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REGULAR
CITY OF DAHLONEGA COUNCIL MEETING
JUNE 12, 2007
CALL TO ORDER:
The Dahlonega City
Council met on June 12, 2007 at City Hall. Council members present
were Sam Norton, Terry Peters, Michael Clemons, Gerald Lord and Bill
Scott. Mayor Gary McCullough called the meeting to order at 6:20
p.m. and opened the meeting with prayer. Mayor McCullough requested
everyone to stand for the Pledge to the American Flag.
PUBLIC
HEARING:
City Attorney Doug
Parks informed the council that Jonquil Retirement Home
representative had cancelled and would like to reschedule for the
July council meeting. Mr. Parks asked for a motion from council to
table this request until July. Terry Peters made a motion to
accept this request. This motion was seconded by Sam Norton and
approved by all members present.
City Attorney Doug
Parks stated the public hearing request was the Village at Crown
Mountain final plat approval. Glen Melvin attended the meeting as
the engineer of record on this project. Tony Anderson, the owner of
the project was not able to attend and ask Mr. Melvin to answer any
questions the council might have. Mr. Melvin informed council that
the framing is being done now and that trusses were going up on two
particular buildings. Doug Parks asked Chris Head for staff
recommendations on this matter. Ms. Head informed council that
staff recommends conditional approval upon receiving as built plans
and testing results. At that time if council approves, staff will
be able to approve the plats. At this time councilman Gerald Lord
expressed his concerns about the almost vertical bank on the north
side of the project. He asked if there was a plan on how the bank
was to be maintained in the future. He has concern that once the
mat starts to deteriate how will dirt be kept in place so the
buildings would be stable. Mr. Melvin informed council that it had
been vegetated and hopes the plants in it will keep it stabilized.
He stated that they would try to come up with some type of planting
that would be unique in holding on this type of slope. City Manager
Bill Lewis asked Mr. Lord if he was asking that this be a
contingency on final plat approval. Mr. Lord stated that he felt
that our city inspector should look at this and make sure that it
can be protected over time. Also eventually this will be turned
over to the homeowners association and Mr. Lord felt that the people
buying the homes should be warned of the possibility that they could
have some expenses due to this issue over time. Mayor McCullough
asked with the noted contingencies for a motion to accept final plat
approval. A motion was made by Michael Clemons to accept seconded
by Sam Norton and approved by all members present.
MINUTE APPROVAL:
A motion was made by
Michael Clemons to approve the minutes of the regular council
meeting held on May 7, 2007. This motion was seconded by Bill Scott
and approved by all members present. A motion was made by Gerald
Lord to approve the minutes of the May 11, 2007 special council
meeting. This motion was seconded by Sam Norton and approved by all
members present. A motion was made by Gerald Lord to approve the
minutes of the May 17, 2007 special council meeting. This motion
was seconded by Bill Scott and approved by all members present. A
motion was made by Sam Norton to approve the May 23, 2007 special
council meeting. This motion was seconded by Gerald Lord and
approved by all members present.
CITIZENS:
City Manager Bill
Lewis informed council that plans have been reviewed for
Shenanigan’s Restaurant outdoor alcohol sales request and all
conditions have been met and recommend approval. Michael Clemons
made a motion to approve outdoor alcohol sales for Shenanigans
Restaurant. The motion was seconded by Sam Norton and approved by
all members present.
City Manager Bill
Lewis asked council if Mr. Charles Mikel, owner of Gabees Restaurant
could address council concerning a Beer and Wine license issue. Mr.
Mikels business is located on the public square and he has been
serving alcohol on the outside porch which is located on the second
level of the building. His alcohol license has not been approved
for outdoor sales. Mr. Mikel stated that he felt that the outside
alcohol sales ordinance did not apply to his business, because of
the location of the porch and the access that is used to enter and
leave the outside porch area. Mayor McCullough stated that he
appreciated Mr. Mikels business and what it brought to our town,
however the alcohol ordinance pertaining to outside sales does apply
to all applicants. Mayor McCullough recommended that Mr. Mikel get
with the city staff and let them direct him in what he needed to do
to comply with the ordinance. City Manager Bill Lewis informed Mr.
Mikel that he and City Attorney Doug Parks will be glad to work with
him on compliance of the ordinance. Mr. Lewis also stated that the
issue was not that you could not access from the porch, but that
there was no control from someone leaving the porch and being able
to move down the hallway with an open container and leave from the
front of the building. Councilman Michael Clemons voiced his
concerns that the city would stop Mr. Mikel from selling alcohol,
before giving him ample time to correct the problem. After further
discussion, Mayor McCullough stated this was not an agenda item,
and this needed to be discussed at another time.
DEPARTMENT
REPORTS:
Mayor McCullough
advised that reports were submitted by the Dahlonega Planning and
Code Enforcement Departments concerning activities of those
departments for the month of May, 2007. Chamber of Commerce staff
gave a report on chamber activities. Council was informed that
there were 924,000 hits to the web site last month, and June has
already received 15 % of Mays total. The preliminary drawings have
been sent of the permanent ice skating rink to the Majic Ice USA.
