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02-03-14 February 3, 2014 Mayor and Council MinutesMonday, February 3, 2014 2. 3. A. =11 City of Smyrna Meeting Minutes - Final City Council 7:30 PM Roll Call 2800 King Street Smyrna, Georgia 30080 Council Chambers Present: 7 - Mayor pro tem /Councilmember Melleny Pritchett, Councilmember Andrea Blustein, Councilmember Teri Anulewicz, Councilmember Charles Welch, Councilmember Susan Wilkinson, Councilmember Wade Lnenicka and Councilmember Ron Fennel Also Present: 7 - Eric Taylor, Dan Campbell, Scott Cochran, Terri Graham, Lisa Moore, Chelsea Jackson and Tammi Saddler Jones Call to Order Mayor Max Bacon called the Mayor and Council meeting to order at 7:30. Invocation and Pledge: Mayor Max Bacon called on Pastor John Hurst, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Smyrna, Georgia to deliver the Invocation and to lead all in the Pledge of Allegiance. Agenda Changes: Mayor Bacon stated there were no agenda changes. Mayoral Report: Mayor Max Bacon thanked the citizens of Smyrna, the city staff, public works, and public safety for helping in the snow storm January 28th - January 31st. He thanked the community and businesses for helping people who were stranded in the storm. He believes that Smyrna did a great job in the situation and the city will assess its response and improve on it. Proclamation in Recognition of Black History Month Councilmember Andrea Blustein calls on the Ms. Betty Williams from Ward 3 and her daughter, Ms. Lisa Castleberry from Ward 2 to accept the Proclamation for Black History Month. Performance by The Spiritual Aires in honor of Black History Month Mayor Bacon calls the Spiritual Aires from Mount Zion Baptist Church to perform in honor of Black History Month. They performed two songs. The Mayor calls candidate Ann Harris to come forward. Ms. Harris is a Smyrna City of Smyrna Page 1 Printed on 21712014 City Council Meeting Minutes - Draft February 3, 2014 resident and a current Senior Assistant District Attorney for the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. She is running for the open seat of Cobb County Superior Court Judge Bodiford, who is retiring. The election will be held May 20, 2014. 4. Land Issues /Zonings /Annexations: There were no Land Issues /Zonings or Annexations. 5. Privilege Licenses: There were no Privlege Licenses. 6. Formal business: A. Approval of modification to the Defined Benefit Plan regarding retirement benefit for elected officials The Mayor asked City Administrator Eric Taylor for the background. He states when the 2010 Defined Benefit Plan was implemented, it excluded any official who was elected on or after April 1, 2010. For consistency and equality between elected officials, it is recommended to modify the plan to include current and future elected officials into the 1999 retirement plan, which was in effect between July 1, 1999 and April 1, 2010. Staff recommends approval. Councilmember Wade Lnenicka states this will be a plan where councilmembers will contribute to their retirement and believes this is an equitable modification. Councilmember Teri Anulewicz believes that there is not equity among the councilmembers as there are some members who are on the retirement plan that was in effect prior to the 1999 plan. A motion was made by Councilmember Wade Lnenicka to move approval of item 2014 -02 for modification to the Defined Benefit Plan regarding retirement benefits for elected officials, second by Councilmember Andrea Blustein. Motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Mayor pro tem /Councilmember Pritchett, Councilmember Blustein, Councilmember Welch, Councilmember Wilkinson, Councilmember Lnenicka and Councilmember Fennel Nay: 1 - CouncilmemberAnulewicz 7. Commercial Building Permits: There were no Commercial Buildling Permits. 8. Consent Agenda: Eric Taylor read the aloud the Consent Agenda. A motion was made by Councilmember Ron Fennel to approve the Consent City orsmyma Page 2 Printed on 21712014 City Council Meeting Minutes - Draft February 3, 2014 Agenda as read, second by Councilmember Teri Anulewicz. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 7- Mayor pro tem /Councilmember Pritchett, Councilmember Blustein, CouncilmemberAnulewicz, Councilmember Welch, Councilmember Wilkinson, Councilmember Lnenicka and Councilmember Fennel A. Approval of the January 21, 2014 Mayor and Council Meeting Minutes B. Award RFP 14 -018 Pedestrian Bridge Rehabilitation at Argyle Elementary to the lowest bidder Engineered Restorations Inc. for $80,425.00 and authorize the Mayor to execute any related documents. C. Mayor and Council award bid RFP 14 -009 Landscape Maintenance to the lowest bidder Ashford Gardeners Inc for $698,400.00 and authorize the Mayor to execute any related documents. 