HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-03-2016 workshop City Council of Peachtree City
Workshop Minutes
May 3, 2016
The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met in workshop session on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.
Mayor Pro-tem Mike King opened the workshop at 6:30 p.m. Council Members attending: Terry
Ernst, Kim Learnard, and Phil Prebor. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch was unable to attend.
The purpose of the workshop was to look at:
What services levels were adequate to focus on the basics of our "Brand"?
• Code Enforcement, Peachtree City Toolbox
• Tending the Garden
o Landscaping/Facility Maintenance
o Stormwater
o Road and Path Maintenance
• Public Safety
• Recreation
City Manager Jon Rorie said this session was titled, "Tending the Garden," and would focus on
service levels and what was necessary for the City to maintain its quality of life. The City had
struggled since he had been employed by the City to get to a point described as
"maintenance mode." Progress had been made, and the idea behind "tending the garden"
was to produce results to provide those services as the highest level possible.
Rorie referred to a document on the dais that contained the Retreat Workshop schedule and
the FY 2017 Budget schedule. He said staff was working on Budget One, the first draft of the
budget. The June 7 meeting workshop was slated for Council goals and objectives, so it could
be another Retreat session or it could be the first budget session. They would discuss it at the
end of the meeting.
Code Enforcement, Peachtree City Toolbox
Police Chief Janet Moon gave an overview of Code Enforcement activities. Code Enforcement
Officer Tim Maret was available to answer questions.
Based on the average of the last five years (2011 -2015), the number one complaint had been
cleanliness of premises (grass) with 487, Moon said. Miscellaneous complaints were second on
the list with 402. The remainder of the list included cleanliness of premises (trash), 319; parking
restrictions, 248; cleanliness of premises (auto-inoperable vehicles), 189; accessory use to
dwellings (recreation vehicles parked in front), 175; signs. 148; and rehabs, 22.
The 2015 case summary included 1,568 new cases, 1,230 Notices of Violation (NOV) Proactive,
933 signs confiscated, 599 parks checks, 252 NOVs Reactive, 59 unfounded complaints, and 30
citations. The abatement periods for taking care of any violations varied from immediately to 90
days, depending on the violation. Moon added the Code Enforcement Officers did a good job
of communicating with citizens and working with them on abatement of violations.
Moon continued that Code Enforcement had put together training and made a list of possible
violations that police officers might encounter while out on calls for service. By building a
partnership between Code Enforcement, Police, and citizens, each was able to be the eyes
and ears out in the field on a daily basis.
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May 3. 2016
Page 2
Rorie asked for an explanation of "reactive" and "proactive" NOVs. Moon said that reactive
violations were when citizens called and filed a complaint. Proactive violations were those
violations a Code Enforcement Officer observed when they were in the field and took action.
Rorie asked if there were limitations on what the Code Enforcement Officers could do based on
a violation in the front yard, side yard, or back yard. Maret said there were clearly limitations on
what could be seen from the roadway. Some ordinance changes had been made, such as the
amendments to the Recreational Vehicle Ordinance that now limited parking for the vehicles to
the side and back of a property and removed the requirement to be parked 20 feet from the
rear lot line. Specific complaints could be addressed, but there were limitations on what could
be seen in a side or back yard from the street. Code Enforcement had a golf cart that they
used to see back and side yards from the cart path.
Rorie asked if there were repeat offenders and violations. Moon said Code Enforcement had
recently contacted over 200 businesses that had not renewed their Occupational Tax prior to
the May 1 deadline, and 42 of the businesses were repeat offenders for at least two years in a
row or more. Rorie asked how those would be addressed. Moon recommended that the 42
repeat offenders be issued citations to appear in Municipal Court, while the others should be
given an NOV to rectify the situation within 48 hours.
Maret said Code Enforcement and the City Clerk's office had been working on implementing
this for a few years. Business owners received the first notice at the end of October/first of
November, then a second notice was sent in February. Code Enforcement had spoken to the
repeat offenders a year ago, so they should know the requirements.
As for the regular repeat offenders for Cleanliness of Premises, Maret said there was language in
the ordinance and on the notices stating one Cleanliness of Premises NOV would be issued per
calendar year, then a citation would be issued for subsequent violations in that year.
