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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-02-2015 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes April 2, 2015 7:00 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met on Thursday, April 2, 2015, 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 Recognition Connie Haynes and Mike Marshall with Fayette County Earth Day accepted the Fayette County Earth Day proclamation from Mayor Fleisch. Lane Crider of Nissan of Newnan presented Interim Police Chief Stan Pye with a check for $2,000 to help purchase body cameras for the Police Department. Newnan Nissan would also be a sponsor for the 2nd Annual Blue Lights & Sirens 5K on October 24. Library Administrator Jill Prouty gave an update on the Peachtree City Library. She noted that Paul Lentz of the Friends of the Library was ill and unable to attend to present an update on the organization's activities. Prouty continued that budget constraints had caused staff to discuss user trends, which led to some interesting changes for the Library in prioritizing acquisitions. City funds for new acquisitions had been cut $25,000 for FY 2015, while state funding had been cut 50%. Print circulation had been trending downward 2% each year, while the use of digital services had skyrocketed. The key focus areas included children's books, adult bestsellers, digital/remote access, and public access computers. The cutbacks included audiobook CD purchase plans for children and adults, a reduction in the lease book allotment (adult bestsellers) by one third, a reduction in new literary criticisms (continuing only with Contemporary Literary Criticism and Poetry Criticism), and limiting new purchases (non-fiction, best sellers, and as needed subject areas). Prouty added that the Friends of the Library had provided funding to "pick up the slack" in the non-fiction area. The focus had turned to providing digital services, and everything could be found on the Library's website. Several thousand e-book and audio book titles were available through Georgia Download Destination, which was a state consortium. The Library had an advantage account, which allowed the Library to purchase additional titles that were only available for local patrons to decrease some of the wait times. One Click Digital was for audio books, but had an e-book plan for classics. Georgia Zinio magazine subscription allowed users to download and keep a variety of magazines. In addition, the Library had the Access My Library app for Chilton's Car Repair manuals, literary criticisms, Testing & Education Reference Center, Gale Legal Forms, Transparent Language, and the Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO). Wandoo Reader. Downloadable music would be available soon. The summer reading program would also be online. The children would be able to log their books, and they would be notified when it was time to collect a prize at the Library. Next year, the Library hoped to have downloadable movies. Prouty said she was proud of how staff had worked to absorb the state and local cuts. They would continue to find ways to give people what they wanted without dropping services. The Friends of the Library had helped with funding for some of the programs. Fleisch said she had received an e-mail from Jim "Recon" Ryan recently, who had commended Community Services/Public Services Director Jon Rorie on moving the flag pole at the civic sign at SR 54/SR 74 so the flag could be seen City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 2 Public Comment Shayne Robinson addressed Council, giving kudos to Rorie, Senior Planner David Rast, and City Engineer Dave Borkowski for the informational meetings held March 23 for residents impacted by the MacDuff Parkway extension. Minutes March 19, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes King moved to approve the March 19, 2015, regular meeting minutes as written. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Agenda 1. Consider Subdivision Entrance Maintenance Grant-The Marks 2. Consider Intergovernmental Agreement with Fayette County-2015 Municipal Election 3. Consider Proposal for Municipal Broadband Business Plan Development Fleisch noted there was an additional document on the dais-the staff memo for item 3. Learnard moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1, 2, and 3. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Old Agenda Items 11-14-02 Consider Dredging Options of Lake Peachtree City Engineer Dave Borkowski discussed some of the options for additional dredging, noting that adding the center area (Zone 1 and 2) of the lake would cost $911,656.95. The area covered 11.3 acres, with the assumption being an average dredging depth of two feet. The volume of 111 the dredged material was estimated at 36,466.28 cubic yards, with a cost of $25 per cubic yard. Dredging a smaller 7.4-acre area inside the 11.3 acres would produce 23,845 cubic yards at a cost of $596,127. The entire 13.4-acre area that Council had considered in the center of the lake would produce 43,205 cubic years and cost $1,080,127. As a comparison, Borkowski noted that dredging an area the size of Council Chambers would produce 220 cubic yards of silt and cost$5,741. Borkowski continued that staff had also looked at dredging the Pinecrest dock area on the western side of the lake, which had never been dredged. The area was 0.3 acres, which would