HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 08/03/2020
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Lockwood: I want to welcome everybody here tonight and I would like to call
the regular meeting for the Milton City Council for Monday,
August 3, 2020, to order. The city strongly recommends that you
review tonight’s agenda carefully, and if you wish to speak on any
item on the agenda, please bring your comment card to the clerk as
soon as possible, which Tammy is sitting here to my right. While
the Milton rules allow a speaker to turn in their comment card up
until the clerk calls that agenda item, once the agenda item is
called, no more comment cards will be accepted. So, I am going to
ask our clerk to please call the roll and make general
announcements.
Tammy: Good evening, Mayor and Council, I will be happy to call roll for
the August 3rd, 2020 regular meeting. I would like to remind those
in attendance to please silence all cell phones at this time. Those
attending the meetings who would like to make a public comment,
you are required to complete a public comment card prior to
speaking on the item. Your comment card must be presented to the
city clerk prior to the agenda item being called. All speakers,
please identify yourself by name, address, and organization before
beginning your comment.
If you are representing an organization, an affidavit is required
stating you have the authority to speak on behalf of that
organization. Please review tonight’s agenda, and if you would like
to make a comment, please bring your comment card to me now.
Demonstration of any sort within the chamber is prohibited. Please
refrain from any applause, cheering, booing, outbursts, or dialog
with any person speaking. Anyone in violation will be asked to
leave. As I call roll for this evening, please confirm your
attendance. Mayor Joe Lockwood?
Mayor Lockwood: Here.
Tammy: Councilmember Peyton Jamison?
CM Jamison: Here.
Tammy: Councilmember Paul Moore?
CM Moore: Here.
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Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Tammy: Councilmember Laura Bentley?
CM Bentley: Here.
Tammy: Councilmember Carol Cookerly?
CM Cookerly: Here.
Tammy: Councilmember Joe Longoria?
CM Longoria: Here.
Tammy: Councilmember Rick Mohrig?
CM Mohrig: Here.
Councilmembers Present: Mayor Joe Lockwood, Councilmember Peyton
Jamison, Councilmember Paul Moore, Councilmember Laura Bentley,
Councilmember Carol Cookerly, Councilmember Joe Longoria and
Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (Led by Mayor Joe Lockwood)
Mayor Lockwood: Would everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance?
Several: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and
to the republic for which is stands, one nation, under god,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Mayor Lockwood: And again, I want to welcome everybody here tonight and I
appreciate everybody working with us on our social distancing
standards and, it’s really easy to pack a room when our seats are all
spread out like that, so – but I appreciate everybody’s help on that.
I’m gonna go ahead and ask Tammy to please sound the next item.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Tammy: The next item is approval of a meeting agenda, agenda item
number 20-203.
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Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I think staff would like to add, amend the agenda to add a
resolution of the City of Milton authorize and participation in the
Apple Developer Program and acceptance of contracts associated
with this program to new business tonight. Is there anything else
on the agenda anyone would like to add? Okay, hearing none, I
will open up for a motion.
CM Bentley: Mayor, I would like to make a motion to approve the agenda as
amended.
CM Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: All right, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember
Bentley with a second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor,
please say aye.
Several: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? That’s unanimous. Okay, Tammy, moving on to
public comment. Do we have any general public comment?
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the
meeting agenda with the following changes: add a Resolution of
the City of Milton to authorize and participate in the Apple
Developer Program and acceptance of contracts associated with
this program to New Business tonight Councilmember Moore
seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
PUBLIC COMMENT
Tammy: I do not have any public – general public. I have some for later in
the agenda.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thank you. I will go ahead and read the rules on public
comment whether it is general or not. Public comment is the time
for citizens to share information with the mayor and city council
and to provide input and opinions on any matter that if it is a
general contact that is not scheduled, but during the scheduled
hearing for items on our agenda, it will be specific for that. Each
citizen who chooses to participate in public comment must
complete a comment card on the table and submit it to our city
clerk down to Councilmember Jamison’s right before that agenda
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Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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item is called.
Please remember, it is not a time to engage the mayor or members
of council in conversation, and when your name is called, please
come forward and speak into the microphone stating your name
and address for the record. You’ll have five minutes for remarks.
The city encourages you right now to review the agenda and if you
wish to speak, bring your comment card to the clerk before that
item. We will move on now to the consent agenda. Tammy, if you
would please sound those items.
CONSENT AGENDA
Tammy: The first item is approval of the June 15th, 2020 regular city
council meeting minutes, agenda item number 20-204. The next
item is approval of the financial statements and investment report
for the period ending June 2020, agenda item number 20-205. The
third item is approval of a task order between the City of Milton
and B, M, & K, PC for asphalt reconstruction and resurfacing
project, agenda item number 20-206. Our fourth item is approval
of a change – the approval of change order number four to the
professional services agreement between the City of Milton and
InterDev, LLC, to decrease VCIO/Project Manager Hours, increase
technical support, and to account for annual escalator, agenda item
number 20-207.
The next item is approval of change order number one to the goods
and services purchase agreement between the City of Milton and
Utility Associates Inc. for interview room cameras in the new
public safety complex, agenda item number 20-208. Our sixth item
is approval of a Milton and Berry, Dunn, McNeil, & Parker LLC,
for strategic planning services, agenda item number 20-209. Our
next item is approval of a change order to construction
management at-risk agreement between the City of Milton and
New South Construction Company LLC for the new public safety
complex project. Our next item is approval of an additional
boarding documents for Invoice Cloud, Inc, merchant account,
agenda item number 20-211.
Our ninth and final consent agenda item is the approval of a plat
revision. It’s the commercial – the name of the development is the
Commercial Parcel at Lakeside at Crabapple, LL number 1134,
860 and 870 Mayfield Road. It is a minor plat subdivided from 870
Mayfield Road into one lot. 0.742 was the total acres and the
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Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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density is one commercial lot. Agenda item number 20-212.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, do I have a motion on the consent agenda?
CM Longoria: Mayor, I move that we approve the consent agenda as read.
CM Cookerly: Second.
Male Speaker: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Longoria
with a second from Councilmember Cookerly. All in favor, please
say aye.
Several: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? That’s unanimous. Okay, tonight we don’t have any
items under reports and presentations, so we’ll move on to first
presentation. Tammy if you’ll please sound those items?
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve the
Consent Agenda. Councilmember Cookerly seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS (None)
FIRST PRESENTATION
Tammy: The first item is consideration of an ordinance of the Mayor and
Council of the City of Milton, Georgia, to establish the ad valorem
tax rate of the City of Milton for fiscal year 2021; and for other
purposes, item number 20-213. The Finance Director, Ms.
Bernadette Harvill.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, do I have a motion on the first presentation?
CM Longoria: Mayor, I move that we approve the first presentation.
CM Mohrig: Second.
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Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Longoria
with a second from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor, please
say aye.
Several: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve the
First Presentation items. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
PUBLIC HEARING (None)
ZONING AGENDA
Mayor Lockwood: That’s unanimous. Okay, we have no items under public hearing,
so we’ll move on to our zoning agenda. If our city clerk would
please sound the first zoning agenda item and before I ask you to
do that, in discussion with Ken, my – this item that is coming up
before us, my day job and my personal company has been asked to
help on the construction of that project, so I am going to recuse
myself of any input or decision on this tonight, so Councilmember
Jamison is Mayor Pro Tempore, has the – will preside over this
item.
CM Jamison: All right, thank you.
Tammy: Mayor Pro Tempore, we do have a public comment on this item.
CM Jamison: Okay.
Tammy: Do we want to do that first?
Male Speaker: We sound the item first.
Tammy: I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m just making [inaudible] [00:10:20].
Male Speaker: Okay.
Tammy: The first item is consideration of U20-01/CV20-01 located at
12900 Arnold Mill Road by Ebenezer United Methodist Church to
request a use permit, section 64-1804, to construct a 23,000 square
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foot activity center on the existing church property of 5088 square
feet for a total of 26 – 28,088 square feet on 6.6.1 acres. To request
a two-part concurrent variance to, number one, allow parking in
front of a building, section 64-1143, and two, to reduce the
required parking, section 64-1410. Agenda item number 20-198.
Mr. Parag Agrawal.
Robyn: So, I’ll let – oh, thank you. Good evening, Mayor and City
Council. Thank you for this opportunity to present to you this
request for a use permit to expand a church use. They’re requesting
a 23,000 square foot structure for event, not event facility but for a
facility for on-site use. And they’re also asking for a two-part
concurrent variance. The applicant is Ebenezer United Methodist
Church. The last permit issued in 1993 by Fulton County approved
and addition for a total of 5000 square feet on 4.14 acres. Since
that time, and additional 2.47 acres has been acquired.
