City Council Minutes November 20, 2017 Work Session

OTHERS PRESENT: Matt Pepper, Assistant City Manager; Dave Harvey, Chief; Lauran Willis, City Clerk; Jody Reid, Utility Superintendent; Hoyt & LaTrelle Oliver, Kendra Mayfield, Teresa & Darryl Welch, Robert Bayless, Louise Eady, Peggy Madden, Juanita Carson, Cheryl Ready, Terry Smith, Jeff Wearing, Officer Daniel Ward.

Agenda – Attachment A

The meeting was called to order by the Hon. Jerry D. Roseberry, Mayor

Mayors Announcements:

Mayor Roseberry presented a letter to Chief Harvey and the police department from Rust Chapel Church thanking them for helping with their Fall Festival.
Roseberry presented an article from the Covington News by Darryl Welch “Does Low pay affect safety?”  

Parking on Pierce and Whatcoat Streets
Item was tabled.  

Emory Street Sewer Project
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper presented a map and discussed the layout of the sewer line project rerouting around the Jackson property. Matt will inform Mr. Jackson of council’s decision to decline his proposal.
Attachment B

Police Department
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper presented a memo and research from Chief Harvey for discussion of departmental changes within the police department.  Mayor Roseberry proposed we cut back to 3 officers and transfer those salaries to increase those on force.  Councilmember Holt will work with Matt and Lauran to work out the details. This item will be put on the December meeting.  Attachment C

Joint Meeting with the Downtown Development Authority

Mayor Roseberry said we will expect 2017 Census documents sometime in February or March. We need to have a joint meeting with the DDA to discuss future development in order to identify and assign addresses for all potential properties to be included on the census.

Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper will coordinate a joint meeting with the DDA and Council.

Planning Commission
Mayor Roseberry said we some vacancies on the Planning Commission. This item was moved to the executive session for further discussion.

Moore Street Sidewalk Project
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper presented discussion on moving the sidewalk to the south side of Moore Street. Matt will consult with the city engineer to obtain various options and cost.  Attachment D

Code Enforcement Contractor
Mayor Roseberry said we have discussed in previous meetings the possibility of contracting out the city’s code enforcement services.  Matt Pepper presented a workup of cost figures and his discussion with the city managers for Social Circle and Newborn regarding their code enforcement contracts.  Eady asked Matt to obtain at least one more proposal. Mayor Roseberry said we will vote on this at the December meeting.
Attachment E

Weight Limit Signage
At the request of Councilmember Windham, Chief Harvey presented research regarding streets where the weight limit signs are missing and some were signs are on the left and not on the right.  Chief Harvey will work on getting signs placed where needed and at the proper distance from the intersections where they are visible.
Attachment F

Honorary Councilmember of the Month
After discussion all council were in favor of keeping the Honorary Councilmember program. Roseberry suggested we do away with the lunch and keep the department orientations.  Eady said we need to find a way to follow up and engage the honorary councilmembers and said we need to engage the College students as they are a vital part of the community.

Latham Home Sanitation, Inc. Contract
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper presented a notice from Latham Home Sanitation informing the council they will be increasing their monthly rates.  After discussion of other concerns it was determined that we need to put the Sanitation service out for bid.  Matt will work on the bid proposals for council to approve and present at the December work session.  Attachment G

MEAG Power Sale of Excess Reserve
Mayor Roseberry said we have received the letter agreement between the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (“MEAG Power”), between the City of Sandersville, Georgia and the City of Oxford. Roseberry asked for a motion to authorize MEAG to purchase the Sale Amount of Excess Reserve Capacity by Oxford at $2.00 per kW-year (the “Contract Price).   Attachment H

Motion by Ready, seconded by Baker to authorize Mayor to sign agreement to purchase the Sale amount of excess reserve capacity by Oxford at $2:00 per kW-year. Motion Passed 7/0.

Executive Session
Motion by Eady, seconded by Ready to go into Executive at 7:07 pm. Motion passed 7/0.

Old Business:
Council discussed Real Estate matters. 

New Business:
Council discussed Personnel matters.

Motion by Ready, seconded by Eady to leave Executive Session at 7:35 pm. Motion passed 7/0.

There being no further business.
Motion by Ready, seconded by Davis to adjourn at 7:35 pm. Motion passed 7/0.

Respectfully Submitted;