HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 04/12/20211
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 1 of 45
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Milton City
Council for Monday, April 12, 2021, 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, then please bring your
comment cards to the Clerk as soon as possible.
While Milton rules allow a speaker to turn in a comment card up
until the clerk calls the agenda item, once the agenda item is called,
no more comment cards can be accepted. Tammy, if you will
please call roll and make any general announcements.
ROLL CALL
City Clerk: Good evening, Mayor and Council, I'll be happy to call roll for the
April 12, 2021, regular meeting. I would like to remind those in
attendance to please silence all cell phones at this time. Those
attending the meeting who would like to make a public comment,
you 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 dialogue
with any person speaking. Anyone in violation will be asked to
leave.
As I call roll this evening, please confirm your attendance. Mayor
Joe Lockwood?
Mayor Lockwood: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Peyton Jamison?
Mr. Jamison: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Paul Moore?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Mr. Moore: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Laura Bentley?
Ms. Bentley: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Carol Cookerly?
Ms. Cookerly: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Joe Longoria is absent. Councilmember Rick
Mohrig?
Mr. Mohrig: Here.
Mayor: Mayor Lockwood present.
Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Peyton Jamison, Councilmember
Paul Moore, Councilmember Laura Bentley, Councilmember Carol Cookerly,
Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
Councilmember Absent: Councilmember Joe Longoria.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (Led by the Sons of the American Revolution)
City Clerk: Tonight, we have the Sons of the American Revolution who will
lead us in our pledge. Will everybody please rise?
All: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Mayor Lockwood: I also want to say what a pleasure and an honor it is to have the
Sons of the American Revolution with us here tonight, as well as
our current judge, along with several others that we are going to
swear in tonight as alternate judges for the City of Milton, so
welcome you all.
So, Tammy, will you please sound the next item?
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA
City Clerk: Yes, Mayor, that next item is Approval of Meeting Agenda,
Agenda Item Number 21-089.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I'd like to — out of respect for the folks that I just mentioned
here — move up the following agenda items: Agenda Item Number
21-106, the Swearing In of the Standby Judges, and Agenda Item
Number 21-108, the Proclamation Recognizing the 100th
Anniversary of the Sons of the American Revolution. I also want
to move Agenda Item Number 21-112, Resolution Appointing a
New BZA Member, too.
Are there any other items on the agenda that — any other changes?
Okay, I'll open up for a motion on the agenda.
Ms. Cookerly: Mayor, I'll make a motion that we accept the changes you
recommended.
Mr. Moore: So moved.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Cookerly with a
second by Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve the Meeting
Agenda with the following amendments:
Move up the following Agenda items:
Agenda Item No. 21-106 - The swearing in of the standby Judges,
Agenda Item No. 21-108- Proclamation Recognizing the I00thThe
Anniversary of the SAR,
Agenda Item No. 21-112 - Resolution appointing New BZA Member
Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. All right, if our City Clerk could please call the
next item.
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. That first moved item is Swearing In of Part-
time, Full-time, or Standby Judges for the Municipal Court for the
City of Milton, Agenda Item Number 21-106. Mayor Lockwood?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and I would ask our new standby judges to come forward
and I will swear them in.
I do want to say something, too. I really appreciate all of you
coming in and volunteering today to help our city, and to advise,
and deal with, and interact with our local municipality because
we're involved in part of it, but for the part of our citizens and for
Four city, the City of Milton [audio cuts out] [00:09:18].
So, if everybody can raise their right hand and repeat after me. I do
solemnly swear and affirm —
All: I do solemnly swear and affirm —
Mayor Lockwood: — that I will faithfully perform the duties of —
All: —that I will faithfully perform the duties of
Mayor Lockwood: standby judge — i
All: s standby judge —
Mayor Lockwood: —,of the City —
All: — of the City —
Mayor Lockwood: — and that I will support and defend the charter thereof —
All: - and that I will support and defend the charter thereof —
Mayor Lockwood: — as well as the Constitution —
All: — as well as the Constitution —
Mayor Lockwood: — and the laws of the State of Georgia —
All: — and the laws of the State of Georgia —
Mayor Lockwood: — and of the United States of America.
All: — and of the United States of America.
Mayor Lockwood: And if you can gather up here afterwards, I would invite you to
have a picture where we're all spaced out a little bit.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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[No dictation] [00:10:10 — 00:10:58]
Male Speaker: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, if you guys would just go right here, and we'll face — Greg
will do a picture. Everybody, yeah.
[No dictation] [00:11:11— 00:11:44]
Mayor Lockwood: All right, thanks again. Thank you so much — appreciate it.
Okay, Tammy, the next item moved on our agenda, if you'll call
that.
City Clerk: The next moved item is the Proclamation Recognizing the 100th
Anniversary of the Sons of the American Revolution, Agenda Item
Number 21-108. Mayor?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and as I said earlier, this is certainly an honor and a
privilege for us to present this proclamation for the 100th
anniversary of the Georgia Society/National Society Sons of the
American Revolution.
Whereas, the Sons of the American Revolution was conceived as a
fraternal and civic society composed of lineal descendants of
individuals who wintered at Valley Forge, signed the Declaration
of Independence, fought during the American Revolution, served
in the Continental Congress, or supported the cause of American
independence, and
Whereas, 16 presidents have been proud members of the Sons of
the American Revolution, and
Whereas, the Sons of the American Revolution is devoted to
perpetuate the memory of the individuals who, by their services or
sacrifices during the American Revolutionary War, achieved
independence for the United States and inspired citizens to revere
the principles that their forefathers incorporated into the
government of the United States, and encouraging the development
of historical research about the American Revolutionary War, and
Whereas, over 2,000 members of the Georgia Society Sons of the
American Revolution are organized in 35 chapters throughout the
state, whose ancestors helped the original 13 colonies to win
independence for our country, and
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Whereas, the Piedmont Chapter Georgia Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution serves the communities of Alpharetta,
Milton, East Cob, and Roswell, with patriotic, historical, and
educational activities, and
Whereas, on March 14, 2021, the Georgia Society Sons of the
American Revolution celebrated their 100th anniversary, and now
therefore
We, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Milton, express
our appreciation and gratitude of the members of the Piedmont
Chapter Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution for
their efforts to protect the legacy of our nation's founders, and to
promote patriotism.
This is given under my hand and seal of the City of Milton,
Georgia, on the 12th day of April, 2021, and I would like to ask
that our Sons of the American Revolution step forward and I will
present this proclamation.
[No dictation] [00:12:11— 00:16:411
Male Speaker: Titled John Milton, whereas John Milton was the first Secretary of
State of the Revolutionary State of Georgia, and
Whereas, it was deemed necessary to protect the Georgia State
documents from British destruction, and
Whereas, John Milton was commissioned an officer in the Georgia
Battalion, and
Whereas, under instruction from General Lincoln, John Milton
transported Georgia documents first to Perrysburg, South Carolina,
up the Savannah River, and
Whereas, the British pushed Milton to move the documents further
away, he used a military wagon to transport to Charleston, South
Carolina, and then to New Bern, North Carolina, and finally to
Annapolis for the duration of the war, and John Milton was to be
later honored by the naming of Milton County in 1857, and
Whereas, Milton County flourished north of Fulton until January,
1932, when merged into Fulton, and
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Whereas, in December 2003, the people of North Fulton County
deemed the urban community of Milton be established, and
maintained the preservation of the character of the urban
community in both character and growth consistent with the efforts
of its namesake, John Milton, in keeping the traditions of Georgia
alive during trying times, and therefore
The Piedmont Chapter Sons of the American Revolution commend
the City of Milton on its 15th year of serving and leading the
community, this 12th day of April 2021, signed, Alan Finman.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you very much.
City Clerk: Linda, we might want one picture. Mayor, if you don't mind.
Linda, if you'd — there we go. If you'll hold off for just one more
picture.
[Crosstalk]
City Clerk: Thank you, gentlemen.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Tammy, if you'd please call the next item.
NEW BUSINESS
City Clerk: Our third and final moved item is Consideration of a Resolution
Appointing a Member to the City of Milton Board of Zoning
Appeals by Appointing a Board Member at Large, Agenda Item
Number 21-112. Mayor Joe Lockwood?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Some of you may know my previous BZA appointment,
Jake Ward, moved to the great State of Florida in February of this
year, and I am happy to appoint Stephanie Butler to the BZA.
She'll provide a great contribution to the BZA, and Stephanie, I
appreciate your willingness to step up.
I've known Stephanie for several years, a great member of the
community. I think she really cares and will do a great job, so I'd
like to open up for a motion on appointing Stephanie Butler to the
BZA as my appointee.
