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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-21-2014 regular meeting I I I City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes August 21,2014 7:00 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met on Thursday, August 21, 2014, at City Hall. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Other Council Members attending: Terry Ernst. Eric Imker, Mike King, and Kim Learnard. Announcements. Awards. Special Recoanition Mayor Fleisch recognized the Buildings and Grounds and Recreation Departments, who received the Team Recognition Award as the July Employees of the Month. Fleisch also commended the 10U Peachtree City Select (Red) All-star Softball Team for winning the 2014 United States sports Specialty Association (USSSA) State All-Star championship. Darlene Moses. Casey Messina, and Eraina Amill of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Payroll Association accepted a proclamation from Mayor Fleisch proclaiming September 1 - 5 as National Payroll Week. Update on Divas Half Marathon & 5K Race Nancy Price, executive director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). and Byron Perryman, CVB chairman and general manager of the Wyndham Peachtree Hotel & Conference Center, gave Council an update on the September 6 event. Perryman said there had been a boost of support recently from the Council Members. along with an up swell in the industry and recognition of the importance of special events to the economic development of City. The hotels would experience only a two-day event. but $188,000 in room revenue was expected, with a total of $250,000 in hotel revenue. For the 837 rooms in the City, that was a good chunk of business and taxes coming to the City. Perryman continued that everyone in the room had been a part of this event. thanking the CVB, Fayette County Board of Education. Recreation Department. Police Department, Fire Department. Keep Peachtree City Beautiful. Information Technology/Geographic Information System (IT/GIS), Public Works, Public Information, and Planning Departments. In addition, he thanked Eaton and Sany in the Industrial Park for providing parking (shuttles would take people to the starting line), Peachtree City Running Club. ham radio operators, and residents of the area. He hoped this was the first of many events to bring health and vibrancy to the City. Perryman said the City was not known as a destination, and that was fine. He was sure the event would be very successful and have good repercussions if done properly. Price thanked everyone for their support. adding that. as of August 17, 3.704 women had registered, which put registration on track for a sell-out of 4,100. There were almost 200 volunteers from the community as well. Public Comment Caren Russell addressed Council concerning the backup of traffic in the Planterra Ridge neighborhood because of cut-through traffic to get to the Planterra Way/SR 54 traffic signal. She showed a series of photos taken of the line of cars on the road leading to the signal during the afternoon rush hour. asking Council to consider extending the right turn lane to the entrance at the Tennis Center in FY 2015 so Planterra and Cardiff Park residents would be able to get out of the subdivision during that time. She noted the recent traffic study for SR 54 did not address the situation of the residents, only the cut-through traffic making a left turn from Planterra to go toward Coweta County. I I I City Council Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 2 G.R. Peltier thanked Council for their efforts to support senior citizen activities. He, as a senior citizen representative, would like to work with a Council Member to look at ways to obtain donations to help fund The Gathering Place and Mcintosh Place, so the City would use the money currently budgeted for those facilities in other areas. Minutes August 7, 2014, Regular Meeting Minutes Ernst moved to approve the August 7, 2014, regular meeting minutes as written. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Monthlv Reports Imker thanked Yamaha for its donation of a golf cart to the Police Department. He also noted the litigation charge of $1,600 for the Mrosek lawsuit. Imker said the matter needed to be resolved, and then the City needed to go after legal fees for the lawsuit, which he considered to be frivolous. Consent Aaenda 1. Consider Alcohol License - NEW -Ichiban Bar & Grill, 520 Crosstown Drive 2. Consider Approval of Mutual Aid Agreements for Police Department Learnard moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1 and 2. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Old Aaenda Items 08- 14-CA 1 Consider Alcohol License - New - Crosstown Grill, 620 Crosstown Drive This item was continued from the August 7, 2014. meeting due to an issue with the legal notice and its publication date. Ernst moved to approve agenda item 08-14-CA 1 Consider Alcohol License - New - Crosstown Grill. 620 Crosstown Drive. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Aaenda Items 08-14-01 Public Hearing - Consider Text Amendments for Brent West Village Documents Senior Planner David Rast said the rezoning for this property had been approved in 2007 as part of the annexation and zoning of two large tracts in Wilksmoor Village. One tract was owned by John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods and the other by Scarbrough & Associates, currently known as Brent West Village, which was the northern tract of the annexed area. Brent West Village was zoned for a 650-unit age restricted subdivision with 539 single-family lots and 111 attached courtyard units on the 403-acre tract. Access would be from MacDuff Parkway. A number of conditions had been placed on both tracts during the annexation. including some that were specific to each development. The annexation of the tracts had also been reviewed by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRT A) as a development of regional impact (DRI). and GRT A had also imposed conditions that had been incorporated as part of the zoning. Rast continued that Levitt & Sons had been the original developer. and the company had gone bankrupt. Brent Scarbrough became the developer. and the property was owned by Brent West Village. LLC. The tract was now under contract by Kolter Homes. a Florida-based developer of planned communities. Rast continued that Kolter Homes also planned to build an age-restricted subdivision, with a modified site plan of 650 units. all single-family lots and no attached courtyard units. An amenities center was also planned, which would be very similar to the plan proposed by Levitt. The plat had been approved as part of the Limited Use Residential-14 (LUR-14) zoning. and site-specific I I I City Councii Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 3 conditions were also adopted. Some of the conditions were not consistent with the plan being presented by Kolter. Talks had started several months ago regarding the proposed text amendments, and there were minor and major text changes, according to Rast. Rast discussed some of the minor amendments. including a change in lot size for Pod D (four pods were planned named A, B, C. and D), which was 120 lots. In the LUR-14 zoning, with the exception of the smaller courtyard lots. the lot size was 50 feet