HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 04/10/2023Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 1 of 72
CALL TO ORDER
May or Jamison :
Ci ty Clerk:
May or Jamison:
City Clerk :
CM Verhoff:
City Clerk:
Good evening , everyone . I would like to call the regular meeting of
the Milton City Council for Monday, April 10 , 2023 to order. The
city strongly recomm ends that you review tonight 's agenda
carefully , and if y ou 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 allo w 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 the roll and make general
announcements ?
Good evening , Mayor and Council. I'll be happy to call roll for the
April 10 , 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 comment, y ou are
required to complete a public comment card prior to the item being
called. Your comment card must be presented to the ci ty clerk , and
any public comment cards recei ved after the item has been called
will not be accepted.
All speakers , please identi fy yourself by name , address , and
organization before beginning y our 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 cards to me now.
Demonstration of any sort within the chamber is prohibited. Please
refrain from an y applause , cheering , booing , outbursts , or dialogue
with any persons speaking. Anyone in violation will be asked to
leave.
As I call roll this evening , please confirm your attendance. May or
Peyton Jamison ?
Here .
Councilmember Andrea Verho ff?
Here.
Councilmember Paul Moore ?
Regular Meeting of th e Milton C ity Counci l
April 10, 2023
Page 2 of 72
CM Moore :
City Clerk:
CM Johnson:
City Clerk:
CM Cookerly:
City Clerk:
CM Jacobus:
Here.
Councilmember Juliette Johnson ?
Here .
Councilmember Carol Cookerly ?
Here .
And Councilmember Jan Jacobus?
Here .
Mayor: M a y or Pe yt o n Jamiso n present.
Councilmembers Present: Cou nci lmember A ndrea Verhoff, Cou ncilmember Paul
Moore, C o uncil m e m ber Jul ie tte Jo hn so n, Cou ncilmem b er Carol Cookerly , and
Counci lmem b er Jan C. Jacob us. Councilmember Mohrig arrived at
approximately 6: 15 PM .
Councilmember(s) Absent:
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
City Clerk:
All:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
CM Verhoff:
Mayor Jamison:
For the record , I be lieve Councilmember Rick Mohrig is running
just a few minutes late. Would everyone please rise for the Pledge
of Allegiance?
I pledge all egiance 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.
Next is approval of the meeting agenda. I wou ld like to add an
executive session to discuss land acquisition , personnel , and
potential litigation. If there 's no more changes , I would like to
open it for a motion.
I make a motion that we accept the amendments to the agenda as
yo u just stated.
Second.
Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore and a second
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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from Counc ilmember Verhoff to appro ve the meeting agenda as
amended. All in favor , please say , "Aye."
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve the Meeting
Agenda with the following amendments:
• Add an Executive Session to discuss Land Acquisition, Potential
Litigation, and Personnel.
Councilmember Verhoff seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).
Councilmember Mohrig was absent from the vote .
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison :
City Clerk:
Mr. Muldowney:
Any opposed? That's unanimous. Next is general public comment.
Do we have any general public comment?
We do , Mayor.
Okay . The next item is general public comment. Public comment is
a time for citizens to share information with the mayor and the 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 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 speak , to bring your
comment cards to the city clerk right now.
Will the city clerk please call the first public comment?
Mayor , I'd like to invite Mr. Ke v in Muldowney to the podium ,
please.
Good evening , Council. Ke vin Muldowney, 3325 Kentworth Lane ,
Crooked Creek , Milton. I understand staff has made progress on
our request to run our municipal elections , but November is
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Dubin :
City Clerk :
quickly approaching. We need to put an elections director in place.
Running an election using transparent paper ballots and counting
by hand is in theory a simple process. A qualified elections
consultant -that 's what I meant to say before -will give us the
necessary guidance to nav igate the legal and practical matters that
we will be encountering for the first time.
I feel we should hire Vernetta Nuriddin. The number of polling
locations has recently been discussed. It 's been pointed out that
Fulton County runs eight precinct or polling locations in Milton on
Election Day . This is reall y a throwback to a simple time when we
voted just on Election Day.
We now have 15 days of early voting plus Election Day. Two city
locations open 16 days still gives us four times the amount of
voting opportunities as before. Getting away from computerized
voting machines will result in simplicity , transparency , and cost
savings. I've worked the polls , and the majority of the duties center
around maintaining and running the machines, while the actual
function of an elections worker is to facilitate and count votes as
well a produce a reliable and audible result. Hand counting paper
ballots will do this and nothing more.
I have heard that Fulton has offered the use of their Dominion
scanners , the same scanners that have been blamed for an
inaccurate election results in the Cobb County commissioner 's
race. And hand recount completely overturned that raced. Let's be
safe and stay away from potential glitches from unnecessary
computerized equipment.
Other cities have looked at the process but realize that we have
more than a full year 's head start. Let's keep going and assume -
and I assure you we 'll be very happy and satisfied with the result.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Can you please call the next speaker?
Mayor, I'd like to invite Karen Dubin to the podium , please.
Karen Dubin , 200 Davis Glenn Court, Milton, Geo rgia. Since the
presentation is gonna be after this , when you 're gonna talk about
what you 're gonna have -
We don 't give public comment on reports and presentations , so we
do it in general.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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Ms . Dubin :
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Jamison :
City Clerk:
Right. So , I'm just gonna say, I guess , a few things that occurred
today. I did speak to the Board of Commissioners about the lis t
that was on that packet about those items that y ou claim that y ou
could get no charge from Fulton County. And I was told that that is
not a definite until Thursday's BRE meeting. So , I'm kind of
concerned about that.
And then , I don 't understand when you 're talking scanners ,
borrowing scanners from Fulton County -all their scanners are
either a standalone scanner or a regular scanner that's in a metal
unit that has a card in it. So , I'm kind of -these are the questions
that I have , and I can 't reall y tell you what -I don't know what
you 're doing. So , it 's hard for me to just say an ything.
Thank you. Please call the ne xt speaker.
That concludes general.
Okay . So , I will close public comment. And we 'll move on to
consent agenda . Will the city clerk please sound the items?
Mayor , that first item is approval of the March 20 , 2023 Regular
City Council Meeting Minutes , Agenda Item No. 23-075.
Item B is appro val of Change Order No. 1 to the Professional
Services Agreement for Scanning Project No. 2 Services with
Milton CCI , LLC , for the secure destruction of the scanned
documents , Agenda Item No . 23-076 .
Item C is appro val of a recreation provider agreement between the
City of Milton and Mworks 2, LLC , doing business as Emery Fit to
pro vide recreational stretching classes and fitness programs ,
Agenda Item No . 23-077.
Our final consent agenda item is approval of subdivision plats and
revisions . The name of the development is Elva and Eduardo
Flores at 2885 Mountain Road. It 's Land Lot 249 and 256 , District
2 , Section 2. It 's a minor plat to subdi vide the parcel into three
tracts. Tracts range in size from 3.113 acres to 3.925 acres. It is a
total of 10.471 acres w ith a density of 0.28 lots per acre. It 's
Agenda Item No. 23-078. Mayor?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerl y:
CM Jacobus :
Mayor Jamison:
Councilmembers:
Okay . Thank y ou. Do we have a motion to appro ve the consent
agenda?
Mr. Mayor , I make a motion we approve the consent agenda as
read , No. 23-078.
Second.
Okay . I have a motion from Councilmember Cookerly and a
second from Councilmember Jacobus to approve the consent
agenda as read. All in favor , please say , "Aye ."
Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve Consent
Agenda as read. Councilmember Jacobus seconded the motion. The motion
passed ( 6-0). Councilmember Mohrig was absent from the vote.
REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison :
Any opposed? It 's unanimous. Okay , we 'll move on to reports and
presentations. Will the city clerk please sound the first item?
Mayor, that first item is a proclamation recognizing Earth Day
2023. Mayor?
Thank you. So , tonight, we have some recipients for the Earth Day
Proclamation, and they will be members from the North Fulton
Master Gardeners , which is a nonprofit organization whose
purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of
horticulture and ecology in order to promote and fos ter community
enrichment. They 've worked closely with the City of Milton to
provide fun and educational classes for our community that
highlight seasonal gardening information and echo our tree
planting initiati ve, Plant Milton .
You can learn more about their good work at Earth Day on
Saturday , April 22nd , at the Milton City Park and Preserve. I know
myself will be there as well as my three children. It 's always a
wonderful annual event.
So , I'm going to read this proclamation, then I will invite some
members up, and we can take a picture . So , whereas Earth Day
was first recogni zed in the United States on April 22 , 1970 ,
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
becoming a worldwide celebration two decades later, and whereas
communities all around the world mark Earth Day through
community gatherings, educational opportunities , and by
participating in outdoor and environmental stewardship acti vities
by trail cleanups , water quality monitoring , tree plantings , and
sustainability events.
And whereas in v est in our planet is a global theme of this y ear 's
Earth Day , highlighting the collective responsibility of citizens ,
governments , and businesses to do what we can to promote healthy
communities , habitats , and economies , and whereas the City of
Milton believes in this , the importance of fostering en vironmental
stewardship , as well as promising responsible conservation , and
whereas , for the past 10 years , the City of Milton has been a
National Wildlife Federation-certified Community Wildlife
Habitat and was recognized in 2021 as a Silver Level Green
Community by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
And whereas healthy natural habitats beautify and protect our
community , support the vitality of local green businesses , and
pro vide places for residents to explore and enjo y the outdoors. And
whereas on April 22nd , the City of Milton will host an Earth Day
celebration at Milton City Park and Preserve at which people can
learn about helping our planet, support green causes , see
rehabilitated wildlife , and spend time in this beautiful space.
Now therefore , we , the mayor and the City Council , the City of
Milton hereby recognize and proclaim for the year 2023 April
22nd as Earth Day and urge citizens to celebrate efforts to protect
our planet , to make Milton an even better place to live , work , raise
a family , and further , we urge all citizens to commit to doing what
they can to foster cleaner and greener environments for the
betterment of current and future generations . This is given under
my name and sealed with the City of Milton, Georgia on this 10th
day of April 2023. That was a long one .
I will have the North Fulton Master Gardeners come up . Anybody
here ? There we go. Greg , do you want all of Council down here ?
Okay .
Mayor, do we have their proclamation ? My apologies. I thought
you ... just to be on the safe side. Just hold on to it.
Will the city clerk please sound the next item?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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City Clerk:
Ms. Salerno:
Mayor, that next item is the proclamation recognizing the Milton
Citizens Government Academy graduates , the 6th Cohort. I'd like
to invite Ms. Emily Salerno to the podium , please.
Good evening , Mayor and Council. Tonight , it is my great pleasure
to introduce you to the 6th Cohort of the Milton Citizens
Government Academy. For eight weeks , these 16 Milton citizens
met every Tuesday night at different locations within the city to
dive deeper into the inner workings of all departments , including
police , fire , finance , parks and recreation , community and
economic development , public works , communications , HR, GIS ,
and IT.
Citizens Government Academy , or CGA , as we refer to it, allows
citizens to expand their knowledge on what ea ch department
provides for the city and allows the city to interact directly with an
engaged group of Milton residents.
As a new employee myself -excuse me. As a new employee
myself going through this program , I can say fir sthand how
incredibly informational and beneficial that this program is . It 's
taught me a lot in the past two months , and I'm very grateful to
have gone through it. This incredible class of enthusiastic students
eagerly arrived every week prepared with insightful comments and
thought-provoking questions that allowed for an open dialogue
between city and citizens .
I'd like to thank these students for choosing to spend their free
time learning more about our city. I'd also like to thank my fellow
Milton staff members for dedicating their time to educate the
specific cohort on their departments. And finally , I'd like to thank
City Council and Management for encouraging programs like this
that build and foster relationships and encourage Milton 's
exceptional sense of community .
You ' 11 meet the full cohort shortly, but I'd like to take a moment to
introduce our class spokespeople : Monica Gibbs and Christy Davis
Jackson. I will allow these ladies to further introduce themselves
momentarily , but these two truly embody this cohort 's spirit. Like
their fellow classmates , the y ask the hard-hitting questions , were
engaged in each and every presentation , are some of the best
ambassadors the City of Milton could ask for.
Monica and Christy , please come on down.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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Ms. Jackson:
Ms. Gibbs:
Ms. Jackson :
Good evening and thank you for hearing from us. Christy Davis
Jackson. I am an excited neighbor at Six Hills and proud to say that
Andrea Verhoff is my councilperson .
I'm Monica Gibbs , and I am one of your newest residents . I moved
here from California in December , and I participated in the
program in January . So , really excited to participate. Just a little bit
about our cohort: we actually are all different stages in life and
different professions. So , it was really great to have this group of
people. We did have quite a few folks that were on the boards of
their HOAs , so they really were able to kind of get those resources
that they needed , and ask very specific questions , and take that
back to their leadership .
One of the things that I was just really impressed of the cohort is
for it being in six years just how organized it was from directions ,
to presentations , to bios and everything for all of the speakers. It
was just a really organized program. Really excited to have been
part of it.
One of the takeaways that I personally felt was the trash program .
I'm sorry , the glass recycling program. That was something that a
few of us had no idea about , and I think that was a big takeaway
that impacts our dail y life , and there was a lot of tidbits of
information like that that we were able to get through asking
questions and being able to have those pieces of information to
take back to our everyday lives.
And so , really wanna just encourage others to participate and grow
this program as much as you can. I think 16 is great, but there 's
just so many more people -all of these folks are really interested
in getting more involved. So , just want to thank you and the staff
for allowing us to participate. I don't know if there 's anything else
you want to add.
Well , I wanted the entire cohort to stand. I think this is a real
lesson in civic engagement. We can talk about this as an exercise ,
but what you see behind you are engaged ambassadors for the City
of Milton. Not only were we presented weekly with a wonderful
presentation so well prepared by our members in the community -
hi , Stacy -she 's one of our presenters -but we should be proud to
know everything that we 're being offered as a city.
So , it was deepening our civic engagement. And so , on behalf of us
to you , please extend this , expand it. We wanna say thank you.
Reg ul ar Meeting of the Milton City Council
Apri l 10, 2023
Page 10 of 72
Mayor Jamison :
We 're proud of Milton , and we 're even more proud knowing that
you have provided the funds . I guess you 're gonna have to deepen
your pockets because we need to have this maybe twice a year and
more population participating . Thank you so much.
Thank you. I will say congratulations. When we first introduced
the Citizens Go vernment Academy , I guess about six years ago , it
was a success from the very beginning , and it's only grown every
single year. So , we're looking forward to having a lot more
engaged citizens. I think having engaged citizens in the city is what
makes us better. And so , hopefull y, we will continue to expand it.
So , thank you again , and congratulations . I will read this
proclamation , and then I' 11 invite each of y ou up to receive your
certificate, and then we 'll do a group picture . So , thank you.