Mr. Jamison: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Stephanie Butler as
your appointee to the BZA.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Mr. Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Jamison, with a
second from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jamison moved to approve Agenda Item No
21-112. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Mayor Lockwood: Any opposed? It's unanimous. So, Stephanie, if you would step
forward and, again, I want to say I thank all of our volunteers and
citizens — the things that you do, and the time you spend, and all
that, really makes a difference and that's what makes Milton great,
so it goes without saying I thank everybody.
I have to take a double take [inaudible] (00:21:28] accepted. If
you would raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly
swear and affirm —
Ms. Butler: I do solemnly swear and affirm —
Mayor Lockwood: — that I will faithfully perform the duties of —
Ms. Butler: — that I will faithfully perform the duties of —
Mayor Lockwood: — the Board of Zoning Appeals —
Ms. Butler: — the Board of Zoning Appeals —
Mayor Lockwood: — of the City —
Ms. Butler: — of the City —
Mayor Lockwood: — and that I will support and defend the charter thereof —
Ms. Butler: — and I will support and defend the charter thereof —
Mayor Lockwood: — as well as the Constitution —
Ms. Butler: — as well as the Constitution —
Mayor Lockwood: — the laws of the State of Georgia —
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Ms. Butler: — and the laws of the State of Georgia —
Mayor Lockwood: — and the United States of America —
Ms. Butler: — and the United States of America.
[No dictation] 100:22:08 — 00:22:391
Photographer: Over there, yeah, good. Perfect, thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Thanks, Stephanie.
Ms. Butler: Okay, thank you.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, moving on. Tammy, do we have any public comments
tonight?
City Clerk: I do not, no.
CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. All right, Tammy, if you would please call the next item.
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. That item is Approval of the January 20, 2021,
City Council Meeting Minutes. Agenda Item Number 21-090.
The second item is Approval of the February 1, 2021, City Council
Meeting Minutes, Agenda Item Number 21-091.
Our third item is Approval of a Software Subscription Agreement
between the City of Milton and Rarestep, Inc., for Fleet
Management Software, Agenda Item Number 21-092.
Our next item is Approval of Subdivision Plats and Revisions. The
location and name of the property is RL Glosson Property located
at 310, 320, 330, and 390 Hickory Flat Road, Land Lot 304, 345,
District 2, Section 2. It is a minor plat, and it's to revise division
line between Lots 1 and 3 to add recoding of declaration of
covenants, revise ingress, egress, utility easement, add water line
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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easement, and update FEMA flood map, Agenda Item Number 21-
093.
Our fifth item, Approval of an Outside Providers and Facility Use
Agreement between the City of Milton and Davis Educational
Services, LLC, to Provide Education Camps and Classes, Agenda
Item Number 21-094.
Our sixth item, Approval of an Outside Providers And Facility Use
Agreement between the City of Milton and Wavelength Learning
Group to Provide Music Camps, Classes, and Lessons, Agenda
Item Number 21-095.
Our seventh item is Approval of a Change Order Number One to
Professional Services Agreement with Pond and Company to
Provide Engineering Design Services for Morris Road Widening
and Big Creek Greenway Trail Connection, Agenda Item Number
21-096.
Our next item, Approval of a Change Order to Task Order Number
Three with Pond and Company to Provide Engineering Design
Services for Morris Road Widening, Agenda Item Number 21-097.
Our ninth item, Approval of a Task Order Agreement with BM&K
PC for the Construction Inspections of the Fiscal Year 21 Citywide
Asphalt Resurfacing Project, Agenda Item Number 21-098.
Next, an Approval of a Task Order Agreement with BM&K PC for
the Right of Way Acquisitions and Preconstruction Services for the
Hopewell Road and Bethany Bend/Bethany Way Intersection
Improvement Project, Agenda Item Number 21-099.
Our 1 lth item is Approval of Change Order Number Four to the
Facilities Landscaping, Sport Field Maintenance, and Park and
Field Maintenance Agreement between the City of Milton and Tri
Scapes, Inc. to add the New Lakeside Park Facility, Agenda Item
Number 21-100.
Next is an Approval of a Goods and Services Contract between the
Municipal Equipment Company, LLC, for the Purchase of Fire
Rescue Structural Personal Protective Equipment, Agenda Item
Number 21-101.
Our 13th item is Approval of a Professional Services Agreement
between the City of Milton, Georgia, and Digital Insurance, LLC,
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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doing business as One Digital, to Provide Actuarial Services to
Review the City's Current Retirement Plan and Develop an Early
Retiree Health Benefit Plan, Agenda Item Number 21-102.
Next, Approval of a Revised Contract to Reflect Atlanta
Retirement Partners Change of Broker/Dealer and Registered
Investment Advisor Relationship from LPL to One Digital,
Agenda Item Number 21-103.
Our next item is Approval of a Change Order Number One
between the City of Milton and CPS HR Consulting Extending
Professional Services Agreement for the Completion of the
Employee Engagement Survey until 9/30/2021, Agenda Item
Number 21-104.
Our final consent agenda item is Approval of an Application to the
Georgia Department of Transportation for Funding through the
Fiscal Year `21 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant Safety
Action Plan, Agenda Item Number 21-105.
Mayor?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Do I have a motion on the consent agenda items?
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as
read.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley,
with a second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please
say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the Consent
Agenda Items. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed
(6-0). Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Mayor Lockwood: It's unanimous. Okay, if we can move on to reports and
presentations if our City Clerk will please call them out.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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City Clerk: That first item is Presentation of the City of Milton Fiscal Year
2020 Annual Audit, Agenda Item Number 21-107 by Ms.
Bernadette Harvill.
Ms. Harvill: Good evening, Mayor and Council. This past year has been most
interesting with the pandemic and its impacts on daily operations.
I'm happy to report that while the State -did offer extension to the
financial reporting deadlines for fiscal year 2020, Milton was able
to complete its annual audit field work and publish its
comprehensive annual financial report in record time.
For those interested, both the comprehensive annual financial
report and the popular financial annual report are available for
review on the finance page of the City's website. For FY 2020,
Milton obtained an unmodified or clean audit opinion from the
City's external audit team at Mauldin and Jenkins, LLC, and with
us tonight to present the auditors' discussion and analysis is our
team lead and partner with Mauldin and Jenkins, Mr. Adam Fraley.
Mr. Fraley: Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and members of the council, for
having me here this evening. I am Adam Fraley with Mauldin and
Jenkins, here to present the audit of the financial statements for the
City of Milton for the year ended September 30, 2020, and you
should have in your packets the conference of annual financial
report, as well as the auditors' discussion and analysis, which kind
of summarizes the results of the audit, some of the highlights of the
numbers, and some of our required communications.
I'm going to go through this. If you want to follow along and I'll
try to tell you what page if you want to turn with me there. So, as
Bernadette mentioned, it was an unusual year — a lot of new
funding, a lot of new transactions, and she is correct — in record
form, the City of Milton completed its audit this year from a timing
standpoint. First and foremost, a huge pat on the back, because that
all goes back to the City's finance department and all their
assistance in helping us with this audit.
If you turn to page 2 with me, and I'm going to call it the ADNA,
you'll see there information. We are a full service CPA firm with a
large niche practice in the governmental sector. You'll see there,
we serve approximately 550 governments across the Southeast. I
was the engagement lead partner. We had Will Durses, who was
the engagement manager, and Brittany Wishmire who was our
engagement senior out here, and facilitating the conduct, day to
day, of the audit engagement.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 13 of 45
On the next page, as I mentioned, it's a full service firm that
provides services to other industries, you'll see there, as well as
other services we provide — so just some information. Oh, that's
even better. Okay, and then on page 4 here, the financial
statements are the responsibility of the City. The City's finance
department is required annually to put together a set of financial
statements and have those statements audited by external CPA, and
then submit those in accordance with state law to the State of
Georgia Department of Audits.
The City obviously did put together — they keep the books and
records on a monthly basis, and year-end basis — that we did come
in and audit those. We issued what is technically called an
unmodified audit report. We call that a clean opinion. What that
means is that the financial statements are considered to present
fairly the financial position and the results of the operations in all
material respects as of and including the year-end of September 30,
2020.
You'll see there on the next page, over and above what the State of
Georgia requires, the City of Milton also puts together a
conference of annual financial report, which also has the sections
for the introductory section, you'll see there, and also the statistical
section. Those are other elements and sections within the
comprehensive annual financial report. The introductory,
obviously, introduces, and is up front, and the stat section is in the
back. I'd encourage you to look at that.
Also, there's NDNA, and discussion and analysis in there, that
gives a synopsis of what went on behind the numbers during the
year, and the stat section in the back gives 10 years of information,
both statistical and non -statistical information related to the City of
Milton, so a lot of good information in addition to the actual
financial statements themselves are included in such a document.