X 120 feet or 70 feet X 120 feet. Kolter had asked for a reduction in the front and rear setbacks in Pod D because the lots were more pie-shaped. The request was to reduce the minimum lot size to 50 feet x 110 feet. The minimum floor area required by the ordinance for the homes was 1,500 square feet. Kolter had asked the wording be changed to allow 10% (65) of the homes to be no smaller than 1,350 square feet. In addition. the minimum front setback would be changed from 15 feet to 10 feet from the back of the sidewalk (currently 20 feet from right-of-way), and the minimum rear building setback would change from 20 feet to 10 feet due to the pie-shaped lot configurations. The courtyard units had shared driveways, and Kolter had asked that common driveways not be permitted. Kolter also asked to add language permitting berming, fencing, and landscaping within the greenbelt/buffer area on either side of the subdivision entrances to create a more aesthetic feel. Fifty-foot wide buffers were required along collector streets. Rast reported the Planning Commission did not endorse enhancing the greenbelt, but staff had a different opinion. He added staff also had no issue with the minor text amendments. The major text amendments included allowing the issuance of up to 200 Certificates of Occupancy (COs) before MacDuff Parkway was completed and open to traffic; removing the condition requiring the provision of traffic calming measures along MacDuff Parkway; removing the condition requiring the provision of a multi-use tunnel underneath MacDuff Parkway; removing the condition requiring multi-use paths within the development(including a path from the subdivision entrance past clubhouse to first pod); adding a condition allowing the installation of security gates and gate houses at each entrance into the subdivision, with the stipulation that all roads and infrastructure within the subdivision would be owned and maintained by the developer and/or the Homeowner's Association (HOA); and adding a condition to relocate the proposed Fire Station at least 1,000 linear feet from the subdivision entrance (proposed location was across from the entrance). Rast noted that the intersection design on MacDuff Parkway should also provide traffic calming, adding that the DRI notice of intent required traffic calming be included in the road design. The tunnel under MacDuff Parkway was a joint condition between John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods and Scarbrough, as was the requirement to have multi-use paths within the development. Staff did not support the proposed major text amendments. Brian Rochester of Rochester & Associates represented Kolter Homes. The project would be called Cresswind at Peachtree City. He continued that work began on the large master-planned community in 2010. The project represented a $225 million investment in the community. Every house would back up to open space, rather than another backyard. Rochester made a correction to the request for a 10-foot front setback, saying it was for 10 feet from the right-of- way. not back of curb and 20 feet from the garage to the back of the sidewalk. Staff and the developer had been in agreement on just about everything on the minor text amendments. Rochester said. They would ask for some of the major text amendments to be I I I City Council Minutes August 21.2014 Page 4 struck now that they understand some of the City's concerns. The ones they would ask for were important to the development. Rochester continued that the 200 COs were required to move forward with the plan for MacDuff Parkway. Enhancing the greenbelt/buffer area would be important. The project had a lot of frontage along MacDuff Parkway. They wanted to save as much natural vegetation as possible. They needed the ability to buffer the houses that would back up to MacDuff Parkway and create a landscape and street appeal to those driving along the parkway. Rochester said they agreed to drop the proposed text amendments to Section 1013A.4(g)4 (traffic calming devices). 5 (tunnel), and 6 (multi-use path). The plans for MacDuff had already been done. and they had no issue with those being removed. They had also requested to add another condition to allow for a gated community, saying that was one of the top things adults requested. They had decided to drop that condition. Section 1013A.4(g)14 addressed the floodplain. and Rochester said the ordinance said there could be nothing in the floodplain. They had asked to add wording to allow road and utility crossings because there were a few areas in the project where it would be needed. Staff had added that the crossings could be perpendicular, and the developer was fine with staff's recommendation. As for the request to add security gates and gate houses at each entrance into the subdivision. Rochester said Kolter wanted to remove that from the list. Kolter Homes had also asked to include another condition, which would be Section 1013A LUR- 14(g)22, which would require the City to ensure the Fire Station for that area would not be located within 1,000 linear feet of either side of the community's entrances. Rochester explained that. whether the concern was real or perceived, buyers were worried about sirens blaring during the night. Rochester said they very much appreciated the Fire Department, but it was an issue when marketing homes. Fleisch opened the public hearing. Frank Artiles asked for clarification on Rochester's statement that no less than 10% of the houses could be below 1.500 square feet, and no homes could be less than 1,350 square feet. Rochester said Kolter was asking that no more than 10% (65) of the homes be below 1.500 square feet. None of the 65 homes would less than 1.350 square feet. Artilles asked if there should be a maximum square footage in the amendments. Rochester said the text amendment should probably state the maximum number would be 65. Those houses would be competitive with the high end of houses in Peachtree Sun City, which was their major competitor. Dar Thompson asked the price range of the homes. Rochester said the smaller homes would be in the low to mid-$200,000s. The average home would be $350.000. An unidentified resident asked if MacDuff Parkway would be four lanes. how it impacted traffic on SR 74, and whether the developer had permission to build the bridges. He also asked about the change to not require cart paths in the community. Rast said the developers were responsible for construction of MacDuff Parkway from its current terminus at Franklin Ridge Drive up to Senoia Road, which included a bridge over CSX Railroad and an at-grade crossing with Senoia Road, with a traffic signal. The road would continue onto I I I City Councii Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 5 the Kedron Drive extension. Because of the notice of intent, there would be some off-site improvements required for that section of Kedron Drive, which included the addition of turn lanes. MacDuff Parkway would be two lanes, with a 24-foot wide median. The resident asked how the road would cross the railroad. Rast said the railroad was located 18- 20 feet below grade, in a gully. The bridge would cross the railroad, then continue at-grade to Kedron Drive. Scott Austensen asked where the tunnel under MacDuff Parkway would be located, and he asked why the developer did not want