Therefore, the need for the updated use permit for the expansion of
the acreage as well as the requested 23,000 square feet for activity
center. It is obviously currently zoned AG1. The initial site plan
submitted has required two additional concurrent variances. This
was back in January/February based on the location adjacent to
residential use on the northern portion of the property. The church
and city staff met and a revised site plan was submitted to move
the activity center to comply with setbacks and buffers which are a
75-foot buffer and 10-foot improvement setback as well as a 75-
foot setback when adjacent to a residential use. So, you all are
familiar with that area.
The Georgia Golf Driving Range comes around to the north and
we found out that there was a residential use still being used for
residence. So, therefore, we needed to ask for the additional two
concurrent variances. But then, we met with the church and their
architect and were able to relocate it, turn it 90 degrees, the activity
center based in part because of a large oak that was determined to
be not viable. And that was approved by our city arborist as well to
be removed because of possible hazard. So, that allowed the
opportunity for the activity center to be turned and to be able to
comply with two or the originally asked variances. Right here, we
have the location map. Everybody familiar with it at the northwest
intersection of Cox and Arnold Mill Road.
Zoning map, as you can see, the light beige is AG1. The orangey-
peachy color is City of Roswell. So. This is the revised site plan
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that you have before you that turns the building the 90 degrees
from what it was away from the northern property line as well as
adding a proposed pavilion. And there’ll be some pictures later on
in the presentation. You can see that they are providing the 75-foot
undisturbed buffer and 10-foot improvement setback to the west.
There’s a single-family residence between this property and the
golf center. And then as it continues around to the north, it
provides the required buffer.
Again, they’re asking for the 23,000 square foot activity center and
a pavilion, 144 parking spaces. And the parking spaces include the
existing parking spaces right at the corner of Cox and Arnold Mill,
as well as some parking in the middle southern part and the
western part. So. So, this, the applicant and their architect has
worked closely with our city architect on the elevations as well as
understanding this is not set in stone. There would probably need
to be some more additional work to it, but as I state in this slide,
everything would have to be approved by the design review board
before the building permit would be issued.
So. Okay. Again, this is an example of the proposed pavilion.
Many of you will see as familiar. I believe it is from the
Birmingham United Methodist Church, so obviously, it won’t be
an exact replica, but it just gives an idea of what they want to try to
propose and to build on the property. Just going through the
different various public participation meetings, we had the CZI
meeting on December 17th. Six community members were present.
There were some property owners in attendance from Etris Walk,
which is located in Roswell to the south across Cox Road. Their
concern was with lighting and possible additional traffic.
There is also a large concern, there’s an intersection at Etris and
Cox at Ebenezer. It is a very difficult situation, intersection. But I
believe that right of way and intersection is responsibility of the
City of Roswell. Then the owner/operator of Georgia Golf Center
at the time came and told us about the residence on the northern
part of the property as well as I just said about the congestion at
Cox and Arnold Mill as well as Cox and Etris. So. Based upon that
previous meeting, we added two concurrent variances because of
the residence, the residence on the northern portion. And we had
the meeting at the end of January. No one attended from the
community.
So, go on. The Design Review Board met on February 4th and the
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following comments were made. Support the use permit. Need to
work on architecture of approved and would like to see the paint
color if approved. And obviously, that would be part of their
package is the color scheme and the different material. We always
do a material board, colors, the whole nine yards. And they
supported the request to reduce the parking. Again, the public
participation report, this is a meeting that is required that the
applicant host and provide. And they had two public meetings, one
on December 16th and February 17th at the church. Again, the first
meeting, there were four attendees. Issues including parking lot
lighting and traffic in that intersection of Cox and Arnold Mill
Roads.
At the Planning Commission June 24th, whoops, time travel. So, as
you all know, we weren’t able to meet during the COVID time for
planning commission or city council. So, the first time it went to
planning commission was on June 24th. And they unanimously
recommended the approval of U20-02, and VC20-01, parts 1 and
4. Those are two concurrent variances and we’ll talk about them a
little more detail. They also made a recommendation to add hours
for delivery Sunday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They
were thinking that if there was a wedding that was occurring or a
different occasion that might need some deliveries at some odd,
earlier times and during the weekend, so that’s why they
recommended that additional condition.
Go ahead. And every time we look at a use permit, there is a
certain – there’s a set of considerations that are required for us to
contemplate. And so, the first one is the existing church is within
the AEE land use category on the City of Milton Comprehensive
Plan Update Map. And a church or a place of worship is an
allowed use if a use permit is approved by the mayor and city
council. Therefore, it is consistent with the current comprehensive
land use plan. And when we look at compatibility with land uses
and zoning in the vicinity, as you know, to the north and northwest
is the driving range which is approved through a use permit in
Fulton County in 1989.
There’s scattered single-family residences on various size parcels
to the north and northeast. The southwest is the Ebenezer
Cemetery just south of the new City of Milton Soccer Complex
which is across the street. And that also originally had a use permit
for recreation fields that were approved in Fulton County as well
as there was a zoning modification approximately 7 or 8 years ago,
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but now is our facility. To the south/southwest is the Etris Walk
subdivision within the City of Roswell. I just want to let you know,
we reached out to the City of Roswell and they did not have any
issues or ask for any additional conditions or anything like that.
And then further to the west is Union Primitive Baptist Church.
We recently did an expansion – not we, but they had requested
expansion of the church in 2011. And then single-family
residences to the west. Okay? and the proposed use currently
violates regulations governing land development, but if the
requested use permit is approved by you all, the it would no longer
be in violation of any type of governing regulations. Number four,
there will be minimal effect by the church and associated activity
center on traffic flow, vehicular and pedestrian along Arnold Mill
Road. And number five – location and number of parking spaces.
So, there are existing parking in front of existing building and
proposed parking along Cox Road in front of the proposed building
as well as a little bit further to the west.
Staff is recommending approval of the concurrent variance for
location based on the fact that a 15-foot landscape strip planted to
buffer standards can be planted along Cox Road to help conceal
the parking. The use permit requires 220 spaces based on one
space per 35 square feet in the largest assembly area. The applicant
has requested to reduce it to 144 of which 17 exist already. Staff is
recommending approval of this concurrent variance to reduce the
number of parking spaces. Number six – location of open space.
The site is 6.61 acres and there is a stream located on the
northwestern portion and the required 75-foot undisturbed buffer
and 10-foot improvement setback along with the other buffers and
to the north as well. So, therefore, it does have a fair amount of
open space.
Number seven, protective screening. Again, as I just mentioned, it
does meet the required 75-foot undisturbed buffer and 10-foot
improvement setback adjacent to AG1 and again, as mentioned,
the 15-foot landscape strip planted to buffer standards along Cox
and a 10-foot landscape on the other frontage which would be
Arnold Mill. Number eight, hours and manner of operation. The
applicant, we asked them to submit kind of an outline of their
different activities that they see happening both in the church as
well as the activity center. And based upon that report, we
recommended hours of operation, Monday through Saturday, 8:00
a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Sundays, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30.
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And as I previously mentioned, the Planning Commissions
recommended deliveries Sunday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to
8:00 p.m. And in regards to outdoor lighting, the applicant has not
indicated any additional lighting on the site. If lighting is proposed,
it must comply with the night sky ordinance. Ingress and egress to
the property, the site plan indicates there are three curb cuts along
Cox. The applicant has stated that the curb cut closest to the
intersection of Cox and Arnold Mill Road will be eliminated. And
the site plan meets all the development standards for the church
use permit, so that is under section 64-1804, so I didn’t go into
detail on that because they did meet those regulations.
And based on all those items, staff recommends approval
conditional view 20-01 for the church and associated activity
center. Next. So, now, we’re going to look at the site plan analysis
and categories, the two variance requests, and the two items –
parking and the rural Milton overlay. And as you all are familiar,
there are four considerations that are required to take into
consideration when reviewing and recommending a variance. So,
you can keep on going. Okay. So, each of those four were
considered and staff recommends approval conditional to reduce
the number of parking spaces from 220 to 144. And then Part 4, to
allow parking in front of the building, which it only exists in front
of the original sanctuary building.
And based on the limited area to place required parking and the
applicant will be installing a 15-foot landscape strip planted to
buffer standard, staff recommends approval condition of this
request. And in conclusion, if approved with the recommended
conditions, the proposed church and associated activity center is
consistent with the City of Milton Land Use Plan Update,
therefore, staff recommends U20-01 be approved conditional.
Additional, staff recommends VC20-01, Parts 1 and 4 be approved
conditional. And I’ll just step through the recommended
conditions. 1A is assembly building with a maximum of 5888
square feet and a 23,000 square foot activity center for a total of
28088 square feet located on 6.61 acres.