The City also gets an award for their comprehensive annual
financial report. The City, for the 2019 comprehensive annual
financial report, received their award for excellence in financial
reporting for the GF Away, which is a national organization that, if
you meet their program requirements, they will give such an
excellence in financial reporting award. The City does also plan to,
and has, submitted that for the 2020 report as well, so a huge pat
on the back for going above and beyond what state law requires in
providing such a good document. A lot of time and a lot of effort
goes into it, so really good there.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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On the next couple of pages, some of the number highlights — the
City ended its year with total assets of about $190 million, offset
by liabilities of about $61 million. That leaves about $129 million
in net position, which is the equity of the City as a whole. Only
about $24.8 million of that is actually unrestricted and considered
available for operations, and the remaining parts of that $129
million is in capital -type assets, and then actual net assets that are
restricted by outside parties, or enabling legislation.
The City, at the top of page 8 there, you'll see that the City did
report a change in net position — a positive change of about $14
million, and then the 'City's general fund, on the rest of that page,
obviously being the main operating fund of the City, you'll see a
chart there at the bottom breaking down the revenue sources of the
general fund. Then, also, in similar fashion on the top. of page 9,
you'll see a breakdown of all the general fund expenditures for the
year in the pie chart there.
And then, at the bottom, you'll see a comparison going over the
last six years of revenues compared to expenditures. for each year,
and how they have behaved. And then, that change between
revenues and expenditures, obviously, is the net change in fund
balance for the general fund. You'll see this year there was a $2.6
million addition to fund balance for the general fund.
The next couple of pages are kind of cliff notes versions to the
comprehensive annual financial report, so you can look back there
as you're looking at that and see just a little cliff notes explanation
of what those notes are meaning. And then, on page 13, it gets into
our required communications. Just to hit a couple things here,
related to any difficulties encountered in the audit, any
disagreements with management, we're happy to say we didn't
have any difficulties encountered in the audit. We didn't have any
disagreements with management concerning any new or confusing
accounting standards, or any disagreements whatsoever, but
certainly ones that would impact the financial results or statements
presented here.
On the next page there, we did have a few audit adjustments. They
were discussed with management, posted to the general ledger
accounting system of the City, and also included in these financial
statements to again ensure their correctness. The other thing on
there, independence — of course, we are independent. That's very
important. We take an external look at it. We have to maintain
independence, which under our standards has a set of criteria to
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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make sure we maintain that. We do give a fresh external,
independent look.
On the next page, we did not have anything that the standards
require to report as a finding, so great results there as well. We did
have one thing that we just refer to as management points. It was
small in nature, but we did want to point out, and we discussed this
with management as well for not accruing some liabilities at year-
end of about $14,000. Again, that was not material to the financial
statements, but one thing that's kind of a by-product of the audit.
We're roughly halfway through this document. The other half of
this document is all the new accounting standards coming out, so
I'm not going to go into detail on all of those. Just know that, just
by volume you can see there's a lot going on with Gasby, which is
the standard-setting body. They did give us a little bit of leeway
with Covid, and they delayed, by either 12 months or 18 months, a
lot of the new standards coming out, but that's going to start hitting
next year.
As far as meeting the implement though, the rest of the document —
we just want to keep finance, council, everybody abreast of those
new standards that are coming out and how they'll affect the
financial statements. You'll see, if you're having trouble sleeping,
those are there and you can read those. Certainly call us if you
have any questions, and we'll be glad to help.
And that concludes in presentation. If you have any questions, I'd
be happy to try to answer those.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions? Okay. Thank you very much.
Mr. Fraley: Yes, thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: And, obviously, Bernadette and all your team on staff, thank you
for all your hard work. We appreciate it, and you make us proud.
Okay, Tammy, if you'll please call the next item.
City Clerk: That next item is the presentation of Cox Road Athletic Park Field
Enhancements, Agenda Item Number 21-109. Mr. Tom
McKlveen?
Mr. McKlveen: All right. Good evening, Mayor, and members of the Council.
What I have for you this evening is a Presentation for the Cox
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Road Athletic Complex, and field and park improvements —
enhancements as well.
What I'm going to talk about are these six things: the field
capacity, current utilization of those Milton facilities that we have,
explain recommended changes for Cox Road, advantages to
artificial turf versus grass, show possible configurations at Cox
Road Athletic Complex — that'll make more sense once we look at
the changes — and then cost figures for these proposed
enhancements.
But first, I just want to give a background on where we are in the
current state of our programming. We have Eagle Sticks Lacrosse
on the girls' lacrosse side. They've got about 240 girls this spring.
On the boys' side, there's the Talon Lacrosse. That's the Milton
program and Cambridge Youth Boys for Cambridge. Those boys'
programs are about 260 kids. Then, we have North Atlanta
Football League. Last fall, they had about 100 kids in the
programming that was hosted at Milton parks. Then, we have
Hopewell Youth Association this spring. There are about 850 kids
playing in the baseball program.
We also have the Rush Union Adult Soccer Program. They are
primarily run out of Cox Road Athletic Complex. Over the winter,
they had about 100 adults playing, and last fall it was 180. The
winter is the slower season.
Here's the current state of our athletic field. So, you'll see in
Milton we're currently over -capacity on rectangular turf fields.
Since the year 2015, we've had significant increase in our
registrations. Let's go into what a rectangular field is — a
rectangular field hosts lacrosse, football, and soccer. Typically, in
a recreational setting, one rectangular field can host any of those
sports. Then, we have some Bell Park. We have two at Bell Park
that are turf.
We have the IGA school fields that are all in the schools in our
city. There are four schools that we use, and at Northwestern
Middle School we have three fields available to us. We have the
Cox Road Athletic Complex, which currently has two and a half
fields — there is one field that is much smaller — and then we have
the Birmingham United Methodist Church, which is a baseball
complex.
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
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Let's go into the master plan real quick. The master plan, in 2017,
called for two more rectangular athletic fields to meet 2017
standards, and another two more to meet 2027 standards. Cox
Road got us two fields since 2017. However, they included all
those IGA fields at Fulton County Schools in their calculations,
and those fields have a lot of limitations. There are no lights,
they're all grass, they're used for recess at school so they get beat
up, but one of the biggest ones is there's no quality accessible
restrooms at these fields. We have to rent portable restrooms and
have them sitting outside for the kids.
The master plan did also call for six more baseball fields, and the
Birmingham United Methodist Church did fill one of those spots.
Let's talk about Bell Memorial Park now. Bell Memorial Park is
definitely our flagship active park for this city. At any given time
in the spring season, you can see three or four teams practicing on
one field at Bell Memorial Park at a time on the rectangular fields.
Staff recommends one to two teams — two is good — per field. The
reason for that is safety, quality of the program. If you have too
many kids on a field it's hard to run a really efficient practice and
it hinders skill development for the kids.
Our program providers do work together to share field space. How
do they work together? Well, they have — before the spring season,
we have a spring field allocation, and in that meeting all of our
programs that share space all expressed their needs and we do the
very best we can to get everyone the field space that they require.
This past spring it became a bit of a challenge. Sharing, with the
current capacities we have, is getting tough, and everyone prefers
to practice on the artificial turf. There's no secret there.
Now, we have the Cox Road Athletic Complex. Currently, right
now, the fields at Cox Road are utilized at about a 16 percent
utilization rate. That is low, but the reason is because our program
providers would rather put more kids on a turf field than have
practice at a grass field. We also have the Rush Union Soccer,
which I mentioned earlier. They take two late evening slots per
week, from roughly 7:00 to 10:00 at night. Then, we have our
youth lacrosse programs. They do take a few slots, but it's three
slots out of 45, so it's very low.
So, what can we do to increase this field utilization out at Cox
Road? This concept was brought forth to the Parks and Rec
Advisory Board in the December 2020, meeting, and the January
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 18 of 45
2021, meetings, and they supported this plan. It calls for two
multipurpose artificial turf fields and in this design it
accommodates the needs of all the sports that we have field
capacity issues with — baseball, lacrosse, football, and the indoor
soccer.
Don't get too tied up in this graphic here. This is just something
that we created that you can put any line combinations on this
field, but this just lays out a lacrosse field over a baseball field, and
you can put football and soccer lines on it'as well. Some can be
sewn in, and some you can just paint, and then the paint goes
away. If you have a one -season sport, you might not want to paint
all those lines.
Let's talk about some of the advantages to artificial turf. Rain -outs
are the number one reason. Every spring season it rains a lot in the
beginning of the spring and you lose a lot of practice time. Twenty
to twenty-five percent of field time is lost for field conditions due
to the rainy weather, too. If you have a rainy day - especially at
Cox Road — it could knock out the field for three days even though
it rained on just one. The water sits, and that causes our programs
to want to schedule their practices at Bell Memorial Park where
there's turf.
Turf also has better playability. It's always the same, and no matter
how much it rains, it's always playable. I've only seen one turf
field over in Alpharetta that went underwater. I was there at a
soccer tryout. It was glass, the rain stopped, and then five minutes
later they were on the field playing. And then, the aesthetics, too.
