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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-03-2010 Regular Minutes ~ City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes June 3, 2010 7:00 p.m. The City Council of Peachtree City met Thursday, June 3, 2010, in the City Hall Council Chambers. Mayor Don Haddix called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Council Members present: Vanessa Fleisch, Erik Imker, Kim Leamard, and Doug Sturbaum. Announcements, Awards. Special Recol!nition Mayor Haddix recognized Financial SerVices Director Paul Salvatore for 10 years of service and Mechanic Jesse Brooks for 15 years of service. Haddix announced that the owner of the Peachtree Crossing Shopping Center had indicated that the Fresh Market had indicated their intent to locate in part ofthe vacant "baby Kroger" space. Public Comment There was none. Al!enda Chanl!es There were none. ,....., Minutes April 26, 2010, Workshop Minutes May 20, 2010, Regular Meeting Minutes Leamard moved to approve the minutes of the April 26, 2010, workshop and the May 20,2010, regular meeting. Fleisch seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Al!enda 1. Consider Amendments to Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance 2. Consider Alcohol License - NEW - China House, 1200 Highway 74 South, Ste 16 3. Consider Approval of Amendment for Hotel/Motel Tax Appropriation Agreement 4. Consider Appointments to PCTA - Sherri Smith Brown, Bill Rial, Becky She (alternate) Sturbaum moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Leamard seconded. Motion carried 4-1 (Imker). Old Al!enda Items There were none. New Al!enda Items 06-10-01 Public Hearing - consider rezoning, LUR-13 to GR, Newgate Road - Sturbaum moved to continue this item to the June 17, 2010, agenda to allow the Planning Commission to continue consideration of the request. Fleisch seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes June 3, 2010 Page 2 ~ 06-10-02 Public hearing - Consider Variance to Sign Ordinance, NCR Sturbaum moved to continue the item to a meeting no later than September 2, 2010, at the request of the applicant. Fleisch seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-10-03 Consider Partial Exemption from Impact Fees, SANY Sturbaum welcomed SANY and moved to approve the proposed exemption from their impact fees (calculated at 75% by staff), based on two conditions: that SANY obtain their building permit by December 31, 2010, and that SANY obtain their Certificate of Occupancy by December 31, 2011, and that Council would entertain requests for extensions to the deadlines if the delays were due to factors other than the inaction of SANY. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. ,..... 06-10-04 Consider Resolution in Opposition to the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 City Manager Bernard McMullen explained that, the previous week, staff had learned that a proposed amendment to HR 4899 would require collective bargaining with public safety employees. The majority of agencies representing governments (including the International City/County Management Association, the National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and the National Sheriffs Association) opposed the amendment, and the resolution would be forwarded to the U.S. Senators and Representative, along with the local delegation and other government agencies in Fayette County expressing opposition to this requirement. Sturbaum moved to adopt the resolution. Fleisch seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-10-05 Consider Approval of PCT A Lease Agreement McMullen said the City had an existing agreement with the Peachtree City Tourism Association (pCT A) for the operation of the Visitors Center at the Tennis Center. This lease would reflect the relocation of the Visitors Center to one of two spaces in the building with the Amphitheater box office on McIntosh Trail. McMullen reviewed the existing design of the main floor of the facility, with the box office, a conference room, and some additional counter space on the left, and a large space on the right that was currently functioning as an annex of The Gathering Place. McMullen said he had asked staff to look at the pros and cons of using both spaces for the Visitors Center. Plan A remodeled the existing box office space. This would allow for continued use of the Gathering Place annex and would provide increased rental revenue potential for the Gathering Place, allow the continued use of the annex space for adult programming, minimize wear and tear on card tables in the annex, and provide greater staff utilization for coverage of the Visitors Center with coverage by Amphitheater staff. The negatives included the perception (branding) of the existing space as the box office, the existing PCT A furniture did not fit in the space available, there were potential security problems for the box office, the existing space offered no ,....., room for growth or future displays or maps, the upstairs office space was accessed through the space, and the noise level of a Visitors Center could potentially intrude on the box office working environment (especially the proposed area for the children of visitors). The cost of Plan City Council Minutes June 3, 2010 Page 3 -, A, converting the existing space for dual use, was roughly estimated at between $10,000 and $20,000. Plan B consisted of converting the annex space for the Visitors Center. McMullen said this option would provide greater rental revenue from the PCTA versus using the existing space, would be easily accessible and cleaily marked with Visitors Center signage, provided more space for the tourism furniture, more visibility for displays and potential for maps and future interactive displays, space for the PCT A board meetings, and could potentially provide shared space with the Development Authority of Peachtree City (DAPC) if needed. The negatives for this proposal included the displacement of the groups currently using the annex. The estimated cost to modify the larger space was be between $20,000 and $30,000 to add a reception counter, seating area, office, children's play area, and an area for displays in the currently open room. Leisure Services Director Randy Gaddo then reviewed the calendar of activities scheduled for the annex space in June, noting that the facility was primarily used by bridge groups, but there were also yoga classes, Music Alive practices, and other events scheduled daily, Mondays through Thursdays that month. Gaddo said the Gathering Place did not have adequate space to accommodate these users at the scheduled times. One group was using the aunex because they normally met at the Glenloch Recreation Center but had already been displaced during the summer for Camp McIntosh. If'"'"" Jim Shirm addressed Council and sflid he was the English as a Second Language instructor for the class that used the lower level space, noting that they were looking for additional space but had some options in Fayetteville. He said he also represented the bridge group that used the annex, and the space had been of great benefit because tables could be left up during the week. At one point the group had used both the main floor and the lower floor, but the stairs had been too challenging for the age group playing. Shirm