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CITY OF BERKELEY LAKE
4040 BERKELEY LAKE ROAD
BERKELEY LAKE, GEORGIA 30096
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
Full Minutes for August 5th, 2003 Those in attendance for the Special Council Meeting were as follows: Mayor – Lois Salter
Council Members: Betty Covington, Frank Lombardi, Ken Massaroni, Delicia Reynolds, and David Steventon
Temporary City Clerk - Jackie Wall
Public Works – Marcie Zielazienski Citizens Present-20 CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Salter called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM at 4043 South Berkeley Lake Road. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Bill Downey - 527 Lakeshore Drive. With reference to the Dalton-Downey Pond, Downey said that the road-sinking problem goes beyond just fixing the pipe. He’d like to see a solution to the entire problem, not just fixing the pipe itself. As he stated before, he will happily consider an easement with the city for access to any part of the pipe on his land. There was a huge hole in the pond in 1999 and a city engineer looked at it then. Downey said the problems are originating upstream so it will need a total solution that would involve multiple parties as it impacts many people. As Miramont is within the city limits, there is no reason not to survey back that far. The construction plan was presented to council at the time and approved by city’s engineer. Therefore the city should take control of the whole thing. He wants the best long-term solution. MINUTES
There were no minutes presented at this meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Salter thanked city police officers for being on the scene after the storm the other night. Thanks also to Zielazienski who closed the road after the tree came down at 2am. The County helped us out even though it is a city road and Salter said that was partly due to Marcie’s good relationships with the county. Two city police officers who were off duty also came to help out. The County also helped with the clear up today when it is not their job to do so. Salter offered to write thank-you notes to anyone involved. Salter also reminded council that Berkeley Lake will host the GwMA meeting on Tuesday September 9th at 6pm and asked if anyone had boats that could be used that night. All the council members offered their boats; Steventon on the condition his was mended by then. The Robinsons also offered their boat. OLD BUSINESS
Public Works projects-
Marcie Zielazienski and Mr. Seldomridge, Engineer, Wolverton and Associates.
With refernece to the Dalton-Downey Pond Seldomridge reported that his company has looked at some sites in the city but this is the worst retention pond. The pipe under the road has collapsed and rusted through. Water is also coming through under the pipe, so the hole under the road is getting bigger. They have surveyed the area. The geo-technical engineer has completed soil borings to 30 ft. deep where he hit bed rock. He found the soil in the area is very soft. The rest is loose, typical fill material. They did not hit any voids but were afraid to go too near the pipe. Another geo-thermal scan revealed there are voids and packing material is loose. It is a tight and limited area- about 50 ft. and the culvert extends out over private property. The other side of the road is lower but the hole is getting larger and very susceptible to getting washed away. Seldomridge reported that there are two options. One is to open up the road, excavate and back fill it. However, this is a difficult solution. It is near other driveways and access is a problem as they would need to haul some silt away. The sides are steeper than typically seen these days and the slope on the downside is beginning to look like it is breaking away. Edges would have to be back filled and stabilized. All of the silt on the upstream side is an independent project from the culvert itself. However if the silt is not stabilized or removed, then it will continue to wash down the culvert into the lake. The first plans show permanent drainage easements that involve all four property owners on both sides of the culvert. The plans also show temporary construction easements required to get down into the area. Seldomridge stated they had not looked into what would be required to remove the silt from farther upstream. Another option is to bore another pipe under the road and grout the original pipe. Then drill holes in the road to pump grout in a grid fashion to hopefully fill all the voids. It is hard to price as it depends on the type of grout used and how much would be used. It may be cheaper to cut the road open but in doing so, the road will have to be closed – probably for weeks. His company is looking at a detour plan for Zielazienski. People are ignoring current warning signs. The cost to cut open the road would be around $75,000. It would cost more-around $110,000, to bore under the road and keep it open. Council asked how long the project would take, and Seldomridge was unable to say, although the road could be kept open both at initial stages and when the road itself was fixed. It could be opened while the culvert was being stabilized. There was much discussion about the amount of silt in the pond and the importance of not allowing it all to filter into the lake. Covington agreed that the “fix” takes care of the city’s road well but does not fix the problem so it does not happen again. Seldomridge agreed that they had only looked at fixing the culvert itself and not the problem all the way back up to Miramont. Reynolds asked if there was time to study this further or was the road likely to cave in shortly. Seldomridge stated he was not able to see