multi-use paths through community. Rast said staff met with the Wieland representative on August 15, and a site had been identified for the tunnel. which would connect the 204 lots on the east side of the Wieland tract to the 475 homes on the west side of MacDuff Parkway. The path would extend down MacDuff Parkway on the property owned by Wieland and this property, which would connect to the tunnel. The bridge over the railroad tracks would include a lane for golf carts. The path connection would continue to Senoia Road with an at-grade crossing and up Kedron Drive to Belvedere and Sagamore. Travelling south. the path would connect to the existing path in the powerline easement adjacent to Centennial. Rast continued that, in Levitt's plan. the path connection into the development started at the entrance and continued up the main road to the first cluster of homes. Rast said he hoped Kolter would keep that layout. The main road connected all the pods and the community center. Within the clusters of homes, golf carts would use the streets as was done in most of the City's residential areas. The public hearing closed. Ernst asked if the cart lane on the bridge would be wide enough for two carts. Rast said it would be 12 feet wide. King said the condition for Wieland's recent rezoning was to complete MacDuff Parkway in 17 months, asking if that would happen. Rochester said he could not commit to that. saying it was always in the developer's best interests to move forward, but there were many things outside their control. The road could not be done in 17 months. King clarified that the biggest hold-up was the clearance from CSX Railroad. Rochester said there were two major components that were an issue. The permit from CSX was outside of their control, and they were working on that. Part of MacDuff Parkway would need an easement from Georgia Power. so a permit would be needed from them. There was another property that had been given to Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). and GDOT had given it back to the City. There was either litigation or potential litigation over the property coming back to the City. If they could not get clear title to build the road over that section, there would be an issue. They had every intention of moving forward on the road as quickly as possible. King said he was concerned that 1.000 homes would be landlocked. Rochester said Kolter would have a major investment moving forward. Two hundred homes would not cover the costs, so they were only asking for some relief in case of a delay so they would be able to generate some revenue. Imker summarized what he had heard to this point. saying he agreed with the minor text changes including the buffer. but he did not agree with 200 COs, the change in the floodplain portion to allow roads and utility crossings, or moving the Fire Station. Based on what the other Council Members said, Imker said he could change his mind. I I I City Councii Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 6 Learnard asked about the 10-foot front setback change, adding that the sidewalk ordinance had not been ironed out yet. Fleisch said the sidewalks were part of a September workshop. Rast said both developers were required to install sidewalks per the Notice of Intent for the DRI. but the NOI did not indicate where the sidewalks should be located, saying it might not answer Learnard's question. Learnard noted that they had not ascertained where the sidewalks would be located, so she questioned the proposed text amendment. Rochester said there was a mistake regarding the 10-foot front setback, which should be 10 feet from the right-of-way of the road, not the back of the sidewalk. The ordinance currently required a 20-foot setback. Typically, there should not be a car in the driveway that blocked the sidewalk. They had agreed the front setback should be 10 feet from the right-of-way, but the garage must be at least 20 feet from the back of the sidewalk to prevent blocking the sidewalk. Learnard asked where the right-of-way ended. Rochester said there was typically a 50-foot right-of-way. The right-of-way line would be 25 feet from the road center, with the house at least 10 feet from the right-of-way line or 35 feet from the center of the road. City Attorney Ted Meeker said it would depend on where the sidewalk was located. If the four- foot sidewalk was located in the front setback, then it would be six feet to the house. If the sidewalk was located in the right-of-way, then there would be 10 feet from the right-of-way line to the front of the house. . Fleisch said what was being proposed was the standard for a 50-foot by 120-foot lot. Rochester said it was the standard Kolter was using at its Lake Lanier development. Rast said the average lot width in Centennial was 50 feet. In General Residential (GR) zoning, 50 feet was standard for these types of homes. Learnard asked what the setback was in Centennial. Rast said that, with the exception of the homes along the green at the subdivision entrance, the garage had to be 20 feet from the sidewalk so nothing interfered with pedestrian movement. Learnard said that. after this discussion. she was fine with the minor amendments. Meeker asked if Council wanted to look clarifying the language for the minimum floor area per dwelling unit, and amend that based on this discussion. Rast said it should be, adding that the reason there was no ordinance for Council to adopt was that staff knew Council would be working through some of the proposed amendments. The revised ordinance with the language adopted at this meeting would be presented for signature, but not immediately after this meeting. Meeker suggested getting clarification from Council on what they wanted, then staff would bring back the written ordinance for approval at the next meeting. He would rather have that approach. Imker asked which residents would hear the sirens if the Fire Station was moved, noting they were asking to move the station 1,000 feet north or south. Fleisch said there might be an alternative site for the fire station to the north. Fire Chief Joe O'Conor said the concept of having a station in the area was essential to maintaining the City's ISO 3 rating. and its current location across from the future entrance to the development had always been the designated site. He had asked the Fire Marshal to analyze I I I City Councii Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 7 the existing ISO study. If they looked for a site south of the proposed location. then not enough of the Kedron area would be covered to eliminate the one station the City was already short. If the station went up to Senoia Road, it would cover enough of the new homes under construction to eliminate the need for a new station to the south. Imker asked O'Conor if he had an issue with the verbiage. O'Conor said the current location was adequate, but it could be optimal if placed further north. He did not want to agree to move the station to an unidentified site. It would be better to have an identified site so the hole was not created in the future. Pennington said this was very important to overall coverage, but there were other areas to look at. The discussion moved to eliminating the requirement for the golf cart tunnel. Rochester explained they were asking for the requirement to be removed because the