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01-04-1993 Regular MeetingJanuary 4, 1993 The first meeting of the New Year was held January 4, 1993 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 except for Jack Cramer. Also present was City Administrator Bob Thomson, City Clerk Melinda Dameron,City Attorney Charles E. Camp, Library Director Laurel Best, Acting Parks Director Michael Justus, Personnel Director Mary Ann White, Fire Chief Larry Williams, City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt, Community Relations Director Kathy Barton, Police Chief Stan Hook, Communications Director Steve Ciaccio, Sharon Williams representing the Finance Department and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Eric Matheson, pastor of Norton Park Baptist Church followed by the pledge to the flag. OATH OF OFFICE - COMMISSIONER JOE THOMPSON: Cobb County Commission Chairman Bill Byrne introduced Cobb County Commissioner -elect Joe Lee Thompson who will represent Smyrna under the new commission structure. The oath of office was given to Mr. Thompson by Judge Ken Nix. Mayor Bacon also introduced Senator Hugh Ragan, Judge Bob McDuff, Commissioner Gordon Wysong, Commissioner Freeman Poole, Sheriff Bill Hutson, Fred Aiken and Don Wix. CITIZENS INPUT: Sue Brissey encouraged residents to participate in volunteer activities in the community. Mrs. Brissey and her husband donated over 500 hours last year in Clean City Commission activities and other worthwhile causes. Rob Hosack commended city staff for their quick response in resolving a drainage problem near his home on Whitfield Court. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Variance request - reduce required parking spaces - First Methodist Church, 1315 Concord Road Bob Thomson stated the First Methodist Church is requesting a variance to reduce their required parking spaces from 46 to 0. There was no opposition. Reverend Al Turnell said the church has always been short of parking spaces. They are expanding the church with the addition of a Fellowship Hall and classrooms and adding a new parking lot, but even with the addition of the parking lot they will still be 45 spaces short of the 91 required by code since 20 of the old spaces will be lost to new construction. Jim Hawkins made a motion the variance be approved. Pete Wood seconded the motion which carried 6-0. (B) Amendments to Comprehensive Land Use Plan Bob Thomson stated that minor changes have been made to Smyrna's Comprehensive Land Use Plan, to help streamline and eliminate duplications. Councilman Ron Newcomb stated the City of Smyrna has approved a Comprehensive Plan for the year 1991-2001 and it has been submitted to the Department of Community Affairs and Atlanta Regional Commission. Each year we are required to submit amendments as needed and the amendments proposed tonight will streamline the plan with minor changes in the redevelopment category concerning minimum acreage, buffer requirements, etc. Rob Hosack with the Cobb County Community Development Department said there are a couple of changes to the redevelopment category specifying minimum acreage, buffer requirements and some architectural requirements in addition to some traffic related concerns. Ken Hildebrandt said the most significant changes are items that were not done in 1992 and were re -scheduled in the January 4, 1993 meeting - continued implementation schedules. Mr. Hosack said that originally there was no criteria established in buffering requirements for areas that will change from residential to commercial although they knew there were some areas they would need to look at;5 to 10 years away. This will provide anybody that is curious about I redevelopment of an area designated on the future land use map with some of the things they could expect if they bring the property in for rezoning. There were some other repetitive sections that were eliminated. Mr. Hosack said this plan is very similar to the Cobb County plan but is more specific to the City. i Ron Newcomb said that even though we have very specific requirements now in the ordinance, the Comprehensive Plan is a road map of where we see ourselves going in future years. It does not change the ordinances now but in the future the Planning & Zoning Board will continue to work on the operational details of the Plan and will eventually result in a change to the zoning ordinance. This action tonight simply reaffirms the decision council made a couple of years ago and provides additional information that was needed. There were no questions or comments from the audience and Mr. Newcomb made a motion the amendments be approved as presented. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried' 6-0. (C) Agent change - Privilege license for liquor pouring - Bob's Original Wings, Inc., 4924 South Cobb Drive Bob Thomson stated that Debra Marie Martinez is requesting a license as the new agent for this location. This application was tabled at the last meeting. The police investigation of Ms. Martinez was favorable and there was no opposition. Ms. Martinez was present with Larry Lis, owner, and Attorney Harold Karp. Councilman Wood stated that on December 28th the council met with Mr. Liss and Mr. Karp to address several issues and express their concern about the number of calls that have been received by the Police Department from the center. They were assured that some management and operating changes had taken place and those problems resolved. Ms. Martinez does meet all requirements to hold the license and Mr. Wood made a motion the agent change and liquor pouring license be approved as requested, seconded by Wade Lnenicka. Bill Scoggins said they had determined at the meeting that most of the problems did not actually come from this establishment although some of the calls may have been placed from there. Mr. Scoggins said he thought the City was obligated to discuss some of the problems that may be associated with holding a pouring license and hoped that the applicants were being provided with guidelines when they applied. Ms. Martinez said she realized she was responsible for any problems that may arise and was willing to accept that responsibility. Mr. Lnenicka said we did establish that thIere were some problems at this location and have also established that those problems have declined. We met with the owners last week and Mr. Lnenicka said he was satisfied with the answers given and the progress that was made. Mr. Lnenicka said he had also gone by that location several times during the evening and could see no'problems. Also he talked to some business owners in the center and they have seen an improvement over the last 6 months. Mr.1 Lnenicka said he would support the motion and reminded the applicants that they had agreed at the meeting that in 30 days we would revisit this issue and check again with the Police Chief to ensure that there are no problems. Councilman Newcomb said he was not comfortable with voting on both of these issues at one time and would like to see the agent change and liquor pouring license voted on separately. Mr. Lnenicka January. 4, '1993 meeting - _continued withdrew his second and Mr.. Wood then made a motion that the liquor pouring license be approved seconded by Wade Lnenicka. Vote on the motion carried 5-1 with Ron Newcomb opposed. Councilman Wood made a motion the management change be approved with Debra Marie Martinez the appointed agent. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 6-0. (D) Business license request - All American Yellow Cab Bob Thomson stated that David Weldon is re -submitting an application to do business in the name of All American Yellow Cab Company at 1806 Atlanta Road. The police investigation regarding Mr. Weldon was favorable and there was no opposition. Pete Wood stated that Mr. Weldon filed an application in November which was withdrawn prior to coming to council. In december he re- applied for a license under a similar name as a sole proprietorship and asked if that was correct. Mr. Weldon said it was, the corporation that originally applied has been dissolved and he would be the sole owner. Mr. Weldon said he would be there full time and had left his employment with Yellow Cab in Atlanta where he worked for many years. Mr. Wood said a couple of incidents had occurred in late December regarding All American Yellow Cab and had reports from the Chief of Police. One was an incident on December 24th where one of his drivers was cited for operating a business without a license. Also we have been made aware that one of the parties that was a principal in the original application was, as of December 23rd, acting as manager according to a taped conversation with a member of our police department. That employee, Mr. Owens, does not meet the requirements of the ordinance to hold a permit. Mr. Weldon said that was not true, Mr. Owens is not employed in any way by his company. Originally he was involved in recruiting some drivers and there was some talk of him being an employee but it never took place. Wade Lnenicka pointed out that the revised application is dated December 16th, at least a full week prior to the call being made. Mr. Weldon said he did not know who took the call and said that Mr. Owens was the manager because everyone there was, or should be aware, prior to submission of the application that he would be the manager. Mr. Lnenicka asked if he was not an employee of the company, if he could be in any way a contractor acting on his own, maybe not paid by the company but still earning money while working in that office or with Mr. Weldon' s people or equipment. Mr. Weldon said he may be, that he was not aware of, but he really did not know what he was doing. After further discussion Mr. Wood said he had several concerns that should be further addressed and would like to arrange a meeting with Mr. Weldon, -a representative of the police department and Mr. Thomson representing council to further discuss these issues. Councilman Lnenicka stated the application before council tonight was not signed and asked Mr. Camp if it was a valid application that should be heard. Mr. Camp said the application should be signed and if Mr. Weldon stated tonight that he was the applicant and signed it, it would be acceptable but the unsigned application would be cause enough to postpone the hearing. Mr. Wood made a motion the application be tabled to the January 19, 1993 meeting. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 6-0. FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Bid opening - weight equipment at Community Center Bob Thomson said the City had requested sealed bids from a number January 4, 1993 meeting - continued of schools and booster clubs in the area for the sale of the weight equipment in the Community Center to be opened tonight, but no bids were received. (B) Adoption of tree ordinance Councilman Ron Newcomb stated this is anew ordinance which will require developers to submit landscape plans along with site development plans with guidelines for conservation. This ordinance has been reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Board and approved. Ken Hildebrandt said currently the City has no guidelines for tree preservation and developers are not required to replace any trees that are removed for construction. This ordinance sets guidelines for them to replace trees and does not affect single family housing; only development. This ordinance was modeled after the Cobb County ordinance. Mayor "Bacon asked if it would place any undue hardship on the developers. Mr. Hildebrandt said there would be some problems, especially with the smaller lots where they need every bit of the area for parking and building. Those will be looked at individually and we are also providing alternate methods for compliance. One option is to plant trees on another site in the City that they may own and we have also set up an alternate compliance fund where they can contribute to the fund that will be used by the City to plant trees on public properties. Mr. Newcomb said Cobb County now has a tree protection ordinance and it's important that we also make a statement that trees are important to the quality of life in Smyrna. This ordinance requires 15 units of trees per acre and if they can't meet that there are other options as described by Mr. Hildebrandt. We do not want to work a hardship on anyone, but do want to make developers accountable for giving back something that they take from the land. After further discussion, Mr. Newcomb made a motion the ordinance be amended by adding a new section entitled Tree Preservation and Replacement and also that a fee of $440 per unit be established for the tree replacement fund. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 6-0. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: Nothing to report. BID AWARDS: Nothing to report. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval of December 21, 1992 minutes (B) Resolution - GMA Lease Pool agreement (C) Change date of next meeting to January 19, 1993 Bill Scoggins made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried 6-0. COUNCIL INPUT: Councilman John Patrick called on Laurel Best for a report from the Library. Councilman Ron Newcomb said he visited' the recycling center on Saturday and commended the Clean City Committee volunteers for their dedication in volunteering to work that day. Mr. Newcomb said he had noticed that there does seem to be a reduction in recycling and encouraged everyone -to continue and help us reduce our waste in the landfill. Mr. Newcomb said he had served on council for one year tonight and wanted to reaffirm his commitment to the residents of Ward 2 to do an even better job in the next year. Bill Scoggins called on Chief Larry Williams for a report form the Fire Department. Jim Hawkins called on Kathy Barton and Vic Broyles for reports from January 4, 1993 meeting - continued Community Relations and Public Works. Mr. Hawkins said he believed the Mayor would reassign committees tonight and for the last year had chaired the Public Works and Clean City Committee. One of the items they discussed frequently was the need for a chipper but it was not pursued because of the cost involved and we are trying to trim back on the budget this year. Mr. Hawkins said he did think we should look into creating a new position in Public Works, to be in charge of sanitation. Councilman Lnenicka said he appreciated Joe Thompson taking his oath here tonight. Mr. Lnenicka read a letter from Belmont Hills Elementary school expressing appreciation to the Police Department for their participation in a number of projects during the Christmas holidays, to help those that are less fortunate. Councilman Lnenicka called on Chief Stan Hook for a report from the Police Department and Steve Ciaccio for a report from Communications. Councilman Pete Wood introduced Mary Ann White, who began work today as Personnel Director for the City. Mr. Wood said the Finance Director's position should be filled in the near future. Mayor Bacon called on Michael Justus for a report from the Parks Department. Mayor Bacon announced new committee assignments including 3 new committees as follows: FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Pete Wood, Chairman Ron Newcomb Jim Hawkins HISTORICAL REVIEW Bill Scoggins, Chairman Pete Wood Jim Hawkins INSURANCE/EMPLOYEE WELFARE/SAFETY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Ron Newcomb, Chairman Ron Newcomb, Chairman Wade Lnenicka Wade Lnenicka Jack Cramer John Patrick COURT SERVICES PUBLIC WORKS Jim Hawkins, Chairman Bill Scoggins, Chairman John Patrick Pete Wood Bill Scoggins Jack Cramer LIBRARY FIRE/EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT John Patrick, Chairman Jim Hawkins, Chairman Bill Scoggins Pete Wood Wade Lnenicka Ron Newcomb POLICE/COMMUNICATIONS Wade Lnenicka, Chairman John Patrick Jack Cramer With r r business, meeting A. MAX BACON, MAYOR ATRICK, BIL %SCOG NS, W�rRPl 3 ACK RAMER, WARD (-;� kea--� "4 CHARLES PETE WOOD, WARD 7 PARKS & RECREATION Jack Cramer, Chairman Bill Scoggins Ron Newcomb adjourned at 9: 1 2 /p.m. MELINDA DAMERON, CITY CLERK ed A�z RAT NEWCOMB , JWARD A M2 ov W'r 4 1.1