produce 968 cubic yards of silt at a depth of two feet. The cost would be $24,200. Borkowski noted the dock was heavily used, and dredging two feet would be adequate to help with the issues boat owners had in the area. King asked if the County and Massana (the dredging contractor) were still on schedule and the work would be completed by June 12. Borkowski said he had not asked, but based on the limited amount of sediment that had been removed; he did not think they would meet the June deadline. King asked what the expected completion date was now. City Manager Jim Pennington said the County probably had built a time frame into the schedule, and he had heard County Administrator Steve Rapson say there would be days no work would be done, but Pennington did not know how many days that was. Borkowski said he would ask the County what the weather had done to the schedule. King said that, at the rate it was going, it could take six months to complete the dock area. Ernst recalled the County's timeframe had an additional 30 days for bad weather, which would be July 12. Pennington and Borkowski both said they would have to check with the County. City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 3 Learnard recommended the City move forward with the dredging in the Pinecrest Dock area. Pennington said staff agreed, adding there were concerns about the depth in the dock area and boats leaving from that area. Imker said he used that area quite often in the summer, sometimes using an electric motor he had for his canoe. It had worked fine for him so he did not see a need to dredge. Dredging it would support those with big gasoline motors, and those boat owners lived on the lake. Pennington said staff had no recommendation at all; it was Council's decision. King asked how many gas boats used the dock area. He understood that gas motors were owned by Lake Peachtree residents further to the south of the dock. Tom Fulton said there were Lake Peachtree residents who owned gas-powered boats and lived on the Hip Pocket Road side of the lake. He explained that gas motors drew two feet of water or more, and dredging the area would improve access and eliminate bottom strikes. Of the 30- 40 houses that had gas boat rights, 15-20 boat owners used the dock on a regular basis. Fleisch asked if the Pinecrest Dock area had ever been dredged. Fulton said he did not recall, saying it had not been in the original plan. A stormwater tributary came into the lake in that area, and it had added a good bit of silt. Fleisch said this could be 50 years' worth of silt that would be removed. Ernst asked if the residents could enter the lake more easily at Battery Way. Fulton said he did not know if the lake was any deeper at the Battery Way dock, but Pinecrest was an active ramp used by those who lived on the lake, as well as others, including fishermen. It seemed to be the perfect opportunity to have the dredging done for a comparatively small fee. King said Pinecrest was a public park and was open to all citizens in the City. The City would get possibly 50 years of dredging for$24,000,which was a worthwhile venture. Imker said there were 10,000 other households supporting the proposed dredging so 50 other households could use the dock when there were other options available. Battery Way was deeper. The residents who wanted to use that dock for the convenience, who were a small number of citizens, could take care of dredging the Pinecrest area for themselves. King moved to approve the additional dredging of 0.3 acres, 938 cubic yards, at the cost of $24,200 at the Pinecrest Dock. Learnard seconded. Motion carried 4-1 (Imker). 02-15-10 Discuss/Consider Official Staff Direction to Propose State Legislation Permitting Municipal Elections in Even-numbered Years King said he had originally brought up the proposal since voter turnout was so much better in even-number years when state and national elections took place. Of the last four even- numbered year elections, the voter turnout in three had been 60- 61% and almost 81% for one. The voter turnout for the odd-numbered year municipal elections had been 19%, 20%, and 22% for one of the elections. Moving the municipal election to even-numbered years would provide a much better representation of the electorate. To change the election, there would need to be a referendum on the ballot in the upcoming election to either extend or curtail Council terms so they would coincide with an even-year election. City Attorney Ted Meeker said it would depend on when the change would be fully implemented. To implement it sooner, there would need to be a referendum to shorten the City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 4 terms to get the elections into even-numbered years. If Council wanted everyone, including those who would take office in January, to serve a four-year term, then the terms could be staggered out to the even-numbered years. It would depend on how quickly Council wanted the change implemented. King said he wanted to implement it as soon as possible. As an example, if Learnard's current term was curtailed, her term would be up in 2016, not 2017. Meeker said the easiest way, if the legislature approved the change, would be to have the seats up for election in 2017 be for three-year terms. Part of the referendum could be to shorten the terms of the people elected in November as well. The terms of the five offices had to be kept