Official minutes of the March 18

Official minutes of the March 18, 2010 Council Meeting

approved by City Council on 4-1-10

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tipton with Councilman Dennis Baxter leading in prayer. Councilman Baxter made a motion to approve the draft copy of the minutes of the March 4, 2010 meeting, Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Myrick made a motion to approve the agenda of the March 18, 2010 meeting with the addition of further discussion on the playground equipment at Bloomingdale Community Park and the addition of litigation to the executive session. Councilwoman Griffin seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Under administrative and committee reports, Councilwoman Griffin stated that sign-ups for ball teams were going well and the addition of handicapped bathrooms and a meeting room had been complete at Taylor Park. Councilwoman Griffin advised council that Recreation Director Joe Young was checking out various options regarding internet service to the park. Attorney Dickey reported that public hearings on changes to the impact fee ordinance will be held during the April 1, 2010 and the April 15, 2010 council meetings. Councilman Myrick noted that the workshop held on Saturday morning was very productive and the City was financially healthy thanks to the good stewardship of previous councils. Councilman Baxter reported that bids had been advertised for the fire department project and these will be opened and reviewed when submitted. Fire Chief Tyler advised council that the Georgia Public Standards and Training Council had just completed their periodic inspection of the fire department’s records and equipment and everything was in order. Fire Chief Tyler stated that our citizens needed to be reminded to keep their house numbers posted for safety reasons and noted that EMS had recently experienced a problem answering an emergency call because the house number was not posted. Mayor Tipton suggested that a reminder to the citizens be placed in the upcoming newsletter. The Mayor noted that the Fire Chief was using an office at City Hall until the new fire building was constructed and the turn-out gear for the firefighters was being kept in an enclosed bay at the maintenance department. Councilman Rawlings reported that the motors at the Maple Street Lift Station were nearing maximum usage and with the developments that were proposed along Highway 80 the pumps would need to be upgraded. Councilman Rawlings stated that the water/sewer agreements for the developments would need to address these upgrades. Councilman Crosby advised council that he and Planning Commission Chairman Dexter Shearouse would be attending training classes in late June and the commission will be reviewing some amendments to the zoning ordinance at their April meeting. Councilman Kerby noted that Billy Strozier, former Mayor and Councilmember, was in the audience and he and the Mayor welcomed him to the meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:

Councilman Baxter made a motion that discussion related to engineering services for Phase II be removed from the table for further discussion, Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Kerby made a motion to request an engineering proposal from HGB for Phase II of the City’s Master Drainage Plan. Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Councilman Myrick stated that members of the Recreation Committee had met with the representative from the playground equipment company to discuss the equipment for the Bloomingdale Community Park and had obtained a price for the equipment that included installation. He pointed out that the company would assume the liability if they installed the equipment rather than having our crews install it. Councilman Myrick noted that the price for the equipment and its installation was $20,570 rather than the $15,000 approved at the last meeting. Councilman Myrick stated that questions had been also been raised about getting prices from other companies and the committee would attempt to do that before placing the order. Councilman Myrick then made a motion to increase the amount approved for the purchase of the playground equipment at the community park to $20,570, Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Mayor Tipton advised Citizen William McCarty that the Recreation Committee had taken his concerns about the children’s safety under advisement in their review of the used playground equipment offered by the Lion’s Club, but decided not to place it at the community park because of safety issues.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Tipton recognized Reverend Darrell Bailey who had submitted a request on behalf of Nehemiah’s Builders, a volunteer group from the Bloomingdale First Baptist Church, for an extension to the deadline for residents Earl & Janet Conaway to move from the City-owned property at #4 Pine Street. The Conaways are planning to move to #1112 E. Highway 80 and Nehemiah’s Builders will be doing some work on the residence before they move in. Reverend Darrell pointed out that Mr. Conaway is physically disabled and unable to do the repairs to the house and due to the extent of the repairs, Nehemiah’s Builders needs some additional time to complete the work since most of it is done on the weekends. After a brief discussion, Councilman Kerby made a motion to grant an extension of 90 days for the Conaway’s to move from the City-owned property located at #4 Pine Street. Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. It was noted that the deadline was being extended until July 11, 2010.

