CITY OF BERKELEY LAKE

4040 BERKELEY LAKE ROAD

BERKELEY LAKE, GEORGIA 30096

PUBLIC HEARING/COUNCIL MEETING

Full Minutes for

November 21, 2002

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

Mayor – Lois Salter

Council Members: Frank Lombardi, Ken Massaroni, Delicia Reynolds, and David Steventon

Richard Carothers – City Attorney

Claire Grimes – City Clerk

Tom Kitchens – BLEMA

Citizens Present 5

CALL TO ORDER

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

PUBLIC HEARING

The 2003 Budget. There were no Citizens’ comments.

CITIZENS’ COMMENTS

Tom Kitchens reported that the dam had recently been inspected. Georgia Safe Dams require the following corrections: The clearing of the underbrush on the west side of the dam is still not complete. The clearing needs to be taken almost to Emily Dennison’s property. Until this takes place, they cannot thoroughly inspect the dam. The erosion of the shoreline is sufficient enough that they are recommending that we implement the same solution we started a few years ago. This solution involved placing riprap along the front edge of the dam where the water line meets the dam level with an under liner that will prevent weed growth through the riprap. This solution was estimated to cost the City about $32,000 a few years ago. On the other side of the road on the right-of-way, there are toe drains from the plume on the dam side of the road. This area needs to be cleaned out so that the area can be inspected.

WORKING SESSION

Topics discussed during the Council Working Session include the following: City Hall security issues, commercial activities permitted in a residential area, candidates for the Arbitration Board, candidates for the vacant Council position and the timing of the Planning and Zoning appointments.

MINUTES

Council Member Massaroni motioned to approve the October Minutes as amended to correct the spelling of Massaroni under Financial Report on page 2. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Council Member Reynolds moved to accept the Financial Report as filed. Council Member Lombardi 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 Police.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS

The Mayor announced that the Homeowners’ Association Presidents meeting was held on Saturday November 16th and those present voted to change future meetings from every three months to every four months. The suggestions were as follows: To put tops on all the street signs in the City that would say “City of Berkeley Lake”. This is done in other nice areas and looks very good. Council agreed that this project is worth exploration.

The Mayor reported that Clay Keller, who is the President of the Miramont Homeowners’ Assoc., reported that the homeowners in Miramont have been informed through their community newsletter that they are not to remove the fence along Ridge Road. The fence will not come down unless it is decided that it needs repair by the Miramont ARC.

The Mayor announced that the drainage problem between 73 and 75 Lakeshore Drive has now been fixed. This is very gratifying, as this area was a major cause for mosquitoes. The corrections to the roads and sinkholes in the Miramont subdivision are also being addressed and are nearly complete thanks to the efforts of Marcie Zielazienski. Council Member Massaroni agreed that the citizens in Miramont were very pleased with a job well done in the subdivision. Mr. Massaroni suggested that the company the City used to make these corrections be considered for future projects throughout the City. The Mayor also announced that the Ridge Road project has been placed on hold because the County plans to dig up that area and place larger water pipes along the road. We are grateful for that and will be working with the County time-line in order to allow them to finish the digging before we do the much needed drainage work.

The Mayor also announced that she has gotten a letter from John Linder, which states that we will not be getting our own Zip Code.

The Mayor also announced that she has heard from Ben Nash who is the owner of the Capital Commons project. He welcomes any dialog in regards to the purchase of office space for a City Hall and the possibility of annexation of the area into the City of Berkeley Lake.

Council Member Massaroni stated that pursuant to section 3-203 of the City Ordinances, he motions the appointment of Betty Covington to fill the term of Council Member Arakawa until the next regularly scheduled election. Council Member Steventon seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to approve the Mayor’s appointment of Bill Crawley to the Arbitration Board. Council Member Steventon seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

OLD BUSINESS

Policy on use of City Logo

Council Member Massaroni stated that he has forwarded to the City Attorney his comments on the policy and has made a number of suggestions as to how the policy can be augmented by including the possibility of using an exhibit for the accepted proper use. Also, a suggestion as to a form license agreement that a participant must sign. He stated that he would like the City Attorney’s input on these suggestions and then move forward with the final policy at the next meeting.

