COUNCIL MEETING
December 4, 2008
Mayor Tipton called the meeting to order and after the pledge of allegiance to the flag, Councilwoman Winn led in prayer. Councilman Ray made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 20, 2008 meeting, Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilwoman Winn made a motion to approve the agenda of the December 4, 2008 meeting. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Under administrative and committee reports, Fire Chief Tyler reported that he had received a request from Citizen Betty Tucker to borrow the Santa Clause suit from the Bloomingdale Fire Department for use at a Christmas party to be held at the nursing home in Pooler. Ms. Tucker had advised him that it would cost about $75 to rent a suit and their funds were limited. The Chief noted that since the department was now under the direction of the City of Bloomingdale, he felt he should get permission to lend her the suit. After a brief discussion, the consensus of council was to allow Ms. Tucker to borrow the Santa Clause suit for this function.
OLD BUSINESS:
Mayor Tipton advised council that we needed a motion to remove from the table a request submitted by Jancie Key for a home occupation license that had been tabled at the November 20, 2008 meeting. Councilman Myrick made a motion to remove this matter from the table, Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Council was advised that Ms. Key wanted to operate the office of a lawn care business from #307 Miller Street and there would be one employee. Ms. Key stated there would be no outside traffic related to the business coming to the residence. It was noted that the house is currently under construction. Councilman Myrick made a motion to waive the public hearing and issue the home occupation license as requested. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
NEW BUSINESS:
The Mayor reported that the Planning & Licensing Committee was recommending that the Occupational License fees for 2009 remain the same as those charged in 2008 and that occupational licenses purchased in December, 2008 be issued as 2009 licenses. After a brief discussion, Councilwoman Winn made a motion to accept these recommendations, Councilman Waller seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Council was advised that the City’s Comprehensive Plan Partial Update-2008 had been approved by the Department of Community Affairs and the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center and a resolution adopting the plan needed to be approved by council. Councilman Ray made a motion to adopt the resolution to approve the plan, Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Citizen Ginger Tyler presented a request for a home occupation license to operate the office only of a security monitoring billing business from her residence located at #308 E. Cregor Street. Ms. Tyler assured council there would be no outside traffic related to the business coming to the residence and no evidence from the outside of the home that a business was being operated from the residence. Councilman Ray made a motion to waive the public hearing and to issue the home occupation license as requested by Ginger Tyler. Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
City Administrator Brady presented a request from Fire Chief Tyler for the reimbursement of the cost of radios purchased for the fire department to Mr. Tyler from funds received for the fighting of wildfires in Ware County. Councilman Strozier asked Chief Tyler if this covered the loan he had made to the Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department to purchase the radios and Mr. Tyler advised him that this was the items purchased from the loan proceeds. Fire Chief Tyler pointed out that the funds received from Ware County were given to the City for disbursement so there would be a record of the transactions for the auditors. It was noted that the monies owed to Fire Chief Tyler were the matching funds required for the purchase of the radios from a FEMA grant and the amount owed to Chief Tyler is approximately $19,000. After this discussion, Councilman Myrick made a motion to make this reimbursement to Chief Tyler, Councilman Strozier seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. City Attorney Dickey asked that City Administrator Brady and Fire Chief Tyler meet with him prior to the disbursement of these funds.
Mayor Tipton reported that the first meeting in January, 2009 fell on New Years’ Day and since this was a holiday, council needed to officially cancel the meeting. Councilman Ray pointed out that the second meeting in December is usually cancelled and suggested council address this meeting as well. Latrelle Kling commented that she did not have any problem with the meetings being cancelled provided called meetings were not held. Mayor Tipton advised her that called meetings could not be ruled out since issues may come up that must be handled. After this discussion, Councilman Strozier made a motion to cancel the December 18, 2008 and January 1, 2009 council meetings. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with affirmative votes from Councilmembers Myrick, Ray, Strozier, Waller and Winn. Councilman Rawlings voted against the motion.
Mayor Tipton presented for council’s consideration Payment Request No. 4 for $48,034.93 as submitted by J. Hiers Construction, Inc. for work on the drainage improvements project. The Mayor stated that Thomas & Hutton Engineering, Inc. had recommended payment of this invoice. Councilman Myrick pointed out that during discussions held in the pre-agenda meeting concerns had been raised about making this payment until some issues related to the wing walls were resolved and Councilman Strozier had suggested that the City, contractor, engineer, and supplier all meet and try to work out a resolution to the problem. Councilman Myrick stated that he felt that may be the best thing to do and asked that a meeting be scheduled for this purpose. Mayor Tipton asked City Administrator Brady if this invoice included any monies for wing walls. Mr. Brady advised him that Pat Gaddy had assured him the work related to the wing walls had been deducted from this invoice prior to its submission to the City. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve payment of the invoice once the City verifies it does not include monies for the wing walls. Latrelle Kling asked the Mayor several questions about payments to the contractor, balances owed, and costs related to removal of extra dirt and the Mayor recognized Pat Gaddy with Thomas & Hutton Engineering who provided the answers to Ms. Kling’s questions. Mr. Gaddy also explained that the contractor had requested a change order for additional monies for the removal of dirt from the site of the canal, however, according to Thomas & Hutton’s calculations; there were no additional monies due. Questions were also raised about areas along the canal that were eroding. Mr. Gaddy explained that there were some areas on the north side of the canal that had been eroding where smaller ditches flowed into the canal, however, the original plan called for the existing ditches to be filled in, but, due to rights of way issues, the plans had to be changed. Mr. Gaddy stated that riprap would be installed in these areas to help eliminate the problem. Citizen Mary Mitchell stated that she wanted to make sure that the City was not paying for work that had not been done correctly. After the discussion was completed, Councilman Ray seconded Councilman Myrick’s motion to pay the $48,034.93 invoice once Mr. Brady verifies that it does not include work on the wing walls. Councilmembers Myrick, Ray, Strozier, Waller and Winn approved the motion. Councilman Rawlings voted against the motion.
The Ethics Committee made a report to council on their investigation of Ethics Action #’s 2008-1 and 2008-2. There was no action taken by council.
Mayor Tipton stated that this concluded the items presented for consideration for inclusion on the council agenda prior to the deadline of Monday, December 1, 2008.
The Mayor presented the accounts payable for approval and Councilman Ray made a motion to pay the bills. Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Councilman Waller made a motion to adjourn at 8:05 p.m. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton and all councilmembers were present at the meeting.
Note: Section § 50-14-1 of the Official Code of the State of Georgia Annotated requires that the minutes shall, as a minimum, include a description of each motion or other proposal made, and a record of all votes. These minutes meet the minimum requirements. However, in an attempt to provide as much information as possible to the citizens, the recording clerk has included additional background data and discussion on the subjects presented to council. The statements of individuals are not verbatim and may be summary in nature.