Also included in there is the accessory structures to include a
pavilion with outdoor fireplace. And then everything is based upon
the revised site plans submitted on March 16th whereby the exact
layout of the project may contain minor deviations approved by the
director, but in general, that this – any, when they submit their land
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disturbance permit, if you decide to approve this, it would be
consistent with the site plan. Okay. And again, we included the
hours of operation in the conditions, Monday through Saturday,
8:00-10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 9:30. And
deliveries Sunday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Three. So, the owner’s agreement to the following considerations,
to construct new parking areas with porous grass pavers or crushed
gravel on the southwest parking areas. So, if you look at the site
plan, we are not speaking of obviously the existing parking that is
near the corner or apex of the two roads. We’re not speaking of the
new parking that is kind of in the middle, but it truly is the
southwest corner near the detention that they intend to do the
pervious type pavement. And also, number four, to agree to
dedication improvements, basically saying that the public, be
subject to the approval of the Public Works Department and
GDOT prior to the issuance of land disturbance permit.
Entrances and frontage improvement shall conform to chapter 48,
streets, sidewalks, and other places. And number five, well,
continuing number four. Be, if at such time the Director of Public
Works determines that the traffic generated by the activity center
site impacts the operation of Cox Road and/or State Route 140, he
or she may require the owner to conduct a traffic study to
determine if the activity center warrants any additional
improvements at no cost to the city. If improvements are
determined to be warranted, owner shall install those at no cost to
the city.
Number five, just our general condition in regard to stormwater
management. And I believe that is – oh. Also, just want to let you
know, based on the city attorney’s recommendation that when you
go to vote, if you decide to approve this item, that you would do
one motion for the use permit and then a second for the
recommended concurrent variance because we have separated it
out from the actual ordinance for the approval of conditions. So,
that being because the variances can expire after I believe it is 36
months. Therefore, if they didn’t build it for another five years,
they would have to come back and request those variances
separately to the Board of Zoning Appeals. And I’m here to answer
any questions. And the applicant is here, representative of the
church as well as their architect.
CM Jamison: Any questions for staff before public comment?
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Male Speaker: Just a couple. Robyn, in the CZIM meeting, you suggested there
was a discussion from the surrounding neighborhood about the
lighting of the parking lot. Has that been resolved to the
satisfaction of the homeowners?
Robyn: We have not heard from them since that point. I pointed out that
we are required to meet the night sky ordinance and it is fairly
restrictive. It is one-foot candle at their property line. And it has to
be shielded and also, the church had indicated that they weren’t
planning on doing additional lighting, but again, if they do, they
have to comply with the night sky ordinance.
Male Speaker: So, no additional lighting like in the new soft surface parking or
the pervious surface parking area there wouldn’t be anything?
Robyn: It appears not at this point, yeah.
Male Speaker: Okay. And my other question was one of the last comments you
made was with regard to the timeline. Do we know what he
church’s timeline is to, intention to –?
Robyn: Uh, you’ll have to speak to them about that. Yeah.
Interviewer: Thank you. That’s all I had for now.
CM Jamison: Any other questions? Okay. Tammy, if you will call.
Tammy: Thank you. I’d like to call Mr. Reggie Elkins to come to the
podium. He’s just going to clean it really fast for you.
Reggie: Reggie Elkins with R&Z Concepts. I’m the architect for the church
and would like to initially thank the staff for working with us so
closely.
Male Speaker: Excuse me, sir. Sorry. Can you speak your address also for the
record?
Reggie: Sorry, 4621 Village H Drive Northeast, Marietta, Georgia.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you. Got it?
Male Speaker: Yep.
Reggie: So, the church was built in 1853 and at that time, as many of you
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know, Milton was a horse farm and farming community. And
really, the goal of the church from the very beginning was to keep
that character with this activity center. And that’s why we designed
a barn look similar to Scottsdale Farms. And to try to keep that
character within the community. And the real purpose of the
activity center is not only for the membership but also for the
community for the weddings and retreats and that type of thing for
the members as well as the community use.
Again, on behalf of the church, we hope that you see fit to allow
these use permits so that we can continue through the process and
hopefully, build an activity center that’s worthwhile for not only
the church, but for the community. And I believe you had a
question that Robyn couldn’t answer.
Male Speaker: Was that timeline?
Male Speaker: Building timeline.
Reggie: Yeah, we’ve actually been working on contract documents through
this process and we’re hoping to be under construction within the
next two to three months if approved.
Male Speaker: For the entire project, no phased. It will be one.
Reggie: Correct.
Male Speaker: Oh, wonderful. Thank you.
Reggie: Any other questions?
Female Speaker: I have a comment.
Reggie: Sure.
Female Speaker: I’m happy to see a church grow. Congratulations.
Reggie: Well, thank you. I’ll have to tell you, the very first meeting we had
with the staff, you know, any time you come in with a church
activity center, the first thing that comes to mind is a pre-
engineered building. And so, all of the staff was sitting there.
Here’s another pre-engineered building. When they heard the
concept that the church wanted, they got real excited about the
project and have been very beneficial in helping us through the
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project, so we appreciate that.
Female Speaker: Good for you. Good for you.
Male Speaker: Any others?
Male Speaker: I think you made the comment that you had used Scottsdale Farm
as a design standard for the general look and feel of the new
building. Are you considering using similar construction materials
as Scottsdale Farms as well?
Reggie: Yes, um-hmm.
Male Speaker: Terrific.
Reggie: Yeah, interior will be exposed timbers construction.
Male Speaker: Okay.
CM Jamison: Laura?
Laura: Just one other comment. Um, thank you so much for working with
staff to shift the site a little bit so that we were able to withdraw the
other variances. That is very much appreciated any time we have
variances, we hear a lot from people, so thank you.
Reggie: It created a few challenges, but it worked out real well.
Laura: Thank you.
CM Jamison: All right, any other questions or comments? All right, thank you.
Ms. [inaudible] [00:36:15], any other public comment?
Tammy: That’s all for this item, Mayor Pro Tempore.
CM Jamison: So, we’ll close the public hearing and open up for a motion. I
guess, Ken, we have to do separate motions, is that correct?
Ken: We do.
CM Jamison: Okay, so one for U20-01 and then one separately for VC-20-01?
Ken: That’s correct. [Inaudible] [00:36:29].
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CM Jamison: Okay, so I will vote for a motion on U20-01.
CM Moore: Mayor Pro Tempore, I make a motion that we approve 020 – I’m
sorry, U20-01 as presented by staff and the community.
CM Cookerly: Second.
Female Speaker: Second.
CM Jamison: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Moore and a second
from Councilmember Cookerly. Is there any discussion on this?
Okay.
Male Speaker: So, I just want to be sure it’s with the recommendation – the
recommended –
Female Speaker: Conditions. Conditions.
Male Speaker: Staff.
CM Jamison: Staff recommendations?
Male Speaker: Yeah.
Male Speaker: I said as presented. As presented by staff.
Male Speaker: Because we always get into this discussion about what we exactly
approved, so I just wanted to make it clear.
CM Jamison: Ken, was that motion –
Ken: My position was that was inferred, assumed within the motion.
CM Moore: I said as presented by staff.
Male Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
CM Jamison: Okay, good. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.
Several: Aye.
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Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-198 with staff recommendations.
Councilmember Cookerly seconded the motion. The motion
passed (6-0). Mayor Joe Lockwood recused himself from the vote.
CM Jamison: Opposed? Okay. That’s unanimous. We’ll vote for the second
motion. Do we have a motion on VC20-01?
CM Jamison: Mr. Mayor Pro Tempore, I move that we accept VC20-01 as
presented by staff.
Female Speaker: Second.
CM Jamison: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Moore to approve
VC-20-01, a second from CM Mohrig. Any discussion on the
motion? All in favor, please say aye.
Several: Aye.
CM Jamison: Opposed? That’s unanimous.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-198 with staff recommendations.
Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed
(6-0). Mayor Joe Lockwood recused himself from the vote.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, CM Pro Tempore Jamison for filling in for me there.
Will the City Clerk please sound the second and final zoning
agenda item tonight?
Tammy: The second item is consideration of ZM20-03 located at 13210
Bethany Road zoned R2, single-family residential by Big Sky
Stables, LLC, Chris Hively requesting to modify condition 2 of
RZ72-222 to reduce the front building setback from 150 feet to
100 feet from Bethany Road to conform to existing setbacks in this
particular area of Bethany Road. Agenda item number 20-199. Ms.
Robyn McDonald and Parag Agrawal.
Robyn: Just one second. It is [inaudible] [00:39:25]. Well, hello again. It
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is a two-parter tonight, so I am happy to be able to present to you a
zoning modification request, the current zoning is R2, single-
family residential. Zoning case RZ72, that is 1972. And here’s a
nice old folder. I want to show you all. Anyway. I’m not making
this up. Basically, it’s a one-acre – the request is a one-acre parcel
with a house under construction and a pending minor plat under
review. This is the location. It’s on the lower part of Bethany Road
kind of near Mayfield on the west side of Bethany. You’ll see the
red square around it. It’s a one-acre parcel. And the request is to
modify condition two of the 1972 zoning condition.
