12-18-1978 Regular MeetingDecember 11. 1978
A special meeting, called for the purpose of setting the date for the Special
Election for Councilman from Ward 7, the qualifying dates, and to accept the
resignation of part-time Building Inspector John Steely, was held on December 11,
1978 at City Hall, Smyrna, Georgia. The meeting was called to order by presiding
officer Mayor Frank B. Johnson at 5:30 o'clock p.m. All members of Council were
present except Jerry Mills who was absent due to illness. Also present was City
Clerk Willouise Spivey and Finance and Administration Director Gunter Newsom.
Invocation was given by Jim Hawkins, followed by the pledge to the flag.
Mayor Johnson.advised that Rem B. Bennett, Jr., had resigned his post as Councilman
from Ward No. 7, effective January 8, 1979, and a special election would have to
be held within thirty (30) days of the effective date. His recommendation was
that the date of.the election be set for February 3, 1979 (Saturday), and January
9, 10 and 11 be open for qualifying. In case of a run-off the election would be
held on the fourteenth day after the first election.
Elbert Coalson made a motion the Special Election for Councilman from Ward 7 be
held on Saturday, February 3, 1979, and the qualifying dates be January 9, 10 and
11, 1979. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 6-0 vote.
Elbert Coalson made a motion that Dusty Bennett be appointed as Superintendent of
the election. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion which carried by a 6-0 vote.
Willouise Spivey is to contact Dusty Bennett.
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Jim Hawkins made a motion to accept the resignation of part-time City Inspector
John Steely. Jack Shinall seconded the motion which carried by a 6-0 vote.
Mayor Johnson stated we needed to appoint an interim Inspector until the new man
comes to.work on January 2, 1979. Jim Hawkins made a motion Luke Boring be
appointed as Inspector through the end of the year. Bill Darby seconded the motion
which carried by a 6-0 vote.
Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m.
December 18. 1978
The regular scheduled meeting of Mayor and Council was held at City Hall, Smyrna,
Georgia, on December 18, 1978. The meeting was called to order by presiding officer
Mayor Frank B. Johnson. All Council members were -present except Jim Tolleson who
was ill. Also present was City Attorney Charles Camp, City Clerk Willouise Spivey,
Finance & Administration Director Gunter Newsom, Police Chief R. E. Little, Fire
Chief Don Atkinson, Public Works Director James David, Parks and Recreation Director
Asa Howard, Civil Defense Director Jim Farley, Inspector Luke Boring and repre-
sentatives of the press.
Invocation was given by Jim Hawkins, followed by the pledge to the flag.
There were no citizens reports.
Jim Hawkins brought up the request for a Malt Beverage and Wine Pouring License
for the Monterey Mexican Restaurant, 2540 Atlanta Road. Paul Leon was the applicant.
Mr. Hawkins advised there was an error on the first application which had to be
voided. The investigation of the partner listed on the second application is not
complete and Jim Hawkins made a motion this item be tabled until the results of
the investigation is given to us by Police Chief Little. The motion was seconded
and carried by a 6-0 vote.
Commercial building permits were submitted by Inspector Luke Boring and the
following action is recorded:
(1) Howard Ellis of Northside Realty Associates, Inc., requested a setback
.µ� variance on Hargrove Road, at the corner of Spring Road. The present setback
requirement on Hargrove Road is 50 feet, and Mr. Ellis requested a 15 feet variance,
to a 35 foot setback. Inspector Luke Boring recommended the variance not be
granted until Mayor and Council know exactly what the development will be. Fifteen
feet of this property frontage was donated to Cobb County for the widening of
(Continuation of December 18, 1978 Meeting)
Hargrove Road, thus necessitating the variance request. Colonial Pipeline,
Georgia Power Company and Cobb County Water System all have easements across this
property further restricting the development possibilities. The owners are
negotiating with prospective purchasers and the fifteen -foot setback variance would
aid them in fitting their development on this property. He pointed out that some
of the businesses already developed on Hargrove Road would, after the widening,
have less than a 50 foot setback. Jack Shinall made a motion the variance be
granted. Jerry Mills seconded the motion. Rem Bennett said he thought we should
take the recommendations of the Inspector and know what the development would be
before granting the variance, especially since Councilman Jim Tolleson, in whose
ward this property is located, is not present. Rem Bennett made a motion to table
this request. Jim Hawkins seconded the motion. Vote on the motion to table was
defeated by a 2-4 vote. Rem Bennett and Jim Hawkins voted for. Jerry Mills, Bill
Darby, Elbert Coalson and Jack Shinall voted against. Mayor Johnson called for
a vote on the main motion to grant the variance. The motion carried by a 4-2 vote.
