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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060622_TybeeCouncilMinsCouncil Minutes Page 1 of 14 Meeting of 2006-06-22 City Council Minutes Mayor Buelterman called the June 22, 2006 consent agenda meeting to order at 6:30PM. Present in addition to the Mayor were Shirley Sessions, Eddie Crone, Mallory Pearce, Paul Wolff, Wanda Doyle and Kathryn Williams. Also present were City Attorney Bubba Hughes and City Manager Diane Schleicher. Mayor Buelterman read items for the consent agenda as; Memorial Park Committee members listed as; Abby Burke, Sunni Brown, Lawanna Tsoulos, Ellen Fulkerson, Jason Nobles-Staff, Tiffany Dennis-YMCA Staff, Wanda Doyle-Council Member, Ethics Committee Members, Planning Commission appointed Susan Hill, City Manager appointed Janice Elliott as Employee Liaison and Staff support, Shirley Sessions appointed Bobby Phillips. Alcohol/Entertainment/Sunday Sales License for Sea Dawgs Oyster Bar, Approval of Council Minutes for 6-8-06,Georgia Land Conservation Grant Application for $400,000 Land owner has agreed to sell land for that amount conditional on future Park being named after land owners Father and City paying for Appraisal and Survey if grant is approved, Private Parking Text Amendment to change hours from 8:00PM Ms. Williams asked that the Special Event Application say in clear language that it is a requirement to apply with the state if you are selling or giving away alcohol at an event. City Manager introduced the Emergency Procurement and Hiring Ordinances and requested they be put on the Agenda for July 13 for 1st and 2nd readings. Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00PM. All persons listed earlier were still in attendance. Rev. David Laughner of Chapel by the Sea Baptist Church gave the Invocation. The colors were posted by the Tybee Island Memorial Color Guard and everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Representative Burke Day presented Special Resolution 1822 to Former Mayor Walter Parker recognizing him as an “Outstanding Georgian and Statesman”. He said the House of Representatives has a tradition of looking at people in their communities that have made significant inroads and have done many things for the good of the community. They voted to honor former Mayor Walter Parker by a majority vote. Ms. Sally Day read the Resolution to everyone. Former Mayor Walter Parker said he was privileged by the citizens of Tybee to be able to lobby to the legislature for beach projects and he thanked Representative Day for his good work. Mayor Buelterman and Chief Price presented Representative Burke Day with a Resolution naming him as Life Long Honorary Police Council Minutes Page 2 of 14 Commissioner. Mayor Buelterman read the Resolution and Chief Price presented a badge. Mayor Buelterman also thanked Rep. Day for help in getting the 2.93 million for Beach Renourishment from the State. Representative Day said he is eternally grateful to everyone that had faith in him and cast their future in his hands and to former Mayor Parker for making him the first Police Commissioner on Tybee. Mayor Buelterman announced a party on Saturday honoring Jason Ball and his regiment. He also said he would present two proclamations to the Soldiers and their Spouses on Saturday during the party with Council approval. He also displayed a flag presented to Tybee by Jason Ball that was flown in Iraq. Mayor Buelterman said he would have it framed and posted at City Hall. He thanked Ms. Tsouolos and Mr. Locklear for their hard work in setting up the celebration. Mr. John Major, Chairman of the Audit Committee presented the committee report to council. He said for 2006 they appointed Sam Adams, Jim Anderson, David Birdwell, Sarah Jones, Lou Off and Freida Rutherford and himself to serve on this committee. He said Sue Off is the liaison between the Ethics Committee and the Audit Committee. He said in March they had an organizational meeting as required by bylaws and new committee members were nominated and Kathryn Williams agreed to serve as council’ s liaison to the committee. He said the report from Mauldin and Jenkins about the Audit contained one finding and two constructive suggestions. He said it compared favorably with the report from a year ago that contained seven suggestions. He said the one finding was a holdover to last year and in order to correct it would mean an addition to staff. The Auditors letter and financial report is online on the City’ s Website. He said at the request of Council the Audit committee has completed a review of contracts and submitted a report. They will revisit the contracts in August. He said they will also review the city’ s leases at council’ s request. He said Ms. Fox has requested the committee take a more active role in next years audit by contacting the auditors and setting an agenda. He said after the next audit they will review the auditors work to see if we need to go out to bid again. Mayor and Council thanked the Audit committee for their hard work. Ms. Patricia Miller Wann chairman of the Tybee Fine Arts Commission gave a report to Council stating that they had applied for a grant to hire consultants to help them conduct strategic planning for the commission. She said Tybee was awarded its first grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts in October and the City of Tybee