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09-11-1978 Regular MeetingSeptember 11, 1978 The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held pursuant to the Charter on September 11, 1978 at City Hall, Smyrna, Georgia. The meeting was called to order by presiding officer Mayor Frank Johnson at 7:30 o'clock p.m. All Council ` members were present. Also present was City Attorney Charles Camp, City Clerk Willouise Spivey, Finance Director Gunter Newsom, Fire Chie_; Don Atkinson, Police Chief R. E. Little, Building Inspector John Steely, Parks and Recreation Director Asa Howard, Assistant Director Sherry Reavis, Public Works Director J. E. David and representatives of the press. Invocation was given by Councilman Jim Hawkins, followed by the pledge to the flag. Citizens reports: (1) David Farmer asked permission to hold a Bike-a-Thon on October 7, 1978. The starting time will be 9:00 o'clock a.m. from.Brinkley Park, to Legion Drive, Hunter Street, Dunn Street, Collier Drive, Lee Street, Daniel Drive, Dunn to Hunter Street and back to the park. The theme of the Bike-a-Thon will be "Youth Helping Youth", the proceeds going to the St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Barbara Price is the local chairman, sponsored by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Jim Tolleson made a motion the permit be granted. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. (2) Wayne Hill stated he was a Boy Scout and working on his Eagle Badge. One re- quirement is that he have a project that would benefit the City. He had talked with Parks and Recreation Director Asa Howard and was told he could work with him in parks. Asa said he could adopt a mini park or the cemetary and take care of the maintenance, etc., and he -would be glad to work with Mr. Hill. Elbert Coalson made a motion approval be given to Wayne Hill to work with the parks department to ful- fill his requirement for the Eagle Badge. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. (3) Jack Powell, owner of the Pro Bowlers Shop in Belmont Village, reported that kids were drinking beer and leaving broken bottles in the parking lot in front of his business. He stated they meet there every night and the parking lot was a mess every morning. Police Chief Little said he had had no complaints but that he would look into the problem. (4) Jay Wallace, applicant for the Smyrna Pawn Brokers to be located in Jonquil Plaza Shopping Center asked the status of his application. Mayor Johnson advised the application had been held up because it had not been advertised in the news- paper. Our ordinance reads that a pawn shop application must be advertised, but does not spell out the requirements; thus the delay. After discussion, Jerry Mills made a motion this request for license be advertised for one week and be heard at the September 18th meeting, since an amendment to the ordinance had not been voted upon. Rem Bennett seconded the motion and the vote was 6-1. Rem Bennett, Elbert Coalson, Jack Shinall, Jerry Mills, Bill Darby and Jim Tolleson voted for. Jim Hawkins voted against. (5) Bob Portwood, representing the Smyrna Athletic Association, thanked Mayor and Council and Parks and Recreation Director Asa Howard for their assistance in finding them a field on which to play their home games. They are using Wills and Floyd Middle School fields. Mayor Johnson thanked Mr. Portwood for coming and apologized for himself and Council -for not attending the SAA.parade on September 2nd; due to personal commitments on this Labor Day weekend. (6) W. L. Scroggs, 819 Bank Street, stated he was here in behalf of Senior Citizens who are disturbed about the increase in their taxes. He stated the increase in city, county and state taxes, plus increases in the sanitation and sewer charges were hard to -pay when you were on a fixed income, and he asked Mayor and Council to do everything they could in not imposing more taxes on these Senior Citizens. Jerry Mills said the finance committee was working on a plan to increase the amount of homestead exemption and they would like to have three or four Senior Citizens to work with them. Mr. Scroggs said he would be glad to contact the citizens and arrange to meet and work with the -finance committee. Jack Shinall said he was still pushing for a task force to get together and look at our overall tax situation, to meet with our county commissioners, our state officials assigned to the tax committee established, and go forward. (7) Mrs. Mary L. Garrett had a complaint about the fast traffic on Bank Street. She lives on Bank Street at Frasier Street. Due to a hill and speeding traffic, it is very difficult to drive into Bank Street from her driveway. She asked for more police protection on Bank Street to control the fast-moving traffic. Jack Shinall had distributed a petition with the signatures of 21 homeowners in the area (Continuation of September 11, 1978 Meeting) asking the speed be checked. Mr. Scroggs asked if a warning sign could be in- stalled. Jerry Mills asked Police Chief Little to look into a stop sign at Frasier and Bank Street and give the street committee a recommendation. In the meantime, "Slow" signs will be put