Artificial turf looks great year-round. It doesn't go dormant.
So, that design that I had shared gives you multiple configurations
to the field. You can do: a) one practice slot, b) the next practice
slot, and then c) in the third practice slot. You're not locked into
one particular set-up, and that gives us a lot of flexibility, so if one
season, maybe, lacrosse numbers are down, then we'll have more
access for baseball fields, or vice versa. If the baseball numbers are
down, we have more space for lacrosse, football, and soccer, so
this just gives us a lot of flexibility as to how we schedule.
What will this do to the utilization of Cox Road? Changing these
fields to turf will increase our capacity up to 80 percent to 90
percent at Cox Road Athletic Complex. Ideal field utilization
hovers between 80 percent and 85 percent. Why not 100 percent?
If you fill the field the fields at 100 percent capacity with your
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scheduled programming, that typically means the last team gets
whatever the last slot available is, so when you operate at 80
percent to 85 percent, everybody's always happy and you get a
better program out of it.
At the end of the day, this complex — if this were to happen —
would be running at, I would say, the higher 90 percent range. It
also allows — with the lower utilization rates you also get more
flexibility, so if there are rain -outs at another field, you can do
make -ups and have overflow onto those fields, and it also prevents
overuse. It would also have an impact on baseball. Baseball's
capacity could potentially increase as well. Each unshared field
would give baseball capacity for another 150 kids.
To the cost — to turf the two fields you'd have to put fencing and
netting up, and there is an optional cool infield surface. What that
is is there are little rubber pellets that are inside the turf. They
make some that don't attract the heat of the sun, and the turf field
will operate in the summer and late spring 50 degrees cooler. I've
had a turf field melt the sole of my shoe before. They get hot in the
summer. The estimate is about $1.3 to $1.6 million for the two turf
fields and everything that goes along with it.
What are some cost benefits to turfing the fields? We'll have a
rough savings of $50,000 to $65,000 per year. We won't have to
worry about grass maintenance. There's nothing to mow. There is
some brushing of the field, but it's once or twice per season. And,
there's clean-up of water savings. You won't have to worry about
watering the grass, and no need for re -sodding heavily worn areas.
The long-term costs — the cost to replace the carpet, and it lasts
about 10 to 12 years — is about $700,000 today. The carpet cost is
less than the cost of actually doing the entire project, because
there's no grading that needs to be done when you're replacing the
carpet, there are no drainage systems that need to be installed, and
there's no base layer of all the rock and gravel that gets put in. It is
more costly to convert these fields to artificial turf, but the benefits
are valuable.
Moving on to the small field — this was the small half field I
referred to earlier. It is not utilized nearly as much as it could be if
we had a youth soccer program here. It was designed for under -10
aged soccer, and apparently we use it for overflow rain -out
practice for one very small under -9 lacrosse team. That's about the
only quality usage it really gets. Some options that we discussed
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
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besides what I'm about to show you — batting cages or just leave it
as is as a warm-up field for the other two fields.
This is what we came up with: constructing three tennis courts.
Three tennis courts would accommodate six additional tennis
teams. The capacity increase of 80 to 100 tennis team players per
season — that cost estimate is about $200,000, and that would
iticlude the court, fencing, and lighting that would need to be done.
The comprehensive master plan of 2017 said we needed four more
courts. This would knock out three of them, and then we would
need five more by 2027, and we know with the master plan that the
former Milton .Country Club — there is a plan for two more courts
there, so that would get us to our 2027 number exactly.
In ,conclusion, why does Cox need to be artificially turfed? Our
t'esidents want it, it'reduces rain -outs, it will increase the utilization
of one of our city assets, it will spread our programs across the city
a little more evenly;` baseball would, have an opportunity to
increase some of their diamond space, and lacrosse would have
opportunity to access the turf fields. On the tennis courts, the
increased court capacity will get us within one court of those 2017
standards, as I had mentioned, and would also allow for more
tennis teams to participate in the Milton Tennis Center that Terry
can currently not accommodate. He turns folks away every spring
and fall, and this would allow him to take those residents that are
looking for a place to play.
The total cost for the entire project is about $1.5 million to $1.8
million, and tonight I'm looking for a little bit of guidance and
suggestions on how we can move forward.
Mayor Lockwood: You know, I would comment that with the cost of the turf and
looking at the numbers it's not necessarily — while it does save
some costs and maintenance, it's still it big chunk of money
additional that we don't recoup just with savings, but that being
said, obviously you would get a whole lot more use out of it as you
explained.
My question would be — it's safe to say if it's used a lot more by a
lot more programs at least some of the cost could be recouped with
program fees and participation.
Mr. McKlveen: Yes, and we could also recoup some fees with rental opportunities.
Bell Park is often requested for tournaments and things like that,
and we would have the opportunity to have more fields. Typically,
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Bell is never available, but if we had more fields available to us in
those off seasons, we could recoup some costs with rentals as well.
Mayor Lockwood: I think with more athletes, too, there's more participation. It's safe
to say that would play into it, too?
Mr. McKlveen: Yes.
Mayor Lockwood: Laura?
Ms. Bentley: Thank you. That was a very helpful presentation. So, I had heard
some of the lacrosse families maybe complained about the current
lighting at Cox Road. Is that an issue with it being too low or
interfering with —?
Mr. McKlveen: The conversation that I had with one particular gentleman — he was
referring to the smaller turf field that we would potentially be
swapping over to a different use, and changing the lights
altogether. I did not get any feedback on the two rectangular fields.
Ms. Bentley: So, the lights that are there would be — they could stay in place and
wouldn't have to be redone?
Mr. McKlveen: Yes. They're only five years old.
Ms. Bentley: Okay, good. He didn't mention it was the smaller field, so that's
good news.
Mr. McKlveen: I took the same thing away at first and then we dug deeper.
Ms. Bentley: Okay, thank you. On the tennis courts, doing the tennis courts at
Cox Road — would that come before the Milton Country Club
courts, or would it just fall into a master plan? The timing of it is
what I'm trying to understand.
Mr. McKlveen: That could be either/or.
Ms. Bentley: Okay.
Mr. McKlveen: It depends on when we do the work. If you approve moving
forward with Cox Road, we'd likely get the courts on Cox Road
before we would get the courts at the Milton Country Club,
because that would be the next phase of the Milton.
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
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Ms. Bentley: So, it would just make sense to do it all together. We would
probably get some benefit cost -wise out of asphalting the courts at
the same time as the turf?
Mr. McKlveen: I would think that could be a possibility.
Ms. Bentley: I'd be interested in that just because, with the courts at Milton
Country Club, I don't know — I'd just like to know more about
that, because with the half field, it just might give us a little more
flexibility going forward if there was some sort of soccer program
that came in, but if it satisfies the tennis — master plan for tennis
courts, I understand that, and I think it's a good thing to spread the
facilities out throughout the City.
My only other question was making sure that going to Cox Road
the providers will see that, with these changes, as a desirable place
to go. It's probably not going to be as nice as Bell Memorial, but
we just need to make sure that the fields are as good and that they
will travel there to play.
Mr. McKlveen: Yeah, they will. When you look at our lacrosse program,
specifically, we have two organizations that work together to
become our boys' program. One's the Milton side, and Cox Road
is very close to Milton High School. A lot of those teams would
happily drive over to Cox Road to practice.
Ms. Bentley: Great. That's good news.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Paul.
Mr. Moore: Tom, thanks, good presentation. I've got a couple of follow-up
questions. If we're able to go forward with something like this, is
there a season that's lost during construction of the fields when
we're not able to use it at all because it's being converted from on
type of field to another?
Mr. McKlveen: If you can time it just right, you might be able to get through a
summer or a winter where the activity is very light. You could time
it where — a heavy season you could not miss out on for sure, but
the spring and fall are the two heavy seasons for athletics.
Mr. Moore: So, we potentially would not lose a heavy season?
Mr. McKlveen: Correct.
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Mr. Moore: We might lose a lighter —?
Mr. McKlveen: A lighter season that we could — we have flexibility in those off
seasons. We could move elsewhere.
Mr. Moore: Because one of the things, obviously, it impacts if you lose a
season is the ROI because you haven't got costs of participation
coming into your coffers for participants.
Mr. McKlveen: This would certainly be planned in an off season.
Mr. Moore: At the end of the day, does it then leave us with no grass fields? It
would all be turf?
Mr. McKlveen: Besides our baseball fields. All of our rectangular fields and our
inventory would —
Mr. Moore: So soccer, lacrosse, and football, for example, would all be turf?
How does that position us competitively with programs in the
surrounding area? Are we then like everybody, or are we then
better than everybody else? Where does it put us in the mix?
Mr. McKlveen: We would probably be better than everybody else at that point — on
par or better.
Mr. Moore: Are there surrounding communities that are still playing on grass,
or are kids — if they're going to go play on grass and suddenly be
on a new — an unfamiliar surface if they don't have any grass
option available at all in Milton?