Depending on the violations, the Code Enforcement Officer could use their discretion if it had
been six months since the previous violation. If it had only been a few months or so, Maret said a
citation would be issued.
Ernst asked what happened with rental properties, whether the owner or the resident was cited.
Maret noted the ordinance said the resident and/or agent was responsible for cleanliness of
premises. In other areas, the ordinance said it was the owner's responsibility, especially
regarding the structure and rehabilitation. Maret added that, if the lease stated the owner was
responsible for the grass, then they would contact the owner.
Frank Destadio asked what was being done about developers that violated ordinances, adding
there seemed to a rash of that happening.
Planning & Development Director Mike Warrix announced that Code Enforcement would move
to the Planning & Development Department from the Police Department on October 1. There
would be a lot of benefits to the move. Warrix continued that, under his department, there
would be better coordination of interpretation of the codes/ordinances. They would also work
together on code revisions. Code Enforcement had the "boots on the ground" end of what his
department was writing.
One of the big issues would be aggressive vs. passive enforcement. Warrix said the phone
would ring no matter what stance was taken. The City had zero tolerance for code violations.
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May 3, 2016
Page 3
Staff would work with Council's guidance. Enforcement would be equitable, and there would
be no selective enforcement.
Prebor noted that trees were the hot topic of the month, asking what the response was when a
friendly notice was given by Code Enforcement and if the notice could be posted on the door
or mailbox. Maret said most adults did not want to be told there was a violation, and Municipal
Court had determined it was acceptable to leave the notice on the door. Depending on the
violation, most notices were usually left on the door.
Maret continued that Code Enforcement Officer Freddy Frank had stopped and asked about
the tree-cutting at the U-Haul business on Huddleston Road, and had been told they had
approval and provided with confirming e-mails. Most tree removal permits were residential, and
they were usually e-mails back and forth. Commercial permits were usually between Planning
& Zoning and an intermediary. Staff might not be dealing with someone that worked for the
business applying for the permit. Maret said that, currently, the officers could not check to see if
there was a tree permit issued from the field with the current software system. With the old
software system, they had been able to confirm if permits had been issued. In addition, when
Code Enforcement had previously been located in the Planning & Zoning Department, they
were usually the first to be on the scene of a violation.
Prebor asked Warrix if there were any techniques that could stop people cutting trees before
there was a violation. Warrix said some communities had tree committees or boards that
advertised often. He suggested holding a routine workshop with landscaping and tree removal
companies.
Ernst referred to the recent tree-cutting at McDonald's on SR 54, asking if the contractor had a
permit stating what could be cut. Warrix said the contractor did not have a permit. If the
contractor had a permit, it would have stated what could be cut. Warrix added that there were
always going to be violations, but communication between the departments was key to
keeping the number of violations to a minimum.
Destadio said he had been at McDonald's when the trees were cut, and he had asked the
contractor to stop, but the contractor told Destadio he had the authority he needed. Destadio
said he knew they did not. (Destadio is Planning Commission chairman, and knew the new
landscape plan was on a future agenda.) Developers were willingly violating the ordinances.
Destadio said they should have a permit in view when they were working.
Martine Yancey referred to a recent case in her neighborhood when one of the neighbors was
having trees cut down in the backyard. Yancey had reached out to City staff after seeing a
child under eight years of age at the site. The company's owner was the child's father. The
child was removed from the work site. Yancey asked what could be done when there were
violations, saying the City needed to be aggressive to get the point across. Violators should be
put on probation so they could not work in the City. Commercial permits should be displayed
on site. She also suggested some kind of form regarding the City's ordinances should be signed
every year to keep everyone up-to-date on the ordinances. The City was headed in the right
direction.
Pam Kemp recalled that when Chick-fil-A had come to Council with variance requests for its site
on SR 54 between McDonald's and BB&T, they had discussed taking down some of the trees in
the buffer between Chick-fil-A and the bank. The trees had all been removed. She had
reviewed the meeting minutes, and there had been four conditions when the variance was
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May 3, 2016
Page 4
granted. One of the conditions had to do with the trees. Kemp asked if it was possible to do a
tree survey for a request. then mark the trees that were not to be removed. It would help to get
rid of the vagueness in a condition or an ordinance.
