COUNCIL MEETING

January 19, 2006

 

 

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tipton with Councilman Myrick leading in prayer.  The minutes of the January 5, 2006 meeting were reviewed.  Councilman Strozier made a motion to approve said minutes, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

 

Councilman Strozier reported that a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 4:00 o’clock to review with the engineers the permit application to be submitted to the EPD for an increase in the City’s water permit.  Mayor Tipton pointed out that according to information obtained from EPD, the City should receive a response regarding our request for a water permit increase within 90 days.

 

Attorney Dickey stated that he planned to have the cost of the water tank maintenance contract by next meeting along with information for council’s review on cost comparisons between the City contracting through Utility Services for the placement of telecommunication towers on the water tank versus dealing directly with the companies.

 

Councilman Ray reported that he had talked with Johnny Hood regarding possible right of way acquisition on his property along the Pipemaker’s Spur to clean the canal and to provide an access road.  Councilman Ray advised council that Mr. Hood stated that he would provide the City whatever was needed to help eliminate the flooding problem in the area.

 

Councilman Myrick stated he has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 6:30pm to discuss proposed improvements on Lynn Street with the property owners.  Letters will be mailed out tomorrow morning advising owners of this meeting.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

Mayor Tipton reported that the City had received an application for a home occupation license from Joseph Tirpak, Jr. to operate the “office only” of a handyman business from his residence located at #408 Pine Street.  The Mayor recognized Mr. Tirpak who stated that he would be the only employee and there would be no outside traffic related to the business coming to the residence.  Councilman Myrick asked if he would be storing materials on the property and Mr. Tirpak stated that he would not.  Based on this information Councilman Myrick made a motion to waive the public hearing requirement and issue the license.  Councilman Strozier seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Council was advised that Sidney Key is requesting a home occupation license to operate the “office only” of a general construction business from his residence located at #210 Cypress Street.  It was noted that Mr. Key had a home occupation license for this same business in 2005 but has since moved, so council will need to approve the renewal of the license at his new residence.  Councilman Strozier reported that Mr. Key had recently had a death in the family and had to travel out of town today and did not make it back before the meeting.  Councilman Strozier stated that since this was merely a transfer of the same type license to another location, he felt that council should approve the issuance of the license.  Councilman Strozier made a motion to waive the public hearing requirement and issue the home occupation license to Sidney Key for the office of his general contracting business to be operated from #210 Cypress Street.  Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

The Mayor recognized Earl Newman who was requesting a license to operate the “office only” of an audio/video installation business from his residence located at #7 Osteen Road.  It was noted that there would be two employees involved in the business.  Council asked if there would be anything stored on the premises and was advised that all equipment would be delivered to the jobsites.  Councilman Strozier pointed out that there should be no evidence of a business being operated from the residence and Mr. Newman stated that he understood this stipulation.  Councilman Myrick made a motion to waive the public hearing requirement and issue the license to Mr. Newman.  Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Mayor Tipton stated that the City has received two home occupation license requests from Jimmy Kerby to operate the “offices only” of the businesses from his residence located at #208 Adams Road.  The first business is a general & labor contracting business that employees 36 people and the second one has 4 employees and is a metal contracting business.  Councilman Strozier stated that this is the same situation as that of Sidney Key.  Mr. Kerby had obtained licenses in 2005 to operate the offices of these businesses from his former residence located at #508 Ash Street, but has since moved.  Mr. Kerby assured council that there would be no evidence of a business being operated from the residence and no traffic related to the business coming to the house.  Councilman Waller made a motion to waive the public hearing requirement and issue the two home occupation licenses to Mr. Kerby.  The motion was seconded by Councilman Strozier and passed with five affirmative votes.

                    

Councilman Myrick reported that the police had requested that the 1991 Isuzu pickup that was no longer being used at the maintenance shop be transferred to their department for hauling of supplies and equipment.  Councilman Myrick stated that since the value of the truck was less than $500 he felt this would be the best use of the vehicle and council agreed.  Councilman Myrick advised council that the 1992 Isuzu pickup truck body needed to be declared as surplus and suggested a value of $35.00.  Council was reminded that the used truck had been purchased for the transmission that was put in the 1991 Isuzu pickup and was no longer needed.  Council also discussed the disposal of the 1995 Ford F-800 and agreed that $5,000 should be the minimum bid price for the truck.  After this discussion, Councilman Myrick made the motion to transfer use of the 1991 Isuzu pickup from the maintenance to the police department, to declare the 1992 Isuzu pickup truck body as surplus with a value of $35, and to declare the 1995 Ford F-800 truck as surplus and set the minimum bid for the vehicle at $5,000 and proceed with the bidding process to dispose of this truck.  Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Council was advised that the City has received the survey plat from Ms. Donahue for the recombination of her property located at #409 Cherry Street as approved by council on December 1, 2005 and she is requesting that council sign the plat so that it can be recorded.  The plat included a reduction in the number of lots from eight to four with a variance in the road frontage requirement from 100’ to 98.5’ for Lot #’s 1, 2, & 3 and a 25’ access driveway abutting Cherry Street included in Lot #4.  After a brief discussion, Councilman Ray made a motion to approve the signing of the plat, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Councilman Myrick reported that the City had received the contract from JDR Enterprises for the renovation of the City Hall in the amount of $87,298.  Councilman Myrick pointed out that the contract amount had been adjusted from the original quote because of several changes in the plans as requested by the City and an increase in the cost of materials that had occurred due to the delay in the start of the job.  Council was advised that Attorney Dickey had reviewed the contract and determined it to be in order.  Councilman Myrick stated that the contractor is prepared to start work on Phase 1 next week which consists of the council meeting room, the front foyer and storage areas, and the offices on either side of the podium.  Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve execution of the contract, Councilman Waller seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Council was reminded that the City’s Personnel Policy allows for a designated paid holiday to be scheduled by the Mayor and Council on an annual basis.  Since the July 4th holiday falls on Tuesday in 2006, a request has been submitted for the designated holiday for 2006 to be Monday, July 3rd.  Councilman Waller made a motion to approve July 3rd as the designated holiday for 2006.  Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Mayor Tipton advised council that the City had received a complaint from Ferman Tyler that the house located at #308 Pine Street owned by Kenneth Sikes is in bad shape and degrades the value of the other houses in the area.  It was noted that the City had received a similar complaint about a year ago from Mr. Tyler and Mr. Sikes had been advised to clear the debris from around the house, cut the grass, and board up the house for safety reasons.  Mr. Sikes had complied with the City’s requests, however, Mr. Tyler stated that the condition of the house has worsened and felt it needed to be torn down.  Council discussed this request and agreed that if the house was in an unsafe condition that Mr. Sikes would need to be notified and required to address the problem.  Mayor Tipton asked that Councilman Myrick and Councilman Strozier contact Mr. Sikes to see if the problem could be resolved and in the meantime that Attorney Dickey review the City’s Nuisance Ordinance to see what steps would be necessary to handle the situation if Mr. Sikes was not willing to take care it.

