CITY OF BERKELEY LAKE

4040 BERKELEY LAKE ROAD

BERKELEY LAKE, GEORGIA 30096

PUBLIC HEARING/COUNCIL MEETING

FULL MINUTES FOR

January 17th 2002

Those in attendance for the Public Hearing and Council Meeting were as follows:

Mayor – Lois Salter

COUNCIL MEMBERS: Tony Arakawa

Frank Lombardi

Ken Massaroni

Delicia Reynolds

David Steventon

City Attorney Richard Carothers

City Clerk Claire Grimes

BLEMA Tom Kitchens

City Manager/Treasurer John Rockers

Citizens Present 6

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Salter called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM at 4043 South Berkeley Lake Road.

WORKING SESSION

Topics discussed during the Council Working Session include the following: Assistance for City Clerk, the Community Center, Gwinnett Municipal Association meetings and police presence on the dam during snow. It was suggested that Marcie Zielazienski be asked to be available to assist the Clerk. Council decided to pursue hosting another GWMA function in the fall. Many Council Members reported talking to citizens who were in favor of a new Community Center for the City. Council Members Massaroni and Steventon plan to have discussions with the various Homeowners Associations to give them an idea of what is planned and solicit their ideas and opinions. Council decided to add special instructions to the contracts with the police and Chattahoochee Landscape Co. to cover the snow days. This will allow the City to be more responsive to dangerous road conditions and to provide for public safety and protection of the dam.

CITIZENS' COMMENTS

Tom Kitchens stated that if Greg Harris, of Chattahoochee Landscape Co., would call him during these snow emergencies, he will activate the BLEMA team to help spread the roads with salt and help with chain saws if there are any downed limbs or trees.

Bob Henderson asked if there would be some help from the City in cleaning up the ruts in the ground along the road where people parked to go sledding on the dam. Mayor Salter asked Council Member Arakawa to see if he could get the County to repair the sides of the road. Council Member Arakawa stated that he will be meeting with the County to see what needs to be done to repair the side of the road and that the City will be getting NO PARKING and NO TRESPASSING signs to use as appropriate. This will allow the police to give tickets to people parking there in the future. Mr. Henderson was asked if he could put a barrier across the clearing for his new driveway so that people would not be tempted to park there in the future. Council has decided to have police presence at the dam during the snow in the future.

MINUTES

Council Member Arakawa moved to approve the December 20th Minutes. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Council Member Reynolds moved to accept the Financial Report as filed. Council Member Arakawa seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mayor Salter announced that she has received the following reports: BLEMA, Arbitration Board, Finance Affairs, Stormwater Management, Communications, OEO and Officer Dunlap.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS

Mayor Salter stated that she has decided in the interest of minimizing meeting time to deliver a State of the City address because most of the citizens who attend these Council meetings are well aware of the state of our City. If anyone has a concern about the City please let us know.

Mayor Salter appointed all the currently serving City staff to their positions. The Mayor also appointed Judge Margaret Washburn as our Municipal Judge and Jan McKinney as the Assistant Municipal Judge. The Mayor also appointed Juan Armendariz to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to approve the Mayor's appointments. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

The Mayor stated that she had asked Tom Kitchens to find out about a possible ground cover for the dam. Mr. Kitchens stated that the annual dam inspection had taken place and that there are still two or three spots that are wet from underground springs but these are not problem areas. They asked once again to clear the wooded area next to Emily Dennison but we are continuing to ask for a postponement on that for now. Any ground cover on the dam is prohibited; it must be a grass similar to what we have now. The grass must be kept short enough to allow for visual inspections of the face of the dam. We would be allowed to dig out the culverts deep enough to put rip rap at the bottom of the dam in order to keep the four-wheel drive vehicles off. Council Member Arakawa stated that he would ask the County officials their opinions on whether this idea would be feasible.

The Mayor announced that on February 7th the Atlanta Regional Commission is having a Transportation Improvement Program, which will offer an explanation of the new roads, sidewalks and multi use trails in our area. This meeting will be held at the GJAC building from 6:00-8:00 PM. Council Member Arakawa plans to attend.