Staff also informed that there will be fireworks for the Fourth of
July at the High School starting that evening and also there will be
activities on the square all day. The search committee for the new
Chamber Director currently has ten applicants interviewed via phone
by Eric Peterson, with Waverly Partners. The plan is to have
someone in office by August. Mayor McCullough informed the audience
that the USA World News Report has a video on their web site about
Dahlonega. They have listed Dahlonega as one of their top ten
cities to retire. Also in the hard copy of the news report, they
listed a quote by our Mayor Gary McCullough. Susan Newell, Chairman
of the Dahlonega Historical Preservation Commission, advised that
the commission met on May 16, 2007 and approved a sign request with
minor modifications for The Recording Studio, located on North Grove
Street. Also Mountain Falls Property on North Grove Street sign
application was approved. The commission also approved building
alterations to the rear of the General Store. Ms. Newell also
informed that one sign application was tabled.
SECOND
READING ORDINANCE 2007-2:
A motion was made by
Michael Clemons to approve the second reading of Ordinance 2007-2
Retirement Benefits. This would change the vesting period from ten
years to five years. This motion was seconded by Sam Norton and
approved by all members present.
SECOND READING ORDINANCE 2007-3:
A motion was made by
Michael Clemons to approve the second reading of Ordinance 2007-3
Excise Tax for Liquor Sales. This motion was seconded by Bill Scott
and approved by all members present.
CITY
MANAGERS COMMENTS:
City Manager Bill
Lewis asked Downtown Development Authority Director Joel Cordle to
present the recommendation for a TEA Grant Funding Resolution. Mr.
Cordle recommended that this be approved to fund pedestrian
improvements and landscaping beautification activities for
downtown. Mr. Cordle also stated that the University of Georgia is
working on a grant as well and he has been working with officials
there. Together they determined it would be best to put the two
plans together and submit only one application. He felt the city
would a stronger chance to receive funding in a joint application
than each entity submitting one separately. Also he informed the
council that in doing business surveys in the past year that one of
the main comments was in the past Dahlonega has done a good job with
the beautification of the downtown square. Merchants however
expressed that the city needed to extend the street scope
improvements beyond the square area to the edges of the central
business district. The maximum award for the TEA Grant is one
million dollars, so the hopes are to do this project in phases by
streets as funding allows. A motion was made by Gerald Lord to
approve this recommendation. The motion was seconded by Bill Scott
and approved by all members present.
City Manager Bill
Lewis asked the council for approval to complete a Pay and
Classification Study. He informed council the last study that was
completed and implemented was in 2002. He stated that this type of
study should be conducted every four to five years in order to
insure that the organizations pay is both competitive with the
market and that we maintain internal equity between positions. Also
the study will insure that the employees are being fairly paid for
the jobs that they perform. Mr. Lewis informed council that six
firms were asked to submit proposals. Two proposals were submitted
and they were from The Slavin Management at a cost of $19,932 and
the Archer Company at a cost of $14,560. Mr. Lewis recommended that
Archer Company be awarded the contract to conduct the analysis.
Also Archer Company did perform the cities last survey and staff was
satisfied with the work they performed. Councilman Gerald Lord
asked if the survey could be completed before the cities budget
cycle began. Mr. Lewis stated this was a requirement we would ask
for, and if its not possible we will estimate the results of the
study based on what is completed as of that date. Terry Peters
asked if this survey would also include the total compensation
package, including benefits or salary only. After further
discussion, Mr. Lewis stated that we had not included this in the
survey, however we could do the analysis of the compensation package
in house. If we included this in Archers scope of work, there
would be a concern if the work could be finished before the budget
cycle. Mr. Lewis will consult with Archer about this possibility
and inform council at a later time. A motion was made by Michael
Clemons to approve this recommendation. The motion was seconded by
Sam Norton and approved by all members present.
MAYORS
COMMENTS:
Mayor Gary
McCullough informed the citizens that the City has succeeded in
buying the McKinney Funeral Home, which includes the building and 2
½ acres. The cities plans are to preserve the house and restore it
to its original foundation for a new City Hall. Citizens asked the
cost of the property and were informed the city paid $427,000.00.
Mayor McCullough told citizens he hoped everyone agreed with their
decision, at that time there was a round of applause from the
audience. Mayor Gary McCullough asked City Manager Bill Lewis if he
would please inform council of city employee, Michael Patterson’s
condition. Mr. Lewis stated that Michael has had a health problem
for some time with blood clots. He recently passed out and was
taken to the hospital to find he had blood clots mainly all over his
body. He spent several weeks in the hospital and was released to go
home last week, but will still be immobile for at least 2-3 more
months. This has put a financial burden on him and his family. The
city employees have given contributions to help. Mr. Lewis stated
the family would appreciate your concern and prayers during this
time.
CITY
ATTORNEY COMMENTS:
City Attorney Doug
Parks recommended that the Indigent Defense Service Agreement that
was discussed in the work session be approved. A motion was made by
Michael Clemons to approve the recommendation. The motion was
seconded by Gerald Lord and approved by all members present.
City Attorney Doug
Parks recommended that council not entertain an application for
signage other than the regular ordinance of 32 square feet. He
asked that this be in place for a minimum of 60 days or until
adoption of the new signage regulations. A motion was made by Sam
Norton to accept this recommendation. The motion was seconded by
Bill Scott and approved by all members present.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Citizens commended
Michael Clemons for his council position on certain issues. There
were also comments from citizens that they would like to see more
leniencies on the Beer & Wine Ordinance.
ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by
Gerald Lord to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Michael Clemons
and approved by all members present.
APPROVED BY ME THIS
_____________________DAY OF________________2007.
MAYOR
Attest: CITY CLERK |