Mr. McKlveen: No, the conversion to turf is becoming a standard practice.
Mr. Moore: The $180,000 for the cool pellets, I guess I'll call it, how often
does that have to be replenished?
Mr. McKlveen: When the carpet's replaced. In fact, I believe you can recycle it, so
it's a one-time.
Mr. Moore: Theoretically, 10 years as well? Fantastic. In the presentation, you
primarily focused on the fields, but in passing you commented
about the fact that we did not have any quality restroom facilities.
Is that contemplated in this plan, in the $1.5 to $1.8 million — are
there bathroom considerations?
Mr. McKlveen: That was for the Fulton County IGA fields.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
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Mr. Moore: Oh, okay.
Mr. McKlveen: Cox Road has bathrooms.
Mr. Moore: Okay.
Mayor Lockwood: Carol?
Ms. Cookerly: Okay, jog my memory. Did we not go with turf out by — Mr.
Craig?
Mayor Lockwood: I don't remember details on it, but I do know we talked about —
obviously, if we purchased it that we would have opportunities that
we would —
[Crosstalk]
Ms. Cookerly: I just thought this was in our —
Male Speaker: Approving the facilities there was, without a doubt, part of the
plan. I just don't recall if we specifically mentioned the turf.
Ms. Cookerly: Okay, I thought that we did. Look, I'm in support of it because
there's no point if it's not —
Mayor Lockwood: Rick?
Mr. Mohrig: Yeah, just two questions. First one, how do you — I'm curious —
how do you accommodate the baseball configuration with a
pitching mound and running bases. How do you accommodate that
with the turf conversion? How do you go in and out between them?
Mr. McKlveen: The turf mounds — actually, at Bell Park, in all of our grass fields
there are fiberglass mounds that you pick up and move.
Mr. Mohrig: So, it would be the same thing?
Mr. McKlveen: It would be the same thing, and there are specific bases for turf
fields that are extremely heavy, and that don't move. You just pick
them up and move them.
Mr. Mohrig: So, it would still be turf. You would just outline where the —?
[Crosstalk]
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Mr. McKlveen: Yeah, you would lacrosse on the baseball field, and you'd play —
yeah.
Mr. Mohrig: And then, the other question for Steve is where would this put us
from a financial standpoint? We've got the price tag. How does
this fit into where we are if we authorize this and go ahead. Is it
something we had in reserve, or planned?
Mr. Krokoff: We would use about $1.13 million in impact fees on the Parks
category, and the remaining $467,000 would be covered by
operating funds. At this time, we have $80,000 in the Cox Road
account, and we can move the remaining $387,000 plus from the
park land acquisition account to accomplish the purchase —
something around there. It just happens to be open in front of me.
Mayor Lockwood: You guys talked before the meeting, didn't you?
Mr. Mohrig: Good answer.
Mayor Lockwood: Peyton?
Mr. Jamison: A quick question — you mentioned the IGA fields. Are those being
used now? I know, with Covid, Fulton County Schools weren't
allowing us to use that. Are we using those now?
Mr. McKlveen: Not right now.
Mr. Jamison: Okay, yeah. I'm starting to — I used to think that was such a great
idea, having these cooperations and stuff, but now I'm starting to
think we need to start investing in our fields as much.
Mr. McKlveen: And it's the lights and the restrooms that really hold them back,
especially when you have a park like Bell Park in the inventory. It
makes it tough to schedule elsewhere.
Mr. Jamison: I'm all in favor of this. When I go to the baseball fields every
Wednesday and Saturday, every lacrosse parents just pulls me
aside and I agree with them. It's pretty crowded out there.
Mayor Lockwood: So, obviously we can give you some direction tonight, but explain
the process. These are estimates you have. Obviously, if the
Council gives blessing to move forward, they'll fine-tune all this
and, at some point, it will come back before us — what you design,
and bids, and things like that. Is that safe to say? My point being, if
we give our blessing to move forward with this, it's still going to
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 26 of 45
come back before us with final numbers, and action items, and
whatnot, correct?
Mr. McKlveen: Yes, Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: All right, so I will ask the Council to kind of give a thumbs up or
down for moving in that direction. Paul?
Mr. Moore: I've just got one more question. Tom, you talked about the
potential for tournament play. Does this put us in play for being
considered in the mix of tournaments that do take place in North
Fulton. Would we become, suddenly, a player in the mix with what
we're doing here, which would be fantastic? It would small
business. It would help occupancy in our hotel.
Mr. McKlveen: Potentially, yeah, because you've got Bell Park and, if this were to
happen, you'd have four fields that someone could come in, and
then you can host something big. It all doesn't have to be at one
site — so yes, to answer your question.
Mr. Moore: Yeah, fantastic.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, so in general, is the council favorable? Okay.
Ms. Bentley: I just want to — one quick — I'm interested in the tennis court
differential, because we have been talking about these extra courts
at Milton Country Club, so it seems like we're changing the
direction and I'd just be interested to know how much of a savings
it is to do tennis courts along with the turfing of the fields, or how
that looks to stay on course with the Milton Country Club plan
versus putting the courts over there.
Mr. McKlveen: Happy to look into it.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thank you, Tom.
Mr. McKlveen: Thank you, Mayor, and Council.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Tammy, if you'll call the next item.
City Clerk: That next item is Presentation of the City's New Financial
Transparency and Active Parks Portal — I'm sorry, Active Projects
Portal, Agenda Item Number 21-110. Ms. Bernadette Harvill?
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 27 of 45
Ms. Harvill: Good evening again. A little shorter than Tom. Tonight, I am very
excited to share with you the City's transparency and active
projects portal. Last fall, you all approved a contract with
C1earGov for a subscription to their transparency projects and
dashboards module, as well as their budgeting and digital budget
book module.
These tools will help Milton staff with both internal and external
enhancements to our communication and transparency regarding
financials and ongoing city projects, performance metrics, and
initiatives. A big thank you goes out to all of our staff who have
each been instrumental in getting this new portal up and running,
and a special thank you goes out to Jen Hartwig and Sara Leaders,
who have graciously agreed to be co -administrators with me to
ensure that the portal stays up to date for everybody.
The new portal has several capabilities, including demographics,
looking to our current debt, our check book, financial transparency,
active projects, and department dashboards. In the corner, you can
see a little snapshot of what the main page looks like. It has our
logo up there. It mentions Mayor Lockwood. It has some of our
demographics, and you can scroll down and it has a bunch of other
overview information.
I just wanted to go into some of the demographics that it provides
really quickly. They're currently defaulted to the data sourced from
the U.S. Census Bureau up to 2018. All of the per capita expenses
throughout the financial transparency section are derived from
these figures. We do have the ability to utilize our local projects
provided in Milton's community profile, which is published
annually by Georgia Power and ESRI, or any other reputable
source we deem fit, but at this time we have left the setting to its
default.
You can see that this default data provides in-depth statistics,
including population counts and growth. The data's also broken
down by daytime population and population by age group. The
demographics also include other categories, such as economic data
and housing statistics that I think our residents would be interested
to see.
The financial transparency portal is visually appealing and easy to
understand. It provides access to historical and current data and
financial trends. Users will have the ability to drill down into the
data to each line item, so you can see, potentially, what we
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 28 of 45
budgeted and currently spent on apparatus, repair, and maintenance
in the fire department, patrol equipment in the police department,
and other categories.
Each of these breaks down to per fiscal year, and also per capita
figures. Again, those per capita figures drive back to our 2018 U.S.
Census Bureau at this time. There hasn't been that much growth,
so you can kind of figure in where that per capita expense is. Here
you can see a little snapshot of our fund balances over time, and
our current financial overview showing our revenues versus
expenses for our FY 2021 budget and then historical back to 2015,
and we can go back further if we like. For now, we just gave it that
2015 to 2021 snapshot.
Here you can see a picture of a sample pie chart for the FY 2021
revenues and collections through January 31, 2021. I kept them in
line with what you have all seen in the monthly financials that you
have approved. Each time we give you the monthly financials and
you approve them, we'll go back to the portal and update those
correspondingly. On the right-hand side, you can see our
expenditures in a different view in a mountain chart, and each of
those expenditures is broken down by functions, and you can see
the past years back to 2015 as well. In the bottom left-hand corner,
you can see that per capita figure for taxes, specifically, and what
our current budget is, and then all the actual for the prior years.
One of the new features of this portal that we're really excited
about is the active projects module. This tool will allow staff to
provide up-to-date project descriptions, links to presentations and
supporting documentation, project locations within the City,
budget information, contact for a project manager, so if anyone has
any questions they can contact them directly, a projected timeline
with updates and the ability for the person to subscribe directly to
that particular project for real-time alerts. Each time we go in and
make an update to that project, if you're subscribed you'll get a
little email that says there's been new information updated, so you
can see it right then and there.
