HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060824_TybeeCouncilMinsCouncil Minutes
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Meeting of 2006-08-24 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda meeting to order at 6:30PM on August 24, 2006. Present in
addition to Buelterman were Sessions, Wolff, Williams, Doyle and Pearce. Mr. Crone was absent due to
illness.
Also present were City Manager Schleicher, Assistant City Manager Anderson and City Attorney Hughes.
Mayor Buelterman identified the items for the Consent Agenda as;
Minutes for August 10, 2006
Amendment to Section 2-3-32 to expand the authority of the Audit Committee
Updated Certificate of Delivery of Services with the MPC
Policy regarding Video Recording and Production of Meetings
Gbiz Contract with GMA
Memorandum of Agreement for Memorial Park Movie Series
Washington Lobbying Trip on September 13th & 14th-Mayor Buelterman
Shore Protection Association’ s Annual Conference Trip for Lou Off/Beach Task Force
Mayor Buelterman said he met with the YMCA representatives concerning hiring a replacement for Tiffany
Dennis. Ms. Schleicher said she asked Mr. Anderson to be a part of that process as the city representative
until the final phase. She said at that time she would step in and be a part of the final decision. Ms.
Sessions said this is a human resource issue. She suggested that Jan Fox should participate since she is
the director of human resources and also as finance officer she would be in the position to understand all
aspects of the city’ s participation. Ms. Schleicher said she would involve Ms. Fox in the process.
Mayor Buelterman said the Y requested using the Gym more often and he recommended they bring a
proposal to the city for review. Mr. Wolff said perhaps they could cost share in the utilities at the gym.
Ms. Sessions said that’ s why it’ s important to have Ms. Fox involved because she understands the
financial issues.
Mayor Buelterman closed the Agenda Meeting at 6:50PM.
Mayor Buelterman called the regular Council Meeting to order at 7:00PM on August 24, 2006. Everyone
listed as present during the Agenda Meeting were still in attendance.
Mr. Chad Eason representing the Chapel by the Sea Baptist Church gave the invocation and the Tybee
Island Memorial Guard posted the colors. Everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Buelterman thanked Paul Devivo and Devivo Marketing for the donation of the Map to be used on
the Pay & Display Meters.
Ms. Gladin Chairman of the Ethics Committee gave an update to Council regarding the
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committee’ s progress towards the Ethics Ordinance. She said the ordinance establishing the Ethics Board
was enacted in April of this year. She said it gave them nine months to present a draft ethics ordinance
to council. Ms. Gladin said that is the board’ s mission. She requested council’ s input regarding subjects
in the rules and guidelines.
Ms. Doyle liaison for the YMCA gave an update on hiring a replacement for Tiffany Dennis. She
introduced Joel Smoker as the Branch Director and asked for questions from council. Ms. Sessions asked
for a timeline on hiring a replacement. Mr. Smoker said they have taken thirty days to collect resumes
and there have been a lot of outstanding individuals that have applied from Savannah and surrounding
areas. He said the first step is to select the four or five most qualified candidates and set up interviews.
He said the Y welcomes all input from the city regarding the selection of the candidates. Ms. Doyle
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announced the YMCA Tybee Tour of Homes in December to raise funds. She said they are requesting
sponsors to help pay for advertising and expenses. She requested council consider being a sponsor and
having this put on the agenda for the business meeting in September for a vote.
Ms. Doyle gave an update on the Playground Committee. She said the RFP was ready to go out when it
was discovered that the grant required a boundary map to show where the playground would be located.
She said Ms. Fox was able to send the RFP out without the map by requiring a site visit. She said when
the boundary map is completed they will forward it to all participants. She said the bids will be opened on
September 18th at 3:00PM at City Hall.
Lara Griffith from the Tybee Marine Science Center gave an update on the Sea Turtle Project on Tybee.