City Manager

Council Member Lombardi stated that he and Council Member Steventon are continuing to tighten up the actual job description for the position and will have a report by the next Council meeting.

Ordinance Chapter 17, 2nd Read

Council Member Steventon reported that there are already State guidelines in place for the certification of septic contractors; therefore, the City cannot have additional guidelines for certification. If the City places certain restrictions on the type of inspection that needs to take place and if the contractor cannot provide those services, then it will become self-limiting. Council Member Steventon also suggested that there be some type of staggered dates of the deadline for inspections to take place. This time frame could be similar to the staggered dates for license plates. This would allow the most popular and efficient contractors to have time to complete one section of homes by the deadline and then move on to the next group with the next deadline. These deadlines will be widely published in both a newsletter and possibly a mailing. There was much discussion.

Staggered Terms for P&Z

Council Member Massaroni reported that there are currently five members of the P&Z that have been appointed to five-year terms. Skip Johnson was appointed in 2001 and that seat will be up for reappointment in 2006. Juan Armendariz was appointed in 2002 and that seat will be reappointed in 2007. George Sipe is up for reappointment in 2003. The seat Bob Herb occupies will come up for reappointment in 2004. The seat David Hanson occupies will come up for reappointment in 2005. Each of these five gentlemen was appointed for five-year terms notwithstanding the fact that our ordinance section 3-701B calls for a three-year term.

Council Member Massaroni motioned that the City leave each of these individuals on the current five-year term and when that term ends and comes up for reappointment the Mayor and Council will reappoint that seat to a three year term. The result of that would be, for example, seat number three, George Sipe, will come up for reappointment in 2003 and then again in 2006. That will coincide with seat number one, Skip Johnson, who was appointed in 2001 and according to a five year term will come up for reappointment in 2006. Seat number four, Bob Herb, would be reappointed in 2004 and then again in 2007, which would coincide with seat number two, Juan Armendariz seat, which will come available for reappointment in 2007. Seats one and three will be on the same three-year stagger and seats two and four would be together on a different three-year stagger and seat five would be by itself on a third three-year stagger. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Annexation of Ferrier property

Attorney Carothers explained that the P&Z must recommend the annexation of the Ferrier property. The P&Z will hear the case this week. The Public Hearing and Council vote will be advertised to take place at the next Council meeting.

Miramont Backup Generator and Fence

Council Member Massaroni reported that he has spoken with the County representative for the Miramont pump station generator. The address for the generator is 877 Lakeshore Drive. It is pump station #3085 and the County representatives know it well. The pump station has a gas fired electric generator that automatically kicks on when there is an interruption in power. It also has a telephone link back to the control station so that if there is ever a problem it automatically calls the station. This function is similar to the home security systems that call the police when there is a problem. The backup system automatically starts every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM and runs for ten minutes as a test. If everything does not work properly, the system will then call the control station. The representatives visit and check the pump station no less frequently than every two weeks.

City Hall Planning Update

Council Member Massaroni reported that he has met with Mike Penny and he is quite confident that a new building could be built at the site of the current location of City Hall. It would tie in very nicely with the proposed sidewalk and would make a very nice tie-in with the City Park. He is in the process now of putting out some pins to show where the building would fit in relationship to the existing building. He suggests that the building be turned so the front entrance would be from the park as opposed to entering the building from the parking lot. The cost would probably be less because there would be so much less site preparation in comparison to the other proposed site.

The County sewer system will be a reality within the next year and the new City Hall will be able to tap into it from either the Bush Road side or the Berkeley Lake Road side. The Chapel will also be able to tap into the sewer, which is good news for the Chapel. There will be at least three months of construction along Berkeley Lake Road and Bayway Circle. There will be a lot of inconvenience with road closures and detours. The suggestion has been made that we work with the County to coordinate the construction of the sidewalks to come after the placement of the sewer lines.