And so that zoning condition at the time the Board of
Commissioners made a condition to R2, so R2, if you are not
familiar, is minimum one-acre lot. The front is typically 60 feet,
sides are 15, and rear are 40. And we don’t really have a lot of R2
zoning. I think the Mayor has one across the street from his
property on the north side of Doris, but I could probably count
maybe on one hand how many we have in the city. In this
situation, the Board of Commissioners made a condition to require
that all structures be 150 feet away from Bethany Road. When, if
you want to go ahead, and again, this is the zoning. The R2 is that
orange-y ugly color. But you can see it is different from the AG1
and that’s where the zoning is, the R2. Go ahead. This is the site
plan; Bethany Road is going in a north/south direction.
Female Speaker: You can control it from here. Just press the screen.
Robyn: Oh, the screen, okay? And so you can see this is an as-built of the
foundation of the house and basically, when I started working on
doing planned review of plats, and I looked at the plat and I pulled
the condition and I realized that this house that was under
construction under a legal lot of record that was part of a minor
plat, that they also were in the midst of modifying, not this parcel,
but some other parcels around it, that it was not 150 feet away
from the property. Okay, I’m not good at this. Oh gosh. Okay, the
history. The subject site again, I said, was AG1. I won’t go through
all that. I talked about in 1972, the Board of Commissioners did
rezone it. Again, I talked about the 150 feet from Bethany Road
instead of the minimum required setback of 60 feet which is for
R2. And I’m not doing a very good job.
Oh, okay. As I mentioned, this was a part of a three-lot minor plat
subdivision that was approved in early 2018 and later in 2018, they
moved some property lines around, not this particular lot. Then
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again in 2019, the applicant submitted a third revision – or second
revision to the same three lots and that’s at the time that it was
discovered this requirement for the 150 feet. Then I just said that.
Then on June 23rd, the applicant was present at the Community
Zoning Information Meeting, held at Milton City Hall. This
meeting was also held virtually via Zoom. There were no
participants or attendees for this particular request. Again, I
already went through what the R2 requirements were for setbacks.
And staff knows that minor plots, three lots or less, do not require
to provide a rural view shed, but the R2 zoning district is not very
common within the city and that the condition from 1972 required
that 150 feet is also very unique. Almost as though the
commissioners predicted the need to preserve the rural view shed
40 years ahead of their time. Its staff’s opinion that this reduction
of the front building setback is in keeping with the policy
preserving the rural view shed along this corridor and the intent of
the original zoning condition approved in 1972. So, staff
recommends that condition two of RZ-71-222, 13210 Bethany
Road be approved conditional as requested by the applicant, which
is to reduce it from 150 feet to 100 feet, the front building setback
line.
So, and again, this – if you so choose to approve this zoning
modification, this is what the condition would read and except for
13210 Bethany Road, which shall observe 100-foot setback from
Bethany Road. So, with that, if you have any questions, I’d be
happy to answer them, and the applicant is here as well, so –
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, any questions for Robyn or staff on this? Okay. Do we have
public comment on this?
Tammy: We do, Mayor. We have two public comments on this.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
Tammy: Our first one will be with Mr. Scott Reese.
Scott: Mr. Mayor, members of council, I am Scott Reese with
Brumbelow Reese & Associates doing business at 13685 Highway
9, Milton, Georgia, 30004. I’m here tonight representing the Annie
Fay Gardener Estate and I have provided the city with a letter that
designates me as an agent for them. They are the property that is
due south and west of the subject property. And the trustees are in
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full support of granting the variance for this property. Ms.
Gardener is in a nursing home and unable to attend. So, that is the
reason that I’m here representing them. So, just wanted to reiterate
that the adjoining property owner to the south and west is in favor
of the variance, thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you sir. Tammy, you said we have another public comment?
Tammy: We do. We have one more, Mayor. Our second and final public
comment is Mr. Jayco Capers. Did I say that correctly? Oh, good.
You have to correct me.
Jacko: Good evening. My name is Jacko Capers. I am also an adjacent
property owner. I guess that would make me to the north side of
the property in question. I just want to state that I’m in support of
the variance as well.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thank you very much. No more public hearing -
Tammy: That completes.
Mayor Lockwood: No more public comments. So, that – I’ll close the public hearing
part of this. And again, open back up. Is there any questions or
comments from council on this to staff? Then I will open it up for a
motion.
CM Cookerly: All right. I’d be happy to do that. Mayor and Council, make a
motion for agenda item 20 – do you want me to lead with that or is
it ZM –
Mayor Lockwood: The one with the Z.
CM Cookerly: All right, ZM20-03 that we approve ZM dash – ZM20-03.
CM Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion Councilmember Cookerly for approval of
this agenda item and a second from Councilmember Moore. Any
discussion? Hearing none, all in favor please say aye?
Group: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-199. Councilmember Moore seconded the
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motion. The motion passed (7-0).
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: That’s unanimous. Okay, thank you very much to staff and the
applicant there. We’ll move onto unfinished business if the City
Clerk will please sound that item.
Tammy: The item is consideration to adopt the revised Milton Tree Canopy
Conservation Ordinance and Tree Conservation Manual, agenda
item number 20-157. Mr. Parag Agrawal.
Parag: Mayor and City Councilmembers, I am Parag Agrawal, the city’s
Community Development Director. And today, we are here to
present to you the final draft of the tree conservation ordinance and
the tree manual. I also have with me the City Arborist Sandra
DeWitt. Sandra has served as the project manager of this very
important project. As you know, the city staff has been working on
this ordinance for a couple of years now. And the tree conservation
ordinance is very important to preserve and enhance the unique
character of the Milton community.
The staff made a presentation in front of the – the staff made a
presentation in front of the city council on June 15th. And at the
June 15th city council meeting, we had a very good discussion and
we got a very good feedback from the city council members. And
based on the feedback received on the June 15th city council
meeting, the staff has made four changes to the tree ordinance and
to the tree manual. The goal of today’s presentation is not to go
over the entire presentation again, but to focus on the four changes
that have been made following the June 15th city council meeting.
If the city council adopts the tree conservation ordinance today, the
new ordinance will go into effect on December 1st, 2020. This will
give around two or three months to the city staff to schedule some
training workshops for the Milton community and for other
stakeholders like landscaping companies.
So, now, I will basically walk you through those four changes that
we have made following the June 15th city council meeting. The
first change which we have made is we have basically added the
language in the tree conservation ordinance and also in the tree
manual that basically says the property owners that truly have a
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agricultural use on their properties are exempt from the
requirements of the tree conservation ordinance as per the state
law. And in our department, we have an entire policy, and we are
working with the city attorney’s office to make sure that we can
make a recommendation that which properties qualify for this
agriculture exemption. But, in the June 15th meeting, it was
discussed that this language should also be part of the tree
conservation ordinance.
The second change which we have made, again, based on the
feedback received from June 15th meeting, the staff has increased
the size of the protected tree and also the size of the small tree
height class of specimen from 8 inches to 12 inches. So, if
someone wants to remove a tree in Milton, they needed a tree
removal permit to remove an 8-inch tree. But now, that size has
gone up from 8 inches to 12 inches. So, if someone wants to
remove a tree of 12 inches, then only they require tree removal
permit and not to remove a tree for 8 inches or 9 inches. The third
major change that has been made following the June 15th meeting,
and again, I will say this is one of the most important changes, as
by using the tree conservation ordinance, the staff is trying to
incentivize the large lot subdivisions, which is one of the key
priorities of the city council.
So, initially, we had two classifications for AG1 zoning districts. If
the lot size is from 1-3 acres, you are required to have 57 percent
of the tree canopy or existing on your property. And if the property
is more than 3 acres in area, you are required to have 25 percent or
existing tree canopy on your property. But on the June 15th city
council meeting, what we heard from the city council that you are
looking for a much more tiered approach. And what the Mayor
basically said, the city council was looking for a sliding scale. So,
based on that feedback, we have made three classifications. So, if
the – for AG1 district, if the lot sizes are from – if the lot sizes are
less than 1.49 acres, you are required to have 57 percent or existing
tree canopy on your lot, on your property.
If the property is between 1.5 and 2.99 acres, you are required to
have 40 percent or existing tree canopy on your property. And if
the property is larger than 3 acres, you’re required to have 25
percent or existing tree canopy on your property. So, basically, we
have added one more classification from 1.5 to 2.99 acres. And the
fourth change I will say that initially it basically talks about how
frequent this tree canopy study should be done. Initially, the
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language was not to exceed five years. So, the last tree canopy
study was done in 2017. Initially, the language was not to exceed
five years. Now we have added the language that basically says the
first study will be done in – not – the first study will be conducted
in Fall of 2022. That means in the next two years.
And based on the results of that study, the next studies cannot
exceed – not to exceed five years. I know there are some city
council members who are looking to have a language that basically
says not to exceed three years and again, the staff would be fine
with that also. So, these are the major four changes that were made
following the June 15th meeting. At the back of this, I have my
entire presentation from June 15th talking about the goals,
objectives, what we are trying to achieve. But I am hoping at this
time everyone has memorized the goals and objectives, so I do not
want to go through those. But again, if the city council approves
the tree conservation ordinance, the next steps will be, number one,
is scheduling the workshops.
