COUNCIL MEETING

COUNCIL MEETING

March 20, 2003

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Rozier with Pastor Mark Minter of the Church of God of Prophecy leading in prayer.

The minutes of the March 20, 2003 meeting were reviewed. Councilman Ray made a motion to approve said minutes, Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

OLD BUSINESS:

Mayor Rozier reported that the Chatham County Engineering Department has determined that the double 60-inch culvert that had been proposed by the cities of Bloomingdale and Pooler to be used to replace the Wildcat Dam Road Bridge will provide less storm water flow capacity than the current bridge structure and may cause greater flooding to upstream properties. The Mayor stated that he did not see how pipes that were larger than many of those in other areas along the Hardin Canal could cause greater flooding upstream, but based on the report from the county engineer’s office, the cities will need to obtain the services of a professional engineer to assist them with proper sizing of the replacement bridge. Mayor Rozier expressed his concern that the County Engineering Department found it necessary for the cities to pay additional monies to have another engineer get involved in this project when their department could provide the necessary information. Mayor Rozier pointed out that the county has already committed to pay one-half the cost to repair/replace the bridge up to $10,000. After a brief discussion the council agreed that a meeting needed to be held between the two cities regarding this matter before Bloomingdale took any steps to obtain the services of an engineer. The Mayor asked the clerk to contact Dennis Baxter about setting up a meeting with representatives from the City of Pooler to discuss this issue.

Attorney Gerard advised council that the two owners involved in the right of way acquisition for Stagecoach Road are in the process of hiring an appraiser and hope to have a report to council by the next meeting.

Attorney Gerard stated that changes to the proposed Mutual Aid Agreement with the City of Savannah are underway and the agreement should be available for approval by council at the April 3^rd meeting.

Council was advised by Attorney Gerard that the changes he had proposed to the Inmate Service Fee Agreement have not yet been completed and to the best of his knowledge none of the other cities have executed their agreements because they have also requested some changes. However, Chatham County feels that since none of the cities have paid their January or February jail bills they are not abiding by the terms of the LOST agreement and unless the bills are paid, the county has threatened to withdraw the jail agreement. Attorney Gerard stated that he had been contacted by the City of Savannah and encouraged to recommend that Bloomingdale pay the January jail bill with the stipulation that if adjustments need to be made to this bill after execution of the Inmate Service Fee Agreement these will be reflected in a reduction of the payment of future bills. Attorney Gerard pointed out that City of Savannah representatives felt that if all of the cities handled payment of the January bill the same way, we would be better able to get the differences resolved with Chatham County on the Inmate Service Fee Agreement. Mayor Rozier was advised by the clerk that the January jail bill was $3405. After a brief discussion, Councilman Waller made a motion to pay the January jail bill totaling $3405 with the stipulations outlined by Attorney Gerard. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Mayor Rozier stated that since Councilman Tyler was not present at tonight’s meeting, he would postpone discussion of the computer bids.

The Mayor reported that the SPLOST referendum passed with an 86% approval rate from Chatham County voters and in Bloomingdale the vote was 4 to 1 in favor of the tax.

Mayor Rozier advised council that he had talked with Republic Waste Management Services about the possibility of including dumpsters in the City’s contract for those customers wanting this service in lieu of multiple carts and stated that he should have something to report to council by the next meeting.

Council discussed the proposed amendment to the agreement for wastewater treatment and agreed that a meeting needed to be set up with the City of Pooler regarding some of the terms included in the document. The Mayor requested the clerk contact City Administrator Dennis Baxter to see about scheduling a meeting between the cities on this issue.

Councilman Mike Ray advised council that he, Councilman Johnson, and the City Clerk, Sandra Jones, had met with Brian Smith with Coastal Bank regarding the acquisition of a letter of credit for the City’s share of the cost of the upgrade to the sewer treatment plant. Councilman Ray stated that we were advised there would be no problem obtaining a letter of credit with appropriate collateral and it was suggested that the City use general fund certificates of deposit for the collateral during the construction period. The City could place $1.2 million dollars in certificates with Coastal Bank and renew them as needed to meet the requirements of the agreement. After a brief discussion, Councilman Waller made a motion to secure the letter of credit required by the City of Pooler for the City’s share of the cost of the upgrade to the treatment plant using general fund certificates of deposit totaling $1.2 million dollars as collateral until the loan is finalized. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

The Mayor stated that since Councilman Myrick was not at tonight’s meeting he would rather postpone any discussion of the proposal from the subcommittee regarding the law enforcement philosophy for the Bloomingdale Police Department and council agreed with his request.

