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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-01-2016 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes September 1, 2016 7:00 p.m. The Peachtree City Mayor and Council met in regular session on Thursday, September 1, 2016, at City Hall. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Others attending: Mike King, Kim Learnard, and Phil Prebor. Terry Ernst was unable to attend. Announcements, Awards, and Special Recognition Mayor Fleisch read a proclamation for National Payroll Week. Public Comment There was none. Agenda Changes There were none. Minutes August 18, 2016, Regular Meeting Minutes August 23, 2016, Special Called Meeting Minutes- 7:30 a.m. August 23, 2016, Special Called Meeting Minutes-6:30 p.m. King moved to approve the August 18, 2016, regular meeting minutes and the August 23, 2016, special called meeting minutes (6:30 p.m.) as presented. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. King moved to approve the August 23, 2016, special called meeting minutes (7:30 a.m.) as amended. Prebor seconded. Motion carried 3-0-1 (Learnard). Consent Agenda 1. Consider Agreement for Municipal Court Judge 2. Consider Bond HVAC Projects-Contract Award, Shumate Mechanical 3. Consider Bond General Project-Contract Award to Prime Power 4. Consider Adoption of Annual CIE Update from DCA 5. Consider FY 2016 Budget Amendments Learnard moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1 - 5. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Old Agenda Items 08-16-16 Public Hearing-Consider Millage Rate for 2016 Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore said this was the final of three public hearings on the millage rate. The Maintenance & Operation Millage was proposed to remain the same at 6.756 mills. The Bond Millage was proposed to decrease from 0.314 to 0.309. The total proposed millage rate would be 7.065, which was a reduction from the 2015 rate of 7.07. However, due to an increase in the assessed property values, the proposed millage was classified as a tax increase. The tax increase on a home with a fair market value of $275,000 would average $33 for the year. No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the proposed millage rate. Fleisch closed the public hearing. City Council of Peachtree City September 1, 2016 Page 2 08-16-16 Consider Adoption of 2016 Millage Rate Learnard moved to adopt a Bond Millage Rate of 0.309 and a Maintenance Operation Millage Rate of 6.756 (for a total 2016 Millage Rate of 7.07). King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 08-16-13 Appointment of Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee City Manager Jon Rorie said the Mayor and Council had been asked to submit one representative each to serve on the steering committee. The appointees were Scott Bradshaw, Nathan Walker, Sean McMillan, Tonya Curry, and Kim Westwood. Rorie said that the committee and staff would be working to complete the public hearings and sessions for an adoption of the updated Comprehensive Plan in June of 2017. No action was required. New Agenda Items 09-16-01 Public Hearing-Consider Appeal of Planning Commission Decision Regarding Westpark Walk Planning and Development Director Mike Warrix addressed Council, saying that on July 11, the Peachtree City Planning Commission had heard a request to change the metal roof at the Westpark Walk Shopping Center to architectural asphalt shingles. The Planning Commission voted to deny the request, and the applicant had exercised the option to appeal that decision. Attorney Rick Lindsey represented the owners, WPW Limited Partnership. The principal partner was Robert Axelrod, and he and the partnership had owned the center since the early 1990s. Lindsey continued that the owners had spent a little over$1 million to renovate the center about three years previously. The center had been built in the mid 1980s, and the original metal roof was failing. The recent renovation had included work to rectify issues with the roof. However, the problems had gotten increasingly worse. An inspection of the roof and substructure was conducted this spring, and there was significant damage. The roof had to be replaced. The original aluminum used in the 1980s would not be an approved product now. The new material would be prohibitively expensive. The best option, due to the curved design of the roof, was asphalt shingles. Lindsey said Axelrod understood the critical location of the center, so they were not proposing standard shingles, but architectural shingles, which were more expensive. The plan also originally included a stripe feature. The City Planner reviewed the proposal and felt it met the requirements of the City's ordinances, and the item was put on a Planning Commission agenda. The Planning Commission did not like the accent stripe, so that was removed, according to Lindsey. The colors of the shingles were reviewed and the item came back to the Planning Commission. Lindsey noted the commission was looking out for the interests of the community and working to obtain the best product possible, and denied the request. Lindsey said, in reviewing the ordinance, he felt that decision overstepped the legal authority of the commission, so they were appealing the decision. Lindsey continued that, since filing the appeal, they had met with members of