Those in attendance for the Council Meeting were as follows:

Mayor – Lois Salter
Council Members: Frank Lombardi, Ken Massaroni, Delicia Reynolds, and David Steventon
City Attorney- Dick Carothers
City Clerk - Jackie Wall
Public Works Director- Marcie Zielazienski

Citizens Present-6

CALL TO ORDER
Salter called the meeting to order at 6:07 PM at 4043 South Berkeley Lake Road.

PUBLIC HEARING AND CITIZENS COMMENTS
Ordinance 3-703 and 3-205 Berkeley Lake Conservancy
Ordinance 24-125.1 Sign Ordinance
Ordinance 39-1401.3, Buffer fencing

Bernie Cohen 381 Lakeshore Drive
Cohen said the city has not done any long term planning in a long time. Currently the city owns very little extra land for building purposes. There could be many things that could come up in the future. They may want to build a recreation area for example. He said he’d like council to consider two things: retaining some of the land in the Greenspace along Ridge Road where it is flat for the use of the city in the future. If the city has to go out and buy it some land later it will be very expensive.

Salter asked what the city might need the land for later along the road.

Cohen suggested the city might need to build another structure, for recreation. The city might need another place to hold city events such as Halloween if the Chapel area were not able to be used.
Cohen said he was not against the idea of preserving the land with GOLT. However he said he felt that if any problems did occur in the long-term, they would not be between the city and GOLT but a third party. He said it was not clear to him as to who shares the expense and burden of rectifying any situation that may arise.

Cohen said that since GOLT will have the Greenspace, there should be a sign there stating that it is now owned by GOLT and that it is private property. He said it should be posted so that people know. However the city would have to think how to post a sign as the Charter calls for signs to be 45-feet into a property and it would not be seen. The Greenspace should have a sign so that third parties know who the land belongs to.

Cohen said there could be a major problem with the hydrology of the area once the area across the road from it is developed. The last time the area was about to be developed, the plans called for major change to the Greenspace to accommodate the run off that would come from it. There isn’t space on the other side of the road to have a retention area. All the run-off would go under the road and end up in the Greenspace. Cohen said there is no where in the agreement that, would accommodate that kind of scenario and again it is a third party issue. Who would be responsible for doing something about it. The damage that could occur would be considerable.

Cohen said to consider the animals currently in the greenspace. He said that right now the deer population is healthy but the space is limited and can only support certain numbers. Cohen said that the population will probably exceed that number before too long and there would have to be some culling which the city will have to pay for.
Cohen talked about specific wording in the document, which says ‘mayor and council’. He said that as the council had the vote that it should just read ‘council’. He said that the section regarding liaison is very vague and it is not clear what the function of the person doing the liaison is and it should be tightened up.

Cohen said he found section 8J objectionable has he did not see why the Berkeley Lake Conservancy has to report to GOLT. He said he was concerned that what the Conservancy does is purely the city’s business.

Rick Rice 12 Lakeshore Drive
Rice said that when the road is torn up at the Dalton Downey pond, it may be a good time to coordinate with BLHA to take out silt from the lake side, irrespective of who is liable. It makes sense to take it out at the same time and coordinate the process.

Rice said the new city hall should be wired at the building stage to enable a generator to be used in case of power outages incase of tornado or ice storms for example. If there was a long period of time without electricity, then citizens (especially the elderly) would have somewhere to go.

Salter agreed that it was a good idea. She also said that Carothers had suggested, in an email, that liaison regarding silt removal should be considered by council.

George Sipe 401 Lakeshore Drive
Sipe said that the city might want to include a retained right to add a perimeter fence around the Greenspace. He said that it would probably be unnecessary but things may change in the long term in the surrounding area and the city would be able to do something about it.

Massaroni clarified that the Public hearing was now over as citizens comments had become included in the same public speaking time.

MINUTES
There were no minutes to consider as they were passed at the last Special meeting.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Reynolds motioned that the financial report should be accepted as filed. Massaroni seconded the motion.

In discussion, Massaroni asked if the current budget of $272,700 of residual equity transfer in the revenue section is right in view of all the current public works projects.

Reynolds said the current budget for public works is $271,000 but about $300,000 has been spent so far.

Massaroni clarified that with the anticipated projects, the Downey –Dalton pond etc, that more would be needed.

Reynolds said that he was correct.

All were in favor of the motion and approval was unanimous.

STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
Salter said she had received a report from the Ordinance Enforcement Officer and asked for comments.

There were no comments.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Zielazienski cannot be absentee ballot clerk as she has decided to run for office and has therefore resigned. Salter appointed Carol Seitz.

