CITY OF BERKELEY LAKE
4040 BERKELEY LAKE ROAD
BERKELEY LAKE, GA 30096-3016
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 13, 1999
Those in attendance for the Public Hearing/City Council meeting were as follows:
Mayor – Marguerite Cooke
Council Members: Anthony Arakawa, Kelly Goff, Tom Kitchens, Sherwin Levinson, Sherry Ruys
City Attorney – Dick Carothers
Public Works Director – Bob Flaherty
Zoning Enforcement Officer – Stanley Kelly
City Clerk - Anne Mayton
City Treasurer – Marcie Zielazienski
CITIZENS PRESENT: 15
The City Council meeting was brought to order by the Mayor, Marguerite Cooke, at 4043 S. Berkeley Lake Road at 7:15 p.m.
The invocation was presented by Dr. Theresa Sipe of 537 Lakeshore Drive.
Refreshments were provided by Councilman Arakawa.
CITIZENS COMMENTS:
Jane Hardwick, 779 Lakeview Lane
Mrs. Hardwick called the Council’s attention to her memorandum that she gave out requesting a rollback on the millage rates. She pleaded that if we go to one garbage service that the Council not add these fees to our property taxes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Goff made a motion that we approve the Minutes as submitted; Mr. Kitchens seconded and the vote was unanimous.
APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL REPORT
Mayor Cooke noted that our total licensing and permits fees income is over budget already, unfortunately our City Attorney’s fees, the Office Expenses and the utilities are over budget.
Mr. Goff pointed out that where the report prints out "4 months" it is really "6 months."
Mr. Levinson made a motion that we approve the Financial Report as submitted; Mr. Goff seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mayor Cooke confirmed with Mrs. Mayton that all Councilmembers had received and approved all monthly reports.
Let the record show that all reports have been acknowledged or approved as submitted.
Mrs. Ruys announced that she had opened the Playground/City Park temporarily for the weekend and will close it again on Monday when construction begins again.
Mayor Cooke had a comment regarding Mr. Kitchens’ Report of the Emergency Management Committee Steering Committee Meeting held at the County. It seems that the County needs a list of all the Berkeley Lake resources. Mrs. Cooke wondered if we should contact the various departments in the City and ask what they think we need.
Mr. Kitchens announced that he was planning to schedule another meeting of the Emergency Management Committee; but that he wants to put out a survey asking what resources our citizens might privately own.
Mr. Goff said that he had made a price check and that it would cost approximately $2,000 to equip the City Hall with the things that we need in case of a disaster such as a small generator and other necessities for an emergency situation. The cost is not excessive and I think we should make certain that those funds are available.
Mr. Kitchens said that he had the list that he and Mr. Goff had made.
Mrs. Cooke commented that there might be a problem with the storage space at City Hall.
GWMA MEETING
Mr. Arakawa attended the meeting, which was held last night, May 12, 1999. He submitted minutes of the meeting.
Mrs. Cooke asked if we had gotten a copy of the April GwMA meeting. Mrs. Ruys replied that there had been no April meeting of the GwMA as there had been instead a combined district meeting of the Georgia Municipal Association.
MUNICIPAL GARBAGE COLLECTION PROPOSAL - ARAKAWA
Mr. Arakawa said that he was hoping to have a revised proposal tonight regarding the solid waste collection proposal but after consultation with the City Attorney and then contacting the three largest collection firms in this area, it seems they need more time to put together a bid.
Mayor Cooke asked if we could postpone the Solid Waste Proposal until next month. Mr. Arakawa agreed.
LAW ENFORCEMENT TASK COMMITTEE - ARAKAWA
Mr. Arakawa said that he had been in contact with Chief Belcher of the Duluth City Police Force and he is going to help construct specifications for a pilot program that closely monitors the needs that we have and understands the budget constraints.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Mr. Kitchens announced that he has met with the City of Duluth. They have made arrangements with another company to have the same kind of sirens that we are planning to have. Mrs. Ruys and Mr. Goff asked about the City’s acquiring weather radios. But, Mr. Kitchens said that he would get more information on weather radios at the next County level Emergency Management Steering Committee meeting.
