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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 11/06/2023 - Includes NarrativesRegular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 7 of 69 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jamison: Thank you, Captain. I would like to call the regular meeting of the Milton City Council for Monday, November 6, 2023, 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 the Milton rules allow a speaker to turn in their comment card up until the clerk calls the agenda item, once the agenda item is called no more comment cards can be accepted. Will the City Clerk please call roll, and make general announcements? ROLL CALL City Clerk: Good evening, Mayor, and Council. Before I call roll for the November 6, 2023, 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, and submit it to the City Clerk prior to the agenda item being called. Any comment cards received after the item has been called will not be accepted. All speakers, when called to the podium, will identify themselves with name, address, and/or organization before beginning their comment. If you are representing an organization, a notarized 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 public comment, please bring your comment cards to me now. Demonstration of any sort within the chamber is prohibited. Please refrain from any applause, cheering, booing, outburst, or dialog with any person speaking. Anyone in violation will be asked to leave. Mayor, and Council, as I call roll this evening, please confirm your attendance. Mayor Peyton Jamison. Mayor Jamison: Here. City Clerk: Councilmember Andrea Verhoff. CM Verhoff: Here. City Clerk: Councilmember Paul Moore. CM Moore: Here. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November6, 2023 Page 3 of fig CM Cookerly: Yeah. I'll make the motion if — Mayor Jamison: Yeah. Who made the motion? CM Mohrig: There was none. CM Cookerly: Nobody. Mayor Jamison: Okay. So, may I open it up for a motion? CM Moore: Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we accept the changes that you have request with the additional request that we move Agenda Item No. 23-289 the Approval of the September 18, 2023 Post Workshop Meeting Minutes from the consent agenda to a regular agenda item this evening. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion on table. Is there a second? CM Jacobus: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore, a second from Councilmember Jacobus on the agenda with those two amended items. Is there any discussion on the motion? CM Cookerly: What's the purpose? CM Moore: To have an opportunity to further discuss that meeting and adopt it with the consent agenda motion. Mayor Jamison: Well, I believe we can approve the — we can go to the consent agenda, and if you wanted to remove a consent agenda item on the consent agenda at the time, you can make a motion then. But, okay. CM Moore: That would be my motion now, or that would be my motion later. CM Cookerly: Okay. Mayor Jamison: So, I would be in favor of keeping the agenda as is with the amendment of the Veteran's Day Proclamation, but we do have a motion on the table, and a second. So, we need a vote on that motion. Attorney Jarrard: That's correct, Mr, Mayor. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 5 of 69 Mayor Jamison: Immediately following the approval of the meeting agenda. CM Cookerly: Yeah. CM Johnson: Second, Mayor Jamison: Are you good with that, Ken? Attorney Jarrard: I understand that one. That's - [Crosstalk] Mayor Jamison: Okay. Attorney Jarrard. - approval of the agenda as amended with the Veteran's Day modification. Mayor Jamison. Any discussion on that? Okay. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. CM Verhoff: Aye. CM Johnson. Aye. CM Cookerly: Aye. Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? CM Moore: Nay. CM Jacobus: Nay. CM Mohrig: Nay Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve the Meeting Agenda with the following amendment: • Move Reports and Presentations Item for the Proclamation Recognizing November 11. 2023 as Veterans Day to immediately follow Approval of Meeting Agenda. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. The motion passed (4-3). Councilmember Moore, Councilmember Jacobus, and Councilmember Mohrig opposed the motion. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 7 of 69 officially express our appreciation for how these noble military servicemen, and servicewomen have protected, and bettered our nation. And, this is given under our hand, and seal of the City of Milton, Georgia on the 6th Day of November of 2023." And, with that said, I would ask for all the veterans to come up to receive the proclamation. [Applause/Crosstalk/Photos Taken] PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Jamison: Next is General Public Comment. Do we have any public comment? City Clerk: We do, Mayor. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I will read the public continent information: "The next item is General Public Comment. Public comment is a time for citizens to share information with the Mayor and the City Council to provide any 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 a public comment must complete a comment card and submit it to the City Clerk prior to the agenda item being called. Please remember this is not a time to engage the Mayor or members of the City Council in conversation. "When your name is called, please come forward, and speak into the microphone stating your name, and address for the record. You will have five minutes for remarks. The City encourages you to review the agenda, and if you wish to bring — to speak — please bring your comment cards to the Clerk right now." With that said, if we will please call the first public comment speaker. City Clerk: Mayor, I invite Mr. Tim Becker to the podium, please. Mr. Becker: Tim Becker, 97 Canton Street, Alpharetta, Georgia. Council, Veteren's Day is November 111h. Tonight you issued a Veteren's Day proclamation. As some of you know, I served for nearly eight years as a US Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer. My wife Kelly served nearly 12 years. I participated in five strategic deterrent patrols, each around 75 days in duration. I took an oath when I joined the navy to support, and defend the US Constitution against all enemies foreign, and domestic. Councilmembers take a somewhat similar oath, and tonight I want to speak about the Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 9 of 69 trampling on the basic Constitutional rights of citizens. What will Mohrig do next? Will he peek in citizen's windows? Bust down their doors? Enter vehicles? Pull over cars? Where does it end? I believe the City has a legal obligation to investigate this matter, and take action. Again, this is a legal matter. It does not matter what Council thinks or votes. If government authority was applied to discriminate against a citizen, and to violate his protection against unreasonable search, the City must act. You have no choice. If you do not act, the City should be sued by this citizen. I also believe that Mr. Mohrig should admit to his transgressions and resign. It is the only decent, and honorable action. Council, if you want to honor Veterans like me, then honor your oaths of office, uphold the Constitution, and implement good governance in Milton. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Will you please call the next speaker. City Clerk: Yes. Mr. Mayor, my apologies. I have a note to you, behind, second row, first one. Your name is not on here, though, but I know it's your card. You're next. Mayor Jamison: He'll speak his name for the record for us. City Clerk: He'll speak his name, and I'll put it on here. Mr. Jones: I'm sorry to follow that. Good evening. I'm Dwight Jones. Dr. Dwight Jones, a 27-year resident, 705 Hampton Trace Lane, Milton. Why am I here before you tonight? One reason only, to respond to an inappropriate, and irresponsible assertion made by City Manager, Mr. Krokoff, near the end of the last City Council Meeting. I'll get to it in a moment. At that meeting I spoke about Mr. Krokoff, I gave examples of his unethical behavior, abuse of his authority, and his publicly transferring blame to a City Council member for his own bad actions, and more. Let's quickly review those items. 1.) The speed sign debacle in White Columns. Mr. Krokoff did not follow City processes, and procedures to advance a very controversial agenda item. He then hid his improprieties by burying the results as a consent agenda item instead of giving the matter the full airing, and vote it deserved. This is pure, and simple manipulation. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 11 of 69 Councilmembers, and lie, after lie, after lie to you knowing full well that everything I say will be recorded, and thoroughly vetted? That's nuts. I'm demanding a meeting with Mr. Krokoff since Mr. Krokoff chose to publicly accuse presenters, I am publicly inviting every City Council member, the City Attorney, the Milton Herald, the AJC, and the three major Atlanta broadcast networks. We are going to put undisputable facts on the table for Mr. Krokoff to respond to, and others will certainly get drawn in. I would point out that there are open records requests, emails, videos, and direct testimony to support my assertions. What I presented is substantive, and accurate. I'm sorry he's not here. He can avoid what I believe will be public humiliation for himself, and for the City of Milton by resigning or we can go forward, and it is his choice. The one thing I assure everyone: This matter is not going away. The time has come for him to be held accountable for his actions spanning at least the last four years. If he refuses to meet, there are higher authorities to whom an appeal will be made. I thank you for your time. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Please — [Crosstalk] Mayor Jamison: — next speaker. City Clerk: Mayor, I invite Debbie Beauchamp to the podium, please. Ms. Beauchamp: My name is Debbie Beauchamp. I live at 500 Hickory Mill Lane, Milton, Georgia. 57 days ago, I emailed the Mayor, and City Council, and I asked three simple questions: No. 1) Who appointed Mr. Krokoff as the election superintendent? No. 2) Who decided not to follow the City Charter to establish the election committee? No. 3) Who determined the composition of the election committee? 57 days have passed, and not one response from the Mayor, nor six City Council members. The people elected all of you to serve the constituents. Why are you ignoring my questions from two months ago? In fact, Councilwoman Cookerly, you campaign on continuing your partnership with neighborhoods, and HOAs to be sure homeowners are being heard. My neighborhood, and my HOA do not know you. Is that why you're ignoring me? Four days after sending the email, I spoke to Mayor Jamison. He told me he had not responded because he only knew the answer to one of any questions. He said, Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 5, 2023 Page 13 of 69 committee member appointment, how can you reconstruct minutes from memory? We, the taxpayers, demand answers. We demand the truth, but most of all we demand transparency in our government. Mayor Jamison, tonight I must go on public record to state: You were wrong in telling me all of this will go away after the election. This will not go away until we, the people of Milton, have all of the answers to all of our questions. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. City Clerk: Mayor, I invite Mr. Eric Bayliss to the podium, please. Mayor Jamison. Okay. Dr. Bayliss: Hi there. My name is Dr. Eric Bayliss, 1020 Mid Broadwell. Well, this interesting. It's not gonna be nearly as polished as what I saw before me. I've never been into politics, and I've never been in anything like this in my life. But, for the previous speaker speaking on Milton, and peoples' rights, I'm gonna give a quick background of who I am, and why I'm here, and just let you all hear my story. We have a small business here in Alpharetta. We've had a home and lived in our home. And now we have a farrn here in Milton. When I was three years into practice, we put together literally all the money that we had to buy a piece of property in Milton because when we went through Milton for the first time in 2014, we saw it just dream -worthy, and we would feel lucky, and blessed to be able to live in this community. And I grew up on a farm up in Ohio. My family raised cattle, and I wanted to bring a little slice of that down to Milton, Georgia, and just provide for my family, for my three sons, and for my wife, and just live a life that I could be proud of for my family. And all that being said, this isn't really a complicated situation. I was over at our property. This was last Wednesday. I was oddly enough working on putting up "No trespassing" signs. And to be clear there were three. I have 974 photos on my phone to show every single step of the way of this process at our farm. And, as I was there, I was down at the bottom of the property. The property is 10.98 acres. I'm about 600 feet down, and I'm talking on the phone with one of my employees, and I see a silver Dodge Minivan pull in there. And, I'm just watching them drive down, look around, looking. Two Caucasian males. No idea who these guys are. I'm just watching. And, then they see me, and they stop. And, then I start driving Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 15 of 69 and then your comment, "You should put up more trespassing signs." You of all people, especially seeing the formality of this room, you should know more than everybody that you shouldn't be driving on that property. And, when I drove up to you I knew you knew it because you were nervous, and you knew you were in the wrong. So, I want to hold Rick Mohrig — honestly, all of the Council — accountable. If this stuff is gonna go on, I mean, where are our rights, and where are we gonna stop? I, first of all, 1.) I would like you to address it, and 2.) I would like an apology. That's all I have. Mayor Jamison: All right. Thank you. Will you please call the next speaker. City Clerk: Mayor, I invite Kevin Muldowney to the podium, please. Mr. Muldowney: Kevin Muldowney, 3325 Kentworth Lane, a ten-year Milton resident. I am the unidentified 70-year-old. This Council election — current election one — has really met new lows. I realize now that Eric is a, I believe, Eric is a heady Cranmer supporter. Mayor Jamison, I believe you guys workout at the same gym. But those comments he just gave deserve strong and absolute rebuttal. I was riding with Rick. We were riding around on Wednesday checking out — we were putting up some campaign signs, checking on others. And, I had mentioned to Rick there was somebody at City Council who mentioned a 10-acre lot that had been clearcut. Rick said, "You know, I know where it is. It's right up the road. Let's go take a look." We drove up on the road. There was silt fencing right near the road. We couldn't park there. There were no "No trespassing" signs. I'm positive of that. We pulled up the driveway. There was a recently laid heavy bluestone drive. We drove up that to kind of the crest of the property, looked around took a couple of pictures. We saw a pickup truck in the rear of the property by a storage container. And we got enough pictures. We started to back out — not roar out. We started to back out calmly. The truck comes pulling up — the pickup truck with Mr. Bayliss in it. Their driver's side to driver's side. It was like, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" And Rick at that point, I think, mentioned that there was somebody that had mentioned about the property. He and Mr. Bayliss started talking. It was really a pretty cordial conversation. Mr. Bayliss had stated that he wanted to raise cattle on the property. Rick and I both thought that was a great idea, you know? We had mentioned, Regular Meeting of the. Milton City Council November 6,.202.3. Page 17 of 69 Mohrig's . name. And it's. just BS. Okay. Thank guys. I appreciate your time. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. City Clerk: Mayor, I invite Sarah Pedro to the podium, please. Ms. Pedro: My name is Sarah Pedro. Tin a little concerned about sharing my address publicly since I know that this blogger who poses as a community coalition has been disparaging. Milton citizens for simply speaking up: about the wrongful activities. Mayor Jamison:. Miss Pedro. Hold on just one second. Does she have to say her name and address for the record? Attorney Jarrard: When speaking, yes.. Mayor Jamison: Yes, Ms. Pedro: Okay. I'll say it — Mayor Jamison: Okay. Ms.. Pedro: And, if it shows up, F.m gonna come back here, and explain that. Mayor Jamison: Okay.. Ms. Pedro: Because, he's been disparaging citizens in.his blog, okay, publicly. So, it's 33,0 Majestic Cove. Pve been a Milton resident since 20.1.5. And, by the way "coalition" implies it's more than one person. So, I was surprised when I found out it's one person posing as coalition, so. I'm a Milton resident of Crooked. Creak,. the gated community that was recently infiltrated by the City Manager for nefarious,. unauthorized surveillance of some. of my neighbors. I'm really actually very surprised to be here because I was blown away that this was even Happening, okay? So, when I learned of the violation of my privacy., and our neighborhood security, I felt that I couldn't stay silent regarding this. This is disturbing. I then found out that he had possibly used.his position.as a former member of the police department to gain access. That was even more troubling. And I wondered.about if active -duty Milton police officers would appreciate such an abuse of power by one of their farmer colleagues. Prn talking about the City Manager now. Due to this blatant. abuse. of power, I believe that Mr.. Krokoff should Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 19 of 69 which the Bayliss family has chosen to relocate their family. And how did Milton greet them? With Rick Mohrig criminally trespassing onto their property to make sure they were not in violation of any code. Another wonderful part of Milton is our police department, fire department, and city staff, including professional code officers who actually know how to do their jobs, and are very good at it. It is not the job of any of you City Council members to police the citizen. Your job is to make policy. It is our city staff, including police, fire, and code officers whose job it is to enforce the policy. Rick Mohrig has never been afforded the privilege, or the right by the citizens of this community to enforce anything. It is not your job, nor should it be your hobby. I am speaking out this evening because I am probably the victim that Rick Mohrig has violated the most since the beginning of Milton. I am a full working farm, equestrian center, and farm winery. In 2021 I was being challenged that I was not entitled to some of my bi right laws for use on my Ag 1 property. Rick Mohrig, and Laura Bently wanted to shut my farm down, and took it upon themselves to do that. Laura Bently went so far as to have her daughter give us a 1-star review on Google in attempt to ruin our business. Her daughter had never even been there. This is public record right here. It is public record 107-2022 Page 189 of the 1-star review that Laura Bently's daughter gave us in attempt to destroy us. When Laura Bently dropped out of the election two years ago, that left Rick on his own. I have nearly 8,000 pages of open records on every place where Painted Horse Winery, the Farm at Pamelot, and Rick Mohrig are mentioned. 