staggered. Learnard clarified that the Georgia Legislature had to approve the change in the next session. Meeker confirmed that, adding the referendum would be a year from November if the terms of office were shortened. Ernst noted there would be an election in November for two posts, asking when the other three terms would come up for election. Meeker said it would depend on how the legislation was worded, adding it might be better if he provided some different scenarios and laid them out in a chart. Learnard asked if all the municipalities were on the same election cycle. Meeker said there were some cities that held elections in even-numbered years. Ernst asked, if the City chose to change the cycle, would it affect any other municipality in the County. Meeker said the change would only affect Peachtree City. Learnard supported moving to the next step. Fleisch asked if there had been any citizen feedback. King said none of the feedback he had received had been negative, saying the City's elections had been influenced by a small vocal minority rather than a majority of the citizens. Meeker said he would have a presentation at the first meeting in May. Ernst asked if the change would save money. King said it should save $70,000 per election. Meeker said there could be a savings, but the City would still pay for an election. He asked Public Information Officer/City Clerk Betsy Tyler to check with the County Elections Office regarding any savings. Learnard move to continue to the agenda item to the first meeting in May. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 04-15-01 Public Hearing - Consider Amendments to Article VI Definitions to the Zoning Ordinance Rast said this agenda item was a text amendment concerning the definition of family. He had worked with the City Attorney and Code Enforcement on the definition,which was based on the Fair Housing Act. Existing definition: Family: One or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit, provided that unless all persons are related by blood or marriage, or are lawful wards, no such family shall contain more than two persons. Proposed definition: Family: A person, or group of persons, immediately related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, exclusive of household servants; also, a group of not more than three (3) City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 5 persons, or a group of not more than eight (8) disabled persons not necessarily related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit. Rast said staff recommended approval. The Planning Commission had recommended approval with a change of the number of a group from three to two; however, staff recommended that change not be made, as the proposed wording had been successfully defended in court. Fleisch opened the public hearing. No one spoke for or against the proposed amendment. The public hearing closed. Imker asked what the rationale was for the change. Meeker said the United States Supreme Court had struck down the current definition. The new definition had been upheld by the United States Supreme Court in a related case. Ernst moved to approve agenda item 04-15-01 Amendments to Article VI Definitions to the Zoning Ordinance. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 04-15-02 Public Hearing - Consider Request to Rezone 2.37-acre Peachtree Pointe office tract from LUC-9 Limited Use Commercial to LUC-27 Limited Use Commercial, 6000 Shakerag Hill Rast said the rezoning request was for a 2.37-acre tract with three freestanding office buildings. The applicant, Peachtree Pointe Partners, LLC, had asked for the rezoning to be able sell one of the buildings. The rezoning to LUC-27 would allow a separate tract for each building, but with 111 common parking, utilities, and stormwater. The owner had a purchaser for one of the buildings, but in order to sell one of the buildings, they had to subdivide the property. Council had considered several similar rezonings recently, where the site had been partially developed and the owners wanted to either refinance or sell a portion of the property. Staff and the Planning Commission had recommended approval with the following conditions: 1. Approval of the rezoning shall not include approval of any site enhancements or improvements. 2. The Applicant shall coordinate with City staff to ensure notes related to site access, parking, stormwater and utility easements are properly addressed and included on the final plat. Rast pointed out that the overall Shakerag Hill development was zoned LUC-9 approximately 20 years ago, and the zoning designation would only change on this tract. Fleisch opened the public hearing. Brent Randolph of Group VI said he was the representative for the applicant, asking Council to consider approval of the rezoning. No one else spoke for or against the rezoning. Fleisch closed the public hearing. Fleisch asked if, once subdivided, there would be an association to ensure landscaping, etc., would be taken care of. Randolph said there were restrictive covenants in the deed for a pro rata sharing of the costs. City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 6 King moved to approve agenda item 04-15-02 Request to Rezone 2.37-acre Peachtree Pointe office tract from LUC-9 Limited Use Commercial to LUC-27 Limited Use Commercial, 6000 Shakerag Hill, based on the ordinance included in the Council packet. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 04-15-03 Consider Amendments to Health and Sanitation Ordinance (as requested by the Fayette County Board of Health) Robert Kurbes, Environmental Health Manager for Fayette County, addressed Council. Kurbes said the first portion was primarily housekeeping. He reported that the Health Department had been under the umbrella of the state's Department of Human Resources, and approximately 18 months ago, the state elevated Public Health to a department-level cabinet position. By doing so, the state office was making administrative changes in the numbering system for the state code. Currently, the health regulations were in Chapter 295, and he asked that the City change the numbers in its ordinances to reflect the changes in the state code, would become Chapter 511. The City's code would then match state code. Kurbes continued that on January 1, 2016, the County Health Department would be charged with the enforcement and oversight of a new program titled "Portable Sanitation Contractors." He explained the new state regulation charged the local health department to enforce the code. Adopting the rules as a local ordinance would give the County department the ability to enforce the code in a quicker and more effective manner by taking violators through local code enforcement offices and municipal courts as opposed to state court. The program dealt with three aspects of portable sanitation. First, an inspection process for the service companies would be put in place. Locally-based contractors would have to become state certified in the proper disposal of effluent. The County's department would inspect the servicing equipment to ensure the effluent was held and disposed of properly so it would not become a public health issue. The second aspect would deal with setting up guidelines for special events and wherever the portable facilities were needed. The main course. of enforcement was to give the local health department the ability to investigate complaints and address issues. Learnard asked if the requirements for special events would be different or more restrictive than what was in place. Kurbes said there were no requirements in place prior to the recent changes. The new guidelines would be recommendations for the number of facilities needed based on event size. While there had been regulations in the state code since the early 1990s, there had been no department to oversee and enforce them. This opened the door to address issues that could not be addressed before. Learnard moved to approve the amendments to the Health and Sanitation Ordinance as spelled out in the Council packet. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 04-15-04 Consider Bids for Street Resurfacing Rorie said there were some differences between his memo and what he would present that evening, but he would clear the differences up before his presentation ended. He referred to the workshop on streets and the multi-use path system held on March 4, 2014, noting that 33% of the City's roads and streets were rated below 80 (on a scale of 100), or approximately 59 miles or 311,520 feet or $19,895,000, and needed resurfacing. No bids were awarded for paving in FY 2014, which meant the funding for 2014 was moved into the unappropriated fund balance (cash reserves) going forward into 2015. The 2014 project scope included 18 roads (more than City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 7 eight miles or 42,683 feet without Crosstown Road). The 2015 project scope included 24 roads (6.9 miles or 36,537 feet) with a bid estimate of$2.2 million. The lowest bid total was $1,731,000 from Blount Construction. The bid scope only included Crosstown Drive, Grecken Green, a portion of Peachtree Parkway South (Crosstown Road to Braelinn Road on both sides), and Blue Smoke Trail. Available funding included $803,801 in Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds and $395,531 from the General Fund for a total of$1,199,352 in available funding. Rorie said staff was asking that $532,000 plus a 5% contingency (approximately $86,000), totaling $618,000, also be reallocated from the General Fund reserve. Rorie continued that the staff memo had not included any contingency funds, adding there were culverts and tunnels that had to be paved over on Crosstown Road. The pavement would be milled in those locations. The City could not afford to close down Crosstown Road so staff to come back to Council asking for contingency approval if there were any issues. Borkowski explained that staff never knew what it would find when digging was done. The depth of the road over the tunnel was about two feet, and more concrete could be needed to ensure the paving was done correctly. The equipment for the FDR weighed over 80,000 pounds, so staff did not want the equipment over the tunnels with the limited cover. Rorie added that the funding needed to be available for field decisions, not as a blank check. Pennington noted the Crosstown project had been postponed for two years, and the contract had to be awarded at this meeting since the LMIG funds had to be used/encumbered before the end of April. Rorie said the most recent delay on the Crosstown Road project had been due to the Kroger renovation in Braelinn Village, and the big trucks carrying steel beams and other equipment were now finished. Fleisch recalled there had been two water main breaks after the full-depth reclamation (FDR) on Peachtree Parkway, and the brand new road had to be dug up. She asked if the integrity of the pipes could be tested before work began. Pennington said that question had been asked before, and staff hoped to get a better answer from the new director of the Fayette County Water System than the information the City had gotten for the Peachtree Parkway project. Rorie pointed out that funding did not cover 15 of the 18 roads that needed resurfacing in FY 2014 or any of the 24 roads needed in FY 2015. lmker said he had data to share, stating that only three people in the City had any clue exactly where the City stood with the budget - Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore, Pennington, and himself. There had been a $2,821,000 positive ending in the fund budget for FY 2014. The original budget for Crosstown Road had $1 million, and that money was in the FY 2015 budget. Rorie was only asking for $618,000 to do the jobs he discussed, which would still leave $436,000 from the money that was not spent last year. Fleisch noted no roads had been paved last year, which had been the reason for the remaining funds. Imker continued that another reason for the savings was $191,000 in purchase orders had moved from FY 2014 to FY 2015, bringing the true amount of savings to $2,012,000. In the FY 2015 budget, $412,000 was set aside to use as FY 2015 reserves. lmker said that, because there was $2 million left from FY 2014, the $412,000 could be wiped out and not be used, leaving $1.6 million. Another $500,000 for other expenditures, such as Lake Peachtree and legal expenses, left $1.1 million remaining from FY 2014. With the cost of the new employee salaries, $496,000 remained plus the $436,000. There was approximately $1 million left in the bank from FY 2014 that could be spent on road projects, so City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 8 understanding where the City was at the end of the fiscal year was important. Over $2 million was not spent by staff last year because of the good work they had done. Across the board, every department came in favorably and contributed to the savings. He reminded Council there should be a review late in the fiscal year, so they would understand where the budget was going and to allocate those monies. When staff said they wanted to use over $600,000 of the reserves, it was coming from last year's reserves. Imker pointed out the City was approaching approximately$900,000 to spend without hurting the budget. Salvatore said that part of the positive ending was due to exceeding the expected number of employee retirements and terminations, so there had been an unusually high salary savings in FY 2014. lmker moved to award a contract to Blount Construction in the amount of$1,731,000 for FY 2015 paving projects and to appropriate an additional $86,000 for contingency for a total not to exceed amount of$618,000 drawn from General Fund reserves. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Rorie gave a brief update on cart paths, saying approximately 13% of the paths were below the rating of 80, which triggered the prioritization for paving and resurfacing. Fiscal Year 2015 had $444,000 budgeted for cart paths, which was six miles per year in material costs. The City was limited in what could be done due to staffing. The input/output models of cart path paving had changed this year, according to Rorie, but staff had not communicated that well to the residents. During the winter months, the cart path crews had gone through the "opening the paths" process, which meant taking up the old asphalt, converting it, leveling it, rolling it, and leaving what looked like a gravel path. The process for repaving normally took two and one-half weeks to open up the path to get ready for paving, they paved the path behind Cedarcroft that week in two and one-half days. Doing the process this way allowed staff to work through the winter and get positioned to gain more paving when the temperature remained at 45° and above. The input had been changed for a different output, and he credited Public Works Supervisor Scott Hicks and Cart Path Supervisor Jimmy Freeman for coming up with the idea. Rorie gave an overview of where the paths that would be repaved were located, as well as the paths that were pending for FY 2015. He said outsourcing had not been a viable option, noting that there was no economy of scale for vendors when 200 feet of repaving was needed in one area and 300 feet in another area. The maps would be put on the City website so the public would be able to see what was being done and where. It looked like the new plan would be successful. Ernst asked for an update on the state road cart path crossings. Rorie reported that staff was ready to send the recommendations for golf cart crossings on SR 54 to the state. The state did not have a permit application yet, so that was an issue itself. The traffic counts had been done, and it would not be a significant issue to put path crossings on SR 54 by Publix, based on the response from Pond + Company, the City's traffic consultant. Borkowski added there were some technical concerns with the state criteria, but staff would meet next week. Pennington added MacDuff Parkway was the priority right now, and Borkowski was the one who had to deal with it. Rorie added that it normally took 28 days for plan review, and staff was working to turn the plans around in 14 days. Council/Staff