Learnard said Council had left it up to Planning Commission to work with the contractor on that
buffer between Chick-fil-A and BB&T, adding this was something the Planning Commission did
well. King agreed that the City needed to be more specific and actually mark trees that were
not to be cut. Warrix also agreed that they needed to be more specific.
Rorie said staff needed to look at the `'who, what,when, and why" of what the City was trying to
achieve. A reason for this type of session was to look at what was being done and whether it
should be changed to have the desired outcome. One of the things key to the issue was unity
of command. Staff had been working on the command structure for several months. Currently
there was a division under the Police Department that required interpretation from the Planning
& Zoning Department, which created communication gaps. There should not be an
intermediary between two divisions. No matter what kind of permit was needed/issued, there
was a consistency problem. Clearly, better results were needed. Something different had to be
done.
Tending the Garden
c Landscaping/Facility Maintenance
Rorie said a lot of decisions had been made over the last couple of years. It had been a huge
task and resources had been allocated, noting Recreation & Special Events Administrator Cajen
Rhodes would address some of the issues. He added that he used to get landscaping and grass
complaints beginning in March. It was May, and Rorie said he had not received any complaints.
There was a positive difference. The right-of-way mowing was still outsourced, which was
working, but was not perfect. Building & Grounds Supervisor David McDaniel had a spreadsheet
for all the maintenance to set up maintenance schedules. Significant progress had been made.
o Stormwater
Stormwater Manager Mike Madison gave an update on the Stormwater Utility, pointing out that
the annual revenue from monthly and semi-annual billing was $2.3 million (actual revenue,
excluding bond proceeds). Thirty percent of the revenue was used for revenue bond debt
service, 25% for personnel costs (salaries, benefits, uniforms, etc.), 8% was spent on buildings,
vehicles, and equipment (fuel, maintenance, utilities, etc.), 3% covered administrative/office
costs (office supplies, legal services, printing, postage, computer/supplies, etc.), and 34% went
to stormwater services (pipe, structures, tools, system maintenance materials,
engineering/design costs, plan and specification preparation, bid project costs, stormwater
permit compliance costs, pipe cleaning services, CCTV services, and more).
Completed projects for FY 2015-2016 included the replacement of failed pipe systems in The
Marks, Interlochen, Wilshire Estates,The Estates, Emerling Grove,and Pinegate ($50,000); repair of
severe roadway embankment erosion along Stevens Entry ($8,000); installation of additional 50
feet of 18-inch water pipe along Spear Road ($4,000-separate project from recent emergency
repairs made); installation of 2,000 feet of six-inch water line at the Peachtree City Athletic
Complex (PAC); installation of 900 feet of two-inch water line at Drake Field; and Spear Road
culvert replacement ($297,000).
Madison reviewed the top five upcoming in-house replacement projects and their estimated
costs - Glenloch/Bridlepath cart path, 18-inch and double 36-inch culverts failed. $9.500;
Parkgate Lane, severe erosion at 36-inch pipe outlet undercutting pipe system, $17,500; Alderly
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May 3, 2016
Page 5
Lane - end 40 feet of pipe filing and other sections severely corroded, $20,000; Westpark Drive
cart path, pipe undersized and causing path to overtop resulting in failure of path, $9,500 and
Flat Creek Road, pipe systems trenched through causing sinkholes in roadway embankment,
$9,700.
Completed stormwater bond projects included the Preston Chase subdivision, which had a
project budget $135,625 and was completed for$111,060; Rockspray Pond Dam, with a project
budget of $929,425 and was completed for $917,965; Bradford Estates/Creekside
Crossing/Southside Church (BCS) Pond stilling basin with a project budget of $120,000 (repair
and stabilize severe outlet erosion). completed for $85,223; Kedron Pond West Dam, project
budget of $740,000, completed for $739,745; and Kedron Pond East Dam, project budget
$805,170, completed for $814,386; and Harbor Loop drainage, project budget $1,775,000,
project completed for$436,000.
