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06-19-1995 Regular MeetingJune 19, 1995 The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held at Smyrna City Hall. The meeting was called to order by presiding officer Mayor A. Max Bacon at 7:30 o'clock p.m. All council members were present except Councilman Ron Newcomb, who was out of town. Also present was City Administrator Bob Thomson, City Clerk Melinda Dameron, City Attorney Charles E. Camp, Fire Chief Larry Williams, Finance Director Claudia Edgar, Assistant Public Works Director Ray Curtis, Police Chief Stan Hook, Parks and Recreation Representative Patty Bacon, Community Relations Director Kathie Barton, Clean and Beautiful Coordinator Ann Kirk, Personnel Director Mary Ann White, City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt, Chief Building Official Scott Stokes and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Councilman Pete Wood, followed by the pledge to the flag. CITIZENS INPUT: There was none. Mayor Bacon stated for the record Councilman Ron Newcomb is out of town on business. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (A) Approval of FY96 Budget Councilman Wood stated that before he discusses the budget, he would like to make a few comments about the financial condition of the City. He stated the city is in very sound financial condition, has adequate reserves to meet any unexpected emergencies that might happen. He stated the city has relatively low bonded debt for a city its size and have a strong rating by the major bond ratings service, Moody's Investors Service and Standard and Poore's; both of these agencies reviewed our financials last fall prior to the sale of the city's last bonds for the Public Safety facility and were extremely complimentary of the city and its financial condition. He stated the city is audited annually by Andersen, Hunt and Company, Certified Public Accountants; they are an independent, external accounting firm. He then read a couple of excerpts from their report of examination that they filed with the Mayor and Council of the City of Smyrna, September 13, 1994. Mr. Wood then read, "We have audited the accompanying General Purpose Financial Statements of the City of Smyrna, Georgia, and the combining individual fund and account group Financial Statements of the City of Smyrna, Georgia, as of and for the year ended June 30, 1994. We conducted our audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller of the United States and the provisions of the Office of Management and Budgets, Circular A-128 Audits of State and Local Governments. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the Financial Statements are free of material mis-statement. In our opinion, the General Purpose Financial Statements referred to above present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the City of Smyrna, Georgia, on June 30, 1994, and the results of this operations and the. cash flow of proprietary fund types for the year then ended in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles." Mr. Wood then stated that was a clean opinion from our auditors so he thought it was noteworthy that for seven consecutive years, the City of Smyrna has received the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports. He then stated he felt the citizens wanted to know that their city is in sound financial condition and that has been stated by the outside auditors. Mr. Wood then stated the fiscal year 1996 budget is presented in actually three components. The General Fund Budget, the Special Revenue Funds Budget and the Water/Sewer Fund. He then stated he would cover all these as he proceeded. Proposed fiscal year 1996 General Fund Budget is $18,860,902, which is a $1,182,807 increase over FY95 or 6.69%. Special Revenue Fund Budget is $2,687,866 an increase of $979,022 over the FY95 budget which is 57.29% increase. The Water/Sewer Fund Budget is $6,682,019 -- $384,552 increase over FY95 or 6.11% increase. Overall the consolidated budget of $28,228,987 is 9.92% over FY95 budget. Mr. Wood stated the city proposes that this budget be approved with no tax increase. He stated he would like to cover some of the major components of both the revenue and expense side of the General Fund first. He then stated with respect to revenues that this budget proposes or expects an increase of approximately 4.2% or $278,195 from property tax, all of this is expected to come from growth and annexations. Franchise and other taxes will increase about 4.8% or $206,500. Sales and service charge revenue will increase about 9.7% or $328,802. On the expense side, personnel service increases will approximate 4.4%n or $284,616. This includes the 5`/o merit increase for eligible employees, and also includes funding for a Classification and Compensation adjustment program. By approving this budget, the council will, in effect, be adopting the results of the David M. Griffith Study for classification and compensation in the city. Mr. Wood stated new positions included in the budget are seven uniform patrol officers, which was accomplished through the "COPS" Program Grant with the city funding 25% of the salary of these new police officers and the COPS Grant will fund 75% of their salary. Additionally, the city will provide the uniforms and equipment needed June 19 1995 meeting - continued by these officers. He stated this will enable the city to bring our sworn officer total to 88. He stated also in the budget are two Court Services officers who will be serving warrants which is expected to generate additional revenue that will offset the cost of these additional officers. He stated the only other new position is a part-time Assistant Senior Programming Coordinator for the Parks Program Division. A total of nine full-time and one part-time position are included in the budget proposal. The capital outlay will increase 27.2% or $150,418. This ties into the Capital Improvements Program that we are proposing to adopt this year and we owe a lot of thanks to our Department Heads and Finance Department for working a number of months on a Capital Improvements Program that is for a five-year period. He stated we are funding the first year of that five-year program and in the next fiscal year we will add a year and it will be an on -going five-year plan. He stated the city proposes to finance this program in the budget at a cost of $955,000. He stated from the standpoint of the General Fund, those are the major components of the increase in that budget. In the budget, which the city is proposing without a tax increase, is that the city will also pick up debt service requirements of our new bond issue for the Public Safety facility which totals about $535,000 additional for FY96. Mr. Wood then asked if there were any questions from council concerning the operating budget. Mayor Bacon stated this is a public hearing item and asked if there was anyone who would like to make any comments or inquiries about the adoption of the budget. There was none from the audience. Councilman Hawkins stated he would like to make a comment about the two new officers for the Court Services Division. Mr. Hawkins stated the city has been doing a pretty good job recently about going after people who fail to show for their court hearings in Municipal Court and what the city has been doing is having regular police officers at night, working overtime or working at a different rate of pay, to go out and serve those warrants. He stated what he envisions happening with these two new positions is that they will be deputized, sworn and receive the same mandated training that police officers receive. He stated they will be deputized by the County Sheriff which means they can serve warrants anywhere in Cobb County and that will mean, that in the past, a lot of folks that just did not bother to show up for a Municipal Court hearing and in the past if they did not live right in the City of Smyrna proper you had a 50/50 chance of nothing happening to you. If you lived in Smyrna we could pretty well find them. He stated those days are going to end. If you do not show up for your Court date in Municipal Court, we are going to issue a warrant for you and we will come after you. We are going to have two full-time people whose job is going to be to find you and of course when they do, and they will find you, you will come to court anyway and you're going to pay not only the regular fine but also be charged with failure to show for court and you will have to pay additional monies. He stated based on the numbers he has seen the amount of money generated by these two positions will more than pay their salaries. He further stated he did not think these two positions will cost the budget any money and he is showing additional revenue that will be generated in uncollected fines. Councilman Scoggins commented that he feels sure the motion will reflect a millage rate of 11.5 and Mr. Wood responded the millage rate will remain at 11.50 which is what it is in the current fiscal year. Councilman Scoggins then stated we are looking at two years in a row that the millage rate has been 11.5. Councilman Wood responded this will actually be the fifth year in a row that there has been no tax increase and that three of those, the three past consecutive years, we have actually lowered the millage rate each year. Councilman Scoggins stated he thought it was important to note that you mentioned in your report that the Department Heads worked real hard on this particular budget to keep it at 11.5 and he thinks there are some people we are forgetting in our consideration, that he has always said can make it or break it and that is the citizens. We take projects like the Clean and Beautiful which has hundreds of volunteers that work on this committee and the city saves thousands and thousands of dollars which reflects back on this budget. He then congratulated the citizens of Smyrna for helping us maintain the 11.5 millage rate and those are the people that we need to recognize. Councilman Wood state the next budget entity is the Water/Sewer Fund which is basically an enterprise fund which stands on its own. The proposal is that this fund will increase 6.11% or $384,500 over the previous year. Basically, all of this increase in cost comes from the operating expenses which includes the operating transfers, principal payments and operating supplies and all the supply cost is based on past history. We are talking about a $384,500 increase in the revenue side to come from the growth of the city's water and sewer services and past history of this account, so it is pretty much a standstill as far as that particular budget with just the growth accounting for both increase in revenue and the expense side. Councilman Hawkins stated on that note that he knows that the Cobb -Marietta Water Authority is probably going to continue to increase water rates until the year 2000 and the County did not increase any sewer this year but we know in the future years they will. He then said in this particular budget year we are not raising any sewer or water fees and asked Mr. Wood if that was correct. Mr. Wood June 19 1995 meeting - continued responded at this particular time the budget does not include any increases, but of course, we have to wait and see what actual increases are passed on and we may have to pass them on early next year if they come or if it is such that we can not absorb them any other way but at this time it does not include any increases. Mr. Hawkins stated what he is getting at is the city is not going to make any increases unless we get an increase from either the Water Authority or Cobb County Water and Sewer. Mr. Wood responded that is correct. Mr. Hawkins then said we can go through this budget at the same rates and Mr. Wood responded that was correct. Councilman Wood stated the third component of the budget process is the Special Revenue Funds and basically while I read a very, very large increase in these funds of 57.29% over FY95 virtually all of those funds come from two sources and that is the 1% Road Tax which was renewed in 1994 by the citizens of Cobb County and we will get $1,456,000 projected in our budget from that source and that is about double what we are presently getting. He stated the other major component of that fund is the Community Development Block Grant Funds and we have an increase of $210,000. All of those funds are virtually all committed to the Church Street Senior Citizens Center which has been approved and funded through this source so while we get a big number increase in the percentage, all of it is from essentially those sources and of course the 1% Transportation Improvement Tax funds are restricted revenue in a sense that they are used for roads, drainage, landscaping, bridges and sidewalks and things pertaining to the road system but we are very pleased that the citizens of Cobb County passed an extension of that and certainly it benefits the citizens of Smyrna. Mr. Wood then stated again that's the three components totaling $28,228,987 an increase of 9.92% over the 95 budget and moves approval of this budget for FY96. Motion was seconded by Councilman Cramer. Motion was approved 6-0. Councilman Wood stated for the record he would like to move that the tentative millage rate for 1995 be set at 11.50 mills, the same as 1994. Motion was seconded by Councilman Hawkins. Councilman Wood stated the reason it is tentative is because we can not adopt a millage rate as a permanent rate until after the tax digest is prepared and submitted to us by Cobb County and we don't expect that to change but nevertheless we have to approve it as a tentative rate until we get the digest in August or September. Motion was approved 6-0. Mayor Bacon expressed special thanks to Claudia Edgar, new Finance Director, for her efforts in this budget process and the department heads who worked so hard on the preparation of this budget. Councilman Wood stated he wanted to especially thank Greg Van Antwerp, Budget Analyst, and Mike Hickenbottom, Accounting Manager, on their diligent work with Claudia Edgar and the department heads on the preparation of this budget. He stated this budget process, if you count the Capital Improvements Program part of this which goes back to last fall, the main portion of the budget planning and development starts in February but those department heads and virtually all of them worked on it at one time or another, the Capital Improvements Program, and he said he could not say enough about this step. He stated it has been discussed for a long time in the City of Smyrna but we seemed to have never gotten over the hump on that five-year Capital Improvements Program and we started a new process for this budget and he is sure it is for the benefit of the city and its citizens. (B) Change of Precinct Voting Location - Ward 3 Mr. Thomson stated Phase II of the downtown development will require that the current Municipal Court building, which is also the Ward 3 polling place, be torn down. The relocation will become effective immediately after the Justice Department approves it. The approval tonight and subsequent submission to the Justice Department will allow time for the Cobb Board of Elections to notify voters of the district. The new polling place for Ward 3 will be in the large gym at the Smyrna Community Center and will be a better location, more accessible and has already been approved by Cobb Board of Elections. Mayor Bacon stated this is a public hearing and asked if anyone was present to make any public comments on this issue. There was none. Councilman Scoggins stated this is a situation where you get into a habit of going to a certain place to vote but this is another indication of our city moving forward. We are having to relocate for the simple reason that we are going to tear down the old one and start with a new one. Councilman Scoggins made a motion that the city relocate the Ward 3 voting precinct to the Community Center effective immediately upon the approval by the United States Justice Department. Councilman Lnenicka seconded the motion. City Attorney Chuck Camp asked that the councilmen not make it effective upon the approval by the Justice Department but effective for the November election just in case we do not hear back from the Justice Department in time for that election. Councilman Scoggins said so moved. Councilman Lnenicka June 19, 1995 meeting - continued seconded the motion. Motion was approved 6-0. (C) Alcoholic Beverage License - Retail Pouring of Beer and Wine - Lucky Cafe - 2406 N. Atlanta Road Mr. Thomson stated the location was formerly the Waffle King. Mr. Bruce Chan has been given a copy of the alcoholic beverage license ordinance and the Business License Officer has reviewed the guidelines with Mr. Chan and he has indicated he will abide by the ordinance and acknowledges his familiarity with the rules and regulations. The application requests that it be approved for 2406 N. Atlanta Road and the police department background investigation reveals nothing that would preclude the issuance of this license. Mayor Bacon asked Mr. Chan to step forward and asked if there was anyone present in opposition to the granting of this alcoholic beverage request. There was none. Councilman Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he will be the owner and operator of the Lucky Cafe, Inc. Mr. Chan responded yes, he and a partner. Mr. Hawkins asked if this is the former location of the Waffle King on Atlanta Road and Mr. Chan responded yes. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he had ever held a license to sell alcohol. Mr. Chan responded yes at the House of Wong in Marietta. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he understands the Alcohol Beverage Ordinance and Mr. Chan responded yes. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he thought he would have any trouble complying with the ordinance and Mr. Chan responded no. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he knew he has to permit his employees who sell alcohol and Mr. Chan responded yes. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he planned to comply with that and Mr. Chan responded yes. Mr. Hawkins asked Mr. Chan if he knew the general Georgia laws pertaining to the sale of alcohol and Mr. Chan responded yes. An investigation was done on Mr. Chan by Lt. Joe Martin of the Smyrna Police and he indicates there is nothing in his background or the background of his spouse that would preclude that would reveal any information issuance of the license applied for. Mr. Hawkins stated he understood this to mean there were no problems at the previous location Mr. Chan was the agent for and Mr. Chan responded there had been no problems. Mr. Chan stated they will serve American food. Councilman Hawkins made a motion that Mr. Chan be approved to be the license holder to serve alcoholic beverages at the Lucky Cafe at 2406 N. Atlanta Road. Motion was seconded by Councilman Cramer. Motion was approved 6-0. (D) Variance Request - 580 Plaza Drive - Reduce Rear Yard Setback from 30 Feet to 20 Feet Mr. Thomson stated the applicant, Mr. Ducre, is requesting the variance to add another bedroom and bathroom onto the rear of his home. Mayor Bacon stated this is a public hearing and asked if there was anyone present in opposition to the granting of this variance request. There was none. Councilman Cramer asked Mr. Ducre to explain what he plans to do at this location. Mr. Ducre stated he plans to increase his family and wants to add a bedroom and bathroom to his home. Mr. Cramer stated he has letters from his neighbors at 570 and 590 Plaza Drive stating they have no objections to the additions proposed by Mr. Ducre. Councilman Cramer made a motion that the