & Company to Provide Architectural Design
Services and Construction Documents for the Development of
Bathrooms, a Boardwalk and a Fishing Pier at Providence Park.
(Agenda Item No. 20-144)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
CC Gordon: First item is approval of the April 15, 2020 regular city council
meeting minutes. Agenda item No. 20-135. Approval of the April
23, 2020 special called city council meeting minutes. Agenda item
no. 20-136. Approval of the financial statements and investment
report for the period ending March 2020. Agenda item no. 20-137.
Approval of change order no. 1 to an agreement between the city
of Milton and Dynamo Pool Management to change the terms of
the swimming pool management agreement at the Milton City
Pool. Agenda item no. 20-138. Next, approval of a task order with
BM&K, P.C. for design and bid support for Saddlesprings Drive
Culvert Repair Project. Agenda item no. 20-139.
Approval of a change order to task order to provide construction
inspections services for NE Crabapple Connector Project between
the City of Milton and BM&K, P.C. Agenda item no. 20-140. Our
seventh item is approval of an agreement for outside providers and
facility use agreement between the City of Milton and Wellesong,
LLC to provide adult tai Chi classes. Agenda item no. 20-141.
Approval of the Phase 2 Professional Services Agreement with
Taylor English Duma, LLP. Agenda item no. 20-142.
Our ninth item is approval of plan adoption agreements for Health
Reimbursement Account and Flexible Spending Account contract
with Basic Benefits. Agenda item no. 20-143. Our tenth and final
consent agenda item is approval of a professional services
agreement between the City of Milton and Pond & Company to
provide architectural design services and construction documents
for the development of bathrooms, a boardwalk, and a fishing pier
at Providence Park. Agenda item no. 20-144.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a motion for approval of the consent agenda?
CM Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as
read by the city clerk.
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a second – okay. I have a motion for approval
from Council Member Bentley with a second from Council
Member Moore. I'm going to call individually, but those in favor
please say, "Aye." Aye. Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: And Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. That's unanimous, Sudie. So, we'll move on to reports and
presentations. Sudie, if you'll please sound the items.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the
Consent Agenda as read. Councilmember Moore seconded the
motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
1. Proclamation Honoring the Class of 2020 High School Graduates
from Milton.
CC Gordon: This is proclamation honoring the Class of 2020 high school
graduates from Milton. Mayor Joe Lockwood.
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I want to – I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all
the students in our two Milton high schools, Cambridge and
Milton. I certainly understand this is different times and we'll all
look back on these with some fond memories and some frustrating
memories. And they're definitely different times. So, I appreciate
all the cooperation and I totally understand for all the students
involved this is not a normal time. But again, we do want to honor
you guys and present this proclamation.
So, even though unfortunately it's virtual and not in person, but
certainly it has the same meaning. So, tonight we're all so fortunate
to have Principal Jones with – Brian Jones with the – Milton High
School. So, Brian, are you there? I think, Principal Jones, if you'll
unmute your computer. I think he's still muted or at least it looks
like it form our screen.
Principal Jones: Hello?
Mayor Lockwood: There you go. Principal Jones, how are you doing?
Principal Jones: Hey. I'm well. How are you?
Mayor Lockwood: Good. Good. Thanks for – thanks for being here with us.
Principal Jones: Not a problem. I want to thank you and the whole city council and
just everyone that we've been working with to help us get to this
finish line strong and make sure our students understand they're
being honored and thought about and just – and that they
understand that there's a lot of people behind them. So, they get
through this – get through this with as many pleasant memories as
possible. So, I'm super appreciative of everyone that's been helpful
and it's just an amazing community that we're in. and I'm so
appreciative.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thank you. And is Principal Premoli form Cambridge
online here? I don't – oh, yep. There. Thank you so much. Would
you like to say a few words?
Principal Premoli: Hello, Mayor Lockwood.
Mayor Lockwood: Good to see you.
Principal Premoli: Thank you, sir. Thank you to Milton City Council Members and
Mayor Lockwood for having me this evening. Of course, we all
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Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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wanted the class of 2020 to have a much different experience. In
fact, at one time I would have been witnessing my own daughter's
graduating from high school on this very evening. I want to
commend the Cambridge High School Class of 2020 for
innovating and adapting and overcoming the disappointments of
the last two months.
These are important coping life skills that they'll – will serve them
well in the future. Out students worked really hard to create the 20
Days of May. And last Saturday's drive thru to celebrate the Class
of 2020. Both of which were very, very big hits. I want to thank
the City of Milton, Milton Police Department and Milton Fire for
their support of the drive thru. I – it was very memorable. Today
through Wednesday our students had the opportunity to take
graduation picture son our graduation set. And we will air a virtual
graduation on Saturday May 22 at 10:30 a.m.
It will be livestreamed. I am so proud of the Cambridge
community and Milton City for coming together to make the very
best of a very difficult situation. Congratulations to the Cambridge
Class of 2020. All of our graduates in Milton and in Fulton County
schools and everywhere. I'm so proud of all of them. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you. Thank you for – both of you for being here with us.
And we certainly –
Principal Premoli: Absolutely.
Mayor Lockwood: Certainly, these are different times. One day all of our graduates
will be telling their kids or their grandkids that back when they
graduated, they had to do it virtually. But it's – you know, some of
the neat things that have come out of this is – is some of the
alternative ways people are celebrating graduation and what not.
Principal Premoli: Yes, sir. Absolutely.
Mayor Lockwood: So, with that, I am honored to be able to present a proclamation
honoring the Class of 2020 high school graduates from Milton
High School and Cambridge High School. Whereas seniors from
Milton High School will graduate virtually on Thursday, May 21.
And whereas seniors from Cambridge High School will graduate
virtually on Saturday, May 23. And whereas seniors form other
Milton area institutions, specifically King's Ridge Christian
School, Mill Springs Academy, and St. Francis High School, have
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graduated or will soon graduate.
And whereas the Class of 2020 this year will not celebrate with
tradition large in person graduation ceremonies surrounded by
classmates and teachers. And whereas these students are
nonetheless very worthy of celebration and adoration. Let me get
my lights back on. Excuse me one second. There we go. And
whereas seniors have worked diligently and excelled during their
academic careers having met, and in many cases exceeded, the
rigorous requirements to graduate from their respective high
schools.
And whereas young Milton residents have consistently shown
exemplary character and have been credits to our community.
Including through extensive volunteer service and being good
neighbors to many. and whereas the City of Milton, including its
elected officials and city staff, is extremely proud of these
graduates for their accomplishments and stellar attitudes. And
whereas the city admires those seniors for how well they have
handled significant challenges including those related to COVID-
19 pandemic.
Now, therefore, we, the Mayor and City Council of the City of
Milton, hereby honor Class of 2020 high school graduates by
recognizing and celebrating their impressive achievements. And
this is given under our hand and the seal of City of Milton, Georgia
on the 18th day of May 2020. And again, I want to send out a big
heartfelt congratulations from myself, our city council, all of our
city staff, all of our schools and mostly all of our citizens to you
guys. And we're there to support you and look forward to your
promising future. So, thank you very much.
Principal Jones: Thank you, Mayor Lockwood. Thank you, City Council.
Mayor Lockwood: Absolutely.
Council Member: Congratulations.
Mayor Lockwood: Yep.
Principal Premoli: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: All right. Thanks, again to both principals for being here. All right.
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Next, we'll have our first presentation. Sudie, if you'll please sound
those items.
2. Presentation of Former Milton Country Club Phase 1A and 1B of the
Trail Phasing Project.
(Robert Drewry, Public Works Director)
CC Gordon: Presentation of Former Milton Country Club Phase 1A and 1B of
the Trail Phasing Project. Mr. Robert Drewry.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Again, let's see. I'm sorry. Sudie –
Stacey Inglis: Sorry. It was actually my fault. I just allowed him to talk. So, he
should be able to talk now.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. All right. I believe we were at first presentation. So, Sudie.
Or no. I'm sorry. We're – you're right. We're at Milton Country
Club with Robert. Go ahead.
CC Gordon: Mr. Robert Drewry.
Stacey Inglis: Give me just a minute, ma'am. Let me go check and see what's
going on.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thank you.
Robert Drewry: All right. Good evening I've got it now.