Motion to accept appointment by Reynolds, approved by Lombardi. Approval was unanimous.

• Salter announced that there is a major change in voting procedure authorized by the state for ‘advance voting’. For the first time, citizens can use an absentee ballot during regular office hours in the week before the election (27th-31st October). She said that as this is new it should go out to citizens in a letter.

• Salter said she had spoken to Phil Hoskins (Head of Gwinnett Parks and recreation) this week on the aquatic park. They are closing on the deal to gain more land from Pete Maltese and will not start planning the area until next year when they have more funds. She said she had asked again that they consider the lighting in the budget, so that it faced as much away from the city as possible. She also asked that they consider retro fitting the lights at Pinckneyville Park too.

Steventon commented that as the whole area across Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) is developed, it will have an impact on the city and the greenspace regarding stormwater management. He reiterated that the city should continue to look at the site behind Rodney Hammond’s property if the county does not do something about it.

OLD BUSINESS

Sign ordinance 24-125.1, 2nd read– Sipe
Reynolds motioned to put on second read and adopt. Massaroni seconded the motion.
All were in favor. Approval was unanimous.

Buffer fencing Ordinance. 39-1401.3, 2nd read - Sipe
Massaroni motioned to put on second read and adopt. Lombardi seconded the motion. All were in favor. Approval was unanimous.

Budget 2004 – Reynolds
There was discussion regarding the figures still needed to finish the budget. The major issue is the numbers from the McFarland and Dyer report. Reynolds suggested it be discussed at work session with all the figures available.

City Hall – Massaroni
Massaroni said he would circulate copies of the most up to date version of the plan to council and to the citizens committee for comments and suggestions.

Salter clarified that a water/fire proof room would be included in the basement for document storage.

Massaroni said that the ideas for that room, wiring for a generator hook up, as well as the low maintenance exterior (ie brick) were all passed on to Mike Penny so they would be included in the final daft of the plans.

Citywide Stormwater Management Plan
Lombardi suggested it be discussed further at the work session.
Greenspace Issues - Deed of Conservation Easement and Conservancy Ordinance
There was more discussion and clarification on the wording in the documents.

Lombardi motioned to accept the Conservation Ordinance document with the changes made in 8K for second read and adoption.
Massaroni seconded the motion.

In discussion Massaroni suggested the final documents be ready for discussion at the work session, so they can be ready for the next full council meeting and passed together as they are all related and in the unlikely event that something happened in between time, it would make more sense.

Lombardi motioned to postpone the motion to the next regularly scheduled council meeting when all the documents are ready together.
Massaroni seconded the motion.

Carothers said he had not had time to complete everything necessary for all three documents for this meeting as he had not realized council wanted to do that. He agreed to have everything done potentially by the work session so it could be discussed and be ready for the next regularly scheduled meeting.

All were in favor. Approval was unanimous.

There was more discussion on the Deed of Conservation Easement. Issues regarding posted signage and fencing were discussed as in the citizens comments.

Steventon suggested that although we may not need such things now, the area might be very different in twenty years and therefore, the option for retaining the right to put up a fence should be kept.

It was agreed that access should be allowed as in the agreement, but to keep a retained right to put up a fence, which could be gated, at night for example, should be included in the document.

There was much discussion about stormwater from the land across Peachtree Industrial onto the Greenspace and retaining the rights for water retention and hydrology issues in terms of any development nearby.

Reynolds said it was her understanding that the developers would have no legal right to dump water in the Greenspace. They would be required to discharge the water and soil sediment according to the standards set by Georgia law. She said the city has the right, as the permitting authority to review their plans and make them keep their water there.
Salter said the law requires the city to accept water run off but not sediment. Oil and gas run off can come with the water too.

Carothers clarified that the property owners are allowed to discharge water from their property, but it has to come across at the same rate as it is doing now, which is determined by volume per second. It cannot be increased. He said there is protection for gas and oil that comes from any development because it is a pollutant and the city has the right to demand water run off of a certain quality.

Carothers said in order to control flows; the city may have to retain the rights for water retention and hydrology issues. He said if there is water coming across and the city cannot, by lawsuit or otherwise, solve the problem, it will be doing harm to the Greenspace: it could cause erosion or pollution sooner or later. He said he thought that it might be consistent with the goals that GOLT have anyway.

Salter asked that Carothers pursue the issue with GOLT.

GMA Telecommunications Contract
Carothers said that it seems that it would be a contract that could be entered into. It is cheaper to have GMA look into it than himself. He has to read it but has not had to negotiate it, so it should save a lot of time and money.

