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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-15-2017 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes June 15, 2017 7:00 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met in regular session on Thursday, June 15,2017. 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 Members of Veterans Post 9949 and American Legion Post 50 presented the Outstanding Boy Scout Award from each organization to Patrick Kelly of Starr's Mill High School. Public Comment Connie Berger, Jack Finn, and Starr Byrne, residents of Lake Forest Cove subdivision on Lake Peachtree, addressed Council regarding the plans to turn Snake Island into a passive park. Berger noted their subdivision was basically an empty-nester community near the lake, and they rno access to anything expected it to stay that way because there wasthin y g major. She had been concerned when she heard about the plans for the Snake Island and a park. She was opposed to the plans as she understood them, adding she could be wrong in her understanding. Finn said he was worried how the proposed park would affect their property values. He continued that the cart path was behind his property, and it was one of the busiest paths in the City. There would be a parking lot behind their home. They had a nice quiet neighborhood, and the proposed changes could change that. He asked why something had to be done with the island, when there were many nice parks around the lake and in the City. Byrne said they lived in a wonderful place, and they knew it, which was why the residents were attending the meeting. The ages of Lake Forest Cove residents ranged from one - 96. She continued that the island was an animal habitat, and they wanted the animals to continue living there. The City's goal was to keep 25% of its area natural. There were already plenty of parks, and not enough natural areas. City Manager Jon Rorie asked the Lake Forest Cove residents attending the meeting to stay, saying there would be a brief presentation under Council/Staff Topics that might answer some of their questions. Agenda Changes Rorie asked Council to pull Consent Agenda item 5 off the Consent Agenda for discussion. Prebor moved to pull item 5. Consider FY 2017 Budget Amendment-Acceptance of GDOT Funds off the Consent Agenda. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Minutes June 6, 2017, Special Called Meeting Minutes King moved to approve the June 6, 2017, special called meeting minutes as written. Learnard seconded. Motion carried 4-0-1 (Ernst). Consent Agenda 1. Consider Modifications to Fee Schedule- Fire Department 2. Consider Amendments to Purchasing Ordinance 3. Consider Non-Profit Funding Request- Fayette Senior Services City Council Minutes June 15, 2017 Page 2 4. Consider Non-Profit Funding Request— Promise Place - - - • - • - Ernst moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1 - 4. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Consider FY 2017 Budget Amendment-Acceptance of GDOT Funds Rorie said this item was a $150,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), for the planned improvements at the SR 54/Planterra Way intersection [an identified project in the Special Purpose Local Option Tax (SPLOST)]. He showed a few minutes of overhead film footage of the intersection that was taken using a drone in February. The traffic light at the intersection was a split-phase signal, and Rorie pointed out that traffic on Planterra Way and the Walmart/Home Depot drive could not make left turns at the same time. In order to have a protected left turn, they had to split the phase, which took a lot of time and impacted the entire corridor. If the left turns could be made at the same time, the traffic flow in the corridor would improve. A 2014 traffic study had provided the traffic counts and recommended improvements at each intersection along the SR 54 corridor. Rorie continued that flow along the SR 54 corridor was important, and every piece of the puzzle had to be addressed to improve the overall traffic flow. The City had concept plans developed, which led to engineering plans. Two of the plans were included as projects on the SPLOST list - the intersections at SR 54/Planterra Way and SR 54/MacDuff Parkway. Since 2014,staff and Pond Engineering, the City's engineering consultants, had met multiple times with GDOT district office and had held joint meetings with Fayette County. There were now plans that had been permitted by GDOT, and GDOT had also provided $150,000 in funding as noted in the budget amendment. This project was currently out for bid. The estimated budget was $650,000. Rorie noted one of the worst things that could be done was to underestimate the budget for a project. The City would be paying a premium (20% more) to have the work on the intersections done at night. City Engineer Dave Borkowski said the focus at SR 54/Planterra Way would be on the Planterra Way and Walmart sides of the intersection. On Planterra Way, the plans included taking out the median to allow for a dedicated left turn, straight lane, and right turn lane. This would help with removing the split-phasing of the traffic signal. The medians on the Walmart side would also be taken out. Two dedicated left turn lanes would be installed, and there would be a shared straight/right turn lane. Learnard said there were two left turn lanes on the Walmart side. Rorie said one of those lanes was a shared left-turn,straight through lane. Learnard questioned whether a shared straight, right-turn lane was a good idea. Borkowski said the changes should improve the flow out of the Walmart/Home Depot area. Borkowski pointed out the nose had been cut off of the median on SR 54 in 2016. Ernst noted the SR 54/Huddleston Road intersection was also a problem. Rorie said they had discussed having two left turn lanes with GDOT, and it was now on their radar. Rorie said the left turn lanes in both directions at SR 54/Planterra Way would also be extended. This project was out to bid, and it should be substantially completed by October 31 before the holiday shopping season. Rorie added they were also looking at extending the turn lanes at the SR 54/SR 74 intersection. City Council Minutes June 15,2017 Page 3 Learnard asked why GDOT had given the City $150,000. Rorie said that Fleisch had specifically spoken to the Fayette County Transportation Committee and to GDOT District 3 Commissioner Sam Wellborn. Fleisch said they had asked. Rorie noted the relationship with GDOT had been exceptional; however, there were still some issues that needed to be worked out. Learnard moved to approve Consent Agenda item 5. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 06-17-02 Consider Modifications to Fee Schedule- Planning & Zoning, Engineering, Building Planning & Development Director Mike Warrix noted that City Attorney Ted Meeker had recommended changes in the wording on some of the proposed modifications that were presented to Council on May 4. Meeker's changes dealt primarily with recovering costs for staff time spent on plan review and encouraging developers to get plans right the first or second time. Changes were also recommended to the fees for final site plan resubmittals,which were basically for the same reason -to get things right the first or second time. Changes had also been made to Erosion Plan Review Resubmittal for the same reason. Learnard asked why the fees for Sign Review had been deleted from the Building Department fees. Warrix said sign review and permits were handled by the Planning Department, so it was removed from the Building Department fee schedule. Rorie noted the time spent on plans reviews by the Engineering Department had gone through the roof. Every time a plan was sent back with comments, 10 more plans came in. The plan would come back as number 11, then be reviewed again and sent back while 10 more had come in for review. The change in the fees should help streamline the process by having those submitting the plans get them right by the second review. King moved to approve New Agenda item 06-17-02, modifications to the Fee Schedule for Planning, Zoning, Engineering, and Building. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-17-03 Consider Modifications to Personnel Policy-Sick Leave Due to Passage of Georgia Kin Care Law Human Resources & Risk Management Director Ellece Brown addressed Council, saying the proposed changes were for the sick leave policy in the City's Personnel Policy for employees. The amendments dealt strictly with sick leave used for family illness. The changes to Georgia law would be effective on July 1, 2017. The new Georgia "Kin Care" law stated that, for large employers who provided paid sick leave for employees, the employees must be allowed to use up to a maximum of five days per year to care for sick family members. The law also expanded the definition of family to include spouse, child, grandchild, grandparent, and any other person identified as a dependent on an employee's tax return. Brown said City employees currently had paid sick leave and 24-hour cap (three work days) when caring for family members. City employees accrued sick leave bi-weekly in one bucket. Although sick leave was tracked by the City's enterprise software, staff had to manually track when sick leave was used for family members. The recommendation was to allow the sick leave to be used either for the employee's illness or a family member's illness. Currently,the City's definition of family member included spouse, children, and parents. There were controls in place should sick leave be abused, Brown continued. Employees out for more than three days had to provide a doctor's note stating the employee was unable to work. City Council Minutes June 15,2017 Page 4 The sick leave had to be accrued before it could be used, and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) required documentation for employees out due to an FMLA situation. Learnard asked why the City was considered a large employer. Meeker said more than 50 employees qualified as a large employer. Later in the meeting, he amended his answer to 25 employees after researching the requirements online. Learnard moved to approve New Agenda item 06-17-03, the modifications to personnel policy- sick leave due to passage of Georgia Kin Care Law. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-17-04 Consider Bids for Seal Coating of Kedron Fieldhouse and Two Fire Stations Borkowski said the lowest bid for crack repair and seal coating was $107,995 from Engineered Restorations. The company had done several projects in the City, including the seal coating of City Hall in 2011. Funds were budgeted in the 2014 Facilities Bond. Staff recommended approval of the bid from Engineered Restorations. Prebor said the seal coating was a maintenance item and should be budgeted rather than funded through a Facilities Bond moving forward, asking if this would come up again. Borkowski said it would since the seal coating had to be redone on a regular basis. Ernst moved to approve Agenda Item 06-17-04 Consider Bids for Seal Coating of Kedron Fieldhouse and Two Fire Stations for an amount not to exceed $107,995, the bid from Engineered Restorations. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 06-17-05 Consider Amendment to Land Development- Replatting of Residential Lots Warrix explained that the proposed amendment would restrict subdividing lots in existing platted residential subdivisions. The City had several subdivisions with lot sizes more than twice the size required by the zoning. There had been some situations where existing lots had been subdivided, and the resulting lots were substantially smaller than the average lot size in the same subdivision. The proposed amendments specified that any new lots resulting from any subdivision should not be smaller than the average lot size in the same subdivision and zoning district, Warrix said. Learnard asked if properties that were not in a subdivision would go with the smallest lot size allowed in the zoning district. Meeker said those properties would go with the normal zoning requirements for subdividing property. He added the ordinance did not apply to property that had not been developed. The ordinance applied to platted lots, including those not located in a subdivision. King moved to approve New Agenda item 06-17-05, the amendment to replatting of residential lots. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Council/Staff Topics Update of Drake Field Concept Plan Rorie said there had been two influencing factors on the plans for Drake Field - the One PTC project and a citizen satisfaction survey done last year. There were common items in One PTC (a part of the Comprehensive Plan process) and the citizen surveys that led to a long term Council goal for developing City Center parks, including City Hall Plaza, and a connection between them to the All Children's Playground, Battery Way Park, Snake Island, and restrooms. During budget discussions,the participants wanted to spend more of the City's budget on community aesthetics. The participants also wanted more community and outdoor events. City Council Minutes June 15,2017 Page 5 Significant progress had been made on some of the issues that had been discussed, Rorie continued. After the dredging of Lake Peachtree had been completed, Rorie reminded everyone that Drake Field had been nothing but a huge dirt pile. The cart path had been extended to Drake Field, a landscaped island had been added in the parking area, and Rorie said he had been astonished at the impact of the swings that had been added at Drake Field and Battery Way. The swings had been an inexpensive, low-maintenance addition. Rorie continued that electricity had been placed around the field for use during outdoor events, such as festivals. The field had been grassed and light bollards had been added to create a nice passive park. The number of people who visited Drake Field had increased, and the changes appeared to be a success. A concept plan was designed to host outdoor events, Rorie said,and Selective Designs had come up with the design elements. David Rast spoke on behalf of Sean Leblanc of Selective Designs, saying it had been exciting to see the plan taking shape. They had created entry features, and they would work with Fayette County Master Gardeners and citizen groups on the landscaping. They were still working on the central feature. The edges between the natural areas and the lawn would be defined. The underbrush had been cleared out,and recycled mulch had been spread. The mulch would help with the undergrowth and provide a good base. Drake Field would be a passive/active park, but there would not be a playground or tot lot. It would be an event park. Rorie continued that the current plan was the third plan developed for Drake Field over the last 10- 15 years. There were common themes in all three, such as where to enter the park and what should be the central features. What had taken place on Drake Field to this point was the initial phase of the landscaping. Rorie added they were trying to balance out the design features with the need for low maintenance plant materials. Selective Designs had provided some suggestions for shrubs that provided color but did not need to be pruned every few months. Rorie noted that Selective Designs had not charged the City for the work they were doing. He continued there were plans for a walking path around the field and for an open air pavilion,which was 95%ready to go out for bid. Jefferson Browne of Jefferson Browne Gresham Architects spoke regarding their design for the open air pavilion. Wood and stone were materials people liked to touch, and those were the materials that would be used in the pavilion, Browne said. They planned to use cedar, which insects would not eat, and a low-maintenance metal roof. The base would be concrete. There would be close to no maintenance required for the structure,which could be used as a stage,for weddings, or for picnics. It would be 1,300 square feet of working surface area, with a chimney aspect on one side. It would be ADA accessible, and there would be connections on the back to allow for plays, shows, and weddings. The electrical connections for the pavilion had already been run underground, according to Rorie. The structure would be oriented on the field for the best location for the rise and fall of the sun. Browne said people would see the shelter as they entered the park, but it would not obstruct the view of the lake. People could see through it. He added the shelter would also provide shade and shelter. Rorie said the Request for Proposals (RFP) for construction was ready to go. They had gotten price proposals for pre-manufactured kits for the pavilion, then they started thinking about the theme around City Hall. The stone and wood would carry through the theme of the entire area. He hoped to attract Peachtree City talent and vendors who saw Drake Field as a great community project and hoped they might do some of the work in kind. There was $100,000 in dedicated City Council Minutes June 15, 2017 Page 6 project funding, including some impact fee funds as well as a transfer from the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) because of the event potential. Rorie pointed out this might not be a $100,000 project, and the RFPs would help in getting a true estimate. Rorie said the work should be done correctly on the front end to help with the maintenance costs in the future. The walking path would go around the entire field, and the easiest thing to do was an asphalt path through the park, but that did not mean it was the right thing to do, Rorie said. He did not think an asphalt path would fit with the theme. They had also found another route through the field for the haul trucks to use during the next dredging, which would be easy to restore. SPLOST project#35 was a connecting bridge/walkway from the All Children's Playground to Drake Field. It was designed to be out of the stream and to meander, Rorie said. In addition to himself and staff, Rorie said Browne, Dan Davis of ISE, and Contech (bridge builders) were also working on the project. The estimated cost was$250,000. They wanted to stay with the wood, stone, and natural walking path theme. The path