Here we have a little sample of Fire Station 42 replacement. That's
just a little snapshot of the top part of the description of the project,
and some of the images we have going on. Next, I have a sample
of specific projects. You can see exactly what information is
available. This is the city map and the location of each of the
projects. You can drill down on the left-hand side where there are
links, or you can go to the map itself.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 29 of 45
Here we have the Hopewell at Thompson intersection
improvement project that is being funded through TSPLOST
funds. Sara has linked all the supporting materials and aided in the
breakdown of the project budget by the categories of planning and
design, right-of-way acquisition and construction, and we can go in
there and do it by month, fiscal year, or whatever. I would like to
see if we thought this was the most meaningful for these projects at
this time.
At the top, you can see the projected expenditure estimate for the
whole project, and what we've spent to date. We're able to show
what phase of the project we're currently in in that blue bar, and
give the details, like I said, for the project manager of each project.
As you can see, Sara spent a great deal of time outlining each step
on this project timeline, so we're able to have projected
information, as well as current updates, and each one of those has
the ability to put a large amount of information. You can drill
down to the view more to see even more details on each step of the
project.
Another new feature of this portal is the dashboards feature. This is
to provide staff updates to the public on the current 5 -year strategic
plan, as well as department metrics. Each metric that you all
approved in this repeated planning process will be presented and
tracked here, along with the department -specific performance
metrics and other information that will be of interest to our
community.
As I mentioned earlier, the City's clerical platform also provides
two additional resources for staff, a budgeting platform that will
help us streamline collaboration during the budgeting process, and
in addition, would be able to create various budget versions and
scenarios with supporting documentation in one place so we can
compare and come up with the best plan for the next year. And,
finally, that data will feed straight into a digital budget book
platform that will save us time and ensure compliance with
GFOA's requirements for the distinguished budget award
presentation.
Over the next week or so, I'll be working with Greg Botelho, the
communications director, to coordinate press releases and make
this link accessible to the public. Like I said, we are really excited.
This is going to give live -time information to everybody about
things that they'd be really interested about, and I'm happy to
answer any questions you may have about the new portal.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 30 of 45
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, any questions, ladies and gentlemen? I guess most of you
probably know that's all way over my head. I think Steve asked me
the other day, "Do you happen to know your IB — Apple IB
something something?"
Female Speaker: I'm there with you, Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: Go ahead, Laura, Paul — Laura.
Ms. Bentley: Well, just a suggestion. So, this is awesome, and I .know this has
taken a lot of time and effort. I would love to see something on the
dashboard that says how are your Milton tax dollars utilized, and a
pie chart that shows how well we use our tax dollars. I would hope
maybe someday it will be included with the tax bill as well, but I
think we do a great job with that.
The pie chart seems to help a lot when people get their tax bill.
There's just a short tutorial on taxes. There's the Fulton County tax
portion, and then there's the Milton tax portion, and how it's used
within our City, because I think we have a really strong story there.
Ms. Harvill: Absolutely. We have a lot of great information in our budget book
that I can pull right into the portal and we can do an extensive
addition to it as well, so that's a great idea.
Female Speaker: I would have frequently asked questions, the things that you're
going to get. That's exactly what we need to do. We just need to be
very aggressive with it.
Ms. Harvill: Absolutely. We can tailor this. It's says it's a department
dashboard, but we can tailor it however we want and make any
kind of category we'd like to, so that's absolutely doable.
Ms. Bentley: Come tax bill time, we'll want that to be the very first landing
page.
Mayor Lockwood: It should. You're going to have a pie chart with a big, big piece
and three items that gets covered in that, and then you have a small
one that melting with about 100 items in it. Good idea. Anybody
else? Rick?
Mr. Mohrig: How do you access this? Is it from our webpage?
Ms. Harvill: We're going to put a link right on the webpage that you can click
and it will take out to the portal. There are ways, once you're in
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Mr. Mohrig:
Ms. Harvill:
Mr. Mohrig:
Ms. Harvill:
Male Speaker:
Ms. Bentley:
Ms. Harvill:
Mr. Mohrig:
FIRST PRESENTATION
there and you get used to it, you'll see each individual project page
as its own link, so if you want to remember that link you can have
it. There are a bunch of different ways to access it.
But from an easy use — once they go to the webpage —
Right on the main page we'll put a link.
— then they can see and actually go out to it. Great.
Absolutely.
You won't even realize you're leaving our webpage, right?
And Greg will figure out how to do it from Facebook.
Yes. I'm holding him to it. Yeah, it's a web link, so we'll be able
to attach it to Twitter and Facebook — any of those places.
Good work.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, thank you very much, Bernadette, and everybody else
involved. Okay, we'll move on to our first presentation. Tammy, if
you will read that item.
Tammy: That item is Consideration of an Ordinance to Revise and Update
Regulations Related to Door -to -Door Sales, Agenda Item Number
21-111. Mr. Sean Ocari, or is it —? I'm sorry, never mind. Go
ahead, Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so did we remove that?
Mr. Mohrig: I don't know. We just have to power through this thing.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah, First Presentation — my bad. So, I'll open up for a motion on
that First Presentation.
Mr. Mohrig: Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the first presentation
as read.
Ms. Bentley: Second.
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 32 of 45
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Mohrig, with a
second from Councilmember Bentley. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to approve Agenda Item
No. 21-111. Councilmember Bentley seconded the motion. The motion passed
(6-0). Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Mayor Lockwood
Tammy:
ZONING AGENDA
It's unanimous. Okay. All right.
I always get confused on that one.
Mayor Lockwood: Oh, no worries, me too. So, tonight we have no items under public
hearing and we'll move on to the zoning agenda, so if our clerk
will please read the rules and sound the zoning item.
City Clerk: [Audio cuts out] [01:18:07] at the council meeting, where the
Council considers the zoning agenda, these items include rezoning
petitions, modifications of zoning, use permits, and associated
concurrent variances. In addition to ordinances, resolutions, and
text amendments, I would like to acquaint you with some of the
rules and procedures for this meeting.
The applicant and all of those speaking in support of an application
will be allowed a total of 10 minutes to present the petition. The
opposition will also' be allowed a total of 10 minutes to present its
position. If time remains, the opposition will be allowed to rebuke.
The applicant may choose to save some time for rebuttal following
the presentation by the opposition.
Since the burden of the proof is upon the applicant, the applicant
will be allowed to make closing remarks provided time remains of
the allotted time. Those called to speak will be taken in the order
that the speaker cards were received by the City Clerk prior to the
beginning of tonight's meeting.
All speakers will identify themselves by name, address, and
organization, if applicable, before beginning their presentation.
The planning commission has heard the rezoning agenda items and
their recommendations have been forwarded to the Mayor and City
Council for consideration and disposition. The applicant shall not
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Page 33 of 45
submit material to the Council during this meeting unless
requested to do so. All material that you wish to be reviewed by
the Council in consideration of your application should have
already been submitted to the Community Development
Department and is included in the normal distribution of packages
to [audio cuts out] [01:19:33].
When an opponent of a rezoning action has made, within two years
immediately preceding the filing of the rezoning action being
opposed, campaign contributions aggregating $250 or more to a
local government official of the local government which will
consider the application, it shall be the duty of the opponent to file
a disclosure with the government authority of the respective local
government at least five days prior to the planning commission
meeting.
A violation of relevant statute constitutes a misdemeanor.
Therefore, if you have contributed $250 or more to a council
member and you have not filed a disclosure prior to the planning
commission meeting, the City Attorney strongly suggests that you
have someone speak for your point of view.
Our first zoning item this evening is Consideration of Zoning Text
Amendment RZ21-03, Section 64-1061609, Swimming Pools,
Private, as it Relates to Location of Swimming Pools on Flag Lots,
Agenda Item Number 21-079. Ms. Robin McDonald?
Ms. MacDonald: Good evening, Mayor and City Council. This is very different. I
didn't expect you all to be squished together, so it's exciting.
Anyway, so good evening, and — okay.
So, tonight I'm just going to discuss this small text amendment that
has gone through the public hearing process. First of all, just to
explain a little background for the purpose of it, there have been
instances where a property owner has a flag lot and wants to
construct a pool where it is technically in the front yard, but it
located at the back of their house, and so I'll go through these
examples that I gave you some hard copies so you can look at it a
little more closely.
This proposed text amendment would allow staff to approve the
location of a pool behind the house, but technically in the front
yard set -back as defined by the zoning regulations for flag lots.
This item was before the planning commission on January 27th,
and they recommended a deferral to February 24th, and then,
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subsequently on the 24th, after discussion on the topic, they voted
unanimously, 6 to 0, with some changes that are reflected before
you tonight, as well as, obviously, we've had review by the City
Attorney.
