HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 07/07/20211
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 1 of 32
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Lockwood: Good evening everybody, I'd like to call the Regular Meeting of
the Milton City Council for Monday, July 7t', 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 City Clerk as soon as
possible. While the Milton rules allow a speaker to turn in their
comment card up until the clerk calls that agenda item, once the
agenda item is called, no more comment cards can be accepted.
Would the City Clerk please call role and make any
announcements?
ROLL CALL
City Clerk: Good evening, Mayor and Council. I will be happy to call roll for
the July 76, 2021, Regular Meeting. I would like to remind those in
attendance to please silence all cellphones 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, outburst or dialogue
when any one person's 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.
Mr. Moore: Here.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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City Clerk: Councilmember Laura Bentley.
Ms. Bentley: Here.
City Clerk: Councilmember Joe Longoria.
Mr. Longoria: Here.
City Clerk: And Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
Mr. Mohrig: Here.
City Clerk: And for the record, Councilmember Carol Cookerly will be
arriving late.
Mayor: Mayor Lockwood present.
Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Peyton Jamison, Councilmember
Paul Moore, Councilmember Laura Bentley, Councilmember Carol Cookerly,
Councilmember Joe Longoria, and Councilmember Rick Mohrig.
Councilmember(s) Absent:
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
City Clerk: Would everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chamber: 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.
APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA
Mayor Lockwood: Before we get started tonight. I want to welcome everybody here
and uh, it's certainly a special honor to have the cross country and
boys track and field athletes here from Cambridge High School, as
well as family and coaches, so we appreciate you guys being here
and it's an honor for us to, uh, issue you a proclamation in just a
little bit. So, if our City Clerk would please sound the next item.
City Clerk: That next item is, Approval of Meeting Agenda, Agenda Item No.
21-193.
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I'd like to add and Executive Session to discuss potential
litigation, land acquisition and personnel. Are there any other
changes on the agenda? Ok, I'll open it up for a motion.
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda with the
addition of an Executive Session.
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.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the Meeting
Agenda with the following amendments:
• Add an Executive Session.
Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-1).
Councilmember Cookerly was not yet in attendance.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Okay. Next item is public comment. Tammy do
we have any general public comment?
City Clerk: We do, Mayor. We have one.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, let me go over the rules, general public comment is a time
for citizens to share information with the mayor and city council
and to provide input and opinions on any matter that is not
scheduled for its own public hearing during today's meeting. Each
citizen who chooses to participate in public comment, must
complete a comment card and submit it to our city clerk or raise
your hand if you are attending virtually, prior to the agenda item
being called. Please remember, this is not a time to engage the
mayor or members of city council in conversation.
When your name is called, please come forward, unmute yourself
if y — you're virtual and speak into the microphone, stating your
name and address for the record. You'll have five minutes for
remarks. The city encourages you to review the agenda and if you
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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wish to speak, bring your comment cards to the clerk or raise your
hand virtually right now. I'll open up for public comment.
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. Our first public comment is from Mr. George
Borek, we invite you to the podium.
Mr. Borek: Good Evening, Mayor/Council, My name is George Borek and I
reside at 4545 Hawthorne Court, here in Milton.
Uh, my comments tonight are just basically and idea that pertains
to fireworks, which is a contentious issue in general and the other
night when I was on the couch, with my dog, my golden retriever,
two Xanax, and the bombs were bursting all around us, an idea
popped into my head. Uh, one of the things I am going to bring to
you is that, you know, you look at what Milton has done, we have
a green, you have a stage coming, you have all this walkability
here — think about the concepts of Milton hosting a fireworks. A
general fireworks - on the 4`h of July - for the public. I spoke to a
couple of people that I know that are in the restaurant business that
are right down here in the Crabapple area and I said, what if Milton
had a fireworks, what would you guys think about it? Would you
guys be willing to donate towards it? And, they enthusiastically
said, yes! But just think about the concept —four o'clock on the 4t'
of July - on the green ... start it here — you have the restaurants.
You have Fulton County School right here — a large area, where
you can put a large amount of people, in that facility — and also put
the fireworks, Uh, where the softball field is and then shoot them
up. Okay, you have parking, you have the ability of residents to
come to the downtown area, partake in the festive, Uh, uh arena,
buy one thing that I always see, I see — it's not about adult lighting
off the fireworks — it's about the kids. People light up fireworks
because they want their kids to enjoy something on the 4t' of July.
If you could put everyone, in a central place — one day, I can
guarantee you, it's not going to alleviate all the issues with
fireworks but I think it's something to consider cause I think it can
solve some of the problem — but it will also bring the community
together. Because Milton is a community, a community — people
get together. Look at the high school, my son and daughter just
graduated from Milton High School and every time we go to a
football game, lacrosse — anything we go, people come together.
And again, just think about the idea is that something that Milton
will entertain because I am sure that if Milton did something like
that — I am sure the public will come out in force to support and
donate the funds to have a festive fireworks — in a controlled
environment, and then it will take a lot of that stuff out of the
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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neighborhoods. So, just a thought — thank you Mayor/Council,
thank you!
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you very much, okay is that our last public comment
City Clerk: Mayor, our next public comment is from Ms. Heather Sparkes. We
invite you to the podium.
Ms. Sparkes: Good evening, Mayor and Council, um, I am Heather Sparkes —
12912 Waterside Drive. Um, tonight I am asking for your
commitment and your support for addressing safety issues at the
intersection of Green Road and Crabapple Road. The intersection
today as you probably know has what's called a Florida -T
intersection or median. And that median allows for safer left turns
from Green Road on to Crabapple Road, as well as Crabapple
Road on to Green Road. The Florida -T intersection was installed
about two years ago to address some safety issues that were
present. My neighbors and I recently learned that GDOT will be
removing that Florida -T intersection, as they are doing their paving
project that has either just started or will be starting in the near
future. Unfortunately, when they remove that intersection, they are
not going to replace it with a safety measure. They are going to be
leaving the dedicated left turn, from Crabapple to Green — which
will actually create an additional hazard. But when you turn left
from Green to Crabapple, there will be no safe place to land. Um,
I feel like these changes are moved back to a less safe intersection.
Um, by removing the safer acceleration and merge lanes from
those turning from Green on to Crabapple and adding the
additional obstacle.