And then the staff would also like to launch a Plant Milton
campaign that will basically encourage a tree canopy in the City of
Milton. How we can incentivize and how can we encourage the
Milton residents to plant more trees. Happy to answer any
questions.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions for Parag at this point? Um, –
CM Cookerly: Yeah, I have.
Mayor Lockwood: Go ahead, Carol.
CM Cookerly: So, I thought we had discussions where the understory would be 8-
inch DBH. Are we not following that or is that part of – I am
having a little trouble understanding it.
Parag: So, now, that – again, that tree size has also been increased from 8
inches to 12 inches for the protected tree and for the also
understory from 8 inches to 12 inches.
CM Cookerly: That would be a mass – I mean do dogwoods even get that big?
Female Speaker: Yes.
CM Cookerly: Okay, but at how many years?
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Male Speaker: I look forward to this debate as well. I share Councilmember
Cookerly’s concern primarily with the understory. I can endorse
the larger specimen tree size to 12 inches, but I am concerned
about in the understory where a lot of that is the decorative trees
that have flowering and they are seasonal that support the look and
feel underneath the larger canopy, that we would begin to lose that
without any consideration for it because it would be – wouldn’t
require a permit to do that.
So, I would ask that the staff consider the change to 12 inch DBH
for specimen trees and consider leaving it 8 inches for the
understory decorative trees, which may need to be named, but I
think that would accomplish – I would be more comfortable with
that – that it leaves the beautification part and not just the towering
trees. I recognize understory is not typically counted in the canopy,
but I think there would be an unintended consequence that we
would lose some things that we weren’t intending by not having a
chance to weigh in on the smaller tree caliper for the trees that are
typically more decorative.
CM Cookerly: So, I had my landscaper measure our understory trees. I never
knew to call them that, so thank you for the terminology, but
they’re really old and they’re like 10, 11, 12. I mean, but they were
pretty spectacular with their coverage at – I have been there 20
plus years, 6, 7, 8, so I just think that’s misguided. I think I should
be 8.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and let me break in one second before we go too much
further with this. Do we have any public comment on this,
Tammy?
Tammy: No, not on this one.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I will –
Scott Reese: Yes, you do.
Tammy: Oh, it wasn’t marked.
Scott Reese: If you had looked on the second part of it.
Tammy: Did anyone explain to Mr. Reese that you only get to talk once?
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Scott Reese: I’m very slow on it – first meeting, so –
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. So, I will go ahead and entertain the public comment and
then we can –
CM Cookerly: Sure.
Mayor Lockwood: I think so, do you have a card there, Tammy, or I just need to get
that clarified.
Tammy: Because it is only – it’s got – it is only referencing.
Scott Reese: I think I put 11-2 or 11-1. 11-2 and 11-1.
Mayor Lockwood: Sounds to me like he was trying to –
Tammy: Oh, I’m referencing this right here, so I see it. Let me just make
note of it.
Mayor Lockwood: Trying to save time. But again, I would be glad to allow the public
comment and then we’ll get – clear up the card to make sure that
we have that on record.
Scott Reese: Mr. Mayor and member of council, I am Scott Reese with
Brumbelow, Reese & Associates doing business at 13685 Highway
9, Milton, Georgia, 30004. Um, a couple of things on the
ordinance. First, I want to commend Steve Krokoff, the City
Manager, for putting in extra duty to shepherd the ordinance that’s
before you. I think it’s overreaching and other people think it is
reaching not far enough, so I think it probably is pretty close to
what we need. And I really want to commend him because I think
he did extra-extra duty in educating himself, because I kinda doubt
that southern woodlands were his forte earlier in his life. And he
took the time to guide us and did an extreme job.
So, I just want to say that first. Second, from a logistics standpoint,
trying to locate every 12-inch pine tree and sweet gum makes our
job virtually impossible on larger tracts of land. We have to go out,
individually measure, ID, and locate those. I think the compromise
that would most benefit the city was to have 15-inch as what came
out of the committee for the overstory, the large trees, and a
continuation of the preservation of the 8-inch flowering natives
that has been on the ordinance books since its origination from
Fulton County and adoption at the time for the City of Milton. So,
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that I think compromise would satisfy both, would best serve the
community, and its citizens. My primary concern when this was
started was to not unduly burden the large family land owners that
are still left in the city or the large tracts, the preservation of the
rural community.
I think the overall gist of this ordinance addresses that and there
are enough work arounds that it doesn’t negate the value of the
property and will preserve what we most love about the City of
Milton. Finally, my one major concern is that in the recompense
planting to meet the canopy, I’m afraid that we’re going to get a
monoculture of trees planted to meet the density and that somehow
or another and not in the ordinance but that you make it a project
going forward that someone at the city, the arborist or another staff
member contact the University of Georgia School of Forestry,
award winning, nationally recognized, shameless alumnus plug,
that they be involved somehow in providing a diverse plan of a
mix.
I’m afraid we are going to just get the same two-inch oak tree
because that’s the most bang for your buck of planting. And that as
we’ve seen with the Bradford pears and the Leland cypress, if you
plant the same thing over and over again, pathogens and insects are
going to find that one plant and you’re going to regret it. So, I
would hope that you would come up with an incentivized plan to
get a more diverse planting scheme that I think would be
aesthetically pleasing, environmentally, ecologically, more – I do
know if I plant corn in the same field ten years in a row, I am
going to have diminishing results. And I think it is going to work
the same with the tree canopy. Thank you so much for your time.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thanks, Scott. Is there any more public comment?
Tammy: No, sir.
Mayor Lockwood: Unless somebody just says they’ve turned in a card. I’m kidding.
All right, I’ll close the public hearing on that. Going back to the
discussion we had. Now, going with the 8-inch size for the
ornamental trees, is the council – what’s the council’s opinion on
that? I know that’s – Laura? I’m just going to try to take these one
at a time. On the lower side for the ornamental trees, what’s the
council’s feeling on that?
CM Bentley: So, I agree. I think that those ornamental trees are what we find a
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lot in the view shed. I’ve been looking at the ones that are around
my place, 8 inches are pretty big for you know, dogwoods and red
buds and things like that. So, I know that it’s part of the density
ordinance currently, so I think that it might be good to retain the
thing that is good about that and you know, I would like to see it
remain.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Paul?
CM Moore: Yeah, I think I have already shared.
[Crosstalk]
CM Moore: The same. I support the eight inches on the decorative understory.
Mayor Lockwood: I think Carol brought that up. So, Peyton, Joe, and Rick, what’s
your thoughts?
Male Speaker: I’m fine either way. I don’t have a –
Male Speaker: Yeah, I’m good with that.
Male Speaker: I am too. Eight is good.
Mayor Lockwood: And I realize that’s ornamental and it is in our, has been in the
past. Obviously, you have to identify those correctly. How do we
do that?
Parag: Yes, I also spoke to our city arborist and we also don’t have any
concern for if the ornamental trees can remain as 8 inches and the
others could be 12 inches. We are fine.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. And then I’m going to bring up the 12-inch. And as to the
public comment from Mr. Reese, he mentioned 15. And I would
say this. I know at first glance everyone thinks about conserving
and preserving and whatnot, Milton and land, you want to save all
the trees. It can also have detrimental if we’re too tough because
that forces, the tree ordinance can with size and recompense, cost a
lot of money. So, the tighter it is, it may force somebody, a large
landowner that wanted to keep their land or keep it in big parcels,
to have to make smaller lots and more homes on it to offset the
cost. So, I’m certainly willing to consider the 15 or as it was or
bring it up to council and see what, you know, if you guys want to
stay at 12 as written here or if you want to consider anything
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different, 15 on that. Are there any thoughts on that? Carol?
CM Cookerly: May I ask a question? I hope that it is not naïve, but I mean the
goal is to arrive at the canopy, correct? So, whether these trees are
13, 14, 15, or 16 or 17, ultimately, there’s a responsibility to get to
the coverage, is that correct? Okay. Well, it is, I think I understand
– I don’t have a problem with the 15 if I understand this the way
that I do and the way that that has been explained because there
would be recompense and things like that in the number of sweet
gums and pine trees that you can get in a condensed areas unlike
you can get with oaks and other things because they won’t grow
that closely, so I don’t really have a problem with that because we
are going for that bigger picture, I think. Unless I’m wrong. What
do you think?
Mayor Lockwood: Paul?
CM Moore: I think, if I remember correctly, and Parag somebody can correct
me if I am wrong on this, we were at 15 before and where the 12
came from was during the debate of how far we should go, there
was some debate to go to eight and we thought that – or what came
out of the committee at that point was 12 was a reasonable
compromise. But that was when we were looking at the whole
picture, not with the separation of the understory trees versus the
specimen trees. So, I’m all about protecting the trees, so I would
have no problem going back to 15. Fifteen was at one point in our
language, it was acceptable for our first 14 years as a city, so I
would have no problem going back to 15 on that.