So , I am proud to say that whereas residents have been actively,
passionately , and positively engaged in the City of Milton since its
incorporation in December 2006 , and whereas the Citizens
Government Academy Program launched in 2018 , to harness this
energy , good intent , and commitment to Milton for the benefit of
attendees in the city as a whole , and whereas over the y ears ,
dozens of students have been given a deeper, behind the scenes
perspective while learning about all of the aspects of municipal
government.
And whereas leaders of every Milton department have shared
insights , led hands-on acti v ities , and answered questions to
educate , energize , and engage the CGA members , and whereas
sessions have taken place at various city properties offering a fore
sense of not only what things happen in Milton but where they
happen , and whereas the CGA students have routinely been
focused , dedicated , and curious , as shown in their sincere , salient
inquiries and impactful efforts to make Milton a better place .
And whereas graduates of this program have gone on to become
even more well-rounded ambassadors for the city , as neighbors ,
volunteers , and officials . And whereas the most recent Citizens
Government Academy class in March completed its eight-week
course , during which they exhibited tremendous interest,
intelligence , and ideas that should serve our community well ,
much like CGA graduates befo re then.
Now therefore , we the Mayor and City Council , the City of Milton
hereby honor this latest Citizens Government Academy class and
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
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City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk :
Chief Benmoussa:
thank them for their engagement and service. Given under my
hand and seal , the City of Milton , Georgia, on this 10th day of
April 2023.
Mayor, if I may , as you come down , I will announce their names ,
so that you can give out their certificates. Abby Meng. Tara
VanDette . Philip Gibson. Sherry Gibson. Christy Davis-Jackson.
Tamara Barker. Diana Tisi . Patrecia Corley. Lenward Corley . Peter
Roland. Monica Gibbs . Allison Kloster. Mary Cronk. And I want
to make sure Kara Rutland , Sean Odeyemi , Valerie Spratt is not
here tonight with us. But I want to mention their names .
And I would like to recognize our staff members , Emily Salerno ,
Oksana Solovei , and Micaela Burke, but she couldn 't be with us
tonight. Tom , why don 't you come up and join this group? Come
on up . We need you in the picture. Greg , we 're gonna get Tom in
the picture.
Will the city clerk please sound the next item?
Mayor , our next item is the 2022 Milton Fire Annual Report
Update , presented by Chief Gabe Benmoussa.
Good evening, Mayor and Council. Excited to be here to present
our annual report , our first annual report. So , if you 'll allow
me ... so, in our annual report -I think you 've had the opportunity ,
hopefully, to take a look. I'm gonna go through some of the
initiatives , through some of the accomplishments , some of the data
as well. This will be put out to our community , just so they
understand sort of what we do as a fire department in the different
divisions , some of the projects, initiatives that we work on.
Understanding some of the data. How does ISO work ? That was a
big piece of this report.
So , I 'm going to go ahead and open up the report. I'm going to
skip through the pictography and my letter. All right. So , as you
know , in Milton , we're fortunate to have some good partners
surrounding us. I have listed here our major partners. Of course ,
the five North Fulton cities as well as Cherokee County and
Forsyth County. We work closely in those areas that we border
each other through a mutual aid.
Recently , Forsyth County has expressed interest in joining our five
cities Automatic Aid in those areas where we border Forsyth
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 12 of 72
County. So , it would be an automatic response. We have reall y a
great working relationship with the departments.
So , as far as the classification, the ISO , the Insurance Services
Office , this classification, departments and cities around the
country will classify communities based on their fire protection
services and based on the hydrants. They evaluate response ,
employment plan , how many stations , how close the y are to the
urban areas. How good is your water system? How good are your
fire prevention programs?
So , we are fortunate we're a Class 2. We 're about 7.62 points from
being a Class 1. Hopefull y, when we open Station 45 , we can have
them come back, do another assessment. I'm confident that we can
cross over to Class 1.
So , there are 41 ,177 fire departments in the U.S. rated by ISO .
Only 1,500 are Class 2 and even less that are Class 1. So , the lower
the number in the classification, the better protection you have . It
affects insurance premiums to a certain extent. The difference
between a Class 2 and a Class 10 , it 's major. Class 10 , it 's sort of
like you have nonexistent fire protection, or you have some sort of
fire protection. It could be a volunteer , paid on call. So , they
evaluate all that. Water system nonexistence. You 're relying on
ponds , water tenders, things like that.
So , we are a Class 2 right now. So , these are some of the things
that they evaluate from the fire department. How many engine
companies, ladder companies in service . The geographic
deployment. They look at our data when the come in , our response
data . The equipment. That we have reserved equipment. Frontline
automatic aid agreements . Pumping capacities. Personnel and
training.
So , we already work on the training. There 's an ISO training of so
many hours per a position. Firefighters will have to have so many
hours a year. Officers , chief officers , as well as how many drills.
There's some night drills , day drills. So , we meet that every year at
100%. So , no issues there.
Water supply. I don't know if you know , but our fire fighters will
go out and test and flush every hy drant in the community. So ,
you 'll probably see them around , driving around and painting . So ,
they keep them looking really nice and new every year. But they 'll
Regular Meeti ng of t he Mi lton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 13 of 72
go out and flush the hydrant, make sure that it has the right
pressure, that it's functioning properly.
Otherwise , they'll create a ticket, and that will go to Fulton County
Water, and then our Fire Prevention Program will follow up . We
just don't want to have where we show up to a fire and have no
water. That's the worst thing.
So , from an emergency communications system , having the
dispatch center. As you know, we're part of the Alpharetta
Dispatch System. So, they look at their staffing, their training.
They're a certified accredited center, which is great. They look at
their facilities and their community efforts. They take into account
our public fire safety education, our fire investigation programs ,
and then our local risk reduction programs that we have in the
community to reduce the risk of fire.
And we have to produce all the documentation for all this stuff
when they do the evaluation. So, this is just a brief overview how
the ISO system works. This is just the areas that we respond to. We
serve the community out of four stations. Soon, hopefully here , a
fifth . About 1,500 units. Total population according to the census
was 41,000 , and we cover about 39.2 square miles.
Our organizational chart. And then, I'll go by the numbers . So ,
based on the fires that we had in the community in 2022 and based
on the estimates from fire investigations , our quick response
resulted in about $100,000.00 in property damage. But in turn, we
saved about $720 ,000.00. So, that shows our effectiveness, in a
sense. The loss compared to what was saved in dollars.
Last year, we responded to about 3,347 calls. About half of those
were EMS calls. We had about 60 calls. And then, 1,500 calls we
call public service calls. Those are anywhere from -it could be an
animal stuck, hazardous materials. It could be any other calls aside
from a typical fire . It could be a weather event. It's all kind of in
that category of public service.
Our average response times , it's seven minutes and 10 seconds.
This is just the average, not the 90th percentile . At the 90th
percentile, we 're about 12 to 13 minutes . Some of those things are
out of our control. It's the roadways , time of the day. Ideally, at a
90th percentile, we wanna be around 5 minutes and change. As
Captain Murray had explained in the community assessment
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Apri l 10, 2023
Page 14 of 72
CM Jacobus:
Chief Benmoussa:
presentation that he made , certain things are out of our control ,
such as dispatch. How long it takes them to dispatch.
What we control is our turnout time , meaning from the time we get
the alarm to the time we get out the door and respond to the call.
And we've put some things in place to try to reduce that response
time , like Every Minute Counts. So , we 'll take it.
If you have any questions as I go through , please ask. This is just a
breakdown comparing the three years up to '21 of the calls. These
are how the instances are recorded in the National Incident
Recording System , the NFIRS , Fire Incident System . And these are
the categories , in a sense , that we 're required to report to the
federal government.
So , any grant , anything that we apply for fo r the federal
government , they look at our NFIRS data . Yes , sir?
When I was going through this , I noticed there was a large chunk
in false alarms . I'm sure that 's like one of the worst things to
happen , having calls when they 're not needed. Why the big jump?
Is there anything you can do about that?
We can. There 's ways. So , false alarms captures not onl y
commercial but also homes. So , smoke detectors , for example ,
going off. Sometimes , that could be -when we get on scene , it's
not really a fire. It may be dust. Maybe it 's just malfunctioning. So ,
we still count it as a false alarm. The good thing is we 're still
getting notified , right ? Because all it takes sometimes is one of
those calls , even to a business . And I've had it throughout my
career where you constantly have false alarm , false alarm, false
alarm , and then you respond that one time, and it 's the real deal.
Now , if a business , for example , is having issues over, and over ,
and over because of their system malfunction , that gets referred to
Fire Prevention. Fire Prevention will follow-up with that with the
system. Because then, it becomes sort of like a - I don 't want to
say it's an anno yance. But because it's not something that 's
happening, because the system is either not service properly , not
installed properly , or sometimes they 'll be working; they 'll be
doing construction. And they don't notify our dispatch to say,
"We 're gonna put the system out of service or simply put it in a
sort of sleep mode." And they 'll be working , doing sheetrock or
something , and then it activates the system. So , we get dispatched .
We still go.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 15 of 72
So, we try to educate those opportunities to educate . "Hey , make
sure yo u call the dispatch center. Here's the number. Let them
know that the system is gonna be put on hold while you work." Or
if there's a malfunction , they need to let us know.
So , this is going by each division that we have in the department.
Emergency Operations is the largest division. This is yo ur day-to-
day emergency response. So , when I talk about savi ng those
precious minutes, like implementing the automatic vehicle locator
system, we were the first in North Fulton to do this. In a sense, we
wanted to take the human element from having to dispatch in and
try to figure out what the closest station versus just letting the CAD
-the technology existed. It just wasn't active.
In the CAD system , the Computer Aided Dispatch, when a call is
generated, a 911 is generated , it geo-locates it , whether by address
or by cell phone location. And then, it recognizes automatically the
closest unit , and it dispatches it. So , it takes that human element
trying to figure out. So , even if it's 30 seconds , that 's 30 seconds
we can get.
I'll give you an example of this. The save that we had at Cabernet
with the lady, the cardiac save , that was in Alpharetta. But because
44 is the closest unit , and the system recognized it, we got
dispatched. It turned out to be a Milton resident. So , that's why
automatic aid is really good and critical , especially in the border
areas , because we overlap each other.
So, Alpharetta, as of right now, hasn 't implemented theirs.
Alpharetta is in the process of implementing this. So , we should be
all on that system here soon.
In the Blue Card , instant command. And we evaluate all of this
stuff. So, when we do our data analysis, that's how we can track
our performance metrics. I' II show you an example for cardiac
arrest. We look at this data and track and see: how can we do
better? The digital dispatch that was added , PURVIS system
notification, that's another added. Essentially, as the dispatcher
types in the information , the digital voice , Siri, dispatches and tells
you what the call is. Again , it saves time.
The Automatic Aid Agreement is working very well. An example
is we all adopted Blue Card. So now, operating on the fire scene is
seamless because we all speak the same language , in a sense. And
we follow the same standard in command.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 16 of 72
We also switched from -so , before , we had multiple platforms for
our record management sy stems , for doing our inspections ,
tracking our hydrants , our activities. And we ended up
consolidating everything in the one suite. That saved the City
about $23 ,000 .00 by going to one system versus these multiple
systems . And they all talk to each other , including our instant pre-
plan .
Alpharetta also went to the same system. So now , because of this
interoperability , we have sort of -we can see Alpharetta 's pre-
plans when we respond to their cities for commercial properties.
We just pull it up on the computer, and it tells you who the owner
is , where 's the alarm system , codes to doors , things like that. And
it's the same for them . When they come here , they have access to
our response data if the y need it.
Emergency Management. We completed the department
comprehensive risk assessment and standards of cover, which
that's the last step before accred itation. We 're going through the
self-assessment manual , which is very extensive . And we 're
hoping 2024 we 'll get accredited .
Apparatus replacement. We purchased and provided staff training.
We deployed the new rescue ambulance as well as the new quint
ladder engine. We completed and submitted to FEMA an approval
of the five-year county hazard mitigation plan . Chief Marietta
presented on that. We transitioned as well First Due and deployed
Community Connect , which is a community outsourced
information to help us better respond to the community.
We also achieved 100% compliance training with the state , so that
we can maintain certification. And we also certified in-house
instructors for Blue Card. So , we don 't have to send them out for
training , so that saves money by having our own instructors that
can teach it in-house. So , we just have to maintain their
certification as instructors .
For Emergency Management Support Services , the Professional
Standards Bureau , which is in charge of the accreditation provided
over 13 ,000 hours of training for our members , an d we achieved
100% compliance in that training. We hosted a regional acti ve
shooter hostile event response training , and we worked with PD
and did the training at the Kings Ridge Academy with Milton PD .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 17 of 72
From community risk reduction , we had over 1, 100 inspections .
We did about 480 incident pre-plans. These get updated every
year. So , the crews will go out during their day , during their shift ,
and they'll go pre-plan the businesses and update all the data , all
the information that's needed , so that we 're prepared when we
have an incident.
Reviewed over 308 plan reviews , conducted over 146 community
outreach , 2 ,971 hydrant inspections . And we had five fire
investigations. One of those was an arson case that was
successfully investigated and referred to the county prosecutor. I
think they ended up hav ing a plea deal.
For community risk reduction , our Medical Services Bureau falls
under the community risk reduction: 180 hours of in-person
medical training . We do a combination of in-person as well as we
use a Vector Solution , an LMS , a learning management system to
do some of the courses. These are certified by the state. We had 25
successful EMS recertifications and 21 National Registry
recertifications.
So , some of the accomplishments here for the medical services is
we reviewed and implemented a 2022 Fulton County Clinical Care
Guidelines. I think the most important piece is No. 2 . We were the
first in North Fulton, again , thanks to my staff and the EMS
Advisory Committee that we had , which made up of members of
the department -we were the first to administer anti-coagulant
medication in the field , which is Brilinta and Heparin.
Heparin is the anti-coagulant that prevents the clots from forming ,
and Brilinta is a blood thinner. So , instead of waiting until you get
to the hospital , and they administer this stuff, we do it in the fields .
By the time the y get to the hospital , they 're ready to go to the cath
lab. So, that is specificall y for heart attacks with a complete
blockage. And we identify that through our monitors . We can tell
by the rhythm , and we act on it really quick.
We 're trying to convince the hospital -we had cases where they
bypassed the ER and went straight to -because we are able to send
the 12 lead , the strip , so the y could see it. And the y said , "Take
them straight to the cath lab ."
AMR now is following suit and doing what we're doing . So , I lo ve
it that we 're innovative and providing the best for our community.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 18 of 72
Obviously, we evaluated and purchased the auto pulse mechanical
CPR device. And then , with the Zoll monitors , they 're
communicating . And I'm gonna show you an example how we
utilize that data to better next time when a cardiac arrest. So, if you
just allow me to give you a sample. So , each time we have a
cardiac arrest , we get this summary, right? So , this is from a
cardiac arrest in 2022. There 's no personal identifying information
here . We use this as a tool for training but also to improve our
quality improvement process .
