HomeMy Public PortalAbout20070726CCMinutes20070726 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda Meeting to order at 6:30pm. Council Members
present in addition to the Mayor were; Sessions, Doyle, Williams, Crone, Wolff and Pearce. Also
present were; City Attorney Bubba Hughes and City Manager Diane Schleicher.
Mayor Buelterman listed items on the Consent Agenda as:
Confirmation of the Director of Planning, Zoning and Economic Development-Brannyn
Allen
Special Event-USMC Toys for Tots 5K Run/Walk on September 8, 2007
DOT Revised list of Roadways
One Day Alcohol Permit-Tybee Fest Lei’bor Day Luau- September 2, 2007, Memorial
Park
Two Day Alcohol Permit- Tybee Fest Pirate Fest-October 5 & 6, 2007, South Beach
Parking Lot
Amended Resolution for Ad Hoc Public Safety Committee extending time to 12
months and appointing new members; Bill Cannon, Charles Burel and Pat Locklear.
Datamatic Purchase, License and maintenance Agreement
Ms. Doyle asked if the DOT list confirming speed limits would stop Tybee from requesting
something different. Mr. Hughes said we can send a letter with the list notifying them; we may
request changes as needed for safety concerns.
Ms. Williams asked for Action Items to be discussed during the Consent Agenda. She asked if
DNR had shown any interest in scheduling a CoastFest Event on Tybee. Mayor Buelterman said
they did not seem interested but there are two festivals with one being a national event called
Coast Week. He said we could do something on Tybee for that event. Ms. Williams said Tybee
Beautification has been sponsoring a Beach Sweep during that event for several years. Mayor
Buelterman said they offered to allow us to have a booth at the Brunswick event. He said the
Coast Fest is scheduled for the first weekend in October of this year in Brunswick. He said he
would contact them to try to get it Scheduled on Tybee next year. He said he believes it is
scheduled in Brunswick because that is where the DNR’s Main office is located.
Ms. Williams said during the course of their terms the Council has approved new ordinances,
amended ordinances as well as staff implementing policy and procedures. She said she feels it is
very important to keep the public informed as to any changes or new ordinances on the books.
She said we need to develop a procedure to do that so it is done consistently every time the
ordinances change. She said take for instance the Animal Control Ordinance that was approved
last meeting. She said unless people were here or they watch it on cable, how are they supposed
to know about that. She asked that guidelines be developed by staff to address this in order to
get the information to as many people as possible. Ms. Schleicher said we could put a page on
our website containing scanned copies of ordinance changes. She said as Municode is updated
we could start over with a new list. Ms. Woods said she has computer files containing the
ordinance changes and they could be applied to the website. Ms. Williams said for instance it is
now illegal to tether an animal and unless someone browses Municode for fun they would not be
aware of it. She said just take out the common things and make people aware of them so they
will not get upset if they receive a citation. Ms. Schleicher said the best avenue for contacting our
residents is the Water Bill. She said a little shortened blurb showing the information would be the
best way to let people know. She said she will only hit the high points. Ms. Williams said that was
a good idea.
Mayor Buelterman closed the Consent Agenda meeting.
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Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00pm. City Officials
present at the Consent Agenda meeting were still in attendance.
Mr. Dan Snyder of All Saints Episcopal Church gave the invocation. Everyone recited the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Mr. Noel Perkins representing the Metropolitan Planning Commission gave a brief presentation
regarding the SAGIS system. He said the SAGIS system provides Geospatial information to
everyone in Chatham County. He said they also coordinate, facilitate and manage GIS related
projects. He said their goal is to provide a one stop location for geospatial data that everyone can
access.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Frapier of the United States Marine Corps in Savannah announced the 12th Annual
Freedom Run on Tybee. He said this event has been very successful and lets everyone know that
the Toys for Tots campaign has been kicked off. He said Toys for Tots is a non-profit and
basically every penny they earn goes towards purchasing Christmas items for the age groups
from 8 to 14 that are usually neglected at the toy drops. He said this years run will be on
September 8th at 8:00am.
David Laing of the Savannah Celtic F. C. announced the Tybee Island Beach Soccer Classic on
August 25th and 26th, between 3rd and Center Street. Mayor Buelterman asked if he was
expanding the tournament space. Mr. Laing said no that actually the same two adult fields will be
utilized with one being used to hold two children’s games. He said they had 4 tents with 1 being
for registration and the other 3 for cooling off. Ms. Schleicher said Chief Price had concerns about
the distribution of soft drinks and water being interpreted as vending on the beach.
