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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-16-2017 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes February 16, 2017 7:00 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met in regular session on Thursday, February 16, 2017. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Others attending: Terry Ernst, Mike King, Kim Learnard, and Phil Prebor. Announcements, Awards, Special Recognition Mayor Fleisch proclaimed March as DeMolay Month in Peachtree City. DeMolay members Logan Banks, Kurt Wilson, and Faith Miller accepted the proclamation along with parents Meredith Draper and Hans Wilson, Sr. Minutes February 2, 2017, Regular Meeting Minutes February 7, 2017, Workshop Minutes Ernst moved to approve the February 2, 2017, regular meeting minutes as written. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Prebor moved to approve the February 7, 2017, workshop minutes as written. Ernst seconded. Motion carried 3-0-2 (King, Learnard). Consent Agenda 1. Consider Agreement with Fayette County for 2017 Municipal Election 2. Consider Acceptance of Donation from Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. 3. Consider Application for$12,000 GEMA/Homeland Security Grant 4. Consider Application for GBI West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Grant 5. Consider Application for GAEMS Grant and Corresponding FY 2017 Budget Amendment If Received King moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 02-17-02 Consider Ordinance Amendment- Land Development Ordinance (Section 1133 - Removal of Trees and Vegetation within Designated Buffers and Greenbelts) Planning & Development Director Mike Warrix addressed Council,saying that staff recommended adoption of the ordinance as presented. The ordinance had been previewed at the January 19 meeting. He reviewed the issues with the existing language in the ordinance, which included enforcement provisions, approvals for removal of vegetation being issued verbally rather than in writing, notices of violation (NOV) being issued rather than citations, and no minimum fines/penalties for unauthorized removal of vegetation from City-owned greenbelts. Warrix added that Council had discussed the penalties to be imposed during the ordinance review in January, and Council consensus had been $500 per violation. Additional fines could be imposed by the Municipal Court judge. The proposed language included the following designated in red: Sec. 1133. - Removal of trees and vegetation within designated buffers and greenbelts, prohibited. Clearing, thinning and/or removal of any trees or vegetation within designated natural buffers, undisturbed buffers, tree save and landscape buffers, or any protected area on City Council Minutes February 16,2017 Page 3 manual published by a department), which collectively comprised the City's administrative policies and procedures. Human Resources & Risk Management Director Ellece Brown had been spearheading the update project. Rorie noted that each policy was owned by a different department. There had been 84 CARs and CAMs at the beginning of the review, Rorie said, and 37 had been eliminated because they were either covered in the personnel policy or had transitioned to ordinances. Fifteen that were under the City Manager's administrative approval were reviewed and revised. The remaining CARs and CAMs would require Council review and approval, and those primarily covered finance, purchasing, and City Clerk areas. The Budget Policies were the first to be considered. Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore went over the proposed changes to the Budget Policies. He noted some of the changes were currently in practice, but had not been included in the policy prior to this revision. "Additional personnel or" had been added to Policy 3. Baseline and service level funding, Salvatore said. The City's priority was to maintain existing services levels in all departments. The baseline funding levels should reflect current staffing and inflationary increases in supplies and service budgets. The baseline served as a point for subsequent budget discussions and the impact of adding additional personnel, a new facility, or a new service. Additional personnel had not been included as an increase to the service level. Policy 5. Balance defined addressed additional requirements for budgetary balance for the Stormwater Utility Fund concerning its first bond's covenants, which had required a 1.15 debt service coverage ratio on an annual basis. The policy required the annual revenue available for debt service after operating expenses to be at least 15%. The proposed change would require the standard to remain in place unless future bond covenants required more a restrictive coverage ratio. The additional funds were placed in a renewal and extension fund, so there was money available for capital projects and cash purchases. Policy 6. Capital projects changes included the criteria for ranking projects as core, essential, or discretionary. The ranking criteria had been used for years, but had not been included in the policy, Salvatore said. Policy 8. Types and levels of services included the required level of Cash Reserves, which would change from 20%to 25%if the amendments were approved. The change had been made a few years ago during the budget process, but it had not been included in the policy. Salvatore pointed out that, if the City did not have a reserve policy and abide by it, then it would not have a AAA credit rating. The section of Policy 8 for the Capital Project Contingency included a change in name from the Public Improvement Program (PIP) to Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The addition of a sentence in Policy 12. Budget amendments, Carryovers, stated that funds could be carried forward for essential expenditures in the General Fund that had not been incurred by the fiscal year-end, and those carryovers would be included in a budget amendment for the subsequent fiscal year for Council approval. Policy 13. Reallocations changes would allow the Financial Service Director to approve transfers of appropriations within a fund below the City's legal level of