Council, and suggestions had been made to add some accent components on the towers. The owners have committed to look at the towers and would add some accent points. However, the roof needed to be replaced right away. Lindsey concluded by respectfully asking Council to reverse the Planning Commission decision and accept the application. Lindsey said they had the owner's commitment to work with City Council of Peachtree City September 1, 2016 Page 3 Planning staff to develop mutually acceptable accent points. Axelrod had been a good corporate citizen and planned to own the center for many more years. He said the shingles were a permitted material the owner had the right to use. They would work with the City to enhance the final product, but needed to address the very real problems with the roof right away. Fleisch opened the public hearing. No members of the public spoke for or against the appeal. The public hearing was closed. Rorie echoed Lindsey's comments about the Planning Commission looking for what was best for the City with the purest of intentions. However, the City was over 50 years old. The ordinances and standards were in good shape overall, but did not address the materials, and this was one of those outlying issues related to the age of the City. Learnard asked for confirmation that Council action needed to include both the decision on the appeal and the application. City Attorney Ted Meeker confirmed this. Prebor said he thought the shingles could look good, and there were similar materials on other buildings in town. He said the Planning Commission's concern, which he shared, was what would happen if someone came in with a material that would not look good. Meeker said there were actually ordinances on the books relating to properties along the highways and scenic roads that addressed the architectural design, building height, exterior materials and colors, and awnings in redevelopment. In reviewing the ordinances, he did not see a legal basis to deny the applicant's request. Prebor said that as properties redeveloped, the standards needed to be maintained. Meeker noted that individual site plans, especially associated with Limited Use zonings, would also apply. Learnard asked if this proposal fell within the existing ordinance, and Meeker said it did. Learnard noted that the appearance of items was highly subjective. This might be the 1% of issues that fell outside King said they were at the point that the decision needed to be reversed so that they could make the repairs to keep the tenants from having roof leaks in their businesses. He moved to reverse the decision of the Planning Commission as it fell outside the provisions of the Land Development Ordinance and to approve the applicant's submittal with the condition that the owners would continue to work with staff to develop suitable accent components. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 09-16-02 Consider Approval of FY 2017 Peachtree City CVB Budget Jennifer Johnson, executive director of the Peachtree City Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), gave a brief review of the 2016 achievements of the CVB. These included: • Created of Mobile Visitor Center • Created PTC video series with over 100,000 views in only 60 days • Hosted Georgia Tourism Organizational Team with Assessment • Created PTC Hops & Props Event • Hosted a Meeting Planner FAM Trip and a Georgia Department of Economic Development FAM and a Tourism Product FAM • Co-hosted International Festival and Rotary Dragon Boat Races • Nominated for Georgia Tourism Marketing Award City Council of Peachtree City September 1, 2016 Page 4 • Given Reader's Choice Award by Convention South • Contracted to move Visitor Center to high-traffic location (The Avenue) to become RVIC • Hired new Sales Manager and purchased new sales software with reporting • Contracted with Leads generation company SDR for sales leads for local hotels • Created new Meeting and Convention digital magazine campaign • Increased social media following by almost double (by taking it in-house) • Got PTC slotted for "World's Greatest" TV Show on Ion Network • Created New comprehensive Marketing Plan Johnson continued that hotel/motel tax revenue was trending very well, only seeing a slight decline this summer when Crowne Plaza reduced their marketing in preparation for their major renovations. Highlights from the proposed 2017 budget included the following: • The Hotel Tax Transfer from the City was budgeted to match the City's FY2017 Proposed Budget and the allocation changed from 4% and 4% (City and CVB) to 4.5%City and 3.5% CVB as a result of the Tourism Assessment by the GA Department of Economic Development and Department of Community Affairs (DCA). As a result, the CVB would no longer directly fund Recreation, Amphitheater, or Christmas Lights. • The CVB continued to be successful with Southern Hollywood Film Tour, projecting a small increase in revenue for FY 2017. • The CVB would be moving offices and the Visitor Center to The Avenue,which had far higher traffic and exposure and was in a retail space which should increase sales of PTC merchandise. This would allow the CVB to qualify as a Georgia Regional Visitor Center. The lease expense was budgeted for$41,656.00/year. • The CVB would continue to contract with the City for accounting services, utilizing one City employee in the