Mayor Rozier recognized Chris Stovall with Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co. who reported that as discussed at previous meetings, his firm had prepared the scope of work and drawings for the upgrade to the Maple Street Lift Station, distributed this information to the contractors, and obtained and reviewed the bids. He pointed out that one of the previous bidders, Crossroads Construction, Inc., did not submit a new bid. Mr. Stovall advised council that there had been some items added to the scope of work and these changes increased the amount of the bids that were received from the contractors. Mr. Stovall presented council with a recommendation to accept the bid from AquaSouth, Inc. for $65,100. Council was advised that he had included a performance and payment bond as part of the bid to protect the City. Attorney Gerard questioned the need to include the payment bond requirement since it was his understanding from Mr. Stovall at the last council meeting that there would be only one contractor doing the work. Mr. Stovall stated that there would also be an electrical contractor, so he suggested the payment bond be added and based on this new information about a second contractor, Attorney Gerard agreed with him. Councilman Johnson asked when the Flyte equipment had been ordered and was advised by Ernest Grizzard that it had been placed on order today. Mr. Stovall was questioned about his providing the council with a proposal on the work he plans to do on behalf of the City in regards to the upgrade to the lift station such as preparation of drawings, bid review, background checks of bidders, monitoring of construction, etc. Mr. Stovall stated he had sent Councilman Tyler an outline of this information the first of the month, but would send another copy to the clerk’s office if necessary. Attorney Gerard stated that he would like to review the information and council agreed that the City needed to make sure there was an agreement in place on exactly who would be responsible for what in regards to the upgrade to the lift station. Councilman Johnson pointed out that he wanted to make sure that the engineering company was going to be responsible for monitoring this construction work since they had the expertise in this field and if there were any problems that came up in the future related to its installation the City could turn to the engineering firm. Mr. Stovall agreed to get the information to the clerk right away. Councilman Johnson then made a motion to approve the recommendation from Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co. to accept the bid from AquaSouth, Inc. for $65,100 for the upgrade to the Maple Street Lift Station. The motion was seconded by Councilman Wedincamp and passed with four affirmative votes.

Mr. Stovall advised council there was no new information on the proposal for the construction of the City’s own wastewater treatment plant.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Rozier advised council that there were two bids received on the surplus garbage trucks. The bids included one for the 1988 GMC Top Kick 7000 from Carole Meyers for $4501 and a bid from Waste System of Savannah for the 1989 Ford F-800 in the amount of $4550. Councilman Johnson made a motion to accept the bids. Councilman Waller seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Council reviewed a request from Ted Knowles to construct a 16’ x 32’ building at his residence located at #8 West Moore Street. Council was reminded that since the building consists of over 500 sq. ft., council must approve the issuance of the permit. Amanda Knowles advised council that the building would only be used for storage. After a brief discussion, Councilman Ray made a motion to approve the issuance of the building permit at #8 West Moore Street for the 16’x 32’ storage building. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

The Mayor presented a request from Layla Parrott for a refund of her rental fee of $75 for the Bloomingdale Community building due to the deployment of her fiancé. Council was advised that since the request was received without the required 30 days notice, council must approve the refund. Councilman Johnson made a motion to refund the rental fee, Councilman Waller seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

The Mayor reported that Bill Saxman has provided copies of the draft of the Solid Waste Management Plan for council’s review. Council was advised that there will be a public meeting held on March 25, 2003 at the MPC for public input on the plan. Mayor Rozier pointed out that at the April 17^th meeting, council will need to adopt a resolution authorizing the submission of the plan to RDC.

Mayor Rozier stated that there were several recommendations from the Planning & Zoning Commission that needed to be considered by council. The first recommendation was for the approval of an amendment to the zoning ordinance pertaining to hardship secondary mobile home dwellings so as to permit a disabled person’s immediate family or legally appointed guardian for the disabled individual to reside in the secondary hardship mobile home dwelling. After a brief discussion, Councilman Johnson made a motion to approve the first reading of the amendment to the zoning ordinance. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes. Councilman Ray made a motion to dispense with the second reading of the amendment to the zoning ordinance. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes. Councilman Johnson then made a motion to approve the amendment to the zoning ordinance to permit a disabled person’s immediately family or legally appointed guardian for the disabled individual to reside in the secondary hardship mobile home dwelling. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Council reviewed a recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission to approve a sign permit application for the Church of God of Prophecy at #1501 E. Hwy 80 with the following stipulations:

1) The sign must be a “monument sign” with a maximum of a 40 sq. ft. area either mounted on a solid base or on two poles set in the ground with an additional skirt of compatible material being extended around the base of the sign in order that the sign will comply with the definition of a monument sign.

2) The height of the proposed sign shall not exceed eight (8) feet above the elevation of the pavement of Highway 80. The petitioner should submit a survey or other document(s) to the City to show that the maximum height of the proposed sign does not exceed eight (8) feet above Highway 80 pavement elevation.