In addition to the safety component, the changes will most
certainly take us back to congestion problems that we had at the
intersection on Green Road specifically, prior to the installation of
the Florida- T. Prior to the Florida -T, the morning traffic would
back up to, on a daily basis, to the first entrance of the Waterside
subdivision. And on multiple occasions, frequently, to the second
entrance of the Waterside subdivision. And, if you are familiar
with Green Road, you know that — that is nearly all the way to
Arnold Mill. That's quite a distance. So, prior to the Florida -T
intersection, when I had to take my son to school on the days that
he had to arrive early, because he rides the bus on every other day,
I chose an alternate route. I avoided the intersection of Green and
Crabapple, instead I would take Green to Arnold Mill — Arnold
Mill to New Providence — New Providence to Doris - Doris to
Birmingham Hwy. and Birmingham to the left entrance into
school. And I know in talking to my neighbors, I am not the only
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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one who does that. So with the removal of this Florida -T
intersection, I fully recognize that — that is placing more traffic on
those other roads, but by doing that — but that is placing myself and
my family in a safer situation — by avoiding that intersection. My
son will also start driving, in May, and I will not give him the
option to take a left from Green onto Crabapple, when he goes to
school. Instead, he will be told to take the alternate route — which
seems longer but is safer. So myself and other Waterside residents
as well as Councilman Moore, thank you — had a call with GDOT
representatives last week and during that call we and we were told
that the sole purpose of removing the Florida -T intersection or
median is due to the number of median strikes that are occurring as
a result of a design flaw with the median. GDOT explained that
there is not enough room for the travel lanes and the median and
that is what has caused cars to strike it, as they head east bound on
Crabapple Road toward downtown Milton.
Waterside resident have asked if GDOT has considered other
alternatives prior to making the decision to remove the median —
adding signage, lane delineators, adding reflectors among other
ideas — we got No — a resounding No from GDOT on all of those
suggestions. They were committed, however, to remove the
median. They told us numerous times in that conversation that
they would study the intersection, however, when we asked the
questions, What is the Timeframe for study and what is the long-
term plan for the safety of the intersection, it was clear — there is
no timeframe for study and not long-term solution. The
intersection is not on any GDOT list to be studied further and it is
not on any list for GDOT funding. We know just looking at the
intersection of Green and Arnold Mill that these things are not at
the top of GDOT's priorities.
Milton recently took the lead at that intersection, thank you very
much. I understand that the study is complete and has been sent to
GDOT for their consideration and hopeful approval. Um, I hope
that once that approval is granted with GDOT, that we can move
towards full design and funding in the near future. So, I am asking
these things, of you tonight, to your support and commitment to
work with GDOT, to the intersection of Green and Crabapple to
find a safe solution, to have a defined schedule to study the
intersection and to identify this as a priority intersection for any
funding to make the physical improvements — sooner not later. In
the coming weeks we will be faced with the loss of the Florida -T
median, pray there are no serious accidents and also pray that
people will be patient as we relearn how to navigate this unsafe
intersection. Thank you for your time.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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Mayor Lockwood: Thank you very much for your comments. Okay, do we have any
more public comments?
City Clerk: That is all, Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so if we can move on to the Consent Agenda, Tammy will
you please sound those items.
CONSENT AGENDA
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. That first item is Approval of the May 10,
2021 City Council Meeting Minutes. Agenda Item No. 21-194.
Our next item, Approval of the May 10, 2021 City Council
Meeting Minutes. Agenda Item No. 21-195.
Our third item, Approval of a Contract Amendment to Transfer
Siemens Mobility, Inc. to Yunex, LLC. Agenda Item No. 21-196.
Our fourth item is Approval of Approval of a Change Order to the
Construction Services Agreement between the City of Milton and
Wilburn Engineering, LLC for the Construction of an Emergency
Vehicle Hybrid Beacon for Fire Station 44 Located on SR 9.
Agenda Item No. 21-197.
Our fifth item is Approval of an Agreement with Option Signs for
Replacement Gateway Signs. Agenda Item No. 21-198.
Our sixth and final agenda item is Approval of Subdivision Plats
and Revisions. The development name is The Conservancy at
Sweetapple located at Sweetapple Road, land lot 1017 & 1018,
District 2, Section 2, it is a minor plat. Plat supersedes
previously recorded plat in Plat Book 425, page 120. Plat revised
to add the road name to the 30' access/utility
easement, add addresses to Tracts 1-4, and to take land off of lot 4
to give back to Sweet Apple Phase 1, it's a total of 14.21 acres.
Agenda item 21-199, Mayor?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'll open up a motion on the consent agenda.
Mr. Longoria: Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve consent agenda as
read.
Mr. Moore: Second.
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Monday, July 7, 2021
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Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I've got a motion from Councilmember Longoria with a
second from Councilmember Moore for approval on the consent
agenda. All in favor, please say, aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve the Consent
Agenda as read. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion
passed (7-0).
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. We will let the record show that
Councilmember Cookerly is here. Okay. We'll move on to
Reports and Presentations. Tammy, if you will please sound those
items?
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. That item, is a proclamation recognizing the
Cambridge High School Boys Track & Field Team. Mayor?
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Before uh, as I mentioned, it is an honor and privilege to
present these proclamations, I'll start with the Track and Field
Team the we will do the Cross Country afterwards. What I'll do is
— I'll read the Proclamation first and then I'll ask the athletes to
come up front for a picture and presentation and then we'll do the
cross country one next, just like that, so.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a proclamation here recognizing the Cambridge High
School Boys Track and Field Team. Whereas, the high school
sport of track & field for public and private schools in
Georgia and across the nation provides meaningful lifetime
achievements and whereas, positive experiences for student -
athletes and their families; and whereas, the Cambridge High
School boys track and field team won the newly formed Region 7
of the Georgia High School Association 6A classification in April
2021 by defeating seven other region foes; and whereas, the
Cambridge High School boys and girls (2nd place in the state in
2019) track program has established a tradition of competing well
at the highest level, and whereas, the Cambridge High School boys
team was and remains a mixture of young and older top level
athletes, more outstanding accomplishments are anticipated that
will make the City of Milton and the Fulton County School System
proud; and whereas, the Cambridge High School boys team
represented the City of Milton with great honor on the field of
battle as well as in their classwork; and whereas, some of the
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Monday, July 7, 2021
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members of the team now advance on to universities and colleges
across the United States of America, we wish them and their
families well in their future endeavors; and Now, therefore, we, the
Mayor and City Council of the City of Milton, hereby recognize
and honor the Cambridge High School Boys Track and Field Team
and congratulate them for their hard work and achievement.
Given under our hand and seal of the City of Milton, Georgia, on
this 7th day of July, 2021.
And if I could as you guys to step forward for picture and
presentation?
[No dictation] [00:19:32 - 00:21:281
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, so if I will repeat this for the Cross Country. I am also
honored tonight - I have a proclamation recognizing the
Cambridge High School Cross Country team. Whereas runners
who compete in the sport of cross country see how discipline,
diligence, and dedication can make them not only better athletes
but better people; and whereas, those doing cross country in
Georgia schools have opportunities to forge lifelong relationships
and accomplish great things; and whereas the Cambridge High
School boys cross country team did just that in November 2020
when it won the Georgia High School Association 6A state
championship, defeating 31 other teams in Carrollton, Georgia;
and whereas this title reflects the latest and greatest
accomplishment for the Cambridge High School cross country
program, whose boys and girls teams earned state championships
in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020; and whereas the Bears boys
includes underclassmen and upperclassmen who, in their own
ways, made important contributions to the teams' overall success;
and whereas the Cambridge High School boys represented the City
of Milton with great honor on the course, in the classroom, and in
their communities; and whereas some members of the 6A state
champion team are moving on to excel at universities across the
United States, with bright futures ahead and beyond that; Now
therefore, we the Mayor and City Council of the City of Milton
hereby recognize and honor the Cambridge High School Boys
Cross Country Team and congratulate the team for their hard work
and achievement. Given under our hand and seal of the City of
Milton, Georgia on this 7t' day of July 2021. And, again, if you
guys can step forward.
