City Council Minutes April 3, 2017 Regular Session

(Revised 12/28/2017)

MEMBERS PRESENT: Jerry D. Roseberry, Mayor; and Councilmembers: Sarah Davis; George Holt; David Eady; Melvin Baker; Jim Windham. Councilmember Mike Ready was not present for this meeting.

OTHERS PRESENT: Bob Schwartz, City Manager; David Strickland, City Attorney; Chief Dave Harvey,

Lauran Willis, City Clerk; Jody Reid, Utility Superintendent; Hoyt & LaTrelle Oliver, Nita Carson, Art & Laurie Vinson, Erik Oliver, Kendra Mayfield, Toby & Dawn Malcolm, Tod Cain, Jeff Wearing, Mary Carter, Don Henderson, James Waddey, Warren Christian.     

The meeting was called to order by the Hon. Jerry D. Roseberry, Mayor and the invocation given by Hoyt Oliver.

Pledge of Allegiance:

A motion was made by Windham, seconded by Baker to accept the Agenda for April 3, 2017 Mayor and Council Regular Meeting.  The motion was approve 6/0.   Attachment A

Honorary Councilmember
Mayor Roseberry announced Todd Cain as the Honorary Councilmember for April appointed by Councilmember Jim Windham. Mayor Roseberry presented him with a Proclamation as appreciation for his participation.

Attachment B

 
Consent Agenda
               a. Motion to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 6, 2017.
               b. Motion to approve the Minutes of the Work Session March 20, 2017.
               c. Motion to accept the Minutes of the Planning Commission for February 14, 2017.
Majority vote adopted.   Attachment C

PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS/PETITIONS

None.

CITIZENS COMMENTS/CONCERNS

Toby Malcolm of 110 Wentworth Drive addressed Council regarding the recent rash of break-ins to the cars in the Wentworth Subdivision.  Malcolm asked why the city does not provide 24 hour coverage. 

Warren Christian of 55 Wentworth Drive asked if they could have cameras put in the subdivision. 

Mayor Roseberry said we do not provide 24 hour coverage, and due to the resignation of one officer and illness of another officer, only two officers were available for duty for the past few weeks.  He also added that it has been difficult trying to hire officers. Roseberry said in regard to cameras that the home owners can place cameras in or around their homes.

LaTrelle Oliver of 312 W. Clark Street said she wanted to thank Officer Michele McClung for her quick response regarding the woods fire on Saturday night.

Erik Oliver of 402 W. Clark Street said the fire was set at an old campsite that had been there for years. He said obviously the person using the site left embers burning that later caught fire and spread.  Oliver said that Forest and Laura McCanless were the first on site to douse the fire and he assisted.  Oliver ask that Council do what they can to deter future use of the site.

MAYOR’S REPORT

Mayor Roseberry announced the following:

=         Mansfield has suffered much property damage from a tornado that hit there today, but no one was hurt and Oxford has offered its support with equipment and labor as needed.

=         Roseberry thanked Hoyt Oliver, Loren Roberts, J P Godfrey and Anderson Wright for their good work on the SPLOST 2017.

=         Roseberry said that the city now owns all parcels in the Asbury Street Park.

=         GDOT has begun work on the highway 81 and highway 142 interchange with the intent to direct more traffic to I-20 via highway 142.

=         Oxford Police report for month of April.
       Due to resignation and illness, only two officers were available for duty.
       We had 72 traffic violations citations and 24 warnings issued with 7 arrests and 11 zoning complaints
       which resulted in 8-15 day notice being issued.        Attachment D

City Manager Bob Schwartz passed out a list of the members who are serving on the Downtown Development Authority and announced there will be a training on April 22, 2017 from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm., for those interested in attending.

Mayor Roseberry made the additional announcements:

=         2017 is an election year.  The election is in November for the Councilmembers for Posts 4, 5, and 6.  Qualifying is Monday, August 21st through Friday, August 25th.

=         AARP will hold a safe driving class on April 13, 2017 starting at 9:00 am in the City Hall community room. For AARP members the cost is $15.00 for non-members $20.00. The six hour class may help lower your automobile insurance rate. Bring a lunch.

=         The Oxford Lions Club will host the annual luncheon for Mayor, Council and all employees on Thursday May 4^th from 12:00 - 1:00 at City Hall. 

Tree, Park, and Recreation Board

City Manager Bob Schwartz said the seven member Tree Board has two vacancies. The Tree Board recommends Mayor Roseberry appoint and City Council approve adding two new members: Laura McCanless, Wesley Street, and Sallie Robinson, Wentworth Drive.  Schwartz made the recommendation for a motion to appoint these two people to the Tree, Park and Recreation Board. Mayor Roseberry made the appointments. 

A motion was made by Eady, seconded by Windham to approve the appointments of Laura McCanless and Sallie Robinson to the Tree, Park and Recreation Board. The motion was approved 6/0. 

Zoning Text Amendment
The Planning Commission recommended amending the zoning ordinance concerning the future development plan required of Oxford College. 

A motion was made by Holt, seconded by Davis to approve the ordinance to amend the code of the City of Oxford, Chapter 40, Article II, Division II, Institutional Campus District, by amending section 40-349 “Future Development Plan Requirements” and Section 30-350 “Institutional Campus Future Development Plan Procedures” of the City of Oxford zoning ordinance. The motion was approved 6/0.  Attachment E

Employee Health Insurance Package
City Manager Schwartz said we recommend a change in the employee benefit package by going to a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan that lowers the deductible from $1,500 to $500. We recommend the city continue to pay 95% of the individual premium and start to pay 70% of the employee-spouse, employee-child, and employee-family plan. The current plan with Humana renews May 1^st, so we recommend a motion approving this change. The total potential additional cost to the city is about $53,000 annually.  The broker looked at several different plans. He reviewed 18 separate plans, based on employee population, lower deductibles from $1,500 to $500. It was decided that the city will pay 70% of an employee spouse family plan.  (Revised 12/28/2017)

A motion was made by Holt, seconded by Eady to add an additional $53,000 to the budget for cost of insurance and to switch to the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, with the city paying 70% of the employee spouse family plan and continue to pay 95% of the individual premium for employees.  The motion was approved 6/0.     Note: these minutes have been revised 12/28/2017 based on the meeting recording April 3, 2017 Mayor and Council Regular Session.

Invoice Approval

INVOICES OVER $1,000.00

A motion was made by Holt, seconded by Windham to approve payment of the invoices.  The motion was approved 6/0.

Executive Session
At 7:28 pm Mayor Roseberry announced we will have a 5 minute break and then go into an executive session.

A motion was made by Windham, seconded by Holt to go into an executive session at 7:34 pm.  The motion was approved 6/0.  

A motion was made by Windham, seconded by Holt to leave the executive session and return to the regular session at 8:06 pm. The motion was approved 6/0.

A motion was made by Windham, seconded by Holt to have a Special Called Meeting on April 6, @ 6:00 pm. The motion was approved 6/0.
A motion was made by Windham, seconded by Eady to adjourn the Regular Session meeting at 8:15 pm. The motion was approved 6/0.  

Respectfully submitted,