road had already been designed. Kolter was designing one portion of the road. and Wieland the other. There was no place in Kolter's portion of the road to place the tunnel. It was designed and permitted without the tunnel. so it had already been taken care of. The zoning for both properties had been approved simultaneously, so there was an overlap in many of the conditions that were now confusing. Imker said he wanted two golf cart tunnels under MacDuff Parkway. adding the original agreement required each developer to put in a tunnel. In the future. the industrial site that was left in the area would be rezoned to residential. and a tunnel would be needed to get back and forth. He did not want that requirement struck. Rochester disagreed, reading the existing condition regarding tunnels [Section 1013A.4(g)7]: The Applicant shall coordinate with City Staff to determine if a multi-use path tunnel can be constructed underneath MacDuff Parkway as a part of the road improvements. Should a location be identified, the Applicant shall design and construct the tunnel as a part of the MacDuff Parkway extension at no cost to the city. Imker said two agreements were approved, each with the same verbiage. Rochester said the plans were approved by the City without a tunnel shown. The developer was to work with staff to see if a tunnel could be located. Imker asked the City Attorney and staff to look at the condition and come back with something he could live with. Imker continued that he wanted to see cart paths from the entrance to the pods, including cross- pod connections. He did not want to strike the language regarding internal paths. King reiterated he had a problem with issuing 200 COs before the road was completed. He understood the developer's concern regarding outside issues that could affect the completion. Rochester said he could not say it would be done when he knew it would probably not happen. The traffic issues could be resolved with a bond. Senior adults were better than normal on traffic. using the roads during off-peak hours. King agreed, noting the issue was there would be 1.000 homes with a two-lane road going south to SR 54 only. Rochester said the road could be constructed in less than 17 months, but reiterated there were issues affecting the construction outside of their control. Fleisch asked how a bond would work. Rochester said that. if for some reason the road was not completed, the City could call the bond and complete the road. It would guarantee the money I I I City Council Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 8 for the completion, and it seemed to be a reasonable compromise to ensure completion of MacDuff Parkway. Fleisch asked what the timeline for construction of the homes would be. Rochester said. after closing on the property. it would take 12 - 14 months to get the initial infrastructure in the ground, with another 90 - 120 days for construction of houses. The timing to get the road completed worked well with the development timeline, there was just a potential delay outside of the developer's control. Fleisch pointed out that the CSX permit had been applied for two and one-half years ago. so this would give at least another year for that to be approved. Imker said a domino effect was being created. The 100 COs approved for the recent Wieland rezoning had nothing to do with the two tracts that were annexed. The original agreement for those two tracts that were annexed did not allow any homes to be occupied until MacDuff was completed. Council had been misled by Wieland's representative who told Council they were prepared to start working on the road. and it would be completed in 17 months. Wieland could build the road up to the point needed for the 100 COs, then stop until the north tract got underway. Imker continued that it looked like the road would not be completed until late 2016. It would probably 2017 before the road was finished. The people on the west side of the City would live with the traffic for another three years. If Council gave Kolter 200 COs, then Wieland would come back and ask for more. Council would not be able to stop that. They were betraying the trust given to Council seven years ago who guaranteed no COs until the completion of MacDuff Parkway. Fleisch asked what the original estimate was to complete MacDuff. Rochester said the original cost was $6 million; now the estimate was $8 million. He continued that their project was moving forward. Kolter had proven to be a good partner. The last industrial section in the area would not be rezoned without a buyer. The developer needed relief to begin generating revenue. Meeker said guidance was needed, asking Council if they would rather see the major changes in a red-lined version of the ordinance or separated as had been done in the Council packet for this meeting. Rast noted that Kolter had asked to leave Section 1013A.4(g)4, 5. 6, and 21 as they were currently worded. Council consensus was to see the red-lined ordinance. Learnard moved to continue the text amendments for the Brent West Village documents until the next meeting. Imker seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 08-14-02 Public Hearing - 2014 Millage Rate Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore noted this was the last of three required public hearing regarding the proposed one mill increase to Maintenance & Operation millage rate. which would increase the millage rate from the current 6.756 mills to 7.756 mills. The Bond rate would remain the same at 0.332 mills. Salvatore gave a breakdown of the one mill increase. which was estimated at $1.743.716. The list included the following: Landscaping Improvements Infrastructure Improvements Increase in path maintenance Increase in Street Paving - G/F Litter Removal (KPTCB) Technology improvements $635,000 ($253.000 FY201 4 + $382,000 FY20 15) $200,000 (mainly bridge maintenance) $ 75,000 $717,000 $ 45.760 $ 70,956 $1.743,716 I I I City Council Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 9 Salvatore continued that the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) had generated $2 million annually in the budget. The proposed one mill increase would put $1.7 million back into the budget. Fleisch opened the public hearing. John Dufresne said he generally supported the proposed increase. He had served on the former mayor's Needs Assessment Committee, and they had briefed Council on their findings. Their recommendation had been to consider up to a half mill increase. Caren Russell said she also supported the millage rate increase. The loss of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) was an issue. If the City did not keep up the look of the City, then it would lose more tax revenue in the long run. Gren Bunker said money for the paths should be increased, especially for a city noted for them. Improvements were needed, and there were some critical areas, and the increase needed to be for more than $75,000. Creighton Warren read the following statement: I have lived in Peachtree City for 31 years. Served on Commission on Children and Youth and the Peachtree City Recreation Commission (1990 - 1992). My wife and I had four boys, all played soccer. I coached soccer in PTC for nine years. Some people in Fayetteville think that most people in PTC are multi-millionaires. So let's stick it to them. Ileamed