Mayor Lockwood: Here we go. All right.
Robert Drewry: All right. My apologies. I had to unmute. Didn't realize I had to do
that. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council Members. I appreciate
the time to sit down and present to you the Milton Country Club's
Trail Plan. If you recall, the city council adopted the masterplan in
August 19, 2019. And tonight, we're just going to discuss the trail
system for the north woods. Just to kind of orient you a little bit,
we're going to – there's three separate components to the Former
Milton Country Club.
We've got the active area where the country club, the pool, tennis
courts sit, north woods, and south woods. And we're going to
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specifically be referring to the north woods. In the master plan, it
identifies some existing conditions and some existing challenges.
First and foremost is the golf course easements. If you recall, the
concrete cart path is meandering throughout the golf course and on
private property. Last year the city council did adopt a resolution to
relinquish those easements.
This project that we're going to be putting forward very soon will
remove the concrete from within those e3asements on private
property. I will be sending a letter to the residents here in the next
few days just outlining our plan. The plan does include removing
the concrete within those easements and replacing it, grading it to
the existing grade, and replacing any material or like material that
was out there prior to the – to the work. For example, if they had
an established mass, we will be re-sodding. If it's under pine trees
and it's full of pine straw, we'll just put pine straw back down.
So, that's the work within he golf cart easements. Once we
complete our work, then we will, through our legal department,
quick claim our rights to those easements. We also have identified
some bridge piers. You see the picture on the right where that pier
basically is floating that bridge – particular bridge has been
removed and it obviously has to be replaced. And throughout the
fairways and the property, there are some storm system failures
that we have to address as well. So, those are some of the existing
conditions and challenges that were presented to us in the
masterplan.
And this is a snapshot of the masterplan recommendations for the
trail. It's the trail loop on the north woods. It's shown here in
orange. And along – and along Dinsmore Road. So, that's the
project we're going to identify and start working on. So, I'll give
you a few more specifics. The masterplan has two phases. Phase
1A and Phase 1B. Phase 1A we're going to reuse the existing cart
path where it's in good condition. And as I just said, remove the car
path in the easements and remove and repair the site challenges
like the bridge and the storm drain failures. And fill in the trail
gaps with new natural surface granite.
I'll show you a picture of that in just a minute. That's Phase 1A.
Phase 1B creates the north woods loop by putting in a concrete – 8
feet concrete side path along Dinsmore Road. And this is the
overall picture of the plan that we're working on now. And I got to
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give all credit to transportation engineer Sara Leaders. She's
actually designing this inhouse on AutoCAD. And she's done a
tremendous job. And I'll kind of walk you through this if you can
follow my curser.
This is Dinsmore Road where we're putting the 8 feet concrete cart
path. The items that you see in red are cart paths that's going to
have to be removed. The items in grey is existing cart path. And
where we remove the cart path will create a new loop. And that's
shown in black. So, here you see the cart path going up on private
property, tying back in. So, we're going to create a new loop just
south of it. And then the trail can be on its true fairways. A new
bridge. Here where my curser is showing under the creek. That's
where the bridge is actually failed.
And there's a long existing cart path that we're going to be
removing and replacing with the new granite trail. You see this
throughout the project where we're pulling old concrete, putting in
a new trail. Sara has done a really good job of putting that together.
And as you approach, coming back toward the active areas, the
trail will go behind the country club and tie back into Dinsmore.
So, you've got a full complete loop. This project in near complete
design. Oh, and here's a picture from the masterplan of the
decomposed granite crushed stone. That's what the new trail on the
loop will look like where we've pulled out the old concrete. And
that will be throughout the fairways. So, the new plan we should
have out on the street to bid probably in the next 15 to 20 days.
Construction should start this summer.
Basically, that plan will have 1,170 feet of new concrete side path
on Dinsmore. 4444 feet of new gravel paths. And we are removing
5,900 feet of cart – concrete cart path, installing two wood bridges,
and the storm drain repair work throughout the fairways where it's
immediately adjacent to the trail itself. That's all included in the
project. And as I said, we'll probably have this out to bid in the
next 15 to 20 days. Thank you for your time. I'm available for any
questions that you may have.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, we'll open up for questions. Carol?
CM Cookerly: Hi, Robert. Thank you. Is any part of Milton Country Club
available now for walkers? I'm a little confused. I've heard
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different things. Do you have any loops that are open or walkable?
Robert Drewry: There's nothing on the trail that's open and available to public.
We've just got too many site problems out there. Bridges out,
storm drain failures. Just – it's not open to the public.
CM Cookerly: And my second question is wonderful that inhouse we've been able
to create this design and map it out. And I certainly trust your
opinion and know that Sara's done a great job. What happened to
our consultants? Were they not charged with doing that part of this
project?
Robert Drewry: I'm going to assume you're referring to the masterplan consultants.
To my knowledge, they were not contracted to do any design work
or construction design.
CM Cookerly: Okay. Thank you.
Robert Drewry: Mm-hmm.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Let's see. Council Member Bentley? I think… did you raise
your –
CM Bentley: Yes, thank – yep. Thank you. Robert, how many miles is the loop
that we're thinking of bidding out?
Robert Drewry: I don't know if I've got an exact measurement. I'd hate to throw a
number out there and be held to it. But I don't know exactly.
CM Bentley: Okay.
Robert Drewry: I'll have to find out and verify it.
Mayor Lockwood: Well, I think it – Council Member Bentley, in general it's probably
somewhere about a mile. It's like possibly about a mile of it
between the gravel path and new concrete work. Somewhere about
a mile looks like. Ball park.
CM Bentley: So, that's where I'm confused. Because I'm going – I was looking
back at a presentation by someone on our Green Space Committee
and along the creek it was said to be 1.6 miles. And so, my point is
this, as we put this out to bid, which I'm all for getting this park or
even a portion of it open, if we must phase in our phasing for the
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trails, I would like to zero in on that area along Chicken Creek.
Because I do think the presenter, who was Colt Riddle, had a great
point about Chicken Creek providing shade and a nice hike that is
along a water feature.
And is also – if you look at the other side of chicken Creek where
North Valley is, it's very well used. And my only hesitation is this
plan and this phasing, we're taking a lot and we're – I guess I'm
hoping people stay on these paths that we're building and
reconstructing. I guess I'd like to see how people – it's always good
to see maybe with a portion how it's used, how people behave, and
what their input is. So, those are my comments. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Council Member Moore?
CM Moore: Thanks, Joe. Robert, I've got a couple questions. First, I appreciate
the time that you took with me about a week and a half to walk a
majority of the park. It was very enlightening. I did – Robert did
show me the areas of concern. I went in pretty naive thinking that
this might be a simple fix. There might be some ways to get some
parts open before others.
There are – what he demonstrated to me was there are some
significant areas of concern where we have to be careful as a city
as to how much we open and when. But my questions, Robert, are
when this goes to bid and the – you're anticipating the beginning of
the construction to be – was it late June or early July?
Robert Drewry: We'll probably have a new contract in July. Early July. By the time
we bid it out. So, we should see construction before the end of
July.
CM Moore: And then, when the construction begins, is your – I know it will be
up to the construction company, but do you anticipate that they
will undertake all of the areas do construction at the same time? Or
is there a way to potentially choreograph some of the – if they
were to start at the furthest end of the park, for example? It would
be the furthest away from where a member of the community
might enter the park.
Is there a way to contemplate choregraphing that? Where we could
control certain parts of the park theoretically being open and other
parts being closed due to the construction? Or is it going to be an
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entire park construction site?
Robert Drewry: Well, my experience is a contractor is going to start one phase of
the project. For example, removing all the concrete paths. He'll
probably do that first. And then start constructing maybe the
bridges. So, it'll be phased in as it makes sense to the contractor. It
might not make sense to us. So, it's kind of difficult to say how he's
going to approach – how the contractor's going to approach this
project.
But I'll venture to say he's – contractor's not going to do partial
portion of it and have it opened to the public. He won't do phases
all at one time and then do other phases. He'll do the trail, granite
all at one time. Hell do the concrete work at one time. He doesn't
want to remobilize for those. Does that make sense?
CM Moore: Yeah. Yeah. And I'll tell you the reason I'm asking that question, is
I had a chance to absorb the – from the walk what the – what the
experience might be as somebody wanting to walk the park as a –
just a member of the – member of the community. And there were
times that we were both on and off of the finished concrete area.