Parag: So, Councilman Paul Moore, you are right. And Sandra, correct me
if I am wrong. So, again, it was a negotiation from 8 to 15, so
that’s the reason why we landed on 12.
Mayor Lockwood: Peyton?
CM Jamison: So, yeah, I guess the follow up on Carol’s point is, as long as those
are still, no matter what size tree, it is part of the original canopy
that the developer has to get to. I think I am perfectly find with that
because I think the whole purpose of this was to prevent the mass
grading and all of that stuff, which I think, to Carol’s point, the
canopy takes care of that and the 15 inches is more of the
individual property owner that wants to take down a tree I guess is
kind of where I’m going with it. So, as long as that is included in
the canopy cover. Okay, yeah.
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Laura?
CM Bentley: Yeah, I’m okay with the 15 inches. I just would request that
because the – it seems like the understory trees are important.
Could we include a list to include redbuds, dogwoods, sourwoods?
Female Speaker: Yes, so we already have the two species list that identifies –
Parag: We have those.
CM Bentley: From the old –
[Crosstalk]
Female Speaker: –in the canopies.
CM Bentley: From the old ordinance? From the density?
Female Speaker: In the new ordinance.
Male Speaker: We went through a list.
Female Speaker: It actually came from Athens, Clark County. So –
CM Bentley: Okay, so it has –
Female Speaker: Indigenous species list from UGA.
CM Bentley: Okay. Just like magnolias and –
Male Speaker: You should look at Auburn University, I’m just –
Female Speaker: They have a very good one too.
Male Speaker: I know. I’m just saying.
Female Speaker: It’s more for Alabama. Right, so we have an extensive tree species
list that is an appendix to the manual, and it tells you what’s in that
canopy class that will count as the specimen trees, for – so its
dogwoods, redbuds, sourwoods. It’s a lot of those.
CM Bentley: Okay, just so we know because that’s important.
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Male Speaker: We had discussion in the committee about that and Sandra did a
great job of really exhausting the search on that to make sure that
we captured all of this for the list.
Mayor Lockwood: Joe, Rick, do you guys have any thoughts on this?
Male Speaker: I’m good.
Male Speaker: I’m good with 15.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. The minimum tree canopy coverage on the different size of
lots, I know we talked about that. Is everybody good with the
layout that’s on here now?
Male Speaker: Yes.
Mayor Lockwood: I think it makes sense to motivate people to do bigger lots. Really,
so the other issue is the time, the three years versus – I know
Councilman Moore had talked about three years. I mean my
thoughts; I could go either way. If we’re talking 2022, correct, so
that’s less than three years from now, and then we’re no more than
5 years in between there.
Parag: Not to exceed five years.
Mayor Lockwood: Not to exceed. So, if at 2022, which some of you guys will be here
then, you could adjust it then. If we had a big change or whatever
and wanted to do it at two years, or three years, or no change at
five, that’s a possibility too.
Parag: That’s the goal. So, again, we don’t want to have – we don’t want
to say 2025 to begin with. The first study can be done in the next
two years. And based on the results of that study, we can always
change our scale. It could be not to exceed three years. It could be
whatever it is.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I’ll open that up. What’s – you guys, discussion on that,
thought on that.
Male Speaker: Well, I’ve been probably the most outspoken as an advocate for the
not to exceed three years. I would just add these thoughts for
consideration. I appreciate what staff is trying to do with the 2022
measure. I think that makes a lot of sense. If we’re to go not to
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exceed three years from 2022, we’re actually at five years at that
point, from now for what would be another measure. The
practicality that comes in for me with asking for consideration on
not to exceed three years after the 2022 benchmark would be in the
fact that we don’t know what kind of extraordinary things may
happen to us in that period of time. We know that there is
something extraordinary happening right now.
And I’ll cite the example that I did, I think, last time we were
together and that was the example given by a local realtor who had
five individual cases of perspective homebuyers out here coming
in the 1.3 to 1.8-million-dollar range with cash purchases. And it
was to a great extent to be perceived as urban flight in the fact that
we’re dealing with a crisis that’s going on around the world today.
People are looking to get out to more open spaces, get out of the
concentration of, in this case, the COVID virus, but you also layer
on the fact that there has been civil unrest in our cities more
recently as well, there is reason potentially to flee from some of the
urban unrest. So, with the fact that we’ve head a healthy economy,
we’re in a middle of a crisis.
I look forward to the economy recovering when we are past some
of these crises. I think there is going to be a lot of development
pressure out here because we are a bedroom community that still
gives you easy access to the city. If that working environment is
still in a city setting, so there is going to be a lot of pressure for
development out there that could change our canopy in a more
compressed time than we might normally experience. So, I’d rather
caution on the side of conservancy in this case and err on the
shorter side of the measure, than to go longer.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, anybody else with comments on that? Laura? Peyton?
CM Longoria: I think five years makes perfect sense. My prediction is, I mean as
long as we have this first one in 2022, because I really think that
we’re going to move quickly into an environment where we can
get this kind of information almost instantaneously. I really think
the technology is going to catch up and be able to understand and
deal with the data that we get from satellite images and things like
that that would make this information a lot more available. But I
agree, it is something we always want to be ahead of. We don’t
want to be behind.
CM Jamison: I guess my uh, oh, sorry, Joe. Go ahead.
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Mayor Lockwood: Go ahead, Peyton.
CM Jamison: Sorry. We’re at a kiddie table. So, I guess my only question is as
long as it has not to exceed in there, I guess to go to Paul’s point, if
we’re seeing this pressure, I mean, we as a council can say like
immediately, do it, right? So, I guess that’s my only comment.
Male Speaker: And that was my point, too. This kind of a whim. We are going to
do it in two years. And as you go through that process and you see
the change in the two years when it is done, it says not to exceed.
A couple options. You can go okay, at that point say, let’s do it in
three years or because we’re really seeing some rapid change. I
mean on the flip side, you could put it at not to exceed three years
and at 2022, you can say gosh, it hasn’t changed at all. It cost us a
whole lot of money and a lot of time. Let’s extend it to five years.
So, I think you could do either one as long as you have that option.
You’re not locked in, so –you know, you guys have any thoughts
on that?
Mayor Lockwood: Has everybody weighed in?
Male Speaker: I think everybody has –
CM Moore: I will circle back and make a comment after everybody’s had a
chance to weigh in.
Mayor Lockwood: I think – anybody else have anything before Paul gets the final
comment? Go ahead, Paul.
CM Moore: I would just say I think those all make sense and I appreciate your
contribution to help me understand where you’re coming from on
that. And I don’t know that I need to fall on my sword over this –
an item like this, when I think we’ve all expressed concern for
making sure that we’re measuring in a reasonable amount of time
and to Councilmember Longoria’s point about the ability for
technology to catch up on this, it may be more instantaneous. So, if
I subscribe to that theory, probably at this point, not to exceed five
with the fact that there is a measure in 2022, we could reconsider if
there was concern. So, I’m happy to concede on that one.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, is there anything else that we haven’t discussed?
Parag: Okay, these are the four changes. You did get – city council
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members did get the red line version. You also got the final version
of the tree conservation ordinance, but these are the four changes
that were made after June 15th.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so basically from this discussion and going through here,
what I’m hearing from council is keeping the 8 foot – the 8-inch on
the ornamental trees but going up to a 15 inch for the specimen
trees. Everybody seemed to be okay with the table on the sliding
scale and the same thing with the wording that we have now for
the time in between studies, but knowing that there’s flexibility on
that if needed or technology change. That’s a good point too. So, is
there anything else that you guys want to discuss on that? If not,
I’ll open up for a motion.
Male Speaker: Just one more quick comment?
Mayor Lockwood: Sure.
Male Speaker: Thank you. I think Mr. Reese makes a good point about the
recompense. And although that’s not a part of this motion, I think
that it does warrant consideration by staff and I don’t know that it
has to be an assigned project, but I just think as a good steward of
our tree ordinance and our intent as a city, it might be a
happenstance project to be undertaken, not necessarily an assigned
task.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. All right, I will open it up for a motion.
CM Bentley: Mayor, I’d like to make a motion to adopt agenda item number 20-
157.
Male Speaker: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, but again, do we want to clarify on the points that I read out
because that is different than what we’ve got here in front of us.
CM Bentley: Okay, so you want me to go through each.
Male Speaker: I need to probably remove my second.
Mayor Lockwood: I haven’t called your second I don’t think. So, all right,
Councilmember Bentley is making a motion, correct. And I think
the only thing that read out that was different is the 15-inch versus
what’s in front of us.
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CM Bentley: Okay. So, Mayor, I would like to make a motion to adopt agenda
item number 20-157 with the addition of the 8-inch DBH added for
the understory trees and the protected trees to remain at 15 inches.