So, this is a situation of a flag lot, a subdivision. It was done prior
to us becoming a city, but when we look at flag lots — this is
actually Hopewell Road that comes along here at the roundabout —
we look at the front as being the most parallel to the main road.
Let's say, in this instance, this is just a regular lot. It's just the
front, sides, etcetera, but these three lots are considered flag lots.
So, here is the front 60' setback. This would be considered the
sides, side, and this would be the rear, and again, they just kind of
go on top of each other — sandwich each other, same thing — front,
sides, and then the rear here, and then, again, front, et cetera. You
can see how it's organized, and in this instance they have a shared
common driveway. This is not a street. It's a common driveway
with cross -access easements that are granted at the minor plat
process.
So, in this situation it appears that the houses are fronting, or
facing, this shared access driveway. So, again, here — this is like
the front door and it has a side entry garage. This one has a side
entry, but on the right side. Here's the front door. And this one is
more traditional to Hopewell. Here's their front and then here's
their front door. It looks like they have even another garage or
parking area in the back. So, that's how a typical — every flag lot
subdivision's a little bit different, but in general, they're typically
like this.
So, I want to show you the site plan that was presented to us to be
able to put a pool in the yard, and so, if you remember, this house
is facing this common drive here, and for them to put their pool in,
they had wanted to put it right here in the corner, which is behind
their house, but it's technically in the front yard of the lot, so that's
an example of where, in this situation, they would need a variance
to the Board of Zoning Appeals to ask for a variance to allow a
swimming pool in the front yard — in the technical front yard, not
their front yard that they, in a practical way, use over here.
I'm going to give you another example that — actually, this was
approved, I believe, a couple of years ago to the Board of Zoning
Appeals. This is the Hampshires off of Freemanville Road, and this
is a street, and here's a street, and you think, oh, that's a street.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Well no, that's not a street. That's a shared driveway again, and
their legal frontage, if you can see this outline with the red, goes
down to the street. It's like, well, wow, that's pretty crazy, but
technically this is their property, not this guy's property, but in all
practical instances, they don't go through this person's side yard to
get to their house. They access it through the shared drive. So, this
is another type of flag lot, and here is their front yard because,
again, we define the front yard as being the most parallel in a flag
lot to the main street.
And then, this is their site plan they submitted to the Board of
Zoning Appeals, and so you see that they have their swimming
pool in front of their house, but in all practical — any reasonable
person would think, well, that's behind their house, and then this is
their access. This is how they drive to get to their front and go into
their driveway to get into their garage.
So, those are a couple of examples that we've had in the recent
past requested this type of swimming pool in the front yard. So,
let's go ahead and — anybody have any questions, I guess, before I
go on to the verbiage?
Mayor Lockwood: Questions?
Male Speaker: Oh, I have a quick question. You're maybe about to get to it. Why
was it deferred by the Planning Commission?
Ms. MacDonald: Okay. I think that at the same time, they were looking at the issue
of flag lots in general, and so I think the first meeting they felt like
they didn't want to make a decision until there was further
discussion because it was more of a work session type topic at that
planning commission, and there was additional information they
had requested of staff in the February meeting. So, once we
presented issues, generally, about flag lots, then they felt more
comfortable to be able to go ahead and address this text
amendment.
Male Speaker: Thanks, okay.
Ms. MacDonald: Okay? So, here — this is an administrative use permit, so this
doesn't go through a public hearing process. It's just basically a
building permit that we review for compliance of all these different
types of requirements. So, here under detached dwellings for when
you construct a swimming pool, it says swimming pools —
anything that's in black is what existed, and then the red is the
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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amended redline version that was proposed by the planning
commission, as well as edited and reviewed by the City Attorney.
Swimming pools shall be allowed in side and rear yards — not
inside — but you can see the play on words, but the intent is it can
be allowed in a side yard and rear yards of single family dwellings
in any district. In addition, swimming pools may also be allowed at
the back of the house on a double frontage, single family
residential lot. So, they wanted — the planning commission had a
great suggestion to be able to be a little more clear. So, this isn't
what we're really talking about when you have a double frontage.
So, let's say that you have a house in White Columns and you have
a normal street, but then you back up to Freemanville Road. So,
technically, you have a double frontage because you have a
frontage on Freemanville, and you have a frontage on White
Columns Drive, or whatever. So, then you would say, well, it says
in the ordinance I can't have a pool in the front yard, but this is the
exception or the allowance to allow that pool on the double
frontage lot.
We go on to say in a flag lot, swimming pools shall be allowed in
the front yard provided such alternative location is approved by the
department, that being Community Development, which shall
approve the location if the purpose of the zoning ordinance is
maintained with the proposed location. If you think about, well,
what is the purpose of the zoning ordinance — it's to make sense —
to make public welfare to be correct, so you're not going to
typically put a swimming pool in your front yard where your front
door is. You're going to put it either behind or to the side of your
house, and so this allows for the discretion of the department to
approve a scenario like the two that I just presented to you.
So, anyway, that's what I have to present to you tonight, and so,
again, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, questions on this?
Ms. Bentley: Yeah, just for clarification. So, if the value of having this
administrative availability is, if it did have to go through the BZA
and a variance processed, that adds months to the homeowner
having to get that approval?
Ms. MacDonald: Correct, it's usually two to three months it adds time to it,
depending on when they submit, so yes.
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So, I want to clarify something to that Bob made a great point. It
doesn't mean that we're advocating that swimming pools be in the
front yard in general for a normal lot, so if somebody wants to put
a swimming pool in the front yard, they have to go to the Board of
Zoning Appeals and ask for that variance, and that's a public
hearing process. I just want to make that clear.
Mr. Mohrig: That was going to be my question — we haven't extracted an
opportunity for the public still to be aware because it still has to go
to the BZA?
Ms. MacDonald: No, not in this circumstance — not for flag lots, nor for double
frontage lots because that's just logical.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, any other questions? Tammy, do we have any public
comment on this?
City Clerk: We do not.
Mayor Lockwood: I'll close the hearing.
Ms. MacDonald: Oh, and let me just also interject, before I close out, at the last
Planning Commission meeting, because it's related to flag lots, we
did a lot of discussion, and review, and Bob came and did a great
job of just talking about flag lots as well. They directed the staff to
pursue text amendments to begin the possibility or consideration of
eliminating flag lots, so obviously it's something that is coming
down the pike. I would have it go the first meeting — Community
Zoning Information Meeting in May — and then if things flow
along, it would be before you in August — very beginning of
August, so I just wanted to give you that information as well.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, anything else? I'll open up for a motion.
Mr. Jamison: I'll make a motion — I've just got to find it. Mayor, I make a
motion to approve Agenda Item Number 21-079.
Mr. Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Jamison, and I think I
heard Council Mohrig first as a second. All in favor, please say
aye.
All: Aye.
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Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jamison moved to approve Agenda Item
No. 21-079. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion.
The motion passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was
absent from the meeting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: It's unanimous. Okay, Tammy, if you'll please call the next item?
City Clerk: That's our first unfinished business item, which is Consideration of
an Ordinance of the City of Milton, Georgia, to Amend Chapter 2,
Section 2-54, of the Code of the City of Milton, Georgia, to Clarify
the Council Meeting Agenda Setting Process, Agenda Item
Number 21-078. Ms. Stacey Inglis.
Ms. Inglis: Good evening, Mayor and Council. If you recall the two February
meetings that we had, we a home rule charter revision that
removed language in the charter that dealt with how agenda items
are added to an agenda, and because it was very granular to have
something like that in our charter. We told you then that we would
bring this forward as an ordinance amendment, so that's what
we're doing tonight.
The language that we're proposing to add to Section 2-54, which is
called "Agenda," reads: "the City Manager and City Clerk shall
prepare an agenda of subjects to acted on for each meeting," and
we're adding, or asking to add, "with the Mayor, City Manager,
City Attorney, and the joint request by two council members able
to add an item to the agenda."
I would like to, if we could, amend that just a little bit and say
"and/or," or just remove the word "and" and say "or." So, it would
read: "with the Mayor, City Manager, City Attorney, or the joint
request by two council members able to add an item to the
agenda."
Mayor Lockwood: Does anyone have any comments or questions? Okay. All right, I'll
open it up for a motion. Tammy, you're good with that? I'll open
fora—
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item Number
21-078.
Mr. Jamison: Second.
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Monday, April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley,
with a second from Councilmember Jamison. All in favor, please
say aye.
All: Aye.
Male Speaker: Do we have to describe the text?
Female Speaker: Can we say more?
Male Speaker: As explained or as represented? Did I hear that?
Ms. Bentley: I didn't say that. I'll say that now. I'll start over. Mayor, I'd like to
make a motion to approve Agenda Item Number 21-078 with the
addition of the word "or."
Female Speaker: With the replacement of the word "and."
Ms. Bentley: With the replacement of the word "and" to "or."
