MEMBERS PRESENT: Jerry
D. Roseberry, Mayor; and Councilmembers: George Holt; Jim Windham; David Eady;
Mike Ready; Sarah Davis, and Melvin Baker.
OTHERS PRESENT: Matt
Pepper, Assistant City Manager; Dave Harvey, Chief; Lauran Willis, City Clerk;
Jody Reid, Utility Superintendent; Hoyt Oliver, Kendra Mayfield, James Johnson,
Teresa Welch, Judy Greer, Peggy Madden, Cheryl Ready, Jeff Wearing, Mike Besaw.
Agenda – Attachment A
The meeting was called to order by the Hon. Jerry D.
Roseberry, Mayor
Mayors Announcements:
Mayor Roseberry said the January regular session will be
moved to January 8th and the work session will be moved to January
22, 2018 due to the holidays.
East Georgia Correctional Services
City Clerk Lauran Willis said our 5 year contract with East Georgia
Correctional Services is up for renewal. This company handles our probation
cases for the Municipal Court at no cost to the city. There was no objections in renewing the
contract for another 5 years.
Attachment B
Pierce Street Corridor Re-design
Kendra Mayfield with Oxford College presented a diagram
of the proposed Pierce Street Corridor re-design depicting the proposed parking
area on Pierce Street and removing the formerly proposed roundabout. After
discussion Council requested a schematic showing the Monument area for more
review. Kendra will bring a new schematic to the January 8, 2018 meeting for
review. Attachment C
Asbury Street
Parking
Kendra Mayfield also presented a re-design of the parking
behind Allen Memorial Church on the Asbury Street side depicting 8 parking
spaces behind the church and 15 spaces on the opposite side to extend up to the
George Street park area. Eady said he
would still like to entertain the idea of a survey to re-aligning Asbury Street
to have it on a straight angle from Pierce to Clark. He said this would increase the possibility
of additional parking and green space. Roseberry said that this may be
something we can do in the future.
Windham requested a revised sketch which shows only the parking area in
discussion on Asbury Street and not to include the areas which council has
already reviewed and turned down on the Whatcoat Street side. Kendra said they
can produce a new sketch depicting only that area. Roseberry said this will be on the January
meeting for a vote. Attachment D
Police
Department
Councilmember Holt said that he along with Matt and Chief Harvey have
been reviewing the possibility of reducing the department to 3 officers. Holt
said it has been unclear of what the actual focus or direction council wants to
take. He said we need to determine how
we want to structure it, if we want to go with 3 officers with more pay or if
we want to stay with 4 officers and if so we need to research the pay to be
competitive. Mayor Roseberry said we
have money in 2017 SPLOST that will cover any new police vehicles and equipment
for the next 5 years. Eady asked Chief
Harvey to check with the College Campus regarding a memorandum of understanding
of what they can are willing to assist with within the legal guidelines of
enforcement. Holt said they will
continue their research and bring back to council more information at the next
meeting.
Code
Enforcement Contractor
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper presented to council a revised RFP
which includes a statement of qualifications. After review and discussion all
members were in favor of moving forward with the RFP. Attachment E Draft
Intergovernmental
Agreement between the DDA and City Council
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper said the DDA has asked
that Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the IGA be revised before Council officially
adopts the agreement. They requested a
diagram that shows the full extent of the transfer of land. Mayor Roseberry said we need to add a clause
that states that once they sale a property the funds come back to the
City. Attorney Strickland said the IGA
should describe each project. He suggested either doing a global design or doing
a piece by piece. After further discussion
Roseberry asked Attorney Strickland to meet with Frank Turner to work out the
details. Windham requested they make the DDA aware and to consider a request
from Mike Besaw to buy a portion of property for a driveway. Attachment F Draft
DDA Funding Request
Assistant City Manager Matt Pepper said at their last meeting, the DDA
made a motion to request that Council increase their budget allocation from
$30,000 to $50,000 to cover the total costs of preparing E. Clark Street for
future development. After discussion all
members were in agreement to raise the funds to the $50,000.
Latham Home Sanitation, Inc. Contract
Councilmember Holt requested that council continue discussions on the
city’s current sanitation contract with Latham Home Sanitation prior to placing
bids. After discussion it was agreed that Holt will talk with Latham regarding
our current contract and bring back to council in January. Attachment G
Adjourn
The regular session was adjourned at 7:00 PM.
Executive
Session
Motion by Ready, seconded by Eady to go into Executive at 7:03 pm. Motion
passed 7/0.
New Business:
Council discussed Personnel matters.
Motion by Ready,
seconded by Eady to leave Executive Session at 7:10 pm. Motion passed 7/0.
There being no further business.
Motion by Eady, seconded by Davis to adjourn at 7:10 pm. Motion passed 7/0.
Respectfully Submitted;
Lauran Willis, CMC/FOA
City Clerk