HOMEOWNER’S ADVISORY BOARD QUARTERLY MEETING
Mayor Cooke announced that the quarterly meeting of the Homeowner’s Advisory Board Meeting will be held this coming Saturday at 9:15 a.m.
Before leaving the discussion of Committee Reports, Mr. Arakawa had a question for Mr. Flaherty. Should we finalize the tree restoration that was mentioned in your report into a committee of some sort? A lot of people are interested.
Mayor Cooke said that she would bring that up under New Business.
OLD BUSINESS
LAND ACQUISITION SURVEY APPROVAL
Dr. Sipe has taken the comments of the City Council as well as the last survey and written some neutral statements to be used in our new survey.
However, Dr. Sipe doesn’t think the survey is ready to be mailed out as it needs to be tweaked a little and she requests Mr. Goff’s input on the financial part of the survey.
Mr. Goff stated that the Financial Committee voted unanimously to make several changes and he handed Dr. Sipe these proposed changes.
Mayor Cooke agreed that the Council deferred to the Financial Committee for the numerical information. Much discussion followed. Mr. Arakawa suggested the Council met in a special session with Dr. Sipe to work out the details on the survey.
Mr. Levinson made a suggestion that we postpone further discussion on the survey or a decision until the next Council meeting and that a working session of the Council be held on May 20 at 7 p.m. in the City Hall.
EFFLUENT LINE - DR. BERNIE COHEN
Dr. Cohen explained that the County is building a sewage plant to accommodate the Mall of Georgia. This plant must be on line a year from August. It will initially handle 20 million gallons of sewage and ultimately handle 60 million gallons. The plans are to move the sewage through a pipeline from that plant to another plant where the County has a permit to dump the sewage into the creek and from there to the Chattahoochee.
For some reason it was decided to run this line down Buford Highway up to about N. Berkeley Lake Road and then across to the City side of Peachtree Industrial Blvd. The entire pipeline will go up along the roadway except in Berkeley Lake. There are two major ravines in the area that the pipeline is to go through consisting of about 1,000 feet of roadway. The bottom of each of these ravines is the influxes from the area of the upper basin where vast portions of the runoff comes and at the bottom of these ravines are the major wetlands that are left for the Lake.
Running that line through will do two things, if it is taken down below, (1) it will destroy the wetlands and (2) dump silt in my pond and the Lake. The problem is the destruction of the wetlands. Once you lose them, you cannot get them back. During drought periods, this area (the wetland area) that feeds the Lake all the other area dry up. It is absolutely essential to have some water flowing into the Lake. The reason that the County gives for not putting this pipeline up on top at this point is for the safety of the public and the only reason they have given is that it will cost $22,000 to replace the guardrail. This whole project is costing in excess of $20 million The County must have this pipeline done on time because if they don’t they will have to use trucks to move this sewage and the cost is prohibitive to do this. So, action taken to stop the County or to slow the County down to the point where it would cost them money would get the County to move the pipeline to the top (edge of roadway)
Dr. Cohen said that he thinks it would be more favorable to the City and the Lake if that could be done. History has it that when citizens complain, the County does not respond, but when the City complains the County and the State listens and adjusts their plans.
It would be advisable for the City to look at this very carefully. There are a number of ways to address the County and encourage them to proceed in another direction and for the County to convince the State DOT that disturbing the wetlands is not the wisest thing to do.
Much discussion followed among the Council members. Mr. Kitchens pointed out that this is a State Department of Transportation project and part of their concern is that should they decide to widen Peachtree Industrial Blvd., they will not want to pave over a sewer line. Mr. Goff pointed out that the minimum working area for this type of construction is 50 feet. Mr. Kitchens added that we would not be able to replant trees in this area and would therefore have a noise problem. And, Dr. Cohen remarked that silt would be another problem.
Mrs. Ruys brought up the fact that there are also wetlands at Berkeley Commons and wondered if this pipeline would also destroy these wetlands.