Topics City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 9 Imker said he had five items he wanted to discuss. The first was a better video system for Council Chambers. He had heard from several citizens that the quality of the streaming video was poor, and it was not the quality citizens deserved. He wanted to consider a real system for FY 2016. An agenda item to increase golf cart fees was needed, according to Imker. Currently, the City charged $12 for a five-year registration, and lmker had suggested changing it to $15 for three years. Per state law, the City could only charge $15 for five years. Imker said there should be an agenda item to take care of it. In 2016, there would be 10,000 people coming in to re-register their golf carts and the process was being shortchanged with a $12 fee. Learnard agreed. Imker asked staff to confirm that there was an extra $900,000 left over from FY 2014, and to make recommendations on how to use those extra funds. Imker addressed the proposed venue change for the April 16 meeting, adding that several residents had asked for the change due to the expected turnout for the rezoning public hearing for Great Wolf Lodge. It was not his call, but lmker asked Fleisch to let citizens know which way it would go. Fleisch said the next meeting would be held at City Hall. Imker continued that here was more money available to the City, and he proposed a County- wide 1% SPLOST. lmker said a SPLOST could reduce the City's millage rate by 1.5 mills, which would save the average homeowner $150 per year. The City would lose $2.6 million in property taxes, but a 1% SPLOST would generate $6 million in revenue for the City. It would cost the average citizen about $150 extra in sales tax per year, so the net for average taxpayer was zero and the net for the City would be $3.5 million extra dollars free. Fayette County was one of five in the state that did not have a SPLOST. Imker read an e-mail he sent to County Administrator Steve Rapson earlier in the day on April 2: I'd like to meet at your convenience to discuss a possible SPLOST(again!) for the county. Please know this is my own initiative at this time. I'm interested in a possible ballot initiative this November to ask the voters if this is something they'd want to consider. I've already talked to Steve Brown and others and this is something they would consider. (I understand everything is always available for consideration.) After a discussion with you, I would like to follow up with other commissioners. I've done the math and confirmed my thinking with Peachtree City Finance Director, Paul Salvatore. The concept in PTC is to reduce our PTC mill rate 1.5 mills and ask for a countywide 1%SPLOST. In PTC we'd trade a$150 lower property tax bill on an average home but add$150 for sales tax on average. Net zero for PTC tax payers. We'd lose -$2.6M in property tax revenue but gain -$6M in SPLOST. Net-$3.4M favorable for PTC. The numbers may be off slightly but should be within reason for discussion purposes. Of course if this came to be we'd definitely need to tell the tax payers up front if the SPLOST ever went away to expect the mill rate to go back up. The county could do the same thing. Reduce its mill rate but the net effect on the average tax payer may be close to zero since the cost of a 1%sales tax would replace it. The net gain for the county might be in the range of$8M! City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 10 Please let me know if you'd like to meet to discuss further. There are many other details that would need follow up. Imker said the County Commissioners were having their retreat on Friday, April 3, and Rapson told lmker he would read his e-mail to them. Imker said there would have to be an extensive education campaign for the SPLOST, and he would participate. Rapson said he would also discuss what they could potentially "buy" with SPLOST funds rather than using Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funds. The County would have to come to the cities, asking if they wanted to do it as well, and lmker hoped Peachtree City would want to do it. King said that, per Imker, the average homeowner would spend $150 more in sales tax annually, based on spending habits. Imker said that was correct. On paper, King said he liked the line of thought, but he challenged the amount of $150, saying it would be higher than that. Imker said he just wanted to bring it up for discussion. Learnard pointed out that there needed to be a list of projects for a SPLOST. lmker said there were roads and cart paths that needed repaving, and a new fire engine would be needed in three years. The SPLOST would allow the City to get the extra money at no cost. There were many details for follow up. Recreation Administrator Cajen Rhodes gave an update on the July 4th festivities, saying parade registration for City residents would open May 19 and for Fayette County residents and businesses on May 26. Staff had serious concerns about the fireworks because the Lake Peachtree dredging could still be going on. The fireworks site was at the point on Drake Field, right where the road came through. The road to SR 54 also went straight through the viewing area. A lot of money and time was spent on the fireworks and putting on the Fourth Fest. . There was a possibility the fireworks would have to be pushed to Labor Day. Staff did not want to waste resources or time. Rhodes