matched that grant. She said they voted to hire Blackmar, Tibbets and Associates as consultants. She said they are applying for a grant for a consultant to develop a plan for Cultural Tourism on Tybee. She said this past Tuesday the consultants presented the Strategic Cultural plan for Tybee Island based on the information received from the surveys and focus groups. She said the Georgia Council will announce its new grants in July and they are hoping to again be a recipient of a grant. She asked Council approval of new commission members; Walter Council Minutes Page 3 of 14 Parker, Jim Wann and Jane Feiler. She thanked everyone for their support. Ms. Jackie Brown former City Clerk recommended to Council that they not incorporate their Public Hearings into their regular council meetings because of the time it takes to conduct the Public Hearings. She said sometimes the public are here for other items on the agenda and it should be a consideration in order to save time for the public and council. Ms. Brown said the other reason she wanted to address council was out of concern for her two granddaughters and instant grandson. She said there should be procedures in place to deal with the situation that happened on June 1. She said she has know Tiffany the police officer that handled her grandchildren all of her life and she is a wonderful girl. She said there is trauma involved in something like this and she feels there should be proper procedures for future incidents like this. She said these children were placed in vehicles and she doesn’ t like it. She said her instant grandson has severe Asthma and he was in a car for over an hour with no air on. Her other concern is pre warrant hearings. She said last year Detective Bryson told her that the TIPD municipal court would not be handling this anymore as it took up to much time of the officer and staff in getting ready to hold court. She said she understood they were to be held at Magistrate Court at Chatham County. She was surprised when she attended a pre warrant hearing in municipal court over a week ago. She said they need to set some priorities and let citizens know that if they get in trouble this is the way it’ s going to be and not wishey washy back and forth. James E. Carter commander of Tybee Island Memorial Color Guard said they want every house on Tybee to have an American Flag. He said they have stocked 3 by 5 flags made of polyester and they have two additional flag styles to choose from in addition to the American Flag. He said these flags are not for sale and the group only accepts donations. He said if someone needs their flag replaced the group will be glad to come by and replace it and any donations received will be used to purchase more flags and eventually poles to. Mayor Buelterman announced Jack Kingston’ s Town Hall meeting on Monday at 12:00 noon to discuss energy legislation. Mayor Buelterman shared a letter from Rachel Perkins announcing her resignation from the Planning Commission. He said he wanted to recognize Rachel for her hard work and dedication on the Planning Commission. Ms. Williams announced the fundraiser for Tybee Beautification. She said they will have a sunset cruise sponsored by Iris and Mike Scarborough on Sunday Evening June 25. She said the tickets are $25.00. Council Minutes Page 4 of 14 Diane Schleicher said in the event of a Hurricane or Emergency event you have to post for employment and you have to have drug screenings. She said we need to have a hiring procedure for emergency personnel only in a declared emergency. She said she and Mr. Hughes have been working on the language that would suspend the hiring requirements in an declared emergency. She said there is also a procurement ordinance that needs to be approved that would allow obtaining the needed products without bidding out in case of a disaster. She said concerning the requested budget adjustment of $28,347 staff had looked at the supplies on hand and did a study on what supplies would be needed in an emergency. She said they found communication as one of the biggest issues. She said they received practical advice from people out in the field in Louisiana and Mississippi. She said staff had used this advice to come up with a list of needed supplies to take care of people and have communication with satellite phones with antennas. Diane Schleicher said staff unanimously recommended Duncan Technologies as the Pay & Display meter provider after the presentations that were done last week. She requested that council approve generating a long term contract for 36 months. Mr. Wolff asked if the initial order would still be 42 meters. Ms. Schleicher said yes. Ms. Schleicher thanked Ms. Fox for arranging for the presentations. Ms. Sessions asked if the tickets purchased would be good at any parking lot on the Island. Ms. Schleicher said yes this will enable people to move to the other side of the Island with the same ticket until their time runs out. Mayor Buelterman asked for a projected timeline on this project. Ms. Schleicher said the North Beach will be the easiest fix with just installing the machines and removing the parking arms. She said the South Beach is a lot more involved and they are working with an Engineer to develop two-way traffic in that area. She said it would probably be late August or September. Diane Schleicher said the text amendment to the water & sewer cut