So , the EMS Advisory Committee that's made up of our members ,
they will take this after a call , and they 'll review it. And then ,
they 'll engage with the troops. So , just briefly , you see this
constant blue line here? That 's the CPR event. It shows you when
the person was shocked. It documents the time. It shows you the
depth. As you can see , it's consistent because of the auto pulse.
Where right here , you see a minor interruption , and that was
hands-on CPR because they had to check a rhythm. So , you have
to stop to check the rhythm , but yo u still continue CPR.
This tracks our vent ilation performance , which that's exactly what
we want to see. This is for capnography, the amount of end-tidal
CO . We call it carbon monoxide in your system. There has to be a
certain magic number, in a sense , so we can be effective. The
ventilation has to be consistent.
So , as you can see here, the blue is we were on the compression ,
on the chest , 92% of the time , which is great. So , we only had
about 7.66 interruption on compressions . And that's probably for
checking rhythm , maybe adjusting, starting IV , moving him , or
something like that. It could be different events.
And then, the consistency of the depth also. So , ideally , we want to
be under five seconds , right? So , that 's ideally like the stoppage to
be out and not doing CPR. It should be under five seconds . And
then , the chest compression, that's the same thing as the
compression fraction. It just shows you at 94% of the time.
And then here , it tracks all the times. And here , it tells you from
the case start , meaning from the time they turn the monitor on until
the time the y put the auto pulse activation it was 3:51. From
manual compressions , 1 :54 . So , the started right away . And then ,
transition took only about a minute . So , this is a most recent , and
I 'm going to show you just quickly an example of one that we had
Regular Meeting of t he Mi lton City Council
April 10 , 2023
Pa ge 19 of 72
right after we deployed , and you can see where the improvement
there is significant.
So, we use these metrics , again, to do those -to look at our
performance metrics. So , as you can see here , this was back in
2022, November. You can see the auto pulse there was just for a
little bit. And then, all of this is manual compression that you see
here. And ideally , you want to be down here where this blue -
that's the auto pulse. And again , the auto pulse delivers consistent,
versus you can see here there 's potentially maybe fatigue for the
CPR.
So , just to bring it down here , you can see it was 83.4% at the time ,
but we were about 60.6% of that off the chest not doing
compressions when CPR was stopped. So, we use this data to train
and go over the CPR, so we can do better next time . And you can
see the improvement in the quality. So, that's what we use this data
for.
Any questions? I'll go back to the report. The CARES program .
So, the CARES program has been really a true success. It is a
community, sort of -we didn't copy it. We didn't bring another
program here. It just sort of grew organically based on the
community's need. So many accomplishments. We were able to
transition from a part-time to a full-time thanks to your support and
funding. Since then , we've had 165 referrals , patient referrals , 94
education services. That 's CPR classes, Stop the Bleed, engaging
with the community, community health, working with some of our
partners . We had 65 new partners.
And then , we had 39 911 call intercepts. What that means is the
community paramedic is listening on the radio. If it's a non-
emergency Alpha -we call it Alpha call -like, "My head hurts ,"
for example. Or , "I cut my finger." So , instead of sending the
ambulance and timing and ambulance and an engine, they will
intercept that call and take care of it. If it turns out to be -they're a
medic . They 're fully equipped . If it turns out to be something else
or needs to upgrade, he will call for additional resources. So , we
had about 39 911 call intercepts.
In our community , people do not abuse our 911. When they call us ,
they need us. While you see compared to national data, where
EMS calls are about 80% to 90% of the call volume, ours is almost
like 50% to 60%. So , it just speaks of sort of the services we
provide and how our community utilizes emergency services.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 20 of 72
We also educate assisted living facilities. Many times , our assisted
living facilities , they need to transfer a patient out. They call for
what we call a general transport ambulance. That 's not in the 911.
There 's not many of those , or they're busy . So , they don 't want to
wait two hours , and they 'll call 911 just to get an ambulance. So ,
we try to educate them. "Don 't do that." Because it 's not an
emergency. You tie up an emergency ambulance. So , we try to
engage actively and educate the staff about when the call 911 , not
to call 911.
And then , obviousl y, we continue to partner with the two hospitals ,
main hospitals that we work with .
Strategic plan updates. We have two goals , and I'll give you an
update in May specific , very in-depth on strategic plan. But Goal 2 ,
we 're about 80% complete. Goal 4, we 're about 90% complete .
These are the fire department 's strategic plan. We had eight
specific priorities . This is just the progress right now.
Next chapter. Exciting. Save the date for the grand opening of
Station 42. We are just excited to be able to move to the station
and provide services. Look forward to having you there.
Obviously , quint. You were there for the push-in ce remony . It's a
quintuple that the word quint comes from . It just has five different
-it can do five different things. It's a combination ladder as well
as engine. So , if we respond to a frre , they have both tools. They
have a pump. They can provide water. They can provide elevated
stream versus if it was a ladder with no pump or just an engine. So ,
it 's a valuable tool.
Not to forget Milton Fire Corps again. Another successful
program. They are being engaged by our adjoining communities.
They wanna create the same thing. Roswell , John 's Creek is
looking at doing the same thing. But it is successful because of our
community members that volunteer their time for the fire
department and our community.
And then, some success stories. We promoted some recruits to fire
fighters , engineers , drivers , care coordinator , captains , battalion
chief, and deputy chief. So , that 's the latest promotions . As you
can see , a lot of smiling faces . We 're excited about the
opportunities .
And then, the last piece of my presentation , I promise .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 21 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Chief Benmoussa:
You 've been busy , haven 't you?
I have. So, I just wanted to talk about -we ll , if yo u recall, in this
budget year, you pro vided us funding for the ultrasound at the
amount of $25 ,566.00. The State of Georgia EMS is not ready for
us to -not ready for the State to go that route, where other parts of
the country, they are. We even asked for us to do the research, the
trial , and be the sort of model. They 're not ready for it. So , we
won 't be able to do the ultrasounds this year.
So, instead, asking if we can reallocate that to these two pieces of
equipment. So , the ring rescue is -we get a lot of ring rescues ,
believe it or not. People , their fingers swell up. They want their
rings cut. This is the current tool. Only cuts gold and silver.
There 's many people with titanium , tungsten. We can 't cut those.
This tool here can cut any material. It's brand new. Was literally
made back in September. But it also has another contraption , a
manual one. A lot of people have sentimental values for their rings ,
so there's another option . We can use that other -it's like a cuff. It
inflates , and when it does , it deflates the swelling. And then, you
will be able to just pull the ring out.
Right now , this is what we use , and it takes a good 15 , 20 minutes
versus a minute to cut a ring . We get people that are injured in
accidents where they injured their finger, and their fingers swell
up. We have to be able to cut the ring , so we can allow for
circulation. Otherwise , they might lose their finger. So , that 's one
of the tools that we're asking if we can reallocate that funding to
purchase one or two of those.
Then , the iSimulate REAL TI is a simulation that allows us to build
cardiac scenarios , strokes , medical scenarios. You can put the same
interface of the monitor. It 's literally an iPad. And what this does:
it eliminates having to buy the $20,000 .00 mannequin. You can
literally put this on a stone and turn the stone into a patient because
you have the controls. So , what it does is it just simulates all of
those scenarios , and it allows the medics to work through the
scenarios. So, it 's a training machine. Also saves the wear and tear
on our actual monitors . This can simulate everything from cardiac
rhythms to blood pressures. You can build the scenarios, type of
injuries . Our trauma scenarios can be put in there. And it can be
used for recertification.
So , that 's sort of what my EMS team has asked ifwe can maybe -
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 22 of 72
CM Cookerly:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Chief Benmoussa:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Ellis:
Can we do that now? Can we -I'm sold.
That was one of the questions I had , Steve. Is that something you
want us to do now, or do you want to come for a budget
amendment later?
I think I'd like to review this a little bit more.
All right. Sounds good.
And that 's the end of my presentation.
All right. Any questions for chief? All right. Thank you. Good
stuff. Will the city clerk please sound the next item ?
Mayor, that next item is the finance strategic plan update ,
presented by Finance Director, Ms . Karen Ellis.
How do I follow that up? How do I wow you? I'm waiting for it to
pull up. There we go.
Mayor and Council, tonight I am here to give you an overview of
our finances , strategic comprehensive plan. It 's a quarterly update.
Under the finance guise , we had 13 strategic plans under the
strategic plan for '21 and '25 . Of those 13 , three of them have been
complete , which I'll go over with you on the next slide. We have
one active strategic plan project and then nine other projects that
are a support. The finance department is just a supporting role , and
those projects will be shown in future presentations for those
departments.
So , the three projects that finance has completed in Fiscal Years
'21 and '22. The first one is we established some financial metrics
that were comparing us with the North Fulton cities. We were
looking at revenues , expenditures , and debt. This comparison of
financial metrics is done through the Clear Gov portal. So , if you
go right to the city 's strategic plan , which I believe is under the
city manager 's tab , it will take you right to Clear Go v.and you can
look at the plan. We even got it updated currently from 2018 to
2021. We just finished the '22 audit , so those will be updated
shortly on the website as well.
In that financial metric comparison with the North Fulton cities,
we looked at re venue and expenditures per capita so that you could
Regular Meeting of t he Mi lton City Council
Apri l 10, 2023
Page 23 of 72
compare how that -for Roswell , Alpharetta, all of our sister cities.
We looked at the average revenue and expenditures collected by
city and then average per capita debt comparing us to all of those
sister cities within North Fulton .
The second item is we developed a five-year operational budget to
go along with the seven-year capital improvement plan . This was
started in the Fiscal Year '22 budget. It 's also in your '23 budget
and will continue on. This was always a long-term internal thing
we always tracked. Now, we 're just doing it more externally so
that it's more transparent to everyone externally and all the new
departments. That's basically the pie that you see to the right
showing into the future all the budget line items in summary and
showing how that operational budget goes into the future .
And then, the third item was tracking percentage of revenues
across different categories. And as we are trying to strive for
reducing how much we rely on our property tax revenue year over
year. So, within that , we were always tracking the percentage of
revenues. Now, we're try ing to focus more within this report ,
again , to rely less on our property taxes.
When I pulled the data for Fiscal Year '20 , '21, and '22 , we
successfully met those requirements. At least three percent each
year we have reduced our reliance on property taxes so that it's
less and less of what we do . So, for 2020 , we were at 55%, and
'21 , we went down to 52%. And in Fiscal Year '22 , we went down
to 39%, but that was arbitrarily low because of the ARP A. So , if
you take out that $10 million in ARP A , it was actually another
three percent , which was 49%. So , successfully three percent per
year we 're reducing our reliance on property taxes.
One of our active -our current active project is the update to our
occupation tax process and fee structure. In November, if you
recall , we met with you to get your feedback on where we 're
directed to go for the occupational tax certificate fee structure. We
also put out a stakeholder survey in December. And when we went
out to the business owners , we wanted to see what they felt we
could improve on. Was it the website , the application ? We got a lot
of good feedback from that.
And then , in our internal stakeholder meetings , we gather a lot of
data, again , from our sister cities to see how they tracked all this
information during their application process , and we got some
feedback from those local municipalities as well as working with
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 24 of72
Mayor Jamison:
Ms . Ellis :
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Inglis :
GMA to kind of come to a better plan to how to better maximize
our occupational tax process.
And then , in our supporting roles , I won 't read all nine of these ,
but these are where we are the supporting role to other
departments , which you will see in future presentations. And we
provide them whatever information the y need to help meet these
strategic plan goals.
If you have any other questions , I'll be glad to answe r them .
Any questions for Karen ? No ? Thank you .
Thank you. I didn 't put you to sleep .
Not at all. Will the city clerk please sound the next item?
Mayor , that next item is the presentation on the objectives of the
Performance Management Committee given by Deputy City
Manager , Ms. Stacey Inglis.
Good evening , Mayor and Council. Over the past several weeks ,
we 've been working on three projects with the assistance of two
committees consisting of employees from multiple departments.
Before we get too far down the road with the work, we wanted to
get your feedback on the projects ' objectives and desired outcomes
to ensure they align with your vision.
The first project I'm presenting on is the performance management
system that lies with the appropriately named Performance
Management Committee. And under the next agenda item, I'll be
presenting the other two projects.
So , tonight's agenda: we 'll review the current performance
management program , the project objective, desired project
outcomes , and the timeline we 're working within , and the next
steps.
So , the current performance management system is known as the
employee check-in . This is designed to facilitate a conversation
between the employee and the supervisor , where they will discuss
the employee 's performance , any opportunities for improvement ,
what the supervisor can do to help the employee be more effective ,
and establish smart goals. And smart goals are the specific
measurable , attainable , relevant , and time-bound goals .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 25 of72
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus :
Ms. Inglis:
CM Jacobus:
Ms. Inglis:
This check-in process includes a mid-year and end-of-year check-
in to ensure the employees are on track with performance and
accomplishing the smart goals. This evaluation process is not tied
to merit increases . While the check-in has been in place for a few
years , we would like to have a performance management system
that rewards high performers or pay for performance , if you will.
We 're looking to create a performance management system based
on current best practices that is designed to motivate and engage
employees and incentivize optimum performance.
And the desired outcomes is to have a system that is embraced by
both Council and Staff. It should include developmental goals and
performance goals that align with the strategic plan 's goals ,
objectives , and core values . We would like to include interim
reviews throughout the year , much like the employee check-in , to
foster communication between the employee and the supervisor, to
ensure that the common understanding of the purpose and
expectations , and to assist with detecting opportunities for
improvement as they develop instead of waiting until the end of
the year .
This system should also ensure that employees have the resources
they need to be successful and provide accountability for their
expected job performance. As mentioned previously , it rewards
high performing employees. And lastly , we'll need to ensure that
the evaluation ratings are applied in a uniform and fair manner
across the departments.
At this time, I'd like to pause and ask for any feedback or
questions you may have on the project's objective and the desired
outcomes.
Questions? Jan ?
What type of 360 feedback are you working into this system?
We are working on all of that right now. We haven 't designed the
system yet. We 're just working through researching best practices
at the moment. And then , we'll move into the designing of the
actual system and what that's gonna look like.
I think it's imperative that that 360 is incorporated into anything
that 's related to merit increases , personally .
Thank you.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 26 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Ms. Inglis :
CM Moore :
Ms . Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Ingli s:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Ms . Inglis:
CM Moore:
Paul?
Stacey, is this layered on top of the check-in?
We wou ld like to incorporate the check-in in to the performance
management system, the new one. So , it wo uldn 't be all of these
evaluations that the employee would face.
I think it's important that you've got one working system that the
employee knows that -especially, as you noted , it's not -the
check-in program is not tied to merit increases . I understand that
there 's a constant measure , and a chance to succeed , and a chance
to grow , a chance to target improvement areas. And it would be
one fluid, organized path.
I completely agree.