We were walking in what were some areas that were just cut
meadow. Almost like a – like a couple lawnmower widths of cut
grass.
So, the realization or the idea that I've had since you and I – since
you and I walked that I would love maybe some consideration of is
if there's a way to capitalize on a part that could be furthest away
from where the primary construction is going on where we could
have an outbound on the – on the golf cart paths. Maybe a return as
just a cut meadow area. Like we had done with the – somebody
had done out there on our behalf. And create a smaller loop so we
could get some part of it usable and not lose the entire summer.
Especially in the environment we're in where people are looking
for alternative ways to get out and about and enjoy the community.
I just – I think people would appreciate any – even if it's a small
portion of the park being open sooner rather than later. I'd love to
see if we can still find a way as we're contemplating the
construction phases to get some parts open. Even if it's in a rough
stage where it's just some rough cart path and some cut meadow as
a pathway. I just would appreciate your consideration of that.
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Robert Drewry: And we'll take a look at that. Okay?
CM Moore: Great.
Mayor Lockwood: Rick, go ahead.
CM Mohrig: Yeah, I would just echo, Robert, what the other council members
have said so far. If there's a way we can actually get part of this
open sooner rather than later, I'd like to – I'd be great if we could
actually get some use out of it during the summers. Paul had
mentioned this was a time where people have really had limited
places to go and it would be great if in fact, we could safely get
them out on a portion of this trail while we're finishing off some of
the others.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Anybody else?
CM Bentley: I have a question.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Bentley.
CM Bentley: Yep. Robert, can you – I'm trying to look at where the red is on
properties. Do you have an estimate of how many easements are on
– golf cart paths are on private property?
Robert Drewry: I believe the attorney said there were 20, maybe 22, residents to
deal with. I haven't counted them myself, but I believe that's what
they told me.
CM Bentley: Okay. 22. And so, when we – when the bid is returned, the
estimate for the cost of that will be contained in the bid. Correct?
Robert Drewry: To remove the concrete? Yes, ma'am.
CM Bentley: Okay. Thank you.
Robert Drewry: Mm-hmm.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. And I'll just add, like all the council members' comments,
and agree with their points, but I also will add that I'm sure from a
staff perspective and liability, respect our staff's decisions based on
what we can open and what we can't if there's active construction
going on there.
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So, I appreciate all the input on – or the thought that you – that
staff can put into doing that, but I also understand that we'll –
certainly would have to be isolated from the public for ongoing
construction out there. So, all right if anybody – Paul and then
Carol.
CM Moore: Yeah, Joe. I just – I want to make sure I'm clear on my comments,
too. I completely support staff's expertise on this. What I – I want
to make sure I'm loud and clear about what I witnessed out there.
There are some very real concerns that staff has brought to the
forefront that are safety concerns. I don't for a minute want to push
the park open and then compromise staff's recommendations on
safety and making sure it's the right time and the right place to
open.
Mayor Lockwood: Absolutely. And I certainly didn't take it that way. I'm just saying
just make sure everything is isolated so that no one is able to get
into an active constriction site and get hurt. Carol?
CM Cookerly: So, other alternatives because of the liability and the fact that
Robert and team are not magicians and Milton Country Club is
certainly not ready, Birmingham Park. The existing trails are
wider. There's been some cleanup. There's a lot of walkers there
right now. More walkers than riders. So, we can encourage people
to go there as an alternative to wood and our other gravel roads as
well.
I know there's Providence Park. And I think maybe we could
huddle and come up with some other creative places to walk that
would be safe rather than try to put people in a situation that just
ain't going to happen. So, we can talk among ourselves about that.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah. That's a good point. I was just thinking because we do –
some of our areas, Wood Road and some of our other parks do get
a lot of people and maybe concentrated use. Maybe we could think
about staff and discuss this at another time but having some
communication but also maybe some signage at the parking areas
on our – on each park where it also lists other options and other
areas.
Because some people may go, let's just say to Wood Road, to walk
and don't know about Birmingham Park. But if there was a sing
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there, they may say, "Hey, I'm going to try this next time." Or vice
versa and what not. So, that may be something we think about in
the future. Okay. Anybody else? Thank you, Robert.
Robert Drewry: Thank you very much.
Mayor Lockwood: All right. We'll move on to our first presentation. Sudie, if you'll
please sound the first presentation items.
FIRST PRESENTATION
1. Consideration of Amendments to Chapter 32 of the Milton City
Code, to Prohibit the Use of Vaping Products on City-Owned
Property.
(Agenda Item No. 20-145)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
2. Consideration of Amendments to Chapter 34 of the Milton City
Code, to Prohibit the Use of Vaping Products in City Parks and to
Eliminate Article 3: Special Events.
(Agenda Item No. 20-146)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
3. Consideration of an Ordinance Authorizing the Conditional
Operation of Personal Transportation Vehicles on Designated City
Streets.
(Agenda Item No. 20-147)
(Rich Austin, Police Chief)
CC Gordon: First item is consideration of amendments to Chapter 32 of the
Milton City Code to prohibit the use of vaping products on city-
owned property. Agenda item no. 20-145. Next is consideration of
amendments to Chapter 34 of the Milton city Code to prohibit the
use of vaping products in city parks and to eliminate Article 3:
Special Events. Agenda item no. 20-146. And finally,
consideration of an ordinance authorizing the conditional operation
of personal transportation vehicles on designated city streets.
Agenda item no. 20-147.
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a motion for approval on the first presentation
items?
CM Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the first presentation
items as read by the city clerk.
CM Jamison: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion form Council Member Bentley with a
second from Council Member Jamison for approval. All in favor,
please say, "Aye." Aye. Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: All right. Thank you. That's unanimous. Okay. We don't have
anything under public hearing or a zoning agenda tonight. So, I'm
going to move on to unfinished business. Sudie, if you'd please
sound the unfinished business item.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the
First Presentation items as read. Councilmember Jamison
seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember
Longoria was absent from the meeting.
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Consideration of an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 34, Section 24, of
the Milton City Code, to Creating Parks and Recreation Fees and
Other Charges.
(Agenda Item No. 20 -130)
(First Presentation at May 4, 2020 City Council Meeting)
(Jim Cregge, Parks & Recreation Director)
CC Gordon: Consideration of an ordinance to amend Chapter 34, Section 24, of
the Milton City Code, creating park and recreation fees and other
charges. Agenda item no. 20-130. First presentation was at the
May 4 city council meeting. Mr. Jim Cregge.
Tom McKlveen: Good evening, Mayor and Council. This is Tom McKlveen. Up to
this point, our program providers have used their own registration
systems to collect registrations. And we now have some programs
that are utilizing the city's registration system that we have. And
this language change will allow us to collect that full fee and then
give that percentage of the collections back to the provider.
The way it has historically been is we would invoice our program
providers. They would give us the 15% commission off that
invoice. And we're essentially looking at a way to just flip that
structure around so that we can collect the fees and then give them
their 85%.
Mayor Lockwood: Are there any questions from council to Tom on that item? Okay.
Any – Steve, anybody – anything else on that?
Steve Krokoff: No. I think – I think Tom did a good job.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. All right. I'll open up for a motion then.
CM Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve agenda item no. 20-
130.
CM Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I've got a motion for approval from Council Member
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Bentley with a second from Council Member Mohrig. I'm going to
call individually for your vote. All in favor, say, "Aye." Aye.
Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: And Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. That's unanimous. Thank you, Tom.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-130. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the
motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
Tom McKlveen: Thank you, Mayor and Council.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Consideration of a Grant Application to the US Fire Administration’s
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the Purchase of Personal
Protective Equipment for the Pandemic Response.
(Agenda Item No. 20-148)
(Robert Edgar, Fire Chief)
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. we'll move on to new business. This is the second
opportunity for public comment, if you wish to comment on a new
business item, please note there are two – please use the raise hand
feature before the item is read. And, Sudie, if you will please
sound the time. Then I'll open up for any public comment.
CC Gordon: Consideration of a grant application to the US Fire
Administration's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the
purchase of personal protective equipment for the pandemic
response. Agenda item no. 20-148. Chief Robert Edgar or Matt
Marietta.