Council Member Arakawa presented an award to Tom Kitchens from Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful on behalf of the entire City of Berkeley Lake for his exceptional efforts to create a healthier, safer, and more livable community.

The Mayor also announced that she has spoken with Frank Stephens who is the head of Gwinnett County Public Utilities in regards to our Septic Maintenance Ordinance. He stated that septic systems are defined as "temporary waste management systems." He wishes to applaud what we are doing and states that we are out in front on our septic Ordinance requiring maintenance and repair every five years. Studies have shown that at any given moment in any given area there is likely to be 20% failing septic systems.

Mr. Henderson stated that five acres of his property has been sold to a family who will build up to four houses. There will be another driveway cut between the River Hollow development and the Henderson driveway.

OLD BUSINESS

Neighborwoods – Lombardi

Council Member Lombardi reported that we are on track with Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful for the planting of trees on the 26th of January. Neighborwoods will be bringing volunteers with them to help plant the trees. The volunteers will also be recording where the trees are being distributed. The homeowners must have their utilities marked in order for the volunteers to dig. Mayor Salter asked if the path between Berkeley Walk and Berkeley Commons had been accepted for planting. Mr. Lombardi had requested this, but it had been firmly denied.

Logo Trademark – Massaroni

Mayor Salter explained to the citizens present the issue of the use of the City logo.

Council Member Massaroni motioned for Council to authorize him to negotiate with Britt Collins on the buy out of the City logo not to exceed $1600.00. Council Member Lombardi seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Billboard – Carothers

There is no new date for the billboard hearings.

Other

Council Member Massaroni stated that as a result of the Council's concern over the multi-family dwelling issues, he has identified the sections of Ordinance Chapter 41 that apply to this issue. Mr. Massaroni distributed this document and asked Council to discuss this over the course of the next month. The Council can then revisit the entire Ordinance Chapter 41.

Council Member Reynolds stated that she has received photographs and letters from Stu Davidson about Tru-Green.

NEW BUSINESS

AT&T Broadband - Carothers

Mr. Carothers stated that he has prepared a Resolution for the City of Berkeley Lake to authorize the operation of cable services by Media One Colorado Inc. within the City of Berkeley Lake until April 10th 2002 or until such time as the City enters into a new franchise agreement with Media One. There was much discussion and questions were asked of the AT&T representatives present. Mr. Carothers advised that AT&T should go through GMA to write the contract.

Council Member Reynolds motioned to accept the Resolution. Council Member Arakawa seconded the motion. The vote was three in favor. Council Member Massaroni abstained.

Possible New Ordinances – Carothers

Attorney Carothers stated that because of the complicated procedure for preparation of the Adult Entertainment Ordinance, he has postponed action on the Ordinance until the near future. He further stated that he would send out a hard copy of the changes Lilburn has made in regards to their development regulations for concrete pipes. This will give Council an opportunity to look it over for the next meeting.

Other

Council Member Arakawa stated that he would be meeting with Lawrenceville officials on Friday to discuss possible SPLOST swap monies.

Council Member Reynolds requested to amend the agenda for Executive Session to include Personnel Matters.

CITIZENS COMMENTS

Marcie Zielazienski asked if trees could be planted along the streets where there are power lines. Mayor Salter stated that these trees would mostly be planted in neighborhoods with underground utilities. Council Member Massaroni stated that there were trees available to plant that are on the Georgia Power list of safe trees.

COUNCIL MEMBER ARAKAWA MOTIONED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING LAND ACQUISITION AND PERSONNEL MATTERS. COUNCIL MEMBER MASSARONI SECONDED THE MOTION AND APPROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS.

After Executive Session there were no citizens present.

THERE BEING NO FURTHER NEW BUSINESS, COUNCIL MEMBER MASSARONI MOTIONED TO ADJOURN. COUNCIL MEMBER ARAKAWA SECONDED THE MOTION AND APPROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS. THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:25 PM.