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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-09-2015 Retreat 2015 CITY COUNCIL RETREAT MINUTES January 9, 2015 Hilton Garden Inn, Peachtree City Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. Council Members present: Terry Ernst, Eric Imker, Mike King, and Kim Learnard. Fleisch read a proclamation for National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, which was accepted by Capt. Stan Pye. Presentation by Alan Durham - Fayette County Development Authority, and Ted Meeker - City Attorney, regarding opportunities for establishing a TAD or other redevelopment methodologies in accordance with Georgia Law Durham, the new president and CEO of the Fayette County Development Authority (FCDA), briefly explained what a tax allocation district (TAD) and community improvement district (CID) were, then answered questions. He noted a voter referendum was required to put a TAD in place. A consultant would be needed to develop the plan. It would cover a specific geographical boundary, and there must be approval/agreements with the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education. The TAD would pledge future increases in the tax values to re-pay the bonds needed for the TAD. City Manager Jim Pennington, who also served as the facilitator for the Retreat, said there were areas in the community that could be considered, including the Huddleston Road area, which had no sewer and was one of the last areas in the City for major economic development. There were also residential neighborhoods that would benefit from redevelopment. He wanted Council to be aware of the methodology, as well as staff discussions. Durham clarified that the City would be giving up future increases in the millage rate, saying the bond issue was normally 20 - 25 years. The biggest problem in Fayette County was it was running out of office space. A TAD could be used to convert outdated retail space to an Office-Institutional (01) use. Citizen input was important. The FCDA would help promote the TAD and bring in occupants. Once the TAD was passed, Council would set the boundaries. There was no risk to taxpayers. With a CID, 75% of the property owners in the specified area would vote to assess an additional millage on themselves, Durham said. Imker asked if the TAD had a limit on the amount of funding, $1 million or $100 million. Durham said it depended on the property, but no more than 10% of the tax digest could be issued for the bonds. Meeker said two referendums would be needed. The first could be as early as the November election, and it would be for the voters to give redevelopment powers back to the City. The second referendum would be for the TAD itself. Durham added the voters and particularly the Board of Education would need to be educated. Meeker said the City would not sign full faith and pledge behind this type of bonds. The bond buyers took the risk. The FCDA and the Chamber of Commerce could advocate for the TAD. A request could be sent to the legislative delegation asking to add the referendum to the November ballot. City Council Minutes January 9,2015, Retreat Page 2 Council direction was to add an item on the January 15 agenda regarding a referendum. Value Statements-review and discuss the plans for use in 2015 The following were committed to by Council in 2014, and Pennington asked if they wanted to pursue the same actions/values for 2015: 1. Continue to honor the different roles and responsibilities of the council and manager. Be clear in your expectations of one another. 2. Continue to build trust and confidence in one another through open, honest, and civil communications. You are a team and must be able to depend upon one another. 3. Focus on the big picture and develop a vision for your community. Make plans to turn your vision into a reality. Continue to conduct annual planning and goal setting meetings to monitor your progress and establish new goals. Fleisch said a goal for this year should be to adhere to the value statements. King and Ernst both noted they had tripped up on 'statement 2. Both said they would work harder at it and asked the other Council Members to do the same. King asked that, once Council made a decision, no matter what the vote, that everyone support it. If the vote on an issue was split, then it should not be brought up again for the six months required by the City's ordinances. Learnard said written communication, e-mail, had been very helpful to her in keeping up with that was going on, especially since she had started her current job, which kept her very busy. She asked that the e-mails include more information and be sent more often. Imker pointed out it was campaign season and all decisions would be reviewed. Fleisch preferred that Council meetings not be used for campaigning. Imker said they should not be used as a forum to announce a run for office. The consensus among the members was that Council meetings would not be used as a forum for campaigning. Council-Staff Roles in the coming year The following guidelines with regard to Council-Staff roles were determined in 2014: 1. All communications from members of the city council to city staff shall go through the city manager. 2. The consent agenda shall be reserved for operational and routine agenda items. 3. When a member of the city council desires an item to be added to the agenda they will email the city manager and copy other members of the city council. 