approval. The requests for reallocation must come from a director or chief or their designee. Salvatore explained that this City Council Minutes February 16,2017 Page 2 any lot is strictly prohibited without first obtaining written approval and associated permits from the Planning and Development Department. Clearing, thinning and/or removal of any vegetation within city-owned greenbelts is strictly prohibited. Each removed tree shall be considered a separate offense and will be subject to a citation from Code Enforcement to appear in Municipal Court and a fine of not less than $500.00 per tree. In addition to the citation and fine, the person responsible for clearing, thinning or removal of vegetation within a city-owned greenbelt shall be required to replace the total caliper inches of vegetation removed to assist in re-naturalizing the disturbed areas adjacent to their property. A detailed plant list of all material to be planted must be submitted to the Planning and Development Department for approval prior to installation, and all plant material must be guaranteed for a period of no less than two years from the date of final acceptance by the city. Learnard asked for clarification concerning removal of brush from buffers and whether that would also incur a citation. Warrix said the fines were only for tree removal. City Manager Jon Rorie said Learnard had a good point about the underbrush, and that required future thought. There had been discussions regarding scrub underbrush versus natural underbrush. As the City aged, certain things took place. He continued that Public Works had been working on the City's rights-of-way, and tree limbs had grown out over the streets and highways and were hitting buses and other vehicles. Some of the limbs had to be removed. Rorie had met with a resident, who had received permission 20 years ago to plant bushes in the greenbelt that bordered his property. During that time, the City had pruned the elaeagnus bushes three or four times. When the resident had planted the bushes, the resident had taken ownership and did not want the City to cut his bushes. Staff tried to respect that, but the City also had to maintain the rights-of-way. There needed to be a subjective process to determine what was underbrush. The key to the proposed amendments was written approval and associated permits, but there would still be some decision-making that had to take place. Warrix pointed out that typically the greenbelts dedicated to the City were platted, and those were the areas where there would be increased enforcement. People might not know there were greenbelt areas adjacent to their property, so there would have to be some education. The County's GIS maps also showed the City-owned greenbelts. Rorie noted the ordinance had been previewed at the January 19 meeting, and staff had received some feedback from residents. There had been questions concerning invasive species, and removal of invasive species was allowed under the ordinance. This amendment would still allow for the removal of those species. King moved to approve New Agenda item 02-17-02, amendments to the Land Development Ordinance (Section 1133 - Removal of Trees and Vegetation within Designated Buffers and Greenbelts). Prebor seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 02-17-03 Discuss Amendments to City Budgetary Policies Rorie said there had been many housekeeping changes to the ordinances over the last 18 - 24 months, and staff had also been reviewing and updating all the City Administrative Regulations (CARS, which officially state and explain City policy to employees and usually cover more than one department) and City Administrative Manual (CAMs, which were job-related procedural City Council Minutes February 16,2017 Page 4 had never been in writing, but had always been done. If the savings were in Personnel, it had to remain as a departmental saving and could not be reallocated. In Policy 14. Preventing overspending, the changes would allow the City Manager to impound budgetary authority in situations where the cost of any particular service or commodity was expected to be significantly less than the amount appropriated. Salvatore said that, originally, this policy had been meant for revenue shortfalls, but the change also allowed the impoundment of excess funds in identified areas. Policy 16. Review of fees and charges had required a comprehensive analysis of all City fees and charges every three years. It also required a public hearing prior to adoption of any changes. If approved, the new wording would have each department be responsible for conducting a survey of all fees and charges on a regular basis, but no less than every three years. Per ordinance, all proposed fee changes required Council before implementation. Rorie said the Budget Policy had been the first of the remaining policies to come before Council, noting that Brown had recommended changing the name of the CARs and CAMs to City Operating Policy (COP). Staff was working on the other updates, and Council would have an opportunity to discuss the proposed changes prior to voting on them. This COP would be on the next agenda for consideration. Council/Staff Topics Ordinance Preview- Proposed Amendments to Soil Erosion & Sedimentation Control Ordinance Public Information Officer/City Clerk Betsy Tyler reported the amendments were housekeeping updates to the ordinance. The proposed amendments would be available on the City website until the next meeting. City Engineer Dave Borkowski said the City was a local issuing authority for land disturbance permits and to enforce the permit. The City had to adopt an erosion control ordinance, and it was required to adopt any changes to the state law. There were some definition tweaks, but many of the changes did not pertain to the City. Executive Session Learnard moved to convene in executive session for pending or threatened litigation at 7:34 p.m. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. King moved to reconvene in regular session at 7:58 p.m. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, King moved to adjourn. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Pamela Dufresne, De City Clerk Vanessa Fleisch, Mayor