HomeMy Public PortalAbout20071025CCMinutesPage 1 of 11
20071025 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda Meeting to order at 6:30p.m. Present in
addition to the Mayor were council members, Sessions, Crone, Pearce, Williams, Doyle
and Wolff. Also attending were City Attorney Hughes and City Manager Schleicher.
***
Mayor Buelterman listed the Consent Agenda items as:
Out of State Travel for Diane Schleicher to attend Beach Preservation Conference
in Sarasota, Florida on January 30, 2008.
***
Mr. Wolff moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Potential, Pending and
Threatening Litigation and Real Estate Acquisition, Mr. Pearce seconded and the
vote was unanimous.
Ms. Williams moved to end Executive Session and return to the Consent Agenda,
Mr. Crone seconded and the vote was unanimous.
***
Mayor Buelterman ended the Consent Agenda and called for a break.
Mayor Buelterman called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00p.m.
City Officials present at the Consent Agenda were still in attendance.
Reverend Fretwell Crider gave the Invocation and everyone recited the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag.
Mayor Buelterman said the 120th Birthday Celebration for Tybee was a success and
thanked Patricia Miller and Denise Vernon for their hard work putting it together.
Mayor Buelterman recognized incumbents Paul Wolff, Wanda Doyle, Kathryn Williams,
Eddie Crone and Mallory Pearce along with candidates Lawanna Tsoulos, Rachel
Perkins, Bill Garbett and Barry Brown. He requested everyone go out and vote. Mayor
Buelterman explained the referendum that will be on the ballot saying it will determine if
council serves 4 year terms starting in 2009.
Mayor Buelterman presented Mr. Larry Meyers with a Proclamation proclaiming October
25, 2007 as Larry Meyers Day on Tybee Island. He said Mr. Meyers was selected as the
Veteran of the Year in Chatham County and since he is from Tybee we wanted to honor
him as one of our own. Mr. Meyers said Tybee is a very special place and he thinks what
makes it special is the people.
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Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said we lost Chicago Bob this week; he was one of our beloved
Tybee characters and please keep his family and friends in your prayers.
Mr. John Redmond gave a financial report to council including a power point
presentation on the financial condition of the city. He said our financial condition remains
strong with approximately $3 million in undesignated funds over $2.6 million of which is
in cash and equivalents. He said the City’s SPLOST fund currently has over $3.4 million
in restricted funds for SPLOST approved capital projects.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if Mr. Redmond felt the City’s financial condition was
sound. Mr. Redmond said the City’s condition is very sound with six months of
governmental funds in reserve.
Ms. Williams asked for the anticipated profit at the campground. Mr. Redmond said the
anticipated profit at the campground at the end of the year is a little over $22,000 for
2007.
Ms. Elizabeth Cheney from the Department of Natural Resources discussed beach water
quality. She introduced Ginger Heidel the Public Information Officer from the Coastal
Health District. She said the goal of the program is to protect swimmer health by testing
the water for potentially harmful bacteria. She said the Beach Act of 2000 requires this
testing be conducted and public notification of bacterial risks. She gave a power point
presentation on water borne diseases. She said they test five locations listed as; Tybee
South, Tybee Strand, Tybee Middle, Tybee North and Tybee Polk Street. She said they
test these locations once a week. She said Tybee has the fewest advisories of the Tier I
Islands being St. Simons, Jekyll and Tybee.
Ms. Heidel said she would be glad to help with press releases and public notifications
regarding the good condition of Tybee’s Beach because we feel Tybee is doing a good
job of keeping the water clean and we want to get that message out.
Ms. Marianne Bramble of 215 Lovell Avenue spoke to council about drainage issues. She
said somewhere in the last ten years Tybee put in $450,000 worth of drainage piping that
ran east down Third street and west down Lovell. She said that solution is not working.
She said she talked with Joe Wilson the DPW Director and was very impressed because
he saw the problems and he told her they don’t have a clear map of the drainage system
and that’s the problem. She requested a moratorium on Building permits until she
receives a clear drainage map and a solution to her drainage problems. She requested a
timeline for the solution in writing.
Ms. Schleicher said we have a Corps of Engineers grant and we are doing the GIS
mapping system. She said we are still reviewing to make sure our as builts are accurate.
She said a lot of projects were done without knowing what was down the line. She said
public works would put in drainage years ago and not look at what was down the line as
far as sizing. She said there were some instances of large pipes going into small pipes.
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She said we are correcting that by starting with the outlets and working our way back to
make sure we have the correct size to make sure it flows correctly.
Ms. Williams asked Ms. Schleicher to do some research to find when the property
directly across the street from Ms. Bramble was allowed to bring in dirt and raise their
elevation so that it drains on everyone else’s property.
Mr. Lovett said someone from the city will have to go out with the Corps of Engineer’s
map that they are creating at this time and verify the information. He said we are at the
starting point.
Ms. Doyle requested regular reports from staff on the status of ongoing projects.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions requested scheduling the reports or updates for the second
council meetings to let the public know what we are doing.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions recommended having a drainage Committee start examining
drainage and making recommendations about cleaning out the storm drains and look at
other avenues of education.