Councilman Myrick stated he had the following recommendations council action as a follow-up of the workshop held on March 13^th regarding reserve and emergency funds and the retiring of the 1980 Water Bond: 1) Councilman Myrick made a motion to pay off the 1980 Water Bond in the amount of $83,000, plus interest, using the Water/Sewer Sinking Fund #2 CDARS investment of $75,000 that matured today and surplus monies in the Sinking Fund #2 money market account. Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes; 2) Councilman Myrick made a motion to increase the General Fund Reserves Investment from $250,000 to $400,000 (six months of operating expenses) to be use only in the event of the loss of major income source(s) needed for the continued operation of the City and to establish a General Fund Emergency Account in the amount of $200,000 to be used only for expenses related to emergency, non-budgeted repairs and/or replacement of equipment or buildings with approval of council and the replacement of these emergency account funds as soon as possible if disbursed. Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes; 3) Councilman Myrick made a motion to establish a Water/Sewer Reserve Account in the amount of $180,000 (six months of operating expenses) to be used only in the event of the loss of major income source(s) needed for the continued operation of the water/sewer services of the City and to establish a Water/Sewer Emergency Account in the amount of $75,000 to be used only for expenses related to emergency, non-budgeted repairs and/or replacement of equipment or buildings with approval of council and the replacement of these emergency account funds as soon as possible if disbursed. Councilman Rawlings seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Myrick stated that when the initial reserve amount was set years ago for the General Fund, the administration felt it was adequate, but with increases is salaries, operating expenses, etc. the amount needed to be adjusted. Councilman Myrick reported that to address the increase in costs in the future, the interest earned on the investments will remain in the reserve and emergency accounts. Citizen Buddy Burke asked if these monies were already on hand and was advised that they were, but council was designating the monies for these specific uses. Councilman Myrick commented that all of the girls in the clerk’s office had worked very hard to compile this information for council and he wanted to thank them for preparing it for Saturday’s meeting.

Councilman Crosby reported that the Planning Commission was recommending that council proceed with a public hearing on the preliminary plat of a major subdivision on Stagecoach Road as submitted by Bobby Oglesby. Council was advised that the subdivision consisted of five lots fronting Stagecoach Rd that will be served by private water and septic tanks. Councilman Crosby stated that Mr. Oglesby has agreed to upgrade the roadway and, if council agrees to supply the materials, he will provide the labor to pave it and he will be installing ditches and a detention pond for the drainage of the lots. Councilman Crosby reported that Mr. Oglesby had provided property for a cul-de-sac at the end of the subdivision. Councilman Crosby stated that Mr. Oglesby had worked very closely with the Planning Commission to make sure the subdivision would be an asset to the community. Councilman Crosby made a motion to hold the public hearing on April 15, 2010, Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Myrick stated that Mr. Oglesby had contributed a great deal of time to the City’s recreation program and thanked him for his help.

Councilman Kerby advised council that Public Works Supervisor Ernest Grizzard was requesting that the City declare the two (2) Smith & Loveless, 10 horsepower motors used in the old lift station be declared surplus equipment and allow them to be donated to Jefferson County Board of Commissioners for use in their lift station. Councilman Rawlings noted that these motors were of no use to the City and could only be used by someone having the same type mechanism as the Maple Street Lift Station. Councilman Rawlings made a motion to declare the motors as surplus and donate them to Jefferson Co. Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Councilman Kerby stated that with the hurricane season fast approaching, he would like to proceed with obtaining bids on generators for the City Hall and maintenance department as included in the FY 2009/2010 budget. He pointed out that the generator was needed at the maintenance department so the police and fire departments could obtain fuel if there was a loss of electricity and a generator at City Hall would allow for its continued operation. After a brief discussion, Councilman Kerby made a motion to solicit bids on the generators, Councilman Myrick seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Mayor Tipton reported that EMC Engineering had submitted a report to council regarding the bids for the paving of Stagecoach Road. The low bidder was R.B. Baker with a bid of $393,896.05. Councilman Rawlings commented that due to the complexity of the project, he wanted to make sure the contractor was able to do the work for the amount of the bid and that EMC Engineering would stay on top of the project to avoid the need for change orders. Mayor Tipton stated that he agreed the engineers needed to monitor the project closely, but noted that any change orders would have to come through council for approval. Councilman Baxter stated that he would like to make sure that, in the future, at least one council member was present at a bid opening. Councilman Kerby made a motion to accept the bid from R.B. Baker in the amount of $393,896.05, Councilman Baxter seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

The Mayor stated that council needed to go into executive session to discuss land and litigation issues. Councilman Baxter made a motion to adjourn into executive session, Councilman Crosby 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, Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. There was no action taken from the executive session.

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

Being no further business, Councilman Kerby made a motion to adjourn at 8:00pm. Councilwoman Griffin seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Respectfully submitted, Sandra Jones, City Clerk

Mayor Tipton and all council members 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.