this when I served on the PTC Recreation Commission for three years. Initially County gave PTC $25.000 per year for their Recreation Department. With great difficulty, we were able to increase the amount to $50,000 per year. I proposed then and I propose now that County taxes should be distributed based upon population. Take the 2010 Census PTC is the largest city in the County. We should receive the largest portion of County taxes. Tyrone, Brooks, Woolsey perhaps get a larger portion of revenue. I suggest that all members of County Council from PTC meet with PTC City Council. I think that Steve Brown should be excluded from meetings because he represents both PTC and Fayetteville on County Council. The distribution of County tax revenue based on ratio of City population/County population. Another matter regarding revenue is the stormwater taxes. PTC has three golf courses. A} what is their yearly water bill? B) How much stormwater tax do they pay? C} Who are the owners of golf courses? I do not want the names of dummy corporations but names of individuals. Before increase millage rates, you should implement my suggestions. Randy Boyett said he could not support a tax increase. The City would not fall apart if Council made hard choices on how on how to spend tax money. A better way was needed to manage resources to get the job done. He did not support hiring employees for landscaping again. If outsourcing was managed properly. there would be better results and more money would be saved than hiring additional personnel. Scott Austensen said the budget was very good document with good information, but he did not support a one mill increase as outlined in the budget. He did not see a need for it. He questioned the need for 21 new full-time employees, which was a 7% increase in payroll for landscaping, which was seasonal. If the contractor was not performing. the City should look at how the contract was done or include tougher language. The increase in FTEs would drive up the costs of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and those costs were already 14.5% of the General Fund. Large increases were projected in November. The Defined Benefit Pension costs were also a concern. Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) 68 started next year, and I I City Council Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 10 Austensen asked if anyone had considered the impact of the 21 new employees on the projected liability that would have to be reported when GASB 68 started. This could cause a negative impact on the City's bond rating. A 7% increase in full-time employees was a significant increase in liability, and could put the City in a deficit position because of the new liability that would start in 2016. Frank Artiles said he agreed with most of the points that had been made. He also opposed the tax increase. There was a 17% increase in general administration costs in the budget over 2014, and he was not sure why, but there was an obligation to understand. Compared to what Newnan spent for financial services, police. and library, the City spent 75 - 100% more. The base of what was in the budget had to be scrutinized. No one should be satisfied without understanding what was in the base. Outsourcing had worked. particularly in the public sector. Bringing back more than 20 employees would be costly and hurt the City in the long run. It was true the cart paths were the most identifiable trait of the City, but the residents spent $2.50 every year to use it ($12 for a five-year registration). Instead of reallocating money from other parts of the budget. maybe that should be increased to $10 a year, if the state allowed it. He asked Council to look at the budget critically. The public hearing closed. Imker asked to include the adoption of the budget resolution (08-14-04) with the agenda item for the millage increase (08-14-03). If the millage rate was not approved. there would need to be changes to the City Manager's proposed budget. Salvatore said the law said they could adopt the budget and the millage rate at the same meeting. but it did not say anything about having them be the same agenda item. Imker said it made sense to speak to both at the same time. Learnard said he could speak to both at the same time, but there should be two motions. 08-14-03 Consider Adoption of 2014 Millage Rates 08- 14-04 Consider Adoption of FY 2015 Budget Resolution Imker stepped down from the dais and moved to the presentation computers to give an alternate proposal to eliminate the proposed one mill tax increase. He said his alternate proposal for the budget would eliminate the need for a millage rate increase. He noted the budget had been balanced eight months ago without an increase. The reason for the millage increase was because of added services. His suggestions included: . . . . . . . . . . . . . I . . Keeping Facilities Bond at $3 million Addressing Pay Raise Changing approach to Public Works mowing/landscaping Changing bridge/infrastructure maintenance Keeping cart path maintenance increase Addressjng road maintenance Requesting City Manager reduction of $100,000 Unfunding Deputy Police Chief position Eliminating Police Special Response Team (SRT) (this item was pulled from the list) Postponing five new Police Department vehicle purchases Addressing Library book and media purchases Eliminating new street light purchases Addressing golf cart registration fee Including additional use of reserves of $185,000 in FY2015 Including potential 0.229 mill increase in FY2016 I City Council Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 11 Imker noted that he was removing the elimination of the SRT after discussions with County Sheriff Barry Babb. He would revisit this item at another time. Imker then reviewed his proposal; Item Save $ #1 $135.000 #2 $710,000 #3 $ (510,000) #4 $ 75.000 #5 $ 50,000 $ #6 $ 720.000 #7 $ 100.000 I #8 $ 100.000 #9 $ 15.000 #10 $ 60,000 #11 $ 25,000 $1.475,000 #12 $ 65.000 $1,540,000 Item Change $ 395,000 #13 $ 30,000 Description Keep $3M Public Facility Bond 2% "Inverse Scaled" Pay Raise = $270,000 available for both FTE and PT /T emporary /Seasonal $245.000 to full-time employee (FTE) salary increase $25.000 to increase PT /Temporary/Seasonal hourly rate total from $950,000 to $975.000 Public Works contract for mowing/landscaping to be only mowing ROWs at $250.000; Save added $380,000 plus $330,000 Add six new FTE to current six added in FY2014 in Public Works Six added in FY2014 were paid with reserves ($255.000) and must be included going forward Unfund three additional FTE to be determined mid fiscal year by Director Public Works/Community Services & City Manager Reduce Public Works equipment purchase (trucks/mowers) Change bridge/infrastructure maintenance to $150,000 Add $75,000 to cart path maintenance bringing to $440,000 Keep current road maintenance at $770.000 Reduce trips (use online resources)/subscriptions/guns/ammo/c1eaning services/contingency and other fund centers at City Manager's discretion (keep mandatory Police & Fire training) Unfund Deputy Police Chief position (determination to be made mid fiscal year by Police Chief & City Manager) Eliminate SRT from PD (and associated special ammo, training. equipment/vehicles, etc.) Enhance cart path patrol. CID or other areas as determined by Police Chief & City Manager