COUNCIL MEETING
May 18, 2006
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tipton with Councilman Myrick leading in prayer. The minutes of the May 4, 2006 meeting were reviewed. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve said minutes, Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.
Councilman Ray made a motion to approve the agenda for the May 18th meeting and the motion was seconded by Councilwoman Winn. The motion was approved with five affirmative votes.
OLD BUSINESS:
Councilman Strozier reported that the City’s engineer had provided EPD with the additional information they indicated they needed to continue processing our request for an increase in our water withdrawal permit.
Councilman Myrick advised council the citizens that had been notified that their properties needed to be cleared of junk cars and/or debris were still working on these problems.
Councilwoman Winn stated that posters had been distributed throughout the City advertising the upcoming Patriotic Celebration to be held on Memorial Day and reported that everything seemed to be in place for this event. She reminded everyone that the celebration would be held at Taylor Park from 6:00pm until 9:00pm on May 29th and advised them to bring their lawn chairs.
Mayor Tipton reported that we were waiting to hear from the DOT on the information submitted to them regarding the paving of Church & Lynn Streets. The Mayor pointed out that once we obtained cost figures for these two projects, he would like to proceed with the design phase of Stagecoach Road so we can get some idea of the cost of this project. Council discussed the need to pave several small sections of Main Street that had also been discussed during preparation of the paving priorities. Councilman Strozier advised council that there were a couple of sections of Main Street that citizens had been assured would be paved about six or seven years ago, but the funds were depleted before the projects could be done. It was noted that these sections totaled approximately 400’ to 500’. Council agreed that these areas needed to be paved with road construction funds on hand.
Council was informed that the driveway pipe installed without proper permitting at #913 East Cregor Street had been removed and the owner had been contacted about obtaining a permit for the utility building at this same location.
Chief Gossett reported that he had researched the laws regarding ATV’s on City streets and felt that if the police were called to an area and observed this activity, they would enforce the law and issue citations. The Chief pointed out that the best thing would be for the neighbors to get together and discuss these problems and try to handle it between themselves. Councilman Myrick suggested that if the Chief could find out which kids were riding the ATV’s he could go to those parents and talk with them about the problem or send them a letter outlining the consequences of violating the laws regarding the use of this equipment on public roadways. The Chief stated that this would probably be the best way to handle the situation and Councilman Myrick offered to help him by encouraging the neighbors to work together on a solution.
Chief Gossett advised council that in response to their request that the police monitor the activities at #68 Cheyenne Road regarding outside traffic, his officers reported that they did observe some traffic going to this location that appeared to be related to the lawn care business. The Chief stated that there were three workers that parked their vehicles at the site and left in lawn care vehicles on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and one worker who followed this same pattern on Monday and Tuesday. Councilman Myrick pointed out that when the owner obtained permission to construct the storage building on the property she was advised that she could not operate a business from this location and the operation of the business from Cheyenne Road should not be taking place. Council discussed this issue and agreed that the owner, Kellie Robertson, should be notified that any outside traffic related to this business must cease immediately and if she had any questions regarding this information she should present them to council.
NEW BUSINESS:
Council was advised that the City had received notice that the Boll Weevil Hill Association would be holding their community reunion on July 1st starting at 12:00 noon and Harry Burney, Jr. was present at tonight’s meeting to discuss details of the event with council. Mr. Burney stated that there were plans for seven (7) live bands to perform until about 8:30, but it would probably be about 10pm or 11pm before everything could be cleared away. Mayor Tipton advised Mr. Burney that the City would not be issuing a permit for this type activity, but wanted to discuss with him possible parking issues, noise control and his arrangements for supervision of the event. Mr. Burney stated that A & P Security would be providing security for the event and he did not anticipate any parking problems since most of the residents in the area would be attending the reunion and the parking would be on private property. The Mayor informed him that vehicles should not be parked in the rights of way. Mr. Burney advised council that this was a family affair, but there would be money collected from the participants to help cover the cost of the event and there were approximately 100 to 200 people planning to attend. Mayor Tipton informed Mr. Burney that one concern was the possible disturbance that could be caused by music from live bands and wanted him to know that if the police department receives complaints from the neighbors they would have to reduce the volume. Council suggested that Mr. Burney contact all of the neighbors, including those who may not attend the event, and make them aware of the activities that are planned and assure them that there will be some control on the volume of the music. It was also noted that if the speakers were positioned away from the houses this may help with the noise levels. Mr. Burney stated he would follow these suggestions from council.
Attorney Dickey advised council that they needed to consider the first reading of an ordinance to de-annex a portion of the Morgan Family’s property consisting of 128.8 acres located off of the Wildcat Dam Road with the understanding that this property would be annexed into the City of Pooler. Attorney Dickey noted that in a future meeting council would be considering the annexation of other properties owned by the Morgan Family located within the City of Pooler as part of the proposed AMB project. Council was advised that the Chatham County Commission had approved a resolution at their May 12th meeting consenting to the annexation/de-annexation of lands within Pooler and Bloomingdale. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve the first reading of the de-annexation ordinance, Councilman Strozier seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.
The following recommendations/reports were submitted by the Planning & Zoning Commission from their May 16, 2006 meeting:
1) The Planning & Zoning Commission recommends the approval of a minor subdivision request from Pete Waller for property of Ottawa Real Estate Development located on Bloomingdale Road. The minor subdivision consists of two lots to be served by private well and individual sewage disposal. After a brief discussion, Councilman Strozier made a motion to approve the recommendation on the minor subdivision, Councilman Rawlings seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.
2) A public hearing has been scheduled for June 20, 2006 at 7:00pm to receive citizen input on the rezoning of properties of the Morgan Family proposed for annexation into Bloomingdale in the vicinity of Wildcat Dam Road. The property is currently zoned Light Industrial and since any properties annexed into the City would be zoned R-1, the rezoning process is required to have the zoning of the property remain the same.
3) A public hearing has also been scheduled for June 20, 2006 at 7:00pm to receive citizen input on the rezoning petition submitted on behalf of Don Paul Enterprises by Commonwealth Commercial Properties for 88± acres located on the south side of U.S. Highway 80. The property is currently zoned RA-1 and the request is for C-1/I-1 zoning. Mayor Tipton pointed out that the City had received correspondence from Chatham County requesting that they be notified of any site development plans submitted to Bloomingdale that involved properties located in proximity to the intersection of Jimmy Deloach Parkway and U.S. Highway 80 and he wanted to make sure that they received this notification. Mike Wedincamp commented that he had already discussed this proposed development with the county.
Mayor Tipton stated that this concluded the items presented by the Friday, May 12, 2006 agenda deadline.
Under committee reports the following information was provided to council:
Mayor Tipton reported that he, along with Councilman Rawlings and Councilman Strozier, would be meeting on Friday with Ron Walker of ReMax to discuss some general questions that he had regarding developments in the City.
The Mayor stated that he would like for someone on council to work with him on plans for a Gateway Sign to be located at the eastern City limits. Councilman Strozier asked if there was any information available on the cost of this project and the Mayor stated that more information had to be obtained about the size and exact location before a price could be determined. Councilman Rawlings and Councilman Myrick agreed to work with the Mayor on this project. It was noted that BellSouth would need to be contacted to see if they were willing to allow the sign to be placed on their property.
The accounts payable were reviewed. Councilman Ray made a motion to pay the bills, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.
Being no further business, Councilman Myrick made a motion to adjourn at 7:30pm, Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton and Council members Myrick, Rawlings, Ray, Strozier and Winn were present at the meeting.