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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-04-2015 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes June 4, 2015 7:00 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met on Thursday, June 4, 2015, at City Hall. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Other Council Members attending: Terry Ernst, Eric lmker, Mike King, and Kim Learnard. Announcements, Awards, Special Recognition Presentation of Plaque by Commemorative Air Force-Dixie Wing Flight Steve Forsyth and Bob Grove of the Commemorative Air Force - Dixie Wing presented Mayor Fleisch with a well-traveled acrylic golf cart memento from the City that flew in the Dixie Wing's P-51 Mustang that was one of the 57 vintage airplanes that flew over the Washington Mall to commemorate the 70th anniversary of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day. Grove said the plan had been to have 70 planes; however, it was difficult to find that many since they all were more than 70 years old. The planes came from nine states and 16 cities. Peachtree City was home to three of the 57 aircraft that flew. Grove continued that the Dixie Wing had just acquired a DC-5 named "That's All Brother," that was the first aircraft to drop the 101st Airborne into the first battle of D-Day. It was also the first to drop the 82nd Airborne on D-Day, as well as the first to resupply the troops at Bastogne. It would be restored, and then would go on educational tours around the United States. Fleisch thanked City Manager Jim Pennington for his four years of service to the City, noting his retirement on June 12 meant this was his last meeting. She presented Pennington with an acrylic golf cart memento. Public Comment Kevin Dwyer addressed Council concerning the homes under construction on a 4.6-acre tract located at 424 Robinson Road, which had received variances from the City to allow the homeowners to maintain their own stormwater systems and to allow an additional curb cut to serve the lots. Dwyer said there was a steep 35-foot slope on one portion of the tract, noting the eight-inch drain pipe from the detention pond drained onto the lots below, which included his home on Doubletrace Lane. The new homes were on septic systems, so there was concern about the soils and the septic lines going to the detention pond. His neighborhood had dealt with flooding from Robinson Road before the curb and guttering was put in. Dwyer said he did not know if the City's Engineering Department was aware of what was happening or not. Dwyer said he had looked at the current plans for the proposed four-home neighborhood, and they had changed, especially with additional curb cuts. His concern was that he and his neighbors would be the next homes to have structural flooding. Pam Kemp said she had attended the meetings when the variances for 424 Robinson Road had been approved. She recalled, at the public hearing for the variance, that the ordinance only allowed two homes on one curb cut. The tract had two curb cuts, and a variance for a third curb cut had been approved. The curb cuts appeared to have been deleted. The plan for the tract had been for four homes, and it appeared now there might be five homes on one drive off Robinson Road. Lynne Lasher referred to the City's recent purchase of two houses, one on Harbor Loop and one on Driftwood Lane, because of structural flooding caused by stormwater issues. She hoped staff had really looked at the problem, and no other homes had flooded. Since the last meeting, she had become aware that the home next door to the Harbor Loop property had flooded in 2005 City Council Minutes June 4,2015 Page 2 and 2011 from water coming across the property purchased by the City. She asked if the City had spoken with any of the other homeowners and whether taking the house down would create problems for other homeowners. Minutes November 20, 2014, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project March 5, 2015, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project March 19, 2015, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project April 2, 2015, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project May 21, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes King moved to approve the November 20, 2014, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project; March 5, 2015, Executive Session Minutes-Stormwater Project; March 19, 2015, Executive Session Minutes -Stormwater Project; April 2, 2015, Executive Session Minutes - Stormwater Project; and May 21, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Agenda 1. Consider Application and Acceptance for Firehouse Sub Grant 2. Consider Resolution-Amendment to 457 Deferred Compensation Plan Imker acknowledged the Firehouse Sub Grant of $15,000 for body cameras for police officers, saying it was a very generous donation. Learnard moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1 and 2. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 06-15-01 Consider Non-profit Funding Request- Fayette Senior Services Fleisch noted that Council had continued the request from Promise Place at the May 21 meeting so the City's policy on non-profit requests could be updated, asking Pennington if Council should vote on this request or continue it as well. Pennington said the amount in the policy would cover both requests, but Council would not have any funds left for other requests that might be received. The question was whether Council would get any other applications, but to date, no other applications had been received. Imker commented that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements had forced the packet for this meeting to balloon to 50 megabytes because of all the paperwork. King said this had been discussed with staff prior to the meeting. While the financial information might be required, King suggested the memo state the information was on file rather than including it in the packet. Pennington said the City wanted financials of the non-profit organizations and whether they served residents of the City. He said that information could be left out in the future. City Attorney Ted Meeker said the information was submitted as part of the application, and it should be filed if anyone wanted to see it. It did not have to be included in the agenda packet. Imker added that a normal agenda packet was five to seven megabytes. Ernst moved to approve New Agenda item 06-15-01 the Non-profit Funding Request from Fayette Senior Services. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes June 4,2015 Page 3 06-15-02 Consider Budget Amendment-FY 2015 lmker said the request was to transfer $100,000 from the General Fund to the Public Improvement Program (PIP) to pay for expenses for Lake Peachtree, including legal expenses and engineering services. There was a current $10,000 bill to be paid, which would leave $90,000 for future expenses. Future budget adjustments also would not be needed. If any money was left at the end of everything, it would be returned to the General Fund. lmker moved to approve the budget amendment for FY 2015 in accordance with the staff memo included in the meeting packet. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-15-03 Consider Easements for Pump Station 37 City Engineer Dave Borkowski said the request had been made to extend public sewer to the Peachtree City Professional Building, with frontage on SR 54 East. In order for the City's Water & Sewerage Authority (WASA) to accomplish the sewer extension, easements through the greenbelt on Sumner Road were needed for the installation of the new sewer line. He had reviewed the plans, and there were no significant concerns. There would be minimal disturbance of the greenbelt, with a few small pits closer to Highway 54 needed to install the sewer. The pump station would be located next to the Peachtree City Professional Building tract, and a landscape plan would be prepared to re-vegetate the area around the pump station. Staff recommended approval of the permanent easements. King moved to approve New Agenda item 06-25-03 the easements for Pump Station 37. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Council/Staff Topics lmker said he had asked staff to provide information on all the expenses incurred for Lake Peachtree since the cracks in the spillway were discovered. He wanted citizens to know how much was being spent and how the situation was being handled. To date, approximately $200,000 had been spent, including $101,000 on legal expenses for the City Attorney and the hired specialist attorney, who had helped with the negotiations with the County and the state on the dam category, and $98,000 on engineering services, including a structural analysis and everything related to the category of the dam. He continued that the investment would pay off in the long term by reducing expenses. It was not over yet. The City would be doing some long- term planning with the County. Imker asked that the information be included in the minutes, and the expenses were listed in the table below: Legal Expense for Lake PT Legal (334-4110-541904) Fiscal Running Combined Year Meeker Total Welch Running Total Total Month Month 2014 Charge Total Charge Total May $3,263.76 $3,263.76 $0.00 $0.00 $3,263.76 June $6,573.60 $9,837.36 $5,093.55 $5,093.55 $14,930.91 July $5,412.64 $15,250.00 $14,336.27 $19,429.82 $34,679.82 Aug $2,551.80 $17,801.80 $11,823.96 $31,253.78 $49,055.58 Sept $1,455.00 $19,256.80 $5,703.98 $36,957.76 $56,214.56 2015 Oct $1,680.00 $20,936.80 $3,744.73 $40,702.49 $61,639.29 Nov $1,665.00 $22,601.80 $11,100.48 $51,802.97 $74,404.77 City Council Minutes June 4,2015 Page 4 Fiscal Running Combined Year Meeker Total Welch Running Total Total Month Month 2015 Charge Total Charge Total Dec $2,085.00 $24,686.80 $1,286.25 $53,089.22 $77,776.02 Jan $4,517.15 $29,203.95 $2,078.75 $55,167.97 $84,371.92 Feb $2,310.00 $31,513.95 $2,753.95 $57,921.92 $89,435.87 March $690.00 $32,203.95 $2,110.50 $60,032.42 $92,236.37 Apr $1,995.00 $34,198.95 $6,513.44 $66,545.86 $100,744.81 May $645.00 $34,843.95 $101,389.81 June July August Sept Reclassification of Dam - Engineering Costs Before 1/1/2015 $56,590.50 Other - Engineering Expense After Total Eng. 1/1/2015 $41,841.00 Cost $98,435.50 Total Legal and Eng. Costs $199,825.31 Pennington said there had been many questions about the paving on Crosstown Road and Peachtree Parkway. He explained that Crosstown was not just about repaving, but was a total reconstruction. The same thing would also happen on parts of Peachtree Parkway. It took time to do it. Another problem was that asphalt plants only operated when asphalt contractors were paving, so there was usually a delay of