off ordinance is because they are changing their billing format and going from a card system to a foldable system where the customer will actually get an envelope. It won’ t be as likely to get lost in the mail. She said the advantage to that system is we can add a lot of public information in with the water bills. She said we have had a late fee of $10.00 and a cutoff fee of $25.00 and instead there will be a delinquency fee of $28.00. She said basically this will give the customer a break because we are not getting to the cutoffs and this system is not workable. Mayor Buelterman asked if he didn’ t pay his water bill by July 1st it wouldn’ t be cutoff until the 10th. Ms. Schleicher said yes. She said the only time an additional fee would be charged would be if the city had to cut it on during non working hours. Ms. Sessions asked that Ms. Schleicher make sure the public is well informed of the change and requested the city take an assertive stance but not aggressive. Ms. Schleicher said this is an important service and they are paying attention to communicating well. Ms. Williams asked when the new bills would go out. Ms. Schleicher said Council Minutes Page 5 of 14 at the first of the month. Ms. Williams said the customer would have all month to pay. Ms. Schleicher said yes and the cutoff would not happen for an additional 10 days but the delinquency charge will be added after the first business day of the month. Mayor Buelterman said the county commission meeting he and others had attended left them confused about exactly what the commission wanted from them regarding the SPLOST list. He asked what changes council wanted to make concerning the List that they had submitted. Ms. Schleicher said the city will receive an official notice regarding what the county wants. She said her perception of what they want is for the SPLOST list to be shorter. She said Public Safety seemed to be their priority and also the county manager mentioned something not on our list which was roads and storm water. She said she had talked to the director of Public Works and he said it would take about $300,000 to do all the side roads East of Butler and about $200,000 or $250,000 to do Solomon if we decided to totally pave it. She said the County Manager said we should at least have some roads on the list because that was the original intent of SPLOST. Mayor Buelterman said they should edit instead of subtracting and they should go down there and fight tooth and nail for every dime of the money on the list. They could use the statistics of how many people from the county are coming to Tybee and how everything on that list will benefit them. Ms. Sessions said they have Mayor Johnson’ s support and he stated that Savannah and Tybee provide most of the recreation facilities for the County. Mayor Buelterman said their mantra is if the county wants to use population numbers for SPLOST then they need to use the July 4th population and not by February 1st population. Ms. Williams encouraged council members and concerned citizens to contact county commissioners and make their views known. Mayor Buelterman asked if everyone agreed to add funds on the list for roads and drainage. Ms. Schleicher said it should go under infrastructure. Jason Nobles, Director of Recreation introduced the special events request to council. He said the first event is the Tybee Luau to be put on by Tybee Fest on September 3, 2006 in Memorial Park. Mr. Nobles outlined to council the cost of services they were requesting the city to provide for this event saying it would cost the city $924.95 total. He said $349.95 would be for Public Works services and the $575.00 would be for the use of city facilities. He said they have requested that music be directed away from the residential areas. Mr. Nobles said Parking Services did not sign off because they do not want another event added to the already congested condition of the island during that holiday. He said they also asked for use of the Gym in case of bad weather. Mr. Wolff said he supports Ms. Conaway’ s reservations and he is all for having special events to bring additional people onto the Island but they need to focus on the shoulder seasons before and after the summer vacation season. He said Labor Day is already jammed and he would like to see the organizers choose another weekend later in the month. He said he doesn’ t think they should add to the Burden of the people that live here. Ms. Doyle Council Minutes Page 6 of 14 said she talked with the organizers and they said an event later on Sunday Evening would help keep the people here for an additional night instead of them leaving on Sunday. Ms. Sessions said an event last year with music created a deluge of calls because of the park being in a residential area. She asked what type of music will be at the event. She suggested that music type be added to the application so that the surrounding neighbors would know. Mr. Paul Devivo of Tybee Fest said the band is called Big Pineapple and they are from St. Augustine and they play Hawaiian music. He said they stated this event at the request of a number of Tybee businesses. It will be late Sunday afternoon at 4:00PM when the existing traffic is starting to go home. It said it is a five hour event and they don’ t think it will impact traffic. He said they hope to accomplish getting people to stay over for the additional night. He