Mr. Arakawa asked if there was any legal structure in place to protect the wetlands?
Dr. Cohen replied that he has hired an attorney.
Mayor Cooke asked Dr. Cohen if he had a request of the Council?
Dr. Cohen said that he would like for the Council to actively participate and let the County know that they disapprove of this sewage pipeline.
Mr. Levinson said that he thinks this should be brought up in Executive Session.
Mr. Arakawa asked Mr. Flaherty for his comments?
Mr. Flaherty: Piping under the shoulder of the road would wipe out a lane of traffic.
Dr. Cohen stated that the pipeline is already under South Berkeley Lake Road at PIB.
Liz Branstead, 350 Lakeshore Drive
President, Berkeley Lake Homeowners Association
Mrs. Branstead announced that she is seeking support for Dr. Cohen in working on the Effluent Line. This project will damage the watershed and destroy all the creeks running into the Lake. We must protect our City’s environment. The result of a lack of forestation will result in a noise problem.
The State will also use this effluent line to build two more lanes of traffic.
Mrs. Branstead stated that we have had enough damage from the loss of trees resulting from the Tornado. Our property values are important to us, our lifestyle is important to us, and our environment is important to us. We, the Berkeley Lake Homeowners Association, ask that the City take a strong stance on this issue.
Erosion Control Plan Review Process
(see the Director of Roads & Public Works report)
The Roads and Public Works report in which the Director refers to the possibility of having the City have the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission approve all land disturbances for over 1.1 acres or within 200 feet of any overland watershed.
Mr. Kitchens stated that he would like to get Mr. Flaherty’s comments other than what he has read in the report.
Mr. Flaherty replied that the State has mandated this Soil Conservation District to give approval under the Clean Water Act. The Commission is giving us the opportunity to review our own plans as an issuing body. In order to do this, we need full time people on staff who will need to be trained in constantly changing practices and materials, etc. I notice now that all the Counties require phasing erosion control plan. There are least three different phases throughout the construction of erosion plan
Mayor Cooke: This pertains only to parcels of land over 1.1 acres. The City may still approve erosion control plans for smaller parcels of land under our Erosion Control Ordinance which we are enforcing. Mr. Hegner’s property, River Hollow, has already been approved by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commision. The only other large parcel that will be developed in the City is the Henderson property. Given that we have only one or two large parcels (maybe more) left in the City to be developed, I believe this would be the most practical thing to do to have the State take care of approving the erosion control plans for these properties.
Mrs. Ruys moved to have the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission review and approve erosion control plans for any land disturbance over 1.1 acres or within 200 feet of any overland water ways in Berkeley Lake. Mr. Levinson seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Levinson asked Mr. Carothers if we should make this an Ordinance. Mr. Carothers said not an ordinance just a resolution.
Ordinance Enforcement Officer Job Description
Mayor Cooke noted that Mr. Kitchens and his Committee are recommending that this job description take effect in January, 2000.
Mr. Kitchens: Before we got through the three (3) step process we found that the City needs someone to issue citations,
Mr. Kitchens made a motion that we accept the job description of the Ordinance Enforcement Officer to become effective January, 2000, Mr. Levinson seconded.
Mr. Levinson proposed an amendment to the job description. The last item on page 1 of the Ordinance Enforcement Officer’s job description. He believes that the amount should come from the Planning and Zoning Commission and suggested that we substitute the word "Draft" for the word "Recommendation." Mr. Goff seconded this amendment to Mr. Kitchens’ motion and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Kelly, Zoning Enforcement Officer, was asked if he had any comments. He had none, but he did request a copy of the document.
Mrs. Ruys made a motion that we take a ten-minute break. Mr. Levinson seconded and the vote was unanimous.
NEW BUSINESS
City Emergency Supplies Storage
Mayor Cooke said that she thinks that we will need storage and other things as well as for emergency supplies. Mayor Cooke has ordered an emergency supply kit, which was recommended by Frank Daniel of Gwinnett County. Mr. Levinson has purchased a lantern and Mr. Goff has suggested that we acquire a generator.