[No dictations 100:23:37 - 00:25:231
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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Mayor Lockwood: And, if I could just say a few words before you guys leave, thank
you so much for being here tonight and coming, Um, it's a
privilege and an honor and we are certainly proud of you guys and
we also see a bunch of you proud coaches and parents and what
not and appreciate all that you do and you make our city proud ... so
you have a good night. Tammy if will you sound the final report
and presentation item.
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor that third item is the presentation of the 2021-
2025 Milton Fire Rescue's Safe and Resilient Community
Strategic Plan. Chief Gabe Benmoussa.
Mr. Benmoussa: Thank you, Tammy. Well, Good evening Mayor and Council. I
am extremely proud my team for what we have accomplished in
regard to the strategic plan. Um, I am honored and privilege to
present this on behalf of the department and the members. The
Milton Fire Strategic Plan Safe and Resilient community. This
was a collaborate effort throughout the organization we establish a
committee from all ranks, um and they took that information back
to the rest of the members and got that feedback and um, I would
just really like to take this opportunity to Thank some of the
members here tonight. The first step in our strategic plan is we
wanted to revisit our mission and vision model and also create
cultural belief which we call the Milton way. And that was a direct
result of the collaborative that we put together of the committee
that we got feedback and felt would be the appropriate mission for
us, which we put our community first for a stronger and safer
tomorrow. Our cultural beliefs is - in a way, how we want the
department to be - which is the Milton way, we want to be
different from everybody else. And those are our core values and
if they can't prescribe to these core values then they don't belong
in Milton. So we, when we recruit, we put that forward, this is
who we are, this is what we look forward this is oops, there we go,
it's a great recruitment tool for us because it sets the standards high
and tells them what kind of organization we are. The next step is
we conducted a SWAT analysis — similar to the cities strategic
plan - priorities that pertain to a safe community and resiliency,
and we wanted to support those strategic priorities that are in the
plan and much of our plan directly ties into the city's plan and
supports the city's priority — strategic priorities. Priority 41 to
support our community's resiliency by ensuring seamless
operations throughout city departments during disaster and
response mitigation and recovery. Our goals is to train other city
departments, create that inner operability when we have a disaster
and we want to create instant management teams within the city
that are able to perform during disasters. Our overall goal is to
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Monday, July 7, 2021
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integrate with our other North Fulton Communities so we can
support each other during a major disaster so that we are prepared.
So we plan to train all our staff to certain level when it comes to
instant management system the 300/400 which is your complex
incidents, so that we are able to, um to prepare and mitigate for a
potential disaster and meet those national standards. And then
conduct an exercise throughout the city to prepare for those
disasters and how we will respond to those.
Priority # 2 is the enhance the overall quality of life through smart,
sustainable community risk reduction initiatives. We rebranded
our fire prevention into a community risk reduction. With this
priority we wanted to conduct an assessment in our community to
figure out what are some of those risks and how specific we can be
so we address those risks versus just sort of pursuing an overall
community risk reduction that may not pertain to our communities
so by conducting an assessment we're able to identify some of
those risks so we can educate our community. So we'll be sharing
that report once we have that report. Also an integration of
technology between community risk reduction and building
department, permitting, merging that technology so we can have
better customer service and also a focused community risk
reduction by leveraging technology.
#3 Conduct an assessment to identify and recommend solutions for
service deliveries. Um, looking at enhancing leveraging
technology with the automatic vehicle locator which we are
already working with Alpharetta dispatch so that our closest unit
will respond to the closest incidence so longer taking that human
element of dispatching, but utilizing the technology that we have
so it connects automatically in the system through GPS and
identifies the closest unit regardless of districts or boundaries. So
we're working on the implementation of that right now. That
should reduce our response times, but also be more effective in
responding to emergencies within the City.
Examine the potential building and staffing of station 45, as you
might know that central corridor of the City is sort of there is a
void there so looking at potentially opening station 45 will help us
with our ISO rating, will help our community, and will help our
response times also in the future.
Develop a Fire Corps volunteer. We wanted a more, our CERT
team into a Fire Corps volunteer group. Their mission would be,
goes beyond just emergencies, they could help us during events,
they can help us during community events, during incidents we
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Monday, July 7, 2021
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might have in the City. And I'm pleased to announce Steve Cory,
please stand up, he's a community member, he has volunteered to
take the lead on the Fire Corps examining, he's going to conduct a
needs assessment, but also look at a feasibility study whether we
merge with Alpharetta's corps or create our own corps. Alpharetta
has a strong fire corps program so the footprint exists, so we're
going to look at whether we should merge, create one fire corps, or
create our own fire corps under the Milton First Responders
Foundation. So thank you Steve.
Mr. Cory: Thank you.
Chief Benmoussa: Priority #3 is looking at accreditation, achieving accreditation for
our Fire Department. Less than 1% of the total US fire
departments are accredited and we want to be part of that 1%. We
want to be the elite. Accreditation forces us as a department to
continuously improve, look at our policies, our tactics, our
strategies, our deployment throughout the community, our
response, community risk reduction, it takes all of those things and
makes sure that it matches the needs of our community. So we'll
be engaging in that process of hopefully achieving accreditation
within the next three years.
Priority #5 expand our current community paramedicine. We
rebranded it as Milton Fire CARES which stands for Community
Advocates for Referral and Education Services. Our goal is to be
proactive, reduce the non -emergency response so we can keep our
units available for true emergencies. Also reduce the unnecessary
trips of our community to the ERs that could be costly so we want
to reduce that cost, be proactive, work with our area medical
centers that we can do follow-ups for example, our community
when they get discharged from the hospital, a lot of times we end
up taking them to the ER for very simple things as changing a
wound bandage or something very simple. So we want to examine
a program we have here in the City and we can partner up, add a
social component to it so we can educate our community and refer
them to the appropriate services and not over utilize 911 or
obviously the ER, especially during a pandemic. So we look for,
we already started and we're doing a study to talk to some of the
area medical centers and see if we can integrate and get some
support.
Strategic Priority #6, Increase response capabilities through
training and professional development. We already have some
things in motion. We just developed a Milton Fire Rescue
leadership and professional development series where we provide
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Monday, July 7, 2021
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opportunities, class training for our members so they can prepare
for promotions so they can become better supervisors, better
leaders, and it goes through technical skills, management skills,
leadership skills. And that spans an entire year.