Chief Robert Edgar: Good evening, Mayor and Council. The fire department is seeking
approval for a grant application with the US Fire Administrative
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. What this grant does, it's
a reimbursement program through AFG for apartments to recoup
some of the funds that they have spent in regard to this pandemic
regarding PPE. Such as the gloves, the N95 masks, the surgical
masks, the Tyvek suits, and goggles, and face shields.
So far, we have spent nearly $14,000 on this equipment as
emergency purchases since the beginning of this pandemic. And
this grant program offers an opportunity for a 10% match. So, the
city would then recoup 90% of the funds that we've already spent.
There is opportunity through the Stanford Act later on to ask
FEMA for reimbursement. But that's a 15% match.
So, we want to take opportunity – take the opportunity to actually
seek this 10% match and recoup as much of the money as we can
that we've already spent as a department to outfit our first
responders with PPE equipment to protect them against this
COVID-19 pandemic. I have Matt available. He's the author of this
grant and he submitted this grant. So, if you have any really tough
questions, he's the guy you want to shoot them to. I'll handle the
easy ones, but if you have any questions, we'll certainly be able to
answer those for you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Let me ask Stacey. Do we have any public comment on
this?
Stacey Inglis: No, sir. We do not.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'll close the public comment on this item and then open up
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to council for questions. Council Member Bentley?
CM Bentley: I have a really hard question. No, I'm just kidding.
Mayor Lockwood: Let's go to Matt.
CM Bentley: Matt. No, I'm always very appreciative of this department and our
police department looking for these grants. Especially given the
current situation that we're under. So, I fully support this and thank
you very much.
Chief Robert Edgar: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I agree. Is – anybody else? No questions. Okay. I'll open this
up for a motion. Thank you, Chief and Matt.
Chief Robert Edgar: Thank you, sir.
CM Mohrig: Mr. Mayor, I make motion that we approve agenda item no. 20-
148, consideration of a grant application to the US Fire
Administrator's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the
purchase of personal protective equipment for the pandemic
response.
CM Cookerly: I'll second it.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I believe I had – I obviously had the motion from Council
Member Mohrig and I believe that was Council Member Cookerly
I had a second from. So, Council Member Moore I'll give you a
third. How about that? So, all in favor – I'll ask individually. But
aye. Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Jamison?
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CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: And Council Member Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. That passes unanimously, so. Okay. Sudie, if you would
please read the last new business item.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to approve
Agenda Item No 20-148. Councilmember Cookerly seconded the
motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
1. Consideration of an Amended Emergency Ordinance of the
Mayor and Council of the City of Milton, Georgia Under Section
3.18 of the Charter of the City of Milton to Provide for the
Operation of the City of Milton, Georgia During the Public
Emergency Known as the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Global
Pandemic; to Become Effective Upon Adoption by Council; to
Supersede the Existing Emergency Ordinance; to Adopt the City’s
Reopening Plan; and for Other Purposes.
(Agenda Item No. 20-149)
(Ken Jarrard. City Attorney)
CC Gordon: Consideration of an amended emergency ordinance of the Mayor
and Council of the City of Milton, Georgia under Section 3.18 of
the Charter of the City of Milton to provide for the operation of the
City of Milton, Georgia during the public emergency known at the
Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Global Pandemic; to become
effective upon adoption by council; to supersede the existing
emergency ordinance; to adopt the city's reopening plan; and for
other purposes. Agenda item no. 20-149. I do have a public
comment that came via email to me. And can I read that at this
time?
Mayor Lockwood: That's fine with me. I've seen the email, too. So, please feel free to
go ahead and read the public comment.
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CC Gordon: This is – this is from Gary Jablonski at 2680 Grassview Drive,
Milton, Georgia. "Mayor and distinguished council members, as I
read the packet for agenda item 20-149, it looks like the city
emergency ordinance is extended to June 12, 2020. I would like
assurance from the city legal counsel that the extended ordinance is
in compliance with all Georgia State emergency ordinances and
those of Fulton County.
In particular, I want to be assured that any Milton City restrictions
are not more restrictive than Georgia restrictions or Georgia Law
prohibit individual municipalities from setting regulations that are
in conflict with Georgia law."
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
CC Gordon: And Mr. Ken Jarrard.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you. And just to confirm, Sudie, is that all the public
comment we have? Or Stacey?
CC Gordon: That's all I have via email.
Mayor Lockwood: Stacey, do we have any public comment?
Stacey Inglis: No public comment, sir.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'll close the hearing part. Then go ahead, Ken.
Ken Jarrard: Mr. Mayor and members of the council, good afternoon. It's a
pleasure to be with you this evening. And so, yes. We are going to
discuss today a further extension of the emergency ordinance that
the council has had in effect. And some variation or iteration of it
since literally March 16. Does everybody remember March 16
when this began to occur, we adopted a declaration of local
emergency on March 16?
We then beefed it up on March 20 and have had various versions
of it that we have had to approve and reapprove as your local code
anticipates that you will revisit these every 30 days. And so, we've
been attempting to do that and make sure that everything we do is
in fact compliant. As to the citizen, yes, of course, the governor's
various orders have been very clear at least since about April 2 that
they want any local enactments to be no more strict or no more
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lenient than what the governor has put in place.
And having put this emergency ordinance together, I am
comfortable that we are completely complaint with the governor's
instructions with respect to that. So, let me say this. I want to go
over what's this version of the ordinance. The current version of
the radiance – the emergency ordinance expires on May 19. The
one in front of you this evening will pick up on May 20 and it runs
to June 12, which is right now the extension by which the governor
has extended the State of Georgia emergency.
And candidly the governor's latest orders does a lot of things but
one of the things that he has done is extended the statewide
emergency until June 12. And so, this ordinance will in fact run
coterminous with that and will end on June 12. We have sort of
used out March 20 emergency ordinance as sort of the template for
all the various versions thereafter and I've sort of worked off of
that.
And you may recall that back on March 20 we were really focused
on the operations of the city. How our local committees and boards
functions complied to the Open Meetings Act. Things of that
nature. So, think of that. There is also, of course, various
emergency powers that the Milton Code gives to the mayor. Those
have been sort of blended into our emergency ordinance. And so,
and you may remember we had some meetings with respect to
those emergency powers.
And, of course, the mayor has used those and then had those
sanctioned or ratified by the council. And they have not really had
a prohibitive effect. What they have traditionally had during this
emergency has been an allowance effect. Basically, providing
relief to businesses in the community that may be impacted by the
various shelter in place ordinances or rules. And also, of occurs,
just the pandemic generally. So, we have attempted the mayor –
and I know the council has attempted to use these powers basically
to permit sort of an unusual operation to get folks through this
time.
So, now fast forward to now. What does the current ordinance you
have in front of you do? First of all, it reconfirms those powers
granted to the mayor that are already in existence under your
various codes. That is in fact the case. Those would continue for –
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until, again, June 12. With respect to the operations of the city,
now this is important. Section 6 of your various emergency
ordinance has basically provided that public hearings are
shutdown, Milton zoning regulatory agencies are shutdown, the
public policy and visioning functions of the council shutdown.
That's where I want you to focus. Because this ordinance that will
– assuming you approve it, it comes into effect on May 20. It takes
that out. So, we will in effect be attempting to sort of rev back up
the engine of government in Milton. I'm not going to say to
normalcy. I'm not suggesting that because you're going to hear
from Matt Marietta in a little bit with respect to the phased
reopening plan. But we are attempting to go ahead and try to
resume sort of some effort at normalcy with respects to how we
begin to legislate.
How we begin to take administrative and regulatory action. All of
the – when I say inferior, I don't mean lesser. But I just mean not
the council. How some of your other entities function, your ZBA,
your DRB, your planning commission, et cetera. We're attempting
to get those going again. Business is backlogged. People still need
to engage their government and we're attempting to get that going
again.
So, that big robust Section 6 that is sort of – that has sort of
stopped all of that activity, we're lifting that out. And in replace of
it, and Matt's going to talk to you about this, we're going to have
this sort of phased reopening plan. And I'm going to turn it over to
Matt in just a moment. But that's one of the big things that this
ordinance, assuming you adopt it, strips away. This ordinance also
further confirms five of the mayoral declarations that were, what I
call, pro-business, pro-functioning declarations.
