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12-19-1988 Regular MeetingDecember 12, 1988 meeting - continued FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Appointment to Planning and Zoning Board - Ward 7 Bob Betenbaugh made a motion that John Heaton be reappointed to the Planning and Zoning Board representing Ward 7. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) Appeals from Recorders Court: Rodney Allen Tumey, Annette P. Barker, Jimmy Richard Emory, Jr. and Donna Beth Licot Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the appeals be continued to the December 19th meeting. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. BID AWARDS: Nothing to report. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: Nothing to report. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval of November minutes (B) No parking signs, McCauley Road Jim Hawkins made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Bob Davis seconded the motion which carried 7-0. COUNCIL INPUT: Bob Betenbaugh reported on activities in the Parks Department and also gave a brief report on the recent Congressional Cities Conference held in Boston December 3-8. Jack Shinall gave an update on the Fair Labor Standards Act law suit in the Fire Department and said we are still negotiating settlement. Hopefully the suit will be settled within the next few days. Wade Lnenicka said the new public works facility was dedicated last week in memory of Jerry Mills. This is the finest facility in the metro area and one that will house that department well into the future and more efficiently allow us to provide services to our citizens. Mr. Lnenicka commended council for having the foresight to initiate this development. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Amy" A. MAYqACON, YOR MELINDA bAkitON, TY CLERK BOB QAVIS�, WARD WADE,,LNENICKA, W l 2-XV X1,SHINALL WARD 5 KATHY*CKS JORDAN,� E. BOB BETENBAUGH, WARD 7 December 19, 1988 The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held December 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 Attorney Charles E. Camp, City Clerk Melinda Dameron and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Rev. York Chambless followed by the pledge to the flag. December 19, 1988 meeting - continued CITIZENS INPUT: Bob Betenbaugh presented the traditional crystal jonquil to outgoing Clean and Beautiful Committee member Charyn Darby in appreciation of her service to the City. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Annexation of Doc's Food & Spirits, 2621 Hargrove Road. John Patterson said that James and Barbara Brenner have requested the annexation of Doc's Food & Spirits. The legal description was read at the November 21, 1988 meeting and it has been properly advertised. There was no opposition. Bob Davis made a motion the property be annexed, to become a part of Ward 1. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) Privilege license - Doc's Food & Spirits, 2621 Hargrove Road - liquor, beer and wine pouring. John Patterson said when businesses such as Doc's come into the City, all privilege licenses are transferable and the application tonight is a mere formality to transfer their licenses from the County to the City. For that reason, there is no reason for the applicant's appearance. There was no opposition. Bob Davis also stated that the Brenners were before council several months for approval of their new package store at Plantation Pointe Shopping Center and made a motion this license be approved. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (C) Privilege license - A -Action Bonding Company - Stephen Lewis Reed John Patterson said that Mr. Reed has submitted an application as the owner of A -Action Bail Bonding, Inc. and lives at 2980 Carrie Farm Road in Kennesaw. Mr. Reed holds a license with Cobb County and four other surrounding cities in Cobb. Our ordinance was recently amended to allow Cobb County residents to hold a license, rather than limiting it to City residents. The background investigation was favorable and there was no opposition. Mr. Reed said he was familiar with our ordinances and agreed to abide by them. Jim Hawkins said Mr. Reed met all requirements and made a motion the application be approved, seconded by Bob Betenbaugh. The motion and second were then withdrawn to allow further discussion. Jack Shinall asked Mr. Reed about the amount of surety bond he had in place to cover the company. Mr. Reed said in Cobb County the total amount of the surety bond is $400,000 and thought that would cover any bond he made. He has never been in default and has never, to this point, had to pay a bond for non-appearance. Jim Hawkins made a motion the license be approved. Bob Betenbaugh seconded the motion which 7-0. FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Approval of increase in homestead exemption John Patterson said with the concern for the aged and disabled, there was a desire to increase our homestead exemption. The Finance and Administration has studied the financial impact and recommends the increase. Jim Hawkins said at the present time we allow a $4,000 exemption for persons over 65 and a $6,000 exemption for persons who are totally disabled. They are proposing an across the board increase to $10,000 for both. Most of these people are on fixed incomes and are impacted more than others by the steady increase of property values. Jim Hawkins made a motion this question be placed on the next public referendum or election held within the City of Smyrna whenever that might be. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 6-1, with Wade Lnenicka opposed. December 19, 1988 meeting - continued (B) Approval of sick leave policy. John Patterson said with the implementation of the short term disability program comes the necessity to modify the sick leave program since it is no longer necessary for employees to accumulate sick leave. This policy should curtail the sick leave abuse since it rewards those who do conform to city policies. Jim Hawkins said the current policy allows 12 sick days a year which can be accumulated and with some employees, this amounts to a substantial amount of time. This past year we discontinued the policy of allowing the employee to accumulate more than 12 days and the proposal tonight is to reduce the total number of sick days from 12 to 10. However, if an employee does not use all of those days he will be compensated one,day for every two days remaining at the end of the calendar year. This is intended as an incentive for employees to be at work every day they possibly can. At the request of Jack Shinall, John Patterson briefly explained the short term disability program which is a salary supplement at 66 2/3 pay for up to 6 months time, at which time the long-term disability picks up. This program is administered through Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company and they determine if the claims are valid for payment. The short term program starts 8 days immediately after the illness or injury. Jim Hawkins made a motion the revisions to Chapter X, Section 5 (Attendance and Leave) of the Personnel Rules and Regulations Handbook be approved, seconded by Kathy Jordan. Wade Lnenicka said he couldn't support this policy because sick leave is something we are all concerned with, whether in government or private business. Sick leave is a benefit that should be used for sickness and illness only and is not meant to be vacation time. Mr. Lnenicka said he had a fundamental problem with rewarding people, just for not being sick. If we have a problem with sick leave we should address that. Twelve or even ten days is too much and using sick time as vacation is wrong. Mr. Lnenicka said our employees this year were given very justifiable salary increases to make their pay competitive with other jurisdictions and private industries and thought council should be very proud of what they had done in terms of salary and benefits for employees, but could not support this proposal. Jack Shinall said he would support the policy but also felt that if we are having a problem with sick leave abuse, we need to take care of it. Jim Hawkins said he could understand Mr. Lnenicka's concern but the policy is meant to reward employees who are conscientious enough to not take the opportunity to abuse the system and under the present plan, there is no incentive for a person not to take sick leave. Mr. Hawkins said he thought people responded more to motivation than discipline and hoped we could treat our employees a little better than a lot of private firms. The intent of this policy is to be a benefit to those employees who deserve it and not meant to pay someone for abusing the system. Mr. Lnenicka disagreed that there was no incentive and quoted a section from the City's attendance and leave policy which states: "abuse of sick leave is a serious offense subject to appropriate disciplinary action including termination of employment." Mr. Lnenicka said again that sick leave is not meant to be vacation time; it is a benefit to be used when you are sick and he had a problem with taking $100,000 of the City's money to reward employees who are already competitively paid. Vote on the motion to approve the policy carried 5-2, with Wade Lnenicka and Bob Davis opposed. (C) Bid opening: digitizing and aerial photograph. Bids for digitizing and aerial photography for the Community Development were opened, read and recorded as follows: Cardan Systems, Inc. Welker & Associates Hoffman & Company Intercart, Inc. Lowe Engineering Greenhorne & O'Mara Analytical Surveys $ 5,956/sq mi $12,163/sq mi $ 7,144/sq mi $13,380/sq mi $ 5,639/sq mi $ 9,005.04/sq mi $257,890 total bid December 19, 1988 meeting - continued Jack Shinall made a motion the bids be turned over to the Community Development Committee for their recommendation back to full council. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (D) Appointment to Clean City Committee. Wade Lnenicka made a motion that Ann Kirk be appointed to the Clean City Committee representing Ward 2. Bob Davis seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (E) Request for rate increase - Victory Cab Company. Bob Davis made a motion this item be tabled to the next meeting. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 7-0. Mayor Bacon said that item (F) of the agenda, the Recorders Court appeals, would be heard last. BID AWARDS: Nothing to report. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: (A) Shirah Contracting Company requested a building permit for construction of a new physical education building at Griffin Middle School at a total estimated cost of $259,000. Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the permit be approved. Kathy Jordan seconded the motion which carried 7-0. (B) B.C.B. Construction requested a building permit for a new medical office building at 3445 Concord Road at a total estimated cost of $550,000. Bob Betenbaugh said there were some special assessments made on property in this area for the sewer line and obviously we would be sure they were paid. Bob Betenbaugh made a motion the permit be approved. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) State Grants project list (B) Southern Bell easement - Tolleson Park (C) Temporary office trailer - King Springs Elementary School Jim Hawkins made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. RECORDERS COURT APPEALS: Donna Beth Licot, Rodney Allen Tumey, Annette P. Barker & Jimmy Richard Emory, Jr. Mayor Bacon said that Annette P. Barker has requested that her appeal be continued to the first meeting in January. These appeals are the result of moving violations that occurred at the intersections of Lake Park Drive & U.S. 41 and also at Hargrove Road and U.S. 41. These people have appeared in court, where they were found guilty and fined. Solicitor Mike Whaley stated that Donna Beth Licot had requested that her appeal be withdrawn. Rodney Allen Tumey was not present and Jack Shinall made a motion the appeal be dismissed. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. Jimmy Richard Emory, Jr. was sworn in with Officer Steve Nettles. Officer Nettles said he ticketed Mr. Emory for improper turn after observing him make a right turn from the center lane of Lake Park Drive onto U.S. 41. A diagram of the intersection and pictures were presented to indicate that the lanes on Lake Park Drive are clearly marked, with a right turn yield onto 41 for south bound traffic, and a straight or left turn lane. The intersection also has a safety zone clearly marked to prevent people from rear ending those that are using the yield right turn lane. Officer Nettles said there had been an accident with several injuries at this intersection as a result of this same situation and they had received several complaints about the improper turns. Officer Nettles said accidents at this intersection between 1987 and October 1988 had increased by 31% and increased again in November. By working that intersection they have decreased the number of accidents by 38%. December 19. 1988 meeting - continued Mr. Emory said he now realized that the turn was illegal but at the time the intersection was not marked as clearly as it is now. Mr. Emory said his only request is that there be some way to facilitate more right turns onto U.S. 41. The officer was correct in everything he did and Mr. Emory said he has not since violated this law. At the time of the violation there were markings on the road but the heavy traffic made it difficult to see. Since that time, the intersection has been marked more clearly and Mr. Emory said he was requesting a reversal of the decision on that basis. Solicitor Mike Whaley said it was obvious that the appeal must be denied based on Mr. Emory's statements by admitting that he knew he was erroneous in what he did. The road was marked at the time of the violation and since then, additional signs have been placed further west of the intersection to indicate the configuration of the lanes so that there will be no question. After further discussion, Jack Shinall made a motion the Recorders Court decision be upheld. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 7-0. COUNCIL INPUT: Mayor Bacon said the City had received some bad publicity about a trailer fire with a fatality over the weekend and he would like to clarify any misunderstanding about our response to the fire. The Sherwood Mobile Home Park is in the county and not in our city limits. When the 911 call was made it went to the County and it took their trucks 18 minutes to respond to the fire. Cobb County Fire Department contacted the City and since our station is less than one mile from the mobile home park we were on the scene in 2 minutes. Had we known of the fire earlier we would have responded immediately. Bob Davis and other council members wished everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season. Wade Lnenicka said he had enjoyed his first year on council and looked forward to the next 3 years. Kathy Jordan reported on library activities and Bob Betenbaugh made a report from the Parks Department. Bob Betenbaugh also stated that council has made great strides this past year and were committed to making Smyrna a great place to live. Mr. Betenbaugh also said the last year had been a learning experience for him and he looked forward to the next few years. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. �ifIF � LFail