4. All items being proposed for the regular council meeting agenda shall be submitted by close of business on the Thursday prior to the meeting. Imker asked Pennington to provide written, e-mail feedback if a member of Council communicated with staff without Pennington knowing about it. Council briefly discussed being able to see Pennington's calendar so they would know when he was in meetings or otherwise unavailable, which could save a trip to City Hall if they wanted to speak with him. Executive Assistant Debbie Lemay would work with any member to ensure they knew how to use the appointment feature on Outlook, which would let someone know if Pennington had a meeting scheduled. Pennington pointed out that he had an "open door" City Council Minutes January 9,2015, Retreat Page 3 policy, and many times directors/chiefs stopped by his office without a scheduled appointment. To make sure Pennington was available, the best thing to do was to call Lemay. Review 2014 Short and Medium Term Goals-look at the list created at last year's retreat Pennington went over the list of goals set at the 2014 Council Retreat (Only the goals with the most discussion are included in the minutes). • Determine best method for maintaining City grounds (grounds keeping and mowing), with the first stage of the Building & Grounds Crew implemented and the second stage underway Council consensus was to continue with this into 2015 • Hold a workshop on the City's annexation program, which was completed, including an amendment to the annexation ordinance approved on December 18, 2014. Imker said he wanted to be aware of all annexation opportunities since Council might be able to agree to things that staff could not promise. • Dredge Lake Peachtree,which was scheduled to begin in January 2015 and conclude in May 2015 Pennington said the Requests for Proposal for the dredging would be on the County Commission's January 22 agenda. They were opened on January 8 and were being evaluated. The City had not held up the process. • Initiate traffic study that encompasses the west side to alleviate the traffic congestion on 54, which had been completed, accepted by Council, and sent to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Fleisch reported that GDOT was working on the design for the Line Creek/SR 54 intersection. Pennington added that GDOT had been very pleased with the study, but did not agree with everything in it. However, they were pleased the City took the initiative to have the study done. Learnard commended Fleisch on keeping up positive relationships with officials at all levels. • Review and Update the Cart Path Master Plan, which was completed with the workshop held on March 4, 2014 Learnard noted the path system was the City's signature, and she would like to revisit the master plan at another workshop in the spring. • Develop long-term plan for City Hall Complex (including surrounding grounds), which was ongoing Pennington said that, since the City did not have a central business district, there had been discussions on making the City Hall Complex the central focal point for the community. The Atlanta Regional Commission had taken a look, and they were surprised at the amount of City- owned land around the complex. Learnard said she would prefer to use local resources/people, such as Jerry Peterson and Jim Strickland, moving forward. Council agreed. • Create a policy for subdivision sign maintenance/replacement, a workshop had been held but there had been no final decision by Council City Council Minutes January 9,2015, Retreat Page 4 Pennington reported that, in general, most citizens had been happy with the work that had been done by Public Works. Learnard suggested Council take another look at the current policy, and keep this as a goal for 2015. • Request change to the election cycle for council members to even numbered years, which could require revising state legislation King noted the turnout for the election in 2013 had been poor, and he believed putting the municipal election in line with the presidential election would help increase the turnout. He asked to get the process started by adding the item to the January 15 agenda. Pennington said they might need to speak to the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) first since municipal elections were dictated by state law, and he did not know if the change could be made for just the City. • Review and Update City Charter Council discussed changing the form of government for the City, noting it was not a strong mayor form. The mechanics were in place in the charter, but one sentence was needed to clarify the City had a Council/City Manager form of government. • Determine feasibility of expanding Keep Peachtree City Beautiful to include collection of all outdoor City trashcans,which had been completed and contracted with KPTCB Fleisch said this had been going very well. • Evaluate options for expanding transportation options for PTC seniors Learnard asked to keep this goal on the list. • Get informed on the pros and cons of backyard hens Council consensus was to remove this from the list. Discuss and establish a prioritized list of Short and Medium Term Goals for 2015 Council discussed possible goals for 2015, including several golf cart and golf cart path issues, including an increase in cart fees, prioritization of path expansion and resurfacing, path connections to annexed areas, and state highway crossings. The consensus was to group all the golf cart and path items together. Reviewing the items, prioritizing, and planning would be the major goal. Another item added was to understand how to increase cart path funding and the need to resolve the restriction placed on path maintenance and paving due to the amount that Public Works manpower and equipment could take care of on an annual basis. In addition, Council wanted to continue to build/improve the City's relationship with the ARC. lmker said he would like to review the prior fiscal year