For instance, the March 20 allowing to go malt beverage and wine
and alcohol sales. This ordinance reaffirms that and extends it
consistent with the term of the ordinance. The declaration allowing
restaurants and retail to place additional signage. Once again, sort
of a pro-retail, pro-business declaration. It too will be extended
until June 12. That declaration deferring payment of alcohol excess
taxes, that too would be furthered until June 12. Excuse me. I got
that wrong. Deferred to April 30. No, that's not right. It would be –
excuse me.
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So, that would be the deferred payment of alcohol excess taxes
would in fact run contemporaneous to June 12 with this ordinance.
April 24 allowing occupational tax certificate renewals to be
extended. That too would go for a run coterminous with the
ordinance. And then, finally allowing event facilities and caters to
host private catered events. That too would again run
contemporaneous with the ordinance.
So, again, we're attempting just to sort of build those into the
ordinance and allow them to move forward. As I mentioned, this
ordinance would also adopt the reopening plan that Mr. Marietta is
about to walk through with you. And in Section 7, which is the last
sort of new language, does something unique. And that is this. It
says this, that "during the term of this emergency ordinance, city
staff are empowered to unilaterally modify internal city/county
rules with respect to how the public may interact with the council
to ensure that during the term of this ordinance citizens are
provided enhanced flexibility on engaging the council."
What we're getting to on that is this. If the council signs off on this,
and if we begin to sort of reopen the government, particularly with
respect to in-person live meetings, there may be situations where
the individual members of the public irrespective of the fact that
we're holding live meetings just aren't comfortable showing up.
And so, what we're going to attempt to do working with city staff
is open up alternative arrangements where they may be able to
interact with you. Typically, as you know, back in the old days –
back in February. Right? A long time ago.
If individuals wanted to engage a city council, they needed to be at
the meeting. Okay. That was – that was the deal. Even if they
wanted to submit a written statement, we typically wanted them to
be in the meeting hall and then we would read the statement to the
record. That may not work for a while. We may need to give
individuals that want to engage us remotely or via email or other
sorts of alternative options the ability and flexibility to do that.
So, this ordinance would allow for staff to sort of dig deep and
think, "How can folks engage us that just may not be comfortable
coming to an in-person meeting?" So, Mr. Mayor and members of
the council, that is my overview of this ordinance. And again, it
would run until June 12. And then, I want to turn it over to Mr.
Marietta so he can go with – over with you the phased opening
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protocol that he's put together. Mr. Marietta?
Mayor Lockwood: Ken, can I break in before we go to Matt?
Ken Jarrard: Yeah.
Mayor Lockwood: On your part of the presentation, is there any council – does
anybody have any questions from Ken? Let's suss this discussion.
Okay. We'll turn it over to Matt.
Matt Marietta: Good evening. Over the last week or so I've worked with staff –
senior staff in the city to try to develop a reopening plan for Milton
as we've during the response to this pandemic closed down some
facilities and changed the way we operate. This plan is based on
the federal reopening phases. If you'll recall the White House Task
Force came up with a reopening America plan. So, this is, for lack
of a better term, the Reopening Milton Plan. And we're focusing
primarily on city facilities and services that we provide.
It's also based on current CDC guidelines, which are changing
regularly as new data is developed. It's based on Georgia
Department of Public Health requirements and it's most definitely
based on Governor Kemp's executive orders. These last two items
can be mandates and we took pains to make sure that this plan
reflected the governor's orders. There's some general overall
guidelines. We're continuing our deep cleaning of facilities and
equipment based on their use.
We started that before we actually went into the shelter in place
period of this pandemic response. And we're going to continue
doing that for the foreseeable future. We're also going to continue
to encourage social distancing, handwashing, and other hygienic
behaviors in accordance with the CDC recommendations. We're
trying to develop a work environment as conducive as possible to
social distancing to keep staff as safe as possible and also our
visitors as safe as possible when we start to open the buildings
back up.
And we're going to continue workforce monitoring in accordance
with the governor's recommendations. Temperature checks and
requiring people who are sick to not come to work and so on.
Continue supporting our at-risk population in the city. And then,
among our city staff and also try to continue our public
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communication throughout this process. The highlights of Phase 1
– if you can advance the slide. One more. The highlights of Phase
1, we will be formerly in Phase 1 upon your adoption if you choose
to adopt this item tonight.
But also, some of these items we've been doing all along. For
example, teleworking. But Phase 1 revolves around continued use
of web-based and remote city services. Continued teleworking
wherever practical. Staggering staffing at City Hall to try to
increase our presence in City Hall but trying to prevent everybody
from being there all at once. Very limited gathering of employees.
A highlight of this phase would be resuming council board and
committee meetings in accordance with CDC recommendations
and any state requirements. We are also beginning to reopen parks
activities within the CDC guidelines. For example, our more active
elements have opened recently. Also, in this phase, the back-office
areas of city facilities like the fire stations and the staff for City
Hall will remain closed to the public.
Next slide, please. And in Phase 2, which the general gating
criteria for that according to the federal plan is no evidence of a
rebound because of phase 1 and downward trajectory of
documented cases of COVID-19 and influenza-like illness. That's
something that we're going to look at more on the state level.
That's the state gating criteria, but we're also using that to guide
our plan as well. I have in my plan that was in the packet tonight a
tentative start date of June 12.
But we'll make that decision on whether we move into Phase 2
based on current recommendations, current state guidelines, as
they are changing quickly. Phase 2 will include increased in-person
activity at City Hall. We'll try to keep that as save as possible
through social distancing, use of masks, and facility and space
modification as needed. We will continue to encourage use of web-
based services and remote services by the public.
Have meetings among staff but they're small and kept socially
distanced. And sometimes they may have to use masks when they
do that if we've got a large group of people in the same room. And
then, we'll want to continue to increase our parks and recreation
offerings at city facilities. There's been a lot of discussions with
parks and recs on how we can increase our offerings to the
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community in a safe manner and then align with the governor's
orders.
But during this phase, the core facilities will remain closed to the
public. And then, in Phase 3 city's events can resume. And again,
for as far as how we get to Phase 3, that's going to be based on
evidence of evidence of no rebound. Basically, we'll implement
Phase 2 and if no evidence of a rebound of COVId-19 and meeting
the gating criteria put forward by the federal task force. During
Phase 3, city events can resume with enhanced cleaning, public
signage encouraging hygiene, and limited social distancing
measures.
Enhanced cleaning of health precautions at city facilities will
continue. Accommodation of at-risk employees should continue as
appropriate. City Hall can resume normal operations. Enhanced
hygiene and cleaning, again, will remain in placer. All city
meetings and staff/citizen meetings can be routinely conducted
with enhanced cleaning, and core facilities can open back up to the
public with controlled access.
And then Phase 4 is basically when things go back to normal. The
federal plan actually doesn't anticipate a Phase 4. We've got one in
ours to basically – when we are eliminating social distancing and
all the other measures that we have in place. And that will
basically occur when the COVID-19 situation has resolved, or
we've come to a working arrangement where this is with it as a
society. And I'd be happy to answer any questions that y'all have.
Mayor Lockwood: All right. So, does council have any questions for Matt on that?
Okay. Well, thank you for the presentation on that, Matt and Ken.
And obviously it's important stuff and appreciate you keeping on
top of it and keeping us posted as we move forward and on this
ordinance. So, I'll open this up. We don't have any more public
comment. Correct? I think I've already asked that. I think I closed
the public hearing on that. So, I'll open up for a motion.
CM Jamison: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve agenda item no. 20-
149.
CM Moore: Second that.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion from Council Member Jamison for approval
and a second from Council Member Moore. I'm voting in favor of
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that. Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Council Member Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jamison moved to approve
Agenda Item No 20-149. Councilmember Moore seconded the
motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. That's – that is unanimous, Sudie. So, thank you. So, next
we'll move on to reports. I just want to say thank you to everybody
from our public and our staff and council for working together in
these unprecedented times. Working remotely. As most of you
know, if you know me very well, I'm really good with technology
and computers. I kind of look forward to getting back to some
semblance of normalcy.
But I'm going to open up to council. Does council have any – does
council have anything they want to report on or questions or
comments? Council Member Moore.