Mr. Laing requested 6 parking passes for the weekend. Mr. Laing said their website is:
beachsoccer.savannahceltic.com.
Mayor Buelterman announced the following names of the people that will serve on the Ethics
Commission, contingent on their meeting the qualifying conditions:
Carolyn Smith
Fretwell Crider
Randi Bryan
Pam O’Brien
Danny Hill
Walker Beeson
Michael Sullivan
Sue Off, Auxiliary member
Ginger Strickland, Auxiliary member
Ms. Sessions asked what the next step would be in the process. Mr. Hughes said the next step
would be to hold an organizational meeting to set up how to deal with complaints. Ms. Schleicher
said she will arrange the organizational meeting. Mr. Crone said they should have to sign an oath
that will be kept on file. Mayor Buelterman said they will have to sign an oath and it will be
maintained on file.
Mayor Buelterman opened the business meeting and called for a motion on the Beach Soccer
Classic.
Ms. Doyle motioned to approve the Beach Soccer Classic, Mr. Crone seconded. Ms.
Doyle amended her motion to include six parking passes, Mr. Crone agreed. Ms.
Doyle amended her motion to include following the recommendations of Chief Price.
Mr. Crone seconded for discussion. Mr. Crone asked what the difference would be for the
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sponsors to give soft drinks away verses the Teams bringing coolers. Ms. Williams asked if Ms.
Doyle’s motion included the number of tents. Mayor Buelterman explained that the staff
recommended just one tent. Ms. Williams asked if that would give people a place to register and
a place to cool off. Ms. Schleicher said the Chief does not have a problem with a
registration tent or a cool off tent as long as it doesn’t give the appearance of
vending. She said he requested the advertising be toned down. Ms. Schleicher suggested they
could advertise in the goodie bags that are given out. Ms. Doyle said she didn’t have a problem
with them giving out soft drinks and water. Ms. Williams said if we allow it this time and find that
they do advertise too much then next time we will say no. Ms. Schleicher said she didn’t
think the Chief would object if the drinks are given away in a low key manner without
banners etc. promoting it.
Ms. Doyle agreed to add distribution of drinks to her motion. Mr. Crone seconded and
the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Pearce moved to approve the appointment of the Ethics Commission members as
named earlier by the Mayor, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Consent Agenda items as discussed earlier during the
Consent Agenda Meeting, Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman gave an update on the meeting held between the City of Tybee, MRS and
Mike Scarborough. He said they met with the attorney’s and hashed out an agreement regarding
the MRS moving their fence. He said the city would have to extend a portion of the old right of
way to allow for the fence to move. He requested that Mr. Hughes get a draft of the agreement
drawn up for Council’s review. Mayor Buelterman said the agreement should include the amount
it will cost the city.
Mayor Buelterman requested a new City Flag with the new seal on it be adopted for the 120th
Birthday Celebration. He requested that the existing City Flag donated by Jason Ball be displayed
in a case in City Hall.
Ms. Doyle suggested the City Seal on a white background would be attractive.
Mr. Hughes said a copy of the flag should be attached to the minutes and a resolution for a new
flag has to be approved. Mayor Buelterman said he will bring the flag up at the second meeting
in August, giving us enough time to order the flag and have it ready for the birthday celebration.
Mayor Buelterman said the State Senate Study Committee will meet on Tybee tentatively on
September 21st. He said they will bring in experts from DNR and the Corps to look at ways of
finding a constant revenue stream for Beach Renourishment. He said they will also look at ways
to get the renourishment done this year before next summer.
Mr. Crone said he thinks Tybee should increase parking rates to accommodate the beach
renourishment. Mayor Buelterman said they will be looking at adjustments to Hotel/Motel Tax
rates etc. He said they will also look at possibly trying to get money from the county and state.
Mayor Buelterman explained the criteria for setting up the Memorial Park Master Plan Committee.
He said a representative from the following groups should be included: The Veterans
Organization, Tybee Beautification, Tybee YMCA Board of Directors, DCA Specialist on Parks and
Recreation, Somebody that knows something about skate parks, A Neighbor of Memorial Park.
He said additionally he would like to have Hillary from the YMCA be involved at some point. He
said Joe Wilson from DPW should be involved in the planning because of underground utilities.
Ms. Williams suggested someone from the Dog Park group. She said Diane Schleicher will be on
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the group as well. She suggested two neighbors and recommended taking Gary Sanders up on
his offer to provide his professional expertise at no charge. She said she and Diane Schleicher
had a discussion earlier on the Memorial Park Parking Plan that could be included in this. Ms.
Doyle suggested someone from the Garden Club.
