HomeMy Public PortalAbout20070913CityCouncilMinutes20070913 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda Meeting to order at 6:30 p. m. on
September 13, 2007. Present in addition to the Mayor were City Council
members; Sessions, Crone, Pearce, Wolff, Doyle and Williams. Also attending
were City Manager Schleicher and City Attorney Hughes.
Mayor Buelterman listed the items on the Consent Agenda as:
Council Minutes for August 9, 2007
Alcohol License with Sunday Sales for Lighthouse Pizza at 15 Tybrisa
St.
Alcohol License with Sunday Sales for The Sandbar at 1512 Butler Ave.
Contract renewal with EPD for lab services at $23,000 a year
Contract Approval-Fire Station Doors-Keith Ray Contractor’s Inc
$22,675
Ms. Williams expressed ethical concerns over the requirement by EPD for the lab
test and the EPD being the sole source provider of the service.
Ms. Williams asked if the evaluation committee for the Fire Station Doors was
satisfied that the RFP gave enough details to the contractors. She said her
concern came from only one contractor meeting the requirements for the RFP.
Ms. Schleicher said the bid documents contained bullet points for the contractor’s
response and she feels if the contractor didn’t pay attention to the bid
documents they will be unresponsive during the construction phase as well.
Mr. Wolff moved to go into Executive Session to discuss; Real Estate Acquisition
and Litigation, Mr. Pearce seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to return to Regular Session, Ms. Doyle seconded and the vote
was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00
p. m. City Officials present at the Consent Agenda were still in attendance.
Deacon Fretwell Crider gave the Invocation and the Tybee Island Memorial Color
Guard Posted the Flag. Everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
City Manager Diane Schleicher welcomed Chantel Morton as the new
Administrative Assistant to the City Manager and Clerk of Council.
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Mr. Bill Cannon of Tybee Beautification announced the Beach Sweep on
September 22, 2007 at the Pier.
Mr. Stephen Hines presented a petition requesting speed breakers on
Cedarwood. He said all residents on Cedarwood unanimously approved the
speed breakers being installed. He said there were a few property owners that
do not live here that haven’t responded.
Mayor Buelterman opened the Public Hearing for the variance at lot
121 Miller Ave. for Michael Godbee.
Ms. Brannyn Allen presented the petitions due to Mr. Brown’s candidacy for City
Council.
Ms. Allen said the PC recommended approval for Mr. Godbee’s request for a
zoning variance from Section 5-010(k) Prohibiting placing materials in the
marshlands. She said the stipulation given to Mr. Godbee was that he culvert the
ditch at his own expense.
Mr. Wolff asked if the written proof of ownership had been submitted as
requested during the PC Meeting.
Ms. Allen said the ownership question had been answered but a request for a
complete package was not a part of the motion for approval from the PC.
Mr. Godbee said he is requesting a portion of unopened Miller Avenue be opened
to allow access to his property. He said this request had been approved in the
past. Mayor Buelterman asked when it had been approved. Mr. Godbee said in
1998. Mr. Hughes said, in 1998, Mr. King asked for a revocable license to cross
this ditch. He said it was rejected once and then approved but it was never acted
on.
Mr. Hughes said he thinks there is a problem; if council grants access to the
property then we will be stuck with whatever variances Mr. Godbee will need to
build on his property. Mr. Hughes said, he suggested to the PC that the entire
requests be done at the same time.
Mr. Hughes said he feels Tybee is obligated to honor the approval Mr. Godbee
has received from the EPD; with respect to his using building methods that
would permit him to effectively build within the buffer. He said within his original
request he was requesting a variance to fill the wetlands but if you take that out
then it is identical to Mr. Goode’s request. Mr. Hughes recommended that any
approval for access be contingent on the subsequent approval of whatever
variances he needs to construct on the lot itself. He said that way you haven’t
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allowed him to invest with the expectation that no matter what he will be
allowed to build there.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if the ditch is a wetland. Mr. Hughes said the
Coastal Resources Division has determined the ditch is a wetland just as was the
case with Mr. Goode. He said even if council approves this Mr. Godbee will still
have to go to the state for access.
Mr. Pearce said the entire property is beset with wetland areas. He said Mr.
Godbee would have to request variances through the EPD and Coastal Zone
Management. He said he would like those issues dealt with before the city makes
the culvert decision.
Mr. Godbee said he would just like access to his lot whether or not he wants to
put a tent on it or build; he still needs access.