The Golfview Drive drainage project was ongoing and had a project budget $1,223,000. The
Woodsdale pipe lining project was underway with a budget of $450,000. The Wynnmeade
subdivision project was also ongoing with a construction estimate of $690,000. Miscellaneous
pipe lining projects would go out for bid in the early summer, and $500,000 was budgeted.
Madison said there was $1.8 million in the stormwater bond contingency, and the projects they
hoped to also complete, with construction estimates, included Peachtree Parkway headwall
replacement ($150,000), Braelinn/Creekside/Southside detention pond rehabilitation
(rehabilitate earthen dam and construct emergency spillway, $450,000); Crosstown Drive
culverts (lining, $250,000); Flat Creek Road culvert (lining, $140,000); Detention Pond #140 (off
Bluesmoke) rehabilitation, ($225,000); and additional lining projects ($450,000).
Rorie asked Madison how many feet of corrugated metal pipe were left. Madison said he did
not know, but 50 - 60% of it was more than 25 years old, which was beyond its design life. Rorie
noted that corrugated metal pipe was no longer used for anything City-owned or maintained.
a Road and Path Maintenance
Public Works Superintendent Scott Hicks briefed Council on the five-year street plan. The streets
scheduled for paving this summer were rated between 55 and 82. Paving for streets was
currently out for bid, and the list included Southworth Court, Commerce Drive (westpark to
Aberdeen Drive), Rolling Green, Westpark Drive, Adell Court, Holly Grove Church Road, Rubicon
Road, Hilltop Drive (west). McIntosh Trail (Peachtree Parkway to Flat Creek Bridge), Steven's Entry
(SR 54 to Peachtree Parkway), Willow Road, Planterra Way, Georgian Park (Peachtree Parkway
to SR 74 and SR 74 to Peachtree Parkway), and Willowbend Road. The length to be paved
totaled 32,300 feet, and the estimated cost was $1,950,637.02.
Rorie said there was a backlog of road resurfacing projects, and the budget for this fiscal year
was $1.8 million. The average cost for paving was $315,000 per mile. Hicks said the estimated
costs were based on full-depth reclamation (FDR) rather than repaving. They were finding many
of the roads needed FDR based on testing. Rorie added that all the 2016 projects needed FDR.
Hicks pointed out that Rolling Green (the subdivision was approved in 1975) had never been
repaved. He continued that the City was past the point of making good roads better; it had to
make bad roads better.
As for cart path maintenance, Hicks said the cart path crew was around the five-mile point of
the nine miles they hoped to complete annually. The goal this year was to hit 9.1 miles.
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May 3, 2016
Page 6
Rorie asked if it had been worth it to get the paths ready for paving in the winter months. Hick-:
said it had been worth it. Staff had only received a few complaints.
Ernst asked when paving had to stop because of the temperatures. Hicks said the temperature
had to be 45° at 8:00 a.m. and rising all day. The asphalt was 325°when it was put in the truck,
and the warmer it was outside, the better it was to put down.
Public Safety
Fire Department
Fire Chief Joe O'Conor discussed what "good" looked like at the Fire Department, adding the
people in his department were remarkable, and the surveys showed that. In 2015, 72% of the
calls (2,784) were for emergency medical services compared to 2% (73) for fires. False
alarms/false calls accounted for 8% (298), 5% (178) were good intent calls, Hazard condition-no
fire were 3% (122) of the calls, and 10% (399) were service calls.
O'Conor continued that the 2013 Matrix Study recommended the establishment of baseline and
benchmark response time objectives as published by the Commission on Fire Accreditation
International for "suburban" communities 90% of the time. He noted that Council adopted the
Matrix recommendations on December 19, 2013.
O'Conor explained that benchmarks were those times identified as a high standard and used to
plan future efforts; benchmarks were the ideal. Baselines were the standard which the
Department committed to perform at and evaluate compliance. As baselines were achieved
consistently, the standard would move up toward the benchmark goal.
O'Conor looked at key performance objectives. The baseline for "Call Handling Time" was 90
seconds no less than 90% of the time. Call Handling Time was the time for processing by the
Fayette County 911 Center of an incoming 911 phone call, including the dispatching of fire
response units. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of all calls were handled in 90 seconds.