I might be getting ahead of myself, but is this -when is the
implementation you're trying to go for on this?
There is a timeline that we 'll show. And I'll go ahead and mention
it now. What we would like to have is a plan for your approval in
June. So , we can roll it out in October, so that the employees know
what to expect. We don't know exactly what the design will look
like , again. We do understand that merit increases should be
considered with this and not just across-the-board market
adjustments. That is something that we've heard as a desire. So, we
are keeping that in mind as we roll this out.
Paul ?
Stacey , are we designing our own, or are we looking at some off-
the-shel f opportunities to help as a cornerstone for us to build
from?
That's a really good question. We have not found anything within
the public sector market that fits the desired outcomes and the
objectives that we've stated here tonight. We are not j ust looking at
public sector. We 're looking at universities , and we're looking at
the private sector. We want to make sure that this is something that
yo u all can embrace and that emp lo yees can understand as we're
going through this.
Thank you .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 27 of72
Mayor Jamison :
CM Mohrig:
Ms. Inglis:
CM Mohrig :
Ms . Inglis :
Rick ?
I don't know if you -have you talked to Tifton at all? I think
they 've done this a few y ears back. They may be someone that you
can look at from a public sector to see how they do. And I think
they 've got an HR manager that you may be able to talk to there.
And then, another system that I've recently seen that does 360 is
RightPath. I don't know if you 've ever heard of that. I can send you
some information on it. That may be something to look at too .
That's used by a number of large corporations. I don't know how
many public sector groups use it , but I think it 's pretty good
because it also , I think, feeds into personal development plans , that
type of thing.
Thank you . I'd appreciate that. And I'll definitely reach out to
Tifton. We did hear back from several organizations. We 've talked
with Alpharetta. We talked with Roswell. Both of them are
revamping their current performance management system. Spoken
with Watkinsville. Watkinsville is a tiny little city just south of
Athens. And they hired a consultant to do their performance
management system. They sent me the consultant 's report and their
template when I sent out a request on the city manager listserv.
I also spoke with Woodstock. They recently put in a pay for
performance system there. They 're in their first year of it. So , they
talked with us at good length over what their program is and how
the employees received it.
Does Alpharetta currently have a performance management
system?
They do. And my understanding is that they have figured out -the
supervisors have figured out a way to give everybody the top
rating so that they can get the maximum amount of benefit. So , we
want to try to avoid that because we want to make sure , as
mentioned , that the ratings are applied in a uniform and fair
manner and are specific to that employee .
So , one of the things that Woodstock said was they provided -the y
went to Carl Vinson Institute and had a trainer come out and train
the employees on how to gi ve good evaluations , the reason for
giving good evaluations , and making sure that they understand that
it is important to the organization that you do good and fair
evaluations of the employees.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Counci l
April 10, 2023
Page 28 of 72
CM Jacobus:
Ms. Inglis:
CM Jacobus:
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Inglis:
So, we'll definitel y be incorporating something like that into this
implementation strategy.
Have we reached out to -on the committee that's working on this,
is it just employees at the current time?
Right.
Has the thought been given to reaching out in the community to
some business owners and various businesses to just give a
different perspective? My concern is -and I think the hope for a
lot of individuals -in order to get this 360 feedback and to get it
based on performance, we have to look outside government
agencies. And it might be helpful to look at what some local
businesses are doing. And they may be willing to sit in and help.
We can certainly look into doing something like that.
Okay. So, as mentioned, the timeline that we're working within is
-obviously, tonight , we're doing the approval of the objectives.
And we hope to have this before you for final approval in June , in
time for the FY24 budget funding discussion as well. And then,
implementation in October.
And ne xt steps of the project is to continue researching best
practices . And that will inform the structure of the performance
evaluation and create a pay for performance funding structure. And
then, we'll establish an implementation strategy and policy.
Because if not done correctly, it can have an adverse effect on the
city's operation and employee morale.
Lastly, we'll seek yo ur approval before anything is rolled out to the
employees.
Thank you, Stacey. I know we've been talking about this for many
years, so I'm glad to get it going. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay.
Will the city clerk please sound the next item?
Mayor, that ne xt item is the presentation on the objectives of the
Benefits Committee, Deputy City Manager Stacey Inglis.
So, the benefits committee is tackling two projects. One is
establishing a retiree health benefit, and the other is re viewing the
pension plan for potential revisions. So, we 've discussed these
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 29 of72
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis:
projects a while back. So , this is a refresher for some of you , but
it's new information for the others , the other few of you.
Like the previous agenda item , tonight's purpose of this
presentation is to get your feedback on the projects ' objectives and
desired outcomes , ensure they align with your vision. And for
simplicity , I 'm going to discuss each project individually, but we 'll
review the current plans for both projects , their objectives , desired
outcomes , the timeline that we 're working within, and the next
steps.
So , we 're gonna do the retiree health benefit first. And currentl y,
the city does not offer a health benefit for our retirees. As a
comparison , Alpharetta is the only city around us that provides a
benefit of this sort. Roswell , Johns Creek , Sandy Springs , and
Woodstock do not provide any kind of health benefit for retirees .
The project objective is to establish a retiree health benefit that
provides a competitive edge in the market to attract and retain
good talent and have a benefit that offers the opportunity for
employees to retire on their own timeline and terms. Lastly , the
benefit should minimize the long-term liability for the city.
The desired outcome with this benefit is that it is embraced by
Council and Staff. It should enhance our benefit offerings to
positively impact our ability to attract and retain good talent.
We 're also looking for a plan that's beneficial for both the City and
the employee. By allowing employees to retire earlier, then when
they become eligible for Medicare , if they want , could impact total
compensation strategies and active health insurance risk goals , as
older employees typically earn more and drive higher overall
health insurance costs.
And lastly , we 're looking for a benefit that minimizes the city 's
long-term liability. At this time , I'll again pause and ask for an y
feedback on the objective and the desired outcomes.
Any questions for Stacey?
The timeline is the same as the performance management project,
and you 'll see it again whenever I talk about the pension revisions.
We 're looking to have it completed in June for approval -for
presentation to you for approval, with an October implementation
timeframe.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 30 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis :
Next steps in this project is to continue researching best practices ,
which will help inform the plan design. And once we 've firmed up
the plan design , we 'll engage the services of an actuary to perform
a financial analysis. We will then establish an implementation
strategy and then bring the project to you for approval.
Questions on that before I move on with the pension rev1s1on
project ?
Questions? Nope .
Okay . So , revisions to the pension. So , we currently have two
retirement plans , a defined benefit for those employees that were
hired before July 1, 2014 , and a defined contribution plan for
employees hired on or after July 1, 2014 . A defined benefit is what
I'm referring to when I say pension plan. An employ ee is 100 %
vested after seven years.
The normal retirement age has been set at 65 years old with five
years of service , and early retirement as Age 55 wi th 10 years of
service. There 's an early retirement penalty of two percent per year
before Age 65. So , if you retire at 55 , the penalty is 20%. There is
no cost-of-living adjustment included in this plan.
An employee in the defined contribution or 401(a) plan is 100%
vested after five years. They can withdraw without penalty at Age
59.5 . But for public safety , they can actually begin withdrawing at
Age 50 without penalty. And the penalty for early withdraw is
10%. And you can see there 's 58 participants in the pension plan
and 115 current participants in the defined benefit or defined
contribution plan, the 401 .
The objective of this project is to review the pe nsion plan for
possible revisions to create parody with a defined contribution plan
that will allow employees to retire on their own timeline and terms .
And consideration will be gi ven to reducing or eliminating the
early retirement penalty or consider adding a cost-of-living
adjustment.
The desired outcomes: again , it's exactly the same as the retired
health benefit with the addition of creating parody with the defined
contribution plan.
And I'll be happy to stop at this time and answer any questions or
hear any feedback that you might have .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 31 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus :
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis:
Jan?
Yeah. To be very honest with you, I have a real issue with staff
doing the medical and the pension. To me, this is something that
you go to an outside consultant that doesn't have anything in the
game other than just providing us with quality information. I think
we've got to remove ourselves from this and get a third party to
come in and take a look and just tell us: what are the best
practices? What's best for the city?
To me, when I look at these types of programs , my concern is what
I've seen and witnessed that happens up north. They 've taken these
programs over the year , and they just do them in-house , and they
keep adding. And a lot of it's done by themselves versus a
consultant , and they get so big that now those places have property
taxes that are just utterly ridiculous , and it 's because of the
programs, I think , that were designed. I think they were designed
poorly.
And I would think by going an outside consultant , we might get a
better perspecti ve on what's best to do what you want to do , which
is retain quality individuals. But it 's also what's best for the
taxpayers too at the same time.
I agree. And we are planning on engaging in a consultant or an
actuary to review the plans , to ensure that the cost isn 't going to be
astronomical. Because we wouldn't bring anything before you that
we wouldn't think would be viable for the City to even sustain.
And we are engaging -One Digital is the firm that we have
engaged with helping us with the retiree health benefit. This is a
consulting firm. They are working with MissionSquare, which is
what ICMRC used to be. ICMRC is the public sector 401a and 457
investment firm. And they also do those retiree health savings
benefit that we 're looking at. And we are doing every -we are
engaging outside consultants.
Any questions for Stacey? Are you done ? Or do we keep on going?
I'll show the timeline.
Okay. Go for it.
It 's the same as the other two projects. And the next steps on this is
to engage that actuary and to perform that financial analysis . And
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 32 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
Ms. Inglis:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mr. Krokoff:
then , bring for ward an y recommendations for Council appro val in
June.
Yeah , I think the long-term financial stability of the City is the
most important thing , and I'm sure y'all will do everything right.
Steve?
We bel ieve that it 's actually the opportunity to save money lon g-
term. I'm not in that plan , so I have nothing in the game here . So ,
perhaps I can be that eye that we might be concerned about.
Thank you. An y other questions for Stacey ? No ? Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks , Stacey .
Please call the next item .
Mayor , that ne xt item is the update and discussion of the 20 23
Milton Municipal General Election , presented by City Manager
Mr. Ste ven Krokoff.
Good evening , Mayor and Council. I'm here tonight to provide you
with an update on our 20 23 municipal election preparation
progress and seek direction from the council on three decision
points.
I'll begin by providing an overview of significant deadlines and
milestones , both internally and externally driven. Next will be
seeking direction regarding advanced and Election Day voting ,
direction on ballot boxes , and will conclude with what's coming
and an opportunity for any further questions .
Let's briefly take a look at some key terms , if we could . So , the
first is advanced voting. This is just a reminder. So , it's a three-
week period prior to Election Day . It 's often synonymous with
early voting and advanced in-person voting . Council districts: we
have three council districts within the City of Milton where
councilmembers must reside. Election Day: the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November. In odd number ed years , for
municipal elections .
Milton voting districts. For Milton municipal electi on only , this is
a group of precincts that are assigned to the same polling place.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 33 of 72
Polling place: a physical location where voters cast their ballot,
synonymous with polling locations. And precincts are a group of
voters from a geographic area that vote at a common polling place.
Let's go over some deadlines and milestones. This is a list of some
of the external deadlines by which we 're regulated. It's a high level
view but one that highlights crucial deadlines for us to be aware of.
There are internal deadlines. Here , you can see some of our
internal milestones that we need to meet to be successful with our
external deadlines.
Under the status column , green indicates the task is on track to
meet the deadline. Yellow indicates caution or that we 're
approaching a deadline. Red indicates delayed or past the deadline .
And blue will indicate complete. The three tasks in yellow are on
our agenda this evening. The task in red , which is getting the new
council districts to Fulton County is just waiting on confirmation
from the governor 's office that he signed it.
Tonight, we 'll be seeking direction regarding the polling locations
for both advanced and Election Day voting. However , to make an
informed decision , you need to know that the prospective locations
are suitable as polling locations. In addition, to meet legal
requirements, we need to ensure that these locations can meet the
demands associated with occupancy limits and parking. And that's
the only limits I'm talking about tonight.
We have broken this down between advanced voting and Election
Day voting . Before you on this slide are the forecasted numbers for
advanced voting , which is a three-week period prior to Election
Day. Historically , we have had one location for advanced voting
for municipal elections , and that is how we based this analysis .
Based on 2021 data, we had a total of 2 ,226 voters participate in
advanced voting with a range of 28 voters in a day to 559 in a day ,
which of course was the last day of early voting.
To determine minimum occupancy and parking requirements, we
utilized the day with the most volume , 559, and increased that
number by 10% to conservatively account for increased
population, bringing the largest daily volume to be expected to be
615.
While we know that daily counts ebb and flow, with increased
volumes in the morning and afternoon , we determined that the
average volume across the eight-hour period to be 77. We then
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 34 of72
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
divided that number by an average voter stay of appro ximately 15
minutes and forecast that on average , we 'll have 20 voters present
at any given time on the day with the most volume.
Then , to account for morning and afternoon fluctuations , we
applied a surge factor of 200%, bringing the maximum number of
voters to 60 at any given time and added the maximum number of
staff, coming to a total minimum building and parking capacity of
70 for advanced voting.
I'm going to do the same thing for Election Day . Are there any
questions about the slide before you or anything that I've presented
so far?
Historically , we have had eight locations for Election Day voting
for municipal elections . Fulton County was clear in their intention
to reduce that number in 2023 . The following analysis is based
upon three locations on Election Day.
Based on 2021 data, we had a total of 2 ,142 voters participate in
Election Day scattered across the eight polling locations. To
determine the minimum requirements , we increased that number
by 10% to conservatively account for increased population,
bringing the forecasted volume to 2,356 voters , rounded to 2,400
for simplicity. We divided that evenly by the three proposed
locations for 800 voters on each location on Election Day.
While we know that dail y counts ebb and flow , with increased
volumes in the morning and afternoon , we utilized the average
volume across the 12-hour period, arriving at 68. We then divided
that number by an average voter stay of approximatel y 15 minutes
and forecast that on average , we 'll have 17 voters present at any
given time on Election Day .
Then , to account for the morning and afternoon fluctuations , we
applied a surge factor of 200%, bringing the maximum number of
voters to 51 at an y given time and added the maximum number of
staff, to a total minimum building and parking capacity of 61 for
Election Day.
I'm going to go back to advanced voting .
Steve?
Yes?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 35 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Really , reall y quick because I like numbers. So , for 2021 , that was
an -that, in my opinion, will be an exceptionally low turnout year.
We had one contested race , I believe. 2017 , we had multiple
contested races , including the mayor. So , I think maybe not
tonight , but some point in the future , let's look at what 2017 was ,
look at our population now , and estimate what future contested
multiple race could be. Does that kind of make sense ?
I understand.
I'm good.
So , advanced voting. As you recall from the ke y terms , advanced
voting , also known as early voting , is the three-week period prior
to Election Day . This year , it 's from October 16th to No vember
3rd , including two mandatory Saturdays and two optional Sundays.
The Feasibility Committee recommended one location for
ad vanced voting, as we have done in the past for municipal
elections.