An alternate suggestion made by a citizen was that we rent office space. Council Member Massaroni stated that he has contacted Ben Nash who is the president of the Nash Land Co. and the developer of the Capitol Commons project. He has sent an e-mail stating that the cost of office space there would be $130 a square foot. He is very interested in Berkeley Lake having a City Hall in the Capital Commons complex and offered that they would like to be annexed by the City of Berkeley Lake because having a Berkeley Lake address would be positive for his business. He has sent an informational brochure and is waiting for us to contact him for a visit to the property. Mr. Massaroni cautioned that while this option is worth exploring, we should keep in mind that the City Hall would be just one suite in a large building. The Mayor stated that annexation would be positive even if we do not have a City Hall there. Council suggested a visit to the property.

Budget 2nd Read

Council Member Reynolds motioned to accept the 2003 Budget. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

NEW BUSINESS

Resolution re: City/County Inspection Agreement

Council Member Steventon stated that he would still like to see the undefined terms to this agreement clarified. City Attorney Carothers suggested that Council read the agreement and send suggested changes to him after Thanksgiving so that he can present the changes to the agreement to the County before the next Council meeting.

Building Permit Revision – Steventon

Council Member Steventon stated that he still needs an answer as to how the OEO responsibilities work in tandem with the County. The Mayor asked Mr. Steventon to e-mail some specific questions for Charlie to answer and she will get his responses.

Arbor Day Proclamation – Lombardi

Council Member Lombardi motioned to proclaim February 21st 2003 as Arbor Day for the City of Berkeley Lake. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Sidewalks

After much discussion and explanation by Council Member Lombardi and Marcie Zielazienski, Council Member Lombardi motioned to approve up to $4,000.00 for the sidewalk connecting Berkeley Walk and the elementary school. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Marcie Zielazienski then explained that there is still $38,000 left in these matching funds offered by the County for sidewalks in the City. We need to have a need identified by December 15th in order to apply for this money. There was much discussion. It was suggested that Marcie look into whether these matching funds could be used for repair of sidewalks in some of the subdivisions.

Amendments to Gwinnett co. Development Reg’s and Floodplain Mgt. Ord.s, 1st Read

Council member Reynolds motioned to place the Amendments on 1st read. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Other

The Mayor stated that she has received a letter from a citizen in Berkeley Walk asking the City to consider burying the power lines on North and South Berkeley Lake Roads. The Mayor stated that she has told the citizen that this would cost too much money and the citizen has replied by saying that they feel so strongly about it that they are willing to petition the newer subdivisions to agree to Berkeley Lake Road lines being buried. There was much discussion. Council agreed that if the citizen wants to begin the research to find out the cost that Council would be interested in the findings.

Council Member Steventon suggested that as long as the roads are going to be torn up for the sewer lines and traffic will have to be diverted for a time, it might be a good time to experiment with a new traffic flow in the dam area in order to determine future possibilities. The Mayor asked if Mr. Steventon would take on that project. Mr. Steventon agreed.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Tom Kitchens asked about the status of the billboard issue. The Mayor stated that there is supposed to be a decision in Federal Court in about five months and there has been a motion for Summary Judgement filed, which would get the decision the quickest way. Tom reminded Council that the City will need about $32,000 to fix the dam and in addition, the brush removal and fixing the toe drains will put the estimate in the neighborhood of $36,000 to $38,000 thousand dollars to make the whole thing happen. We need to plan for that money; we will be getting a formal statement from the State in four to six weeks. Tom also asked if the appointment of Bill Crawley to the Arbitration Board was to replace Ray Dunlap. The Mayor answered in the affirmative.

THERE BEING NO FURTHER NEW BUSINESS, COUNCIL MEMBER REYNOLDS MOTIONED TO ADJOURN. COUNCIL MEMBER MASSARONI SECONDED THE MOTION. THE COUNCIL MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:05 PM.