underground and does not know how much is washed away around the pipe. The current pipe is 18 inches in diameter and 20 feet below the road. He said he didn’t believe there would be a catastrophic failure, but the void around the pipe is going to get bigger with more water washing around it. Seldomridge agreed that it is hard to say what could happen, and he was not prepared to predict whether the road could fail or not. As the culvert is so deep and small, he thought that the risk of failure is not so high. The original purpose of the retention pond was discussed and council expressed the opinion that it was not adequate to the task today. Different ways of holding back the silt were also discussed Zielazienski’s understanding was that the original direction of council was to provide a “best fix” solution to fixing only the road itself and thereby making it safe. There were private property issues that were brought up at the time, so it was decided to fix the road first and then move forward and make the other decisions on the pond later. Private property issues will take a lot of time to sort through. She reiterated that although the silt is a huge concern, making the road safe was more important at the time. Salter agreed that this is a huge issue, both financially and in terms of the silt. She asked council to clarify whether they want to just fix the road or does the city want to look at correcting the drainage basin issues above the road as well. Lombardi said that everyone was interested in the results of the survey of all the culverts to get an idea of the magnitude of the problem. However, examples the city attorney has brought up concerning claims against local governments have highlighted that the private property issues can take a long time to sort out. These are all things that need to be considered as we work toward possibly developing a plan for city-wide storm water management. Marcie did do exactly what council was looking for in getting a price to fix the road as it is the most immediate thing that council can go ahead and do without any concern for ramifications later. He agreed the council does want an engineered solution to fix the whole problem, but he said that council should wait to do it until there is a policy in place to handle all the similar situations in the city. There was much discussion about an estimate to fix the problem from the source- up by Miramont right down to the lake. In the engineers’ opinion there is time to consider other options, and he is willing to go ahead and explore them. The council expressed the opinion that they would like the estimates to have a long-term solution that includes costs for both the project and any ongoing maintenance issues. Downey reiterated to the engineer that it is also a water management issue, not just a silt problem as there is a continuing source of water coming from Miramont. Salter asked again whether council wanted the engineers to look at the sedimentation issue as well as the road issue. Council agreed they did but Covington stated that she thought that council had asked for that last time. Reynolds agreed with her. Zielazienski asked council whether they would be able go ahead with the plans if the proposals are ready for the next meeting despite the private property issue. Salter said that the city attorney told her that the city is not legally bound to do the same for everyone in the city if it is an infrastructure problem. The city can deal with the most pressing issues and that it is not an issue of fairness. It was the attorney’s suggestion to Salter that there is justification in dealing with this issue even going onto private property without being obligated elsewhere as other retention ponds are not threatening the infrastructure at this time. Lombardi expressed concern about setting precedence. However, fixing the problem incurs a risk for other situations that may come later. Council needs to consider the consequences and possibly have an insurance plan in place to deal with such issues later and to avoid further liability. Zielazienski asked if the idea is to design a fix that holds water and the silt in the pond, so that silt does not go into the lake now. She asked if they could they come in later on and clean out the pond and fix the problem upstream. Seldomridge suggested that it would probably be cheaper to do a small settling basin on the upstream side of the road and look at solving smaller issues upstream rather than removing all the silt from the pond which will be very expensive. There will always be an ongoing maintenance problem. Salter summarized that council is asking Seldomridge to come back with a plan at the next meeting to somehow stabilize the sediment wherever it goes (as far as it goes) back toward Miramont. Council would like as good an estimate as they can give at that point to include ongoing maintenance. It was pointed out that another engineering company, McFarland and Dyer is already looking at all the retention areas around the city. Should council consider asking them not to include this pond in their scope as Wolverton and Associates are already doing it? Council said that McFarland and Dyer should continue to include this pond so a picture of all the retention areas was seen from the same baseline. However, it was suggested McFarland and Dyer should concentrate their estimate on this pond too at this time, so they could also report back at the next meeting with Wolverton and Associates. Masseroni pointed out that McFarland and Dyer’s previous report did cover everything council asked. They too should come up with an estimate that includes the price to do what they have suggested already as well as any ongoing maintenance costs for the next meeting.