said they hope to get Tybee businesses involved and make it a luau weekend. He said for instance you could go to the Crabshack and you would get a Hawaiian Leigh and their employees would dress Hawaiian. He just wants to create a theme weekend and he doesn’ t see this becoming a big event. Ms. Sessions asked if Ms. Conaway had met with the organizers to share her concerns. Ms. Schleicher said yes. Ms. Sessions asked where the requested services would come from as far as the budget. Ms. Schleicher said they would come out of the departments’ budgets. She said normally the city would be compensated for services and facilities provided but the organizers are requesting the city sponsor this event. Mr. Nobles introduced the next event as the Alee Shrine Festival to be held on November 4. He said this is the local Shrine group and they are requesting use of the Gym, Memorial Park, and Cafeteria and to hold a parade on Butler Ave. to 16th Street. He said the total cost to the city would be $1200. He said $500 of that would be for police services to block the streets for the parade. Mr. Wolff said this is the type of event the city should encourage because of it being in the off season and bringing people to the hotels and restaurants. Mr. Nobles said the next event is the July 3rd Fireworks requested by the Tybee Tourism Council. He said total cost would be $2569.98 including Police, Public Works and Fire department. He said this year the Fire Department will need to have three crews so that one can remain at the station for calls and the other two can be on the pier. Mr. Wolff suggested contacting the County to provide police support at their expense because most of the people coming are from the county. Mayor Buelterman agreed and said we should ask for help during the Beach Bum Parade as well. Mr. Hughes said it would be an intergovernmental agreement process. Mr. Wolff asked if that could be done by the 3rd of July. Ms. Schleicher said she had talked with the Chief concerning the lights at Johnny Mercer Blvd. She said generally these are mutual aid agreements and the Chief feels comfortable making the request. Council Minutes Page 7 of 14 Ms. Williams requested that all organizations that get an allotment from Tybee be prepared to present their complete budget request for next year so that additional funds will not be requested after approval of the budget. She said in order to manage their finances properly they need as much information up front as possible. A concerned citizen requested that Council be aware of the extreme heat and the illegal fireworks that are set off around July 4th. She said they had a fire in Augusta and 28 firemen were overcome from the heat last year. Mr. Nobles presented the application for the New Years Eve Fireworks to be held at the Pier that was submitted by the Tybee Tourism Council. He said the cost to Tybee would be $411.98 for Police, Public Works and Fire Department. Mr. Nobles presented the application for the Pirates Fest in October. He said the applicant is Tybee Fest and they want to have the event at the South Beach parking Lot and have a parade through the streets. He said the total cost for the event would be $2,648.18 for Parking, Police and Public Works. He said Public Works will hang banners on the street poles and is included in the cost amount. Also the city will approve the electric hook up for the event in the parking lot but the promoters will pay the cost of the electrical work. He said they would only allow 10 parking passes. He said Parking Services reported a $600 loss of revenue for the 16th Street lot the year before. There will be no on duty Police Officers but the event organizers will provide off duty police officer through Tybee Islands Police Department. He said there is potential revenue for the city through the vendor fees from the thieves market. He said approximately half of the South Beach parking lot will be accessible and open contingent on the pay and display meters being installed. Mr. Wolff asked if the $600 had been the amount in lost revenue from the same weekend from the year before. Ms. Conaway said no the amount was estimated from the weekend before the event. Mr. Wolff said that would be in September so he is not sure that is comparing apples to apples. Ms. Conaway said it is all weather related anyway. Mr. Nobles said the organizers proposed putting up some type of snow fencing around the venue. Ms. Schleicher said it is possible to have the pay & display meters installed by then. Ms. Sessions asked what council can do to not dismiss Ms. Conway’ s concerns. Mr. Crone said the only way to avoid parking problems is to not have the event. Ms. Doyle said since Mr. Nobles said the organizers just want to use half the lot that should eliminate the problem Ms. Conaway has with the event. Ms. Schleicher said with or without the pay & display meters it can be worked out so that parking has half of the lot we can make it contingent on that. Mr. Wolff said they need to make sure that Mr. Nobles works with the organizers to make sure public safety is addressed and half of that lot can be used. Mr. Nobles gave a brief status update concerning resurfacing the Tennis courts. He said the company we contacted to resurface the Council Minutes Page 8 of 14 courts recommended that we contract with a local company to have asphalt put down. Mr. Nobles said he had received quotes for asphalt work in the range of $49,600 to $81,600 and that would be in addition to the $5600 resurfacing cost. He plans to meet with the City of Savannah tennis court expert to get advice on whether we should repair or replace them and a recommendation regarding a local company. Mr. Nobles said a guarantee is not possible at this time because of the amount of cracks involved and the special treatment that is done on a per foot basis. Mayor Buelterman acknowledged the six members of the Memorial Park Committee and said they will meet on June 27th and start working on recommendations for the Playground Equipment that is due August 1. Mr. Nobles announced the second movie in the series of Movies in the park. It will be The Pink Panther and will be shown on July 29th at 9:00PM. He invited everyone to come. Mayor Buelterman opened the business meeting with the following consent agenda items, Private Parking text amendment to remove the language allowing people to call the Parking Manager on any busy weekend for permission to open and extend the hours from 8:00PM to 9:00PM, Ethics Committee member appointments which are Susan Hill from the Planning Commission, Janice Elliott as Staff Liaison and administrative support staff and Bobby Phillips appointed by Shirley Sessions, Georgia Land Conservation Grant Application, Memorial Park Committee, Alcohol Beverage License for Sea Dawgs and the minutes from June 8, 2006. Ms. Williams moved to approve all items on the consent agenda, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Buelterman asked council to approve the separate resolutions for Jason Ball and his regiment and the Spouses. Mr. Crone motioned to approve the Resolution for Jason Ball and his regiment, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff motioned to approve the resolution recognizing the Spouses of the Regiment, Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Buelterman asked for a motion concerning the Arts Commission appointments of Walter parker, Jim Wann and Jane Fowler. Ms. Sessions motioned to approve the new members and also adopt the strategic plan as presented, Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Buelterman introduced the Emergency Hiring Ordinance and Emergency Procurement Ordinance and said they would vote on 1st and 2nd readings during the next council meeting. Mayor Buelterman asked for a motion concerning the requested budget adjustment of $28,347 for Emergency Supplies to be taken from contingency. Ms. Williams moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded and asked how much this left in contingency. Ms. Williams said $2,000. The vote was unanimous. Council Minutes Page 9 of 14 Mr. Wolff motioned to accept Duncan Technologies as the Pay & Display Vendor contingent on contract approval by the finance department, Mr. Pearce seconded. Ms. Doyle asked if there would be enough meters to move some onto Tybrisa. Ms. Schleicher said yes. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff motioned to approve the 1st reading of the Water Cut off ordinance as written, Ms. Williams seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to approve the addition of $500,000 for Roads and Drainage to the original SPLOST list and leave the rest the same, Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Buelterman told Ms. Brown that council does hold Public Hearings at the first meeting of the month and the second meeting is city business where visitors are encouraged however visitors are permitted at the first meeting if they are listed on the agenda. Regarding Police Procedures concerning the issuance of a warrant, Ms. Sessions requested that Ms. Schleicher contact the surrounding municipalities to see how they handle that. Ms. Sessions said there may be procedures we can implement to reduce the trauma for the children. Ms. Schleicher said some communities bring the department of Family and Children Services to the scene if there is going to be children at the house. Mayor Buelterman told Ms. Brown that they will check with other communities and find the best way to execute a warrant with children involved. Mr. Pearce moved to approve the Luau on September 3rd at Memorial Park, Ms. Doyle seconded. Ms. Sessions asked if the event needed a separate license for alcohol. Ms. Schleicher said yes and Mr. Wolff said they need a license from the state as well. Mr. Wolff asked Ms. Schleicher if this was already budgeted. Ms. Schleicher said none of the event amounts is already budgeted and that’ s why they are giving council the information before approval. Mr. Pearce amended his motion to include approval of the event only. Ms. Doyle seconded the amended motion. Ms. Fox said in the past event organizers were billed for the city services but this year the organizers are requesting donations of city services. She said the city didn’ t know about the events so they are not budgeted for. She said she advised Mr. Nobles to make sure council was aware of exactly what event organizers were requesting. Mr. Crone said on the Tybee Luau the only thing it would cost the city would be $349.95. He said the $595 for the facilities would not be a cost to the city. Ms. Sessions asked if the organizers were charging citizens to attend this event. Mr. Devivo said no. Ms. Sessions requested that if there are complaints from neighbors regarding the music that our noise ordinance be enforced. The motion carried with only Mr. Crone voting in opposition. Mr. Crone motioned to approve funding the Tybee Luau, Mr. Wolff seconded. Ms. Williams asked if Mr. Crone would consider awarding just Council Minutes Page 10 of 14 the facility fees and asking the event organizers to pay for city services. Mr. Crone agreed to amend his motion. Mr. Wolff agreed with the amended motion and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Alee Shrine Event on November 4, Mr. Pearce seconded. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to approve the requested city services for $1200 because the Shriners do amazing things for burned children which this kind of event helps with. Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Ms. Williams moved to approve the Fireworks Event on the 3rd of July, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Pearce motioned to approve the city services requested for the Fireworks on the 3rd of July. Mr. Wolff seconded. Ms. Williams asked if the expenses were already budgeted. Ms. Fox said yes. Ms. Sessions said the total expenses for the 3rd of July fireworks are $8,569.98. Ms. Williams requested that all of these expenses be included in the budget request for next year. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Crone moved to approve the New Years Eve Fireworks Event, Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Crone motioned to approve the funding for the New Years Eve Fireworks, Mr. Wolff seconded saying this expense is relatively small and this event benefits the businesses by bringing out people in the off season. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Pirates Festival Event on October 6th 7th and 8th, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Police Services only for $1335 for the Pirates Festival, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Mayor Buelterman told everyone about his trip to Washington to lobby for Beach Renourishment funds. He said they are requesting 6.22 Million from the Senate. He said he would also attend the County Commission meeting tomorrow to request $150,000 for Beach Renourishment again this year. Ms. Sessions gave council members a list of intersections on Butler from 2nd to Tybrisa Street. She said council had prioritized a list of concerns raised by the DCA team and citizens of Tybee and the number one issue was safety not only on Butler Avenue but also along Hwy 80. She said they have discussed how to slow down traffic for pedestrian safety and a suggestion from that discussion was for Mayor Buelterman to attend the next CUTTS meeting and start working with the DOT on how we can get speed tables to slow traffic down. Ms. Sessions read a report from the police department regarding incidents and crashes in Council Minutes Page 11 of 14 2005 and 2006. She said 3rd, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets do not have any type of crosswalk for pedestrians or warning signs. Mr. Wolff suggested a short term fix may be changing signs to create more impact and also putting umbrellas type containers at the crosswalks on each side of the street with orange flags for pedestrians to carry as they are crossing the street. Mayor Buelterman said he is going to attend the CUTTS meeting and bring the safety concerns up with them. He also said they should discuss this at the retreat scheduled for July 15th. Ms Doyle said she would like for everyone to remember the issues at the other end of town by Tybee Oaks and Sundance Square where there are no crosswalks. She said there are people taking their lives in their hands just crossing Hwy 80. She said there are many accidents there with cars and it will not be long before a pedestrian is involved. Ms. Sessions asked if council had any power over installing crosswalks at the intersections mentioned before. Mayor Buelterman said we may have power to get the DOT to get them done quickly. Ms. Williams suggested using a portable sign to warn drivers to yield to pedestrians. Mayor Buelterman suggested sending a letter to the DOT on Monday requesting warning signs at the four intersections that do not have them. He said they could put a call in to Burke Day as Chair of Public Safety asking for his influence. Also call the local DOT folks and talk to them about it as well as addressing it at the CUTTS Committee. He said we also want to suggest that the bumps or breakers be put in. Ms. Sessions said to include the Hwy 80 issue also in case they have to do a study it will get the ball rolling. She said they should set a time frame of a week or two for a response. Council requested Ms. Schleicher take care of sending the letters and contacting our member of the house. Mr. Crone said 35 miles an hour is to fast for cars to be traveling on Hwy 80 and Butler Avenue. He suggested requesting a 25 MPH speed limit during the summer months when the island is congested. Ms. Doyle requested asking for a flashing light on 80 around Tybee Oaks also. Ms. Sessions said according to the police report the majority of speeding violations were 55 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. Ms. Sessions moved to approve Ms. Schleicher sending the letter as described to DOT asking for warning signs and crosswalks at 3rd, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets and also including a warning sign and lights around Tybee Oaks and look into the possibility