a day or so. Due to the rain and doing the full depth reclamation (FDR), problems were found that had to be corrected. The uneven appearance of the Peachtree Parkway/Crosstown Road intersection was intentional because of the crossing of the different types of work being done. There were concerns about the actions regarding protection and and guidance by of the construction workers, which were immediately taken care of staff. Public Works Supervisor Scott Hicks said that patching would be done in areas of Peachtree Parkway in addition to the paving. The patching could give the road three to five more years before repaving or a total rebuild was needed. The bid for the work currently underway had been $1.7 million, and only $1.1 million would be spent. There were some savings that would allow the additional work on Peachtree Parkway, and hopefully some areas on Flat Creek Road, with Council's blessing. Pennington said he had spoken with Community Services/Public Services Director Jon Rorie about the cut and patch operation, saying it was an interim solution to a long-term problem. Staff wanted to make sure Council was aware of it and supported the work. King noted that one of the areas to be patched on Peachtree Parkway was just south of Booth Middle School, asking how long the work would take. Hicks said the contractor could do it in three days with the equipment they had, weather permitting. The City could not do the work that quickly with the equipment it had. City Council Minutes June 4,2015 Page 5 Fleisch said that Bluesmoke Trail looked much better since it was repaved, asking if it was the same contractor and if it would be the same type of work. Hicks said it would be. Ernst asked when the work would begin. Hicks said he would call the contractor the next day, and they would tell him exactly when the work would start. They would finish Peachtree Parkway and Crosstown Road first. Ernst said it would be good to give the public as much notice as possible. Hicks said the object was to get the work done before school started. Learnard asked how much the additional work would cost. Pennington and Hicks both said the cost of the patching was$50,000-$60,000, well within the $1.7 million. Pennington said the City did a really good job paving cart paths because of the equipment the City had. It was more cost effective for the City to contract out the streets. It was less cost effective to contract out the cart paths because the paths were done in short segments, which was not economically feasible for contractors that did street paving. Pennington reported there was nothing new on MacDuff Parkway. There had been a lot of rain, but the project was still moving forward. There were meeting dates set after Pennington retired. The Overlook project on SR 54 West was in an interesting position, according to Pennington. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) had approved the green T intersection, but with the caveat that a pedestrian crossing be added. Construction should begin in August, with completion in February. There were financial issues for the developer, and they were working with the Fayette County Development Authority on tax credit issues. The grading plan had been approved. A meeting between the City, developer, and Southern Conservation Trust (SCT) had also been held, and the developer was working on the SCT's concerns. Pennington continued that the cost estimate for the green T intersection was $600,000. Since a green T was designed to keep traffic moving expeditiously, Pennington said it was interesting that GDOT wanted a pedestrian crosswalk built into the intersection, which defeated the purpose of the green T. GDOT would only approve the intersection with the crosswalk. Learnard said that made no sense. Fleisch said the crosswalk might not be used, adding this would be the first green T the state had done. Pennington said the City would be the test for green T intersections. In addition, the City was the test location for the first golf cart crossings on state highways. At the present time, it did not appear that GDOT (specifically the Atlanta headquarters) was excited about the golf cart crossings because they had never dealt with them. The Lake Peachtree dredging had slowed down due to rain, Pennington reported. The temporary repair to the spillway was complete, and the dredging would continue through late July or early August. Pennington noted this was his last Council meeting ever. He had spent 42 years, including six years as an assistant city manager, attending Council meetings. His career had been incredible. He thanked Council and the citizens for allowing him to finish his career in a wonderful place. He thanked staff, calling them the people who kept the City going. Imker asked that the cancellation of the July 2 meeting be placed on the June 18 agenda to celebrate a day off in honor of Pennington. Executive Session Learnard moved to convene in executive session for personnel and threatened or pending litigation at 7:47 p.m. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes June 4,2015 Page 6 Imker moved to reconvene in regular session at 8:28 p.m. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, King moved to adjourn the meeting. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m. Cark-16._ IOIL Pamela Dufresne, D 4• ty City Clerk Vanessa Fleisc , '►ayor