3) The header, top panel, and logo panels will be included in the 40 sq. ft. area and shall be constructed of opaque material or designed with the use of reversed silhouette or “cut out” letters to obscure any light from being emitted through the background color in order to help reduce the size appearance and excessive sign lights in the residential zoning district. The wattage of the light bulbs in the message center (bulletin board) section of the sign shall be reduced at least 30% below what is normally installed in this type message board to help reduce the glare from the internally lighted sign message panel in a residential zoning district.

4) The address number will not be included in the 40 sq. ft. maximum area.

5) The sign must be erected on the westernmost portion of the property and its location must meet setbacks that will maintain adequate separation from any possible utility locations and repairs. The setback will be determined by the Bloomingdale Public Works Department.

Council was advised by Ernest Grizzard that he had checked the proposed location of the sign and found no interference with City utilities or visibility problems. The Mayor recognized Pastor Mark Minter who asked if council would consider allowing a variance in the requirement that the base of the sign be the same width as the message area because it would look much better if there was some difference in the width of these two sections of the sign. Councilman Johnson asked the pastor how much difference in the widths was he proposing and the pastor indicated that about one foot on each side would help, but they were willing to follow whatever requirements were set down by council. Attorney Gerard pointed out that he did not feel there would be a problem in allowing this indention because he did not feel the definition of a monument sign required it to be exactly the same width. After a brief discussion, Councilman Johnson made a motion to approve the issuance of the sign permit with the stipulations outlined above and to allow a one-foot indention on each side of the sign where it meets the base rather than requiring the base to be the same width as the upper portion of the sign. Councilman Wedincamp seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Council reviewed a recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission to approve a sign permit application for Lifesprings Worship Center located at #1105 E. Hwy 80 with the following stipulations:

3) The header and logo panels on the proposed sign shall be constructed of opaque material or shall be designed with the use of reversed silhouette or “cut out” letters to obscure any light from being emitted through the background color in order to help reduce the size appearance and additional sign lights in the residential zoning district. The wattage of the light bulbs in the message center (bulletin board) section of the sign shall be reduced at least 30% below what is normally installed in this type message board to help reduce the glare from the internally lighted sign message panel in a residential zoning district.

4) The location of the sign must meet setbacks that will maintain adequate separation from any possible utility locations and repairs. The setback will be determined by the Bloomingdale Public Works Department.

Ernest Grizzard, Water/Sewer Department Supervisor, indicated that the proposed location of the sign would not pose any problems with the City’s utilities. After a brief discussion of this information, Councilman Johnson made a motion to approve the issuance of the sign permit to Lifesprings Worship Center with the stipulations outlined above. Councilman Wedincamp seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Mayor Rozier presented a recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission to approve a minor subdivision submitted by Phillips Properties for an 11.36 acre tract located on Main/Moore/Hickory Streets with a variance of 21’ in the road frontage requirement. According to the survey presented by Mr. Phillips, the 1.81 acre section they will be dividing from the larger tract abuts 54.19’ on Hickory Street and 25.01’ on Moore Street, however, the minimum road frontage for a lot is 100’. During the discussion regarding this proposed minor subdivision, questions were raised by some council members and Ernest Grizzard about the property lines shown on the survey plat. There was some concern that the unopened portions of Hickory and Moore Streets were being included as part of the property, but if this was incorrect, there would be even less road frontage on the opened portions of these streets. After this discussion, council agreed to delay action on this recommendation until Attorney Gerard could do some research of recorded documents to make sure the information on the survey regarding property lines was accurate. Councilman Ray made a motion to table a decision until Attorney Gerard could report back to council, Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

The Mayor advised council that two public hearings will be held at City Hall on April 15, 2003 at 6:30pm by the Planning & Zoning Commission. One hearing will be to receive citizen input on a rezoning request from Sidney Key for two lots on Miller Street. The request is to rezone the property from R-1 (single-family residential) to R-2 (one & two family residential). The second hearing will be to receive citizen input on an ordinance to control the façade of metal buildings on major streets in Bloomingdale.