She said they are having a record year with ten nests on Tybee which is the second most active season
on record. She said seven of the ten have hatched so far with 86.8% success rate which is over 20%
higher than the State. She said 602 hatchlings have made it to the ocean compared to last year’ s
number of 178. She said there are still lighting issues with two nest’ s being disoriented by the lights so
they are continuing to educate the public. She said they excavate the nests after they hatch and record
the numbers to report to the State. Mr. Wolff thanked Lara and the Marine Science Center volunteers and
said they spend a lot of time on the beach making sure this endangered species has a better chance for
survival.
Tammy Smith said the hatchling rate for Little Tybee is not as successful because of Raccoon degradation
but there are two nests left to hatch and she is hoping for a positive outcome.
Rusty Fleetwood gave a summary of the tax meeting held by the Tybee Neighbors. He said it was
probably the most heavily attended meeting ever held in City Hall. He said they learned that both
Senator Eric Johnson and Representative Stephens would support resolutions capping the amount of
property assessments. He said also an extra tax on sales at Tybee was favorable to have visitors help pay
for the benefits that are enjoyed
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while visiting. He said Chairman Lakakis said the State owes Chatham County 6 million dollars and that
affects everyone’ s taxes. He said Mayor Buelterman said Tybee property owners were taxed far in
excess of any amount that would be suggested by our population numbers. He said they found it may be
possible to exempt Senior Citizens from school taxes which are the largest share of our property taxes.
He said that the Mayor mentioned a special tax district where the taxes collected in a district are spent in
the district. He said they heard from the frustrated citizens of Tybee that the whole system of property
taxation in Chatham County seems to be breaking down and the method of evaluation is unfair, broken
and in need of immediate repair. He said tax relief and reform can be achieved through a coordinated
effort. He said the Tybee Neighbors will develop a focus group on September 7th to pursue many of
these ideas.
Sandi Postle of the Tybee Neighbors Association announced the meeting to be held at City Hall on
September 7, 2006 from7:00PM until 9:00PM.
City Manager Diane Schleicher announced the reorganization chart for the city. She said the chart reflects
the restructure of how city personnel will report. She said it was developed using the way the city
conducts business instead of personalities. She said this restructure will encourage more team work and
a lot of issues will be worked out together. She said this reorganization is being done immediately
because we are going into our budget process and these changes are going to impact the Department
Heads responsible for budget planning.
Ms. Schleicher also shared a preview of the City’ s new website. Todd Smith said this is a live functioning
external site and is not hosted here. He said the design and content are done but there will be training
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provided to employees that use it. He said departments within the city can log in and maintain their own
content. He said we are waiting for the Municipal Code codification to be completed and the Gbiz contract
that is on the Agenda tonight for approval is for on line services. He said the site will be hosted in Seattle
so whatever weather problems are going on here will not affect it.
Council Members requested Action Items be put onto excel sheets with labels reflecting the year of the
item. Ms. Williams asked that the list be updated.
Mayor Buelterman opened the business meeting with items on the Consent Agenda as follows:
Updated Certificate of Delivery of Services with MPC.
Set Policy for Video Recording and Production of Meetings.
Gbiz Contract
Memorial Park Movie Series-Memorandum of Understanding
Amendment to Section 2-3-32 to expand the duties of the Audit Committee.
Approval of Minutes for August 10, 2006
Washington Lobbying Trip for Mayor Buelterman-September 13th & 14th
New Jersey trip for Lou Off to the Shore Protection Association Conference.
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Paul Wolff moved to approve all items on the Consent Agenda, Ms. Williams seconded, and
the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Schleicher gave an overview of the Memorial Park Movie Series saying there are 4 separate entities
working together to accomplish something positive. She said the four entities are the Tybee Island Parks
and Recreation Department, Friends of The Tybee Theater, Tybee Island Arts Association and the Tybee
Island YMCA. She said this group sponsors movies in Memorial Park. She said all donations received will
be split four ways. She said Pirates of the Caribbean will be shown on October 6th in honor of the Pirates
Festival.
