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September 6/19, 1988 Council Meeting September 6, 1988 The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held pursuant to the charter on September 6, 1988 at Smyrna City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 o'clock p.m. by presiding officer Mayor A. Max Bacon. All council members were present. Also present was City Administrator John Patterson, City Attorney Charles E. Camp, City Clerk Melinda Dameron and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Reverend Elmer Foust, Church, followed by the pledge to the flag. pastor of Welcome All Baptist CITIZENS INPUT: Mayor Bacon recognized Ken Parris, candidate for the State Senate in the November election. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Annexation of Mrs. Florence Bradley property on Belmont Circle. John Patterson said this has been tabled the last two meetings and the owner has now requested that the property not be annexed. Kathy Jordan made a motion the annexation be denied. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) Beer, wine and liquor package license - Neash Package Store, Sunrise Square II Shopping Center - Brij Bhagwandas Sidhwaney, applicant. John and was Patterson said that Mr. Sidhawney has applied for this new license as owner operator of Neash Package store at 822 Concord Road. The police investigation favorable and there was no opposition from the audience. Mr. Sidhawney said he had been a resident of Cobb County since March 1987 and felt he understood the laws governing sales of alcoholic beverages in the City. As the owner/operator he will be at the business every day. Jack Shinall said this license will place three package stores within a one-half mile distance and asked the Community Development to possibly review a concentration ordinance in regards to the number of package store licenses allowed in certain areas. Attorney Camp said to place a limit on the number of licenses would not be constitutional but a limit on distance between establishments might be. Jim Hawkins said at "the last meeting he voted against a package license just down the street from this but that particular application did not meet distance requirements. This application does meet all requirements and Mr. Hawkins made a motion the license be approved. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (C) Beer and wine package license - Winn Dixie, 2350 Spring Road McGraw, applicant. William Edward John Patterson said Mr. McGraw has applied for the license as the appointed agent for the new Winn Dixie at 2350 Spring Road. The police investigation was favorable and there was no opposition. Mr. McGraw said he was the district manager for Winn Dixie and managed 10 stores. This will be the first alcoholic beverage license he has held. A store manager has not be appointed yet and Mr. McGraw said he applied for the license in his name since he is a resident of Cobb County. Bob Davis made a motion the license be seconded the motion which carried 7-0. approved as re~lested. Wade Lnenicka FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Bids for a portable air compressor were opened, read and recorded as follows: Sul-Air Equipment EEE Equipment Cobb County Tractor $8,790 no bid $8,995 Wade Lnenicka made a motion the bids be turned over to the Public Works Committee for their recommendation back to full council. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. Bids for a ditch witch were opened, read and recorded as follows: Reinhardt Equipment Co. Cobb County Tractor No bid $25,640 Wade Lnenicka made a motion the bid be turned over to the Public Works Committee for their recommendation back to fu~l council. Bob Betenbaugh seconded the motion which carried 7-0. Bids for fo.llows: the environmental services contract were opened, read and recorded as Commercial Resident:ial St.reet Sweeping united Waste Service $2.36 cu/yd No bid No bid Browning-Ferris, Inc. $L48 cu/yd $7.86/household /city maintains-- collection only No charge ~st 75 curb miles $13. 78/household jownership $19.00/curb mi~e over 75 $7.86/household /co~lection & maintenance InstaLL complete unit $334.30 Liner replacement $~8.00 ea. Chambers Development $1.08 cu/yd $8. 34/household $28.00/curb mile Laidlaw Waste System $2.06 cu/yd $13.92/household $20.00/curb mile Georgia Waste System $L20 cu/yd $6. 43/household $19.60/curb mile Wade Lnenj"cka made a motion the bids be turned over to the Public Works committee for review and their recommendation back to full council at the October 3, 1988 meeting. Bob Betenbaugh seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) Amendment to dog ordinance. John Patterson said the ordinance presented tonight wi~l limit the number of dogs allowed per household according to 1.ot size in response to the many complaints we receive. This ordinance is in conformance with those in other cities around the country and they have been held constitutiona~. Jim Hawkins sa"id there are some situations .in our city where peop:Le are raising as many as 9 dogs at their homes. We receive complaints from neighbors but up to this point there has been nothing we could do. Jim Hawkins read the proposed ordinance as follows and made a motion it be approved: Sec. 4-33. Limit of Number of Dogs Allowed The keeping of dogs shall be al~owed as an accessory use on any lot, as previously defined and regulated, provided such dogs are for persona~ use and enjoyment, and not for commercia~ purpose. The number of dogs permitted shall be in accordance with the following schedule, except that in determining the number of dogs allowed only those dogs six (6) months or older in age shall be counted. 