Strategic Priority #7, Empower members to embrace a healthy,
safe, and productive work environment, expand opportunities to
improve overall health, mental and physical wellness. The ability
to provide support to their peers, understand common behavioral
health issues affecting the fire service, and build peer support. We
want to have a robust, healthy work force. We want them to retire
and go home at the end of their career, not just at the end of the
shift. So we're looking at increasing the health screening for
cancer, for cardiovascular disease, that's the number one killer of
fire fighters. Fire fighters are 9% more susceptible to get cancer
and die from cancer than the general population. So we want to try
to address those issues. But it also helps us as a City because it
minimizes the cost for workers comp, because we want to educate
them on injury prevention, insurance costs, all of those things tie in
together when you have a robust program. Mental health, PTSD is
rampant, runs rampant in the fire department, police department,
and military. So one of those things, we want to create a peer
support team that helps our members, they can be confident, they
can talk to them, they can be trusted so they can direct them to the
right resource or support. Create an opportunity for those
members to get some help.
Strategic Priority #8, Improve the quality and relevance of training
for our members to better prepare them for the types and sizes of
emergencies encountered while operating in the community. And
again that just relates to training, having the necessary staff, the
equipment, the training so that we are providing top notch quality
in our community.
And with that, do you have any questions? I'm happy to answer
any questions that you might have.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions? All right. Chief Benmoussa, I just, not only all
your efforts and your staff, just sincerely appreciate as well as I
know our citizens do. so thank you for all your efforts.
Chief Berlmoussa: Thank you, sir.
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FIRST PRESENTATION
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, we'll move on to our First Presentation. Tammy, if you'll
sound the first item.
City Clerk: That item is Consideration of an Ordinance of the City Council to
Authorize Fulton County to Conduct Election, Agenda Item No.
21-200. Mayor.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. I'll just open up for a motion.
Ms. Bentley: Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item No. 21-
200.
Mr. Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay.
Ms. Bentley: It's a first
Mr. Longoria: The first reading not the.
Mr. Moore: Yeah, the first presentation.
Ms. Bentley: What am, I'm sorry, I'm confused, just a
Mayor Lockwood: You just want to approve the first presentation.
Ms. Bentley: Oh, I'm sorry.
Mayor Lockwood: It's all right, go ahead. You want to
Ms. Bentley: I'll take another stab at that. Mayor, I'd like to approve the First
Presentation items.
Mr. Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley
with a second from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor, please
say aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the First
Presentation item. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion
passed (7-0).
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Lockwood: Unanimous. Okay tonight we don't have any Public Hearing,
Zoning Agenda or Unfinished Business items, so we'll move on to
New Business. Tammy, if you'll please sound that item.
City Clerk: The item is Consideration of Resolution of the City of Milton for a
New ARPA Account with Georgia Fund 1 State Investment Pool
Account. It's Agenda Item No. 21-201, Ms. Stacey Inglis.
Ms. Inglis: Good evening, Mayor and Council. The resolution that is before
you is a process that's required by the State of Georgia for the pool
investment account. We have to have a resolution approved by the
board for a new account to be opened up, created. We're creating
this account for all the American Rescue or Recovery, I can't
remember which one it always is, the Plan Act. The funds that
we'll be getting, we're planning on getting about 14.7 million
dollars over the course of two years. And that will be deposited
into this newly created account so we can basically keep up with
the monies and keep them separate from anything else. I'll be
happy to answer any questions.
Mayor Lockwood: Questions? Okay. Do we have any public comment on this?
City Clerk: We do not.
Mayor Lockwood: Then I'll close the hearing on that and open up for a motion.
Mr. Mohrig: Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 21-
201.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. We have a motion from Councilmember Mohrig with a
second from Councilmember Moore. All in favor, please say aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-201. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Lockwood:
City Clerk:
That's unanimous. Okay, Tammy if you'll please sound the next
item.
The next item is Consideration of the Issuance of an Alcohol
Beverage License to Prosperity Tree LLC, it's doing business as
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 16 of 32
Rice and Spice located at 12990 Highway 9, Suite 102 in Milton
and it's Agenda Item No. 21-202, Ms. Bernadette Harvill.
Ms. Harvill: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Rice and Spice is a restaurant.
They'll be located in the Aldi shopping center on Highway 9 in the
Deerfield district. They are applying for a consumption on
premises of wine, malt beverages and distilled spirits including
Sunday sales. The applicant is in compliance and staff
recommends approval.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. Any questions for Bernadette? Okay, I'll open up for a
motion.
Mr. Longoria: Mayor, I move that we approve Agenda Item No. 21-202.
Mr. Moore: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Longoria and I
believe Councilmember Moore second or Councilmember Mohrig,
I believe Moore. All in favor, please say aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Longoria moved to approve Agenda Item
No. 21-202. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed
(7-0).
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, that's unanimous. Is the applicant in the audience? Okay,
we wish them well. All right, Tammy if you'll please call the next
item.
City Clerk: Our third item is Consideration of the Issuance of an Alcohol
Beverage License to HE RU LLC it's doing business as Flippin
Pizza at 5230 Windward Parkway, Suite 105, Milton, and that's
Agenda Item No. 21-203, Ms. Bernadette Harvill.
Ms. Harvill: Flippin Pizza is a restaurant located on Windward Parkway again
in the Deerfield district. They are applying for a malt beverages
only consumption on premises license. They did have a license in
the past that was not renewed due to the pandemic related closure
of their dine -in area. This request complies with the requirement
to reapply after voluntary or involuntary decision to not renew at
the typical time in November. Again, they are in compliance and
staff is recommending approval.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 17 of 32
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, are they any questions? Do we have any public comment on
this?
City Clerk: We do not.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I'll close the hearing portion and open up for a motion.
Ms. Cookerly: Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 21-
203.
Mr. Mohrig: Second.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Cookerly with a
second from Councilmember Mohrig. All in favor, please say aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous.
Ms. Harvill: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: All right, we have one more New Business item. Tammy, if you'll
please call that item.
City Clerk: Thank you, Mayor. We do, it's the final item Consideration of a
Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Milton and
The City of Alpharetta to Waive Non -Residential Fees Associated
with Therapeutic Summer Camps. It's Agenda Item No. 21-204,
Mr. Tom McKlveen.
Mr. McKlveen: Good evening, Mayor and Council. What I have for your
consideration this evening is a revised MOU with the City of
Alpharetta for Parks and Recreation programming. As you may
recall, I presented an MOU back at the end of May which included
softball, youth football, and therapeutic summer camps. This
MOU I'm presenting to you now only includes the waiving of non-
resident fees for the therapeutic special needs summer camps
between the two cities.
As a quick refresher, Alpharetta offers Camp Happy Hearts and
here in Milton we have Camp Joyful Soles. They are both summer
day camps for individuals with special needs and they serve a very
similar population. Alpharetta offers the ages of 6-12 and then we
pick them up at 13 and go to 22 years old. This MOU would allow
Alpharetta residents to participate in Milton's Camp Joyful Soles
at the lower resident rate and then our Milton residents can
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 18 of 32
participate in Camp Happy Hearts at the lower resident rate in their
camp as well. If this were to be approved tonight, it would go into
effect immediately and we would go back and refund all of the
Alpharetta residents from the start of camp and Alpharetta would
do the same thing for the Milton residents and their camp in
Alpharetta. So far this summer, we've had a total of 37
registrations of Alpharetta residents in Camp Joyful Soles totaling
$3,237.50 in non-resident fees. At this point, I'd be happy to
answer any questions if you have any.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions for Tom?