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CM Moore: Thanks, Joe. In keeping with the presentation just given by Matt
and Ken on the attention to detail trying to get back to some sense
of normalcy, I think several of us have been contacted by another
small business in the community I've got a passion for ensuring
that we get out small businesses up and running as best we can.
And I think Milton's doing a great job of that. But in particular, I
think one that kind of gets overlooked in the mix is Matilda's and
the fac that they are a bit of an anomaly once again in the fact that
they are a special use permit.
I think right now Governor Kemp's does not allow for concert
venues to be open at this point. And, of course, we look forward to
his efforts to lift that and get that sense of normalcy back as well,
but I'm just wondering if there's a way for us in the fact that we are
– we look at our restaurants and some of our other small businesses
that are finding ways to socially distance their patrons and have
some semblance of being open. And the fact that Matilda's is 100%
open air event, they've got the space to socially distance the tables
at the event.
I just – I'm just wondering if there's a way they came forward with
a social distancing plan for the City of Milton, if there's a way for
us to contemplate an exception to the governor's review of the
large concert venues for the consideration of our small business
venue that Matilda's presents to us. I just am wondering if staff
and/or legal can give an interpretation of that.
Mayor Lockwood: Again, I think – Ken, I think you and Steve have looked into that
somewhat. Obviously, the governor's orders supersede, but
Council Member Moore brings up a good point. There may be
some – obviously things they can do. So, I'm not sure what we can
do legally as a city, but certainly would be interested in exploring
that, Ken. And I think Council Member Cookerly –
Steve Krokoff: Can I just jump in real quick?
Mayor Lockwood: Absolutely, Steve.
Steve Krokoff: So, the situation as it pertains to the governor's orders, which
expires on May 31 has been resolved. They have no intentions of
opening up before the 31. So, that becomes a moot point. The only
issue would be if the governor does renew that piece of his
emergency ordinance going forward form June 1. Which I'm not a
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soothsayer, but base don't eh current trajectory I'm thinking come
January 1 that may no longer be an issue.
Mayor Lockwood: June 1?
Ken Jarrad: June 1. Uh-huh.
CM Mohrig: June 1.
Steve Krokoff: I'm –
Ken Jarrard: Yep. Council members, I agree with what Steve said. And we have
talked about it. Just a couple thoughts. It's very – and it can be
confusing. But the governor's latest order, the one that he has
recently kicked out a week or so ago, does run until the end of
May. That's got the – that's got the limited shelter in place. That's
got the very specific rules about live entertainment venues, et
cetera. I will tell you these are challenging because every two
weeks one comes out.
And, of course, particularly the last two versions have had some
very nuanced, just very modest changes in language. But some of
that change could have big impacts on the ability of businesses to
function. So, we have to read them with a very discerning eye and
we're trying to do that. Then, so you have the governor's order with
the limited shelter in place. The limited shelter in place, however,
actually runs until June 12.
But the other components of the order, as Steve mentioned, only
run until the end of May. And then, of course, you have the
overarching just state of emergency, which too runs until June 12.
So, what I can tell you is we are going to know a lot more about
what June looks like, I would wager, probably on May 28. Because
I suspect that is when we will get the next version of the governor's
order that will tell us what June looks like. But right now, yeah. A
lot of event venues are in fact shut down until the end of May.
And as even the citizen that wrote in indicated, it is the case that
local governments are not able to impose regulations that are more
lenient or more strict if it is something that the governor has
specifically spoken on. And he has specifically spoken on that
issue. Mr., Mayor, thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Yep. Thank you, Ken. I know, Carol, you had – you wanted
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to make a comment.
CM Cookerly: Ken, is there any mechanism within the state government where
any of the legal team or any of the staff is fielding questions about
things that may not be covered? Because Matilda's is obviously not
a Phillips Arena-type concert. So, the question I have is do you
know of any mechanism where people can petition for a certain
rule?
Ken Jarrard: Council Member Cookerly, that was – was that to me? Forgive me.
Was that to legal?
CM Cookerly: Yes, Ken, because I think you know everything.
Ken Jarrard: I just couldn't – it broke up just for a moment. So, I will tell you
this. We represent a number of governments and have had a lot of
very positive interaction with the governor's office. And they have
been very forthcoming and willing to tell us what the underline
rational was and what their intent behind the various regulations
were. So, the answer is yes. They would be, I think, very willing to
field a question on this.
I would say this though. I think the better approach – I think the
way the order is drafted right now is there's just not a whole lot of
wiggle room right there. I think it's very clear and it really doesn't
even get into size right now it's just any sort of an event facility.
But it might be something where if we wanted to speak – and
because what I'm seeing practically is the governor is attempting to
address issues in each – different version of the order that makes
sense.
That are rationally related to protection of public health but also
attempt to get the State of Georgia moving and open for business
in a safe productive way. So, that may be something that if we can
have some engagement with the governor's office and say, "Look,
we have this unique wonderful event center here that perhaps
doesn't fit into a large event venue. But something that you might
be able to allow to open back up again with some more exacting
protocols."
That might be something we could look at. But right now, I think
we're going to have to wait until the end of May to get any relief
on that.
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay. All right. Is there any other – anything council wants to
report on? Okay. We'll move on to staff reports. Start with
community outreach.
1. Community Outreach
Greg Botelho: Thank you, Mayor. This is Greg Botelho from – the
communication director and also head of the communications
engagement team. Thank you for – and council for letting me
speak to you tonight. Thanks to Courtney Spriggs who is our
community outreach manager, who you will hear from more in a
minute, for graciously sharing her spot with me.
Courtney works with me as part of my team. These past few
months the idea of communications, engagement, and outreach are
more entwined than ever. So, makes sense for all of us to talk
together. I've been with the city for just over four months, though
in so many ways it feels closer to four years. I've been scheduled to
make my first presentation the first council meeting after the
emergency ordinance took effect. That didn't happen, but needless
to say a lot has happened since.
Before this pandemic, we had started amplifying our
communications efforts and with more social media posts, more
website updates, more coordination with people across city
government. Then once the pandemic began, we, to borrow a
phrase from Spinal Tap, wanted to "turn it up to 11." Needless –
never in the city's history has it been more critical to inform and
engage with our citizens, as well as city staff and council members.
But never has it been more challenging. I'm pleased to report that
we've turned it up to something closer to 19 or 20. The volume of
information we're sharing nowadays has grown leaps and bounds.
That includes elements directly related to council matters from
little explainers on every agenda item to recaps of meetings within
hours of when they occur. I've worked with Mayor Lockwood, our
city manager emergency manager, and others on official
statements, explainers and answers about topics that we'd never
fathomed in 2019.
I've done my best to gather, process, and make sense of the
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extensive stream of COVID-19 related info and get it out to the
public. I partnered with every department to articulate its existing
and changed process, policies, and the like. Especially useful after
we closed City Hall to the public. The results of these
collaborations landed on social media, our website, and answered
specific questions sent by email, Facebook, and more. Other bits
and pieces were for an internal communication help get everyone
on the same page in an easily confusing time and all are important.
On top of all that, our website traffic has increased by an estimated
500% or more. Thanks to our coronavirus update page – webpage
created by Jen Hardwick and many more news and other posts.
Our more frequently sent emails are being read more thoroughly
than ever. Our social media footprint has expanded significantly.
Not only with more posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but
also more engaging ones.
I've worked hand in hand too with our police and fire departments
to get their messages out on their own social media. Our goal is to
balance being informative, celebratory, cautionary, and if we're
lucky, maybe humorous. Our citizens have responded with
groundbreaking online engagement. People communicate more
with one another on city social media as seen in recent
conversations of our Birmingham Park and the city pool.
This weekend we posted about Cambridge High's graduation drive
by parade. Within one hour we had well over 100 positive
reactions, including people posting their own graduates' photos.
This weaves into our greater goal of fostering community in
Milton. The sense that we are Milton. And especially now, we are
all in this together. We want out citizens to know what is
happening and know that they can come to us with compliments,
criticism, suggestions, and hopefully fun proud moments.
We also want them to know that city staffers are doing our very
best to work with and for them. Having community is so
important, but especially when times are tough, and Milton has an
amazing community. To help connect us, I made it a priority to
help city staff better understand what's happening Milton by
sending them approximately weekly roundups of information.