9. Committee Reports: Mayor Pro Tem /Councilmember Melleny Pritchett expressed her appreciation to the employees that worked so hard during the snow storm. The Visioning Committee is meeting Friday, February 7, 2014 to get the visioning process started and find out how to get people involved. She will have a report from the committee at the next council meeting. Councilmember Andrea Blustein also wanted to express her appreciation to the employees who helped out in the snow storm last week. She believes that the City of Smyrna did alright, but we all learned something in the situation. Councilmember Teri Anulewicz thanked Ms. Betty Williams and Ms. Lisa Castleberry for coming to accept the Black History Month proclamation in person. They both work hard in our community. She also thanked the Spiritual Aires for singing for the council as they are a hometown treasure for the city. Ms. Anulewicz wanted to especially thank the people in the community who helped the city's stranded guests in the Community Center and Fire Department. Smyrna's hospitality was shown to these people in a difficult situation. She says when the message went out that the city needed help with food, snacks, hygiene items, pillows, and blankets, the response was overwhelming. She specifically thanked several Ward 3 neighborhoods, Smyrna Heights and Williams Park, who went above and beyond in their collection and delivery of needed items. CouncilmemberAnulewicz is very excited to begin the visioning process. She has already spoken with some citizens in the Ward 3 community who are eager to begin and that bodes well for the process. Councilmember Charles Welch wanted to thank the staff for their help last week in the snow storm. He was at the Community Center Wednesday morning and was amazed by the number of staff who had been there all night to take care of people who were stranded. They were diplomats for the City of Smyrna. Councilmember Susan Wilkinson echoed the thanks to the staff and City of smyma Page 3 Printed on 21712014 City Council Meeting Minutes - Draft February 3, 2014 community for their work and donations to the Community Center. She notes that because of the weather, the Downton Tea was postponed and is now rescheduled to Friday, February 7th from 2:00 - 2:30pm. On Saturday, February 15th, there will be a movie matinee at the library. They will be showing Disney's "Ruby Bridges" from 2:00 - 4:00pm. Councilmember Wade Lnenicka also thanked the staff and citizens who did so much to help stranded people in our area. Many businesses opened their stores and businesses so that people would have a place to stay warm inside. He thanked all those stores and business owners who helped out a neighbor in need. He also added his thanks to the the Spiritual Aires for singing for the meeting. They are a great role model for this community and a treasure for the city. Sunday, the library sponsored a lecture by Dr. Christine King Farris at the Community Center and it was a great opportunity for people to hear from the sister of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Finally, Mr. Lnenicka wanted to thank Congressman David Scott for allowing Smyrna's Brawner Hall to host the Military Academy Nominations and Award Ceremony. Several students from Campbell High School and Whitefield Academy were recognized. He looks forward to meeting with the Forrest Hills neighborhood this Sunday. Councilmember Ron Fennel called attention the opportunity, during Black History Month, to welcome Dr. King's sister yesterday as it reminds us that a lot of Black History was written in the Metro Atlanta region. At the Military Academy Nomination Ceremony, he was privileged and honored to sit with Dr. C. T. Vivian, who was a founding leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She lives near the Smyrna area and is someone who walked many of the walks with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also thanked the Vinings Estates Homeowners Association for the opportunity to speak at their annual meeting and he thanked the Smyrna Police Department for presenting an update on matters affecting the community. Mr. Fennel has upcoming meetings scheduled with Woodland Walk and the North Cooper Lake area to discuss matters that are important to their community. He also mentioned that Thursday, February 6th, at the Smyrna Business Association, Mike Plant, who is the Executive Vice President of the Atlanta Braves, will speak. Mr. Plant