Ms. Bentley: I have a question. So what happened to softball and the football
portion that we talked about before?
Mr. McKlveen: We're still in discussion, but Alpharetta was willing to move
forward with the special needs summer camps at this time.
Ms. Bentley: Okay.
Mayor Lockwood: This is confirmation, we passed that ordinance but they have not at
this point so.
Ms. Bentley: Oh okay, thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: This is the only section that they have approved.
Mr. Longoria: So, but I'm a little bit confused because essentially we already had
in place, the fact that we weren't going to charge non-resident fees
for people that would attend Joyful Soles. That's what we
approved back in May, right? It was just along with football and
softball or something?
Mr. McKlveen: Correct.
Mr. Longoria: So, we're approving this tonight to take out football and softball?
Mr. McKlveen: Confect. We haven't taken out anything. Alpharetta has not
signed the other MOU.
Mr. Longoria: Right, but what did they do?
Mayor Lockwood: Then we'll have to do a new MOU
Mr. Krokoff: This MOU is presented to us from the City of Alpharetta. Once
they contemplated the three different opportunities, they're still
L'
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 19 of 32
Ms. Bentley:
Mayor Lockwood:
Ms. Bentley:
Mr. Moore:
Mayor Lockwood:
City Clerk:
Mayor Lockwood:
Councilmembers:
discussing internally what they want to do with softball and
football. However, they're ready to move forward with this one so
the original one that you approved was approving all three. This
one is that down to just Happy Hearts and Joyful Soles.
But it gets the ball rolling.
Okay. Any other questions on that? All right, I'll open up for a
motion.
Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Agenda Item No. 21-
204.
Second.
Okay, I have a motion for approval from Councilmember Bentley
with a second from Councilmember Moore. Before I do that, do
we have any public comment? I'm sorry.
We do not.
Okay, so I'll close the
Councilmember Bentley
Councilmember Moore.
Aye.
hearing. I have
for approval,
All in favor,
the motion from
a second from
please say aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Bentley moved to approve Agenda Item No.
21-204. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous. Okay, our next item is Reports and before we
go to Staff Reports, I'll open up for any Council Reports.
Ms. Bentley: I have a few comments. I just wanted to go back in time to 2016
when we saw had the Ebenezer Road hearing and I know you all
remember it, you all were on Council. I just wanted thank the
Mayor for his leadership on that. That got reversed and we see the
yield here tonight and I think we need to always remember that I
believe the yield was almost double on that parcel which was off of
a dirt road and tonight it came in at 14 acres and four parcels. I
know I went by and looked at it and that was kinda cool. So also
wanted to give a shout out to Sara Leaders and her team and Steve
for the roundabout at Hamby and Hopewell. It is gorgeous, I mean
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 20 of 32
it's breathtaking when you go through there. I went through there
for the first time and it made me stop and say wow this is a great
City. I also wanted to give a shout out to staff and City Manager
and those of us that are close to Highway 9, we didn't have the
temporary fireworks stands this year and it is amazing what we can
do when we put our minds to putting saying something doesn't fit
in the City and doing something about it so it was really great to
not facilitate something that's really not in keeping with Milton.
Additionally, I just wanted to make a few comments about
fireworks. I think we've made great strides with out social media,
I wish Greg was here and Courtney, thank you so much for
working with the Milton Equestrian Committee and their outreach.
It was phenomenal. Everyone, all the input that I got was thank
you for doing this. I think we can still improve. There are areas,
for example non -permitted advertised shows. I got a lot of calls
from people that were concerned about the commercial nature of
them. I don't think our residents know that those need to be
permitted. Fireworks in public streets, lots of people don't
understand that that's not allowed in the City of Milton. And then
also, outside of our hours that our noise ordinance is in effect and I
can tell you that when you've got horses and you've lived through
that week, you .are so ready for the last day of the Fourth of July
week. Those are the hours that we really want it to be over and
everyone is ready. The last thing I wanted to make a comment on
was just an observation that I'm making. In my neighborhood,
close to my home, but I don't think it's isolated and I did send y'all
out some pictures, short term rentals are in Milton. They are you
know I think that our Public Safety personnel do spend quite a bit
of their time on the issues that go along with short term rentals. So
I asked Council to start thinking about perhaps being proactive in
that area. You know, it's possible we can coexist and have that,
but I do think we need to get some restrictions in place --on street
parking, garbage pickup, hours of operation, things like that. And
most of all, just getting a piece of the tax action. Most of these
rentals are netting $500 a night and they're intense and they're
coming here to do things that probably might require some Police
oversight at times. Handoffs of the home and so on and so forth.
So I as a Council member, would like to see us move forward with
discussing this and getting ahead of it, perhaps at a Work Session.
I'd appreciate some support on that. The observations that I made
this weekend were folks were here in town, four trailers moved in
with cars that were street racing cars. And I mean I didn't know
that we are becoming a destination for street racing because of our
open roads and so, just something to think about. Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, question I have is CPAC looking at that at all? Addressing
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 21 of 32
that for the future?
Ms. Bentley: We have a vague work item on it and the timing is also probably.
Mayor Lockwood: Just suggest and mention to maybe beef that up a little bit.
Mr. Moore: Yeah, CPAC doesn't come with a solution, but it comes with the
fact that it needs some further review.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, thank you.
Ms. Bentley: Thank you.
Mayor Lockwood: Paul.
Mr. Moore: I just want to follow-up, Joe, I participated in the meeting Heather
Sparkes, the resident of Waterside, spoke to this evening last week
with GDOT. And she spoke very eloquently on what took place.
As Heather pointed out, GDOT was very succinct and very clear
about they were going to scrape the median, the raised median to
take out the Florida T. But I will also say that they participated,
they brought four members, it was a virtual meeting, they brought
four members to the meeting, all of whom were subject matter
experts on the particulars of the redesign and the region and the
traffic patterns, etc. And although it wasn't conclusive in what we
would like to have happen, which is a reintroduction of the Florida
T, I will tell you that our own Sara Leaders participated at a very
high level as well. We had a good spirited discussion about the
other types of solutions as a plan A with plan B coming hopefully
not too far down the road. There was very, was very, very accurate
in her description of GDOTs lack of commitment to timeline to get
something done, but I understand from talking to Sara in follow-up
conversations, there are some things we are doing as a City to
proactively move some of those studies forward to bring the
solution to a more satisfactory conclusion in a shorter period of
time. Sara did take the GDOT drawings and was able to recreate a
good representation of the discussion with some of the alternate
solutions that although GDOT will not participate in the
reintroduction of the Florida T at this point, they were willing to
look at restriping, taking advantage of some of the some of the
spaces available if we were to take out one of the turn lanes. I
don't think we know the outcome of that yet, but Sara took quick
action to ensure that GDOT had that because the project is starting
as we speak. So we didn't want to lose any time so the suggested
solutions that were brought to GDOT by the combined efforts of a
couple who participated from the City, the six or seven members of
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 22 of 32
the community from Waterside, as well as GDOT participating in
that conversation, I think we can come up with a with a hopefully
what will be a short-term solution because GDOT did say with the
appropriate study and with the appropriate amount of additional
land committed to that with some right of way space, that they
would consider at some point the reintroduction of a Florida T,
provided it can be done and implemented to no less than the
minimum standards required for a better outcome. So it was a
good cooperation both of the City, community and GDOT. I was
glad to be a part of it.
