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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-04-2018 regular meetingCity Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes October 4, 2018 6:30 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met in regular session on Thursday, October 4, 2018. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Others attending: Terry Ernst, Mike King, Kevin Madden, and Phil Prebor. Announcements, Awards, Special Recognition The Mayor recognized Sgt. Leland Crider and Lt. Kay Crider for 15 years of service with the Police Department. Minutes September 6, 2018, Regular Meeting Minutes King moved to accept the September 6, 2018, regular meeting minutes as written. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Agenda 1. Consider Acceptance of Complete Annexation Application from Jerry Peterson/Bradshaw Family, LLP, SR 54 East 2. Consider Somerby Woods Park Management Agreement with Southern Conservation Trust, Inc. (SCT) 3. Consider Agreement with Fayette County for 2018 Special Election (Brunch Bill Referendum) 4. Consider Contracts for Disaster/Storm Debris Monitoring & Removal 5. Consider Qualifying Location Permit - The Avenue 6. Consider Resolution of Lorrie Johnson Claim 7. Consider Budget Amendments - FY 2018 & FY 2019 Ernst moved to approve Consent Agenda items 1-7. Prebor seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 10-18-01 Public Hearing - Consider Step 2 Annexation and Zoning Request, SR 54 East, Brent Holdings, LLC/Ravin Homes, Inc. Fleisch recused herself from this proceeding due to a working relationship with the applicant, turning the public hearing over to Mayor Pro Tem Ernst. Ernst noted that this was only a public hearing, and Council would not vote on the annexation that evening due to pending arbitration. Senior Planner Robin Cailloux explained that the Planning Commission held a public hearing on August 27, and then the County Commission voted to object to the annexation. Their objection was delivered on August 30, within the 30 -day time limit, and the application was now in active arbitration with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Right now, they were progressing towards establishing the arbitration panel. Council decided to go ahead with this public hearing because it had been advertised, but Cailloux pointed out that another public hearing would be required when the arbitration was finalized. Cailloux continued that the annexation method being used required the signatures of the owners of 60% or more of the land area and that the land must be contiguous to the City limits. The state also required 60% of the registered voters in the area to sign an annexation petition, but there were no registered voters residing on this property, verified by the County Board of Elections. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 2 (� Most of the property was currently developed and zoned Community Commercial or Highway Commercial. The 50 acres in the rear was currently zoned by the County for single-family residential with one -acre lots. As part of the annexation request, the applicant was asking that the rear part of the property be zoned Limited Use Residential (LUR) for 93 single-family lots. Instead of one -acre lots, the property would have 1.9 units per acre under the LUR zoning. She said all the commercial property would be rezoned into the City's General Commercial (GC) category. Cailloux said the County's future land use called for the east side of SR 54 to remain commercial, while the west side would be office, although it was currently zoned commercial, and that the rear would be single-family residential. The applicant presented a redevelopment plan as part of the annexation application, with 93 lots on 49.254 acres, creating a density of 1.9 dwelling, units per acre. About 48% of the land would remain open space, due to the need to protect a tributary of Camp Creek that ran through the property. Cailloux showed a list of the conditions staff had recommended, but noted that these were subject to change since the annexation was in arbitration. Richard Ferry, representing the applicants, showed Council a diagram depicting the existing City limits and said the annexation would begin to bring the elements of an east village together. On the south and west sides of SR 54 were townhomes, single-family residential, commercial development, and a school, which, he noted, were elements of what could be an east village. Moving the City limits to the east, as they were proposing, would bring in a grocery store, a department store, several commercial buildings, offices, and a few vacant tracts, including one they were proposing for residential development. Bringing these areas into the City would give Peachtree City the ability to govern how they developed and redeveloped, using the City's sign ordinance, landscape standards, and building codes applying. Ferry remarked this could create an entry into the City equivalent to other entrances. If approved, Ferry remarked, there would be 93 single-family lots, creating a density of 1.9 !units per acre. About 48% of the property would be open space, with a goal of protecting the