CITY OF BERKELEY LAKE

4040 BERKELEY LAKE ROAD

BERKELEY LAKE, GEORGIA 30096

PUBLIC HEARING/COUNCIL MEETING

Full Minutes for

March 20th, 2003

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

Mayor – Lois Salter

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

City Attorney-Richard Carothers

City Clerk-Claire Grimes

Public Works – Marcie Zielazienski

BLEMA-Tom Kitchens

Citizens Present 5

CALL TO ORDER

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

VARIANCE DENIAL APPEAL HEARINGS

PIB & Associates – Based on the fact that PIB and Associates have not notified the City of a need for continuance for two Council meetings, Council Member Massaroni motioned to deny the appeal. Council Member Lombardi seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Lowell Holliday- 4285 Dove Point

Mr. Holliday presented his appeal to the Council to allow him to retain a previously constructed fence he built within a 60-foot no-disturb buffer zone. The Planning and Zoning Commission had previously denied the request because the variance would require changes to the plat. There was much discussion and Council asked many questions of City Attorney Carothers.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to postpone consideration until investigation can be undertaken to ascertain whether or not maintaining this particular section of the Buffer Zone is appropriate given the fact that other fences existed already along the Non-Disturb Buffer from the Lakeshore Drive side of the Buffer Zone. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion. Council Member Lombardi motioned to amend the motion to limit the time frame of the postponement to 90 days. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous. The approval of the motion to postpone consideration was unanimous as amended.

CITIZENS' COMMENTS

Tom Kitchens reported that he has met with the Gwinnett County Water and Sewer authority and they have approved moving forward to the County Commissioners. Frank Stevens with the County stated that completion of the sewer in front of the Chapel and City Hall could be as late as November.

MINUTES

Council Member Reynolds motioned to accept the Minutes as filed. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Council Member Lombardi motioned that the Council Retreat Minutes be accepted as amended. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

FINANCIAL REPORT

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

STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mayor Salter announced that she has received the following reports: BLEMA and OEO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS

The Mayor announced that there would be a Council Working Session on April 2nd at 7:00 PM at City Hall.

OLD BUSINESS

Berkeley Lake Conservancy Exploration

Council Member Reynolds commended Julie Stuart for her hard work in helping provide information in preparation of the documents, which will be mailed to citizens in the near future, and the Reflections article recently published and mailed. Ms. Reynolds also suggested that the date for the Town Hall Meeting be postponed in order for Council to have more time to prepare. There was much discussion about a new date for the meeting.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to reschedule the Town Hall meeting to the weekend of May 3rd or 4th either Saturday or Sunday depending on the availability of the GOLT people. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

After the motion, the time for the meeting was set for 10:00AM on May 3rd or 3:00PM on May 4th. The Council Working Session date was postponed to April 24th at 7:00PM.

City Manager Job Description 2nd Read

Council Member Steventon motioned to place the City Manager Job Description on 2nd Read and adopt. There was no second to the motion.

Council Member Steventon reminded Council that the City Manager job description was undertaken by himself and Council Member Lombardi in order to clean up the language and make the job more specific in its qualifications. It is the same Ordinance that was passed in March 2001. There was much discussion and many questions were asked. The City Attorney stated that as long as the Mayor and Council determine that they want to delegate these functions to a City Manager they can do that provided that they understand that they are simply delegating powers of the Mayor. It is up to the Mayor to determine whether or not she wants to delegate these powers. Council is delegating powers to the City Manager but that does not mean that she is without those powers. Council Member Lombardi stated that this was what was agreed to before and it was not a problem.

Council Member Covington motioned to table the motion and for the Mayor and the City Attorney to revise the Ordinance and bring suggested changes to Council at the April Council meeting. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Ordinance Chapter 17, Septic Systems – Steventon

Council Member Steventon motioned to adopt the Ordinance Chapter 17. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion. There was much discussion.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to amend the original motion to include that Claire verify that all the streets with homes with septic tanks are on the table included in the Ordinance. Council Member Lombardi seconded the motion and approval of the amendment to the original motion was unanimous.

City Hall Planning Update

Council Member Massaroni presented the drawings of the New City Hall. The drawing suggestions made by Marcie Zielazienski were discussed. Council Member Massaroni asked that Council get back to him with questions and comments on the drawings as quickly as possible so that Mike Penny can make the changes, hopefully, in time for consideration at the next Council meeting.