8,000 pages. Every single one of our weekly newsletters for a year or more are part of the public record because Rick emailed them every week to various staff members at various weight. Here's just a bit of the public records. My son suggested that I bring all 8,000 pages and drop them down so you could see what it was. But here's just part of it. Okay. This one is from Rick Mohrig to Peyton Jamison, and it says — this is from Rick. "Please read the attached event flyer," which would be the newsletter, "and, tell me if you think the serving of wine is described in this is within their serving consumption on premises permit." Okay. So, then Peyton responds, "I do not know. I am assuming everything is being done correctly." Then, later, Rick sends another message to Peyton, "Peyton, just checking to see if you know the answers to any of the attached questions. I was Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council. November 6,.2023 Page 21 of.69 the consent agenda appears to be a strategy to stifle public .conversation, and disclosure of a meeting's details. Itseemsto be a ploy to obscure the true nature of the meeting from the public. — a grave wrongdoing,. This. item. should be relocated. from the consent.agenda to the regular agenda.for open discussion. Any move. that impedes the public's full understanding of the. detailed discussions is a. coverup aimed at shielding the 'City Manager from further scrutiny; prioritizing the City Manager's protection over public trust;. and transparency. Any Councilmember who votes to approve this woefully inadequate summary of the meeting is complicit in this coverup, and in safeguarding the City Manager, and possibly others.who may have had knowledge of or wished for this illicit meeting.. The citizens demand actual transparency,. not just the term used as lip service. When it's time to provide real transparency; the plan appears to hide the matter on the consent agenda deceiving the community. The residents of this city insist on accountability from all Cauncilmembers, and deserve. detailed. information about what.. transpired at this meeting. The choice to hold this unlawful. meeting, and the subsequent attempt to veil its details by listing it on. a consent agenda further validates why our City Manager should resign. Currently the. trust: of our citizens; .anti the effective administration, and governance. of our city is significantly compromised. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Ms. Cauley: Thank you. City Clerk- Mayor, I invite. Brett Chromy to the podium; please. Mayor Jamison: How many more do we have? City Clerk: This is the last one. .Mayor Jamison: Okay. Mr. Chromy: My name is Brett Chrorny, 141.47 Seabiscuit. I would give that directly to Tim, but he left, so. Mayor Robert. Peyton Jamison. Jr., when you ran for Mayor `two -plus years ago, you ran on a campaign slogan of keeping Milton Milton. You've broken your promise. You're known by your middle name, Peyton, and: it's very fitting. There was a TV show in the 1960s called Peyton Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November.6, 2023 Page 23 of 69 Mayor Jamison: City Clerk: CONSENT AGENDA illegal meeting with him where no minutes were taken, and no public disclosure was made. Some claim it was an election meeting, yet there is. a clear cabal among the paid puppets on this dais, .so who knows what improper infonnation was discussed. Now you choose to sanitize the discussion by putting in a modified meetings against consent agenda. There was no City Attorney at the meeting, and you broke. both the City. Charter,: and the Georgia Operi Meetings Act. In conclusion,. creepy Krokoff has to go: He is no longer a policeman, and he. should no longer be a. City Manager. Each, and every Councilmember that was at the secret meeting needs to submit their own personal account of the meeting minutes., or this will be. yet another Peyton Place coverup. It's time to fix what is rotten in Milton, and it starts with Peyton and Krokoff no longer being able to abuse their power. Thank you. Mayor, that concludes General Public . Comment. Mayor Jamison: Okay. So, I will close Public Comment, and before we move onto Consent .Agenda, I would like to turn it. over to City Attorney on some legal guidance on the minutes, and narratives. Attorney Jarrard: Right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the Council, I know that the. — Mayor Jamison; Give me one. second, Ken. We got some feedback. Attorney Jarrard: That's better. Here we go. Mr. Mayor,. and members of the Council, thank. you. And I know that obviously what occurred on September 18th is .of signif cant. concern, so let me try to address with the Council what I have done, and the recommendations that 1 have made. So, yes, this evening on your consent agenda, there are. minutes both from the workshop portion of the meeting: as well as the subsequent assembly of a quorum that are for you to approve the rules: of Milton anticipate that our minutes are summary minutes. Minutes are. in fact a legal construct under the. Open .Meetings Act. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 25 of fig transparency to do that. Mayor, what I can tell you is there's really no script. We're sort of doing this after the fact. So, you're looking to me for guidance, and I'm attempting to give it to you, and I appreciate that you have been receptive to that. So, that is what I'm recommending. And, again with respect to the minutes, they need to be approved, but the narratives are the perspective of those that drafted them. And, if I didn't say this before I'll say it now: Four Councilmembers chose to provide additional narratives. They're all right here, and they are intended to supplement, augment, and enhance the official minutes. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Will the City Clerk please say on the next item. City Clerk: Mayor, that first item is Approval of the October 161h, 2023, Regular City Council Meeting Minutes. CM Moore: Mayor, point of order please? Mayor Jamison: Shoot. CM Moore: Earlier this evening, I suggested that I would like to see a consent agenda item moved from the consent agenda item to a regular heard item. At what point, Mr. City Attorney, is it appropriate to have that discussion about moving it? If we're now gonna read the consent agenda, isn't that a little bit premature to not have a chance to address my concerns? Attorney Jarrard: Fair point, Councilmember, Mayor. It's a fair point. Here's what I'd recommend: I do think that agenda it needs to be called, so I think the Clerk can call it. And, then I believe to the extent that a motion is made by Councilmember Moore again, you know, that motion has effectively been made once with respect to the adoption of the agenda, but I also heard the discussion where it was said, "Let's maybe talk about that when the consent agenda is called." Let the Clerk call the item, and then I think your motion would be in order at that point. CM Moore: At the point of the calling of the item or after the — [Crosstalk] Attorney Jarrard: The item is called. Once the item is called, before a motion to Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November.G; 2023 Page 27 of 69 CM Moore: Mr.. Mayor,: I'd like to make: a motion to: approve the consent agenda, however with the removal of Agenda Item Q No. 23-289 for the purposes of moving. it this evening to another place in the agenda where we can have further discussion outside of the consent agenda. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore, and a second from Councilmember Jacobus. Is there any discussion on the motion? CM Cookerly: Yeah, I have a point. So; all of these narratives are available, correct? I know I've seen them in email. I know they're being passed. around. So, it's not like anybody's being prevented from. seeing them,. correct? Attorney Jarrard: I think there has been some distribution of them. CM Cookerly: Oh, there has been. Attorney Jarrard: But, yeah, the answer is yes. I mean these were designed to be front -facing documents and will be made available to anybody that wants a copy, and again, you know, they'll be placed in the agenda folder for this meeting, and they will be if, and. when the Clerk receives an Open Records Act request with respect to these September 18 " minutes. These narratives .will accompany that irrespective. of. whether they were specifically asked for, or not it will be the minutes, plus the. narratives because. that'.s what I wanted --- that was the additional level we attempted to provide so anybody that. wanted to add could add.. I felt that,. and I know that some members of the Council believe that was very important, and that's why we did it that way. So, yeah, the objective.was front -facing, Councilmember Cookerly. CM Cookerly: Okay. Well, if feels: like these have been discussed ad museum. CM Moore: I couldn't disagree more. These have not been discussed ad nauseum. You've heard this evening from the. community at length that. there is a call for this — to have further transparency than what we've seen so. far. But, second, and equally important in terms of my interest in ensuring that the narratives have been shared are heard into the record this evening by moving it to another agenda item where there's an opportunity for full debate, and discussion about what happened