In our previous presentation , we discussed the Milton Library and
the Milton City Park and Preserve as viable options. Howe ver , we
also noted that there are other options , and we 've been weighing
them .
After careful consideration , we are recommending the use of other,
the use of City Hall , or more specifically, Council Chambers , for
ad vanced voting. First , it 's extremely close to the location where
citizens have grown accustomed to voting early , the Milton
Library . Howe ver , we have had some difficulty in securing that
location and have been informed that we 'll incur a daily cleaning
fee in the amount of $175.00. Therefore , using City Hall with
eliminate that cost.
Further, the City Hall location will afford us more control over the
physical location , more control over the network, and puts our
resources at our fingertips . Moreo ver, if I am fulfilling the role of
superintendent , it will provide me with a bit more dexterity as I
fulfill both roles.
City Hall is also a bit more reflecti ve of city government than the
library with our citizens , and we can help create an increased
potential sense of civic pride , especially as we conduct our first
election. And finall y, it far ex ceeds the capacity requirements .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 36 of 72
Mayor Jamison :
CM Mohrig
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms. Inglis:
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms. Inglis :
CM Moore :
Ms. Inglis :
CM Moore:
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
I'll pause here for question s, discussion , or direction .
Rick.
Where would you propose we do that , if at City Hall ?
In this room. We can set it up probably about midway to the back ,
and it will be done by 5:00 every day , so it won 't be impacted by
any meetings or anything like that. And to lock up the things that
need to be locked up , we are going to be taking control of that
room over there , rekeying it, and then no one will have access to it
except election officials.
Clarification, Steve. Voting on the earl y voting ends at 5:00 , not
7:00?
Ends at 5:00. Well , we actuall y have some fle xibility on the time ,
but it's ended at 5 :00. The 7:00 to 7:00 is statutorily required by
the State.
On Election Day.
On Election Day. I'm sorry. I apologize .
The minimum amount in advanced voting is to 5:00 each day.
But it includes some Saturday s and Sundays.
It does. It includes two mandatory Saturdays and two optional
Sundays.
Thank you .
Steve , related to parking during that timeframe , would ci ty
employees and staff need to park back here to allow for closer
parking access for residents here ?
Most of the early voting days , it would be pretty -it would
probably be not that big of a deal. As we hit the larger numbers ,
especially when we get towards the end , we would start parking
our vehicles elsewhere. Between the spots over here and the spots
right here , we actually have the same as the library .
So , what I look to do is move our vehicles. We park over here on
the grass quite a bit or go further in. Reall y, the last Friday -the
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 37 of72
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Verhoff:
Mayor Jamison :
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Friday right before Election Day is our heaviest. The Friday right
before that is also a very heavy day. So, the previous Friday, that
Friday , and probably the Wednesday and Thursday right before
Election Day we would empty this area out.
Okay . And I missed what you said, the reason the library wouldn 't
allow us there. Or they had conflicts with the dates already? Or
what was that?
No , it 's just been a challenge. Ultimately, I think Ken will agree
that they have to let us use it as long as we're not unnecessarily
impacting their ability to be a library. A school could give us a
problem because they have to actually conduct school during earl y
voting. But ultimately , they would probably have to. But that
$175.00 cleaning fee a day will add up.
Yeah.
Again we lose some level of control , right? There is -especially
when we 're doing something new, that level of control is
somewhat comforting.
Makes sense. Thanks.
More questions for Steve on this? Okay .
So ...
Sounds like we 're all good with that. Everybody good with City
Hall for early voting?
Thank you .
We will move on to Election Day. Previously , Fulton County ,
acting as our agent , held municipal elections in eight locations on
Election Day, though as I stated before , it 's been clear that they
were going to reduce those numbers in 2023. The Feasibility
Committee recommended two locations based on the number of
voters which tend to vote on Election Day. We discussed options
and projected costs for two , three , and eight locations at our last
meeting on this topic .
Today, I'll review the two and three location options. You can see
from this slide that the projected first-year costs come in at
$98 ,382.00 for two locations and $109 ,739.00 for three locations , a
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 38 of 72
Ms . Harvill:
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms. Harvill :
Mayor Jamison :
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms . Harvill:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
difference of $11 ,3 57.00. Of course , there are still decisions to be
made that will affect the overall budget. And from the future
perspective , you can see that two locations are forecasted at
$62 ,523.00 and three location s at $67 ,2 57.00 , a difference of
$4 ,734 .00.
So , after careful consideration and deliberation , we're
recommending the City go with the three locations. We are
recommending City Hall for the same reasons that we are
recommending it for advanced voting. Changing its location from
the advanced voting on Election Day -just for Election Day would
add cost and possibly voter confusion. Additionally, we're
recommending the Community Center at the Milton City Park and
Preserve and the City of Milton Municipal Court for polling
locations on Election Day .
Similarly to City Hall, they all meet the mm1mum capacity
requirements , save the city money by avoiding additional fees , and
provide more control and be st identify with Milton . I'm going to
pull up a map real quick to show you what that looks like. My map
didn 't load . Let me try again .
So , before you is a map. That 's it. And I apologize. I'm not
entirely sure why it's not loading. I'm sorry.
Try closing Adobe and opening it again.
Try closing it? I shall try. Bernadette usually comes through on
things like this. And she does it again.
I just saw it.
We saw it.
All right. We're up.
It 's coming. Yeah. You can see the map. There you go .
Look at Bernadette .
We good? Thank yo u for your help. So , this map , the map before
yo u, we've split this up a bit differently than we did last time in an
attempt to create the least possible travel time and distance for our
voters . This can still be broken up differently so long as all voters
from the same voting precinct vote at the same polling location .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 39 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
CMMohrig :
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore :
Multiple voting precincts can and have voted at the same polling
location in the past.
Any questions on what I'm showing you here? So , just real quick ,
I'm gonna use the cursor. This is the Milton Park and Preserve.
This is the Municipal Court. This is City Hall. So, it does -this
still puts one in each council district, and it minimizes the travel
from residents to location . We felt we threaded the needle pretty
well between what was and what needs to be , trying to make sure
that we took into account operational effectiveness , logistics , and a
change from the eight to a lower number.
Historically , the most we 've had on Election Day -well , I should
say in '21 , the most we had in Election Day was about 320 at any
given location. This will bring it upwards of 800 at any gi ven
location for Election Day. That seems like quite an increase , and I
used 200% as a surge factor with 800. If it's a 400% surge factor
during either tail at the morning or night , we risk getting
overwhelmed. I felt , as a city manager , I would try to create a
situation for success here and try to avoid that.
That being said , if we staff two or even one location , as long as
we 've got the parking and the capacity , we 'd be able to get
everybody through. Again , considering this is a first run at this , I
didn 't think you 'd want long lines or any issues like that.
Do you want to see this , or can I go back to the presentation?
Anybody have any questions on this? Rick?
Yeah , I don 't have questions on this. Do you have the option for
two locations, or are you only presenting the three?
I'm only presenting the three tonight , but you can easily from this
map look at the two -identify two locations and work off the
budget I just showed.
Anybody have any questions for Steve? You can go back to , I
guess , your previous slide . This map , I know , for me looks a little
better than the previous ones that we saw. It 's broken up much
better.
I didn 't follow that , Peyton .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 40 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
[Crosstalk]
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus:
CM Mohrig:
Remember the other work session we had? We had like three
locations. This is more like the current council districts. It's more -
Sorry, I was just thinking if I had access to those previous maps. I
do not have them in this presentation.
So, we're at another decision point or an opportunity for questions
or further discussion. And like I've said from the beginning, we
can do one. We can do eight. Just trying to find a way that will be
operationally responsible, feasible, and ensures that we have a
smooth process. Do I know for sure three is the right number? I
don't. But that does put one in each council district. Perhaps four is
the right number. Perhaps two is the right number. I don't know for
sure.
Does anybody have any problems with three?
Yes.
Okay. Jan?
The way I personally look at this is that we had a group of
individuals that spent a full year working on this and gave us a
recommendation of two. And so, part of my reasoning for wanting
two is just that. We had this group of people that spent a whole
year looking at it. So, I trust what they did .
The other thing is I think, personally, we reduce the possibility of
problems if we contained the two and just make sure we have
quality workers at two locations. We have three, that means more
people that we've got to find that are quality to do this work. And
personally, I don't think anywhere in Milton is hard to get to as far
as time-wise . And with 16 days of early voting, I just personally
don't think we need a third location .
And I still would like to see us go with the two because we
recommended the two both from a cost savings -it 's going down
from the eight. We could have gone with one location , but we
ended up suggesting going with the two. I'm not so worried about
long lines. I think people have the choice if they want to go in for
early voting . They 'll have plenty of days to do that.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 41 of 72
Mayor Jamison :
CM Moore :
Mayor Jamison:
I do like your recommendation to have it here. I guess when I look
at the maps of the first one , I like Option 1 where you 've got kind
of the east side and the west side . Because you still encompass all
of District 3, which is one of the highest density in one place. I still
prefer to go with the two. Plus , it costs less.
Thanks. Anybody -I like three. I think we went from a Feasibility
Committee , and now we 're more operational , and we need to do
what 's gonna make us the most successful election possible . Lot of
eyes on us. One in each district looks good. It 's gonna be a big
change for a lot of people. People were used to driving right down
the street , going to your voting location. Now, we 're gonna have
two or three. So , I think setting us up for success is gonna be a big
deal.
I like data. I like numbers. The last thing any of us wants is long
lines out the door when you used to just walk on in and vote. So , I
like three , but like I said , I think Steve can do two perfectly fine.
But I personally like three. Paul?
So , I've been trying to stay quiet because I participated in the
committee . And our recommendation from the committee was two .
And I just offer this for consideration: once you go to three , you 'll
be hard pressed to go back to two or any other number than three. I
like the east and west scenario. You 've got the highest number of
registered voters but not necessarily the highest level of
participation in the Highway 9 corridor. By offering a chance to be
immediately adjacent to that, the richest number of voters ,
meaning the most committed number of voters, actually resides in
the green area of this map. But they are used to voting , in many
cases , early at the libraries. They 're not opposed to traveling to
cast their vote .
One of our charges was to reduce cost and make sure that we were
fiscally responsible for our voters taxpayer money that we 're
gonna spend. I think to optimize the opportunity for the most
qualified staffing of this is also to look at two locations rather than
three , rather than diluting your opportunity for success by going to
a third location.
As such, I still fa vor two.
So , again , my worry is -I understand when you say you go to
three , you can 't go to two. My worry is if we go to two , and we
have that surge voting , we won 't even have an opportunity again in
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 42 of 72
CM Cookerl y :
Mayor Jamison:
CM Mohrig :
Mayor Jamison:
CM Mohrig:
CM Moore:
the future. So , I want to be operational. We have to have this set up
for success. And we 're talking about money. It 's $11 ,000 .00. No
matter what we do , it's gonna be cheaper than Fulton County. No
matter what the y offer. Carol ?
First of all , it's pretty thrilling the way this is coming together , and
that we 're handling this , and that you all have all participated in
this. But look, to your point about diluting the opportunity for
success , I think you do that when you start with two because there
has been access. What are we gonna get dinged on if things don 't
go swimmingl y? It 's gonna be access because people are used to
all these differ ent outlets . If you don 't have the outlets , or you
minimize it , I think the question will be: well , why did you chop it
down so much ?
So , one in every district just seems to make common sense . I feel
like it 's an overreach to just shave it down so much. This is our
experimental year. This is our first y ear out of the bo x . We go to
two after this , great. If we don 't , if we have learni ngs from this ,
and we need to be at three , or if we need to increase , great. I mean ,
there 's reall y ... what I think the diluting part is not having enough.
Rick ?
Other cities that -when we looked at this from a committee , other
cities such as Peachtree , Peachtree Comers , have similar number
of registered voters , similar si ze of population , and the y do it at
one location.
We 're 39 square miles. I mean , they 're not even remotel y close to
us.
I just don 't think it's gonna be the issue that we 're talking about.
Having taken a long look at the number of voters and the amount
of time it takes to cast your vote , and if we continued forward with
the rest of the plan that I think will come forward for discussion:
paper ballots , hand counting , we are looking at the kinds of
efficiencies that -especially when, at most, we 'll have three seats
up for consideration. We 're not talking about a lengthy voting
process for the individual who comes in . I think that we 're maybe
overselling the opportunity -we 're overselling the risk of long
lines. But -
Regular Meeting of t he Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Pa ge 4 3 of72
CM Cookerly:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison :
CM Mohrig:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
CM Verhoff:
No , I'm just thinking about convenience. I think people kind of
say , "Oh, yeah , I gotta vote. It 's convenient." And if it 's not real
convenient , I don't know. I lo ve to think that everybody's patriotic ,
but I don't kno w. I don't know about other people.
I actually think in a way , it 's gonna be just the opposite. I think
most people that are interested in voting and participate in the
process know that we 're stepping out by ourselves . And I think
they would appreciate the fact that we 're doing just two. They
reali ze it 's partiall y to save dollars. But it's partially to make sure
that we run it very efficientl y.
And I think 99 % of them , if they had to wait a couple minutes in
line , would be just fine with that because we 're doing it , and it is
the first time , and there may be some things that don 't go perfectl y
right. But I think taking the committee 's recommendations who
spent a full year looking at this - I think that 's the wise choice to
go.
Rick ?
I think the other thing , if we look at -and I know the number of
voters can increase. I think the average number of voters we 've
had for the whole life of our election may be 3,500 total. That's
advanced voting and day of. And I think the average when I look
back at some of the stats going back from 2017 forward - I think
the average is 45 % do earl y voting , and 55% are day of. That's the
way it breaks out if you look at actual statistical numbers of where
people voted in Milton for the last number of years for municipal
elections.
I want to plan on worst case scenarios because I want us to be
successful. So , sounds like we 've got a 3:2 vote here. I know
Ste ve, this is not the direction that you want. So ...
I've got the maps up of the -
Because I guess the next question is : if Council wants two voting
spots , then it 's like: do you put one in District 2, or do you put one
in District 3? Who 's gonna make that decision ? I guess we will
tonight. So , I would like to hear from everybody on Council , so
Steve has some direction on where to go.
Ste ve, can you go back to the slide that shows the budget with the
two locations versus three ?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 44 of 72
Mr . Krokoff:
CM Moore :
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms. Inglis:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Mohrig:
Mr. Krokoff:
So , it's two slides. This will be the first year because of some of
the start-up costs and the long-time costs . You see the two
locations versu s the three locations. The difference , I believe , was
$11 ,000.00 and change.
Steve , are these numbers showing us acquiring the equipment or
renting the equipment ?
The ballot boxes?
That depends. So , this one was which ?
This one was borrowing the equipment from Fulto n County. And
any cost associated with that would be the wrapping of the ballot
boxes. So , it included the cost of wrapping .