Mr. Jamison: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, we have a motion from Councilmember Bentley with a
second from Councilmember Jamison. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-078. Councilmember Jamison seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-
0). Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Okay, for the next item we have New Business,
so if our City Clerk will please call the item that's left on that.
Tammy: That new business item is Consideration of a Resolution to
Condemn Property Rights Needed for Hopewell Road at Bethany
Bend Way, Project Parcel 8, 0.177 acres of fee simple right-of-
way, 0.165 acres of temporary construction easement, and one
temporary driveway easement. The owner is Alireza D. Lavassani,
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for
SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., and SunTrust Bank, now known as Truist
Bank, Agenda Item Number 21-113. Ms. Sarah Leders?
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Mayor Lockwood: If I can, I would just make a general comment about this. We've
got a couple of items and you can feel free to jump in and help.
You know, when we see the condemnation word, it sounds pretty
strong and pretty mean — big bad government — and I just want to
clarify that the City has never condemned any property other than
for any reason that's in the best interests of the City and it's also in
a negotiation and a fair agreement with the property owner.
It's not that the City comes in and — we're not going to take
property to use for something else for the City that they want. A lot
of times, and I've seen that in real estate transactions before and
whatnot — sometimes things take a long time. Sometimes it's a
timing thing and we have to friendly condemn something, but
we're still working with the people with fair appraisals and
whatnot to make sure that it's done, and I think in some of these
there's agreement between the property owners and whatnot, but
sometimes it takes mortgage companies and all that. They have to
have a little push to get their numbers all right to where they
release and those type things.
Female Speaker: Technical condemnation.
Mayor Lockwood: Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to make that — clarify that when an
average person sees the condemnation, we're not taking something
from someone. We're negotiating in good faith and they have
agreed to get their compensation, but it hasn't taken place yet. This
allows the City to move forward with these improvements. Is that
fair to say, Ken?
Mr. Jarrard: Mr. Mayor, that's a nice summation. I agree with that.
Mayor Lockwood: All right, go ahead, Sara. Sorry.
Ms. Leaders: So, on this parcel, Parcel Number 8, we have reached an agreement
—just having difficulty getting all the sign -offs to proceed with the
closings. We've had the appraisal abated, and so this just puts us in
a position where we're reaching a critical point on the project to
award construction, so this is just preparing if, again, we're not
able to get those sign -offs by the time we absolutely need to close.
Ken, do you have anything?
Mr. Jarrard: No, that's right. That's what my notes indicate as well, and in fact,
there have been some — going to the Mayor's point — some
technical issues that also sort of require us to at least get ourselves
ready if we have to. It's not really even about, necessarily,
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disagreeing on the price, although certainly that can be a part of it,
but a lot of it is timing, whether we're ready.
Mayor Lockwood: Again, to that point, this is just to allow these projects to proceed
along a schedule. At some point, it will all be documented, signed,
closed, whatnot, just as though it could have been if we could just
wait on the project, but —
[Crosstalk]
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Any questions, or I'll open up for a motion.
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item Number
21-113.
Mr. Moore: Second
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Bentley, with a
second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-113. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Mayor Lockwood: It's unanimous. Okay, Tammy, if you'll please read the next.
City Clerk: The third item is Consideration of a Resolution to Condemn
Property Rights Needed for Hopewell Road at Bethany Bend/Way,
Project Parcels 3 and 6, .065 acres of fee simple right-of-way, .062
acres of temporary construction easement, and two temporary
drive easements. The owner is Pamela Ford Jackson as Trustee of
the PFAJ Revocable Trust dated February 7, 2019, Agenda Item
Number 21-114. Ms. Sara Leaders?
Ms. Leaders: On this one, we're still in negotiations with the property owner.
This is just, again, to put us in a position if we're not able to reach
a settlement by the absolute time we need to close to be able to
proceed to get title to begin the project.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, and I'll also add to that that it's to get the project started, but
the City still has the interest to be fair and reasonable with the
property owner and make sure it comes out fair for all parties. Any
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Page 42 of 45
questions on that? I'll open up for a motion on that. Did I close the
hearing on the last one and ask for public comment? I don't think I
did.
Mr. Jarrard: Not really. All we're doing is asking for public comment. There's
no need.
Mayor Lockwood: So, there's no public comment on this one either?
City Clerk: There's no public comment, right.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, now I'll open up for motion.
Mr. Mohrig: Mayor, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item Number 21-
114.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Mohrig, with a
second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-114. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Mayor Lockwood: It's unanimous. Okay, Tammy, if you'll call the next one?
City Clerk: Yes, that next item is Consideration of a Resolution to Condemn
Property Rights Needed for Hopewell Road at Bethany Bend Way
Project, Parcel 4, .063 acres of fee simple right-of-way, .031 acres
of temporary construction easement, and two temporary driveway
easements. The owner is Donald G. Stefanik, J.P. Morgan Chase
Bank, Agenda Item Number 21-115. Ms. Sara Leaders?
Ms. Leaders: And this last one, we have reached an agreement with the property
owner. We've been trying to close for nearly nine months so, just
again, to get the correct signatures needed to close.
Mr. Jarrard: Mr. Mayor, if I can, that's a perfect example, too, and Sarah's spot
on. We've been in agreement with the property owner on price for
a long time. We just can't get the bank documents we need, and
makes this —
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Mayor Lockwood: Right. And hopefully, this will prod the bank, because I'm sure it's
fair to the property owner, but the documents from banks may say
we can't release any collateral unless something else happens.
Okay, I'll open this one up. Is there any public comment?
City Clerk: There is not.
Mayor Lockwood: I'll open this one up for a motion.
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item Number
21-115.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley,
with a second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please
say aye.
All: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-115. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Thank you, Sara. Okay, we'll move on to
reports. Does anyone on the council have anything they want to
report on? Okay, then I'll — yeah, we'll say happy birthday to
Councilmember Bentley — 29.
Ms. Bentley: Thanks.
STAFF REPORTS
Department Updates
1. Community Outreach
Mayor Lockwood: All right, we'll go to staff. Community Outreach — Courtney.
Ms. Spriggs: Hi, Mayor and Council. I just have a brief update. It hasn't been
too long since we last spoke. We continue to work on a number of
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Page 44 of 45
projects to keep residents engaged and informed in the City of
Milton.
Upcoming, we have Earth Day. Earth Day is officially on the 22nd
of April, but we have a lot of events before and after it, in lieu of
our traditional in-person event. We'll have a social media post
encouraging people to walk our newly marked trails at
Birmingham Park. I know you all are familiar with those, but our
staff member, Anita Jupin and her family have been out
volunteering and remarking those, making sure that they are visible
and well read, and they'll soon be working with GIS to make sure
that there's a new and easily -followed map, and some more people
can take advantage of that beautiful park.
We're hosting goat yoga at Broadwell Pavilion with Atlanta
Stream Farm on April 17. We are, with the Milton Equestrian
Committee, assisting with the Birmingham Park clean-up day on
April 24 in conjunction with the Milton Land Conservancy, who is
hosting that.
Separate from. Earth Day, we're working with Milton Fire, who is
hosting animal CP and animal CPR clinic on the 25th of April.
Then, our Milton Book Trail clean-up day is on May 1. That's in
conjunction with local volunteers, and local volunteer, Suzanne
Rosenwasser, who is a local author who helps maintain that trail.
She has the book tour, and she also has developed a fairy garden
out there, including a fairy mailbox that children have been writing
letters to.
We are currently taking applications for our comprehensive
internship program, which starts in June, and then later, we'll be
working with Crabapple Community Association for an in-person
Independence Day walking parade, and plans are already in
progress for an in-person, completely normal crabapple fest, which
makes me very happy.
The Milton Equestrian Committee, in addition to what I
mentioned, is also working on other trail and improvement ideas
for Birmingham Park and have met with staff about that, and we
continue to work together with the community and other city
departments to keep people connected to their city.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, any questions? Okay.
Ms. Spriggs: Thank you so much.
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Mayor Lockwood: Thank you, Courtney. Any other staff reports?
City Clerk: Mayor, I knew that word was revocable. Councilmember Jamison
helped me.
Mayor Lockwood: You know what, I was going to call you out on it.
City Clerk: You know, open mouth and it just comes out. I knew it, though, for
the record.
Mayor Lockwood: Sometimes it's better just to keep your mouth —
Male Speaker: Mayor, there has never —
Male Speaker: Just ask the Mayor to say arboretum.
[Crosstalk]
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Lockwood: I knew I didn't — I knew I'd never live that one down. All right,
well, I'll open up for a motion to adjourn our meeting.
Ms. Cookerly: Mayor, I make a motion that we adjourn this meeting.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: I have a motion and a second to adjourn. All in favor, please say
aye.
All: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to adjourn the Regular
meeting at 7:44 p.m. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion
passed (6-0). Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting.
Date Approved: June 21, 2021
Joe