budget by November of each year, in order to see what the balance was that had not been spent. He wanted to use those dollars, directing them for use in other parts of the current fiscal year budget rather than have the funds go into the reserves. He suggested having the review in February for the FY 2014 budget. Pennington added November Review of Priority Budget to the list. Learnard asked that the City work with WASA to inventory any sewer lines still owned by the City, with the goal of eventually turning them over to WASA. Imker addressed a series of issues he would like to be included: City Council Minutes January 9,2015, Retreat Page 5 • Review of Organizational Structure, particularly as it related to one director over Public Works and Community Services. Fleisch noted that the Planning and Zoning Director position needed to be filled with the annexation and development projects pending in 2015. Pennington noted that staff would be looking at alternate recruiting methods because, although they had received 130 applications, none had the certifications and qualifications desired. • Review of Employee Benefits • Review of Employee Retirement and changing from a Defined Benefit to a 457 • Discussion of Council input on the annual raise amount that is programmed into the budget • Developing a plan for the Battery Way / Island area, including restrooms, cleanup of the island, addition of a park with gazebo and picnic tables, and a bridge to access the island. • Developing a plan for the City Center discussed last year, to include better access between Drake Field and the All Children's Playground. • Follow-up on the Lake Peachtree North Lagoon and possible silt collector, including ownership,whether the silt collector exists and its current status • Cart Path Plan Review, including the status of the path change from Cedarcroft and the tunnel by Camden Apartments. • Discussion of Golf Cart Registration and fees, including frequency (possibly$15 every three years), outside city fee, etc. lmker and Learnard asked why the City had not agreed to reciprocity with carts from unincorporated Fayette County. Fleisch noted that Peachtree City residents paid for the maintenance of paths with their taxes, and would pay for any county path through their County taxes. Unincorporated County residents did not contribute to Peachtree City's Path system. Additionally, the County had approximately two miles of paths compared to Peachtree City's 90+ miles of paths, and the City collected over$50,000 per year from unincorporated County residents to help with the path maintenance. • Review of Court Fines, particularly as related to fines for golf cart infractions. Pennington cautioned that this issue fell outside Council's authority, noting the Judge set the fines, and the County and State had add-ons that increased the amount paid by defendants. • Revisit adding a connecting road between the Overlook Development and the Line Creek Nature Area or MacDuff Crossing. • Discuss extending the right turn lane from Planterra Way onto Highway 54 by 100 feet, at least as far as seeing a cost estimate • Update and review the West Village Impact Study, originally created in 2007 as part of the annexation process. Imker said he would like to factor in the upcoming changes to the City's development impact fees. • Revise the process for appointing new members to Commissions and Authorities. lmker said he had no way to evaluate whether he agreed with candidates on important issues. King suggested that Council Members not on the selection committee forward questions to the committee. Learnard noted the interviews were public meetings and asked that Council be included on all the notices, then any Council Member could sit in. Imker felt like any interested Council Member should be part of the selection committee. • Review of the Stormwater Utility, including funding sources (as referenced in a December email from Mike Madison), project list,when another bond would be required,who issues the bonds, potential for decreasing the citizen utility rate over time, and cost savings realized by performing smaller stormwater projects in-house. • Review of Emergency Management Plan, including Council responsibilities and communications and designated spokespersons. • Creating a list of 1,000 things to do in Peachtree City City Council Minutes January 9,2015, Retreat Page 6 • Report on the financial impact of the World Airways bankruptcy • Creating a Younger Families Initiative • Recognizing Outstanding Citizens. Discussion involved recent recognitions of this nature based on departmental recommendations and that any Council Member could make a similar request. • Revisit phasing out gas golf carts (no member was interested in further discussions on this). • Discuss having a web page blog. The remaining members were opposed to this. Pennington noted he would be scheduling training because of the growing liability for cities related to social media policies. Learnard asked that an overall hierarchy of approval also be included in this training. King asked that they also look at increasing assistance to the FCDA for coordinating filming activities in the City. This should also be coordinated with the CVB. Learnard asked that Council have an update from the Library on new offerings, such as online magazines. Fleisch felt similar presentations from WASA and the Airport Authority would also be beneficial. Pennington said he would organize the items discussed as goals and return them to Council individually for prioritization. There being no additional items to discuss, the Retrea _adjourned at 1:30 p.m. 4.41( Lio* Pam Dufresne Vanessa Fleisch Deputy City Clerk Mayor 4111 i%WI fjPP Betsy Tyler City Clerk