headwaters of Camp Creek. He said the design was in conformance with the City's Master Plan that called for a step down in density moving toward the borders of the City. Commercial development in Governor's Square was less intense than the area along the highway with the grocery store and the department store, while there was a more intense residential development across SR 54. Ferry said noted they had met with City staff and, based on their recommendations, they added a few elements, including a 50 -foot buffer on all sides of the residential development. Two lots would be deeded to the City for a fire station. They also would provide connections to adjacent tracts and an easement along the border to allow golf cart access. Ferry told Council the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) had issued a report saying Pump Station 8 at Shiloh Mobile Home Park had more than enough capacity to handle the development proposed. Ferry said annexation seemed to be the best option. He noted that Cailloux asked them to put together a pattern book that showed the proposed architecture of homes in the development. He displayed photos of houses to give Council an idea of the types of facades they were U considering. The idea was to create a level of quality that he pledged they would make sure to meet. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 3 Ferry concluded by saying again that this annexation was an element in creating what could be a vibrant east village. Ernst opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor of the annexation proposal, and Ernst asked if anyone wished to speak against it. Steve Kiser introduced himself as an attorney and business owner, and said he had owned Lot 10 on Governor's Square for about 35 years. This was the first he had heard of this project was a notice about three weeks ago inviting him to a hearing, which, when he arrived, he found had been canceled. Kiser said 60% of all owners were required to be in favor of this, but he found that hard to believe, since he had not been notified. He was not in favor since he knew nothing about the project and believed other owners were in the same situation. Kiser felt the applicants had not followed procedures. No one else wished to speak, and Ernst closed the hearing. City Attorney Ted Meeker said no action would be taken, and there would be no Council discussion. 10-18-02 Public Hearing - Consider Change of Conditions for LUR-15 Zoning to Allow Townhomes as Permitted Uses, Pulte Homes/Everton Cailloux said this property was in the Everton development off MacDuff Parkway. It was zoned LUR-15. When the property was originally rezoned in 2007, it had a master plan with a long list of conditions. Cailloux showed a master plan, which had about six acres designated for commercial use along an east -west line through the development. In the years since the land was first rezoned, the market had changed, and now the developers felt smaller scale retail would not be viable. They were asking to replace the commercial area with 42 townhomes. Cailloux said the street network would remain almost identical. Staff had reviewed the rezoning request per state requirements and determined that the impact on the transportation networks would be lower for the townhomes than for commercial, while the impact on the school system would be greater. Cailloux reported there was a list of conditions in the proposal that the Planning Commission reviewed and approved, and that these conditions came from the master plan, putting into words what the master plan showed. Among the conditions were the maximum number of units, sidewalks as shown, alleys built to handle emergency vehicles, along with conformance to architectural and landscaping standards as per the City's current development ordinance. The applicant, Dan Fields of Fieldstone Realty Partners, represented Pulte Homes, said he would not repeat what staff had reported. Fields mentioned the City's "Plan to Stay" slogan and said he recently read an explanation that mentioned the variety of housing types in the City. Conversations with real estate agents, however, had shown him that townhomes were a missing element in the City. When Centennial was developed, it included two successful townhome developments that attracted both empty nesters and young professionals. The "Plan to Stay" article he read had a quote about "lock and leave," a concept that Fields said meant residents had the freedom to leave home and travel without having to worry about maintaining a single- family home and yard. He noted that they felt the townhomes would be much more viable than retail, given the amount of retail constructed since this plan was approved in 2007. Fleisch opened the public hearing. Dave Moulton introduced himself as the first resident of Everton and said he had no opinion on 11 the proposed change, but did have some questions from the residents. He noted that when they moved to Everton, they were shown a master plan with amenities and retail space, and only City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 4 single-family homes. Everton had not entirely gone according to plan, as he had lived several months without access