Mayor Buelterman asked to postpone the discussion on establishing a study group of Tybee Citizens to
look into Hurricane Insurance Issues until September 28th.
Mr. Wolff requested that council send the Model Buffer Ordinance to the Planning Commission for their
review and recommendation. He asked that they focus on buffer averaging that has a 50 foot baseline
that can come down to 25 feet with some sort of mitigation on the property. Mr. Wolff moved to send
this to Planning Commission for review and recommendations to come back to council at the
earliest convenience, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff asked that the City Manager apply for us to be recognized as a Certified Local Government
by the State of Georgia. He said there are only 120 certified local governments in the state and this
will give us access to a specific pool of funding for Historic Preservation. He proposed using the money to
fund a brochure to be handed out in the zoning department to anyone seeking to move or renovate or
tear down a historic structure so they will understand what their options are. He said the qualifications
are; we have to have a Historic Preservation Commission which we have had for years; it just hasn’ t
been very active. He said he would like to reactivate that with appointees from Council. He said the other
requirement is to have an inventory of all the Historic Properties on the Island. He said the Historic
Society has completed this. He said we are ready to send off the application. Mr. Cullen Chambers said it
is an excellent opportunity for Tybee to get planning experience to help us improve situations like 16th
Street and puts us in a pool of funding opportunities. Mr. Wolff moved to apply for this
certification, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff said he met with developers at Ocean Inlet subdivision and Charlie Fenwick the Superintendent
of Ft. Pulaski. He said they are trying to develop a Heritage Site on Goat Point which is a piece of the
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property in the subdivision. He said the developers have already given the city 4 ½ acres and a wedged
portion of that goes all the way to the water. He said the developers are proposing to double the size of
the wedged portion that goes to the water. He said they also proposed putting the entire Marsh front of
their property except for the area needed for a dock, into a perpetual conservation easement and create
covenants for their association with the easements protected. He said
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the developers request the city enter into an agreement to grant access to the Park Service for a portion
of the property that goes to the water. He said the park service wants to place on that site one of the
actual Rifle Cannons that was used during the siege of Ft. Pulaski. Mr. Wolff requested that council agree
in concept to accept the donation of additional land and agree to discuss giving the park service an
easement to a portion of this property for the cannon and some signage. Mr. Wolff said Chatham County
is in the process of acquiring Battery Halleck across the road at Spanish Hammock which contains 16
acres. He said they hope to bring a part of Ft. Pulaski to Tybee Island so that visitors can appreciate the
History here as part of the fort. Mr. Hughes said as long as we are in agreement that we are not
acquiring land fill property and can reach an agreement with the Park Service. He said there are existing
issues with the park service related to this project. He said this might be an opportunity to resolve
everything.
Mr. Wolff moved to accept the additional property from the Ocean Inlet Development and
enter into discussions with the Park Service to offer them an easement on a portion of that
property to use as a Heritage Tourism Site, Mr. Pearce seconded.
Ms. Schleicher said Mr. Fenwick said if it cannot be an easement maybe an agreement would work. Mr.
Wolff amended his motion to read that it doesn’ t have to be an easement; Mr. Pearce
seconded the amended motion. Ms. Sessions expressed concern about who was involved in the
discussions. Ms. Schleicher said Mr. Anderson and she will be handling the discussions with the
developers as well as Mr. Fenwick in the future and will bring all proposals to Mr. Hughes. Ms. Sessions
requested everything be documented as we go forward. The vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff said the city is way over the top as far as what is going into our treatment plant. He said we
have had a busy tourist season and we have a lot of construction going on. He said it is more critical than
ever for everyone to follow the conservation effort that was started a couple of years ago. He drew
everyone’ s attention to the state mandated water restrictions saying odd numbered addresses can use
water outside only on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 12:00AM to 10:00AM and 4:00PM to 12:00AM
with the even addresses being on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at the same times. He said the
restrictions are for washing boats and cars as well as lawn maintenance. He said the city requires rain
sensors on irrigation systems. He encouraged everyone that is able to dig a shallow well for irrigation. He
also encourages using rain barrels to store runoff from the roof to water lawns with. He said three
waterless urinals have been installed in public restrooms at North Beach, 16th Street and the Marine
Science Center and they are using zero water. He said they have ordered instant release faucets to go on
the sinks. He said they are looking into doing reuse water for irrigation along Bay Street and they are
hoping to get the Racquet Club to tie into it. He said they are going forward with an experimental trial of
the Meter Reading equipment which should save a lot of water. He said the city is being pro active.
