Those in attendance for the Council Meeting were as follows:
Mayor: Lois Salter
Council Members:
Walter Anderson, Bernie Cohen, Debbie Guthrie, Tom Kitchens and George Sipe
City Clerk- Jackie Wall
City Attorney- Dick Carothers
Citizens Present- 6
               
CALL TO ORDER
Salter opened the meeting at 7:30 pm at 4043 South Berkeley Lake Road.

Public Hearing
There were no citizen comments regarding the millage rate.

APPROVAL OF OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA
Sipe asked Council for approval of the addition of one item to the agenda and council agreed.

Street Smarts
Anderson introduced Marsha Anderson Bomar, the president and owner of 'Street Smarts'. He said he had known her for a long time, as they had once been married, but he clarified for the record that he had no financial interest in her company.  He said she had been invited to talk to Council regarding the road safety issues that had been discussed at the Town Hall meetings.

Bomar said that she had worked with the City in the late 90's about concerns that had arisen then. She acknowledged that both the city and surrounding areas had grown since. She noted that the issues were created by both residents and those that pass through the City. She said that there were different methods that could be used to identify the nature of traffic issues using data collection, education and training. She said it was possible to separate the issues into distinct areas depending on whom they were created by. She gave some examples of how stop signs do not always solve problems but can also create them.  She described a proposal that would describe solutions to address the issues but not put citizens in harm’s way. She described newer techniques that could be employed to slow down traffic on winding roads like Lakeshore Drive. She offered to put together a menu of solutions. She said it was important to take them in steps and to address the problems as they are in each area. She said she could propose some cost effective solutions with a menu of possible data collection techniques, and give an indication of problems at each location. She said that bicycle and pedestrian traffic also needed to be taken into consideration. She said their proposal could describe these tasks and the budgets associated with them, and that it was possible for council to approve one task at a time. She also suggested that data collection may be better once school is back in session.

It was noted that there should be consideration given to any traffic problems in the subdivisions, and that homeowners associations could be questioned about that.

Bomar said that costs would depend on the type, location, and frequency of data collection. She also noted that 'Street Smarts' already has a good working relationship with the County, and therefore any recommendations regarding Berkeley Lake Road could be passed on to them.

There was a consensus that 'Street Smarts' should put together a menu of suggestions with individual budgets for Council to consider.

MINUTES
Guthrie motioned that the minutes of the meeting of June 5th 2006 be accepted. Kitchens seconded the motion.  All were in favor of the motion. The motion passed.

Reports
Salter noted that Council had received a report from both the Police and the Public works committee.

Randy Kirkus (Chair of the Public Works Committees) said that the committee was recommending that the majority of the current public works budget should be spent on solving the current storm water issues and not on re-paving as had been previously identified. He acknowledged that there may be some areas in the city that may need some patching, and that they should be identified and repaired as needed. He said that those areas should be noted and requested by the Home Owners Associations.  

Salter said that she would also ask Chattahoochee Landscaping to quote for costs for clearing the right of way further, and also for cleaning the signs on the right of way as requested by the committee. There was a consensus from Council that Salter should investigate the associated costs of the committee’s recommendations.

Financial statements
 May_06_Balance.pdf
 May_06_Detail.pdf
 May_06_Summary.pdf

Kitchens motioned to accept the un-audited financial statements for May 2006. Guthrie seconded the motion.

In discussion, Anderson asked that the title on the financial statements be changed to note in the future that they were un-audited. The clerk agreed to do that.

Anderson, Cohen, Guthrie, and Kitchens voted in favor of the motion. Sipe abstained as he said he had not seen the statements. The motion passed.

MAYORS MESSAGE
Salter submitted a written report which said:
“Almost a year ago I attended a workshop on emergency management and heard about a pilot program being developed at Ga. Tech with homeland security funds.  It was designed to develop new communications technology and procedures for use in emergencies.  I approached the speakers afterwards and asked that our city be given priority consideration as one of the pilots for this project.  I was told that my request would be granted.  I received a letter sometime later explaining that we had been chosen and would be contacted with further details at a future date.  When I heard nothing for quite a while, I recently contacted the gentleman at Ga. Tech to ask what happened.  He assured me that we were still on the list and that some unforeseen difficulties had slowed them down, but that we would be hearing from them soon.