"Turn Out Time" was the time between dispatch notification and unit response, and the baseline
was also 90 seconds no less than 90% of the time. Turn Out in 90 seconds occurred on 80% of all
calls.
"Travel Time" measured the time for the arrival of the primary company to a fire suppression
incident or emergency medical incident. The baseline was six and one-half minutes (390
seconds) or less 90% of the time. The Department's travel time was within 390 seconds on 92%of
their calls. The second unit answered many calls rather than the primary company.
"Demand for Service" trends had shown an increase. The population south of Crosstown
represented 15-20%of the City. Nearly 35% of all calls were south of Crosstown, which included
the recent increase in size of the Somerby retirement community. O'Conor said they expected
the demand for EMS to continue to rise as the population aged.
In 2000, the City had 500 fire calls, and in 2015, there were just under 1,000. EMS calls had
increased from 1,500 in 2000 to 3,000 in 2015. The total number of calls had jumped from 2,059 in
2000 to 3,853 in 2015.
O'Conor noted that, in March, the second or third closest responder needed to respond on 15%
of calls because the primary unit was on another call. Responses to assisted living facilities
accounted for nearly 20%of all calls for service.
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May 3, 2016
Page 7
The risk of fire loss would also increase as properties aged. O'Conor said they must work to
improve prevention, encourage safer construction codes, and enforce life safety codes.
O'Conor pointed out that, based on Census data, 10% of the City's population were in their 60s,
and they accounted for 12% of the ambulance patients. Citizens in their 70s were 5% of the
population, and 16% of ambulance patients. Residents ages 80 - 100 were 3% of the
population, and 33% of the ambulance patients. For comparison, O'Conor noted that residents
in their 30s comprised 10% of the population, and 7% of ambulance patients. People in their
forties were 18% of the population and 7% of ambulance patients. Citizens in their 50s were 17%
of the population, and 8%of ambulance patients.
With 1,500 additional homes to be built in Wilksmoor, the Fire staff was looking at the possible
impact and how to deliver services at the same level to the new homes without degrading
service delivery to the rest of the City.
Balanced distribution of resources throughout the City would allow for the shortest possible
response times, which could prevent loss of life in a cardiac arrest and meet the community's
high expectations. Distributing resources throughout the City provided the ability to quickly
gather an effective fighting force of 15 firefighters (number required for basic functions when
fighting fires) and also allowed for the simultaneous performance of essential firefighting duties.
Impact fees allowed the financial burden of expanding government services, including public
safety capacity (stations and apparatus), to be paid by those responsible for the increased
demand for service. However, the use of impact fees was limited by law. Impact fees could not
be used for personnel or operating expenses; those costs should be supported by the growth of
the tax base. The Fire and EMS service received a portion of the collected impact fees for all
new construction, O'Conor said. Fire Protection was assigned $615 for each new home
constructed.
O'Conor said the question was when to expand services, saying staff had to think beyond
tomorrow, not in one-year blocks of time. The process included continual monitoring of Key
Performance Objectives to determine if service demand was impacting service delivery.
Expanding service was expensive and slow. Building a fire truck was a one-year process, and
building a fire station from the ground up was a two-year process. There were ways to speed
things up a bit, but the quality had to be there.
O'Conor went over the phases of expanding the EMS and Fires Service and building a station.
The first phase was to acquire property for the station. Phase 2 was to bid the design and
engineering of the station (30 days), and Phase 3 was to award the design and engineering to a
qualified contractor. During Phase 4, staff worked with the architect and engineer to design a
station to meet anticipated community needs over the next 50 years (90- 120 days). Finalization
of design plans and preparation of bid documents for construction (30 days) was the fifth phase.
Phase 6 was time dependent on the rate of construction and included monitoring building
permits for appropriate building point to trigger construction. Bidding the construction project
(30 days) was Phase 7, and Phase 8 was researching bidders and awarding the construction
contract.
Construction of the station under the supervision of a professional construction manager was
Phase 9. Construction usually took one year. Phase 10 was accepting the new station and
preparing the living space to be occupied 24 hours per day (30 days). Phase 11 involved using
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May 3, 2016
Page 8
an existing quick response vehicle and staff to provide initial minimal coverage to underserved
areas with long response times. In Phase 12, additional response vehicles were put out to bid
and constructed as specific needs became clear(one year).