Public Works Projects

Marcie Zielazienski asked Council for approval for drainage contractors to investigate the mosquito infested drainage area at 527 Lakeshore. The drain under the road in that area is not functioning properly. There was much discussion and many questions were asked about the area. Ms. Zielazienski also reported that she has sent a request for pricing to Ragsdale Construction for repairs and street maintenance in Berkeley Commons, Berkeley Walk and Miramont. She has also contacted the LARP engineers to advise on repairs and paving of the end of Lakeshore not paved last year.

Council Member Covington motioned to authorize the expenditure of up to $5,000 dollars for the investigation into the drainage area. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Home Occupation Ordinance 2nd Read

Council directed many questions to P&Z Chairman George Sipe. There was much discussion and suggested changes to the Ordinance.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to return the Ordinance to the P&Z to make suggested and other changes. Council Member Lombardi seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Ordinance Revision re Motorized Vehicles in Greenspace, 2nd read – Carothers

Council Member Covington motioned to accept the Ordinance revision re Motorized Vehicles in the Greenspace. Council Member Reynolds seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Other

Council Member Massaroni stated that the two detention ponds between 650 and 718 Lakeshore Drive will be cleaned out by the Miramont Homeowners Assoc. during the week of April 26th; the Association would like the City to provide for pick-up of the trash. Council agreed and Waste Industries will be called to make this extra pick-up.

NEW BUSINESS

Property Maintenance Ordinance, 1st Read

Council Member Massaroni discussed some of the suggested changes to the Ordinance; he will be making the red-lined corrections in the next two weeks and asked that suggested changes be sent to him soon.

Council Member Massaroni motioned to place the Property Maintenance Ordinance on 1st Read. Council Member Covington seconded the motion and approval was unanimous.

Annual Roadside Maintenance Contract – Zielazienski

Marcie Zielazienski presented the spreadsheet and her assessment and recommendation from the bids received for the Roadside Maintenance Contract. Her recommendation was, based on previous experience of a good job performance record, to award the entire contract to Chattahoochee Landscapes. Council asked many questions.

Council Member Reynolds motioned to accept the recommendation made by the Public Works Director. Council Member Massaroni seconded the motion and approval was four Council Members approval. Council Member Steventon abstained.

Earth Day Plans – Steventon

Council Member Steventon stated that he would like to have volunteers to help.

Calling Post

There was much discussion about the previous stipulations placed on the use of Calling Post, which were to only make calls if there is a clear and present danger. The Mayor suggested that Calling Post could be used as a community-building tool to announce up- coming important events as well as other important information. There was much discussion about why some people have not received the previous calls. Tom Kitchens stated that in most cases the telephone numbers were dialed correctly; they just went to the wrong person. Council Member Reynolds stated that citizens need to continue to be reminded to update their phone numbers and email information through the website and regular announcements in Reflections. Council agreed.

July 4th Fun Run

Theresa Sipe stated that the newly formed Berkeley Lake Track Club would be presenting the First Annual Fun Run. This event will be open to all citizens to promote fitness and health in the community. The event will benefit the Lake Berkeley Chapel. Ms. Sipe asked for Council's support to close the roads for the event. There was much discussion and many questions were asked. Council Member Reynolds suggested reallocating the normal hours for the Police officers to cover the roads during the time of the event. The date for the event was also discussed and will be announced at a later date.

Council Member Reynolds motioned to reallocate some police resources to close the roads for the Berkeley Lake Track Club Fun Run on a date to be announced later. Council Member Covington seconded the motion. Four Council Members approved. Council Member Lombardi voted against the motion.

Other

Council Member Reynolds asked Council to upload all future documents to the website in html format so that all citizens will be able to retrieve the information.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

George Sipe 401 Lakeshore Drive- George announced that Juan Armendariz, a former valued member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, passed away about three weeks ago. Condolences go to Juan's wife and family.

COUNCIL MEMBER MASSARONI MOTIONED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING POTENTIAL LITIGATION. COUNCIL MEMBER REYNOLDS 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 REYNOLDS SECONDED THE MOTION AND APPROVAL WAS UNANIMOUS. THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:45 PM.