did not want to be the bearer of bad news, but staff hoped to have some realistic expectations for the dredging by the end of April. The Recreation Department staff needed to make a decision by the end of the month. An alternate location for the fireworks could be considered, but there were places all over the City where people gathered to watch the fireworks display over the lake. Update on MacDuff Parkway Pennington said staff met with developer representatives on March 30. Rorie said staff met with the developers at least three times trying to keep the project on target. Staff had also held community meetings with MacDuff Parkway area residents, meeting with three different groups on one night, and planned to meet with residents in Belvedere, Sagamore, and The Retreat on the north side of the parkway soon. Rorie reminded people that this was a private project, and staff wanted to provide an update. Borkowski reported that the 1,400-foot section from Franklin Ridge to the Everton entrance was under construction. It had been permitted in January, and it should take six months to finish the short section of roadway. The 1,900 linear feet between the Wieland property and Senoia Road was in the permitting process with the City, which should take 60 days. CSX Railroad had approved the bridge over the railroad tracks, and was waiting on its fee of $450,000 before issuing permits. It would take approximately 20 months for construction, including the bridge. The construction would be complicated and would require raising the Senoia Road intersection seven feet to meet grade to get over the railroad tracks and tie in with the other side of the parkway. Senoia Road would also be closed for six to nine months, so people would need to City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 11 find other ways to travel. The bridge would take quite a bit of time to build, and additional time had been built in. The remaining section from Everton to the entrance at Cresswind was 6,300 feet, and it was expected to take three months to permit, according to Borkowski. Staff was working with the developers on what traffic-calming devices to include, as well as on the erosion control and stormwater designs. This would be a heavily-traveled road, and traffic-calming would be incorporated into the design. A development agreement would formalize the safety aspects to be included, and Borkowski expected that agreement to be ready shortly. The developers had agreed to pay for the path connection to the existing tunnel near the SR 54/MacDuff intersection that would tie into the path in the Wal-Mart commercial area. Rorie added the developers were currently working on their cost-sharing agreements among themselves. The cart path crossing close to the second Cedarcroft entrance would become a tabletop crossing as a traffic-calming measure. Rorie said staff had asked the two homeowners adjacent to a dirt path near the current crossing if they would give the City an easement so the cart path could go back onto Gittings Avenue and through Cedarcroft. The homeowners were not interested. Rorie said it made no sense to require enhanced golf cart crossing on the northern end of MacDuff Parkway without addressing the current crossings, which was why they were dealing with the tunnel and adding an additional tabletop device to the plan. They were looking at the parkway as a whole. Borkowski said staff was working with the developers to enhance the intersections in the new segment of the road. At the two-way stop intersections, where MacDuff would flow through, the developers would build a raised intersection so it was like a big tabletop. There would be a safety refuge for golf carts in the medians. The four-way stops along the way would also calm traffic. Rorie said there would be turn lanes at the subdivision entrances. The road engineering design was done several years ago, and staff was working with the developers to upgrade the stormwater and erosion controls, as well as adding the safety enhancements. Learnard pointed out that the City had a self-imposed plan review period of 28 working days, asking why the City did that. Other cities contracted out the engineering consulting work so there would be a shorter turnaround, usually 10 days. Pennington said the City did contract out some of the stormwater work. Learnard said Council should look at this to unburden staff and solve the turnaround time. Rorie said staff had issued a task order to ISE for completion of the cart path plans, and he agreed that the City's process was not business friendly. Pennington also agreed, adding that Borkowski and his staff were at capacity. Learnard said this could be fixed. Fleisch asked what the latest cost estimate was. Rorie said the estimate was at $8 million, but it was hard to target since they did not know what would happen once the work started. Executive Session Learnard moved to convene in executive session at 9:14 p.m. to discuss the acquisition or disposal of real estate, personnel, and threatened or pending litigation. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Learnard moved to reconvene in regular session at 9:50 p.m. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes April 2,2015 Page 12 I There being no further business, King moved to adjourn the meeting. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:51 p.m. ` Pamela Dufresne, De. City Clerk anessa Fleisch, Ma or