Cut five new Police vehicle purchases ($300,000/five yearrs) & change policy from 100,000 miles to 125,000 miles Reduce new library book & other media purchases to $104,000 Total of savings effecting five-year model each year Eliminate street liqht purchase (one time savinqs only) Total savings in FY2015 from proposed alternate budget Description Use of reserves in FY15 (proposed use was $21 OK) Change $12/five years cart registration fee to $15/five years (Adds $35,000/five years revenue) effective October 1 , 2014 Add cart path maintenance fee of $1 O/five years (Added $115.000/five years revenue) effective January 1.2016, $30,000/year revenue applied beginning FY2016 ( # 14 Pro-rate cart registration by $3/year for each whole year not used Pro-rate cart path maintenance fee by $2/year for each whole year not used # 15 $ 400.000 Add 0.229 mill into FY20 16 budget for five-year model Would zero out all need to use reserves in future years Mill increase to be managed out OR realize expected better Fair Market Value (FMV) and Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenue in future LOST revenue for Pinewood Studio impact under estimated (annually >$100.000) I I I I City Councii Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 12 #16 #17 #18 LOST revenue for Half Diva Marathon not included (one time >$100,000) Already "anticipate" revenue from 100 other sources with equal or less probability There's no accounting for turnaround in court fines recovery (annually $500.000) Projection for FMV increase are conservative at 1.5% 2.5%,2.5%,3.0%,3.0% for FYs 2015-2019 Delays potential mill decision until we have data through FY2015 Change Reserve Policy from 20% to 25% (Reinforce AAA Rating) Change salary review policy from "every five years" to "as directed by council" Change City Manager Approval policy to use General Funds without Council approval to $25.000 Imker began with his proposal for a 2% "inverse scaled" pay raise for employees, noting each 1 % was the equivalent of $135,000. so 2% was the equivalent of $275,000. The total used for FTE salary increase would be $245,000. and $25,000 would be used to increase the pay for part- time/temporary/seasonal employees. He showed a chart with the current salaries for FY 2014, which totaled $10.651.858.37. The "inverse scaled" pay raise would provide a 5.19% raise to the lowest paid FTE employees. The pay increase would decrease going up the pay scale, with the highest paid employee receiving a 0.19% pay increase. The employees in the top 25% of earnings would receive a pay raise of less than 1 %. The mean salary was $49,543.53. Imker proposed $25,000 be added to the $950.000 total currently paid for part- time/temporary/seasonal employees, bringing the total to $975.000. The total would be distributed at an increased hourly rate. Imker looked at the FTE employee turnovers from July 2013 - June 2014. Twenty-three employees left the City during that time for various reasons, including retirement, relocation, acceptance of other jobs. and violations of City policies. The average turnover rate was 15% or 35 employees for Peachtree City. Imker said employees were not leaving the City because of pay. Imker said it was time for lower-paid employees to catch a break. Imker discussed #2, #3. and #4 on his list. the Public Works contract for mowing/landscaping. Mowing and landscaping was currently (FY 2014) split between four contractors for a total of $580,000. The problem was the contracts were not year round. In addition. things were left undone, and the contractors were non-responsive. The proposed FY 2015 approach was to hire 22 new FTEs - 10 FTEs for right-of-way mowing and 12 FTEs for Building and Grounds (landscaping/tree trimming). Six were hired in FY 2014. and six more would be hired in FY 2015. The total would be $960,000, with City employees doing all the work. This approach would provide year-round coverage by the City's own people. The approach would also be a heavy burden on the budget. including benefits and equipment. Another concern was whether there would be enough for the additional employees to do during the "off season." Imker's proposal for FY 2015 was to award a new right-of-way mowing contract to include a longer season and more frequent mowing. The contract would change from $210,000 to $250,000. Twelve FTEs should be hired (formally including the six hired in FY 2014 plus an additional six) at a cost of $510,000. The good reasons for this approach included year-round coverage where needed (on call and by the City's people); landscaping and tree-trimming everywhere. ballfield mowing and maintenance all year round; employee burden on budget was more manageable; need for City purchases came down $70,000 as did equipment maintenance requirements; City maintenance opportunities became more realistic for 12 FTEs when not tasked during the "off season;" and line items from the Facilities Bond that could be taken care of in- I I I City Councii Minutes August 21,2014 Page 13 house, such as the demolition of Clover Reach pool and painting the Kedron hockey rink. In addition, the City's commitment to maintaining fields for recreational leagues would be honored. Changing bridge/infrastructure maintenance was #5 on Imker's list. The current proposal was to budget $200,000 for FY 2015. Imker proposed budgeting $150,000. He noted the FY 2015 budget would be reduced by $50,000 and that $200,000 had been paid in FY 2014 from Cash Reserves. He also noted that $365.000 had been budgeted in FY 2014 for cart path maintenance. The proposal for FY 2015 was to add $75,000, bringing the FY 2015 total to $440,000. Imker concurred with that amount. Road maintenance funding (#6) was next. The budgeted amount in FY 2014 was $770.000. Imker said the City Manager's budget proposed increasing the amount by $720.000 for a total of $1.085 million for FY 2015. Imker said the budgeted amount should remain at $770,000. He pointed out that the current funding for both roads and cart paths was $1.16 million. In FY 2013, nearly all the road money went to Dividend Drive. In FY 2014, nearly all the road money went to Crosstown Drive. In FY 2015. the road money would go towards neighborhood streets. He added the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) denied by voters would have been hugely advantageous. Imker's next recommendation was for the City Manager to cut $100,000 from the FY 2015 budget (#7). Imker advocated using online resources to avoid travel, cut subscriptions, stop additonal gun purchases (190 were in inventory). cut back on ammunition (if old ammo needed to be replaced, purchase locally if possible). cut back on cleaning services, cut back on contingency funding, cut back on other fund centers at the City Manager's discretion, keep the mandatory fire and police training. and cut training and classes that were just to have something on the wall. Unfunding the Deputy Chief of Police position (#8) would reduce the FY 2015 budget by $100,000. The position should be left as unfunded at this time. and the determination on whether the position should be filled would be made mid fiscal year by the Police Chief and City Manager. Item #9 was to eliminate the SRT from the Police Department. After discussions with people at the County. Imker did not want to take this action at this time, which removed it from the