to cable service. In February, they were told that the amenities would be built first as Phase 8 construction started, since they had only one small pool for the entire neighborhood. Their concern was that adding 42 more residences would put a strain on the amenities since they were planned to serve fewer households. Fields told him they would look at the amenities and see if they needed to be resized to accommodate the 42 townhomes. The amenity site would remain where it was planned, in a central location. Moulton responded that he had no objection to the site, but wished they had come online as soon as promised. Capacity was his concern. As far as retail, he said they could drive to Kedron or Walmart on their golf carts, but he felt the right businesses would be used by residents and keep them from having to cross the highway. He acknowledged he was not familiar with any studies that might show business capacity in Peachtree City. Mel Levine of Cresswind told Council putting 40 more townhomes in an area already overburdened with traffic, without any improvements to MacDuff, made no sense to him. He projected that it would take half an hour to get from Cresswind to Home Depot on SR 54. He called southbound MacDuff a "nightmare" and estimated that traffic had increased four -fold in the last three months. Changing the original plan to add townhomes would put extra burden on MacDuff. He also complained about potholes on MacDuff and said they would worsen with more traffic. Morgan Holman of Smokerise Trace said that the addition of townhomes felt inconsistent with the community concept. It made sense for the developer, but Council should consider what was best for the community. It was not right to force residents of that area to have to cross SR 74 at all times of night, for instance, to satisfy a pregnancy craving. He asked why there could not be commercial space to serve the community. Chet Vicino of Everton asked Council to consider that this was a residential corridor and commercial traffic would increase traffic. He also noted that there were many vacancies in local strip malls and asked if additional commercial space really was needed. There were no further comments, and Fleisch closed the public hearing. Fleisch asked Cailloux about the current commercial vacancy rates in the City. Cailloux said she first wanted to clarify that the applicants were seeking to remove the commercial use and replace it with townhomes. Transportation and traffic planners had found that commercial development had a greater impact on traffic than residential. The impact on MacDuff would decrease compared to what it would be if commercial development occurred. Fleisch noted that the commercial vacancy rate was low now. City Manager Jon Rorie pointed out that part of the City's Land Use Plan was to balance commercial and residential space. A factor to consider was the impact of online sales, and Rorie asked them to think about what would happen if Kmart in Braelinn Village Shopping Center closed. Bed, Bath & Beyond, with a location in Kedron, was another store that should be watched. Rorie said these were considerations, in addition to traffic concerns. Rorie explained that the condition of MacDuff was by design. The City decided not to repave the road until the big trucks had finished going in and out of Everton and Cresswind during grading. Public Works Superintendent Scott Hicks said resurfacing would start in about two weeks. He said it was all about trying to balance out the City and community as a whole. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 5 Fleisch asked how the motion should be made, and Meeker said the ordinance included the specific language. Rorie said the development agreement needed to be revised to incorporate the changes, and the motion should reflect that. King moved to approve New Agenda item 10-18-02, change of conditions for LUR-15 zoning to allow townhomes as permitted uses in Everton, with the revisions as stated in a new development agreement. Prebor seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 10-18.03 Public Hearing - Consider Change in Conditions of LUC-11 Zoning to Permit Office Uses, 100 Kedron Drive Cailloux described this property as a bank site that had been vacant for a while. It was next door to the school on Kedron Drive and currently was zoned Limited Use Commercial (LUC-1 1), which was adopted in 1992 and allowed only a bank and banking uses. The owner was requesting that office uses be permitted. Cailloux provided the existing language and proposed changes. Fleisch opened the public hearing. The applicant, Jeremy Williams of Timber Products Inspections, said the firm was looking to move its headquarters from Conyers, where it also had labs, to Peachtree City. The labs would remain in Conyers. Fleisch asked about the number of employees, saying she was concerned about traffic conflicts with Kedron Elementary. Williams responded that there would be about 20 workers, with hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so they might hit the school's morning traffic, but would be leaving after the afternoon rush. No one else spoke in favor or against the proposal. Fleisch closed the