But there's a cost benefit coming up showing that we can
potentially save money by purchasing versus borrowing ?
Yeah. I mean , I'm gonna be in favor of purchasing because of
repeat opportunity to have that savings , but I'm not sure that -we
heard earlier this evening too was there 's some question about the
free part of Fulton County. It also depends upon another decision
point that I think is gonna be before us : scanners versus no
scanners. Hand count versus electronic count. And the
programming and whatever. And that 's not gonna be free from
Fulton County either. So , I want to make sure we 're really
comparing apples to apples.
It is free. The y can't charge us. But what costs us on the ballot
boxes -which we 'll be getting into it shortly -is having to remove
all of their wrap and wrapping it ourselves. It 's oddly very
expensive.
Plus , we 'd have to transport those to and from . Now , it's gonna be
not even English Street. It 'll be down at College Park , correct?
That 's their ne w location where they 're locating the equipment.
They do have a new location , and we 'd be responsible for
retrieving the boxes. But nonetheless , as we move through those ,
yes -and that 's hopefully what we 're gonna do at the ne xt
meeting , is talk about scanners. Whether you wanna use scanners.
You want to go to a full hand count. That will impact the overall
budget for sure .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
Ap ril 10, 2023
Page 4 5 of 72
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore :
CM Cookerly:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CMMohrig :
And if you're using scanners , what's the cost associated with the
scanner? I'm getting a little ahead of where I was prepared to be
tonight. There are costs associated with those scanners , including
the programming, and SD cards, and things like that. So, as you
increase number of locations, of course , those costs go up
associated with anything related to that software.
However, if you 're hand counting, it doesn 't change .
Yeah , that's an important consideration. And one of the charges of
the committee that we participated in for over a year was to take a
look at all those costs. And I think that we're asking to take smaller
bites here , but we do have to at some point look at the bigger
picture. So , if we're driving cost out or adding cost by two
locations versus three, then we're later gonna debate whether it's
scanners versus pure paper and hand count. I'm not sure we've got
all -our dinner plate 's not full yet to begin dinner. I'm not sure
how we're going to straight up make some of these decisions
tonight.
I mean , I think choosing between two and three tonight, I think
that's doable .
Yes. That part is doable.
Do we participate in the other thing? I mean, all these folks have
studied it, and you all have studied it. That's something we should
weigh in on?
Well , it 's one thing if the city manager and staff adopts all of the
conclusions that were come to by the committee. But if they 're
recommending other considerations , then it should come before
Council for consideration.
So ,Rick?
Steve , I know we 're seeing the cost , the different types of costs . I
think maybe you can call out the difference. We originally -I
think the committee came up with a cost where we actually staffed ,
hire a number of people per location with the two locations. Make
sure we wouldn 't have an issue on Election Day. But I thought we
came up with around a $72 ,000.00 cost versus the $98 ,000 .00 , and
that was with actually acquiring equipment , not renting equipment.
Do you know what the difference is between the additional
$26 ,000.00 7
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 46 of 72
Ms. Inglis :
CM Mohrig :
Ms. Inglis:
CM Moore:
Ms. Inglis:
CM Mohrig:
CM Jacobus :
Mayor Jamison:
CM Johnson:
CM Verhoff:
Not off the top of my head , I do not. I do know that we -I can take
a look at it real quick. Before the city manager finishes his
presentation , I'll have that answer for you . I do know that included
in the budget that the committee recommended was the
programming of the scanners , even though the recommendation
was not to go with the scanners . Somehow, the programming of
the scanners got included in the budget.
And that was in the $72 ,000 .00.
Right.
That would make it an even larger gap.
And it's also in the number that you 're seeing here of the two
locations . It 's included in that number as well.
Okay. Yeah, I'd be interested just to understand where the
committee missed or where the differences are as far as the cost ,
why it's gone up , what , anothe r 30% from what we estimated.
$26 ,000.00 .
Juliette?
To speak on the locations , the three -as a mom with young kids ,
I'm not sitting in a line. I'm not driving halfway across the city.
So , I like the three as well. If that helps .
I go back and forth . I do . When I look at -this is our first time
doing it. And if we are looking at the total cost for first year costs ,
I'm not seeing a huge difference. I'd lean towards three locations
because this map , to me , makes sense. The three districts . And if
it 's not that much of a difference in cost for the first year , to just be
safe and have the three , to me that makes sense.
But I also understand the committee 's findings recommending the
two locations.
What I wanted to ask when I asked you to pull up this budget slide
was: does this includes paying the employees at each locations
also? And that 's one poll manager, two assistants , and how many
workers?
CM Moore: Five?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 47 of 72
CM Verhoff:
CMMohrig:
CM Moore:
CM Verhoff:
Four or five.
I think day of, we went higher in our estimation because we knew
there were gonna be -with two locations, we had overstaffed in
our estimate. That 's why I'm interested in what the difference is in
cost because in the $72 ,000.00 was acquiring equipment as well as
overstaffing to make sure that we wouldn't have an issue. I think
we did day of at the two locations would have 10 voting booths .
So , you could handle 10 people at the same time.
And I think -Steve , you maybe can correct me on this. I think with
the new poll pad in Jarvis -I don't know if they 're even calling
them poll pads. I mean , when we looked at even the timing to get
in and get out , I just know at the last election , the last mid-year or
mid-term election, when I voted on day of, it was quick. I went up .
I scanned my ID. They looked and made sure it was me. And then ,
immediately swung the thing around. I signed, and then I was
given my ballot.
So, I didn 't think there was a wait, and that was part of what we
had looked at when we did the study . How long would you wait?
Well , if you got in there , if you've got 10 people , and a number of
those are checking people in , and you've got 10 voting booths , and
it's only gonna take you a few minutes to mark the three ballots , at
least for this election , we didn 't see that it was gonna be a long
time and much of a wait, even if you had a number of people
showing up at the same time. Because that was something we did
consider.
We didn't want to make it: oh , you 're gonna wait forever if we go
with two locations. That was part of the consideration was the
staffing. Paul , you can correct me if I'm wrong . The $72 ,000.00
included , I think , 10 people at each location for day of voting.
I'm just looking back at my notes to see.
The reason why I asked number of people working at each location
because we want to employ Milton residents at each of these
locations. So , based on that number, increasing or reducing the
number of locations, are we comfortable and confident that we
have -based on everyone you 've met with who have been poll
workers , are you comfortable and confident that we have people
ready in Milton to work the 19 days of advanced voting if we did
three locations?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 48 of 72
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
Ms. Inglis:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
CMMohrig:
So , advanced voting would be the one location.
Oh , I'm sorry. The one location. On Election Day for the three
locations.
I'm feeling confident , of course , for advanced voting. I don 't have
enough information for day of.
I do have the answer. So , we included one poll manager, two
assistant poll managers , and fi ve poll workers for each voting
location on election day. One poll manager , two assistant poll
managers , and three poll workers throughout advanced voting with
the ability to fluctuate that depending on volume. And we did the
same thing within the committee.
So , for example , for advanced voting, we would want to ramp up
our capacity during the last week. Because you don 't need the
same number of people in the first two that you need in the last. I
just want to make sure that we meet demand , and we fluctuate
based on demand to make sure we're as efficient and effective as
possible .
Do you have some guidance on that or not enough for you? I'm
counting 4:3 or 3.5:3. So , I want to make sure we give clear
direction for staff, so Steve , who hopefully will be our future
superintendent , will be able to run a successful election.
Shouldn 't we have a better handle on why there 's a discrepancy
between this $98 ,000 .00 versus $72,000.00 that the committee
came up with? That 's a tremendous difference.
I guess , is the difference -if you expand that to three , are you
saying that the difference is gonna be exponentiall y more than
$11 ,000 .00?
I don't know. That 's why I'm asking.
Steve?
We know the difference will be about $11,000 .00 regardless of
where you start. We knew that from when we did this on our initial
run through.
That's mainly staffing , correct? Staffing and then some -
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 49 of 72
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Mohrig:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
When we did the original work on this -I apologize. You 're
asking me to remember back to what we did initially. But when we
calculated it for each additional location , we calculated it as
approximately an $11 ,000.00 difference.
I would love to go back to be able to tell you what the difference
between the $70 ,000.00-something and the $90 ,000 .00-something .
I can already tell you I'm finding different costs as we're actually
engaging some of these people . But I don 't know what's driving
$20 ,000.00 in difference.
I guess the question is: do we need to make this decision on the
location tonight, or is that something we could do at our second
regular City Council meeting? I think we need to make -
This was what I was gonna suggest. If the difference is onl y
$11 ,000.00 , basically what we 're seeing here , then I think this
decision from tonight , from what I've gathered , is three locations.
Now, if you go back , and you look at the numbers , and all of a
sudden, that $11 ,000.00 is moved to $30 ,000.00 , then I think
Council would want to see that. But if the difference is gonna be
$11 ,000 .0 0, I know I'm comfortable with that. I can 't speak for
everybody else. Juliette , Andrea, anybody ?
What you 're buy ing for the $11 ,000 .00 is a safety val ve, a little bit
more of a potential cushion. We don 't know exactly what to
expect, and it provided some rationale of why we would go to
three , because we have three council districts. And it provided a
little bit of room going from 300-something cycling through on
election day to 800-something. And it was just designed to provide
more cushion.
At the end of the day , from an administrative standpoint , it's easier
to do two. It's even easier to do one. So , in that regard , this is onl y
about providing cushion.
But if it's administratively easier to do two than it is to do three ,
that to me relates to less risk . Less risk of problem.
That's still not gonna be the best for the people to come out and
vote . Administratively , it 's gonna be the best to do one. And cost
effective. But for people to access the voting locations , it's not the
best.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 50 of 72
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison :
It 's the best for the people if there 's an error in three and not an
error in two .
So , we 've got 4 :3 for three. I just want to move this forward
because we 've got plenty of slides. Are four councilmembers
comfortable with three locations?
I think we should qualify that though by -
The discrepanc y in the budget?
I think we 're being a bit frivolous if we don 't -
All I'm saying is if it 's $11 ,000 .00 more , I got no problem with
that.
And I subscribe to that as well , Peyton. But there 's a big difference
between $11,000.00 and $30 ,000 .00-something.
Exactly .
And I think it 's irresponsible to make a decision when we don 't
reall y understand that. Theoretically , you 're on target. But with the
practicality of the detail that we 're talking about spending taxpayer
money , I think we need that number.
I know , but I just said if it changes by more than $11 ,000.00 , then
he'll come back to us . We 've got to keep this ball rolling instead of
We don 't even know at the moment whether it 's apples to apples
comparison. That $11 ,000.00 -Steve , correct me if I'm wrong.
And I appreciate you 've put additional hours well beyond what our
committee has put into this to be able to come to this
recommendation this evening. And I am subscribing 100% to the
$11 ,000 .00 difference. I was a part of that conclusion being drawn
by the committee , so I can support that.
But if we can 't explain where the other $26 ,000.00 are coming
from , I think we 're not making a sound decision tonight as a
council if we can 't explain that.
I think we're making a perfectly sound decision. I think I'm saying
if a third location is going to cost us $11 ,000.00 more , I'm
comfortable with that.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 51 of 72
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore:
You 're not hearing me , Peyton.
I know, but I'm just saying two or three locations . We can talk
about -I think I understand where you're coming from. We can
talk about these numbers at the next council meeting. But location-
wise , I think we 're very comfortable saying three .
I'm not until I understand where those numbers are -why there's a
discrepancy.
The only reason I need to know the number of locations is just to
complete a budget. If it would please the council , next week I'm
planning on bringing before you the scanners vers us hand
counting.
At our work sessions?
I'll do it at the work session, yeah. Perhaps we can drill down
further into these numbers for you to give the entire council a
better level of comfort in making a decision on this . And then , I'll
aim for the following meeting. We'll find a way to get the budget
before you as soon as possible thereafter.
What deadlines do you need to make in order to do number of
locations as far as how your timeline works for everything else?
If they 're all city locations , we have more flexibility.
Okay.
I'm not on a critical deadline .
This isn't one of those ye llow or reds?
No , but an important decision that comes into play pretty quickly
is: how many people are you chasing or staffing in total?
I want to be hiring -I want to be advertising for poll managers and
assistant poll managers by the beginning of May.
Actually, you don 't even need the number -now, I'm rethinking
what I just said. You don 't really -advertising for it and
determining the number are two separate decisions. So , you can
advertise for poll workers. We 're not saying we 're advertising for
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 52 of 72
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore :
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
Ms . Inglis:
two locations or three locations. We're advertising for poll
workers.
We are. So , the plan was because of the talent that we have here in
the city was to bring on the poll managers first, and then have them
assist us with choosing the assistant poll managers and the poll
workers , considering they know the people that have been out
there in the process. So , I did want to try to move as quickly as
possible to hire poll managers.
This delay on figuring out the budget shouldn 't delay that.
One week is not going to make a difference for us.
Nor would two or three, really. Because you're advertising to hire
poll managers. And then , staffing. Whether you 're gonna staff for
two or three at the end becomes immaterial because you can
choose your best choice of workers.
Yes .
So , Steve , you 're the elections superintendent.
Not yet.
Maybe. Tonight , I need to know because this is very important that
this is successful. So, if we wait a week , which I do not want to -I
think we have enough information here to say we have three voting
locations , and we can move on. If we wait a week , is that gonna
harm you on an operational basis ?
It 's not.
Okay. Stacey?
I do have an answer for you on the difference between the budgets
from the committee and the budget that we have on this. So , in the
committee , their recommendation was to have a part-time
superintendent , which was around $13 ,600 .00. What we 're
proposing in the budget that you're seeing before you tonight is a
consultant of $20 ,000 .00. So , that 's almost $7 ,000.00 difference .
There was also no consideration in the committee on costs
associated with renting or paying for the cleaning services at the
library. So , that 's roughly $3 ,300 .00. And then, there was no
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 53 of 72
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Mohrig:
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
CMMohrig:
Mayor Jamison:
Attorney Jarrard:
Mayor Jamison:
Attorney Jarrard:
Mayor Jamison :
contingency figured into the presentation of the numbers as they
were presented that evening. It was just a mention that contingency
was gonna have to be considered , but it wasn't included in that
$72 ,000.00 number. So , you can see the contingency here is about
$9 ,000.00 . So , that makes up the difference between -
That was $19 ,000.00 by my math. You said $7 ,000 .00 , then
$3 ,000.00 , then $7 ,000.00.
$7 ,000.00 , $3 ,000.00, and $9 ,000.00.
$26 ,000 .00 was the difference between ...
Okay. I was going on $20 ,000.00 , which you mentioned. I can
keep on digging a bit further.
But that difference doesn 't change ?
No . Between two and three locations, it doesn't.
All right. Is Council good with having -would you like to have a
vote , Steve? I know you need some direction here.
I think I've been held up on votes before when we do reports and
presentations. I was told you can't vote in reports and
presentations. Is that correct ?