Mayor Buelterman said he hopes the committee will look at everything in Memorial Park including
the paths and plantings. Ms. Doyle asked if they planned on 1 person from each group. Mayor
Buelterman said yes because the bigger the committee is, the harder it is to accomplish anything.
Ms. Sessions asked if the committee should include someone with no opinion on whether or not
to have a skate park. Mayor Buelterman said yes, an interested citizen that is not a neighbor.
Mayor Buelterman asked Ms. Schleicher to review their request and put something in writing for
Council’s review. He said there should be a cap on how many people but should include one or
two people that are just interested citizens. Mayor Buelterman suggested Alan Jones and Ms,
Sessions suggested Henry Levy. Mayor Buelterman said the committee should include someone
from Public Safety. Ms. Schleicher asked if the Fire Chief, YMCA, DPW and City Manager could be
staff support to the committee. Mayor Buelterman asked Ms. Schleicher to get correspondence
out to the groups so they can choose their representative. Ms. Schleicher requested Ms. Doyle
provide a contact number for the Garden Club. Ms. Williams said Beth Smith is the president.
Mr. Hughes said the city has an existing contract on the Buckley property that has been extended
twice and is good through the end of this month. He said the GEFA Grant has been approved for
$206,460 and the documentation is here in order to be executed and sent in for the money to be
wired to us. He said it has to be signed by the Mayor and fedx’ed in order to get the money to
close on Tuesday. Ms. Schleicher said there were concerns about how much land was build-able.
She said the railroad bed was used in the calculation by the appraiser. She said they felt there
was approximately 10,000 sq feet but no topographical map was made. She said in order for the
city to have public access to extend the trail we have to purchase the property. She said the city
will get fee simple land from Battery Row as another piece for the trail. She said we are trying to
fit the pieces together to extend the trail as we go but there is no guarantee that we can obtain
all of the pieces.
Mayor Buelterman said Tybee has passed two resolutions that have been sent to the DOT
requesting to have a segregated bike lane added when the Lazaretto Creek Bridge is widened
and they have refused. He said Charlie Fenwick with Ft. Pulaski talked to DOT and they
suggested having that request put in the County Transportation Plan called the TIP and the DOT
would include the bike/walking lane on the bridge.
Mr. Wolff said he talked to Mr. Fenwick about the Master Plan for the Park which included public
comment. He said a lot of people requested extending the bike trail all the way to the edge of
the park property which goes all the way down Battery Park. He said if that is part of the park’s
master plan then the park service will pay 50% of all the trail improvements which will include
those on Tybee.
Mayor Buelterman asked about the status of the $100,000 Federal Grant money that Tybee had
applied for. Ms. Schleicher said Antoinette Norfleet had positive comments but we will not know
until all of the paperwork has been submitted with the survey and the check is in hand.
Mr. Pearce moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded. The motion carried with Pearce,
Wolff, Sessions and Williams voting in favor and Doyle and Crone voting in
opposition. Mr. Hughes said this approval is for the Resolution and Agreement.
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Ms. Schleicher said the Road Warranty Ordinance will protect us for two years after a road cut
has been fixed. She said we will have a letter of credit or a bond and will be able to go back to
the contractor for repair.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Road Warranty Ordinance for 1st Reading, Ms.
Williams seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Schleicher said the reason for the 1st reading of the water billing services is to get on track to
change the billing cycle to monthly. She said the fireflies are being installed on meters for the
automated meter reading system and monthly billing will allow us to implement a tiered water
rate structure. As soon as that installation is complete we will bring this back for 2nd reading.
Mr. Wolff said, he and Jan Fox had worked on the tiered rates a couple of years ago but they
were not able to implement them due to the bi-monthly billing. He said the tiered water rates are
going to be required according to the new state water plan for conservation. Ms. Schleicher said
some Tybee citizens have said it will be easier to budget for monthly billing.
Ms. Williams said monthly billing has been a recommendation on our audit.
Ms. Williams moved to approve for 1st Reading the Text Amendment to change Water
Billing Services to monthly, Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Hughes introduced an amendment to the animal control ordinance that will allow the use of
amusement ponies at children’s birthday parties. Mr. Pearce moved to approve for 1st
Reading, Ms. Doyle seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Williams moved to approve for 2nd Reading the amendment to the Noise
Ordinance, Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Pearce moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel and Litigation,
Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to return to Regular Session, Ms. Sessions seconded, and the vote
was unanimous.
Mr. Crone moved to adjourn, Mr. Wolff seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
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Mayor Jason Buelterman
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Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council
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