public hearing. Prebor commented that the office would have less traffic than a bank. Ernst remarked that he agreed with Prebor and noted that this building had been sitting empty for a while. He said he did not foresee another bank locating there, so this was a good move. This headquarters was the type of business the City wanted to attract, King noted. Prebor moved to approve New Agenda item 10-18-03. Madden seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 10.18.04 Consider Redevelopment Options - Southern Gateway Entry/Meade Fields Rorie said he would be talking about several issues relating to the southern entry to the City. He began with the City's Mission Statement, noting that the City's primary responsibility was to its residents. The City needed to look ahead at the next 50 years, and that involved scrutinizing many different parts. He noted that Peachtree City had 35,000 residents, each with their own idea of what constituted a high quality of service. The City's budget policy stated that "a baseline should be set and serve as an agreed upon point of departure for subsequent budget discussions." It went on to add, new or expanded services required an identified funding source, and ''such ongoing funding sources must either be new or increased revenues or clearly identified expense reductions:' He said must identify a new funding source or reduce costs to cover expenses. A balanced budget process was required. Rorie gave an analogy about how it cost seven cents to make a U.S. nickel, asking what point it became unfeasible to keep doing things the some way. In the manufacturing of nickels, weight, color, and hardness were all factors. Chemical properties were at play because vending City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 6 machines relied on them to recognize coins. The government needed to find out how to make a cheaper nickel. He reflected that Peachtree City was a planned community nearing its 60th birthday. A lot had changed in that time, including the recreational needs and goals. Rorie listed all the amenities at the City's 32 recreational facilities, including 35 tennis courts and 22 playground/tot lots, which was interesting in an aging community. There were 18 concession stands and 16 restrooms that had to be cleaned. The 2017 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) would add another restroom at the Line Creek Nature Area for $150,000. As Drake Field developed as a passive park, they were asked if there would be a restroom. Right now, none was planned, but if it were built, it would cost $150,000, plus ongoing costs of upkeep. Finally, Rorie noted the 274 trashcans in the parks and 65 on the cart paths. The City contracted with Keep Peachtree City Beautiful to empty the cans on the path system. He emptied 12 trashcans in the parks one Sunday, and it took him two hours to drive between them and empty them. Rorie noted that it took 14 minutes to drive the eight miles from Kedron to Holly Grove Road. The mileage and labor costs quickly added up when paying someone to do that for all the City park trashcans. The issue was where would the City go in the next 50 years, rather than what had been done in the past. Since Rorie came to work in 2011, there had been an ongoing discussion of recreation consolidation and capital improvements. The mantra had become, "a little well done was better than a lot just done." There was always a trade-off when making these management decisions, he noted. Rorie said he was measuring the use of the City's 35 tennis courts, which required resurfacing every four to five years at a cost of about $7,000 a pair, asking if that was worth it for courts not being used. The City had removed two pools since he had been employed -- there were 1,600 pools in Peachtree City, so all the City -owned pools were not needed. Cameras were being installed at the tennis courts to monitor use. He showed a photo of private tennis lessons being taught on a public court and said this was a common practice. Cameras were also installed at the tot lots and already showed that at least two were seldom visited. The City was operating under a recreation plan from 2007, which pointed out supposed deficiencies in the City's recreation amenities. The plan showed the City was deficient in four badminton courts and four deficiencies in tot lots. The plan also said the City needed four indoor volleyball courts and five outdoor courts. He said he supposed he could play volleyball or badminton on a tennis court. The recommendations were based on National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) standards that no longer existed, Rorie noted. The master plan showed that residents of Peachtree City should be the first priority, with residents of Fayette County as the second priority. The third priority would be employees of Peachtree City businesses participating in corporate or team events, and the fourth priority would be out -of -county individuals. The plan also said the City should introduce a three -tiered fee structure (Peachtree City, Fayette County, and out -of- county) to ensure that individuals were paying commensurate to their tax participation. Rorie said that was done