of lowering the speed limit to 25MPH from the beginning of the business district at Tybee Oaks on Hwy 80 to the Park of Seven Flags. Mr. Crone seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Crone asked to preview the letter before it is sent. Mr. Paul Wolff asked for council approval to send a letter to DNR allowing us to move sand around between renourishments. He said this is defining beneficial versus nuisance sand and identifying the fact that there are places where it is accreting and causing problems. He Council Minutes Page 12 of 14 said there are places where it is eroding and causing bigger problems. He said they want to establish blanket parameters in which individual permits could be applied for eliminating a six month process. He said it would be like when they wanted to remove sand from the crossovers it was very difficult. Now they are allowed to call them up and say they want to remove sand from a crossover and the DNR usually says yes right then. Mr. Wolff motioned to approve sending the proposal to DNR for review and ask them to send it back to council for approval. Mr. Crone seconded. Ms. Williams asked if they could make a change on page 12 where it says the condition must be brought in writing to the City Manager. She requested the Mayor and City Council be added to that as well so that all applications must come to them also. Mr. Wolff said anytime the city moves sand it will be moved within the sand sharing system and will not be used to bring up an elevation on someone’ s lot. Mr. Wolff and Mr. Crone accepted the change suggested by Ms. Williams and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Hughes addressed the letter sent by Jackie Brown requesting a lump sum payout of insurance benefits that she receives from the city that are paid under the early retirement plan. He said Ms. Brown and five other employees fall under this plan. He said they are paying $343.36 a month and what she is requesting is the city pay it out now to her in a lump sum and she forgoes any further claims for health insurance. He said he checked with the GMA Attorneys regarding the Retirement Benefit Package and they said it could be done with a couple of reservations. The city would have to make the same opportunity available to any other person in the early retirement category. Also to avoid claims of a gratuity there would have to be a discount applied and Georgia does have a statutory discount rate but he hasn’ t calculated it. He said if council agrees to this an addendum would have to be done to confirm with her early retirement that she has requested this and agreed to it. He said he doesn’ t know what the economic consequences would be if all the qualified employees requested the same thing. He said they would have to offer COBRA if they wanted to continue coverage at their own expense. Mr. Hughes said with the GATSBY 45 coming out we will have to include in the audit the actuarial cost of providing these continuing benefits. He said if they all opted to take the lump sum payments the city could avoid having to do that. Mr. Hughes said the downside could be if Ms. Brown passed away prematurely then the city would have already paid out the money that otherwise would have been a savings. Mayor Buelterman asked if this was a common request from retired government employees. Mr. Hughes said he has never heard of it and neither had anyone at the GMA that he has talked with. Mr. Hughes said Ms. Fox used a discount rate of 4 1/2 percent and it came to $15,148.28 as a lump sum. Ms. Williams said they need to get all of the data before making any decision on this. She said all employees in this class should be contacted and they should have hard numbers to look at. Mr. Wolff said he is concerned with the financial Council Minutes Page 13 of 14 impact this could have on the budget if everyone opted for the lump sum payout. Mayor Buelterman said he would like to see if other cities offer this. Mr. Hughes said he would get the numbers and report back to council. Ms. Sessions said she wants to commend the committees and non profits that the city supports financially or otherwise, for providing their minutes and reports each month. She said she would like to see more. She commended the Beautification committee for the trashcan enclosures they built for JC and Memorial park saying they look fabulous. She said this began in 1985 or 86 as a committee appointed by council and they have gone on to create their own non profit status to do fundraising and continue to give back to the community. Mr. Wolff asked if the 18 truck loads of debris that were hauled away by DPW to clear 24 enforcement cases in zoning were billed to the property owners. Ms. Schleicher said she would follow up on that. Ms. Williams asked that the Emergency fund not be called the rainy day fund because that money is to sustain the city in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster. She said they cannot dip into it for any little things. She thinks it is a misnomer to call it a rainy day fund. It is an Emergency Fund and the public needs to understand that. Mr. Wolff motioned to go into Executive Session to discuss, Litigation, personnel and real estate, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to come out of executive session and adjourn, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous. Council Minutes Page 14 of 14