So , to help me , when do we vote on this to give Steve the leeway
to kind of move forward?
A lot of times , as you know , the staff will use the general
discussion of the Council to give direction on trajectory. I think
that 's what they were looking for tonight. Unfortunately, I don 't
know that there 's a clear consensus to be derived from it. So , we 're
gonna have to bring it back to you at another meeting.
I mean, I feel like there 's four votes here.
And even if that 's enough to give the city manager a comfort level ,
at some point , this is gonna have to return for an actual vote.
That makes sense . So , Steve , I guess , when would you want to
have this up for a vote ? Obviously , if we 're giving you direction
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 54 of 72
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Verhoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr . Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
Mayor Jamison :
Mr. Krokoff:
for three , we don 't want to be voting on this a fe w months from
now and someone changes .
No , definitely not. I could try to get y ou more comfortable with
two or three by next Monday, which is a work session. And
potentially prov ide you with additional information, though I don't
know how much more I'm gonna add to what Stacey just added. It
will eventually come down to whether y'all want two or three. So ,
maybe Ken is right. Maybe this becomes a new business item , and
you vote on it.
That's regularly scheduled meeting .
I think the clarification from Stacey is helpful to kind of -I'd like
to -I think we want to see where all those line items are and where
the dollars add up to the $26 ,000 .00 difference.
So , does it make sense to have this on the next regular scheduled
Council meeting? Is that easy enough, Steve , since we 've got most
of the information here?
If I could -if it pleases the Council , I'd like to get you something
back for the work session to see if I can 't get you at least
comfortable around something . And if we can 't , then let 's put it on
for the following meeting , which will be the 24th.
Okay.
And we 'll put it on for a vote. But I'd like to see if I can 't try to
answer any outstanding questions . So , if you 're gonna vote on it , at
least you have all the answers.
Any questions for Steve on this , on two or three? All right. We 'll
move on to the ne xt one.
All right. So , we 're on to ballot boxes. This , I think , will be a little
easier.
I thought the previous one was gonna be easier. Never know.
So , the cost benefit analysis before you compares two courses of
action: leasing the ballot boxes from Fulton County versus
purchasing the ballot bo xes from a vendor. There is no charge
associated with leasing the ballot boxes from Fulton County , but
there are significant costs associated with preparing them for
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 55 of 72
Milton's election and then returning them to their original form
and returning them to Fulton County. Fulton County has informed
us that we must return the ballot bo xes in exactly the same
condition that we receive them.
We made the following assumption when preparing this analysis.
The first assumption is that we'd be entirely using paper ballots
with no scanners. In other words, a hand count. That's gonna be a
CBA for -cost benefit analysis for this coming work session. That
we receive the ballot boxes wrapped in the original Fulton County
artwork that we have to remove. That we must rewrap the ballot
boxes with the Fulton County artwork when we return it.
The lease option includes a three percent year-over-year increase
for costs. It 's assuming one early voting location, and it 's assuming
three Election Day voting locations.
I'll first go over the purchase option, which is in the peach on the
left side of the screen. Ballot boxes , and associated equipment , and
supplies are available from many vendors. For the purposes of this
analysis , we utilized a quote from American Security Cabinets , a
reputable company in this industry . Working with their
representative , we were able to identify which products meet our
needs.
The first year and the total five-year costs are the same , as we incur
all of the costs in the first year. We don 't anticipate much wear and
tear to the bo xes and associated equipment and supplies. Those
costs, including freight , are $7 ,760.00.
Now, for the lease option , which is in the blue on the right side of
the screen. A no-cost lease with Fulton County for their ballot
bo xes includes the requirement for us to wrap the boxes with
Fulton County artwork and then return the boxes in exactly the
same condition that we received them , wrapped in the Fulton
County artwork.
Consulting with a company called A Better Sign -and that's the
company that handles many of the Gwinnett County cities '
election bo x wrapping needs -we are forecasting the frrst-year
cost to be $6 ,176.00 , and the five-year cumulative cost to be
$22 ,551.00.
Based upon this , the city would save $1 ,584.00 if it chose the
leasing option the first year. However , because all of the costs
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 56 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
CM Mohrig:
associated with the purchase option are non-reoccurring and are
incurred in the first y ear, the break-even is approached very
quickl y in Year 2.
By the end of Year 2, the city will have incurred $10 ,900 .00 in
costs if choosing the leasing option versus $7 ,760.00 , a savings of
$3 ,140.00 if selecting the purchase option . Aggregated out to fi ve
years , the cost for the lease option is forecasted to be $22 ,551.00
versus $7 ,760.00 , a savings of roughl y $14 ,791.00 when choosing
the purchase option .
Some of the assumptions that I stated before , if incorrect , will
impact this analysis. For instance , if the Council decides to use
ballot scanners versus hand counting , that will reduce the need for
some of the supplies under both options but would widen the delta
in favor of purchasing .
Another assumption , the one regarding returning the ballot bo xes
to Fulton County re-wrapped in their artwork , significantly drives
costs for the lease option. Should the city be able to simply return
the boxes denude of any artwork , the first-year savings if choosing
the lease option jumps to $3 ,529 .00. However , the break-even only
moves out to approximately 2 .5 years , and then the less costly
route becomes the purchase option.
Under this scenario , the five-year cumulative cost difference is
$5 ,898 .00. All of the mentioned scenarios seem to point towards
purchasing the ballot boxes and associated equipment versus
leasing or borrowing them from Fulton County and incurring the
expenses associated with preparation . Perhaps the only scenario
that would lend itself towards the lease option would be if Milton
did not administer its own election going forward , with that being
an agreement with Fulton County or some other cooperati ve
agreement wherein the city did not suppl y the ballot boxes and
associated equipment.
That's all I have on that. So , I'll stop for an y que stions or your
discussion.
All right. Everybody good with leasing ? I was joking. That was an
icebreaker. Rick ?
With the leasing , Steve , would there be additional transportation
costs that are added into that too , or is that figured into that ?
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 57 of 72
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Mohrig:
CM Verhoff:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Verhoff:
CM Mohrig:
CM Verhoff:
CMMohrig:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
We have the equipment to be able to -we have the vehicles to be
able to pick these up.
Okay .
The Feasibility Committee recommended purchasing the ballot
bo xes, so that's already in the original budget?
Yep.
And is this number the same as the original budget that y'all
recommended?
I don 't have the whole thing , but I know ...
Looking at this , purchasing makes sense.
Purchasing makes , I think , the most sense. That's what we had -
I think purchasing is the way to go.
Any councilmember feel otherwise? Okay. We can move on on
that one.
All right. So, here 's what's next. We're going to be interviewing
and making recommendations to y'all for a consultant. We're not
having too much interest coming back. We did put something out
on the Secretary of State. And we're having trouble finding
individuals who have actually run an election in a superintendent
role .
Decision on ballot scanners vers us hand counting. I'll be bringing
you a cost benefit analysis on that. The budget presentation, of
course , that's going to be contingent upon these other decisions.
I want to discuss appointing an assistant election superintendent,
an absentee ballot clerk , an assistant absentee ballot clerk, should
those in those roles for some reason not be able to do it. And I
want to talk to you about appointing poll managers .
So , that is what yo u have to look forward to. Not gonna do this all
this coming Monday. I 'll focus on getting you the information that
you need to maybe come to consensus on the number of locations .
And I will talk about ballot scanners and hand counting .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 58 of 72
CM Mohrig:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Verhoff:
CM Jacobus:
CM Cookerly:
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Jamison :
City Clerk:
Mr. Dell-Ross:
Any questions , concerns , or any other direction you want to give ?
Looks good .
Thanks , Steve. Appreciate it.
Thanks , Steve.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay , that is our last reports and presentations. So , there 's no first
presentation, no public hearing , zoning agenda, or unfinished
business. So , we 'll move on to new business. Will the city clerk
please sound the first item ?
Mayor, that first item is consideration of a professional services
agreement between the City of Milton and Kimley Hom and
Associates , Inc . for the Milton Comprehensive Transportation Plan
Update. It is Agenda Item No. 23-079. Mr. Rob Dell-Ross.
Thank you. Good evening , everyone. Hoping these slides come up
here in one second. Good evening , everyone. Tonight 's a really big
night for Public Works. We're about to do something that we 've
only done twice in the history of the city. We're gonna be
awarding a contract for the update for the Comprehensive
Transportation Plan for the City of Milton.
Brief agenda for what I'm going to be going through tonight.
Describe the scope of what we 're hiring our consultant to do , talk a
little bit about the schedule for the rest of the year, and then wrap
into a discussion and next steps .
What is our CTP update planning to accomplish? The primary
goals is the first bullet you see on the screen. There have been
several major studies done since the last update of the CTP in
2016 , those being the 2040 Comp Plan and the '21 to '25 strategic
plan. We are going to be taking the motifs , the themes , the goals ,
the objectives , things that came out of those plans and applying
those to our projects , and our goals , and our objectives for
transportation for the City of Milton .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 59 of 72
Like I said , the previous CTPs , the first one ever in the city was
created in 2009. We had a first update in 2016. And we 're going to
be doing our second update this year. Tasks 1 through 5 are the
scope that the consultant is gonna be delivering for us. Task 1:
developing a vision , goals , and objectives. Going into Task 2 , a
robust stakeholder and public invol vement phase. Task 3 being an
inventory and an assessment of what our network looks like today.
Task 4 being an assessment of what we currently need. And then ,
Task 5 being the project lists and the recommendations that come
out to try and meet those needs.
I'll be covering the contingency phase in a future slide , but that 's a
component of the recommendation for us as well. Ne xt slide you
see , this is a screen capture of our strategic plan. The goal that
most closel y falls in with Public Works is Goal 5. And you 'll
notice we 're checking a lot of boxes for this update. Everywhere
where you see a red arrow , we are confident that Kimley Hom , our
recommended consultant , is gonna be able to check that bo x and
accomplish a major goal and outcome measure as part of our plan
update.
Many of you have seen this. This is our TSPLOST project list. The
Tier 1 projects and programs are listed on the left. Tier 2 and 3 are
on the right. A key takeaway from the CTP update is we 're gonna
be defining what a lot of these programs look like. For example ,
under operations and safety , we 've got $3 million dedicated
towards senior section efficiency improvements. What are those
projects? Where are they ? What kind of scopes are there? Are we
doing roundabouts , or are we doing turn lanes? There 's a lot of
variety , lot of possible ways to spend the TSPLOST money.
We already are underway on a couple of those smaller projects you
see on the bottom of the screen , but we have a significant funding
tied into these programs , like pedestrian enhancement streetscape
and community trail prioritization that we need a little bit more
help working with our goals and objectives and working with our
public involvement to help define which projects are actually
gonna be delivered.
This is the schedule . I'm not gonna go into great detail here , but I
do want to point out a couple of points . This Task 2 here is our
entire public involvement phase , doing continuous website
updates. We 're gonna be doing some surveys. We 're gonna have a
couple of in-person public meetings , both formal and informal.
We 're gonna be doing a stakeholder committee. So , there 's gonna
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 60 of 72
be a lot of opportunities for residents to tell us what they like and
what they don 't like about our network.
We do have a pretty aggressive schedule. So , Sara and I are hoping
that we can wrap all this up by the end of the year and bring a
report to you in December that you would adopt. Can 't promise
that , but that's what we 're aiming for. Nothing really to say about
that.
Next portion is the contingency funding. So , Sara and I, as we
were putting together this scope for this CTP, we began hearing a
lot more about the District at Mayfield and that plan that 's been
before you and discussed several times . There 's been a lot of
community outreach led by our community development
department.
One of the next steps for District at Mayfield after you work
through the text amendments and the ordinance changes to the
form-based code is gonna be to look at the traffic and how a sense
of what that recommendation actually does to our network. The
significant recommendation being the closure of -well , but we
also want to look at some of the land uses that aren 't changing
density . We want to look at the square footage , the new residential ,
the new commercial. We want to really take a closer , deeper dive
into : does that plan change our assumptions in our CTP? Are there
projects that we 're currently envisioning that won 't be needed as a
result of adopting and going in this direction? Or are there new
projects that we need to be thinking about that weren't on our radar
beforehand?
There 's also possibility for changes in prioritization or modifying
the scope of a project. Maybe it was a right turn lane in previous
conversations , but it 's a left turn lane as a result of the District at
Mayfield. Those types of fine details we would be looking at , that
is a pretty significant effort , but it 's very similar to an effort that
we actually did in 2009 . 2009 was the first CTP , and they did a
deeper dive on the area that we 're all sitting in right now ,
Crabapple .
So , there was a lot of time , lot of effort , lot of analysis for traffic ,
lot of visioning. The plan that became where we are today, we 're
seeing this falling in line with the CTP update. It just so happens
the company that did our 2009 plan and was responsible for
Crabapple and also did the 2016 update is the same firm that we 're
recommending awarding tonight. So , they are very capable to do
this work.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 61 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerly :
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison :
Councilmembers:
Sara and I would like to recommend adding it to their scope and
signing a contract for that. If that's not something you want to do ,
that 's still a step that the city is going to need to do at some point
to show that the traffic has been analyzed. If that didn 't happen, the
code would require that whatever development proposes those
changes , the developer would be responsible for that traffic study
and proving to us that they wouldn't be causing negative impacts .
Next steps . We 're here to award the contract. We 're
recommending Kimley Horn. They were the highest scoring of
four proposals that we received. Robust public outreach that we
will be starting very quickl y . You' 11 see a lot of updates on social
media, a lot of talk around town.
We 're gonna be not necessarily doing a lot of formal public
meetings , but we 're gonna be doing a lot of going to some events
and going to where the people are. It may not be where you expect
to see a city booth with people talking about a plan , but we tend to
get more involvement , and more eyes , and more people , and
maybe some of the people that wouldn 't necessarily be giving us
comments speaking to us at that time.
Again , Council adoption hopefully in December 2023. That
concludes my presentation , and I'm open to any questions you
might have .
Any questions for Rob? Okay. I will open it -or any public
comment, Tammy?
There are none , sir.
Okay. Close public comment. I will open it for a motion.
Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 23-
079.
Second.
Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Cookerly and a
second from Councilmember Moore to approve Agenda Item No .
23-079. Any discussion ? All in favor , please say , "Aye."
Aye.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 62 of 72
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve Agenda Item
No. 23-079. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion passed (7 -
0).
Mayor Jamison :
Mr. Dell-Ross:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison :
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison :
CM Moore :
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore :
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore :
Any opposed ? That 's unanimous . Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay . Will the city clerk please sound the next item ?
Mayor , that ne xt item is the consideration of a resolution
appointing the City of Milton elections superintendent. It is
Agenda Item No. 23-080. Mayor Jamison.
Okay . Thank you. I believe on the last work se ssion we gave
direction that we wanted to appoint City Manager Steven Krokoff
as the elections superintendent. If there are no other suggestions , I
will open it up for a motion. Do we have any publi c comment on
this item?