in May 2012. Another objective was to assess the adequacy of existing maintenance staff resources to effectively maintain existing and future sites and facilities. Maintenance fell behind during the City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 7 recession in 2008-11. The plan also projected that the population would increase to 35,700 by 2008, but that number had yet to be reached. Rorie read a passage that said funding for recreation would remain proportionally the same as in previous years, with increased financial support from higher user fees and grants/sponsorships. More of the cost would be passed to the user and less to the General Fund. That was the purpose of the three-tier system, he noted, adding that the plan also said user fees would continue to increase to provide funds for maintenance and play. Rorie said that 1.5% of the 8% hotel/motel tax was used for Tourism Product Development (TPD) to maintain these facilities. The main point of this presentation, Rorie went on, was to decide how to provide maintenance of these parks in a fiscally responsible manner. There were just too many facilities, and consolidation might be the answer. Rorie said they had looked at the Peachtree City Athletic Complex (PAC), Meade Field, the Braelinn Recreation Complex, the Riley Field Complex, and the Glenloch Recreation Facility. Tonight, he would focus on Meade, the PAC, and Braelinn. Three years ago, a tot lot was added at the PAC as part of the plan to concentrate the tot lots at recreation facilities, not keep them scattered throughout the City. Rorie stated that Meade Field had been a sore spot for him during his entire tenure in Peachtree City because it was adjacent to the mulch yard, which he referred to as a "million dollar dump" at the southern gateway to the City. Meade Field was 65 acres of poorly designed park space in the same area, with seven softball fields and two lacrosse/multi-purpose fields. One of the main needs was lighting upgrades. Rorie had asked Recreation and Special Events Director Quinn Bledsoe to contact Georgia Power about switching from metal halides to LED, but Georgia Power said they could do nothing without the poles being replaced. He asked Council to keep the poor location and design in mind, along with the need to replace the lighting, which would cost around $100,000. Rorie restated his goa - to consolidate the park services, thereby streamlining the maintenance requirements. Rorie pointed out that Meade Field was built on swampland, and the gravel parking lot was not handicap -accessible. Rorie showed that about 35% of the adult softball players at Meade were not Fayette residents and said the master plan recommended that no more than that percentage be from outside the County. There were 500 lacrosse players in 2018, with 42% from the City, 34% from the County, and 24% from outside the County. He wondered if Fayette County provided lacrosse and said he knew Tyrone did not supply adult softball, only youth softball. The City Manager then displayed a list of how money was spent on maintenance at the PAC and Meade Fields, including items such as sod and power. The total for Meade was more than $140,000 a year. Rorie then asked what if he was able to move the amenities of these fields to another location and not spend this money chasing trashcans and grass at Meade or upgrading the lights. Consolidating these facilities would provide efficiency in staff and labor. He said they should add metal halide lights at the PAC soccer fields, but, after taking into account the savings in energy and maintenance, the break-even point would be between 29 and 44 years. The break-even point for switching the lights at the baseball fields would be about 25 years. Rorie remarked that this was not a good return on the investment. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 8 The Sports Tourism Facility hosted tournaments and used TPD funds. This was a different way to pay for maintenance and upkeep, Rorie noted. In all, the PAC had 10 baseball diamonds and six multi- purpose fields on 88 acres. Rorie pointed to an undeveloped 35 acres at the PAC, earmarked for the addition of parking that would add about 250 spaces. He showed practice fields and regulation -size multi-purpose fields with a concession area in the middle. Instead of maintaining Meade Fields, Rorie proposed moving lacrosse fields and practice fields to the PAC. He also suggested using artificial turf to eliminate the cost of maintaining a grass field. He noted that topographical issues made some areas of the PAC land unusable, but some areas could be graded to make them usable. Rorie went on to discuss Braelinn, which he noted was 18 acres, with four poorly designed baseball diamonds, sub -standard parking, and no lights. The facility was under-utilized. Another diamond had been removed, leaving what Rorie said was a perfect location for a rectangular multi- purpose field. Other sites at Braelinn were co -located with the school. Additional parking could be added, along with moving the tennis courts and adding other fields. This would make for more efficient operations in the future. Funding was always a concern, Rorie remarked. He said