 

The council was informed that Citizen Gaddy Turner had requested an opportunity to talk with council regarding the development of a tract of land he had purchased at the end of Cregor Street.  This property abuts unopened portions of West Garvin, West Cregor, and Hickory Streets.  Mayor Tipton recognized Mr. Turner who stated that he would prefer to access the property from West Garvin Street, but the portion of the street that was opened did not abut the tract and he needed to know what he would be required to do to gain access.  Attorney Dickey stated that if the land owners on either side of the unopened roadway could claim adverse possession, and could provide him with a deed, he could obtain quit claim deeds to open the street.  Mr. Turner was advised that the street would have to be opened to City specifications with proper drainage and once the council accepted the road it could be deeded to the City.  Attorney Dickey pointed out that he had been doing some research on similar situations in Bloomingdale, however, he had found that in some instances there was a third party involved in the ownership of the roadway which made it more difficult to follow this procedure.  Attorney Dickey stated that, in any event, a title search would have to be done on the properties involved to determine exactly who had ownership of the unopened roadway.  Councilman Strozier asked that the City come up with a procedure that we could pass on to those persons interested in pursing the opening of roadways so that they will know what is required.  It was noted that at a minimum the developers would have to provide a certified title search and obtain quit claim deeds from the appropriate property owners before anything could be done to the unopened roadways.  Mayor Tipton asked if Attorney Dickey could meet with Mr. Turner and explain what steps he would need to take to pursue the development of the property and Councilman Rawlings asked to be included in the meeting.  Attorney Dickey stated that he would check his schedule and let the City Clerk know when he would be available so she could notify the Mayor, Mr. Turner, and Councilman Rawlings.

 

The Mayor recognized Dawn Roberg and Kevin Hall who had requested an opportunity to meet with council to discuss the development of a lot at the corner of unopened portions of Boulevard and Poplar Streets.  It was noted that Ms. Roberg was interested in purchasing this lot from Mr. Hall and needed to know what would have to be done to access the lot.  Council discussed with Ms. Roberg and Mr. Hall the potential problems that could be faced with the extension of Poplar Street since it was unclear as to whether the verbal agreements that had been reached by previous parties using the roadway could be revoked in the future which could cause access problems.  Attorney Dickey pointed out that he had done some research on Poplar Street and found that there was a third party shown as the owner of the roadway so having the road opened as a public road may be more difficult since there would be several property owners involved.  Ms. Roberg asked if the size of her lot would be reduced if the City decided to open Boulevard in the future.  Councilman Strozier pointed out that the City has no plans to open Boulevard or any other unopened street at this time, so we did not know if there would be any impact on the size of the lot.  Council informed them that the expenses involved in extending water and sewer to the lot would be their responsibility,  After continued discussion, council agreed that a meeting would need to be set up with Attorney Dickey, Ms. Roberg and Mr. Hall to discuss the requirements for the opening of the road.  The Mayor and Councilman Rawlings stated they would also like to attend this meeting.  Mr. Hall reported that he lived out of town and would need about a week’s notice to make arrangements to come back for the meeting.

 

Mayor Tipton stated that the council needed to adjourn into executive session to discuss legal and personnel issues.  Councilman Ray made a motion to adjourn into executive session, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.  A copy of the signed affidavit as required by the Open Meetings Act is attached to the original minutes.

 

After completion of the executive session, Councilman Ray made a motion to return to the general session.  Councilman Strozier seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Mayor Tipton stated that during the executive session the council had discussed the findings of the Investigative Committee appointed to consider information related to a personnel matter in our police department and asked that Councilman Myrick present their recommendation to council.  Councilman Myrick stated that after the review and discussion by council of the information provided by the Investigative Committee, he was presenting a motion that the Mayor and Council terminate Lt. Marta Street’s employment with the City of Bloomingdale.  Councilman Rawlings seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

 

Mayor Tipton reported that this concluded the items presented by the Friday, January 13, 2006 agenda deadline. 

 

The accounts payable were reviewed with Councilman Myrick making a motion to pay the bills.  Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes. 

 

Being no further business, Councilman Waller made a motion to adjourn at 8:35 p.m., Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.

                                                                   

 

Mayor Tipton and Council members Myrick, Rawlings, Ray, Strozier and Waller were present at the meeting.