amount of$10,000.00/year. • Personnel Services included the full-time executive director position, marketing director, and the sales director, as well as three part-time staff for the Visitors Center, office manager, and film tour guide. • Professional Services budget had decreased due to staff bringing some contracted duties in-house (social media, photography, marketing campaigns, etc.), creating a savings of nearly$48,000 redirected to the Marketing Plan. • Sales, Marketing, and Promotion expenses made up the majority of the budget and were specifically detailed in the Marketing Plan (available for review by request). • Tourism Events expenses included grants for marketing of local events (BMX, RowAmerica, MOBA, etc.) as well as the DIVA Half Marathon, PTC Tennis Center promotion contract, familiarization tours, and other miscellaneous events. The CVB expected to hold the first Hops and Props craft beer event in November, budgeted at $2,500. Revenue was not included in the budget process but was expected to be around $15,000. • The Sales, Marketing and Promotion section included travel to trade shows during the year by the group sales director to recruit sports tournaments, conferences, meetings, weddings, and reunions to Peachtree City. • Administrative and General Operations expenses included audit, legal, and insurance expenses, as well as copier lease and professional development. The proposed budget included a total estimated revenue of $795,550 (down slightly from FY 2016) and total expenditures in the same amount. Johnson noted that 2016 had been the first year of the CVB operating with its own full-time staff because previously positions had been shared with the Amphitheater. City Council of Peachtree City September 1, 2016 Page 5 Rorie noted that he had met with Johnson and CVB Chairman Mike Regli the previous week. One of the recommendations of the recent Georgia Tourism Assessment was to decrease the CVB board from nine members to seven, with five appointed by Council and the remaining two "at large" positions selected by the board itself. They would be bringing council updates to the bylaws and articles for the CVB at a later date. Prebor asked if any opportunity existed to market Peachtree City as a golf destination, noting that the three courses in the City were private clubs. Johnson said not as long as the courses were private, and this issue had been brought up in the assessment. Specifically, the current CVB logo and t-shirts included a golf cart with golf clubs, which gave an inaccurate impression that Peachtree City was a golf destination. She was working with the people with Zach Brown to develop a new t-shirt design. King noted that, if a conference was scheduled for the Wyndham for several days, a golf outing at one of the Club Corp courses could be included. Learnard noted that Peachtree City was a golf cart community more than a golf community. Learnard moved to approve the FY 2017 CVB budget. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. (Minutes amended to include motion at 11/3/2016 Council meeting) Council/Staff Topics Rorie gave an update on the construction of MacDuff Parkway, with a new drone video showing paving base on the entire length, and paving completed along a large portion of the roadway. Several model homes were underway in both Everton and Cresswind, and the developer had been working along the CSX Railroad bed, with permission from the railroad and one of their flagmen on site, to build up the roadway to the eventual bridge height. Senoia Road was also currently being built up to that height. Rorie noted that the roadway would change names at Senoia Road to Kedron Drive. Fleisch thanked Rorie for the update due to the large amount of incorrect information being posted on social media sites. Rorie agreed and said this was an immense project that could not be completed overnight, but they had made tremendous progress. Recreation Administrator Cajen Rhodes then gave an update on the Facilities Bond, noting that 14 of the projects had been completed. Twelve projects were currently in progress, and of those, the roof replacements for the Police Station, Fire Stations 83 and 84, and the Tennis Center clubhouse, as well as the Fire Station 81 building repairs, would be put out for bid in October, with a probable start date of January 2017. Pond would serve as the project manager. The eight remaining projects (City Hall and Library window replacement, skate park renovations, playground equipment replacement, fire station parking lot resurfacing, Fire Station 83 exterior seal coat, and Public Works building improvements and ancillary building roof) would be started in FY 2017. King announced that the veterans groups would be holding the annual POW/MIA recognition ceremony on Friday, September 16, 9:00 a.m., at the memorial at City Hall. He invited all patriots to attend. Executive Session Learnard moved to enter executive session to discuss pending or threatened litigation at 8:08 p.m. Prebor seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council of Peachtree City September 1, 2016 Page 6 Learnard moved to reconvene in regular session at 8:30 p.m. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business to discuss, Learnard moved to adjourn the meeting. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m. • B t T ler, City er anessa Fleisch;Mayor