is the gentleman who engineered the deal to bring the Braves to Cobb County. Finally, he wanted to thank Smyrna employees and community for their hard work during the snow storm. City employees, Public Works, Police, and Fire worked together as a team and, in Mr. Fennel's opinion, provided Smyrna with the best response to the situation of any community in the area. 10. Show Cause Hearings: 11. Citizen Input: There were no Show Cause Hearings. Bill Mathis of 1599 Roswell Street, came forward to discuss water and money issues. He states that the water from the four new houses on his street is running down to his property and causing problems. He also claims that Croy Engineering came out to cut hedges to do a survey and they cleared where he asked them not to cut. Councilmember Anulewicz states that she was unaware of the issues and is willing to discuss the matter after the meeting with Mr. Mathis along with the Croy Engineering employees who are present at the meeting. City of Smyme Page 4 Printed on 21712014 City Council 12. Adjournment: Meeting Minutes . Draft February 3, 2014 Alex Backry of 3459 Shawnee Trail has several comments. He discussed the 4% increase in the water bill, which in his calculation, makes a 24.5% increase in the year. He states that he has asked the council members to respond to this increase and why the water department's profit of $1.5 million isn't absorbing some of the increases. He asserts the water department should be a city service, not a profit making department. Secondly, he states a payment of $898,000 in interest is due February 1st on the Hickory Lake property and another interest payment of $473,000 is due August 1st. This puts the property payments at $2.6 million and he wants to know how the city is going to get their money back on this purchase. Thirdly, he is disappointed that some councilmembers voted against their own constituents on the Jonquil Plaza issue when so many people came and stated that they did not want the development. Lastly, he believes that instead of having a Vision Committee, the city should have a Town Hall meeting to to bring in more people to discuss issues. He suggests that the city talk to communities like Hiram, Vinings and Woodstock to find out how they entice people and businesses to come to their cities. Mr. Backry applauded the councilmembers who voted against spending $140,000 on this committee. Mayor Bacon calls forward a member of Boy Scout Troop 22 named Judge who lives in Smyrna. He is here with his dad to earn his communications badge. The meeting of the Mayor and Council was adjourned by Mayor Max Bacon at 8:18 PM. City of Smyrna Page 5 Printed on 21712014 [MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING] A. MAX BACON, MAYOR TERRI GRAHAM, CITY CLERK 4bceuck- M P T IT , WARD 1 ANDREA BLUSTEIN, WARD 2 j 0 044 m EWEN 011111 Kim Lem m... C a'� aA LO n, 1k )9 -" CHARLES A.WELCH, WARD 4 SUSAN WILKINSON, ,D DE •D. RqKFENNEL, WARD 7 ORDINANCE NO. 2014-02 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY OF SMYRNA, GEORGIA, PROVIDING FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF SMYRNA, GEORGIA, OF ARTICLE H, CHAPTER 50 SECTION 35 (h) TO BE AMENDED FOLLOWS: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SMYRNA, GEORGIA: That Section 35 (h) be amended to read as follows: 35. (h) The fire prevention code is amended as follows: Sprinkler Requirements. Use of sprinkler systems in multifamily structures and small commercial buildings All new commercial buildings shall be sprinkled throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system 2. Existing buildings, over 5,000 square feet shall have installed an approved automatic sprinkler system when one or more of the following conditions apply a) Change of occupancy b) Additions to an existing building greater than 50 percent of its original footprint C) An increase in occupant load (capacity). d) As required by other applicable codes 3. All sprinkled commercial buildings that currently have approved sprinkler systems must continue to maintain their systems in accordance with approved sprinkler plan. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or regulations in conflict herewith are repealed as of the effective date of this ordinance. Severability: Should any section of this Ordinance be declared invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole or any part thereof which is not specifically declared to be invalid or unconstitutional. Approved by Mayor and Council this 17'h day of February 2014 A. Max Bacon, Mayor ORDINANCE NO. 2014-02 Attest: Terri Graham, City Clerk City of Smyrna form: City 6SStir a U