up. Jack Shinall stated the street committee and police department had studied the intersection of Ward Street and Powder Springs Street and they feel a caution light at this point is not warranted. Their recommendation is that three-way stop signs be erected. Jack Shinall made a motion that three-way stop signs be put up at this intersection for a period of 60 days, after which time they will make a decision to remove them or make them permanent. Jerry Mills seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Opening of bids: Bids were opened, read and are recorded as follows: (1) No bids received for the three (3) surplused police cars. (2) Resurfacing of 21 streets: C. W. Matthews Co. $107,433.90 MacDougald-Warren, Inc. 87,564.50 Jim Hawkins made a motion bids be turned over to committee for action. Elbert Coalson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. (3) Heating and Air -Conditioning Maintenance Contract: Cobb Heating and Air $1,490.00 Reeves Heating and Air 2,650.00 Jerry Mills made a motion bids be turned over to the finance committee for review with authority to act. Rem Bennett seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Franchise transfer: Wyndell Dean, representing Cable Holdings, Inc., stated that on July 17, 1978 Mayor and Council approved the franchise transfer of the community antenna television service from Jones Intercable, Inc., to Cable Holdings, Inc. Mr. Dean said they now have formed a Georgia Corporation and asked the franchise transfer be approved to Cable Holdings of Georgia, Inc., instead of Cable Holdings, Inc. The stockholders are the same. Jerry Mills made a motion the transfer be approved for Cable Holdings of Georgia, Inc. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion and the vote was 7-0. Jack Shinall made a motion $4,376.77 be approved to replace water mains on Pasadena Place. This expense to be paid from the E&C Fund. Elbert Coalson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Jim Tolleson made a motion $2,500 be allocated to re -sod King Springs Park, to be paid from the Parks and Recreation budget, and be re-entered in the budget at.mid- year. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Commercial building permits were presented by Inspector John Steely and upon his recommendation the following action is recorded: (1) Dunkin' Donuts requested a side and rear yard variance in order to build a shop at the corner of South Cobb Drive and Concord Road, in Dickson Shopping Center. The existing building will be torn down. After discussion, Rem Bennett made a motion the variances be granted. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. (2) Western Auto requested a permit to remodel their building in Belmont Hills for a restaurant. Jack Shinall made a motion the permit be granted. Rem Bennett seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Plans were approved by the Fire Department. Rem Bennett made a motion a front yard variance of 14' be granted on Lot 27, Mosswood Court, Patricia Place subdivision, builder Giles R. Smith. Mr. Bennett had a letter signed by all the homeowners in the area stating they were aware of the variance and did not object. Jim Tolleson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Appointment: Jerry Mills made a motion A. L. Boyd be appointed as Clerk of the Civil Service Board. Elbert Coalson seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 (Continuation of September 11, 1978 Meeting) vote. This position was vacant due to the untimely death of Fred R. Maynard. Mayor Frank Johnson administered the Oath of Office to A. L. Boyd as Clerk of the Civil Service Board. Ordinance Amendment: Rem Bennett made a motion to amend the sign ordinance as follows: WHEREAS, general advertising signs (billboards) adversely affect the aesthetic quality of life in Smyrna and, WHEREAS, general advertising signs constitute undue distractions to motorists and, WHEREAS, general advertising signs have an adverse affect on the health, welfare and safety of the citizens of Smyrna, NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Mayor and Council of the City of Smyrna on September 11, 1978 do hereby amend Article 7 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Smyrna which is commonly called the "Sign Code" as follows: Amend Section 6-100 "Prohibited Signs" as follows: "No general advertising sign (billboards) shall be erected which shall exceed 75 square feet with the maximum dimension allowable being 9 feet wide or 9 feet long." Delete Section 6-103(e) "General Advertising Signs - Billboards" in its entirety. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion. Jim Tolleson made a motionto amend the motion to include: "Provided, however, that this section shall not apply to existing signs which are erected as of the date of this ordinance for a period of five years from date hereof and thereafter all signs in violation of the provisions hereof shall be removed." Bill Darby seconded the motion to amend. Jerry Mills stated we had always operated under the grandfather clause and he did not think it was right to signal out one ordinance, requiring the signs be taken down after five years. Mayor Johnson asked if it could be enforced. Attorney Camp said he believes it can be enforced. Elbert Coalson said he did -not think we should do anything that would cause a man not to be able to advertise his business. After further discussion, vote on the amendment to the motion carried by a 5-2 vote. Voting for the motion was Jim Tolleson, Bill Darby, Jim Hawkins, Jack Shinall and Rem Bennett. Voting against was Jerry Mills and Elbert Coalson. Vote on the original motion carried 6-1. Elbert Coalson voted against. Rem Bennett made a motion the Pawnbrokers Ordinance be amended by adding Section 14-52.1 (a) and (b): "Notice of Intent to Engage in Business and Hearing." (a) All applicants for licenses hereunder shall give notice of the purpose of making such application by advertisement at least one (1) time a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in the newspaper published in the City in which the legal advertisement of the City are carried, which notice shall contain a description of the location of the proposed business and shall give the name of the applicant; and if a partnership, the name of the partners; and if a corporation, the names of the officers and the date and time the governing body would hear the application. The advertisement referred to herein shall be of the type not smaller than ten (10) point capital and lower case and shall be at least a one (1) inch column advertisement. (b) Upon filing of the application for a Pawn Shop and/or Swap Shop license with the license bureau, the applicant shall deposit a processing fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00), to cover the cost of advertising, investi- gation and processing of the application and said fee is not refundable. This fee is in addition to the normal business license fees. Jerry Mills seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Bill Darby stated the finance committee recommended the rotation of the City's demand deposit bank accounts. He made a motion the following policy be adopted: (Continuation of September 11, 1978 Meeting) WHEREAS, The City of Smyrna had demand deposits yearly in excess of $4 million and, WHEREAS, These demand deposits should be utilized in the fullest manner possible to benefit the City and, WHEREAS, Rotating demand deposit accounts for a specified period of time encourages the competitive posture of banking institutionsand better benefits offered to potential depositors, and WHEREAS, It is in the interest of all citizens of Smyrna to utilize these demand deposits to assist locally situated banks in prospering, NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Mayor and City Council of Smyrna adopt a policy of rotating demand deposit bank accounts on a periodic basis with the rotation to be implemented first with the consideration.of benefiting the City of Smyrna.and second with the consideration --of encouraging locally situated banking institutions. This rotation should take place preferably on -a yearly basis. s. It..is recommended that -this policy be adopted and;be implemented:as.,,soon as -"-- economically favorable to the City in the following manner: 1) The General Fund stay at First Bank &,Trust, 2) The Water Revenue Fund be transferred from Cobb,Bank,& Trust to Trust Company Bank of Cobb County, 3) The Revenue Sharing Fund and all other funds presently located at Trust Company Bank of Cobb County be transferred to Cobb Bank & Trust. Jack Shinall seconded the motion.which.carried by a 7-0 vote. Jim Hawkins made a motion the minutes of August 7, 1978 be approved as submitted. Bill Darby seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Jim Hawkins made a motion the minutes of August 21, 1978 be approved as submitted. Jerry Mills seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Jack Shinall reported the replacement of water mains on Pasadena Place should be complete soon. Jerry Mills made a motion $559.00 be approved for a caution light at the inter- section of Powder Springs Street and Guthrie Street.' Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 7-0 vote. Elbert Coalson asked Jim David to check the traffic light at Ward Street and Cherokee Road. It is holding on Cherokee Road a full two minutes. Asa Howard advised the date of the dedication of King Springs Park had been changed from October 1 to November 5, 1978. Governor Busbee will attend as guest speaker. The fall recreational programs are under way, the Craft Fair is scheduled for September 23 and adult volleyball will start soon. Bill Johnston has been promoted to Park Maintenance Supervisor. There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m. September 18, 1978 The regular meeting of Mayor and Council was held September 18, 1978 at City Hall, Smyrna, Georgia. The meeting was called to order by presiding officer Mayor Frank Johnson at 7:30 o'clock p.m. All Council members were present. Also present was City Attorney Charles Camp, City Clerk Willouise Spivey, Finance Director Gunter Newsom, Fire Chief Don Atkinson, Police Chief R. E. Little, Parks and Recreation Director Asa Howard, Assistant Director Sherry Reavis, Director of Public Works J. E. David, Director of Civil Defense Jim Farley and representatives of the press.