at that.meeting is the fact that I absolutely cannot, and.:will not adopt a narrative when I would hope that you Regular Meeting of theVilton City Council Novernber.6, 2023 Page 29 of 69 beyond of what I would consider a normal city would do, and he's giving. those narratives available to. the public, And I think this is the most appropriate manner of what we can do. Attorney Jarrard; Let me answer the question.. The question was: Why is one perspective any more valid. than the. other? And, the answer is; and it. may be an uncomfortable answer, but it's the answer. It's whatever perspective the narrative can secure.a vote of a majority of a quorum. That's the answer, and I do not believe that the individual narratives would do that because they are unique to the individual that drafted them: Minutes anticipate a communal response. That's what they anticipate. Our local rules anticipate there may not be unanimity to adoption of minutes. It's unusual. I think we all know this. Most minutes are adopted unanimously. But this is the sortof meeting that lends itself to perhaps some disagreement. My attempt to try and address that. issue by allowing everyone to have a voice; but there. can only he one official minutes. The narratives then have to. travel along with them. CM Moore: I completely understand that, and I know that, Ken, you don't. have a dog in this hunt to have it come out one way or the other. You. have been as unbiased as I could ever hope for. And you accommodated.a spirited debate between you; and I to get to the — Attorney Jarrard: Withering. CM Moore: And I appreciate that because you always have leaded a great, open ear to consider all. sides in making. a measure. Something as important. as this.I think. you gave good measure of it. But, at the encl o£ the day, what you said to me was — Attorney Jarrard: And, again, Councilmember, I don't -W- forgive me for even doing. this because it sounds weird. I'm not really trying, but just be. mindful that you're talking .about our Attorney/Client privilege discussion. CM. Moore: Okay. I will stop. Attorney Jarrard: Again, I'm not — It sounded, in this open session; that strange, but I've got to at least remind. --- [Crosstalk] CM. Moore; Thank you. for the reminder and 1 will. be. respectful of that. So;. I. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 31 of 69 Mayor Jamison: I do. Attorney Jarrard: Was it seconded? Mayor Jamison: By Councilmember Jacobus. Attorney Jarrard: I do think, just from a matter of parliamentary procedure, we need to go ahead, and act on that so we're either moving them, or we're clearing decks in which if it's denied, and it's been denied, then that will be — CM Moore: My motion was to approve the minutes — [Crosstalk] CM Moore: — the consent agenda — Attorney Jarrard: That's right. CM Moore: With the movement to the second agenda item. Attorney Jarrard: That motion is now before you. Mayor Jamison: Councilman Mohrig. CM Mohrig: I echo what Councilman Moore said. My concern with this, number one, the public, when we do meeting minutes it generally is recorded, it's on video, people have a chance to be here in an open meeting. That did not happen in this case. And, when this meeting was called, we didn't know what the purpose of the meeting was. But I do disagree that it was an election update. That is not what occurred. There may have been components in there that talked about election, but it was not ever presented as an election update by the City Manager. And there are, in three of the narratives, there are some very close similarities. It may be subjective. It may be someone's view, but to say that those aren't valid, and this is — and you, and I have talked also. My concern is I don't agree that it was an election update. It was not an election update. That was not the purpose of what we pulled in there. It was not an election update. Attorney Jarrard: I just want to be very clear though, I have not indicated I don't believe this evening that anybody's narrative was not valid. And Regular Meeting of the Milton .City Council November 6, 2023 Page.33 of 69 Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? Aye. CM Johnson: Aye. Mayor Jamison: What was that? I don't know. CM Moore: So, it carried. Mayor Jamison; It carried. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve the Consent Agenda with the following amendment: s Move Agenda Item No. 23-289 to. New Business. Councilmember Jacobus seconded the motion. The motion passed (5-2).. Mayor Jamison and Councilmember Johnson opposed the motion. Attorney Jarrard: It means that the consent agenda is approved the way I understand -the motion, but this item with respect to these minutes has now been moved to New Business. Mayor Jamisani: And, where under New Business should we put that because I don't think — Should it be like the last one? Is. that what you're thinking? Attorney Jarrard: That would be typical. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Let me see.. Okay. So, we'll do I right before Mayor and Council Reports? Attorney Ja.rrard: That's correct, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Jamison: Okay. So, the consent agenda. has been approved with that. one modification, correct? Attorney Jarrard: Correct. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS Mayor Jamison: Okay: So, we will move onto reports and presentations. Will the City Clerk please sound the item. I'm sorry. Ym going too fast. for Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 35 of 69 First of all, there is statutory authority for the notion that city governments, municipalities have the availability to place their property in a conservation easement. What you see in front of you is actually excerpts from the code itself. This is in OCGA 36-37-6. It defines the various terms. First of all, there's the conservation easement itself. There is the holder, and that's got a very unique, and powerful meaning within the context of conservation easements because that's the entity that is the holder of the rights, and that's gonna be important as we begin to wade through this. But then you have the express grant of authority in the longer paragraph in Paragraph 2. And, that we sort of highlighted some languages there at the end. But here's the point: Whenever the government authorities — this is the second line down -- of any municipal corporation, which is a city, determines that the establishment of a conservation easement would be of benefit to the city, or the municipal corporation, and to its citizens such governing authority — again, that is you — may sell or — — this is important because in conservation easements, it's typically a grant — may grant to any holder — which is that entity that actually holds the easement rights — a conservation easement over any of its real property including but not limited to any of its real property set aside for use as a park. And of course the emphasis of that language is because I believe the general assembly understood that would be a fertile place for conservation easements to arise, was in the notion of park property. Let's keep going if we can. Again, I don't mean to bore you with statutory authority, we'll get out of there quickly, but this is important to do what I promised Councilmember Jacobus I would do, which is to sort of guide you on this. So, under the statute of conservation easement means a non -possessory interest of a holder — again the holder, we'll get to what those typically are in just a moment — imposing limitations or even affirmative obligations. The purposes of which include retaining or protecting natural, scenic, or open space values of real property, assuring its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational, or open space use, protecting natural resources, maintaining, or enhancing air or water quality, or preserving the historical architectural, archeological, or cultural aspects of real property. Holder has three definitions. Certainly I have represented governments where they have in fact been the holder of conservation easements. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council Wovember 6, 2023 Page 37. of.69 stakeholders were up sort of advocating for this. The idea is that you have a piece of property, for instance that is currently a passive park, or a greenspace.. Well, some governments in.the future may want to convert some. of that to active use. But, if you put a conservation easement on. that property, and you strip away the ability to ever convert. it, the holder Bolds the power to enforce. that, and you will no longer have that power. That decision will have been made for you. Does that make sense? Because you've taken that right, and. given it to that third party to hold. CM Mohrig Can I just. ask a question? Attorney Jarrard: Please. Of course. CM. Mohrig: 5o, in that. case, the holder because we're the government. entity, we have a greenspace: If we want to do.a conservation easement;, we have to then, to actually make it be a conservation easement, we have to give that right over to a holder, which is. not. a government, which is not the city. That's another organization that. we: would have to do that, to.. Attorney rarrard: Well. said. Succinctly stated.. CM.Mohrig: Thank you. Mayor Jamison:. And, Ken, is there. a question. Councilmember Mohrig made. me think about something. We have Birmingham Park, which was used with operating money, then we have greenspace bond money, those parts. Is there any difference in that when we're going down this path? Attorney Jarrard: No, no not in that situation that. you just presented, no. The typical situation l run into is when a government has used a dedicated or