Mayor Buelterman asked when the permit increase was filed. Mr. Wolff said the application has been
filed. Mr. Williams said he feels they look at Tybee favorably because we are so far out and not
connected to anyone else plus all the conservation efforts that we have done in the past have worked. He
said they have not
only seen an increase in water usage but also at the treatment plant so it is not just
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outdoor watering that’ s affecting it. It is actually water going down the drain.
Mr. Williams said he would call and ask if any efforts have been made towards granting the permit
increase request. Ms. Doyle asked if the watering restrictions are printed on the water bills. Ms.
Schleicher said they will have that capability when the new folder inserter arrives.
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Ms. Sessions said a group had talked with Eric Johnson about the crosswalk issue on Tybee
and Senator Johnson said we have to keep hounding the DOT. She recommended sending copies of
all correspondence to the DOT to Senator Johnson, Burke Day and all other legislators. Ms. Sessions said
the letter we received from DOT was insulting and literally brushed us off. She said she wonders if that
would have happened had copies been sent out to the legislators. She said if necessary we need to copy
the Governor. She asked Ms. Schleicher to draft another letter to everyone at DOT that we need to
contact and copy all the legislators on it. Ms. Sessions also asked if everyone supported putting in
additional Mobi Mats because of the excellent feedback that was received. She said she wants the most
critical areas identified so they can take them under consideration for the mats. She said the only concern
expressed was over cleaning the sand off of the mats so she would like to see a schedule initiated to
accomplish that.
Ms. Schleicher said she was planning to ask council if she could send letters to the Senators and include
copies of our letters to DOT and the DOT response in them.
She said she had talked with someone higher up in the DOT and he said they did not recommend cross
walks because Hwy 80 on Tybee is a thoroughfare. She said she brought to his attention the fact that
Hwy 80 ends at the end of Butler. He said he would take the letters from Tybee under consideration and
give a response. Ms. Williams suggested sending a video clip by e-mail of Butler Avenue on a Saturday or
Sunday afternoon. Ms. Sessions moved to authorize Ms. Schleicher to send a letter, Mr. Wolff
seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Williams gave an update concerning the Skate Park. She said they only had $60,000 in the budget for
2006 and that money was reallocated to the Guard House project. She said she received a copy of the
recommendation of the evaluation committee and the clerk would provide copies to council. She said she
is hoping they will vote on the type of Skate Park and the Company next month. She said they hope to
get started in January after the budget has been approved. Mayor Buelterman asked what the cost was
on the recommendation. Ms. Williams said they recommended Grindline at a cost of $240,000 and that’ s
for a concrete park. She said they also received proposals for modular parks but our experience with
modulars has been bad. She said the concrete is virtually maintenance free.
Mr. Pearce moved to approve for 1st and 2nd reading the Tobacco Policy, Mr. Wolff seconded,
and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Pearce moved to approve the Dog Park Memorandum of Agreement, Ms. Williams
seconded, Ms. Sessions said this agreement is already in place but it was never codified.
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The vote was Pearce, Williams, Wolff and Sessions in favor and Doyle opposed.
Mr. Wolff moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Litigation and Real Estate, Mr.
Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to end Executive Session, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was
unanimous.
Ms. Williams asked that council be provided monthly crime reports from the Police
Department.
Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous.
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