As you know, we are currently inspecting our city playground regularly for problems that might need attention.  Some maintenance and repair problems were recently identified.   I’m happy to announce that our councilman Tom Kitchens repaired the playground for us at no cost to the city.  Similarly, Randy Kirkus is doing some repair work, which was suggested by the Safe Dams people, at no cost to the city.  I want to publicly thank them both for contributing their time and materials. 

Don’t forget the Chapel’s Fun Run at 8 AM this Saturday followed by the BLOKES auto show at 11 AM.   There will be food and music so come out and enjoy your neighbors.  I also want to remind everyone about our Fabulous Fourth activities coming up.  Our Events Committee ladies have worked hard to prepare a great day for us on Tuesday, July 4 and we thank them for that, and for ordering the 50th anniversary banners that are now up.  Hopefully all our council members will sign up tonight if they haven’t already for a serving shift on July 4th, as requested by the committee’.

Salter also noted that the City Auditor would be in attendance at the next council meeting in July, and asked if Council would like to submit any questions about the audit to her or to the clerk in writing no later than July 1st.

Salter also said it had been the recommendation of the finance committee to put out a request for proposal for auditors this year, and she asked council if they would still like to do that. She asked for them to consider the matter and to respond at the July 20th council meeting.

Salter noted that both she and the clerk would be attending the Georgia Municipal Association Conference in Savannah from 23-27th June, (and Guthrie would therefore be acting as Mayor pro tem).

OLD BUSINESS
Millage rate discussion
The clerk noted that there had been several statements made at the last council meeting that she felt needed clarifying and therefore she had provided to council a summary of  them. She noted that in 2005, Berkeley Lake's millage rate fell in the middle of all cities in Gwinnett County in terms of everyone else's millage rates. Buford was not noted as it has a separate school system. She also pointed out the expected increase in property taxes based on the new homes in River District.

Sipe noted that our millage rate was unusually high compared to other nearby larger cities as it included a large portion towards the bond payment. He asked the clerk to investigate what the rate would be without the burden of the bond payment.

Guthrie noted the comments regarding the 2005 budget and commented that there could be a surplus of approximately $230,000 in last year’s budget.

O- 06-37g Ch 38 Greenspace Ordinance O-06-35g_Ch_38_Greenspace.pdf
Guthrie motioned to adopt the final version G of the Greenspace Ordinance. Sipe seconded the motion and all were in favor.  The motion passed.

Mailbox
Sipe said that he had further contact with a representative from John Linder's office regarding adding a mail drop box outside City Hall. He noted that he had been told there would be one delivered by the next day, and that the box would be there for a test period of ninety days to see if it is used enough to warrant keeping it there.

It was suggested that everyone spread the word to get it used as much as possible in this time frame.

NEW BUSINESS
BLHA use of logo
Salter asked Council to ratify BLHA's use of the 50th anniversary logo on T Shirts for sale at the July 4th celebration if they sign the trademark agreement. It was clarified that the shirts would be for sale to anyone in the city.  There was a consensus of council that this should be the case.

O-38-06 Ch 22 Buffers, Landscape and Trees re Permit expiration
 O-38-06-Ch-22-Tree-permit-expiration.pdf
Kitchens motioned to put the Buffer and Landscape tree permit extension ordinance on first read. Anderson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.

Arrangements for Urban Collage meetings
There was much discussion about how many and who should attend the initial 'kick-off' meeting with Eric Bosman of Urban Collage. The meeting was meant to describe the process and set dates for future meetings, and it was suggested that 'city leaders' should attend. It would be an open meeting held at the chapel. There were concerns about the number of people who be invited and that the number should not be too high to make it an effective meeting.

Citizen Comment: Marylin Childress- 4363 S. Berkeley Lake Rd.
Childress said that she felt that there should be a separation between church and state, and Chapel should not be invited to attend the meeting. 

Carothers was asked whether this was an issue, and he said it was not a legal problem.

There were three possible dates suggested for the meeting for Urban Collage: Thursday August 24th, Wednesday August 23rd, and Thursday September 7th at 7 pm.

It was also agreed that Salter should be the only point of contact for Urban Collage.

Sipe motioned that Council, the City Clerk, a representative of each of the Home Owners Associations, a facilities committee member and a representative of BLOSOMS and Chapel should attend the kick off meeting. Guthrie seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.

THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, KICTHENS MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:47 PM. SIPE SECONDED THE MOTION, AND ALL WERE IN FAVOR. THE MOTION PASSED.

Respectfully submitted by Jackie Wall. Approved by Council on July 20th 2006