the money could be pulled from cash reserves, but that was not long-term funding. The TPD funds were an option, as were in-kind contributions, such as exchanging grading services for dirt. The total cost would be $1 million. After coming up with a concept, engineered plans were needed. Rorie told Council that, in their Consent Agenda that night, he had included a budget amendment to fund those engineer plans. Transportation studies would be considered, and Rorie noted that at the October 18 Council meeting, the Gateway Coalition would give its report on the SR 74 transportation study. Money would be needed to fund any changes it recommended. Traffic engineers would draw up those plans. On November 1, a countywide transportation plan would be presented, and money again was a requirement to execute those plans. Rorie said if he was able to relocate the recreation facilities into a central location, the land could be converted to other uses. It could be developed as commercial, office or residential, providing a revenue stream that fed into the General Fund, which funded these parks. Rorie said the City was currently in a pattern of spending, much like the federal government spending seven cents to make a nickel. A long-term plan was needed, with funding in place to make it work, he concluded. 10-18-05 Consider Lease Amendment with American Tower Financial Services Director Paul Salvatore showed an aerial photo of Meade Field and the mulch yard, which had a cellular tower on the property. He noted that Rorie discussed being able to get these properties on the tax rolls after the fields were decommissioned and the mulch yard relocated. Salvatore recounted that the City entered into a lease agreement with American Tower in 1997. The City owned the land, and American Tower owned and operated the tower. The first amendment to the lease was in 2015, when American Tower paid the City $50,000 to extend the lease for seven more five-year periods. Salvatore said the City was paid in two ways. One was the base amount from the ground lease, and that amounted to $11,000 annually for use of the land on which the tower was located. The other way was through a revenue split with tenants who had equipment on the tower for $59,000, making the total annual revenue from the lease agreement $70,000, Salvatore noted. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 9 The City received a buy-out offer on the revenue streams in the summer of 2017. Salvatore said was a common practice for tower companies and cities. The offerwas for $1,109,737, which would cover 15 or 16 years of revenue. Since then, American Tower had lost two tenants, and, in September of this year, revised the offer to $1,045,583, about $60,000 less. Salvatore said he believed the City should take advantage of this offer while it was available because revenues would probably continue to decline as micro technology replaced equipment on the tower. Accepting the buy-out offer would lessen the risk to the City as well as provide a low-cost, efficient means of financing. Bonds, a common way to finance major projects, had closing costs, plus fees for attorneys and other items. This buy-out would be a simple four-page lease amendment, which American Tower's attorneys were writing up and would present to the City within the week, Salvatore commented. He told Council he recommended they accept the lease amendment for accelerated payments for $1,045,583, contingent on final review and approval by the City Attorney. Rorie said the fiscal year 2019 budget anticipated the drop in funds from the annual revenue stream. The $1,045,583 from the buy-out would be deposited in the City's Capital Projects Fund and used to fund City park enhancements. He noted that this might not be enough to execute all the projects he discussed earlier, but they would stretch the money as far as possible. He again said the recommendation was to accept the lease amendment. Salvatore said Allen Davis, the City's telecommunications consultant, had been monitoring the deal and felt comfortable in advising the City to follow through. He said he wanted to make sure the offer was consistent with the amount of the revenue stream, and noted that Davis found there was a formula for such buy-outs in the industry, and this offer followed that formula. Fleisch said she understood the need for Council to approve the lease amendment, but asked if they needed to do anything to start the process of the park enhancements. Prebor asked about American Tower's motivation for offering the buy-out, and Salvatore pointed out that they would see about 16 years of revenue savings. They had just signed a 35 -year lease and paid the City $50,000 and had lost two tenants since then. There was no guarantee to them that they would have tenants in 35 years. Rorie pointed out that, with the buy-out, American Tower would have a set cost, not one that fluctuated. Prebor said it seemed this was a dying industry and wondered how they arrived at their number. Salvatore said they were meeting the City halfway between now and 35 years from now. Prebor said he liked the fact that it lowered the City's risk. Salvatore noted that the bulk of the City's payments