Ms. Doyle asked if the variance was to bridge a wetland in an opened right of
way. She asked Mr. Hughes if this variance should be approved contingent on a
variance being granted to build on his lot. Mr. Hughes said it is not in the City’s
interest to permit or grant the variance for access and allow that improvement to
be installed; and then deal separately with any variance required for construction
on the lot itself.
Mr. Wolff said Mr. Hughes advice to the Planning Commission was sound; and
this should be submitted as a package because there is no sense in granting
access to an un-buildable lot.
Ms. Williams asked if there was a delineation submitted. Mr. Godbee said initially
in the package the Planning Commission requested an updated delineation; but
when the decision was made to break up the request and ask only for access
there was no delineation required. He said he has had multiple delineations
completed on the property and right of way and wants to get access before
taking on that additional expense.
Mr. Tony Bach, a neighboring property owner, asked what had been approved
for Mr. Godbee’s access. He said he has no problem with Mr. Godbee building a
house there if it is a builable lot; but wants to know what will happen with the
storm water runoff and drainage that might adversely effect his land.
Ms. Schleicher said every building plan requires a drainage plan that calculates a
predevelopment runoff calculation and post development runoff calculation and
the runoff rates have to be the same.
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Mr. Godbee said that lack of maintenance has created the indention that is the
ditch. He said it is very shallow and has been used to park machinery while ditch
maintenance was being done for years. He said in his discussions with DNR they
suggested that the city could ask the DNR if Mr. Godbee could go in and improve
the ditch. He said the ditch would then look normal with culverts like everyone
else’s houses and with no bridges.
Mr. Bach said it is not the same because everyone else’s culvert comes straight
onto their property without violating the adjacent property.
Ms. Williams asked Ms. Schleicher to clarify who does ditch maintenance on
Tybee. Ms. Schleicher said Chatham County does ditch maintenance on Tybee.
Mr. Wolff moved to deny, Mr. Pearce seconded. Ms. Williams said Mr.
Hughes made a very valid point in recommending that council look at things as a
complete package. She feels that granting the petitioners request with a
contingency will do no more for him than if he presents a complete package with
all of the information at one time.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said several times this petition has been compared to
the Goode property in regards to the wetland. She said for her the consistency
factor is an issue.
And the vote was Wolff, Pearce, Williams and Sessions in favor of the
motion to deny and Doyle and Crone opposed.
Ms. Allen presented the Zoning Variance petition at 809 Butler Ave.,
Chapel by the Sea Baptist Church. She said Lou Off is representing the
petitioner and the PC recommended approval.
Mr. Off said the building originally was built in the 1960’s and was built on the 20
foot setback line and in the 80’s there was a small entrance built in front that
encroaches on the setback line by 10 feet 8 inches. He said they have a non-
conforming structure and have to ask for a variance for anything they want to
do. He said they are proposing the addition of two 12 x 12 rooms on either side
of the present entrance. He said one of the rooms will be used for maintaining
their internet presence and copying CD’s of various programs.
Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Off if they would consider expanding to the sides instead of
to the front of the building. Mr. Off said that was considered; but they decided
no in the interest of aesthetics and to maintain a proper balance they would also
have to raise the present roof.
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Mr. Crone moved to approve, Mayor Pro Tem Sessions seconded, and
the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Allen presented the zoning variance for Margaret Stone and Robert
Parker at 29 Van Horn. She said they are requesting to construct a covered
front porch. She said the PC recommended approval.
Ms. Stone said she was requesting to replace an original stairway that faced
West onto the sidewalk. She said her request was to turn the stairs so they
would face North and South.
Ms. Doyle moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded and the vote was
unanimous.
Ms. Allen presented the petition for Site Plan Approval at 802 First
Street for Shell Solomon petitioner. She said the petition is for amended
construction. She said the PC recommended approval. She said there were
stipulations that the petitioner submit a parking plan, a tree plan and the lot
recombination take place. She said additionally the deck reconfiguration as it
relates to the oak tree must be shown on the revised site plan. Ms. Allen said all
of the stipulations have been met and presented to her.
Mr. Solomon said they have a letter from the arborist stating; trimming that tree
is not going to kill it. He said they have shown the parking plan and combined
the lots.
Mr. Wolff asked how many parking places were identified on the parking plan.
Mr. Solomon said 21 are required and they have 31 spaces.