Mrs. Zielazienski stated that she has 20 more file boxes that are to be stored in the City Hall as well as Christmas decorations which need to be stored in City Hall. Mrs. Zielazienski said that she never anticipated using the closet in the City Hall building for emergency supplies or for any other supplies which could contain material which should not be stored in a close closet like that one.
Mayor Cooke said that she had asked Mr. Goff to bring this subject up at the Financial Affairs Committee meeting in regard to the availability of funds.
Mr. Goff said that because of Mayor Cooke’s request, he had inspected the City Hall intensely and thinks we have sufficient space to house these supplies as well as the 20 boxes of files. He thinks we should spend the money to acquire these necessary emergency supplies.
Mrs. Zielazienski stated that she was concerned about being able to easily get to all the files when the need arises.
Mr. Arakawa: Perhaps next Thursday at our Special Session we might take a few moments and investigate the space at City Hall.
Mrs. Zielazienski, Mr. Kitchens, and Mr. Goff discussed the possibility of a generator and its requirements of gasoline and the methods of storing such flameable material.
Mayor Cooke asked Mrs. Ruys to be on the Committee to look into storage for the Emergency Supplies.
SunTrust Corporation Resolution
Mayor Cooke explained that this is requirement of the SunTrust Bank as part of their process of setting up on-line banking for the City. This will enable us to receive our monthly statements earlier and will enable the Financial Affairs Committee to meet the week before the Council meeting and therefore submit their minutes with the other reports due the Monday before the Council Meeting.
Mr. Levinson made a motion that the City adopt the Corporate Resolution; Mrs. Ruys seconded and the vote was unanimous.
City/County Effluent Line Contract
Mr. Carothers explained that this is a basic contract for an intergovernmental agreement. He asked that the Council take another look at this agreement and give him any additional comments that you might have. He would like to find out how the settable solids in the siltation will be taken out. I need your comments as quickly as possible.
Mrs. Ruys asked if Mr. Carothers had received her comments. Mr. Carothers replied that he had but had not received comments from the other members of the Council.
Mayor: Do we have a motion to adopt this intergovernmental agreement so that we can discuss it further?
Mr. Goff made a motion so that we could discuss this intergovernmental agreement. Mr. Levinson seconded. (there was no vote)
Mr. Arakawa asked if, taking Dr. Cohen’s discussion earlier, there is anyway, legally, that we can incorporate watershed protection into this agreement?
Mr. Carothers replied that we can certainly include that language. We may want to hold off on this pending discussion with the County.
Mayor Cooke stated that she thought Item No. 2 of the agreement should be more specific regarding what is going to happen regarding monitoring and Item No. 3 there should be regular checks of specific places and of course you would need a baseline to determine if settleble solids have indeed built up.
Mr. Carothers replied that he thinks this would be the County’s responsibility.
Mayor Cooke asked what would the County do about removing sediment from streams and ponds between PIB and Berkeley Lake?
Mr. Levinson: Made a motion to postpone discussion of this issue until after the Executive Session. Mrs. Ruys seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Codes Revision Committee Recommendations - Levinson
Mr. Levinson moved that we repeal Code Sec 101 sub paragraph 3
Mr. Carothers stated that for all of these codes that need to be repealed there needs to be discussion. In order to repeal a code section, we will have to pass an ordinance. He would anticipate that we will have four or five ordinances for the next meeting to be put on First Read and then Second Read at the next meeting and so on.
Mr. Levinson asked if we could do this in a more informal way, say perhaps without a motion on the table?
Mr. Carothers answered yes.
Mr. Levinson explained that Code 101 Sub Paragraph 3 was made obsolete when we passed the new code regarding the budget and the fiscal year. It is, therefore, a conflict and the code section dealing with the new fiscal year specifies change of timing of tax payments as well as penalties and should supersede this section. For the sake of clarity, Mr. Levinson said that we should specifically repeal this code section. Mr. Goff and Mrs. Ruys agreed.