would go around the entire City Hall area, as well as Pebblepocket Park. Rorie said he would issue a task order for the design and engineering, which would provide a better cost estimate. Rorie noted one of the wooded areas in the Drake Field/All Children's Playground area, where there had been some damage to the pine trees, saying arborists had looked at the trees and recommended taking them all down. Some had already been removed. Rorie said trees removed from other areas of the City would be transplanted to this area to replace the pine trees. He added it would be a shame to cut down the four-inch and six-inch caliper trees in those other locations,when it would cost only a few extra dollars to transplant them. The work would begin in October, and the money would come from the Tree Fund. SPLOST project #34 was the bridge to the Lake Peachtree Island, Rorie said. He noted several SPLOST projects valued at over $84 million had been identified by a task force that included residents over multiple public meetings and site visits. All the meetings had been advertised and open to the public. Once the SPLOST project list had been determined, it had been discussed at Council meetings. Staff's estimate for the island project was $200,000, and the engineering estimate was $184,000, which included a 10% contingency. The 85-foot bridge to the island would include ADA slope calculations. The original concept plan had been for a 23-foot wide span, but the bridge did not need to be that wide, so that cost would go down, Rorie pointed out. Cart paths were only 10 feet wide, and they did not want golf carts to be able to access the island. Emergency vehicle access had not been part of the process. This would be a passive park and a pedestrian bridge, but people using kayaks or paddle boards would be able to go underneath it. Rorie said there would be no wide open spaces on the island like there were on Drake Field. Specimen trees would remain. The underbrush would be removed, and the existing tree canopies would be raised to enhance views. The stands of green trees would remain. The project would have natural mulch, not asphalt, so it would not be cart path accessible. Staff would be able to use equipment necessary for maintenance on the island. Rorie continued that they had also discussed removing the cart path behind Driftwood,so people would not go between the homes to get to the cart path. The normal pool level below the bridge location was five and one-half feet, and the clearance under the bridge would be five feet. City Council Minutes June 15,2017 Page 7 Berger asked why it would take$200,000 to build a bridge to a bunch of dirt. Rorie said there was a landscape plan for the project. There had been a plan in the past, so it was nothing new. Learnard said Berger had a wonderful question, and Council had asked the same questions. She continued that many residents had attended many meetings. There had been a lot of back and forth when the SPLOST list was created. She had waffled on the project herself. Other neighbors had attended the meetings and expressed concern about what was going on with the teens who went to the island. Ernst added that this project had been a citizen's idea. It had not come from Council. The wetlands on the north side of the island had helped to determine the bridge location, Rorie said. Finn said there was an opening from stormwater drains just up from his street, and there was a path there that would connect easily rather than going through the woods. Rorie said they would consider that since the bridge had not been designed yet. Prebor said most people would park their carts down by Battery Way Park, asking if there was anything that could be done about parking in the cul-de-sac. He said it would be a beautiful park. Finn and others said the residents of Lake Forest Cove had not known about the project. One resident said they were the closest subdivision to the island. Rorie said there were no perfect answers, only nuances and consequences to every decision made. There were existing realities. He mentioned the Sunset Club that parked off the cart path at Battery Way to watch the sun set over the lake, saying they parked to the side of the cart path and that was the intent with those who would visit the island. There could be designated parking, but that would mean more asphalt or rock. He preferred that people just park their carts off the path. He did not believe there would be more than seven - 10 carts at time, except for special times of the year. Finn reminded Council that kids were going out to island. Rorie said the kids were going out there now. It was public property. Fleisch said the City would work with the Lake Forest Cove residents on positioning the bridge and possible fencing/landscaping along their property lines. She said there would not be neon signs saying "Come Here" on the island. People had voted in support of the SPLOST and the list of projects. Prebor said the improvements to Snake Island should enhance the subdivision's property values. Fleisch agreed. Rorie asked Finn if he would serve as a point of contact with Lake Forest Cove residents. He wanted to be considerate of their concerns. Finn said he would serve. Fleisch announced there would be a viewing party at the Tennis Center restaurant on Wednesday,June 21,beginning at 7:30 p.m.for the episode of The F Word, Chef Gordon Ramsay's competitive cooking show, that would feature "Slaw and Order," the Police Department team (Assistant Chief Stan Pye, Lt. Mark Brown, Lt. Heather Richardson, and Cpl. Justin Mobley) competing for a $100,000 prize. Executive Session Learnard moved to convene in Executive Session for threatened or pending litigation and the acquisition or sale of real estate at 8:48 p.m. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes June 15,2017 Page 8 Ernst moved to reconvene in regular session at 9:25 p.m. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, Ernst moved to adjourn. Learnard seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:26 p.m. 421-ede4 Pamela Dufresne, De CityClerk anessa Fleisch, Mayor Y