STAFF REPORTS
1. Public Works
Mayor Lockwood: Okay. And thank you for doing that and also, Heather, thank you
for coming here tonight, but also for being involved for all of our
citizens safety. All right, anything else? We'll move on to Public
Works.
Ms. Leaders: Good evening, Mayor and Council. It's been a couple of months
since I've given a Staff Report so I'm going to start with a few
updates on some upcoming work, some project updates, and then
go through some pictures of some active construction projects.
First of all, upcoming work. These are, the first bulleted list is
things that we have out to bid, we're reviewing proposals, getting
costs on, and getting proposals on some different both construction
and engineering projects. We have in the Brookshade subdivision,
there's about a 200 foot section of pipe we're looking at doing,
lining within the pipe that's gonna repair about 200 feet of pipe,
it's along Oakhurst Leaf, so that is out to bid right now. The
Lackey Road property, we had a capital item budgeted last year for
evaluating and repairing a pipe at the dam, so we've got some
engineers looking at giving us proposals on a fee to do that
evaluation. The Local Road Safety Plan, we put that out to bid
about a month ago, got bids back on July 1'. we have four
consultants that submitted proposals so we're reviewing those right
now. The GDOT safety action plan funds, this is an application we
submitted back in April and we were awarded about to 116,000
dollars for signage striping and pavement markings on some of the
roads that were identified by the State that could be used for safety
funds. These are all going to be local roads, not state routes. So
with that we're looking at prices for some radar signs, some
flashing warning signs, and some pavement markings.
1
And these are just some updates on a few of the projects, I didn't
list all of them, we have a lot going on in Public Works right now.
The Former Milton Country Club hydrology study, we've gotten
through the first task of that study which was to do really the basin
models and now we're getting into looking at concepts for more
natural flow paths and green infrastructure layouts. So with those
concepts, we'll have some costs with what those could be and how
they relate to the future trail on the Chicken Creek side of the
property. So we'll be bringing those forward as those are further
refined.
What we're calling TSPLOST batch 3 is the intersections of
Bethany at Providence, Freemanville at Redd, and Hopewell at
Redd. We are sending out letters for stakeholder meetings with all
the property owners adjacent to those projects and then following
meeting with those individuals, we'll do a upcoming public input
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
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Mayfield Road sidewalk trail, this is connecting Lakeside to
Freemanville Road. We performed a survey on that a few months
ago so now we're preparing to move forward with design of that
connection. Some upcoming contracts, these we've gotten bids
back and we're just working on the contracts so these will be some
upcoming agenda items. We have a sinkhole repair in the Bethany
Green neighborhood, looking at the generator, the backup
generator, for City Hall, looking at, we've done a couple iterations
for a generator and have gotten the best price on a natural gas fed
generator that would be near the Community Place building and
looking at some landscaping to go around that. The Morris Road
design, this is the final piece needed to contract the rest of the
design services for that project. We're in preliminary plans right
now and starting to develop the right of way plans for that project.
And we've got some task orders for some of the construction
underway with lots of active projects. We have BM&K that
provides those inspection services so that's going to be at the
Former Milton Country Club trails, Providence Park trails, and
then the upcoming Hopewell at Bethany intersection and
roundabout project there. Then the Birmingham Middle Bridge,
we're going to do that as a task order hoping to really streamline
the design and right of way process as well as preparing the
construction plans. You may remember came to you in March to
talk about those concepts. We already had a concept report done
with some estimates for different types of structures so we're
preparing to move forward with a task order to wrap up that design
and start talking with the neighborhood there and right of way
needed for the box culvert project.
And these are just some updates on a few of the projects, I didn't
list all of them, we have a lot going on in Public Works right now.
The Former Milton Country Club hydrology study, we've gotten
through the first task of that study which was to do really the basin
models and now we're getting into looking at concepts for more
natural flow paths and green infrastructure layouts. So with those
concepts, we'll have some costs with what those could be and how
they relate to the future trail on the Chicken Creek side of the
property. So we'll be bringing those forward as those are further
refined.
What we're calling TSPLOST batch 3 is the intersections of
Bethany at Providence, Freemanville at Redd, and Hopewell at
Redd. We are sending out letters for stakeholder meetings with all
the property owners adjacent to those projects and then following
meeting with those individuals, we'll do a upcoming public input
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 24 of 32
and likely present at a Work Session the concept development for
those projects. State 140 at Green was submitted on July 2"d, we
submitted the traffic engineering study and concept to GDOT and I
followed up with them this week to make sure that they got it and
they are on reviewing it so they're aware it's been submitted and
are working to get that review completed. So in preparation for the
next phase of that project, I'm working on getting a scope and fee
for running the survey. Initially we just did the traffic study to see
what improvements were warranted and then to layout a concept
based just on aerial imagery. So now the next stage, the traffic
study did, our consultant did show that a signal was warranted
there and that was the highest cost benefit alternative so while
we're waiting on GDOT to review this initial submittal, we're
going to go ahead and prepare the scope and fee to move onto the
next phase which is the survey.
Then the 372 repaving, that is going to be a nighttime paving
project. The entire limits of 372 from Cherokee County to 140 and
as was mentioned, the median would be removed. I did get a
follow-up from GDOT this week on the striping modifications to
the modifications they had proposed and they are willing to look at
a two way left turn lane striping at Green and 372 as a short-term
interim solution.
As part of getting a proposal for the 140 at Green survey, I'm also
getting a quote for picking up the survey of Crabapple at Green as
well. That will allow GDOT to move forward a little quicker with
laying out a design and that could be a good step towards a
partnership between the City and GDOT on advancing further
improvements there.
Hopewell at Bethany, we did hold a preconstruction meeting last
week and expect mobilization and work to begin in about the next
30 days. That's also going to include the demolition of the house
directly across from Bethany Bend.
Hopewell at Thompson, have the proposed detour starting July 12th
through August 2"d. That's just going to be the east leg of
Thompson, it will provide a similar benefit to Hamby by closing
on leg, able to expedite the construction and save about three
months.
Cogburn Road sidewalk, we're making good progress on the gas
line relocation on the east side. The sidewalk is almost complete
on the west side and we're really pushing the contractor to try to
get that done before school starts if not, it will be a few weeks
1
1
1
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 25 of 32
after.
