Official Minutes of Council Meeting April 2, 2009
approved by City Council 4-16-09
Mayor Tipton called the meeting to order and Councilman Myrick led in prayer. The draft copy of the minutes of the March 19, 2009 meeting were presented by Mayor Tipton for council’s consideration. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve the draft copy with no changes, Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Ray made a motion to approve the agenda for April 2, 2009 meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman Waller and passed with six affirmative votes.
Under committee and administrative reports, Councilman Strozier and Mayor Tipton advised that the canal is working well and has made a substantial difference during the recent heavy rains.
OLD BUSINESS:
Councilman Myrick thanked Fire Chief Tyler for the information presented to council at the fire user fee workshop and expressed that he would like the firefighters who qualify for a pension to receive the same discount in their fire user fees as the senior citizens. Councilman Myrick made a motion to hold a public hearing on April 23, 2009 at 7:00pm for citizen input on the proposed changes to the fire user fees. Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Councilman Ray made a motion to remove from the table discussion of the recommendation from Budget & Finance Committee on wage/hiring freezes, purchases and reduction in 2009/2010 budget. Councilman Waller seconded the motion and it passed with 6 affirmative votes. There was no action taken by council on the committee’s recommendation.
NEW BUSINESS:
Mayor Tipton advised that the next item pertained to his property but that he would preside over this matter of business since there is no personal gain to him as he was only allowing the use of his property by Mr. Terry.
Mayor Tipton presented a request from Mr. Tom Terry to place an off premise sign for Tom’s Saw Shop on property owned by Mayor Wayne Tipton located on the north side of U.S. Highway 80 just west of the Pipemaker’s Spur. The City’s Zoning Ordinance allows off-site signs as a “conditional use” in C-2 zoning districts provided a conditional use permit is issued by the board of appeals. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve the “conditional use” in C-2 for the off-site sign requested by Mr. Terry with the understanding that the sign must be located five feet from the right-of-way lines of U.S. Highway 80 and the Pipemaker’s Spur. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton reported that an executive session had been requested for the discussion of personnel issues and pending litigation. Councilman Ray made a motion to adjourn into executive session. Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. At the conclusion of the executive session, Councilman Myrick made a motion to return to the general session and approve the execution of the affidavit as required by the Open Records Act. Councilman Ray seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton reported that this concluded the items presented for consideration for inclusion on the council agenda prior to the deadline of Friday, March 13, 2009.
The Mayor presented the accounts payables for consideration. Councilman Ray made a motion to pay the bills, Councilwoman Winn seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.
Mayor Tipton called for a motion to adjourn. Councilman Waller made a motion to adjourn with Councilman Myrick seconding the motion. The motion passed with six affirmative votes. The meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.
Mayor Tipton and all Councilmembers were present.
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.