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05-04-1992 Regular MeetingMay 4, 1992 The regularly scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held pursuant to the Charter on May 4, 1992 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 Ron Newcomb, who was out of town on business. Also present was City Administrator Bob Thomson, City Clerk Melinda Dameron, City Attorney Charles E. Camp, Parks and Recreation Director Sherry Reavis, Library Director Laurel Best, Finance Director Emory McHugh, Fire Chief Larry Williams, City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt, Personnel Director Jane Mears, Public Works Director Vic Broyles, Community Relations Director Kathie Barton, Police Chief Stan Hook and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Reverend Samuel Giddings, pastor of Kings Chapel A.M.E. Church, followed by the pledge to the flag. Councilman Wade Lnenicka read a proclamation for National Nurses Week and presented it to Margie Apacible, recently named most outstanding nurse of the year at Smyrna Hospital and recipient of the Heart Award. CITIZENS INPUT: Ralph Hancock expressed his appreciation for the good cooperation Cobb County has had with the City. Mr. Hancock spoke on behalf of his neighborhood and as an employee of the Cobb County Tax Assessors office. Mr. Hancock said he was also pleased with the improvements made thusfar at Heritage Pointe apartments. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Privilege license - retail package license (beer sales) - Big B Drug Store, 3240 South Cobb Drive Bob Thomson stated that Mr. Troy Roebuck has applied as agent for a license to sell packaged beer at Big B Drugs. Mr. Roebuck is a resident of Cobb County and appears to meet all requirements to hold the license. The Police investigation was favorable and there was no opposition. Mr. Roebuck said he had been the manager of this store for the past 7 months and while he has never held a privilege license, was familiar with our ordinances and knew he would be responsible for any violations. Mr. Roebuck said their staff is fully trained and they were aware of procedures that must be followed to sell alcoholic beverages. Councilman Jim Hawkins said the homes at Huntington Trace are just outside the 200 foot distance requirement and this location does meet all requirements. For that reason, Mr. Hawkins made a motion the license be approved but advised Mr. Roebuck that he personally felt it would be a mistake in the long run and did not feel it would help his business. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 6-0. FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Civil Service Board rules and regulations Bob Thomson said the Civil Service Board, Police and Fire Chiefs and both committees have worked for several months on the formulation of the rules and regulations for hiring and promotion in the Fire and Police Departments. These rules and regulations were prepared in accordance with the Civil Service Charter amendments approved earlier this year. Councilman Wade Lnenicka said these procedures were arrived at after several months of work. When the Charter was amended, it invalidated any previous procedures the Board might have had in place. These procedures will also allow the departments to run more effectively by keeping political decisions out of hiring policies. Mr. Lnenicka said he felt this was a good document that the Civil Service Board supports and our chiefs have also said they can operate effectively with these rules. Mr. Lnenicka made a motion the rules and regulations be adopted as presented with the only change being a maximum of 20 years, or 5 points, that may be added to test scores for seniority. Jack Cramer seconded the motion which carried 6-0. (B) Approval of residential and commercial sanitation increases Bob Thomson said for several years the City has subsidized the operation of the sanitation department and the increases proposed tonight will more May 4, 1992 meeting - continued appropriately match the fee with the cost of providing the service. Also, we have been notified by Chambers Development Co. that a 2.9% CPI increase will go into effect July 1st and that too must be passed on to the customer. Councilman Jim Hawkins said Chambers has exercised their option to pass along a CPI index increase of 2.9% effective July 1st and have presented documentation to support the increase. Mr. Hawkins made a motion the cost be passed on to the commercial customers and that a 2.9% increase go into effect July 1, 1992. Pete Wood seconded the motion which carried 6-0. Councilman Hawkins stated our Finance Department has provided numbers for quite some time showing that the City has been losing money at a considerable rate in the sanitation budget. We have tried to hold rates as low as possible to benefit the homeowner, but the time has now come when we are forced to go to a recycling program. The Federal 'Government has mandated that all municipalities and counties reduce their waste stream by 25% by the year 1994. Recycling is a new cost added to a service that is already losing money. For those reasons, we are forced to increase rates. Mr. Hawkins made a motion the residential rates be increased from $11.50 to $16.00 a month, except for those citizens who qualify for homestead exemption and those rates will be $14.00. These rates would also become effective July 1, 1992. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion. Bill Scoggins asked about the amount of loss per year that we have had to subsidize for this service. Mr. Hawkins said he thought the neighborhood cost was $138,000 to $140,000 per year and our Finance Director had projected that a fee of $15.50 per month would be required to simply break even, which would not include any recycling cost. Mr. Scoggins said this was an increase that could not be avoided and would support the motion. Mr. Hawkins said the underground system we use is a good one although it is expensive. The Clean City Commission had recommended a volume rate base system which would require, 1) that the garbage be weighed at pickup, or 2) that we provide three different size containers so that the customer would be charged according to the size of container. The most workable plan is one that utilizes the different size containers but our underground system does not lend itself to that plan. It was felt that weighing the garbage at pickup was too expensive and time consuming to consider. Mr. Lnenicka said he agreed that the inground system was popular and he felt the residents would prefer to keep the inground system as long as we can afford to do so. Mr. Lnenicka said he appreciated the work the committee had put into this issue and while nobody wants to pass on a rate increase, felt these services should pay for themself rather than be subsidized through property taxes. After further discussion, vote on the motion carried 6-0. Mr. Hawkins said there are 71 business in the City who still utilize the inground system because they are located in buildings that have been converted from residential to commercial use and the trucks do not have sufficient room to pick up commercial size dumpsters. Mr. Hawkins made a motion the rates for these businesses be increased to $22.50 per month, plus $2.50 for each additional can, also effective July 1, 1992. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion. Wade Lnenicka said he would support the motion but did not feel the rate for the second can was not enough to discourage the volume of garbage that we are required by law to reduce, and asked that the committee review that charge at a later date and to increase if it should be. Vote on the motion carried 6-0. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: (A) Smyrna Christian Church requested a building for an 850,000 square foot addition at an estimated cost of $347,000. Jim Hawkins made a motion the permit be approved. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 6-0. (B) Checkers Restaurant requested a permit for new construction on South Cobb Drive at Highlands Parkway at an estimated cost of $75,000. Bill Scoggins made a motion the permit be approved seconded by Pete Wood. Vote carried 6-0. (C) Andrews Construction requested a permit for new construction of an office building at 3080 Corn Road at an estimated cost of $210,000. Jim Hawkins made a motion the permit be approved. Pete Wood seconded the motion May 4, 1992 meeting - continued which carried 6-0. (D) Cobb County Board of Education requested a permit for a classroom addition at Brown Elementary School at a total estimated cost of $473,000. Jim Hawkins made a motion the permit be approved. Bill Scoggins seconded the motion which carried 6-0. RM AWARDR (A) Jim Hawkins made a motion the bid for curbside recycling be awarded to BFI at 1.83 per household, seconded by Bill Scoggins. Mr. Hawkins said this was not necessarily the low bid but the other companies were bidding on co -mingled recycling and we feel that BFI offered the most professional system. BFI will sort the materials at the street which will give the impression to the citizens that we are serious about recycling and that the materials will be properly disposed of. The effective date for the recycling program will also be July 1, 1992. This is a 3 year contract and price increases are tied to the CPI with no set increases. Vote on the motion to approve the bid carried 6-0. (B) Jim Hawkins made a motion the bid for disposal of yard waste be awarded to Southern States at $21.50/ton, effective June 1, 1992. Pete Wood seconded the motion. Mr. Hawkins stated that the City currently pays $30/ton to dispose of yard waste and it is estimated that 20% of the material going into the landfill is yard waste. Only two bids were received and Southern States was able to provide a site to take the yard waste to; the other bid required that we store on city property for them to pick up. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval of April 20, 1992 minutes (B) Approval to advertise Charter amendment, Section 35(A) (C) Ratification of Cafeteria Plan administrator (ARS, Inc.) Jim Hawkins made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Wade Lnenicka seconded the motion which carried 6-0. COMMITTEE REPORTS: John Patrick commended Kathy Barton and other city staff members for the good job they did in organizing the Jonquil Festival activities. Laurel Best, Vic Broyles, Kathy Barton and Sherry Reavis were called on for reports from their department. Jim Hawkins said there was a recent article in the Marietta Journal about a town in Massachusetts that recently adopted a cat ordinance. We are still working on a similar ordinance that can be effectively enforced. Jack Cramer thanked Belmont Hills Elementary School for inviting him to judge their craft show on Saturday. Mr. Cramer also thanked Officer Doug Carlson for the time he has spent talking to residents about break-ins and informing them of measures they can take to protect themselves. Also, the Zayres building is being torn down and construction will soon begin for Bruno's Food World. Pete Wood said the council committees have just completed meetings with their department heads to discuss the proposed FY93 budgets and we are in the process of enrolling employees in the new insurance and benefit program through a new self -funded plan recently approved. With no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m. May 4, 1992 meeting - continued Y// A, A !dam A. MAX BACON, MAYOR MELIND AMERON, CIYY CLERK AOHN. PATRICK.,,WARD 1 RON NEWCOMB, WARD 2