Section 4-103 & 4-104 go together. It is Mr. Levinson’s understanding that the Occupation Tax and the Gross Receipts Tax have never been collected or enforced in the nearly two decades since they were passed. Mr. Levinson stated that he disagreed with having either of these taxes but he strongly disagreed with having anything on the books that was not collected or enforced. As far as the occupation tax, Mr. Levinson stated that he does not agree with taxing a few specific occupations with no benefits to those being taxed and no specific purpose for the tax. He also stated that he had a problem with there being a $500 fine for failing to register. He suggested that the City publicize the existence of this tax and grant the citizens amnesty and give people a chance to register without paying a penalty and without paying back taxes.
Mrs. Ruys remarked that she would like to see it re-written as a City Business License rather than a tax.
Mr. Levinson stated that that idea was not viable because zoning does not permit operation of a business in a residential area.
Mrs. Ruys, Mr. Goff, Mr. Levinson and Mr. Carothers had a discussion about businesses in homes.
Mr. Carothers said that we need to look to see if we want to do away with these two ordinances until such time when there are businesses in the City or just to simplify them, which we could do. We need to decide if we are going to enforce them or not, and if we are not going to enforce them, why have them?
Mr. Levinson stated that we need the advice of the City Attorney on that. That ordinance is just plain wrong as passed. It refers to Code sections that don’t exist. It was a transcription error in transcribing the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission into an ordinance and the code sections addressed in paragraphs B, H, & I are just plain incorrect. Where they begin with 39-14 they should begin with 39-13.
Mr. Carothers deferred this question to his office manager, Jennifer (who was visiting) and asked her if they had not determined that these codes had been corrected. Jennifer replied that such corrections had been made.
Mr. Levinson stated that the official City Code book kept by the City Clerk does not reflect that situation.
Mayor Cooke asked if we could make a motion to put these items on First Read?
Mr. Carothers replied that he would be more comfortable to actually put a written document on to repeal—the Gross Receipts Tax and the Occupation Tax—since we are not referencing these taxes in any way, he would prefer to have this in writing. He promised to bring this up at the next Council meeting.
Mr. Levinson stated that he will try to have a few codes at every City Council meeting that need to be revised or deleted.
Mr. Levinson stated that Chapter 4, Article 2 which is the new budget ordinance. The Council just replaced the whole thing and it looks fine to him.
Mrs. Ruys: When this is over will we get a clean copy and be able to throw everything else out?
Mr. Levinson: The goal is to put it all on CD that can also be put online on the City’s website. That would make life much easier for Mr. Carother’s office the City Clerk.
Mr. Goff appreciated all the good work that Mr. Levinson and his committee had done.
Three Step Ordinance Enforcement Process
Mr. Kitchens explained that his committee, the Ordinance Enforcement Committee, has produced a proposal, which the committee believes is a better way to enforce the ordinances of our City. The intent is to design a system that is fair to all citizens. There is an addition attached explaining all ordinances that apply.
Mr. Kitchens made a motion that we adopt this Three-Step Process to be put on First Read. Mr. Levinson seconded.
Mayor Cooke said that she had just spoken with Mr. Carothers and he agreed this should be an ordinance and she suggested calling it the Enforcement Procedures Ordinance.
Mr. Carothers said that this should be an ordinance, therefore the motion should be to put this ordinance on First Read as submitted.
Mr. Kitchens made the motion that we make this Three-Step Process into an ordinance called the Enforcement Procedures Ordinance and put it on First Read at the next Council meeting. Mr. Levinson seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Arakawa asked Mr. Carothers if that would fit as Section 3-800?
Mr. Carothers said that he would look at that before the next meeting.
Mayor Cooke wondered if, under Step 3, the wording should be that a "citation should be issued and delivered by a police officer employed by the City as opposed to a Gwinnett County Police Officer?