There was concern about the current condition of the road and whether it should be monitored based on unusual amounts of rain recently. There was discussion about closing the road as everything is in place to close it down. Masseroni reiterated the section in the McFarland and Dyer’s report about a possible catastrophic situation. Masseroni motioned to leave the road open but to evaluate it after every storm and to empower the Public Works Director to close the road if she deems necessary. Lombardi seconded the motion. During discussion the Public Works Director deemed that she was not qualified to determine whether the road is safe and was very worried about leaving the road open. Salter suggested that the road is either opened up or closed completely. Masseroni withdrew the motion. Steventon moved to close the road completely at this time. Masseroni seconded. In discussion Covington suggested that the road was closed to only one lane traffic at this time. Lombardi , Masseroni and Steventon were in favor of closing the road now. Covington and Reynolds did not vote. Motion passed with three votes. Other Old Business Lombardi motioned that changes to Ordinance 3-403G Re Duties of City Clerk should be put on first read. Masseroni seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. Lombardi motioned to go into executive session. Steventon seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
On personnel issues Motion To Exit Executive Session By Reynolds, Masseroni Seconded. Approval was unanimous. APPOINTMENTS
Salter appointed Jackie Wall to be the new City Clerk.
Lombardi motioned to appoint Jackie Wall as the new City Clerk. Reynolds seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. NEW BUSINESS
Cell Phone Towers Proposal
Salter said that T Mobile was continuing to call her about the cell tower proposal and asked council if they do want to entertain the idea. There was discussion about whether to invite bids from other companies as well as what the intention of council was in this situation. Is council considering this an option as a service to the community or as a money-making enterprise? It was pointed out that when this question was raised two years ago, there was little interest from other companies at the time. However, there are more cell phone customers now. A tower could take different forms but there must be consideration about the appearance of ground equipment too and the need for access 24/7. However, there are also benefits. There would have to be an emergency generator which could support emergency lighting in city hall for example. It could also be a source of income for the city. It was suggested that representatives from T Mobile should be invited to talk at the next council meeting for a question and answer session. Then the council could investigate further should they be inclined.
Accounts
There was discussion about money available in the SunTrust account to cover expenses in the next few months as engineers’ invoices come in. Tax income will be available from October, but there needs to be enough money between now and then. It was pointed out that there will also be invoices for the spillway pipe replacement project and dam work after they are completed, although it was not known whether they would be completed by October. Reynolds motioned to transfer $50, 000 from the LGIP account. Covington seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS Ray Coker 520 Lakeshore Drive
Coker asked that council not just take a stop gap measure in just repairing the roadway. There is mud as well as silt coming through the pipe. His shore line is now much shorter than it was. He asked whether it was possible to use a steel traffic plate over the area, so the road would not have to be closed. He also noted that a healthy tree has fallen on his property as a result of silt and water coming through too. He asked that council please consider correcting the problem at the source. Salter asked the engineer whether a steel traffic plate would be a viable proposition. Seldomridge said the area affected was too wide and a bridge would have to be engineered, which would not be a solution. Tom Peters 111 Little Ridge
Peters asked the engineer several questions:
Can they use a stone product instead of clay as it is cheaper? Seldomridge agreed they would if they use a dam scenario. Peters asked if anyone has determined the original use of the standpipes already there. Where do the perforations start on them? If they are at 3ft, then that means they were originally set in a retention pond. If they were at ground level, then they were to keep trash out of the lake. Masseroni pointed out that McFarland and Dyer say it was a pond originally. Peters asked if anyone had sent a camera through the pipe to show any vertical displacement. Zielazienski said that McFarland and Dyer had a person look through both ends of the pipe, and light was visible from both directions. He also saw that the bottom of the pipe has rusted away.
Peters asked if they create a pond, would the silt that is currently there be removed?
Or would part of it be removed and the rest used for construction?
Seldomridge said that part of it could be used, but it could stir up some water if they raise level of pond to 4ft deep. Dale Johnson 296 Lakeshore Drive
Johnson’s concern is that the pond should not just be fixed; the problem is the mud and silt farther up stream, otherwise a cleared pond will fill up again. She said that all of it should be dealt with at the same time. The main expense will be in getting into the pond, as access is the biggest problem. Correct it higher up or the access problem will keep coming up. Peters said that it depends on the classification of the retention ponds; most are designed to retain silt during the construction phase of a building project. Miramont is way past that. The pond should not have to function. Zielazienski agreed that it is a dam not a pond, with a retrofit in the front of it. She agreed that if it holds silt back, then it is best to leave it there. Peters said that in his opinion, it was not designed as a permanent solution. Reynolds reminded council that the Finance Committee will meet on August 18th at City Hall at 7pm. LOMBARDI MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. STEVENTON SECONDED THE MOTION AND APPROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS. THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:15PM.
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