In Phase 13, staff would continue to monitor the demand for EMS and fire protection as home
construction continued for a second trigger point that would require, and financially support,
additional staff (two per shift or six total). The time would be dependent on the rate of
construction.
During FY 2017, a 16-year old fire engine would be replaced as part of the Public Improvement
Program (PIP) capital budget. Staff also hoped to use Impact fees to pay for the design and
engineering of the MacDuff station.
O'Conor said there might be some resources that could be deployed differently to serve areas
that were underserved without investing in additional people or apparatus so the process of
covering the underserved area could begin.
Learnard asked when a new station would become the plan. O'Conor said it was usually linked
to the percentage of building permits that were issued. If the economy or construction slowed,
the City would not be getting ahead of itself. Leornard asked if the City owned any land for a
new station. Rorie said three acres of land would be deeded to the City from the Everton
development. Learnard said she would like to look at the timeline later, noting things could
change in time. Rorie said the design would be a footprint layout that could be set on a given
lot of given size, which would allow the City to put the design on the shelf. Staff was looking at
what the parameters should be to begin expanding services.
DeStadio suggested looking at site adapting an existing station. He noted the County had a
new station on SR 74. If that station fit the City's needs, the cost would be less to site adapt it to
the land that was available, which would reduce design cost and time. O'Conor said staff had
looked at doing that, and the County had given staff the architect's name, as well as the cost
information on the construction. It was bigger than needed. Coweta County had also built very
economical stations recently that had a footprint that could be modified.
Ernst asked how much time it took to train a new firefighter. O'Conor said the volunteer
program was in place, and the City had been in a unique position to hire certified people, as
well as hiring people that had been certified in other places. There had also been great success
in recruiting. They could ramp up certified people relatively quickly. The Department had a
process to identify qualified internal candidates for promotion. O'Conor did not expect adding
staff to take a protracted amount of time.
Police Department
Moon said she and O'Conor had been discussing the expansion of services, adding it would also
affect the Police Department. They were looking at combining facilities, and having an
area/room for the Police Department in the next fire station that was built.
Moon discussed Part I crime statistics over the last 10 years. Part 1 crimes included homicide,
forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, arson, motor vehicle theft (including golf carts),
larceny (theft, entering auto, shoplifting), and burglary. In 2005, there had been 354 Part 1
crimes in the City. In 2009, there were 665 Part 1 crimes, and 637 were reported in 2008 (the
highest years during the 10-year period). The numbers dropped to 456 in 2013 and 452 in 2014.
There was an increase in 2015 with 533 reported.
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May 3, 2016
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Larceny-theft accounted for 63% of the Part 1 crimes between 2005 - 2015. Motor vehicle theft
was the next largest group at 19%. The remaining crimes were burglary, 11%; aggravated
assault, 3%;robbery, 2%; arson, 1%;and forcible rape, 1%.
Moon continued that the City enjoyed a relatively low Part 1 crime rate. Theft was the number
one crime each year of the 10-year period. Golf cart theft outnumbered auto theft each year.
In 2015, there were seven auto thefts and 33 golf cart thefts. The most golf carts were stolen in
2011 (77),while fewer cars were taken that year (three).
There had been several cases of entering auto in 2016 (taking valuables out of cars), including
some that occurred not far from City Hall. Moon said all the vehicles had been unlocked, urging
residents to make sure they removed valuables from their vehicles.
Compared to other Class B cities in 2015, Peachtree City had the lowest number of Part 1 crimes
with 533. Gainesville had 2,042, LaGrange had 2,026, Dalton reported 1,398, Newnan had 1,237,
and Rome had 901 (did not include shoplifting data). In addition, Suwanee reported 676 Part 1
crimes in 2015. There had been a change in software systems, and the way things were
counted had changed. Moon believed there would be more uniformity as 2016 came to an
end. She pointed out the data did not include traffic stops.