Public Works
Steventon asked when the drain covers would be fitted that council had voted to approve funding for two months ago.

Salter said the covers had been obtained but there was a problem getting someone to fit them.

Steventon said he assumed that the contractor should have been asked to make and install them.

Salter said she could not answer for Zielazienski but she would ask her to let council know soon as she was possible.

Massaroni asked for clarification on the McFarland Dyer report as to whether some of the grading listed on the report is the same grading that has already been done. If it is already approved and paid for, it need not be on the stormwater plan.

NEW BUSINESS
Resolution of State Water Issues.
Lombardi suggested that it be postponed and discussed at the work session.

Massaroni asked that both sides of the issue be looked at too, as he had not been able to find any information on it.

Carothers reminded council that if they are to continue with a regular session/work session format then as it is a regular meeting it has to be posted and advertised. If any issue was going to be officially discussed and approved at the work session, then it needed to be specifically posted on the agenda.

Track Club Request
Salter described the email request from the track club for their proposal to have another fun run/walk on November 8th, with a rain date of November 15th. They are requesting approval to close Lakeshore Drive from 8:30 am to 10:30 am.

Council approved the idea of the fun run itself. There was discussion regarding police support and who would pay for it.

Steventon asked how the Elementary school sock hop situation was solved and if it indeed was solved. He said that the city needs to be as consistent as possible in approaching these issues.

There was discussion regarding all events requiring police presence and that they should be approached with consistence. It was agreed to discuss it further at a work session.

Steventon asked whether there should be a permitting process that outlines things like police presence for any event.

Salter clarified that council agreed that the fun run event should go ahead but that the issue of who should pay for police presence will be discussed at the work session.

City Hall Cover
There was discussion of what to do when the clerk is out of town from October 16th as Zielazienski will not be able to cover as normal. There was discussion regarding hiring a temp and it was suggested that Claire Grimes be asked to cover for any hours she can and Charlie do any other time.

Agenda items
Salter asked that Council have items for the agenda and any documents ready for the clerk by noon on the Thursday before a meeting, so they can be distributed on the Friday and be posted on the web site. Council would then have plenty of time to read through documents before a meeting. It is an effort to stop getting last minute documents that no one has had time to read.

Massaroni asked that the work session still be used to discuss issues ready for the regular meeting. He suggested that after a work session, further things should not be added to the agenda as they not have been discussed and it would defeat the idea of discussing issues at the work session and being prepared for the meeting.

Salter said it was still the mayor’s responsibility to make the agenda.

Steventon said that the rules of order should be followed so that the agenda be agreed to before a meeting. He said he would like to see it adopted by council. At the time a meeting begins, the agenda should be voted upon - either accepted or amended.

Massaroni said he believed the working session should largely drive what is on the agenda.

Salter said it could be added to the beginning of the agenda if council wanted but up until now no-one had disagreed on the agenda except once and they spoke up at the time. Everyone has been agreeable to what was on the agenda, so there was no need to do that.

Carothers observed that Robert’s rules do say as Steventon described but in his experience most jurisdictions do not go through the formal agenda approval process, it is just what council are comfortable with. The validity of the items acted upon would not be compromised either way.

Salter asked if council wanted to add the formal acceptance of the agenda to every council meeting.

There was some discussion but no formal decision.

Reynolds asked that the staff reports be available beforehand too.

Salter clarified that everything should be ready for Thursday noon before the meeting.

City Hall hours
Salter said she would like to suggest that city hours be extended to 10 am to 4 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as the clerk was there working anyway. She said by announcing it, it could be publicized.

The city clerk said that it would be more consistent times as the public was sometimes confused which hours City Hall was open on which days.

There was discussion as to whether it means that the clerk would not have quiet time to catch up with out the public being there and that she would then have to work more extra hours to catch up. The purpose of keeping City Hall open longer was discussed, in terms of more accessibility to the public. It was suggested that the idea be revisited again next year.

Hiring Policy
Lombardi said he would like the hiring policy he had emailed to everyone to be discussed at the work session, so council could work towards adding something like it to the policy book.

CITIZEN COMMENTS
George Sipe had comments regarding posting signs in the Greenspace. He said council ought to consider retaining the right to post signs in the Greenspace just in case, for example, not to allow 24 hour access to it, should the case arise.

Bernie Cohen clarified his previous comments regarding signs. He said the signs should say that GOLT owns the land. He also reiterated his comments about council retaining a few acres of the Greenspace for possible development should it become necessary at a later date.

LOMBARDI MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8 PM. MASSARONI SECONDED THE MOTION AND APPROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS.