08-04-1980 Regular Meeting (3)August 4, 1980
The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held pursuant to the Charter
on August 4, 1980 in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The meeting was called to
order by presiding officer Mayor Frank Johnson. All Council members were present.
Also present was City Attorney Charles E. Camp, City Clerk Willouise Spivey,
Director of Finance & Administration Gunter Newsom, Police Chief R. E. Little,
Assistant Fire Chief Hubert Cochran, Public Works Director Jim David, Parks and
Recreation Director Bill Johnston, Building Inspector Dan Steely, Civil Defense
Director Jim Farley and representatives of the press.
Invocation was given by Jim Hawkins, followed by the pledge to the flag.
Citizens Reports: Jay Golden, Director of the Smyrna Swim Team Parents Association
said Smyrna had hosted the 5th District GRPS Swim Meet this past weekend. The
meet was very successful and there was a great deal of favorable comments concern-
ing the facilities and the manner in which the meet was conducted. Mr. Golden said
he was proud of our city for providing these facilities and for the Parks and Recrea-
tion Department for their assistance. The City will send 22 children to the State
meet out of approximately 75 that participated, and five of these swimmers set new
records. Mr. Golden presented each council member with a t-shirt and patch. Jim
Tolleson said he had received comments from citizens about how well the swim meet
was run this year, and the credit goes to Mr. Golden. Jim thanked him for his efforts.
The Atlanta Track Club requested a parade permit for the St. Thomas 8-Mile Road
Race to be held August 23, 1980. John Steely made a motion the permit be granted,
subject to approval by the Police Chief. Max Bacon seconded the motion which carried
by a 7-0 vote.
Wink Winkenhofer stated he had become aware lately that a lot of people in Smyrna
and surrounding areas were not aware of the changes in emergency ambulance service
that has taken place in the last 2 years due to the other two funeral homes dis-
continuing their emergency service. In the last few weeks there have been quite
a few emergency calls resulting in a series of unnecessary steps before reaching
an ambulance that would respond to the call. Mr. Winkenhofer..said he had prepared
a letter for Mayor and Council notifying them of the changes in services, and
hoped they would take whatever steps were necessary to inform the public.
Malt Beverage Pouring License: Ringo's Wharf, 421 Jones Shaw Road, applied for a
malt.beverage pouring license and the request was tabled at the July 21st meeting
due to the application being incomplete. Since that time, Mr. Robert Edinger,
applicant, has advised the City that he lost the lease on the building and requested
that the application be withdrawn.
Beer & Wine Package License: Nak Won Song made application for a beer and wine.
package license for Sunshine Food Store, 540 Cherokee Road. A letter from the
applicant's attorney, Weston D. Baxter, was read requesting that the application
be withdrawn.
Beer & Wine Package..License: Hyman Lee Davidson.requested a license for the sale
of beer and wine at Smyrna Market, 3350 South Cobb Drive. Mayor Johnson stated
as a point of clarification that the reason we have so many applications on the
agenda tonight is that in the past we.have.had some delay in the Federal research
investigation report coming to us, and some of these applications have been held
three or four months pending these reports. Jerry Mills said for the record, that
twelve months ago Council had a show cause hearing for Smyrna Market resulting in
temporary suspension of the beer license and twelve months probation, but at this
time, the probationary period has expired. A letter from Chief R. E. Little was
read stating the police investigation did not, at this time, reveal any factors
which would prevent issuance of the license. ..There was no opposition to the license
request. Jerry Mills made a motion the license.be granted. John Steely seconded
the motionwhich carried by a 7-0 vote.
Beer Package License: Mr. John T. Hicks requested a license for the sale of beer
at Gas-n-Glo #7, 3307 South Cobb Drive. There was no opposition to the request.
The police investigation did not reveal any factors at this time, which would
prevent issuance of this license. Jim Hawkins said the application and survey of
location seemed to be in order and made a motion the license be granted...Jerry
Mills seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote.
Variance Request: Mr. Joseph M. Briglevich requested a variance..from the ordinance
on the side yard requirement, from 15' to 5'.to allow for the construction of a
new office building next to Smyrna Hospital_ Attorney Tom Lawler, representing
(Continuation of August 4, 1980 Meeting)
Dr. Crary, spoke in opposition of the granting of the variance. After discussion,
John Steely said he was not in favor of granting a variance on a verbal agreement,
and made a motion the request be tabled until we receive something in writing
from Smyrna Hospital. Jerry Mills seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote.
Max Bacon made a motion that Council approve the following resolution which would
make available a deferred compensation plan for city employees:
RESOLVED: that the City Council of the City of Smyrna, Georgia, desiring
to make available to its employees the benefits of a plan of Deferred
Compensation whereunder each eligible employee may elect to defer receipt
of a portion of his annual compensation, whereby adopts the City of Smyrna
Deferred Compensation Plan, substantially in the form of the plan attached
to these resolutions, with such changes therein not inconsistent with the
tenor thereof, as may be authorized by the Employee Benefits Committee of
the City Council upon the advice of the City Attorney.
RESOLVED: that the City Treasurer will administer the plan as appropriate.
RESOLVED: that the City Treasurer is authorized to take such steps,
including the purchase of insurance or annuity contracts from the Hartford
Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company in the name of the City, as may
be deemed necessary or desirable to effectuate and carry out the plan.
RESOLVED: that the plan shall be effective for the plan year commencing
August 4, 1980.
John Steely seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote.
Commercial building permits were presented by Inspector Dan Steely as follows:
(1) T & I Construction requested a building permit to construct a doctor's
office in the existing building at Ridgeview Institute Professional Building, at
an estimated cost of $16,000. Plans had been reviewed by the Fire Marshal and
Building Inspector. Jim Hawkins made a motion the permit be approved. Jim
Tolleson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote.
Jim Hawkins made a motion the minutes of July 7, 1980 be approved as submitted.
John Steely seconded the motion. Jerry Mills said he was voting to approve the
minutes but he did not agree with certain portions, specifically the statements
made by Jim Tolleson, Jim Hawkins and Max Bacon. Vote on the motion carried by
a 6-0 vote, with Jack Shinall abstaining.
Jim Tolleson made a motion the minutes of July 21, 1980 be approved as submitted.
Elbert Coalson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote.
Committee Reports: Jim Tolleson urged everyone to re -read the minutes of the
July 7, 1980 meeting because he felt there were some things said that they should
pay heed to, particularly the part where he asked the Mayor to do something about
the leak to the newspapers. Jim urged the Mayor to try and find out who gave
thefstory to the press and do something about it. Mayor Johnson asked Mr. Tolleson
if he had any ideas about how to do that, and if so, to,.let him know.
Max Bacon thanked Bill Johnston and his staff for a job well done at the swim
meet on Saturday. Max said he had no other comments concerning his statement on
July 7th and he really didn't know any way, other than taking a lie detector test,
to clear his conscience.
Jim Hawkins asked Gunter Newsom for a report on the progress of the zoning maps.
Gunter said progress had been slow, but we were working on them. It was really
a matter of priorities as to how quickly we could get them updated. Jim said
he would like to see it moved to a higher priority, because it was making the job
difficult for our Planning and Zoning Board and for the Inspections Department.
Jim Hawkins said he had met with a committee of merchants in the area who had
protested the adoption of the amendment to the Code dealing with portable signs
and he would be making a recommendation to Council at the next meeting of some
slight variations to the ordinance. Also at the same meeting, Mr. Kipreos, owner
of Fat Boy Restaurant, was present to talk about some problems he is having with
Southern Bell storing cable reels on their property next to his restaurant. Jim
said he had talked to Mack Henderson with Southern Bell about moving the reels to
the other side of the lot and Mr. Henderson said he would look into it, and if
(Continuation of August 4, 1980 Meeting)
they could possibly be moved, they would. Legally, however, there is nothing
that the City can do to have the reels removed.
Jack Shinall reported the City had not experienced any water shortages.
Elbert Coalson read the letter from Wink Winkenhofer to Mayor and Council explain-
ing the change in emergency ambulance service. He assured Mr. Winkenhofer we
would do everything we could to educate the public and asked the press to give
it as much publicity as possible.
John Steely said the Senior Citizens Center was complete except for some minor
details. The grand opening will be around the middle of September. John commended
Bill and his staff for the good job they did at the swim meet. John said we have
submitted our tentative agreement for North Smyrna Park to the State but have
not heard from them.
Announcements: Next council meeting on August 18th.
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
August 18, 1980
The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held August 18, 1980, at
City Hall, Smyrna, Georgia. The meeting was called to order by presiding officer
Mayor Frank B. Johnson at 7:30 o'clock p.m. All Council members were present.
Also present was City Attorney Charles E. Camp, City Clerk Willouise Spivey, Police
Chief Everett Little, Finance Director Gunter Newsom, Building Inspector Dan Steely,
Parks and Recreation Director Bill Johnston, Assistant Fire Chief Hubert Cochran,
Public Works Director Jim David, Civil Defense Director Jim Farley and representa-
tives of the press.
Invocation was given by Elbert Coalson, followed by the pledge to the flag.
Citizens Reports: Ferrell Bentley of the Smyrna Jaycees requested a permit for
--the :Jaycees to hold a road -block for the purpose of collecting funds for Muscular
Dystrophy, on August 23rd from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Spring and Hargrove,
and on Sunday from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. at South Cobb -Drive and Spring Road.
Mr. Bentley was advised to check with Police Chief Little.
Ms. Pearl Lane of 825 Flagler Circle stated she has been having trouble with the
creek behind her house. It has widened over the years and is now within three feet
of her home. She stated a rock wall was put in but collapsed within about eight
months, and the only way to correct the problem is to lay pipes. Water from
several streets drains into this branch, making it rapid and erosive during a big
rain. Jerry Mills stated she does have a real problem and the water will get the
to the house soon. John Steely said he could understand her problems but we had
this same condition all over the City. Jim Tolleson and Jim Hawkins also said
they had the same problems in their ward. Jerry Mills made a motion to approve the
cost of running pipe from one end of the house to the other end, approximately 40
feet, in order to protect the house, for an estimated cost of $7500 to be paid from
State Grants. Elbert Coalson seconded the motion. After discussion the motion lost
by a 3-4 vote. Jerry Mills, Jim Hawkins and Elbert Coalson voted for. Jim Tolleson,
John Steely, Jack Shinall and Max Bacon voted against.
Elbert Coalson said he would like Mayor and Council to pay tribute to Clarence 0.
Canada who passed away last week. Mr. Canada served on City Council for ten (10)
years and did a lot for this city. He was especially dedicated to the Parks and
Recreation Department and served as Chairman of that committee several years.
Approval of Management Changes: Malt Beverage and Wine License
Jim Hawkins read the list of six (6) management changes and addresses and also a
cover letter from the Police Department stating that department does not, as of