There were 53,713 calls for police services in 2012, 47,320 in 2013, 51,042 in 2014, and 50.820 in
2015. Moon noted the response time had increased from 4.38 minutes in 2012 to 5.57 minutes in
2015. To date, the response time was staying below six minutes.
Moon looked at a distribution map that had the City broken down into the five police districts
with the calls for service for each district, adding that traffic stops were included and showed
65,000 calls for service. District 1 had almost 17,000 calls for service, and it included the SR 54/SR
74 corridor, with a lot of traffic and retail.
Moon looked at 864 roadway collisions, noting there had been two fatalities, 191 accidents with
injuries, 148 hit and run accidents, 22 unrestrained occupant collisions, 22 speed-related
collisions, 12 driving under the influence (DUI) collisions, 11 unrestrained occupant with injury
collisions, six speed-related with injury collisions, and four DUI collisions with injury. The top five
accident locations in 2015 included SR 54/SR74, 77; SR 54/Peachtree Parkway, 44; SR
74/Crosstown/TDK Boulevard, 40;SR 54/Huddleston Road, 39;and SR 74/Kedron Drive, 28.
Following too closely was the top contributing factor in 78% of the accidents at the SR 54/SR 74
intersection. Failure to yield was the reason for 5.25% of the accidents (angle/t-bone accidents),
and 16.75%were caused by other factors such as changing lanes improperly.
There were 44 golf cart accidents in 2015, Moon said, and 25 resulted in injuries. Eighteen of the
44 accidents involved a driver aged 16 years or younger. Of those 18 accidents, 10 accidents
resulted in injuries.
In 2014, 7,022 citations were written compared to 9,939 in 2015. Golf cart involved citations
numbered 238, and golf cart involved warnings totaled 356. Moon added a total of
approximately 8,000 warnings had also been written,which was a good balance.
Prebor noted that District 3, which included the Industrial Park, had 15,000 calls for service. Ernst
and Moon both noted that the Police Department was in that district, and the number included
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May 3, 2016
Page 10
all the walk-ins, as well as accidents and traffic stops. Moon noted a tremendous amount of
people came into the station to file reports.
Ben Nelms of The Citizen said he had written many entering auto stories over the last several
years, and he always put something at the bottom of the story reminding people to not leave
anything visible in their cars. He noted the recent cases of Entering Auto at McCurry Park in
Fayetteville, saying the cars were all locked. However, the two that had been broken into had
valuable items that were visible, even quarters and dimes.
King noted there were only five keys or so that fit all golf carts, asking people to put their golf
carts in "tow" when they were left unattended. Most people did not know where the "tow"
switch was, and until the switch was reversed, the golf cart would not go anywhere.
Recreation
Recreation and Special Events Administrator Cajen Rhodes discussed the City's recreational
amenities and usage. The City had approximately 416 acres of park land, more than 90 miles of
multi-use paths, 32 different parks housing 23 playgrounds and tot lots, one roller hockey/multi-
purpose rink, 14 baseball fields, 10 soccer fields, seven softball fields, two football fields, two
lacrosse fields, nine public tennis courts, 24 tennis courts at the Tennis Center, 10 basketball
courts, one BMX track,fishing ponds and lakes,32 structures, and three pools.
Rhodes continued that there were 72 recreational programs offered, including 37 weekly
summer camp options, in FY 2015, with 3,772 participants. There were 18 different sports
programs for youth and adults in 2015, with 10,289 participants.
Thirty-seven special events took place in 2015, with a total attendance of 77,000. In 2015, 27
athletic tournaments were held in the City, with 28,260 attending and $2 million in direct
spending. Rhodes said the average was $40/person/per day for the duration of the
tournaments.
The amenities the City had were heavily used, Rhodes said. Staff was making sure the pictures in
the PowerPoints matched the reality of what was on the ground. It took a great deal of
maintenance for the athletic fields, playgrounds, structures, buildings, and pools.
Staff was always looking to find ways to make maintenance easier and more cost effective.
Rhodes continued, adding staff was developing a master maintenance plan for the facilities.
The changes started with the tennis courts in 2012. There would no longer be linear crack repairs
on the asphalt courts. The City was now using synthetic surfacing that would be replaced every
four to five years, although there were still some asphalt courts. The outdoor basketball courts
were on the same maintenance schedule as the tennis courts. The City had also taken over all
the mowing at the facilities and fields, and Rhodes reported that complaints had dropped from
approximately 25 per week to zero. Fertilization was also done in-house now, and the cost was
probably 50% of what had been paid to contractors. Swimming pools needed to be resurfaced
every seven to eight years, and the Glenloch pool was due soon. There were also other
maintenance issues with pools that had to be taken care of when problems arose.