Mr. Pearce asked if the arborist would supervise the tree trimming. Mr. Solomon
said whatever it takes to do it safely we will do.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if parking stops would be placed in the gravel
parking lot. Mr. Solomon said no, they will not stay in place. He said the way
traffic is now the parking stops would be a hindrance. He said they have the
trolley and motor homes pulling in there and they know they have enough
parking to accommodate everyone without defining the spaces.
Ms. Allen said the code requirement states you must show the number of
possible spaces on a parking plan but does not dictate parking stops being
installed.
Ms. Williams asked if Mr. Solomon wouldn’t consider raising the present structure
instead of constructing the new structure requiring the stress to the tree. Mr.
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Solomon said it isn’t structurally or financially feasible to consider raising that
structure. He said people need handicap access and easy access without the
visitor’s center being located on the second story.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said even if our code doesn’t dictate parking stops; do
we need them for safety reasons? Ms. Allen said the only way you would know
the parking plan is being adhered to would be somehow defining the spaces. She
said the stops are something that Council can require.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve, Mr. Pearce seconded. Mayor Buelterman
asked if the motion was contingent on the four recommendations made
by Planning Commission; Mr. Wolff answered yes as did Mr. Pearce.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said she is not requesting that the motion include
parking stops but if in the future the lack thereof becomes a problem maybe Mr.
Solomon would consider putting them in.
Mr. Solomon said if he sees they have a problem he will absolutely address this.
He said he wants things to travel as smoothly as possible and if he sees they are
having a problem he will identify every single spot.
Ms. Williams asked if the city would have recourse to demand the stops if this
becomes a public safety issue. Mr. Hughes said yes.
And the vote was unanimous.
Ms. Doyle commended Brannyn Allen for the open public hearings moving along
so well. She said she felt it was due to her professionalism and experience.
Mayor and Council agreed.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Consent Agenda, Mr. Crone seconded,
and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Crone moved to allow the City Manager to take installing the speed
bump on Cedar Wood under consideration, Ms. Doyle seconded and the
vote was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman read the Proclamation for the City of Tybee Island employees
and proclaimed September 15, 2007 as Employee Appreciation Day. Mayor
Buelterman thanked Janice Elliott for her hard work in planning and putting the
event together. Mayor Buelterman thanked Vivian Woods for the well worded
proclamation for the employees.
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Mr. Crone moved to approve the Employee Appreciation Proclamation,
Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Pearce requested council approval for out of state travel. He requested to
attend the National league of Cities Conference in New Orleans, in November. He
said he has been an active member of the environmental committee for many
years. He said his committee comes up with policy to be recommended and
presented to congress. He said he asked Mr. Crone if he could use some of his
travel budget and received his permission. Ms. Williams asked if Mr. Crone had
used any of his travel money this year. Mr. Crone answered no. Mr. Wolff asked
what the date was. Mr. Pearce said the week of the 14th. Ms. Doyle asked if this
was just an environmental conference. Mr. Pearce said no they have many
committees that make policy and all of their input goes into the National league
of Cities Policy.
Mr. Crone asked how much money Tybee had received back from the National
League of Cities. Mr. Pearce responded that the City of Tybee is a member of the
National league of Cities. He said it isn’t a matter of how much money comes
back to Tybee. He said it is a matter of national environmental policy that affects
not only Tybee but the entire nation.
Ms. Doyle asked if Mr. Pearce would be allowed to go to this conference even if
he loses the election. She asked if Mr. Pearce doesn’t have enough money in his
travel fund where the money is is coming from specifically.
Mr. Pearce said he has asked Mr. Crone and Mr. Crone said he could use his
travel money.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said she understands there is value in having Tybee
represented at the National League of Cities Conferences. She said there are
networking opportunities at the federal level. She said it would be nice if this and
future council’s would decide during the budget process if these conferences are
to be considered. She feels the city should attend at least one of the really
important conferences during the year.
Mr. Pearce said if he were not re-elected he would still represent the city for the
final time. He said he is still on council until January even if he is not re-elected.
He said he will leave it to the discretion of Council.
Mayor Buelterman requested a report on environmental grants that Tybee could
apply for. Mr. Pearce said he submitted a report to Ms. Schleicher last time and
he will submit a report this time.
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Ms. Williams asked Mr. Redmond if council can vote to transfer travel money
between council members. Mr. Redmond said within a department money can be
exchanged between line items without going back to council for reapproval.
Ms. Williams asked Mr. Crone if his offer to allow Mr. Pearce to use his travel
money still stood. Mr. Crone said yes.