We do not , sir.
Okay. I close public comment. And I open it for a motion.
Question .
Go , Paul.
Steve , as you see it , is this an appointment for thi s election , and
then we review it again when it 's our chance to do it again ,
knowing that we have a lot of faith we 're putting in you , and well-
placed to lead this election for all the reasons we 've already
discussed. But does that mean we get you every time, or does that
mean that we do this one time , and then we revisit it ?
I have a few jokes. You must appoint a new superintendent with
each cycle .
Okay .
It can be the same person. I don 't recommend it. You have to do it
with each successi ve cy cle .
Okay . Thank you.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 63 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerly :
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerly :
CM Moore:
Mayor Jamison:
Councilmembers:
Good question. Put it for a motion?
All right. Well then , I'm on a roll. Mayor and Council , I
recommend that we approve Agenda Item No. 23 -080 , the Milton
election superintendent.
Second.
You want to say who?
Steve Krokoff.
It 's in the resolution.
It is? Okay, good. All right. So , we have a motion from
Councilmember Cookerly. Did Councilmember Jacobus second
that motion? Okay. To approve Steven Krokoff as the next Milton
election superintendent, Agenda Item No. 23-080. Any discussion?
All in favor , please say , "Aye."
Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to approve Agenda Item
No . 23-080. Councilmember Jacobus seconded the motion . The motion passed
(7-0).
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Inglis:
Any opposed? That 's unanimous. Congratulations or condolences.
Will the city clerk please sound the next item?
Mayor, that item is consideration of an intergovernmental
agreement for the provision of election equipment between Fulton
County, Georgia, and City of Milton , Georgia, Agenda Item No .
23-081. Our deputy city manager, Ms. Stacey Inglis .
This intergovernmental agreement will simply allow us to borrow
the equipment should we choose to do so. The equipment that
would be available to us are the ICP ballot scanners with attached
ballot collection bin , thermal tape for the ballot scanners , ballot
bo xes with collection bins , understanding it must be wrapped to
read "City of Milton Election" and then rewrapped to re ad "Fulton
County Election " when we return them, privacy screens for voting,
poll pads with charging cable , stylus, ID tray , and bas e/stand.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 64 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ms. Dubin:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Dubin:
Mayor Jamison :
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Cookerly :
CM Mohrig :
Ms. Inglis:
CM Moore:
Ms. Inglis:
Mr. Krokoff:
Again , this is at no charge , and it is our choice to borrow the
equipment from Fulton County.
Any public comment, Tammy?
Karen , would you like -this is your time for public comment.
Karen Dubin , 200 Davis Glen Court. I did talk to Commissioner
Thome today. That is not approved of no charge yet. The scanners ,
the ballot boxes , it was not approved yet. It has to go to the BRE.
So , to say that it's no cost to us as the taxpayer is not true.
Thank you.
Sorry.
Any other public comment?
That 's all.
Okay. I will close public comment. Steve , do you have -
The IGA has to go before the board . They can 't charge us for the
equipment. Correct me if I'm wrong . It 's because you can 't have
your taxpayers paying twice , right ? So , they have to make those
things available , so long as they are available . If they aren 't
available for some reason , then we could run into a situation.
However , we've been assured that they have plenty available for
this cycle .
But this just gi ves us the option to do it, right?
That was my question . So , this isn 't obligating us . All this does -
and this includes also -are they still calling them poll pads to work
with Jarvis ?
They are .
And the poll pad comes fully loaded? We don't have to do
anything different to get the software? It 's got the registration?
We 're working on that.
They 're still working through the kinks with the new system , and
how they integrate with the poll pads . But at least what we 're
Regular Meeting of the Mi lton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 65 of72
CMMohrig :
CM Moore :
CMMohrig:
CM Moore:
Mr. Krokoff:
CM Moore :
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Inglis:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus :
CM Cookerly :
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus :
CM Mohrig:
seeing right now, the poll pads will be able to be used not only on
election day , but they 'll be able to be used seamlessly even in earl y
voting for registration.
That would be great.
And that 's optimal. Yeah , and that would be the best scenario.
You 've got a full y loaded poll pad. It 's got all the registered voters .
It would create tremendous efficiency if that 's -whether it 's via
this IGA or whate ver the solution is , that 's a key aspect of ensuring
our success.
Also doing the uploads , so we don 't have to do manual process . So
and so voted today.
Yeah , and it minimizes the opportunity for error with people either
on the record or not on the record , voting in the right place , not
voting in the right place , etc .
And it 's real time . So , when y ou enter the information,
immediately as opposed to if you enter it later, in theory , someone
could go to another location and vote.
I mean, the y have to get that kink worked out anyway because it 's
gonna be true for everybody. It will affect everybody.
I'll also mention that this IGA came from Fulton County.
Okay. More information the better.
It came from Fulton County . They drafted it , and they sent it to us ,
and our legal team reviewed it.
Any other questions , comments ? Okay . I open it for a motion.
Mr. Mayor , I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 23-
082 .
I think it 's 081.
Why don 't you do it again ?
May or, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 23-081.
Second .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 66 of 72
Mayor Jami son:
Councilmembers:
Okay . I have motion from Councilmember Jacobus and a second
from Councilmember Mohrig to approve Agenda Item No. 23-081.
Any discussion ? All in fa vor , please say , "Aye ."
Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jacobus moved to approve Agenda Item No.
23 -081. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion . The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Attorney Jarrard:
Any opposed? That's unanimous . Okay . Will the ci ty clerk please
sound the next item ?
Mayor , that ne xt item is consideration of State of Georgia and
Local Governments Memorandum of Understanding concerning
national settlements with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd .,
Allergan Finance , LLC , Walmart Inc., CVS Health Corporation
and CVS Pharmacy , Inc ., and Walgreen Co ., to include
authorization from the mayor to execute an y necessary
participation forms , Agenda Item No. 2 3-082 . Our city attorney,
Mr. Ken Jarrard.
Mr. Mayor and members of the council , this is a memorandum of
agreement with respect to a nationwide settlement involving the
ongoing opioid litigation. City Council actually participated in a
memorandum of understanding and settlement involving the opioid
distributers. Already done that. We did that some months ago , as
have many other Georgia jurisdictions.
I think I would frame this as more of not the distributers but the
retailers . So , the entities involved here are like Walmart, CVS ,
Walgreens , National Teva, Allegra. And so , it is a different set of
entities. This is a settlement that has proceeds of roughly $20
billion. And it is obviousl y a nationwide settlement and really the
State 's attorney generals are doing the lion 's share of the
negotiating.
What we do know is this: that there is gonna be an apportionment
of the ultimate funding that is gonna go 75% to the various state
governments and then 25% to the participating local governments.
So , if you were to ask me , "Well , Mr. City Attorney , what amount
of money will the City of Milton derive out of these proceeds if we
opt in ?" The answer is I don 't know .
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 67 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Moore:
CM Verhoff:
Mayor Jamison:
Councilmembers:
What I do know is that if we don't opt in, I guarantee you the
answer will be zero. And so , my respectful recommendation is that
we follow the trajectory we did already with respect to the
distributors , and that is go ahead and opt in. The more local
governments that opt in, the more the funds flow through the local
government because obviously, the entities that are settling want
the most players to participate because that's the least risk of
anyone else suing them individually. So, the more that opt in to the
omnibus settlement, the happier they are.
So, my recommendation is we do adopt this MOU, have the mayor
sign it. I'll get it to the legal team in New York that has been sort
of handling the negotiations for the various local governments, and
that will be the end of it.
Questions for Ken? Any public comment?
None. There's none .
Close public comment. I open it for a motion.
Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we adopt or approve Agenda
Item No. 23-082.
Second.
Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Moore and a second
from Councilrnember Verhoff to approve Agenda Item No. 23-
082. Any discussion? All in favor, please say, "Aye."
Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Moore moved to approve Agenda Item No.
23-082. Councilmember Verhoff seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Any opposed? That's unanimous. Will the city clerk please sound
the next item?
Mayor, that final new business item is consideration of our final
plat revisions. The name of the development is Mayfair Estates ,
Phas e 1, on Birmingham Highway. It's Land Lot 268, 269 , and
270. It 's District 2, Section 2. It is a final plat. It's Re vision No. 2,
and the purpose is to change lot lines for Lots 11 and 12, deleting
Lots 13 and 14 , and adjustment to Phase Line. A total of 23 lots are
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 68 of72
Ms. Wildes :
Mayor Jamison :
included in Phase 1. It is a total of 3 7 .14 acres in Phase 1 with a
density of 0.62 lots per acre .
It is Agenda Item No. 23-083. Our land development manager , Ms .
Tracie Wildes.
Good evening , everyone. Tonight , I am presenting a re vision of the
final plat for Mayfair Estates . Mayfair Estates is located on
Birmingham Highway , just north of the Birmingham crossroads
intersection where 7 Acres and Publi x is located. You 'll see it
highlighted with the yellow star. And it was originall y recorded in
2016 . Since then, we have had one plat revision that was before
you last year. Some of you may recall. Buyers into this
development purchased more than one lot. So , they combined lots ,
and that plat revision last year simply was a reflection of those
adjusted lot lines .
Similarly tonight , for this second plat revision , it will be for the
adjustment of lot lines but for a different reason. The developer is
nearing the end of Phase 1 and is acquiring building permits for
those remaining lots. But in order to get a buil ding permit , a
prerequisite is to receive Fulton County Department of Health
approval for septic field locations .
At the end of last year, the state took over the man agement of the
Department of Health , and effective January 1 of this year, they
have implemented stricter guidelines regarding the minimum area
allocated for septic fields. That minimum square foot is 30 ,000
contiguous square foot of land area for septic field. The area
identified on the site plan in red , the lots proposed in that area did
not meet that requirement. So , the developer had to adjust lot lines ,
lose a lot in order to conform with that compliance .
As a result , the Phase Line for Phase 1 adjusted to accommodate
the increased land area for the square footage. Now, we expect an
additional or future plat re vision to come in as the developer
begins Phase 2 and completes Phase 2. This will be before you
again so that we can plat the entire development in its entirety after
it's completed.
That concludes my presentation tonight, and I welcome an y
questions .
Any questions for Tracie ? That 's interesting about the new
guidelines on the septic. Interesting.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 69 of 72
Ms. Wildes:
Mayor Jamison:
Ms. Wildes:
CM Jacobus:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
CM Jacobus:
CMMohrig:
CM Cookerly:
Mayor Jamison:
Councilmembers:
It is , considering that an acre is 43 ,560 .
Correct. Yeah , that 's a big number.
And 30,000 of it is allocated for septic.
Larger lot sizes.
Any public comment?
There is none .
Okay. I'll close public comment, and I'll open it for a motion.
Mr . Mayor, I make a motion that we approve Agenda Item No. 23-
083.
Second.
Second.
Okay. I have a motion from Councilmember Mohrig and a second
- I mean, sorry. A motion from Councilmember Jacobus. Second
from Councilmember Mohrig to approve Agenda Item 23-083. All
in favor , please say, "Aye."
Aye.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jacobus moved to approve Agenda Item No.
23-083. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0).
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Any opposed? That's unanimous. Does any councilmember have
anything to report on? All right. Hope everyone had a great Spring
Break. I will need a motion to adjourn into executive session to
discuss personnel land acquisition and potential litigation.
Mayor , my apologies. And Ken, my apologies. I failed to do
something. My apologies. There was an email public comment for
the -I failed. Can I read this? I would -
Is that a general public comment?
It was for the Agenda Item 23-081. No, it was for the IGA
equipment.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 70 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
Attorney Jarrard:
City Clerk:
Attorney Jarrard:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Ken , what do y ou want?
You have a justification that meets your -
I do. Everything meets the criteria.
Mayor , that 's an order to go ahead and read it.
My apologies.
Okay. If everyone 's okay with that, we 'll have Tammy read the -
That was my fault. My apologies. This is an email public comment
that was sent in by Lisa Cauley, located at 14680 Freemanville
Road. "The committee recommended two polling locations . Cities
within a similar population used only one. We discussed three but
felt this was excessive and unnecessary given the average voter
turnout and 19 day s of earl y voting. There are three locations on
election day where ballots get counted . The first location is City
Hall. Early voting and absentee ballots are transported to City Hall
on the Friday before Election Day. Counting may begin at 7:00
a.m. The two polling locations close at 7 :00 p.m.
Once everyone has completed voting , the poll managers and
workers hand count ballots . Three city council seats are up for
election. The committee recommended manual counting and
estimated six paper ballots can process per minute , an estimated
360 per hour. The average municipal election turnout is 3,500. And
estimated 1,575 vote early , which is 45%. An estimated 1,925 ,
which is 55%, vote on Election Day , leaving 963 votes at each
polling location .
It will take about three hours to complete . Hand count is the most
efficient , accurate method. The results are definitive . The chain of
custody , Fulton County removes the SD cards from the scanners ,
then they are placed in the bag , sealed and transported to another
location. SD cards are then transported to the English Street
warehouse in Atlanta and uploaded into the computers . We find
out the results late night. The scanned ballots are remo ved from the
scanners , secured , and sent to Fulton County for storage. Milton
trasnports early voting paper ballots to City Hall the Friday before
the election. Ballots are removed from the sealed storage bins and
counted on Tuesday morning. On election day , poll managers
secure the ballots at City Hall. After the election , all ballots cast
are transported to the Milton Safety Complex. The city will have
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 71 of 72
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
Mayor Jamison:
City Clerk:
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerly :
Mayor Jamison:
every ballot cast. Milton maintains local control of chain of
custody and storage."
Thank you.
Thank you. My apologies .
You have any more emails?
That concludes. I apologize .
All right. I don 't think we fully made the motion , so I guess I'll go
ahead and repeat it. I'll make a motion to adjourn into executive
session to discuss personnel and acquisition and potential
litigation.
So moved.
Okay. I guess I have the motion , and Carol seconded. All in favor ,
say , "Aye."
Councilmembers: Aye.
Motion and Vote : Councilmember Jacobus moved to adjourn into Executive
Session at 8:45pm. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion . The motion
passed (7-0).
RECONVENE
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Johnson moved to reconvene into the
Regular Meeting at 9:00 PM. Councilmember Cookerly seconded the motion.
The motion passed (7-0).
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Jamison:
CM Cookerly:
CM Johnson:
Opposed? All right.
So moved.
Second.
Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council
April 10, 2023
Page 72 of 72
Mayor Jamison :
Counci lm embers:
Mayor Jamison:
All right. That 's Carol and Juliette. All in favor , say , "Aye."
Aye.
There we go. Thank you. Good night , y'all.
Motion and Vote: Councilmember Cookerly moved to adjourn the Regular
Meeting at 9:00pm. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. The motion
passed (7-0).
Date Approved: __ 8__-¥--0-~~I· /~/_]_, _..d____.Q~J~3 ___ _ I I