Mayor Lockwood: And I guess that would be – this says ornamental trees are –
Parag: Yeah. Yeah.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, just to make sure there’s no question on that. Okay, I have a
motion from councilmember Bentley. Do I have a second as read?
Female Speaker: Do we have to say anything about the timeframe or is that done?
Male Speaker: We didn’t change
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, we didn’t change that. So, do I have a second?
CM Jamison: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I believe it was Councilmember Jamison, so I have a motion
from Councilmember Bentley for approval as read and with a
second from Councilmember Jamison. All in favor, please say aye.
Several: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-157 with the addition of the 8-inch DBH added
for the understory trees and the protected trees to remain at 15
inches. Councilmember Jamison seconded the motion. The
motion passed (7-0).
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: I believe that is unanimous. I do want to also thank staff and
everybody and the public and, you know, all involved for – I know
this was a lot of work and it has been a long time, but I appreciate
everybody’s hard work. Obviously, that is something – when you
look around, that’s what you see and hopefully it will keep us
apart, so thank you all for all the time and hard work you have put
in on this. And I’m not going to give Steve a plug on it. All right,
so Tammy, if you would please sound the next new business item.
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: It’s the consideration of a proposed consent order in connection
with condemnation action filed as civil action file number 20-
91CV327435. It is the Hopewell Road at Thompson Road
roundabout. Agenda item number 20-214, Mr. Ken Jarrard.
Ken: Mr. Mayor and members of the council, you have in front of you a
proposed consent order and judgement. This was something that
was discussed in executive session per the Open Meetings Act, we
have to come out and ratify any authority given. This was a
condemnation the City of Milton filed with respect to a property at
158 Kramer Road, LLC, Jesus Rios Cruz and Ana Rodriguez were
the owners. It is a condemnation of 1.04 acres of fee simple right
of way. We tendered into the registry of the court $132,600
pursuant to authority provided by the city. In order to settle out the
matter, we are actually going to contribute an additional $52,400
for a total take value of $185,000. This proposed order would, in
fact, resolve the case and it is my recommendation the city council
approve it as stated.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, is there any questions for Ken on that? No, we’ve discussed
it. Okay, I’ll open it up for a motion.
CM Longoria: Mayor, I move that we approve agenda item number 20-214.
CM Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Longoria and a
second from Councilmember Moore. In favor – all in favor, please
say aye.
Several: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve
Agenda Item No. 20-214. Councilmember Moore seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? That’s unanimous. Okay, we had another new
business item added at our agenda, so if our City Clerk would
please sound that item?
Tammy: This item is a resolution of the City of Milton authorizing
participation in the Apple Development Program and acceptance of
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contracts associated with this program. Mr. David Frizzell.
Dave: Good evening, Mayor and Council. What you have before you is a
fairly straightforward agreement for the city to participate in the
Apple Developer Program. From time to time, the city will develop
its own mobile applications or have other companies or contract
other companies to write them for us. The we would publish those
on the iTunes App Store. But in order to publish those, we would
need to accept the terms and conditions of that agreement. And just
as an FYI, our first program is going to be Hyperweb, which is
being built for us right now, part of the Public Works work order
system. Any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Questions? Joe? Because you know all of this is over my head.
CM Longoria: So, last meeting, we had a presentation about how we were going
to develop the walking bus application. And that was in part
because we were engaged in a grant that essentially funded that
work and we got good points and good press for being imaginative
and that kind of thing.
Dave: Sure.
CM Longoria: Most of this stuff, though, falls outside of the business of the city.
We are not in the business of developing software. And, it is not a
simple thing to do. And there’s no prestige in having – log in to the
Apple Store in order to publish apps and stuff like that. We should
be putting these responsibilities on the vendors that we deal with
because they’re best suited to manage that stuff. Now, I don’t mind
approving this because I think there’s other uses for it, but I’m
really worried that we’re letting certain things, certain
responsibilities get outside the realm of where they belong. And
we don’t want to be responsible for most of this stuff.
Dave: We’re not – we are not using their app.
Male Speaker: Dave, let me jump in a minute. Hyperweb has already developed
this app for us. It’s already out there.
CM Longoria: Who owns the intellectual property?
Male Speaker: Hyperweb does.
CM Longoria: Okay, so –
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Male Speaker: It’s their app. Its Connect Milton right now. So, that’s the actual
application. We’re looking to improve upon the current application
because it’s kind of clunky. And enable us to – in order for us to be
able to do that, Apple made us re-up this agreement. And that’s the
extent of what’s going on here.
CM Longoria: Okay. I don’t have a problem with it. But I’m just –
Male Speaker: He said it better than I could.
CM Longoria: Yeah.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and I think if there are no other questions, I will open it up
for a motion.
CM Bentley: Mayor, I’d like to approve the resolution of the City of Milton to
authorize participation in the Apple Developer Program and
acceptance of contracts associated with this program.
CM Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so I have got a motion of approval from Councilmember
Bentley with a second from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor
please say aye.
Several: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve a
Resolution of the City of Milton to authorize participation in the
Apple Developer Program and acceptance of contracts
associated with this program. Councilmember Mohrig seconded
the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Lockwood: That’s unanimous. Thank you, Dave. Okay, we’ll move on to
reports. I want to bring something up. I had a little bit of internal
discussion on the CPAC Committee. We have to vote in a
chairperson. And I believe in the past, it has been usually the
chairman of the planning commission. So, that being said, and I
think Ron Gilbert has expressed interest in doing it or whatnot. I
know we’re not taking any formal vote on it now, because I’m just
bringing it up, but whatever we need to do from a staff perspective
could bring that up, put that as an agenda item on our next meeting
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if we have to do a formal – if, go back, if staff would go back to
look to make sure we do what we need to do on that Parag. But is
everybody, in general, okay with the chairman of the planning
commission as has been done in the past or whatnot?
Male Speaker: It’s historically been the chair.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, historically. The other thing, too, I believe, Parag and I have
talked, we need a couple of ex officio members or members of
council to be a part of the group. That’s correct, right?
Parag: So, we have our first CPAC meeting on August 12th, so we would
like to have the planning, we would like to have the chair and the
two ex officio city council members before that.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and I have talked with Councilmember Moore being
interested in that and I would be glad to appoint him to that. Is
there another council member that’s interested in serving on that –
in that position.
CM Longoria: Can we nominate somebody?
Mayor Lockwood: Well, I was going to say, if nobody wants to raise their hand, be
careful. You might get nominated.
CM Cookerly: Could you give me the scope of the responsibilities?
Mayor Lockwood: Parag, I’m going to let you or actually, councilmembers that – you
have been through it before, too, a couple of councilmembers here,
too.
Parag: One option could be, I’m just saying this, it is up to you. One
option could be like we have different council districts. If Paul
Moore is representing one council district, maybe the other city
council member can represent some other part of the city?
Mayor Lockwood: I think the question more from Councilmember Cookerly is just
what does this entail for this person on the council.
Parag: So, again, it is, as the city attorney’s office just told us, these are
the ex officio members. Again, they are the liaisons between the
CPAC and the city council. We are planning to have one CPAC
meeting, let’s say, once a month or something, once every other
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month, around two-hour meeting, from 6:00 to 8:00. It depends,
we would like that the city council members should attend that
meeting. And we will just keep them engaged, but everything, as
you know, everything which we work on we always bring in front
of the city council to provide you an update. That will always be
there, but we would also like those two ex officio members to be
part of the CPAC meetings.
CM Moore: I have a question.
CM Cookerly: Why is it – oh.
Mayor Lockwood: Hold on a second. Carol?
CM Cookerly: I was going to say, I think that would be good for me. I don’t know
that I would be good for you.
Mayor Lockwood: It is more meetings you could go to.
CM Cookerly: It sounds interesting.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Paul, you have –
CM Moore: Yeah, just having participated at all of the ones that we have done
historically, I would say that the role really is as an observer.
You’re not a voting member, CPAC members are already
identified and they’re the voting body of the process. It’s driven by
an outside consultant supported by staff. It’s really a review of our
long-term look for the city. So, the liaison role really is simply to
report back and forth, either a message from council to the
committee or committee to the council. I can think of maybe not
finite examples but examples where the CPAC may have referred
or deferred to the councilmember who is present for a perspective
on it, but it is not to cast a vote or – simply to be there as an
advisor as needed, but mostly to observe.
Mayor Lockwood: And a liaison. Okay. Peyton, do you have something before we –
CM Jamison: Yeah, just a quick question because last – I don’t know why we
have two because last time when I chaired it, Karen was the only –
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, Karen was, so I don’t know why there are two.
Male Speaker: It is a state DP requirement.
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Parag: Yeah, it is the state, it basically says city council members – there
is an s attached to it, so that’s the reason why the city attorney’s
office says it says members, we should have at least two.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, before nomination, going back again, is there anybody on
here that personally would like to do this or thinks.