variance request at 580 Plaza Drive to reduce the rear yard setback from 30 feet to 20 feet be approved. Councilman Lnenicka seconded the motion. Motion was approved 6-0. (E) Variance Request - 1230 Parkland Run - Reduce Rear Yard Setback from 30 Feet to 15 Feet Mr. Thomson stated Oglesby Builders is requesting a variance for the relocation of footings due to finding a wet water spring on the subject property. Mayor Bacon stated this is a public hearing and asked if anyone was present in opposition to the granting of this variance request. There was none. Councilman Wood asked Mr. Oglesby to explain why he needs this variance for this particular lot. Mr. Oglesby stated drainage problems and easements on both sides of the footings required that they shift the house to the back side of the pie -shaped lot. He stated this is the only place they can put the house on the lot to keep the water from draining onto the foundation and not encroach on the sewer easement. Mr. Wood stated he thought all the council was aware of the Parkland Run subdivision off Cooper Lake Road which is a very nice development and he certainly understands the problem and has visited the site as well June 19, 1995 meeting - continued as Chief Building Inspector Scott Stokes. Mr. Wood stated unfortunately they tried to comply but ran into the spring on one side and the sewer easement and had very little alternative but to relocate the house. He stated Mr. Oglesby has a letter signed by the neighbors at 1220 and 1240 Parkland Run stating they have no objections to the variance request. Councilman Lnenicka asked Mr. Oglesby to provide the City Clerk with the letters so they can become part of the official record. Councilman Lnenicka asked if this house backs up to the CSX railroad line and Mr. Oglesby stated that was correct. Councilman Wood made a motion the variance request at 1230 Parkland Run to reduce the rear yard setback from 30 feet to 15 feet be approved. Councilman Cramer seconded the motion. Motion was approved 6-0. FORMAL BUSINESS: (A) Amendment to Bond Schedule Mr. Thomson stated the Court Services Committee is recommending to the Mayor and Council the adoption of the attached Bond Schedule. Councilman Hawkins asked Solicitor John Isom to come forward to present this issue. Mr. Isom stated he and Judge Whaley have worked for several months on this issue and this charge would apply mainly to the bond schedule for speeding violations. He also stated if a violator reaches a certain speed they will have to come to court and that speed is roughly 30-31 miles an hour above a posted speed limit. He stated he and Judge Whaley agreed that in a town the size of Smyrna if you are speeding 30-31 miles above the speed limit you need to appear in court and let the Judge decide what the remedy and fine should be. He stated the schedule is pretty consistent. Councilman Hawkins stated the biggest change in the schedule is the city will now look up the last five years driving history and if you have had a moving violation in the last five years it will add $15 to your fine. He then stated for example if you are caught doing 15 mph over the speed limit it is a $60 fine but if you have had a ticket for a moving violation last year it will add $15 to the fine amount. He stated they will go back five years on the driving record. Solicitor Isom stated this will apply to any moving violation, not just speeding. Councilman Hawkins if most other courts have been doing this for a while and Mr. Isom responded most courts do have an assessment fee for multiple offenses in the past five years and he and the Judge feels $15 is adequate. Solicitor Isom stated that tomorrow's calendar has 304 cases on it and if just half of those have prior violations, based on tomorrow's calendar, if 170 people have prior violations and you figure $15 additional dollars per ticket and we have approximately 90 courts a year that would generate approximately $250,000 increase and so forth. Councilman Hawkins said speeding in residential areas is one of the number one complaints the council receive. Councilman Lnenicka asked if it would be fair to say this proposed bond scheduled is or is not based on a request by the Mayor and Council to increase revenues. Mr. Isom responded it was not based on anything to increase revenues. Mr. Lnenicka then stated this was proposed on an equity basis and Mr. Isom responded that was correct. Councilman Hawkins made a motion that the new bond schedule be adopted. Councilman Lnenicka seconded the motion. Councilman Hawkins also asked that a copy of this new bond schedule be available at the Court and also in the City Clerk's office. Motion was approved 6-0. COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS: There were none. BID AWARDS: There were none. CONSENT AGENDA: (A) Approval of June 5, 1995, Minutes (B) Approval to Request Bids for Water Meters (C) Approval to Transfer Funds from Contingency Fund to Parks and Recreation Administration (D) Approval to Use Council Chambers - June 22, 1995, From 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for Ward 5 Meeting (E) Approval to Transfer CDBG Funds - Church Street Center - (Account CDM095) $85,223 (F) Approval to Purchase 2600 Atlanta Road Property Mayor Bacon read the consent agenda and noted that the date listed in Item (D) Approval to Use Council Chambers - June 22, 1995, from 7-9 p.m. should be changed to June 28, 1995. Councilman Wood made a motion the consent agenda be approved. Councilman Scoggins seconded the motion. Motion was June 19 1995 meeting - continued approved 6-0. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Patrick reported 372 children have enrolled in the Summer Reading Program and the Smyrna Library Gallery is featuring oil paintings by Sue Dean and Dale ~Stoner, two local artists. He stated on Wednesday, June 21, at 10:00 a.m. the Summer Reading Program for Kids will feature Harlem Globetrotter Tyrone "Hollywood" Brown who will give a talk on why children should read. Councilman Scoggins asked Kathie Barton for a report on Community Relations. Ms. Barton announced Lt. Mike Brown will be kicking off his community oriented police program and will be featured on several local radio stations. She stated on July 13 at 7:00 a.m. he will be featured on Channel 5 "Good Day Atlanta" and urged everyone to watch. Ms. Barton stated on June 21 the media should be out in force to film Tyrone "Hollywood" Brown at the Library. Mr. Scoggins asked Ann Kirk for a report on Smyrna Clean and Beautiful. Ms. Kirk thanked Councilman Scoggins for recognizing the citizens input into keeping taxes lower in the city of Smyrna. Ms. Kirk stated on July 1 the curbside recycling will be a participant in revenue sharing and will be paid $15 a ton for revenue sharing with recycling efforts with BFI. Ms. Kirk reported this money will go into our General Revenue Fund and should help offset some city expenses and they are expecting between $15,000 and $30,000 in added revenues next year. Ms. Kirk stated last month the city had a 72% recycling rate and recycled almost 100 tons and our current tipping fees savings for this fiscal year are $29,000. Councilman Scoggins reminded the residents of Ward 3 that he and Mayor Bacon are hosting a town hall meeting June 20 at the Community Center at 7:00 p.m. and urged all interested residents of Ward 3 to attend. Councilman Hawkins stated there is not a report from either the Fire Department or Court Services Department tonight. In the absence of Councilman Newcomb, Councilman Cramer asked Mary Ann White if she had a report from the Human Resources Department. Ms. White reported there will be a Police Sergeant's exam this Saturday at the Community Center. She also stated there will be an assessment center taking place in July for those candidates who successfully pass the written portion of the exam. She announced there is an opening for a part-time community center supervisor, consisting of about 35 hours a month. Councilman Cramer stated there is no report from the Parks and Recreation Department this evening. He then announced Smyrna Little League is hosting a tournament this week at the park and urged everyone to come out and watch the tournament. Mr. Cramer reported the only available time for his Ward 5 meeting is June 28. Councilman Lnenicka stated the residents of Argyle Estates will be receiving a notice put out by some of their neighbors about a Neighborhood Watch Program meeting that will be Tuesday, June 27, at the Community Center. Councilman Lnenicka stated the bids for the traffic signal signalization project on South Cobb Drive will be let in about a week. This project will coordinate signals from Pat Mell Road on the north to I-285 on the South and should be completed this year. Councilman Lnenicka expressed his appreciation to the Parks and Recreation Department for the wonderful concert held Friday evening. Councilman Lnenicka stated he felt there was no duty more important to the elected officials than to do a very good job in putting together and passing a sound budget for the city. He stated this is the citizen's money and entrusted to the elected officials to do a good job with it. He stated the budget passed tonight is a good budget and is one we will live by for the next year. Councilman Wood asked Ms. Edgar for a report on the Finance Department. Ms. Edgar expressed her appreciation to the Mayor and Council and department heads and her staff for their assistance in preparing the budget this year. . A. MAX BACON, MAYOR l JJHN PATRICK, WARD 1 BILL SC GGINS, W 3 JACK CRAMER, WARD 5 ICHARLES PETE WOOD, WARD 7 June 19 1995 meeting - continued Councilman Wood expressed his appreciation to the Ward 7 citizens who attended his town hall meeting last Tuesday evening. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. op �I ✓ IIAAfAqA 6''�� (AM-� MELINDA DAMERON, CITY CLERK RON NEWCOMB, WARD 2