a very singular income. stream, .like a greenspace bond to acquire property, and then wants to convert it to active, and what you have to do then in that situation is literally the: government has to buy back. - it has to buy back that property at whatever the purchase price was out of that greenspace; and basically replenish that fund. before you can.convert. it to some other use to include active. That is a thing. That is a real thing. CM Mohrig: Isn't. that what we did with Milton. City. Park and Preserve because Regular Meeting of the Milton City. Council November 6, 2023 Page 39.0f 69. Attorney Jarrard: Right. That's right. And. the answer is yes I believe that we have a lot of latitude in drafting the vesting documents to create the conservation easement. We also, I will just have to. tell you, depending upon what trust. that we engage with, we'll have to check their temperature if we Want to put a. little more wiggle room then they may be used to. Some of them tend to be very purist. You only get to do it if you're locking them down because that's. what we want- to hold properties where they have locked down. But, to the extent that we wanted. to nuance it, make it just,a little bit more flexibility, I'd need to. work with the charitable trust to see if they would agree to do that. CM Jacobus: Does that pertain to, so:. on the day. that its established, whatever that property. is on that. day, that's what it has to . stay. Attorney Jarrard: No. Well,, it's a fair: question. No, it's dependent upon what they conservation easement agreement for that draft is. That would be typical, Councilmember Jacobus., is that we're attempting to lock it. down as exactly what it was the moment we record that conservation easement into the real property records, that's true. But, if we wanted to have. a little bit of wiggle room, I think we could bake that into the agreement as well. CM Jacobus: Does that also pertain to any enhancements, like a parking lot? I mean, are those all things that when you develop it; you put those in? Qr; in other words — Attorney Jarrard: Yeah, I think that to the extent that we say we want to lock this property dawn in such that it can never be converted, for instance to an active amenity, but we do. want to be able to provide reasonable parking, and maybe sanitation services, and maybe some sidewalks. Absolutely, those would all go into the batch. of uses, and prohibitions that. we work through with the other holder. CM mohrig: Can you give me an. example of who would be a holder. In this case, so. we're the city. Were talking about the city. So, we're the ones who. have Birmingham Park. I know initially Fulton: County purchased that. And, when we formed the. city, we had. to. buy that for a nominal figure. We went through a lot of fighting to get our parks. But, if we do a conservation easement, number one who would be, give me an example of whoa holder would be, and can you tell me what authority they would have over management or control of that property'? Have we deeded that over to them so that no longer are we in charge of that property? Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 41 of 69 still own it. We still own it subject to the rights that we have given away. Subject to the rights that we have put to that holder. And I want to see if I missed any slides because I think I'm about done. Yeah, the only other slide I skipped was just the middle of this slide talks about the three entities, and now we've gone through them. And, again, there's more than these three. I'm not a shill for any of these three. There are others, but these are the ones that are the most known to me, these three. And, then I just actually went through some real property records and found an example. That's just a deed of conservation easements, and the real property records that took me 45 seconds to find it. And I just put this in here, but you'll notice that it's got the references to the statute. You'll see on the second right -facing little paragraph there it says, "The purpose of this conservation easement to assure the property be retained forever, predominantly in an open space," blah, blah. I won't read all of it, but you get the idea. And, then you see that sub -paragraph 2 on the right where it talks about the rights of the grantee. Now, in a conservation easement, we're going to be the grantor giving these rights to the grantee. That's gonna be the holder, and it sort of talks about what rights they get. And I think the key one, too, is monitoring. Because there is a little bit of a cost to this. These trusts, they have people that will literally go to their protected areas, and make sure that we're not doing anything on that property that we're not supposed to be doing because they have an enforceable legal right in court to stop us should we do anything that they don't want to have done. I'm gonna skip through this, the advantages, I mean, there are some advantages to US. And again, it's interesting on the municipalities the advantage of the conservation easement is also almost its disadvantage. And, let me explain what I mean by that. So municipalities, preservation and perpetuity. I mean, perpetuity is a long time. It sounds just as long as you think it is. And, then the disadvantages on municipalities is it doesn't just limit your rights with respect to the property. It limits future Council rights with respect to what they can do on the property. And, of course, I know a lot of governments, because I teach them, are used to that rule that one government, one Council can't bind a future Council. Well, that's not true in a couple of areas. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 43 of 69 objective of the Council is to lockdown: some: of your 'properties such that neither you nor a future council have the right to deviate from. either its current use, or some future use, I'm gonna keep sending you down to the conservation easement approach. CM Moore; Well, I like that path that .you just mentioned a minute ago, too with the prospect of identifying each individual park or preserve for its unique characteristics. And. we know that Birmingham Park - presents itself to the equestrian community. We know that Lakhapani, or the Wolff Preserve has a pond, it might be for fishing, etc. So, the opportunity to address those with the benefit of community input during that process, I think would .serve us really well. Attorney Jarrard: And I'm not gonna try to go too deep into what the various trusts will countenance but will say this: The ones that I have dealt with where they really get excited and want to hold it is if it's true open space and greenspace. Once you start putting ball. fields. on. it, and lights, and other stuff, they're just Pike, "That's not really our gig. We. don't really do that." But I don't. want to speak too generally, but that's been rriy MayorJamison; So — [Crosstalk] Mayor Jamison: I'm sorry. Go ahead. CM Cookerly: How long. does the process take if Council were in agreement? Attorney Jarrard: Yeah. If the Council says go ahead, the first thing I'in. gonna do is pick up the phone and call one :of the attorneys for one of the. trusts. Obviously, we'll work with the City Manager,. City staff because I want to figure out who's. gonna do the drafting. I need to know the property. Because they're gonna want to look. at the property. They're gonna say, "How big is it? How many acres are we talking about?" Because there does come a lava of diminishing returns. They typically like a fairlyhealthy grant. I don't know that they would do a conservation easement. where .they would hold it in trust for five acres, if you.get my meaning, because it's just not worth their time to do that. But so,. I would want to look at the individual property.. You tell me which property it is. I'll get a plat of that property; and get it to them,. and then we'll talk about A) Will they be. willing to. take it Regular Meeting. of the Milton.City Council November 6, 2023 Page 45 of G8 of frustration that we've owned some of this greenspace. for quite.a bit of time, and it's not been open to the public. You've heard us in the last couple of meetings emphatically say, "Let's get emery inch of it open and get it open now:" So, l don't Want the conservation easement place to prohibit any of that forward action to get the parks open.. Mayor Jamison: But I.think we.can maybe work on Birmingham.Park first because that's already kind of opened, right? [Crosstalk] Attorney Jarrard: Right. I mean, hasn't that one, I mean, again, you all so much better than me — [Crosstalk] Mayor Jamisow. Bring the trails — [Crosstalk] Attorney Jarrard: — what's. been --- CM Moore: There's also not a high level of the.compieted tasks that we were. after. .Mayor Jamison: That'.s kind of what I. was. getting. at. That might just be the easy win right of the bat. Attorney Jarrard: Agreed. That would be — How about this: That would be the low - hanging. fruit in this analysis. We could go ahead, and get good at. it, and get the documents drafted, and a good template going that way. CM Moore: I think that one,. Wolff, and Milton Park and Preserve, the preserve part, those three I would think we. could actually move pretty quickly on, Where some of the others still lagging behind in terms. of the internal infrastructure. But let's. hurry up and get going. CM Jacobus: With your comment about some. of them. maybe smaller than what a trust wants to take. In -that. case, we can couple say a. smaller one with a larger one. Attorney Jarrard: I think that if we needed to sort of be flexible to see if We have enough of - I'm not talking about Birmingham, but .maybe, so Regular Meeting of the Milton City. :Council November 6, 20.23 Page 47 of 69 CM Mohrig; Mr. Mayor I make a motion that we approve the first presentation as read. CM Cookerly: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay.. I have a motion from Councilmember Mohrig, and.a second from Councilmember Cookerly to: approve the first presentation items .as read. All in favor please say aye. Counciimembers: Aye. - Motion and Vote: Councilmernber Mohrig moved to approve the First Presentation. item as. read. Counciirnember Coo.kerly seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). PUBLIC HEARING. Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? That is unanimous. So, we will move on to the public hearing. Will the City Clerk please say on the next item. City Clerk: That item is Consideration of the Issuance of an Alcohol Beverage License to H-Burger LLC; dba Community Burger, located at 3100 Heritage Walk, Suite 10.1, herein Milton, Agenda Item No.. 23- 295. Our Finance. Director,. Miss Karen Ellis. Ms. Ellis: Good evening, Mayor, and Council. Tonight, we have only one alcohol beverage license for your review and approval for 1116 meeting. It's for H=Burger LLC dba Community Burger. They are located at 3100 Heritage 'Valk, Suite 10.1., just down the street. They are requesting consumption on premises, wine,. malt beverage, distilled spirits, also resident caterer, and on -premise Sunday sales. This was advertised in the Milton Herald on 10/26/2023 and 111212023. Here is a map location of it right down the street near the roundabout. And this will be..a full service restaurant. meeting the requirements of 40% of gross square footage of the restaurant. The gross square footage is.1,870 square feet. The seating area will be approximately 743 square feet which meets the 40% . requirement, and also meets the eating establishment.requirernent of 50% of its total annual gross food, and beverage sales from the sale of prepared food, or meals. If you have any questions; I'll be glad to answer them. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November S.., 2023 Page 49.of fig. 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 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 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 Committee Development Department and is included in the normal distribution of packages to the Council. 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 $250.00 or more.to a local government offcial of the local government which will consider the application, it shall be the duty of the opponent to file a disclosure with the governing authority of the respective local government at least: five days prior to the planning commission meeting. A violation :of relevant State statute constitutes a .misdemeanor. Therefore., if you have contributed $250.00 or more to a Councillnember,. and you have not. filed a disclosure prior to the planning commission meeting, the City Attorney strongly suggests that. you have someone else..speak.for your point of view. Our first zoning agenda item this evening is: Consideration .of RZ2306, a text amendment to Article 19 Crabapple Farm Base Code, Chapter 64 of the City Code to amend the district at Mayfield Map to add the parcel at 840 Mid Broadwell. Road to the district. It was first under first presentation at the October 16', 2023. Regular City Meeting, and it is tonight's Agenda Item No. 23-28I. Our Community Development — Pm sorry. You caught me off guard. Miss Emily Schnarre. Ms.. Schnarre; Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight,. we bring before you RZ23-06, a text amendment regarding the Mayfield. district... This text amendment relates to the addition of the parcel at Regular Meeting of the Milton C4. Council November 6, .2423 Page 51 of fig district attractive, and they now want to be a part. of it where they at one point had chosen to not be a part of it. In the Planning Commission discussions, was there any opposition or any favor at that point shown that we're not hearing this evening? Ms. Schnarre: No; there was not CM Moore: Okay. It's pretty straightforward.. M"s.5chnarre: Yeah. CM Moore: Let's welcome thein to the district, and let's get this worked up: Great. Okay. Mayor:Jamison: Any other questions? Okay.. With that -- CM Moore:. Can I make a motion that we -- Mayor Jamison:. Yeah. Go for it.. CM Moore: -- approve Agenda Item No. 23-281. CM Cookerly .Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore, :and a second. from. Councilmember Cookerly to approve Agenda Item No. 23- 281. All in. favor, please say aye.. Councilmembers: Aye, Motion and Vote: Counalmember Moore moved to approve. Agenda Item No. 23-281. Councilmember Cookerly seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). NEW BUSINESS Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? That is unanimous.. So, there is no unfinished business items. We'll move .on to new business.. Will the City Clerk please sound the itern. City Clerk: That first item is: Consideration of a Request for Pedestrian Traffic Signal on Crabapple Road.,. State Route '372 at Dunbrody Avenue, Regular Meeting of the Milton City.Council November 6, 2= Page 53.of 69 be the first pedestrian hybrid beacon signal like what is iri downtown Alpharetta. So, it's more than just: the signs with the flashing beacons.. This is an actual pedestrian .signal. Mayor Jamison: Councilmember Mohrig, and then Jacobus. CM.Mohrig: Sara, this is great news. We've been asking for this for years. We finally have it. so people won't illegally cross, and kind. of run. across the road. One thing we've asked about before trying to look at from a handicapped standpoint, we have people in our city that do have visual handicaps. Other cities like Tallahassee, and other. places have both an auditory signal;. as well as the visual where you. can see the countdown. When we put. this in; when we're doing the wiring, and we do that, will we be 'including that level of assistance for disability? Ms.. Leaders: We'll have that component evaluation as part of the final. signal plans. This is really the permit stage. And,.. usually those are justified by a need within the area, and so. we will look. into all of that as we're putting together the.. final plan. CM Mohrig: Okay. Well, thank you for pushing on this. We've been trying to get this done for years. So, thank you. Mayor Jamison: Long time. CM.Mohrig: Yeah. Mayor Jamison: Councilmember Jacobus. CM Jacobus: Yeah, and. I know you said you're gonna wait on .most of the haedscape, but will the island all be completed at this time? Ms. Leaders; Yes, it will. CM Jacobus: So, the island..,. anything. within. that circle that you showed us will be done, or just the island on each side of the street? Ms. Leaders: It will be the center island is what we will do. We will hold off on the hardscape, and the plantings.. on the side of the street, but what's in the middle of the street will be landscaped with; as. we're building that median. CM Jacobus: Thank you. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 55 of 69 Minutes, Agenda Item No. 23-289. Mayor Jamison: Well, that has your name on the bottom of it, but I'm gonna turn it over to City Attorney. City Clerk: Gladly. Attorney Jarrard: Well, at this point we have this single agenda item, and I think what would be probably appropriate just to give the Council an understanding of the trajectory would be that I think the reason for moving this was to allow those Councilmembers that wanted to actually read into the record their narratives. My recommendation, obviously, Mr. Mayor, you run the meeting, but my recommendation would be to go ahead, and do that, and then make a motion to approve the consent agenda item. That would be my recommendation. And, again, it's the minutes, is what I'm talking about. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Councilmember Moore. CM Moore: A couple clarification items. So, when we adopted the consent agenda item earlier this evening, the consent agenda that we adopted did not include this item. Attorney Jarrard: That is correct. CM Moore: Okay. So, this is a new discussion of this topic in its entirety. Attorney Jarrard: That is correct. You approved the workshop minutes. You did not approve the subsequent meeting minutes. CM Moore: No, sir. Mayor Jamison: Correct. No, he's saying we approved the Avalon Workshop. [Crosstalk] Attorney Jarrard: You approved the Workshop minutes, but you did not approve the subsequent meeting minutes. CM Moore: Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Would you like to read each narrative into the record? Each Councilmember would like to do that? Regular Meeting of the Milton City.Council November 6, 2023 Page 57 of 69 Mayor Jamison:. Councilmember Mohrig. I'm going down. the — You good. You want to read it? CM Mohrig: Sure,. I'm gonna submit this in totality, hut. I'm . riot gonna read everything that I've. got .here: I'm gonna try to hit the highlights. My recollection of the meeting, and my, I guess narrative, is we. were all in attendance at the CID' rneetinglpresentation at North. Fulton Community, our Chamber of Commerce.. It ran from approximately 11;00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. I was gathering up my things to leave — Attorney Jarrard: Councilmember Mohrig, yeah; just if you could. People can't hear [Inaudible.] [01:6:00] that may be helpful. CM Mohrig: Sure. I was gathering up my things to leave when Steve called us to come to convene a. separate meeting in another adjacent conference room. The same one we'd met for our earlier retreat this year. Steve asked for the doors to.. be. closed. He .stated he wanted to take this opportunity for us