Mr. Arakawa made a motion to amend to strike the wording "Gwinnett County Police officer" and change it to "police officer" employed by the City. Mr. Levinson seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mayor Cooke thanked Mr. Kitchens and his committee for the good job that they had done.
OTHER NEW BUSINESS
Fire Alarms and Fire Systems Seminar
Mr. Goff stated that he would like the Zoning Enforcement Officer to attend the seminar on special fire alarms and fire systems provided by the Georgia Electrical Licensing Board. This seminar is on May 22 and will cost only $35.
Mayor Cooke stated that this is a good idea. She acknowledged that she had asked the Financial Affairs Committee to add an education fund to the budget.
Signage for City Park
Mrs. Ruys reminded Mayor Cooke that she had promised to check with Parks and Recreation to determine if we could make a sign for our park. And Mr. Carothers was going to check into ‘Light Pollution.’
Mayor Cooke reported that she had spoken with Norcross, Duluth, Lilburn, and Suwanee. Norcross has an age requirement for special use but not for using the park. Duluth has no official policy regarding age restrictions. Lilburn has a restriction for children under 10 who must be accompanied by an adult. Suwanee has no official restriction but recommended that an adult be present with very young children.
Mr. Goff said that he would like to make a motion that we put a sign up that the City will not allow children under 10 who are not accompanied by an adult.
Mrs. Ruys countered that the problem we had been having had been with older children who had been at the park alone.
Mr. Carothers remarked that he and his partner, Mr. Mitchell, had researched this and found that it is currently prohibitive to restrict older children. The only way to restrict use of the park is if children are so young as to need protection for their own safety.
Much discussion ensued among Mrs. Cooke, Mr. Goff, and Mrs. Ruys regarding and ordinance and signage for the Park.
Light Pollution
Mr. Carothers said that neither he nor Mr. Mitchell, his partner had been able to find anything on the books in the State of Georgia such as an ambient light ordinance or a light pollution ordinance. Mr. Mitchell found a law on the books in a Virginia town but it did not regulate the residential lighting. There is some way to regulate non-residential lighting but not if it is outside the City.
Mrs. Ruys asked how do we regulate noise pollution?
Mr. Carothers replied that it would have to be in violation of the County ordinance or we can’t do anything about that.
Greenspace Restoration
Mr. Arakawa stated that we were hoping to take advantage of the Summer and formalize a committee to be able to help on an ongoing basis.
Mr. Flaherty announced that he was open for suggestions as well. Mr. Levinson recommended using the local Boy Scouts.
Mayor Cooke asked for someone on Council to take over responsibility for this committee.
Mr. Kitchens volunteered.
Tree City, USA
Mrs. Ruys said that she had spoken with Dale Higdon and if we want to be designated as a Tree City we need to get on with this process. So we need a committee for this project as well.
Mayor Cooke asked about the committee that was assigned the task of researching the possibility of becoming a Tree City? Mrs. Ruys replied that we still need a committee and Chet McQuaide has said he doesn’t have time to be the chairman although he is willing to be on the committee. We need to do this right away one way or the other, because Dale Higdon will help us in any way that he can.
Mayor Cooke stated that she thought the Greenspace Restoration Committee could incorporate this into their committee as well.
Mr. Flaherty stated that he would like to do head up this committee as he is already familiar with some of the aspects required.
Much discussion followed by Mrs. Ruys, Mr. Levinson, Mayor Cooke, Mr. Flaherty, Mr. Goff and Mrs. Zielazienski, Mr. Kitchens, Mr. Arakawa.
Mr. Levinson motioned for the Council to go into Executive Session for the purposes of discussing personnel matters, land acquisition and potential litigation. Mr. Kitchens seconded and the vote for approval of the motion was unanimous.
After the Executive Session, the City Council Meeting was resumed. No citizens were present.
Mayor Cooke announced that we are going to postpone the Effluent Line contract until a later date.
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, MR. LEVINSON MOTIONED FOR ADJOURNMENT. MR. GOFF SECONDED, AND THE VOTE FOR APROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS. THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 10 AT 7:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne T. Mayton
City Clerk