came from the tenants and, if the tenants continued to drop out, the City would lose most of its income from the agreement, which was $59,000 a year right now. Rorie said he would rather have the money now, in today's dollars, than wait years into the future and take a chance that the money might not be there. He acknowledged that, while the market for cell towers could explode, everything pointed towards increased use of microcell technology. Salvatore pointed out that the City had updated its ordinance so it could charge companies for using rights-of-way for microcell equipment. While the revenue from the cell tower might be going away, the City could pick it up through these fees. He added that they did anticipate $70,000 less in the General Fund in the financial model, starting in 2019. Fleisch noted they had been talking about this for years, and it was nice to have it happen. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 10 King moved to accept New Agenda item 10-18-05, lease amendment with American Tower for $1,045,583, pending final review by the City Attorney. Madden seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Rorie said he would take it as permission to get started on the work at the parks. . 10-18-06 Consider Addition of New Position - Public Services Director/Assistant City Manager Rorie said this was added to the agenda the day before. He had intended to add it to the Consent Agenda because it was a personnel action and reallocation funds, but because he added it so late, he and the Deputy City Clerk decided it would be best to place it under New Agenda items. Rorie recalled his arrival in 2011 as Community Services Director, overseeing the Amphitheater, Planning and Development, and several other areas. Then, the Public Services Director resigned and Rorie added those duties to his own, requiring him to supervise nine departments representing about 30% of the City's budget. He had done a lot beyond the confines of the job as well. When the City Manager retired in 2014, Rorie became the interim City Manager. He did not have a Community Service Director or a Public Services Director because he had been filling those roles. He had to hire a Planning and Development Director and a Police Chief. He said there were 25 line departments in the City, structured to provide a span of control of five to seven departments for division heads. The structure was out of balance, Rorie concluded, meaning his time was being stretched thin in the Public Services capacity. He gave credit to staff for doing a good job, but said he needed help. Rorie said he needed to spend his time planning for the future, working with people such as Mike Warrix, the Planning and Development Director, although Warrix had announced his resignation effective October 12 to return to Abilene, Texas. Rorie said he would miss him, but they had a good backup team. The City had not funded the Public Service Director's position for the past three years. This proposal, Rorie continued, was to fund it, but change the job title and description to Public Services Director/Assistant City Manager, someone who could take on the Stormwater, Engineering, Public Services, Grounds Maintenance, and other duties as assigned, to help him out. He said the impact would be about $134,000 including salary, benefits, and ancillary costs. Rorie emphasized that he intended to recruit a known quantity who could perform to his expectations as his right hand. He said he did not intend to interview candidates he did not know. The question was whether he could modify this position, but the hiring process was not in question, he summarized. Ernst moved to approve New Agenda item 10-18-06, addition of a new position, Public Services Director/Assistant City Manager. Madden seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Council/Staff Topics Prebor wished Warrix well and thanked him for his service. Warrix said serving for the past three years and three months had been a privilege, noting that he had learned a lot and had a lot of fun. He commended his staff, saying Cailloux would do a fine job after he left. Rorie noted that the Code of Ethics of the International City Managers' Association said a tenure of two years was considered good, and Warrix had exceeded that. He commended the job Warrix had done and wished him Godspeed. City Council Minutes October 4, 2018 Page 11 Ernst noted that Salvatore was a new grandfather. The Mayor pointed out that the 2018 Christmas ornaments were on sale at the Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CVB) office and would be available at City Hall. She also thanked everyone involved with the lights at the new bridge, along with the circle drive, and the paving of McIntosh Trail. King moved to convene in executive session to discuss pending or threatened litigation and the acquisition or sale of real estate at 8:08 p.m. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Ernst moved to reconvene in regular session at 8:21 p.m. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business to discuss, Madden moved to adjourn the meeting. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m. V Martha Barksdale, Recording Secretary