Male Speaker: Mayor, can I just jump in, I apologize. You are not going to
actually be able to do the appointment tonight.
Mayor Lockwood: No, no. Again, and that’s what I had said. Yeah, just like the chair,
if we just get a nomination and then we can confirm it at our next
meeting, correct?
Male Speaker: Will that work?
Male Speaker: That’s fine. As long as you’re not voting on it, I’m good.
Mayor Lockwood: Right. Right. Absolutely would not vote, but I’m just trying to get
a consensus. Make sure I’m not out of line.
CM Cookerly: Are you going to do it?
Mayor Lockwood: Because we will have to nominate somebody, or they’ll have to –
Male Speaker: It sounds like you’ve got two.
CM Cookerly: Are you interested, Rick?
CM Mohrig: You know what, Carol? I will let you handle this one.
Male Speaker: We need two.
Mayor Lockwood: No, we’ve got. I have asked for Paul.
Male Speaker: Oh, I did see that, sorry.
CM Cookerly: Oh, are you interested?
Mayor Lockwood: Paul’s interested.
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CM Cookerly: Oh, didn’t know you were interested.
Mayor Lockwood: So, we need one more.
CM Cookerly: Want to do it?
CM Moore: Yeah.
CM Cookerly: Okay.
Mayor Lockwood: So, yeah, we have one, but do we have two? Laura, do you? Carol?
CM Bentley: Rick, did you say that you are interested?
CM Mohrig: What I was saying, I didn’t speak up and if Carol is interested, I’m
fine with Carol taking that on.
Male Speaker: We can get three or four.
Male Speaker: Well put.
CM Bentley: Carol, you’ve got it. Merry Christmas.
CM Cookerly: I’m a little concerned about work travel, but you’ve handled that
before.
CM Moore: Our meetings are typically planned pretty far out. And I think the
first one is a Wednesday, which is – Wednesdays are typically not
great. If you’re having to travel, it breaks up the week. But with
enough lead time, I can work around it. But –
CM Cookerly: I can give it my best shot.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so again, we are not voting on it or whatever, but we know
there is interest from two councilmembers here, so that at our next
meeting, if we could put that on the agenda.
Male Speaker: We will. It will be on the special called on the 10th.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thank you. Does anybody on council have anything they
want to report on? Okay.
Male Speaker: Yeah, Joe, real quick. The discussion I had with you earlier today,
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and I think with our city manager about some concern about the
curriculum with Fulton County taking out what was going to be a
potential feed to our firefighter program. I’m happy to report that
the latest update on that is it’s been reinstated. And so, Fulton
County has decided to cooperate with the request of the
community and it is back in place.
Male Speaker: Wow, good.
Male Speaker: Good news.
Male Speaker: Real good news.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and we’ll move on to our staff reports. We have got Public
Works.
STAFF REPORTS
Department Updates
1. PUBLIC WORKS
Robert Drewry: Thank you, Dennis. Good evening Mayor and Council. A couple
projects I’m kind of excited about advising you on. We’re out to
bid now for our extension of our sidewalk on Cogburn. Actually,
we just got bids in and we’re evaluating those bids now. So, that’s
a good project. Looking forward to that. We’re also out to bid for
construction of the Hopewell/Thompson roundabout. And we’re
out to bid for the construction of the Hopewell/Hamby roundabout.
So, we should see some good bids and hopefully will be presented
to you in the very near future. So, that’s kind of exciting. I know
they are long waiting and there will be some construction activity
going on heavily around the city before the end of the year. Also,
out to bid is the Public Words Maintenance Operation contract. Or
contract or Public Works contactor essentially. We have that out
on the streets to bid as well. We have completed two stormwater
repair projects, one of them at Oakhurst Leaf and the other one at
Hopewell Crest. We issued 14 right of way permits for the month
of July and nine of those were right of ways. Two of those were
residential driveways and three of those were landscaping
irrigation permits. For workorders for the month of July, we had
96, down a little bit from what we’re used to on an average. The
most common issue was sign issues, which is just about typical.
And it pretty much levels out from there with potholes, tree issues,
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stormwater issues, and yes, dead animals, and debris and school
flashers. They all almost leveled out, so, a pretty active month of
July, and again, I’m excited about having those projects out to bid.
Are there any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thanks. Before Tom speaks, I just want to thank you for
stepping up with your new position as acting Parks and Rec –
2. PARKS & RECREATION
Tom: Lots has been going on with Parks and Recreation. As you
mentioned, we’ve got a change in staff, so Thomas Rhodes and
myself are taking the helm. All the facilities are looking great. The
fields look real good. They’re getting rest. We will be shutting
down the grass fields at Bell Memorial Park tomorrow, give them a
little rest before the Fall season starts. For summer programming,
Lacrosse put on two summer camps and a summer program, 260
kids. That’s just girls. The boys did not do any boys’ lacrosse.
Nine weeks of basketball camps. I don’t have the numbers yet, but
I ran rough numbers and there’s probably between 180 and 220
kids that participated in that. Baseball, they did summer camps and
a summer program to kind of replace the spring. And summer
tennis is wrapping up now.
Moving forward to the fall, we’re looking at allowing all of our
programs to continue with COVID protocols in place. I’m going to
be adding another one that they’re required to let me know if
there’s a positive test or if there’s someone with cases. I don’t need
to know the name, particularly, but I want to know what team they
were on if it is a sport or what class it was if it is a program, so me
and Matt Marietta can evaluate what we’re doing moving forward
there. And fall athletics should start up middle of the month.
We’ve started to get some rentals picking up, too. We had 15 last
month and we’ve got 15 already this month and they usually
trickle in. Could have a weekly time. So, things are going well
there.
The pool. The pool’s operating very well. Have had very little
issues. The pool hits capacity almost every weekend. We’ve sold
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351 passes which is up from last year, only four more, but we have
sold 2,395 drop ins. The whole last summer, it was 858. So, the
pool is getting utilized this summer and a lot of it has to do with all
the work that’s been done. Lastly, we’ve got some Eagle Scouts’
projects that are just wrapping up actually this week. Bethwell
Community Center got about half of it repainted, what they could
reach without ladders. And all the decking and all the stairs are all
repainted. And they did pressure washing of all the concrete and
repainted and repaired fences. That’s one project. And then we had
a new wooden gate put in at Cox Road to replace a chain link gate.
So, any questions?
Mayor Lockwood: Questions for Tom? Okay. Thank you, sir.
Tom: Thank you. Appreciate it.
3. POLICE
Mayor Lockwood: Chief Austin?
Chief Austin: Greetings Mayor and Members of Council. Looking at our latest
crime stats report, things are looking pretty good. We’re down
about 3 percent from where we were at this time last year. Area
traffic crashes were down significantly, so in a 30 percent
reduction from this time last year. And while we can attribute some
of that reduction to less traffic from the pandemic with many more
folks telecommuting, other jurisdictions, while they’re also
experiencing less traffic overall, they’ve seen a significant surge in
personal injury and fatality crashes. Some more aggressive drives
seem to have taken the reduction in traffic as an opportunity to
speed and drive aggressively. Fortunately, however, we’ve not
seen this trend in Milton.
We’re currently down 31 percent in personal injury crashes and
alcohol related crashes are always showing a downward trend.
Continue to actively conduct focused traffic controls in our high
crash corridors and our current approach seems to be very
effective. Over the past several months, of the many challenges of
the pandemic, one has been recruiting new police officers. PD –
earlier this year, we developed a robust plan for recruiting which
was going to entail some travels to do some more regional
recruiting, letting people know what a great community Milton is
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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to work in, but we quickly found that that wasn’t going to work as
many of, obviously, the recruiting fairs were cancelled,
understandably, or postponed indefinitely. So, we quickly
reworked our efforts to increase our social media presence and our
electronic recruiting efforts. And I am pleased to report that our
efforts have been met with success.
As of early July, we have all of our police officer slots filled. One
recruit was already Georgia certified, so he is out in the field now
training with a field training officer and the other three recruits are
in various stages of their academy training. So, this is certainly
great news in a very tough law enforcement recruiting environment
and after these new officers complete their training, we hope to
have an opportunity to introduce them in a more formal setting.
But for now, we’re very happy to have them as part of Team
Milton. That’s all I have this evening unless you have any
questions.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions for Chief? As always, thanks to you and all your
guys. Except for Mulvey. Just kidding. Thank you, guys.
Chief Austin: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Appreciate everything you do. All right, is there anything else? If
not, I will ask for a motion to adjourn.
Male Speaker: I move we adjourn.
Male Speaker: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Do I have a second? I have a motion and a second to adjourn. All
in favor, please say aye.
Several: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That’s unanimous.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jamison moved to adjourn the
meeting at 7:44 pm. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the
motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, August 3, 2020 at 6:00 pm
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Date Approved: September 9, 2020
__________________________________ _____________________________
Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk Joe Lockwood, Mayor