list. Imker recommended cutting five new Police vehicle purchases (# 10), which he said would save the City $300.000 over five years of payments. Currently. nine new vehicles were included in the FY 2015 budget. He also advocated changing the vehicle replacement policy from 100,000 miles to 125.000. Imker noted everyone loved the Library, but said all departments needed to participate. He recommended reducing the library budget for new materials by $25.000 (# 11) for FY 2015. which would reduce the funding for book and other media purchases from $129,000 to $104,000. Imker pointed out the savings from items 1 - 11 totaled $1,475.000, and the savings would affect the five-year model each year. Imker continued that a one-time savings of $65,000 would come from eliminating street light purchases (#12), which brought the total savings for FY 2015 to $1.540,000. Several intersections on SR 54 had been identified for the lights, but Imker said they were a "want." not a "need," so they were a low priority. I I I City Council Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 14 Imker also proposed using an additional $185,000 from the Cash Reserves in FY 2015. The City Manager's budget had proposed the use of $210,000 for FY 2015. The proposed new use of reserves would be $359.000. Imker said the alternate budget had $1,540,000 in savings for FY 2015. The total savings with the use of Cash Reserves would offset the necessary $1.725 million that would have been generated by a one mill tax increase. A change in the golf cart registration fee (# 13) was proposed by Imker. The $12/five-year fee would change to a $15/five-year fee. which would add $35,000 over five years in revenue. He proposed the fee be effective October 14. In addition. he suggested prorating the golf cart registration fee by $3 per year for each year it was not used (# 14) . Item # 15 was to add a 0.229 mill increase into the FY 2016 budget for the five-year model. It would zero out all need to use Cash Reserves in the future years, Imker said. The mill increase could be managed out or the City could realize better than expected increases in the tax digest or LOST. Imker said the LOST revenue for Pinewood Studio had been underestimated, and the LOST revenue from the Divas Half-marathon on September 6 had not been included in FY 2015 budget. The projections for the FMV were also conservative ranging from 1.5% to 3% for FYs 2015 - 2019. and a 1% increase was approximately $110,000. Imker said there was no accounting for the turnaround in court fines. which had dropped $500.000 annually. The number of citations written had dropped from 9.890 in Calendar Year (CY) 2010 to a projected 6.692 for CY 2014. Imker suggested changing the City's policy of having 20% in the Cash Reserves to 25% (#16), which would reinforce the City's AAA bond rating. Item # 17 was to change the salary review policy from every five years to "as directed by Council." Imker had shared the salary information from several entities earlier in his presentation, which he said he obtained via Open Records Requests to the seven entities over a two-day period. Putting the data side-by-side took him two hours. Imker said the City did not need to spend $40.000 and six months for a contracted review every five years. Imker's last suggestion was to change the City Manager ability to approve the use of General Funds without Council approval from $40.000 to $25,000 (# 18). He said tighter control by Council was desired. Learnard said she had some concerns, including the changes to golf cart registration, which could take too much staff time. Imker proposed increasing the registration to $15 during the 2016 registration cycle. He wanted to start pro-rating the fee now for the years the registration was not used. Learnard noted she had no issue with not budgeting for the assistant police chief. but asked what would happen if the Police Chief decided the position needed to be filled. Imker said then it would be done. Get halfway through the year, then get feedback. Learnard was also concerned about taking money from road maintenance, saying putting the maintenance off could create worse problems later. Imker said there had not been any residential repaving during the last two and one-half years. and nearly $800,000 going to residential paving next year was a lot of money. He wanted to see what was covered. There might be more to put in next year. Learnard questioned using in-house labor to demolish the pool, asking if that could be done. Imker said he had checked with the Public Works Director. and it could. I I I City Council Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 15 Learnard questioned budgeting only $150.000 for bridge maintenance, which meant Council might have to dip in later. She would like to see more money in cart paths. and she believed the citizens would too. but she understood the constraints with the manpower. She had no issues with the City Manager's current approval policy and saw no reason to change it. She asked Salvatore if the tax digest had gone up this year. Salvatore said it had stayed relatively flat at 0.1 %. Imker said home values had gone up a few percent, but the inventory businesses had in the City had gone down because of the tax rate. The net result was the revenue to the City would stay about the same. Fleisch noted that Imker had said no revenue increase that had been attributed to Pinewood Studios or the Divas event. which she thought was a good thing. It was conservative planning, and they had no idea how those items would affect revenue. She also pointed out that Imker's comparison of salaries was not a comparison to other Class B cities. She asked Pennington to explain the difference. Pennington said there was a direct correlation between salary level and size of a city. Salary levels tended to be lower in smaller communities. Peachtree City did not compete with Tyrone and Senoia for employees, and he said he was not just talking about figures. There was not a comparison of what the employees actually did. The City had not had a pay and classification study in over 12 years, and jobs had changed. Fleisch asked how the City's staffing level compared to other cities the same size. Pennington said the City had a lower number of employees. Cities the same size usually had between 400 - 500 employees, and Peachtree City had 230 FTEs. King said comparing the City to Newnan was comparing apples to oranges. For a comparison, Alpharetta and Sandy Springs, and other high-end communities, should be looked at. The City needed to manage its dollars better. He did not support raising taxes. but it did cost to live in the City. Dar Thompson noted several police officers were at this meeting, saying there were two ways to look at the decrease in citations and court fines. If they were writing fewer tickets, they had done their job. If the same number of tickets were being written. then there was a problem with the City. It was not bad to have fine revenue down. It meant people were scared to drive through the City too fast or drunk, which ultimately saved someone's life. Creighton Warren said he did not support the SPLOST. The City would not have gotten its money's worth. Gary Cook supported the increase in cart path maintenance, saying he rode his bike and golf cart on the paths. The roots were getting bad. and