Mayor Rozier recognized Citizen Gary Rowland who advised council that he was having some serious drainage problems at his residence located at #304 Ash Street. Mr. Rowland stated that the drainage pipes were too small and the manholes had not been cleaned out on a regular basis. The Mayor asked Ernest Grizzard if this drainage problem had been caused by a new development and was advised by Mr. Grizzard that this area has been having some drainage problems for many years. He stated that the ditches in this area were part of the main drainage system in the City and parts of this system ran across people’s property, under pavement, and in many places the City did not have adequate easements to maintain the ditches. Councilman Johnson stated that although he felt sure the City needed to make some changes in the drainage of this and other areas, he did not think we should attempt to make changes without obtaining some professional held to determine the best way to alleviate the problems. Council, along with other citizens in the area, discussed some of their opinions as to what may help alleviate the problems with the drainage. During this discussion, the Mayor recognized Mr. & Mrs. Toler, Mr. Godbee, and Mr. Purvis who lived in the same general area as Mr. Rowland, but came to express their concern about the condition of Lynn Street. Mr. Godbee indicated that the way the road was being graded was causing water to stand on their property. These citizens stated that the road was almost impassable and getting in and out of driveways was almost impossible. Councilman Johnson asked if some of the drainage problems in the area were reduced would it help the road situation, but these citizens indicated that until something was actually done to the roadway they did not think it would improve this situation. Councilman Waller asked Citizen Herman Rawlins, a former councilmember who had served on the drainage committee for many years if making some adjustments in pipe locations would solve the problem, but Mr. Rawlins stated that although it may help some, it would not take care of all of these problems. The citizens asked if it would be possible to change the way the roadway was being graded. Councilman Wedincamp, who serves as the Chairman of the General Services Committee, stated that he would visit the area tomorrow to see if there was anything the City could do to provide some relief for the citizens living on Lynn Street and to meet with Mr. Rowland about the drainage.

The Mayor advised council and the citizens that this was everything that was listed on the council agenda.

Citizen Willard Phillips asked to address the council and was recognized by Mayor Rozier. Mr. Phillips stated that he was in the business of installing and pumping septic tanks and had been dumping the waste in treatment plants located in Springfield and Savannah. However, with the increase in the cost of fuel, the wear and tear on his vehicles and the distant location of these sites, he wanted to know if the City would be willing to allow him to dump this waste at the lift station. Councilman Johnson pointed out that Mr. Phillips is a resident of Bloomingdale and his business is located in the City, so when he was approached by Mr. Phillips about the possibility of using the lift station he suggested he present the request to council. Mr. Phillips stated that he pays $75 a load to dump the waste for one of the locations and $46 per 1,000 gallons at the other location. Councilman Johnson asked him how many gallons his truck would hold and was advised the truck contained a 2,000 gallon tank. Council discussed the matter and asked that Attorney Gerard prepare an agreement for their review at the next meeting that would allow Mr. Phillips to use the lift station for this purpose. At that time, council would consider approving the agreement and, if it was approved, they would set a fee for the service. Councilman Waller made a motion that council handle the request in this manner. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes. Mr. Phillips stated he wanted to start using the lift station for this disposal as soon as possible, but was advised he would have to wait until the agreement could be considered at the next meeting. If it was approved, arrangements could be made at that time to start using the lift station and Mr. Phillips voiced his appreciation to council for their consideration of his request.

Mayor Rozier recognized Chris Stovall with Thomas & Hutton Engineering who stated that at the last meeting, he had been asked to see if he could find out some information on the county’s progress with the county-wide drainage problem as it related to drainage canals in Bloomingdale. Mr. Stovall advised council that Mark Pickering and Doyle Kelly were present at tonight’s meeting to provide this update to council. Mr. Kelly stated that the preliminary engineering plans for the Conaway Canal Project, Phase I, have been completed with right of way acquisition to begin in the fall. Mr. Kelly pointed out; however, that Phase II of the Conaway Canal Project which is the area south of Main Street, has not yet started and this portion is expected to give the Bloomingdale area the greatest relief. Mark Pickering advised council that as he understands it the county is willing to do the engineering for the City on this portion of the project, but the cost for the engineering would have to be paid out of the City’s drainage funds. Mr. Pickering stated that Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co. has been the consultant for the county for the county-wide drainage plan and would be available to provide their services for the development of Bloomingdale’s plan. Questions were raised as to why the county-wide drainage projects are taking so long and Mr. Pickering pointed out that although progress appears to be very slow, it is moving forward. He stated that the permitting process has caused most of the delays, but it appears that most of these requirements have been met and the county will be able to make better progress on their plan.

Mayor Rozier recognized Mr. Murphy, a resident of Cheyenne Road, who asked if the Mayor had taken any action on his recent complaint to him about his neighbor having 15 dogs. The Mayor advised him the matter had been turned over to the police department and Roy Pike, Interim Police Chief, has scheduled a meeting with his neighbor to address this complaint.

The accounts payable were reviewed. Councilman Waller made a motion to pay the bills. Councilman Johnson seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Being no further business, Councilman Waller made a motion to adjourn at 8:30pm. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with four affirmative votes.

Mayor Rozier and Council members Johnson, Ray, Waller, and Wedincamp were present at the meeting.