These are similar to the updates I've sent council.
This is important because everyone of the dozens of cities
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employees from firefighters to permit technicians to parks and recs
staffers are vital ambassadors for Milton who can help inform and
engage our citizens. Not only should they know about key
developments in Milton, they deserve to know. Plus, the only way
our communication strategy can work and has worked is because
city staff and elected officials have worked extremely well as a
team.
Every department and every city employee I've reached out to,
everyone has stepped up big time. While working hard for Milton
residents, they've worked with me to ensure that residents know
what they are doing and why they are doing it. Know that we're
listening to the public. Know that we care. From the renovations of
pool and the Milton Country Club, the roadwork, to sharing ideas
to support Milton businesses and much more, I've been blown
away by our city staff members.
The ultimate goal is that Milton citizens feels vested and part of
our team, too. That we can all work together to make Milton an
even better place. There's a lot more I could say about the city's
outreach engagement efforts. We've tried to be creative and think
outside the box because there's no playbook for this. While I could
talk forever about it, I'd rather let my colleague Courtney talk to
you. She will touch on some of the ways we've rewritten job
descriptions, reinvented city events, and engaged our citizens. So,
Courtney, if you could take it from here.
Courtney Spriggs: Thank you, Greg. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I echo what
Greg has shared. Our work is most supportive of and dependent on
everyone in Milton, as you know. I have a few examples to share,
but first I want to recap some highlights starting with the end of
last year. I think I last spoke to you all after Crabapple Fest last
year, which feels like about 20 years ago now. But looking back to
December, we added Tricia Wolfe to our team. She is one of our
part time special events coordinators.
She works along with Anita Jupin. Her knowledge in event
planning is a welcome addition to our team. We're so happy to
have her. Her family just moved back to Milton over – I just over a
year ago. But she's jumped in and made a ton of connections. And
I want to congratulate. Her daughter Grace, you may have seen on
Facebook that she celebrated last Saturday with the drive by for
Cambridge High.
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Also, in December, we had our Christmas events. Christmas in
Crabapple and Pancake Breakfast. We had big numbers at both of
those events and continue to explore ideas for making them more
fun. Thank you to Mayor Lockwood, Santa Claus, Crabapple
Community Association, and Milton Fire Department for your help
making those events fantastic. In January we started our fourth
class of citizen's Government Academy with 20 citizens.
These incredibly involved participants were both long term
residents and brand-new members of Milton's community. They
graduated virtually in March and joined a great group of alumni
who devoted their time to learning about their local government.
Thank you to them for taking the class and for the staff who taught
the classes and shared their knowledge.
Then in February we had our Mayor's Run with 173 participants.
We raised $4,500 for the Keira Grace Foundation and the Colton
Norrell fund. Thank you to everyone who participated in that,
especially runners and North Point Pediatric, Dr. Greg Cabrera,
Ginger McGee, all North Point staff. As well as the race
coordinator Gary Jenkins, and Milton's public works and public
safety who make the race as safe as it can be.
And then March. In March, COVID-19 numbers and reports began
increasing as the news started changing, and people were
encouraged to stay home and not connect in person, the importance
of engagement and community became very, very clear. Our jobs
were going to change, and our efforts were more important than
ever. We wanted to highlight – I want to highlight how our
community – how connected our community remains.
With extra effort from Anita, Trisha, and Jen, and Greg, we've
sought out connection with citizens, business owners, other
departments, nonprofits, and other community partners. We've had
phone calls, emails, social media, and other connection platforms
our staff has worked on. We've worked on items like the Milton
restaurant list, our resource list for COVID resources for Milton
residence, and what we've dubbed lemonade posts, which features
all the different ways families have made good things, or
lemonade, out of the lemons handed to them by this pandemic.
While we worked on creating this content, which was challenging,
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we found that what people missed was human connection. And so,
a phone call to request opening hours or photos might turn into a
45 minute or hour conversation as people were connected with by
our staff. It was challenging. Another challenging part of what we
have was making sure that our – we have continued engagement
connection with our most vulnerable populations in Milton.
Senior living facilities such as Brickmount and Phoenix have rules
in place where some residents aren't allowed to leave their rooms.
We've made phone calls to facilities, worked with their activities
coordinators and other staff, and we encourage the community to
send cards and letters to both staff and residents. And feedback
from Brickmount and Phoenix are incredibly positive.
They say that they – their residents look forward to that as much as
anything. We also had businesses send – well, one business sent a
tour of her farm, Love GOGA, the goat yoga facility and Kathy
Huff send a tour of her farm, an introduction to animals, that they
can show in their closed-circuit TV channel. And so, we've
encouraged other businesses to do that as well.
We're currently working on a senior to senior project where seniors
in those facilities can share advice to our seniors of 2020. Our high
school seniors. I'm excited to see what advice they can provide
them. To keep in touch with our village volunteers, which is our
special needs young adult community, Diane Stewart had weekly
Zoom calls with them. And I have to say, though it's pretty chaotic,
the different cognitive levels, different verbal skills, different
physical abilities, there is no muting in those calls.
But I have to say it is one of the highlights of my week to watch
them all get together. The first thing they express is how much
they miss each other and can't wait to see each other again. So, I
hope we can do that pretty soon. We've also kept in touch with
Santino Monroe. He is our part time person that works with Sudie.
He was hired through Briggs & Associates who helps hire people
with certain disabilities and other cognitive disabilities.
And he is part of our vulnerable population and can't go out very
much. But we meet with him weekly to make sure he's kept up to
date on what's going on at City Hall and we look forward to having
him back. We also interviewed virtually, and hired virtually, two
summer interns. Cassandra Lunge from Georgia Tech. Marybeth
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Dicks from UGA. Will start in some capacity in June on our first
comprehensive Milton internship program.
For upcoming events, they right now are to be determined as the
situation changes. We are actively planning for Crabapple Fest
with Crabapple Community Association. As always, we're working
together with the community and all city departments toward
continued efforts to have an inclusive connected community. And
Mayor and Council, I just want to thank you for your trust, time,
and attention. And I'll turn it back over to Greg to conclude our
department's report. Thank you.
Greg Botelho: Sure. Thank you all. I think there's a lot more going on. I think I
just encourage people to follow us on Facebook, and Twitter, and
Instagram. And also, our website, which we're updating regularly
too to keep up. It's kind of hard to keep up. We're doing our best
and hopefully… We thank again to the council, the mayor, and
also especially to our citizens who are showing they're more
engaged than ever and we appreciate that.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thank you, Greg and Courtney. Are there any questions or –
from council?
CM Bentley: I have a comment, Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: Go ahead, Laura.
CM Bentley: Thank you. Hey, I just wanted to thank Greg specifically updates
on the council agenda have gotten a lot of great positive feedback
on that from citizens. And sometimes I learn a lot by reading them
as well. So, and Courtney thank you also for identifying the new
hires. It's great to heat that we've got some interns that are – we can
work through this new normal with. And it's nice to know of
Trish's coming on board so that when we see her, we can welcome
her. So, thank you very much.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Paul.
CM Moore: Thanks, Joe. I want to echo Laura's compliments of both Greg and
Courtney. I have to tell you that you guys are doing something
nothing short of remarkable. And you look at our social media
presence. The activities that you guys are representing that ate
going on throughout Milton in spite of the fact that people are
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having to be sheltering in place, it's the impression of a thriving
community.
As if there was no virus. And it's great to see the Milton
community come alive like that. And you guys just have been
providing a tremendous conduit for everybody else around town to
know that these wonderful things are happening, and Milton is
rising above the virus to continue our – this wonderful sense of
place that we've got. So, well done by you guys and your team to
make sure that Milton is showing alive and well and beating the
virus.
Greg Botelho: Thank you, Paul. I know one of the things that we're showing is
that Milton's city government never stops working. And also, our
certainly – our citizens have been engaged and out there
throughout this whole process as well. So, trying to connect –
Mayor Lockwood: Well, you guys have clearly demonstrated that the City of Milton
resources, the city staff, are the right place to go to get the facts
about what's happening in the city. And what better place to go
than the source to get those – to get those facts. So, job well done.
Thanks.
Greg Botelho: Thank you.
Community Development
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Thanks, guys. Next community development. Parag? Hello?