said the bridge group was very concerned about losing a space to play. They understood the need to generate revenue, but asked the City to look very hard at finding a place for them if the annex was to be converted to a Visitors Center. ,. Bob Hudson asked what credible marketing or business studies had been done to show that the renovation costs would be offset by revenue from the Visitors Center. He asked what accommodation the City would provide for the displaced groups. Imker asked what impact using the existing space would have on the annex users. McMullen said there would be no impact. Imker asked when the move was to be completed. Tourism Director Nancy Price said Canongflte, which managed the Tennis Center, had already taken possession of the old space, and the furniture was currently being stored in the Recreation Department basement. -. Haddix asked Price if Option A provided enough space. Price said she did not have exact rneasurements of the current space versus the space used at the center, and McMullen said total square footage was similar, but the configuration was very different. Price said Plan A was adequate for the moment, but did not allow for any growth. City Council Minutes June 3, 2010 Page 4 ,....., Fleisch asked if the long-term goal would be to move into the larger space once other accommodations could be found for the other groups. Price said she hated to see the investment put into remodeling the smaller area, only to incur costs in a couple of years for the expansion. Haddix said the City did not want to completely eliminate space for the groups using the annex, but asked if they had looked City-wide for alternatives. Gathering Place Coordinator Janet Werner said the calendar Gaddo had shown had just been for June, and there were other meetings and events scheduled for the space in the coming months. The annex left the larger space at The Gathering Place available for rentals, since the City was making a greater effort to produce some revenue to offset the costs of recreation. Leamard asked how long the City had been using the annex, and Werner said three years. Haddix asked what location would be acceptable to the bridge group, specifically mentioning the Kedron Fieldhouse. Werner said that move might necessitate a change in times for the groups. The bridge groups used space in four-hour increments. Gaddo added that Kedron was a much more active, youth-oriented facility, and he thought the environment would be disruptive to the bridge players. He indicated that City staff had looked at both Glenloch and Kedron. ,.., Haddix asked if they had looked at the First Baptist Church's The Bridge Community Center, and Gaddo said that had been looked at in the past but there was no space for storage. Imker asked about the Shakerag Gazebo and whether that would work for either a Visitors' Center or the bridge groups if another space could be found for Southern Conservation Trust. Gaddo did not think so because there were no r(;:strooms and no running water at the location. Imker said that, given enough time, this problem could be solved. He also thought the renovation could be done for less than $10,000 for the current space to buy time to solve the larger location issues. Shirm thanked Imker and said that, as the community aged, he felt the bridge program would expand. He said the large room at The Gathering Place was ideal, and they were actually constrained by the current annex space. Price noted that there were some other issues with the current annex space that made it less than ideal for the group, and added that the Amphitheater currently covered utility costs for the entire main level. Fleisch suggested looking at forgoing the weekend revenue at The Gathering Place to accommodate the groups. Gaddo said that would take a great deal of shuffling because the entire facility was provided during rentals. ~ Sturbaum asked Development Authority of Peachtree City (DAPC) Chairman Mark Hollums if he was aware of any properties in the City that might be adequate for the groups currently using the annex. Hollums said he would research the matter. Hollums asked if the group had approached any of the local churches, and Shirm said yes, but the challenge continued to be the lack of storage space for their tables. City Council Minutes June 3, 2010 Page 5 "...., Imker asked staff to provide an estiJ:llate for doubling the size of the large room at the Gathering Place, in line with what had been proposed for the bond referendum a few years previously. He felt it could be done for under $100,000, although that would not be feasible in the short term. McMullen said the reallocation of the 2009 Bricks and Mortar included the reconfiguration of the downstairs at City Hall to include a community room. McMullen said he had not seen the drawings, but that space might work for some ofthese uses. Imker said he was still in favor of pursuing Option A now, with the goal of expanding into the annex space later. Sturbaum asked PCTA Chairman Kai Wolter ifit was critical for Council to make a decision that night, or if a decision in two weeks would work. Wolter felt two weeks would not be a problem. Haddix said he would like the time to find some way to make everyone happy. Imker clarified that, ifno viable alternative could be found in the next two weeks for those using the annex, then the City would choose Option A for the interim. Council seemed to be in general agreement with this statement. Sturbaum moved to continue the item until June 17 to give staff time to provide additional information on alternatives. Fleisch seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Council/Staff Topics ......., Hot Topics Update McMullen reported that the Paschall Road tunnel was underway, with excavation work on the west side of Highway 74 visible from the roadway. Imker asked about a citizen email Council had received that afternoon. McMullen explained that there was a request from a property owner about using some of the dirt at the construction site for leveling on his lot. McMullen said he had forwarded the request to the City Engineer for clarification on use for private property, and added that the resident would have to have an approved drainage and grading plan. The City Engineer would contact both the resident and the contractor about the request. Staff was still planning to bring back the Telecommunications Tower ordinance amendments and application process at the July 15 meeting. The Georgia Department of Transportation's realignment of Rockaway Road was progressing, and McMullen indicated they were looking at the realignment being completed in mid- September. The engineering proposal had been received for the design of the MacDuff Parkway tunnel. Staff would be meeting with the Camden Apartments people about an easement for the path counection and bringing the design contract to Council in a few weeks. - Sturbaum moved to enter executive session to discuss a personnel matter at 7;59 p.m. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. jy, ~ _. ~. ! ~.. City Council Minutes June 3, 2010 Page 6 Sturbaum moved to reconvene into regular session at 8:27 p.m. Leamard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, Sturbaum moved to adjourn the meeting. Learnard seconded. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m. ~:laJm &,!6~