Mr. Crone moved to approve, Mr. Wolff seconded.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said Tybee does need to be represented at these
meetings and everyone that has gone on out of state trips has come back and
reported to council. She said Mr. Pearce could do a little bit better of a job on
reporting to council and getting the message out.
And the vote was four in favor with Crone, Wolff, Sessions and Williams
voting in favor and Doyle opposed. Mr. Pearce recused himself.
Mr. Hughes said the Ethics ordinance has been adopted in its entirety but there
were errors consisting of typographical and section numbers. He said those have
been cleaned up we need to get it re-approved in its final form so it will be clear
in the minutes.
Ms. Doyle asked Mr. Hughes if he is satisfied with the section dealing with the
Planning Commission in regards to the recent candidate filings and its
consequences on the Planning Commission. Mr. Hughes said the provision in
question is the one that requires anyone qualifying to run for office that is
appointed to a city commission or committee to become inactive during the
period of candidacy. He said that provision was thought by the Ethics Advisory
Board to be an important component. He said it caused a problem because so
many of the Planning Commission members declared their candidacy and we did
not have a quorum. He said staff has pending applications under control where
no one will be delayed in getting their ultimate approval. He said council may
want to take a look at that if they want to change it in the future. He said they
could require resignation when they qualify like an employee. Ms. Doyle said
there would still have to be a provision to fill those seats because if five
happened to resign you still have to make some kind of modification. Mr. Hughes
said that is correct. He said you could have auxiliary members in the event that
something was to happen to ordinary members.
Ms. Doyle said she can’t vote on this without making a point because of
conversations she has heard over the past few weeks about the ethics ordinance
and the way it was written. She said she wasn’t at the meetings and cannot say
this is exactly what happened; but she knows some people on that committee
have some concerns about not having as much participation in this ordinance as
they thought they were going to have. She said at one point there were
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definitions that were compiled and submitted and they were thrown in the
garbage can. She said if people volunteered to work on this ordinance and feel
that they were not given an opportunity to participate then she has concerns.
Ms. Williams said she hates that as much time and effort that has been put into
this ordinance that negative comments are being made. She said the chairperson
made regular presentations to city council; and the night council approved it
almost every member was in the audience. She said they had multiple
opportunities during the process to contact the Mayor or Council or City
Manager. She said to her knowledge that did not happen. She said it is not a
good thing to criticize it in public after the fact without inviting the people
involved here to at least give their side of the story.
Ms. Doyle said she just wanted it in the public record.
Ms. Williams moved to approve the Ethics Ordinance for 1st Reading as
written Wolff seconded, and the vote was Williams, Wolff, Pearce and
Sessions in favor and Doyle and Crone opposed.
Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Hughes about the constitutionality of the handbill part of the
ordinance. He said his research has concluded that this type of ordinance has
been found to be unconstitutional at the state and federal level.
Mr. Hughes said there is a blanket prohibition in the sign ordinance against
handbills. He said sign is defined in such a way as to include handbills. He said
the prohibition has been addressed by a number of courts both federal and
state. He said with respect to political speech and political literature there is no
doubt that the prohibition on handbills is unconstitutional. He said he has
recommendations about how the ordinance can be changed. He said he doesn’t
see how the city can enforce it under the circumstances. He said the restriction
on it is invalid.
Ms. Williams asked how much we paid Municode to go through our ordinances
and find anything that wasn’t right, get everything cleaned up and sent back to
us. Mr. Hughes said you could work on sign ordinances for years and possibly
never get it right. He said he can’t answer for Municode but he doesn’t
remember that issue coming up on that ordinance. He said it did come up on
some of the others. He said we had the same problem with the prohibition on
nude dancing. He said the law changes about every week and you cannot keep
an ordinance up to date, that will withstand every attack.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked Mr. Hughes to explain the Ethics Ordinance and
why the need for it to go through another approval. Mr. Hughes said it is on the
agenda as reaffirmation. He said there was only four or five things that were
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typographical corrections. He said the only substantive change and the reason it
had to come back for 1st and 2nd readings was that one definition had been left
out due to the formatting process. He said it was the definition of the person
with a private interest or personal interest.
Ms. Doyle announced that she and Mr. Redmond attended the GMA meeting
concerning House bill 900. She said it was very informative and she wants to
give a presentation during the September 27th council meeting. She said she may
contact Larry Norton to do a short presentation to get the information on this bill
to the citizens of Tybee.
Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn, Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was
unanimous.
_____________________________________
Mayor Jason Buelterman
_____________________________
Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council
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