maintenance was important. Charles Phillis said he liked the inverse pay raise. The Public Works guys did excellent work. Public Works was his job for 50 years, and he was happy to help any time. Ernst said he liked many of Imker's suggestions, including the inverse pay raise, but felt the amount should be left at 3%. He continued that the Police Chief needed the assistant police chief position filled. He had a few other issues, and they would deal with them. King said he could live with what Imker proposed because it would force the City to make better decisions. They needed to make the City what it had been in the past and regain the trust of the I I I City Council Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 16 citizens. Past Councils had not budgeted for road maintenance during the SPLOST. which was one of the fundamental things the City should have budgeted for, with or without a SPLOST, so the citizens said no to another one. Ernst asked Imker to clarify that he had withdrawn his suggestion to disband the SRT. Imker said he had withdrawn it. King said the Fayette County Sheriff's Department did not have an SRT, and, based on a conversation with Chief Will McCollom, he understood the Sheriff's Department was required to have one. If that was true, the City should be reimbursed. Fleisch said she did not want to do anything with employee pay until the study was completed other than the 3% place holder. It had been 14 years since a study had been done, and they might be surprised by what the study said. The cities Imker used for his comparison were not comparing apples to apples. The study was scheduled to come back in two to three weeks. She agreed the SPLOST became a crutch for road and cart path maintenance. The City did get complaints about cart paths. and the list was prioritized every year. The roads got worse every year because less and less paving was done. Salvatore said Council was changing everything at the 11 th hour. The proposed budget had been based on the goals and objectives set by Council and endorsed in the workshops and hearings. The budget had met the demand for services, and staff had been responsible in carrying out their duties as to what the City Manager had expected from the departments. If Council was changing at the 11 th hour to a zero millage rate increase. those were no longer attainable goals. Staff would adjust accordingly. Fleisch asked why it was the 11 th hour as far as the timeline was concerned. Salvatore said Council usually adopted what they had been talking about all along. from the retreat through the workshops, to the public hearings. This was a last minute change. Staff would do as instructed. but the millage rate had to be adopted at this meeting, and Council could adopt anything between zero and one mill. The advertising rules were very strict. Staff could come back with the budget part, but there had to be a vote on the millage rate at this meeting. Ernst moved to adopt the millage rate as set forth by the staff memo in the Council agenda packet. The motion died for lack of a second. Learnard moved to extend the meeting beyond 11 :00 p.m. Imker seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Imker moved to set the Maintenance and Operations millage at 6.756 mills (current rate) and the bond millage at 0,332 mills (current rate). King seconded. Motion carried 3 - 2 (Ernst, Fleisch). Imker said he would make a motion on all the alternatives they agreed on for the budget. then another motion for those people did not agree with. He would not include items 1, 5, 9. and 18. Ernst added 7.8,9, and 18 to the list. Imker moved to accept the City Manager's budget with the inclusion of (Imker's) changes as itemized in the presentation - 2,3.4,6. 10, 11. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. and 17. Learnard seconded. Meeker pointed out that item # 15 took action on the budget for the following year, and it should not be included. Some of the other alternatives were ordinance-related. The motion for the items not included should be continued for further discussion. He suggested the motion be withdrawn and restated to eliminate 15. 16, and 17, since they were not budget adoption matters. I I I City Councii Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 17 Learnard withdrew her second. Imker withdrew his motion. Fleisch suggested allowing staff to rework the budget with the guidance given at the meeting. then asked for a motion to continue the budget approval. Pennington said he would also recommend a continuance. Salvatore added that some figures were not exact, and the numbers needed to be exact. Ernst moved to continue the vote on the budget until the next City Council meeting. The motion died from lack of a second. Imker moved to approve the City Manager's budget with the inclusion of the following items from Imker's presentation: items 2, 3. 4, 6, 10. 11, 12, 13. and 14. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Imker moved to further revise the budget to incorporate the change reflected in item 1 (2% "Inverse Scaled" Pay Raise and increase PT/Temporary/Seasonal hourly rate total from $950.000 to $975,000. Learnard seconded. Motion carried 3-2 (Ernst. Fleisch). Imker moved to further revise the budget to incorporate the change reflected in item 5 (Change bridge/infrastructure maintenance to $150,000). Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Imker moved to further revise the budget to incorporate the change reflected in item 7 by asking the City Manager to reduce the budget by $100,000. King seconded. Motion carried 4-1 (Ernst). Imker moved to further revise the budget to incorporate the change reflected in item 8 to unfund the position of assistant police chief while keeping it available. King seconded. Motion carried 4- 1 (Ernst). Imker said he would bring his other alternatives back since some included ordinance changes. He continued that the budget would be amended, but these changes would give staff a baseline to work with. Council/staff Topics Pennington said there were four topics that needed to be covered in workshops in September and October. The topics included future annexations. sidewalks, subdivision signs and entrances, and cart golf crossings on state roads. He continued that GDOT had the state law on cart crossings, but had not come up with a way to implement it yet. Pennington recommended a workshop be held on September 16 on the Condrey Job Classification and Compensation Study. The Green T signal application for Line Creek Drive was under review at GDOT. The SR 54 traffic study was under review for potential funding over the long term. BS&A. the company that was awarded the bid for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. had scheduled the implementation of the software for finance and human resources. Much of the payroll duties would shift to Human Resources, and Pennington said he would come back to Council at some point regarding increasing Human Resources staffing. John Dufresne asked if another public hearing would be needed for the FY 2015 budget. Meeker said no, the budget was always subject to change. I I I City Council Minutes August 21. 2014 Page 18 There being no further business, King moved to adjourn the meeting. Learnard seconded. Motion carried una~imOUSIY. The meeting adio:erll :06 P.~ '\~,,~~~~~\ Vanessa Fleisch. Mayor '