to meet as we rarely get a chance to all be. together at the same time, and this was an open meeting. I had no idea what the topic was going to be. Possibly a summary of what we just discussed with Highway 9 in Windward Parkway CID. It became apparent when Steve started to talk. that this was. a different meeting. But I didn't hear him state any overall purpose of the meeting. He spoke about how we could all do better in our communications as things were being scrutinized. Steve then made a statement that he thought. we could do better in our communications, and that. this. was causing concerns of con. Bence an our election being fair and. honest. I asked him how many emails, or calls he had received about concerns with confidence, or integrity of our upcoming election. He stated none. I. then asked why are we even talking about it? I had been speaking to people while canvassing, and no one raised any concerns to me. At some point. Councilwoman Cookerly left. the meeting without. saying anything. I assumed she was stepping out but would return. She did. not. Councilman Jacobus then said something to Steve suggesting we. should be sending out some PR, and communications in a positive light about this being a big deal: running. our own election for the first time and using paper ballots. He said he was receiving positive feedback from. people. he spoke to. Steve admitted he Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 20K Page 59 of 69 Workshop. At the conclusion of the: meeting as we were preparing to leave, we were asked by Steve Krokoff to meet in. the small. conference room. It's the same room that we .met for our retreat, which was diagonally across the hall from the main meeting room. Steve. Krokoff started the meeting by stating something like, "Since we're all here...." I do riot recall his exact words, but I think it was something about. that it was okay for us to meet for a brief discussion. The majority of the conversation was Steve Krokoff stating how he.: felt all the 'investigation, and various issues were not :good for the city, and making it difficult to. prepare: for the election. Steve. Krokoff stated. that ail the investigations could lead to :a DOJ getting involved. After several: comments from Steve. Krokoff, Rick Mohrig made several comments about his actions .and the reason for their. Peyton Jamison made a comment about. the need for a. successful election. There were no votes taken. There was no real resolution to how to handle the current issues that were detracting from running the election. The closing comment, if I recall correctly, was all about -getting. an election across the. finish line. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes max. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Councilmember Verhoff. CM VVerhoff.. Sure: My narrative will be pretiy short compared to my .colleagues': I did not document. the "he said/she .said" of the meeting or document any of my personal feelings, or personal opinions. We wrapped up the Highway 9 presentation on time, started to pack up, and then we were asked to step into the glass conference room next door for a brief conversation. At that time, I did not recall who had. asked us to meet. Carol was present for only the first few minutes, and then had to. leave for a prior appointment:. In. addition to what Ken had already noted, toward the end of our Brief discussion there was a comment or suggestion. to communicate a positive message with the community around elections progress, and accomplishments. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Thank you. With that, is there any other discussion on it the. item. If not CM Moore: I have some things I'd like to add. I'd like to go back, and just. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 64023 page 61 of.69 Mayor Jamison: Right before the meeting. CM Mohrig: So, Steve had talked to you. Mayor Jamison: Yeah. Right before the meeting. Nobody, and whether it was: in that meeting, or prior to the meeting ever said they felt uncomfortable. Nobody. And so I think Councilmember Mohrig, you've been an elected official for how many years? Councilmember Moore has been an elected off cial for — We're all elected officials, and we all take responsibility. That's how we do things. CM Moore:. What I don't take accountability for is the shame that you were suggesting that we should all own. I own no shame in participating in this meeting because I was there, now, to correct the record, for what was attempted to basically be a coverup.for what happened in that meeting. Mayor Jamison: CM Cookerly: CM Jacobus: Mayor Jamison: Okay. Okay. Can I make a comment? Sure. Councilmember Jacobus. CM Jacobus: Yeah. I have a couple things. One is I disagree with Counciimember. Moore just slightly in that we are :all supposed to know .that. when you get to a group of four or more, no go. So, that's a lesson learned for me. I think. we should have all. somebody, should have said, "There's four or more of us. No ga:" It was the way it was presented that made me feel comfortable. I shouldn't 'have. Lesson learned. As far as what we're asked to approve, the only issue I have right now since we were able to read the narratives is just the words that said; "Election Update": It wasn't an election update. Unless you consider chewing somebody's ass out for starting investigations. There was no --- we have parking settled. We have people coming in. All the workers are doing this. It was not that, not what somebody when you say, "an election update," what they would think. I think. you have to find a different word, or. just say, "The City Manager provided..." Just takeout: "election update". Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023. Page 53 cif 59 ........................................ else was there except for us. we lived it. Yes, you can say some of my comments are subjective. Yes, they were but I also tried to recall the specifics, and no, Peyton, I didn't say I'm uncomfortable.. I didn't know where that meeting was .going. It kept on changing direction. Mayor Jamison: But we convened a meeting, correct? CM Mohrig: We gathered together.. We were called together.. We gathered together. Mayor Jamison: Okay, and you, and so. did everybody else. CM Mohrig: I'll take responsibility, yes. I was in there. I didn't know where this meeting was going. I really thought at. first it was an update, and it kept — Mayor Jamison: Which shouldn't have gone anywhere, to your point, correct`? CM Jacobus; That. part is correct. CM Mohrig:. I can agree with that. It's what transpired Mayor Jamison: Please, quiet. CM.Mohrig: What transpired is my concern, and an accurate portrayal of that in the actual things that we're calling meeting minutes,. and the things we read into the record. I think it has to be accurate. I don't think it needs to be glossed over. What happened shouldn't have happened. I agree with that. What the purpose of that meeting is, we can debate, but I can tell you it seemed pretty clear to me and I think I have a couple other people here that saw it the same way objectively without me prompting there on what happened. Mayor.Jamison: My only issues were blaming. the City Manager .when I think the blame should fall on us, and me. CM Mohrig: No. CM Moore: No; I'm sorry. I can't buy that. There's no way. We were convened by - we were. brought together. It was. suggested that we.gather. Mayor Jamison: Then we. should say no. All of us should say no.. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 65 of 69 CM Cookerly: It is true, Paul, very much so from where you were before. CM Moore: I'm not sure what that means, but I will also suggest, Councilmember Cookerly, that you and I spoke the following day, and when challenged you about why you chose to leave, you said, "Because I wasn't gonna stand for that topic. I wasn't gonna stand for that." Something to that effect. S❑ you knew. You were smart enough to leave. I wasn't. CM Cookerly: No, that's not, no, no. Mayor Jamison: All right, we're gonna get a lot of "he said/she said". I propose let's make a motion. Let's see if it passes, and then we'll just do it all over again. Are you good with that, Councilmember Moore? CM Moore: Okay. CM Moore; I make a motion to - CM Jacobus: So, restate it without the election update verbiage? CM Moore: Yes. I'm gonna suggest that the language needs to be the following: The City Manager assembled the Council for the purposes of a meeting to include..." and, the rest of the language can stay. CM Jacobus: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore — CM Cookerly: Can I actually see it? Mayor Jamison: Yeah, but hold on really quick. Motion from Councilmember Moore, second from Councilmember Jacobus on approval of Agenda Item No. 23-289 with Councilmember Moore's recommended amendments. I would just respectfully disagree, like I said before. Any other discussion? Okay, hearing none, all in favor please say aye. CM Moore: Aye. CM Jacobus: Aye. CM Mohrig: Aye. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 67 of 69. agencies. The City Manager asks that. the Council be patient, and. allow him, and his staff to complete the election. process he was tasked to do." I take no exception with. the additional language that is subordinate to that. Mayor Jamison: Okay. CM Moore: My proposed: language is —now Tin gonna have to recall it at. the moment — to say: The City Manager assembled the Council, and called a meeting to. include an admonition that repeated calls for investigations by various Councilmembers:..etc." Mayor Jamison: Okay. So, .that is your: motion. CM Cookerly: You just want to take out "an election update to the Council '.. CM Moore: Yes: Mayor Jamison; And, add the City Manager part at the very beginning. [Crosstalk] CM Cookerly: It's already there. So, it's the City Manager — CM Mohrig: Assembled a meeting. CM Moore: Assembled a meeting. CM Jacobus: Basically, you're taking out these statements and putting "assembled" and then going on. CM Moore: For the purposes. of an admonition that. repeated calls... CM Cookerly: Well, in. the short time I was there; it felt like an election update. And I was only therefor like five minutes. That's how if started. Mayor Jamison: All right.. So, a motion from you. Second. A motion. from Councilmember Moore. Second from Councilmember Jacobus on Agenda Item Na. 23-289 with. his recommended. amendments. All. in favor please raise your hand. Okay. That motion, all opposed .please raise your hand. Okay. That motion fails four to three. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council November 6, 2023 Page 69 of 69 Steve for working hard. We have a big election tomorrow morning. I appreciate all your hard work. Thanks for all the volunteers. Any other discussion. All right. I have a motion to adjourn. ADJOURNMENT CM Mohrig: Motion to adjourn. CM Jacobus: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I got a motion from Councilmember Mohrig. Second from Councilmember Jacobus. All in favor say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Mayor Jamison: All oppose. Thank you. CM Jacobus: We agree on something. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Mohrig moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:15pm. Councilmember Jacobus seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). Date Approved: November 20, 2023 Peyt n Jami ayor ADDITIONAL NARRATIVES Paul Moore After the published/advertised City Council meeting was over and everyone was leaving the main conference room, City Manager Steve Krokoff requested that the City Council members gather in a smaller conference room adjacent to the main conference room. All of the City Council members and the Mayor went into the room. I was unclear and confused regarding the purpose of asking us to get together in the adjacent room. Mr. Krokoff did most of the talking. There was never a declaration of the meeting ’s purpose. Mr. Krokoff initially discussed general election integrity issues, and the need to maintain the City’s reputation. The discussion then turned to criticism of Councilmember Rick Mohrig. Mr. Krokoff specifically addressed that investigation concerning Councilman Mohrig, addressing the potential of his email being hacked and the allegation of an inappropriate meeting with Election Poll Workers, and stating that these were not productive. He added that, for the good of the City, the investigations should be stopped, as it would bring unwanted scrutiny to the City of Milton . Councilman Mohrig then responded to Mr. Krokoff ’s comments, and Major Jamison offered some comments. Mr. Krokoff continued to press his positions and concerns, noting that among other things the U.S. Department of Justice could become involved. At some point early in the discussion, Councilmember Carol Cookerly left the meeting, with no explanation. No motions were introduced, and no votes were taken, and the meeting ended after about 30 minutes. Rick Mohrig We were all in attendance at the CID Meeting/Presentation at the NFCC. It ran from approximately 11AM - 1PM. I was gathering up my things to leave when Steve called for us to come to convene a separate meeting in another adjacent conference room - the same we met at for our earlier retreat this year. Steve asked for the doors to be closed. He stated he wanted to take this opportunity for us to meet as we rarely get a chance to all be together at the same time and this was an Open Meeting. I had no idea what the topic was going to be (possibly a summary of what we all just discussed on the HWY 9 & Windward Parkway CID work). It became apparent when Steve started to talk that this was a different meeting, but I didn’t hear him state any overall purpose of the meeting. He spoke about how we could all do better in our communications as things are being scrutinized. Peyton spoke & said something about how we all need to admit when we’ve made mistakes when we don’t communicate properly or something similar. I took exception as I told him I had been nothing but truthful in my reporting of someone other than me sending an unauthorized e -mail from my City E-mail account. I stated that to admit I was wrong in reporting it or denying it happened that way would mean I would have to lie, and I wasn’t going to lie. (Councilwoman Cookerly’s multiple public e-mails from the week before mocking me and calling me a liar were still fresh on my mind and had been picked up by the blogger. Were her e-mails deliberately sent to all of us and Steve to try and make this public?) Peyton responded with something like, “Well you are the reason we are all here.” Steve then made a statement that he thought we could all do better in our communications and that this was causing concerns of confidence in our election being fair and honest. I asked him how many e-mails or calls he had received about concerns with confidence or integrity of our upcoming election. He stated “None.” I then asked why are we even talking about it. I had been speaking to people while canvassing and no one raised any concerns to me. At some point, Council Woman Cookerly left the meeting without saying anything. I assumed she was stepping out, but would return. She did not. Councilman Jacobus then said something to Steve suggesting we should be sending out some PR and communication in a positive light about this being a big deal running our own election for the first time, and using paper ballots. He said he was receiving pos itive feedback from people he spoke to. Steve admitted he hadn't done any communications like he originally had planned to do on a regular basis. Jan suggested he start & get something out soon. I agreed. Steve then talked about the investigation (singular). A statement was made similar to: "If this investigation continues on, this could involve the DOJ getting involved," which I found puzzling. He said it could involve scrutiny of the City and our elections, and related how he had almost had that occur in Albany on some matter, but thankfully it didn't. He then stated that if the DOJ becomes part of this investigation, it would impact all of us as Councilmembers, that in the future and forever, if someone googled our name, it would pull up we had been investigated by the DOJ. I became uncomfortable with where this appeared to be going as I was the one who had filed a perfectly legal Police Report, and felt this was being directed at me to not pursue my investigation or I could be hurting the City or the other members of Council. (There was no reference to the possible investigation Peyton may pursue at Cookerly's and Juliette Johnson's or other Councilmembers requests.) After his comments about the investigation, the DOJ, and the record's being forever searchable on Google, I asked him directly what he think comes up today when searching my name? All the lies and blogger attacks. I think I said to the entire Council, "What would you do if this was happening to you, and impacting your family? Wouldn't you try to defend your name and seek justice? And we also have members of this Council accusing me of lying. I am not lying about what happened." Councilman Moore interjected some comments which I can't recall as I was upset at what had just happened. I don't think that the Mayor had much else to say and don't remember hearing Councilmembers Verhoff or Johnson saying anything. The meeting broke up approximately 25-30 minutes after it started. No votes or stated Action Items were stated as we adjourned. Jan Jacobus • At @ 11:00 AM - attended a meeting at the North Fulton CID. Purpose: Windward Parkway/Highway 9 Strategic Master Plan Council Workshop. • At the conclusion of the above meeting as we were preparing to leave we were asked by S. Krokoff to meet in the small conference room. It was the same room where we meet for our retreat which was diagonally across the hall from the main meeting room. • S. Krokoff started the meeting by stating something like, "Since you are all here..." Ken I do not recall his exact words but I think everyone felt it was OK for us all to meet for a brief discussion. • The majority of the conversation was S. Krokoff stating how he felt all the investigations and various issues were not good for the city and making it difficult to prepare for the election. • S. Krokoff stated that all the investigations could lead to the DOJ getting involved. • After several comments from S. Krokoff, R. Mohrig made several comments about his actions and the reasons for them. • P. Jamison made a comment about the need for a successful election • There were no votes taken. • There was no real resolution on how to handle the current issues that are distracting from the running of the election. • Closing comment if I recall correctly was all about getting the election across the finish line. • Meeting may have lasted 30 minutes max. Andrea Verhoff We wrapped up the Highway 9 presentation on time, started to pack up and then we were asked to step into the glass conference room next door for a brief conversation (I do not recall who asked us to meet). Carol was present for only the first few minutes and then had to leave for a prior commitment. In addition to what you have already noted, towards the end of our brief discussion, there was a comment or suggestion to communicate a positive message with the community around elections progress and accomplishments.