5 or more No 20,000 square feet 30,000 square feet 40,000 square feet plus 10,000 s~~are feet for each additional dog above 5 This limitation shall not apply to veterinary clinics, licensed animal shelters, pet shops or grooming establishments. Bill the Scoggins seconded the motion to approve the ordinance. Wade Lnenicka asked .if grandfather clause would apply to those not currently in compliance. Attorney Sept~mber 6, 1988 meeting - continued Camp said it would probably seem reasonable "to do so, but if t"he dogs are affect_ing the health or welfare of the neighbors we could take action now. Vote on the motion carried 7-0. (C) Approval of conversion to Glock handgun in Police Department John Patterson said that several months ago the Police Committee was approached with the alternative provided by the local manufacturer of the Gl"ock handgun to change over to their semi-automatic 9 millimeter handgun. A committee was established to review the conversion and based upon several months of study and test firing, it was determined that based upon the effectiveness of the weapon, safety considerations and training needs that it would be appropriate at this time to move to the Glock 9mm weapon as the service weapon of our Police Department. It is much safer, more reliable, has more fire power and the same knock-down ability as the 357 that we currently use and will provide our officers the protection they need while protecting our citizens. Bob Davis thanked the members of the committee who studied the conversion and tested this weapon and based upon their recommendation made a motion the City accept "the conversion to the Gl"ock 9mm automatic. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion. Jack Shinal.l asked if there was other cost associated with the conversion to this weapon; any money that must be approved either now or later. Bob Davis said that after the generous offer made from Glock on the conversion, it would cost approximately $5,000 for everything. We also are recommending night sights for that weapon which was highly recommended and we are adding that to the proposal tonight which will be approximately $6100. After further discussion, the motion and second were withdrawn. Bob Davis then made a motion we accept the recommendation for the conversion to the Glock 9mm weapon; also the purchase of night-sights at $6,l60 and leather at a total of $5,000. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion and said that during the study they found this weapon is very reLiable and probably more so than the current weapon they are using. Safety is another aspect and this weapon is probably safer than the 357 handgun, both for the public and off"icer using it. This is a very attractive offer from Glock and the cost for the conversion will be minimal. Our officers will not be issued these weapons until they have been thoroughly trained and are considered safe by our training group in the police department. Vote on the mo"tion to approve the conversion carried 7-0. (D) Adoption of proposed Loss Prevention Program John Patterson said there has been considerable concern the last year about the accident review committee that was formerly in place and having worked with a new Risk Management company that has been appointed by our insurance provider, we have been able to establish a communication process and several committees that we suggest would be in the best interest of the City to enact and move forward. Jim Hawkins said we have had quite a few accidents with city vehicl.es lately and we are trying to take some action tonigh"t that will place some responsibility for these accidents where it needs to be. This policy will form two new committees to replace "the existing committee; one will be called the Safety Committee and be comprised of one representative from each department. They will act as a fact finding committee where there is a vehicular accident or other accident involving an employee's loss of time at work. They investigate the accident and pass that information onto the Accident Review Committee. They will be made up of the Chairman of the Finance & Administration Committee, City Administrator John Patterson and those two will appoint a third member to hear all vehicular accidents and major accidents involving loss of time. They will make recommendations as to what could have been done to prevent the accident and if necessary, make any disciplinary action that may be necessary. Jim Hawkins made a motion we adopt the Loss Prevention policy as outlined. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (E) Salary compression adjustment. John Patterson said in June of 1985 the Mayor and Council adjusted the starting pay for public safety employees in order to attract new candidates and also increased pay within the ranks a certain amount to retain those employees currently on staff. In doing so there was a compression problem, in that employees with 5 or 6 years of service with the City finally found themselves making what was then, starting pay. Council has recognized this as a problem, addressed it in year's budget and worked diligently to try and eliminate the problem. There was a considerable amoun"t of calculations required to complete this study being presented tonight which, hopefully, will eliminate the compression problem once and for all. Jack Shinall said the Fire Committee supported the i.ncreases as presented but did not think this would address all the problems because he did not think all problems would ever go away. There will always be some who think they are not being treated fairly while others are treated a little more than fairly and don't say anything. Also, this would never have happened in private enterprise because in private industry when you have a job that needs the starting pay adjusted you don't do the same for all employees; you do it for that particular job category. After further discussion, Bob Davis made a motion the salary adjustments as presented be adopted. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (F) Appointment to Parks and Recreation Commission - Ward 5 Jack Shinall made a Recreation Commission which carried 7-0. motion that Eddie Eldridge be reappointed to the Parks and representing Ward 5. Bob Betenbaugh seconded the motion BID AWARDS: (A) Backstop at Ward Park. Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the backstop at Ward Park be awarded to Acme Fence, the low bidder at $8,786. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) King Springs storage building addition. Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the bid for the storage building addition be awarded to Hatcher & Sons, the low bidder at $8,413.69. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (C) Computer equipment. John Patterson said approval of thi.s equipment will cover the automation for all departments discussed aT. budget time, with the exception of the Library. There is a computer user's committee established from the staff within the City and of that group there was selected a study commit"tee to review proposaJ.s and make a recommendation to council on the needs for this equipment. The recommendation is that all of. the networking systems including Police, Communications and Fire be awarded to the Tandy Corporation and that the stand alones be awarded to Compaq and be purchased from DP Enterprises for Utility Services, Parks and Recreation and Public Works. This will provide all the computer equipment we will need for some time to come except for the Library which will also be a networked system and we are investigating some of the Novell equipment providers. Jim Hawkins made a motion council adopt the recommendations of the committee and award the networking system to Tandy Corporation for $55,016.32 and the stand alones be awarded to DP Enterprises for $l6,llO.00. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion. Mayor Bacon said he thougfit the biggest concern council had after reviewing the proposals was whether or not these companies would be here in 5 to 10 years to provide service and parts. John Patterson said he could assure council that these companies woul.d always be able to provide any maintenance or support needed. Terri Savo with IBM requested to make a statement and Jim Hawkins then withdrew his motion to allow discussion from the floor. Ms. Savo and Li"nda Heidt said IBM had serviced the City of Smyrna for quite a while and they very much want to continue the strong working relationship they have had with the City. They have the mainframe and are here frequently and would l.ike to continue their support .in the personal computer business as well. The first proposal they received was from the study committee and they asked that it returned within 48 hours. There were some inaccuracies in the reques"t for proposals and although this was not sufficient time for an in-depth study, they did try to respond. Ms. Savo said they did not feel they had been treated fairly or given the opportunity to properly demonstrate their products. John Patterson said the initial request was informal, to test the market, and they later received the request to bid. IBM, more than any other company, has been aware of the needs of the City since they have been talking to us for over a year. They had recommended a number of pieces of equipment, in the Police Department and elsewhere. September 6, 1988 meeting - continued John Patterson said that bid and without knowing probably eliminated with the cost. IBM was 50% higher than three of the other companies that the exact procedure the committee took, felt IBM was several other companies in the early stages because of Jim Hawkins said he was concerned that they did not feel they had been treated fairly and made a motion this item be tabled to give IBM the opportunity to make their presentation to the committee. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which failed 3-4 with Jim Hawkins, Kathy Jordan and Bill Scoggins voti.ng for; Jack Shinall, Wade Lnenicka, Bob Betenbaugh and Bob Davis opposed. After further discussion, Jim Hawkins made a motion the recornmendation presented tonight be denied. Motion died for lack of a second. Jack Shinall then made a motion the staff recommendation be approved, to award the networking equipment to Tandy Corporation and the stand alone equipment to DP Enterprises for a total of $71,126.32. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion. Mayor Bacon said in view of the conversations tonight about these bids, he would have preferred to have gone through the entire bid process and let counci.l look at every bid to find out who was low and who was high, at a public meeting. Vote on the motion carried 5-2, with Bill Scoggins and Jim Hawkins opposed. (D) Architectural design services for new fire station. Jack Shinall made a motion this award be tabled to the September 19th meeting until references on the firms being considered could be received. Bob Betenbaugh seconded the motion which carried 6-1, with Wade Lnenicka opposed. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: None for consideration. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval to request bids for playground equipment (B) Approval of August minutes (C) Approval to request bids for fire hose. Kathy Jordan made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Bob Davis seconded the motion which carried 7-0. COUNCIL INPUT: Kathy Jordan gave a report from the Library and Clean City Committee. Mayor placed had a them. Bacon said several questions had been raised recently about stipulations on the shopping center zoning at Spring and Campbell. Mayor Bacon said he copy of the minutes from that zoning if anyone was interested in seeing With no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:34 p.m. KATHY BROOKS JORDAN, WARD 6 September 19, 1988 The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held September 19, 1988 at Smyrna city Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 o'clock p.m. by presiding officer Mayor A. Max Bacon. All council members were present. Also present was City Administrator John Patterson, City Clerk Melinda Dameron, City Attorney Charles E. Camp and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Reverend Noel Burt, Church, followed by the pledge to the flag. pastor of Faith United Methodist CITIZENS INPUT: Wink Winkenhofer, president of the Smyrna Business .Association presented a $5,000 check for donations toward the Smyrna video recently produced by Spartan Productions. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Variance request size allowed. _ accessory building at 505 Floyd Drive exceeding maximum John Patterson said that Ben Brawner is requesting this variance to allow construction of an accessory building which is larger than 25% of the floor area of the principal s"tructure. There was no opposition. Jack Shinall said Mr. Brawner had not provided the letters from the adjacent property owners required before they could act on the variance but asked him to explain the use of the structure to the people in the audience who were there for more information. Mr. Brawner said the building would be used to store lawn equipment and vehicles and the existing metal building would be removed. Jack Shinall made a motion this variance be tabled to the first meeting in October to allow Mr. Brawner time to secure the necessary letters. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (A) Approval of fire flow Line - Sherwood Road/Ivanhoe Lane John Patterson said there Sherwood Road and these funds for funding. is areas a need to improve fire flow on Ivanhoe Lane and may qualify for Community Development Block Grant Jack Shinall made a motion $9,012 to be funded through motion which carried 7-0. the lines be installed at a total estimated cost of CDBG if it will qualify. Jim Hawkins seconded the (B) Bid opening - playground equipment Bids for new playground equipment read and recorded as follows: at Lake Court and Jonquil Parks were opened, Game Time, Inc. Miracle Recreation Play Systems, Inc. Game Time, Inc. Hunter Knepshield Leisure L.ines $ 5,650.00 (Installation only) $17,928.00 $1.5,919.66 $:17,998.00 $16,115.50 $17,976.00 Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the bids be turned over to the Parks Committee with their recommendation back to full council. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (C) Approval of signalization on Lake Park Drive. John Patterson said John Jones of Citigroup at 2233 Lake Park Drive has requested signalization at the intersection of their driveway and Lake Park Drive. A traffic study has been provided by Mr. Jones which warrants the need for the light. All cost including i"nstallation and reconfiguration of the driveway will be paid by Ci t i.group . Bob Davis made a motion the signalization be approved. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. BID AWARDS: September 19, 1988 meeting - continued (A) Wade Lnenicka $25,640 be approved Scoggins seconded the made a motion the bid received from Cobb County Tractor at for a new ditch witch for the Public Works Department. Bill motion which carried 7-0. Wade Lnenicka made a motion all bids be rejected for the new air compressor for the Public Works Department. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) Architectural design services - fire station. John Patt:erson said for many months we have been discussing with several architectural firms the services they could supply to the City in designing the proposed fire station. Right of way acquisition is proceeding on the East/West Connector and hopefully in the next few months a site will be determined for the new fire staiton. Proposals were received from several firms and the firm of Niles Bolton is recommended for the design work. Jack Shinall said Niles Bolton is not the low bid but was chosen based on the references we received and the background information provided by all firms. Jack Shinall made a motion the contract be awarded to Niles Bolton for $17,500. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: (A) Lake Ridge Technology Partners requested two building permits for construction of a 35,353 square foot and 55,748 square foot shell office buildings at a total estimated cost of $707,000 and $1,115,000 respectively. These buildings will be located at 400 and 500 Technology Court. Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the permits be approved. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval to surplus IBM system 34 with 4 displays; IBM 5211 printer and AT&T Dimension 100 PBX. Kathy Jordan made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Bob Davis seconded the motion which carried 7-0. COUNCIL INPUT: Mayor Bacon said he has had a lot of questions lately about the loss of water at Fox Creek Golf Course. The investigation has been completed by the District Attorney's office and city staff but as of this date, there is a discrepancy in the amount of water we feel they used versus what they are admitting to using. Mayor Bacon said he just wanted to assure everyone that there is no coverup involved but there is nothing more we can do until the discrepancy in the figures are resolved. Also, this matter has been turned completely over to the District Attorney's office. Bob Davis future and Campbell. hoped it of having completed. said there would be mail box collections at Plantation Poin"te in the nea asked John Patterson about intersection improvements at Spring and Mr. Patterson said the striping was to take place l.ast week but now would be put down tomorrow. Activation of the signal should be a matter the switch turned on so hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, it will be Wade Lnenicka said he also has kept quiet about the investigation at Fox Creek but it has been very active behind the scenes and assured the citizens the Mayor and Council are prepared to take whatever action is found to be appropriate. Bill Scoggins thanked the Whitfield Park. Parks Committee for the new playground equipment at Jack Shinall said that October will be fire prevention month with a lot of activities taking place, with many of them directed toward our youth groups. Kathy Jordan asked about the progress Patterson said that within the next 3 improvements which would be the first step. of the months Cherokee Road widening. John work would begin on drainage Bob Betenbaugh said the Fall Festival was rained out Saturday and held Sunday instead so they did not have the crowds they had hoped for. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m. KATHY BOB