Braelinn Recreation Complex had been completely renovated, and a walking trail and cart
path had been added. Shade had been added to picnic tables. The goal was to make the
larger complexes well-rounded and more than sports fields. Rhodes explained. A playground
had been added at the Peachtree City Athletic Complex (PAC), which provided younger
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May 3, 2016
Page 11
siblings attending games with something to do. Adding amenities to sports complexes served a
larger demographic.
Future challenges included maintenance and the proposed spray park at Glenloch Recreation
Center. Rhodes noted that the Citizen Committee had asked Council keep it as part of the
budget process, and staff had loaded the spray park into the proposed budget to start the
conversation. The Skate Park at Shakerag had not been touched yet, and it did not look like it
belonged in the City. The ramps were wooden and home-made. Improvements were part of
the Facilities Bond project list. Determining the design and construction was a struggle.
Ernst said everything Rhodes had discussed had been done in-house, and there had been no
complaints. Ernst said the pay raise issued two years ago had been money well-spent. The City's
employees were great.
Facilities Authority Bond Projects
Rhodes reported that 13 of the 33 projects on the list had been completed. Ten projects were in
progress, and 10 projects were parked. Rhodes explained that parked projects were waiting for
the City Manager to make them a priority. Rorie said a lot had happened in the background,
and the projects were done on a priority basis. The parked projects had not yet been
addressed. Focusing on small bites was better than doing all the projects at once. Rhodes
added staff had been doing a good job with the projects and in saving money for contingency,
which currently had $245,689 in it.
Rorie said the Retreat workshops had started off with the City's mission statement:
The Mayor, Council Members and Employees of the city of Peachtree City recognize that
our primary responsibility is to provide high quality services to our residents. We are
therefore committed to:
• Ensuring residents a safe and healthy environment in which to live, work and
enjoy leisure time
• Providing consistency in the delivery of municipal services in a fiscally responsible
manner
• Responding in a courteous, timely, and effective manner to the expressed needs,
concerns, and expectations of our residents
• Promoting a sense of community Through family oriented activities and citizen
involvement.
The City existed to provide services, and the first commitment to ensure "a safe and healthy
environment in which to live, work and enjoy leisure time" brought up several goal statements
that were broad and strategic in nature. Citizens funded resources to meet the needs and
desires of the community. Community safety was a broad goal, and it had to be broken down
into day-to-day objectives. If it was worth doing, it was worth measuring to see if the City was
doing well. He referred to the recent citizen survey, and the majority felt safe. The percentage
was lower when referencing safety on the cart paths.
Rorie suggested reports that would show how different areas were meeting the benchmarks and
showing what service level was provided.
Rorie said the June 7 workshop was listed as a session to discuss Council goals and objectives.
He asked if Council wanted to hold the June 7 workshop, including a discussion on what Council
would like to see in the budget. As an alternative, the June 7 workshop could be cancelled
City Council Minutes
May 3, 2016
Page 12
since the first budget workshop was scheduled June 27/28. However, another workshop might
be needed before the budget workshop to discuss some of the items Council had already
mentioned. They were moving into the budget development process.
Prebor said he would like to meet on June 7 to rehash everything and get citizen comments. It
would be an opportunity to ensure the communication was clear.
Learnard asked if everything would dovetail with the Infrastructure Advisory Group (IAG)
presentation. Rorie said they hoped to present the list to Council on May 19.
Ernst said he did not think a meeting was needed on June 7, especially with the IAG
presentation on May 19. They might reconsider holding a meeting on June 7 after the May 19
meeting. King agreed that he wanted to see what happened on May 19.
Prebor commended Rorie and staff for putting together a maintenance schedule so the costs
would be known in the years to come. King thanked staff for the professionalism and quality of
the briefings.
The workshop concluded at 9:00 p.m.
te.td NNN( -
Pamela Dufresne, D uty City Clerk anessa Fleisch, Mayor