Okay. There you go. Parag, you there?
Parag Agrawal: Yes. Can you hear me? Yes.
Mayor Lockwood: Yes.
Parag Agrawal: Mayor and the city council, I'm Parag Agrawal, city's community
development director. And I'm here to present you a brief summary
of the various projects which are going on in the department the
last one month. These are some of the numbers from April 15 to
May 14. Again, the department was very busy. We reviewed more
than hundred permit applications the last one month. That includes
zoning interviews, architecture, arborist review, and erosion in the
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water management reviews.
The department issued around 120 building permit applications.
We conducted approximately 440 building permit inspections. We
conducted around 480 line development inspections. And around
47 tree removal permits for issue. So, these are approximately
more than around 10 to 15 person increased if you look at from the
last one month. Other major projects update for the compliance
plan update.
We have started working on our grouping for compliance plan.
Currently we are contributing the seat back with just a
comprehensive plan advisory committee. We have received
appointments form I think almost all the city council members. So,
if you have not given us your names, your appointments, please let
us know. We are looking to have a first seat back meeting in the
third week of June.
Update of the Milton Country Club building renovation. So, we
gave you a PowerPoint presentation a couple of weeks back to
discuss the layout of the Milton County Club building. I'm very
happy to say that the gear demolition and the mold removal
renovation has been completed. We also – there was a big – was
out on the street for the exterior demolition and the yard cleanup.
The response date was May 14. We received nine bids for the
exterior demolition and the yard cleanup work. Giving you the
update of public safety complex. As you know, the city architect is
managing the public safety complex construction. The project is on
– is on schedule and on budget. The furniture order has been
completed and the move-in date is scheduled for late August.
The design review board meeting. The design review board
meeting is scheduled for June 2. It will – we do have a very heavy
agenda since the design review board did not meet for the last
couple of months. We have more than 11 applications on the
agenda for June 2. The tree preservation ordinance update. We
continue to work on the tree conservation ordinance. We have
incorporated the feedback given by the city council.
And we have also incorporated the feedback that has been received
by the – from the city's attorney office. So, the tree conservation
ordinance will be in front of the city council in the month of June.
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We do have through July 21 to get the new tree preservation
ordinance adopted. The last item which I want to talk about is the
Census 2020. Currently the self-response for Milton is around
67%.
And in 2010, the self-response rate was 72%/ The field operations
and the self-reported period ends in – on October 31, 2020. We
want to better the 2010 response rate. Especially with the online
option new to 2020 Census. Generally, most of the Census tracks
in Milton are floating between 65% to 82% response rate. We do
have one Census track along Windward Parkway. There the
Census track has a response rate of only 41%.
So, we are basically targeting that particular Census track that has
a response of only 41% to improve our response rate to – we are
shooting from 80 to 90% of response rate in the City of Milton. So,
if you have any public meetings, please let – please let the Milton
Residents know how useful and how important it is to respond to
the Census. That's pretty much it from my side. I'll be happy to
answer any questions.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Parag. Is there any questions? No. and I – I want to say
this, and this goes to all our staff. Just like it's gone to Greg and
Courtney earlier. It's amazing that you guys, Parag and your team,
have – when you listed all the items that have been completed this
month, it's amazing with everything shutdown and virtual and all
that, our city staff has been able to accomplish all that. So, thanks
to everybody on that. We'll move on to police. Chief Austin.
Police
Chief Rich Austin: Greetings, mayor and members of council. I'm very happy report
that operations are going well within the police department. Even
amid the COVID-19 crisis. Though, as you know, we had to
temporarily suspend some services such as fingerprinting and
hosting community events and classes. Our essential services in the
field have been largely uninterrupted. Albeit with necessary
changes in operations.
It shows on this slide our overall calls for service have trended
downward significantly since March in comparison to the same
time frame in 2019. This pragmatically coincides with the
beginning of cautions taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And
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more or less we redirected our officers to maintain high visibility
in our neighborhoods in an effort to make our citizens feel safe.
And just to reinforce that we were still out there to abide our
essential services. We also wanted to ensure our businesses,
especially those that have had to close for an extended period, that
they had an extra level of patrol as well. I've been asked a few
times about out COVID-19 related calls for such things as social
distancing or business violations.
We've been tracking those and there've only been a handful of calls
regarding received violations. And those were all resolved
amicably through public education and/or citizen cooperation.
We've continued to routinely patrol our parks as they have
reopened. And our observation there is that by and large citizens
are following the social distancing guidelines very diligently.
We've had to take zero enforcement action regarding those
anywhere in the city.
And that's certainly a testament to our outstanding citizens. Their
overall altruistic approach to this crisis and their understanding just
speaks volumes. So, I certainly want to thank our citizens for that.
Very much appreciated by the police department. I'd also like to
thank our citizens for the overwhelming support they've provided
the department during the last several weeks. The outpouring of
support from individuals, businesses, the Milton First Responders
Foundation.
All of it has just been simply overwhelming. We've had meals
delivered from local businesses. Homemade masks made for our
officers and nonsworn employees. And believe it or not even a few
donuts were dropped off. So, not sure where they were tipped off,
we like donuts but they sure – they sure went fast. But as I've
stated, we fortunately had to – unfortunately temporarily had to
suspend in person community meetings, programs, and classes.
And we look forward to a time of being able to offer those again.
However, as Greg stated, we've been able to stay in
communication with our citizens through other means. Thanks in
part to our wonderful communications department. We've been
very engaged on our social media platforms. Both in getting out
vital information as the crisis unfolds and in celebrating events
well known within the community such as graduations, milestone
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birthdays, and even reuniting a lost dog with its family.
There we go. That was a great day for us when we were able to
reunite this fella with his family. So, maybe a future K-9 cadet
there. Who knows? On a side note, the department's efforts were
recognized on a national police website which highlighted ideas
for state engagement with communities during the crisis. So, thank
you again our partners in the Milton Communications Department.
They've been very supportive in helping us maintain a very high
level of social media presence and connection with the community
during this time. So, thank you for that. On a bit more serious note,
one of the outreach activities that we look forward to each year is
national police week. Which this year fell May 10 through May 16.
During this week, as you probably recall, we typically hold events
such as Coffee with a Cop, Free Shredding Event, and we conduct
various classes. We also usually celebrate with the community
during our departmental award ceremony and then culminate the
week in a ceremony honoring the Georgia officers that died in the
line of duty the previous year.
So, without the opportunity to meet together, we had to get a bit
creative. This year we commemorated police week through various
social media posts of Milton police officers sharing why they
chose to serve in our great city. We also highlighted some of our
internal functions such as the criminal investigation division. And
we then culminated the week with a virtually presented Fallen
Officers Ceremony remembering the lives of the seven officers
that gave the ultimate sacrifice serving communities throughout
Georgia during 2019.
We were just very honored and humbled to present that
commemoration to our community. And our goal is to hold the
award ceremony later in the year when we can hopefully, and I
stress hopefully, gather together as a community to celebrate the
accomplishments of our staff. And with that, that's all I have this
evening. Thank you and I'm certainly available if you have any
questions.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, chief Austin. Is there any questions for Police Chief?
CM Bentley: Just a quick. Thank you. And I know other council members have
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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mentioned tonight that amped up use of specifically Wood Road,
and I would like to thank chief Austin and his team. Specifically,
the public safety officer for keeping check on the use. And there's a
lot more people with a lot more time and they're flocking to Wood
Road and we know that. But having your presence there certainly
helps. So, thank you very much.
Chief Rich Austin: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I appreciate it. I appreciate everything and if there's nothing
else, that will conclude tonight's meeting. Do I have a motion to
adjourn?
ADJOURNMENT
CM Mohrig: So, moved.
CM Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I have a motion and second to adjourn. All in favor, and I'll
go individually, but aye. Council Member Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Bentley?
CM Bentley: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Jamison?
CM Jamison: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: And Moore?
CM Moore: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Thank you, guys.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, May 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the
meeting at 7:37 pm. Councilmember Moore seconded the
motion. The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
CM Cookerly: Thank you.
CM Moore: Thanks.
Steve Krokoff: Thank you, Mayor and Council.
Date Approved: July 6, 2020
__________________________________ _____________________________
Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk Joe Lockwood, Mayor