Jerry Mills, Bill Darby, Elbert Coalson and Jack Shinall voted for. Rem Bennett
and Jim Hawkins voted against.
Mayor Johnson stated the date set for the Special Election for Councilman of Ward
7 was February 3, 1979; the qualifying dates are January 9th, loth and llth;
the election to be held in the King Springs Elementary School on Reed Road. The
election Superintendent will be Dusty Bennett.
Jim Hawkins made a motion that Agenda item 6, ordinance amendments, be tabled
until further notice. Elbert Coalson seconded the motion which carried by a 6-0
vote.
Bill Darby made a motion that Council approve the City's membership fee in the
Georgia Municipal Association, in the amount of $2,764.61. Jerry Mills seconded
the motion which carried by a 6-0 vote. Dues are based on population.
Jim Hawkins advised that Leon Dover, who had accepted the position of City
Inspector, has now declined the position. He called for a committee meeting,
immediately following this meeting, to discuss the need of getting an Inspector
as soon as possible.
Elbert Coalson advised he had a letter from Civil Defense Director Jim Farley who
participated in the State-wide practice nuclear test, and Mr. Coalson commended
our unit for the fine showing they made. Mr. Farley had requested he be allowed
to show a film about fallout at a Council meeting, in order to enlighten the
citizens. Mr. Coalson said the film was 28 minutes long, and he recommended that
after the first of the year they be allowed to show this film. Mayor Johnson
agreed this was a good idea and asked Mr. Farley to coordinate this with Willouise
Spivey, when we had a short agenda. Mr. Farley said the practice test showed there
was still a lot of work to be done, but the City would not have suffered too badly.
Jim Farley advised the quarterly Smyrna Community Blood Drive is scheduled for
Friday, December 29th at the First United Methodist Church Educational Building.
He urged participation of city employees.
Asa Howard, reporting for Councilman Jim Tolleson, advised the winter brochures
are not being mailed out but they can be picked up at local business establish-
ments, the City Hall and the Parks & Recreation office. The Parks & Recreation
Commission meeting date has been changed to December 28, 1978. Asa stated he had
only one park ranger on duty at any one time. A water fountain was damaged at
Ward Park over the weekend, it was replaced today at 12:30 p.m., and by 3:30 p.m.
someone had kicked the frame off again. He asked help from the Police Department
and the citizens.
Mayor Johnson asked Gunter Newsom to give a report on the status of CETA funding.
Mr. Newsom advised that per information from Cobb County, the CETA funds will be
cut about in half. Our CETA funds come from the County allocations. The City
now has 21 CETA employees, broken down as follows: Parks - 8, Water - 3, Fire - 4,
Streets - 5, and Administration - 1, at an annual budget cost of approximately
$186,000.00 for these CETA employees. The County plans to reduce the number of
CETA employees by attrition. The County's rule today is to reduce the number of
jobs by percentage, in the same way they were allocated. The CETA positions we
now have will be funded through October, 1979, but no person can be funded by
CETA for a period longer than eighteen consecutive months. We must keep this in
mind in preparing the budgets for the next fiscal year. There is a possibility
we will get additional funds later. Mayor Johnson advised that if a CETA employee
(Continuation of December 18, 1978 Meeting)
leaves, and it is mandatory to fill this position, it would have to be funded
from our General Fund.
Mayor Johnson advised the Christmas holidays for the City would be 1/2 day on
Friday and Monday, Christmas Day. The next council meeting will be on January 8,
1979. He asked Council to give Willouise Spivey a count on who would be going to
the Mayor's Day Conference on Monday, January 22nd.
Mayor Johnson reminded everyone of the Jonquil Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday
morning and asked all Council members and all Department Heads to attend. He also
reminded everyone of the CMA Christmas meeting tomorrow night.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m.
FRANK B. JOHNSON, YOR WILLOUISE C. SPIVEY, CITY ERK
AMES E. TO . ES WARD 1 WILLIAM F. DARBY, WARD 2
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JY MILLS, 3 6AAS M. HAWKINS, WARD 4
',I,KK SHINALL, WARD 5 j ELBERI
R. COALSON, WARD 6