Then just a couple birds eye views of the active construction. So
this is Cogbum Road at the two neighborhoods, Oakstone Glen
and Devonshire Farms looking south. This is Hopewell at
Thompson, so this on the northeast corner looking at an angle
towards the park and towards the Bloom store. Can already see the
center island starting to form and the realignment of the both, well
both lights at Thompson. And finally, our success story of
Hopewell at Hamby, the detour really helped push this one across
the finish line and get completed about four months ahead of
schedule and to have all the final finishing touches out there as
well. It is a pretty roundabout and another one to add to the
inventory.
Ms. Bentley: Good job.
Ms. Leaders: And if there's any other questions on anything.
Mayor Lockwood: Any questions for Sara? Thank you very much.
Ms. Leaders: Thanks.
STAFF REPORTS
2. Community Outreach
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, Courtney, Community Outreach.
Ms. Spriggs: Good evening, Mayor and Council, I brought an entourage this
evening. Let me first introduce Anita Jupin, she's our Event
Coordinator. You've heard me share how vital she's been to the
City and its events, before, during, and now after covid. Her
experience and love for our community is evident in each event
she plans for Milton and she has incredible ideas for even more.
Anita is going to share tonight some of what our department has
been up to and what we have planned for the future.
Ms. Jupin: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight I'm very excited to
share some things that have taken place since our department last
provided this update in April as well share some things that are still
ahead. 2020 brought its fair share of challenges on a variety of
fronts, but one thing it really highlighted was the importance of
togetherness and the impact that has on a community. Time
together as a community was taken from us so we rolled up our
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 26 of 32
sleeves, we thought outside the box, and we explored new
opportunities and new ways to connect. We made lemonade out of
lemons. And I must say our community has responded with great
enthusiasm and gratitude. Among the new offerings was our first
animal CPR event. The event was in partnership with Fire and we
are very grateful for their support. We hosted this event in the bay
at Station 44 where we connected citizens to Dr. Colby from
Windward Animal Hospital along with Kathy Huff, a local Milton
farm and business owner. We taught residents what to do in the
event of an emergency with their horse or other farm animals or
even their cat or their dog while they're waiting to seek medical
attention or while they're waiting for First Responders to arrive on
the scene. Firefighters there shared stories from previous rescue
efforts and provided helpful information for concerned animal
owners. The spaces for our event, I'm proud to say, filled up very,
very quickly and we can't wait to begin offering this class
regularly to the community.
Additionally, our new goat yoga event took place at Broadwell and
it too was met with great success. This event was born out of the
need to offer programs that are focused on mindfulness, and it
satisfied the need to offer socially distanced and safe outdoor
events. Goga proved to be a unique way to connect people to
animals and to one another. It provides a fun experience and some
pretty amazing photos and I'm proud to say too that just a few
weeks ago you all approved for goat yoga to become a Parks
program provider. So you will now see regular goat yoga events
as a part of Milton's ongoing calendar.
During the last several months I've continued to work with village
volunteers our special needs adults along with their caretakers to
coordinate weekly park gatherings which is vital to their mental
and physical well-being. These gatherings are uplifting for our
members and we work hard to provide games and inclusive
activities each week on the turf field at Bell Memorial Park. We
continued to meet weekly, though behind a screen, for more than a
year, but we are very glad that these meet ups are beginning to take
place in person again.
In May we worked with scouts from pack 3000, troop 100, and
troop 3000 to coordinate a clean up effort at the Milton Library
book trail. This effort included redefining the trail, removing
debris so it can be safely enjoyed, and it lined up nicely with the
timing the Library was making its plan to reopen.
Later this month, we will be working with National Charity
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 27 of 32
League as well as the scouts on the trail some more. North Fulton
master gardeners will also be participating and will be planting a
few more native plants along the trail. Fulton County has also
donated a large supply of mulch to our trail efforts and once that
has been spread on our next workday, we do have a group of
scouts lined up to adopt our trail to ensure all of this hard work is
maintained. I'm very proud of all the time that has gone into
caring for this space and I know it will be a place for the
community to enjoy.
And while on the topic of trails, I think we can all agree that
Birmingham Park is a true gem in Milton and my family along
with a volunteer and Milton resident David Burdette volunteered
our time from February to April to remark each of these trails with
bright, clear, consistent markings. And I am continuing this effort
and will be working alongside our Parks department and GIS to
create consistent signage and maps for these trails. This effort
fosters collaboration among different City departments and it
supports our initiative to get Milton residents outside, to explore all
of our wonderful passive and active parks.
And I have to mention the successful event from this past Saturday
at Broadwell pavilion which is our Independence Day walking
parade. This event took place on Saturday morning. The weather
was great, thankfully, and we had record turnout for the event. I
think it was easy to see that the community was overjoyed to be
back together again and I have to give kudos to the Honor Guard
and to Aiden who played the national anthem on his trumpet to
kick off the parade that was led by the fire truck around the pond.
And then then back at the pavilion we handed out prizes, there was
no shortage of patriotic decorations on strollers and wagons and
scooters, but we did award prizes for a few stand outs in the crowd.
We enjoyed crafts, games, food, music, we had coffee generously
donated by Jason Bonafede at the Starbucks at Market District,
face painting and more. It really was a terrific event and it was
clear to see how important these traditions are to the community
and how much the residents truly value them.
We are excited about the additions we have made and we're
looking forward to all the great things to come including our fall
events, we have our annual pumpkin carving event in October,
Crabapple Fest of course, Veteran's Day and slew of traditional
holiday events that we're excited to host. These have been so
integral to Milton and have helped build and shape traditions for
our community. Thank you for the opportunity to share that with
you.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 28 of 32
Ms. Spriggs: Thank you so much, Anita. Next I'd like to highlight two summer
projects our department is very proud of. Both of these projects
boost community connection and involvement, though in very
different ways. First, the Milton Farmers Market in Crabapple
kicked off June 2"d. Held weekly on Wednesdays from 3 to 6pm in
Broadwell pavilion, it has 20-25 vendors selling vegetables, meat,
coffee, pastries, bread, granola, pet treats, and more. The market
has seen gains in attendance and sales weekly. Judy Hall the
Milton resident who manages the market for us has even had to put
vendors on the waiting list, which is a great problem to have.
From the market we've made connections with not just residents,
farmers, and small businesses, today was the market's 6th week and
the outreach has resulted in connections with the Milton Garden
Club, volunteer organizations such as Young Men's Service
League, and brick and mortar business nearby such as Whitetail
Bicycles and Coffee. I hope the market will continue to grow, both
in size and community impact.
Our second big summer project is Milton's second session of our
comprehensive internship program. This program chooses bright
students from the area with an interest in local government and
gives them an in-depth, fully comprehensive experience in how our
City works. Milton's internship is not what you might imagine,
filing and doing drudge work. It's an overview of every City
department and a deep dive into projects selected for them by
department staff. Since the internship program will be complete
before my department's next opportunity to give a report, I wanted
you to hear from this summer's interns. First Aiden McHugh, a
Milton High School graduate currently attending Notre Dame.
Adien.
Mr. McHugh: Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Aiden McCue and
I'm a second -generation alumnus of Milton High School. While at
Milton, I was vice-president of the band program where I helped
build and sustain a culture of hard work and community that I
think is a great representation of the school and Milton as a whole.
I graduated last year in 2020 and am now entering my second year
studying political science at the University of Notre Dame. What
draws me to politics and government isn't the partisan games you
see all over tv and social media, but it's ability to solve problems
and make impacts on real people. That's why this internship is
such a great opportunity because I get the chance to work on real
projects at the local level, which is where positive impacts on
people are really made. Getting to do that in the community where
I studied and worked for so many years and making a difference in
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Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 29 of 32
the lives of my family and friends isn't something that very many
people get to experience, certainly not at my age. So far, I've been
able to help organize City events such as the Independence Day
parade this past weekend, help to secure vendors and supplies and
making sure the event ran smoothly. I've helped put together
videos for the Communications department and to connect Milton
residents with other parts of our community such as the equestrian
community that we are so proud of here in Milton. Currently I'm
working with the Economic Development department to design a
program that helps connect local businesses with City resources
and over the next few weeks I'll be working with Community
Development to make their section of the City website more
accessible to the average Milton resident. I'd like to thank
Courtney and all the other City Hall staff who helped make this
program possible and I can't wait to see what else we'll
accomplish this summer. Thank you.
Ms. Spriggs: Thank you so much Aiden and great job. Next we have Chloe
Richardson, a graduate of Fulton Science Academy, currently
attending University College London.
Ms, Richardson: Thank you, Mayor and Council. My name is Chloe Richardson
and in 2019 I graduated from Fulton Science Academy where I
served as president of Model UN Society and as president of
student council. I grew up near Milton and spent my childhood
enjoying Milton's parks, businesses, and various events throughout
the year. I currently attend University College London, studying
history and politics of the Americas, where I serve as president of
our university's American Society and editor of our university's
chapter of the Amnesty International Student Journal. The skills I
have learned in this internship will be invaluable to me in these
positions and as a student when I return to university this fall. So
far this internship has given me the opportunity to participate in
many projects and opportunities including a history project where I
was able to research the narratives of recent green space purchases
in Milton. As a study of broad history and politics, I often have the
opportunity to research historical events, but rarely to do it from a
local lens or to study it with the intention of discovering narratives
and uncovering history about specific geographic areas. As part of
this internship, I have had the opportunity to research the histories
of Milton's recent green space purchases, which has led me to new
discoveries about Milton's history, geography, and the narratives
which connect Milton's land, people, and heritage.
Participating in this internship program has given me ample
opportunities to see how large community events are planned and
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 30 of 32
how they function. I aided in the planning, set up, and running of
last weekend's Independence Day parade event to ensure this event
ran smoothly. I purchased and organized decorations and craft
supplies, compiled and assigned prizes, and communicated with
vendors. At the event itself, I oversaw the setup of crafts and
decorations and spent the event taking pictures for the City and
helping to make sure the activities were running smoothly.
Helping in the organization of the Independence Day parade event
was both professionally and personally satisfying. Seeing
hundreds of people enjoying the direct results of our work was
uniquely fulfilling and allowed me to directly see the connection
between the people of Milton City and the work done here at City
Hall.
In addition, I have spent the better half of the past two weeks
studying Milton's budget in order to compare it to the budget of
other cities. I have learned about revenues, expenditures,
departmental spending, actuals versus predicted budgets,
comprehensive spending plans, and more. Prior to the internship
and this project, I knew little about city budgets and I probably
couldn't have told you what any of those words meant in this
context. After all of my research and all of the work I've done
with this project, I feel like I know plenty about the subject.
I have always been interested in learning about and participating in
government and hope to have a career in public service one day.
This internship program has allowed me to explore departments of
local government which I previously knew little about through
hands-on activities such as ride-alongs with the Police and Fire
Departments, exploring Milton's parks and trails with the Park
department, and attending different committee meetings, both
citizen committee meetings, and committee meetings here in City
Hall. I have always sought out new opportunities to make my
community, whether it be a school, an organization, or a city, a
better place and to become involved in any way I can. This
internship program has given me a unique opportunity to
participate in the community, while gaining a deeper
understanding of how local government functions, learning about
individual departments, and gaining skills such as event planning,
budget management, data analysis, data presentation and more.
All skills which will serve me well long after this internship has
ended. Milton's internship program has been an invaluable
experience for me and from participating I feel more connected to
the City and to our local community. Living far from home much
of the year for university, it can be difficult to feel connected over
the summer when I return. Participating in this program has
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 31 of 32
helped me maintain a connection to my hometown and has helped
me to be an active participant in it in the best way possible. Thank
you.
Mayor Lockwood: Thank you.
Mr. Longoria: I have a question. Can they work year round?
Ms. Spriggs: Bernadette's working on that budget.
Mayor Lockwood: I did want to say what a pleasure and an honor, number one thank
you for coming tonight and how impressive you both are and what
a pleasure and an honor to have you both as interns here in the City
of Milton and before we leave tonight if you guys don't mind, step
up and have the Council, if we can get a group picture.
Ms. Bentley: Awesome. Thanks Mayor.
Ms. Spriggs: I just wanted to say that we are super proud of these interns and
you can see why. And we're also proud of this program which
empowers young adults. Our hope is that it fosters a strong
understanding of and participation in local government. As
always, thank you for your time and trust. And I'll get the camera.
Mayor Lockwood: If you'll join me.
[no dictation 1:21:29 to 1:23:051
Ms. Spriggs: Thank you all.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, are there any other reports or staff. If not, I'm going to as
added by motion and second, like to go into Executive Session.
I'll open up, ask for a motion.
Mr. Mohrig: Motion to adjourn to Executive Session.
Mr. Longoria: Second.
Mr. Jarrard: Can I have the reasons, Mr. Mayor, if that's okay again.
Mayor: Yup, um Rick if you want to amend yours to personnel, potential
litigation, land acquisition.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Monday, July 7, 2021
Page 32 of 32
Mr. Mohrig:
Mayor Lockwood:
Mr. Mohrig:
Mayor Lockwood
So moved.
That would be your motion.
Yes, that would be my motion.
Okay, Joe you have a second.
Mr. Longoria: I do.
Mayor Lockwood: Okay, I have a motion and a second all in favor please say aye.
Councilmembers: Aye.
Mayor Lockwood: That's unanimous.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn into Executive
Session at 7:23 p.m. to discuss Personnel, Potential Litigation and Land
Acquisition. Councilmember Longoria seconded the motion. The motion passed
(7-0).
RECONVENE
Councilmember Bentley moved to reconvene the Regular Meeting at 9:57 p.m.
Councilmember Jamison seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Councilmember Longoria was absent from the meeting. Councilmember
Cookerly was absent from the vote.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:29
pm. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
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