Ms. Schleicher suggested having the Water Sewer Committee renamed the Infrastructure
Committee and have them look at drainage as well as Water Sewer issues. She said that
committee has been good for making sure we stay on task with our water and sewer
projects.
Ms. Beth Hodges of the Tybee Neighbors congratulated the City and Fine Arts
Commission on the success of the 120th Tybee Celebration. She announced the meet the
candidates’ town hall meeting on October 29th from 7:00 until 9:00 at City Hall.
Ms. Denise Vernon announced the grand finale of the Tybee Turtle Tour on November
4th at 4:00p.m. at the Gym.
Ms. Vicki Worden and Mackenzie O’Hare requested a speed bump on the 1100 block of
2nd Avenue. She presented a petition to council with neighborhood signatures.
Mr. Paul Devivo thanked the City Manager for holding a meeting of the non profit groups
to get their feed back on facility rentals before bringing it to council. He said many cities
have cultural development departments that cost a lot of money but at Tybee we don’t
have to have them because we have our non profit organizations that have taken on that
role and have done it very well. He said he doesn’t know how the city can consider
charging these groups to rent the facilities considering the business they bring to Tybee
and the amount of time they donate. He thanked everyone for their help in making the
Tybee Fest Pirates Festival event successful.
Mr. Ed Tomasso of Integrated Science and Engineering gave a short presentation to
council about the Master Plan and said the 2nd Phase has been completed. He said the
Resolution is on the agenda tonight to transmit the community agenda portion of the 24
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year master plan update to the DCA. He said they plan to present the master plan for
council approval on December 13, 2007.
Ms. Schleicher announced the YMCA Haunted House at the old school on October 26th
from 5-10p.m.
Ms. Schleicher announced the 2nd Campground Celebration on November 2nd at 6:00p.m.
Ms. Williams asked if a short term rental meeting had been scheduled. Ms. Schleicher
said they decided to postpone the meeting until the Planning Commission reconvenes and
are planning to schedule it for the 1st of next year. Ms. Williams asked that the people
that attended the first workshop be notified of the new date. She suggested putting a note
on the water bill.
Ms. Williams asked what progress was being made on quarterly report cards. Ms
Schleicher said the only report card they have started on was a meeting with Bill Lovett
of Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung about his firm’s performance. She said she is in the
process of preparing a written report for Mr. Lovett that will be completed after this
current project. She said HGB&D are one of our largest vendors and she needs a
threshold of dollar value to determine what council wants as far as quarterly reports.
Ms. Williams said other vendors that come to mind are Georgia Power and their response
time and Waste Management. She said she would be willing to listen to a suggested
threshold from staff. She said $40,000 is listed on the action items list so that must have
been the figured determined by staff. Ms. Schleicher said it was. She said her question is
would that amount be for a one time contract or an aggregate amount. Ms. Williams said
they could discuss that at the budget workshop.
Ms. Williams asked for a progress report on Department Heads following up on
contracts. Ms. Schleicher said contracts are in the hands of the CFO and department
heads have not been administering contracts.
Mr. Crone said there are a lot of items on the Action Item list that can be taken off.
Mayor Buelterman said Ms. Schleicher can decide what to take off. Ms. Williams
requested the completed items be rotated to the bottom of the list.
Mayor Buelterman requested hosting a reception for legislators on the bottom floor of the
capital. He asked Ms, Woods to help him arrange it during the Mayor’s Day Conference
in January. Mr. Crone said to make sure and put it in the budget.
Ms. Doyle requested acquiring the pier from Chatham County be put on the Action
Items List. Mayor Buelterman said they have approached the county lightly through an
e-mail about that issue and they are waiting for a response.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked that the city keep in mind the maintenance cost of
running the pier while discussing taking ownership.
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Ms. Schleicher requested the Fees for Non profits be tabled until the budget workshop
because those fees are budget driven.
***
Mr. Lovett said they opened bids this morning for the Tybrisa Strand Streetscape
Improvements including the parking lot on the strand. He said the lowest bid was from
Coastal Grading and Rental for $1,341,665.50 and they are an excellent contractor that
they have worked with many times before. He said HGB&D recommends the city accept
that bid.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if the liability and background checks were a part of the
process. Mr. Lovett said this is the only project he has ever done in which they received
bids and made a recommendation to council on the same day. He said they set up a
mandatory pre bid conference and only those contractors attending that conference were
eligible to bid. He said there were only two contractors that they weren’t familiar with
and during the two weeks until the bid opening they investigated those contractors and
found that they could recommend an award to those contractors as well as everyone that
submitted a bid today.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked if this is approved tonight who would be the city’s
project coordinator and who would be involved so we would have a clean clear process
like the project on Butler. Mr. Lovett said they are hoping to get approval so they can
have the contractor take the contract and put his performance bond with it and get the
contract executed. He said they should be able to issue a notice to proceed by the 1st week
in November. He said he has six months to do the job and that would be up the 1st of
May. He said they have a penalty clause that will cost them $500 a day for every day they
go over. He said they have made the contractor aware of the Irish Festival in March and
the need to have the parking lot available for it.
Mayor Buelterman asked if this contractor was putting in the infrastructure needed for the
new restroom. Mr. Lovett said yes. Mr. Wolff asked if the contractor was aware that he
has to keep access open for the businesses. Mr. Lovett said the contractor is aware he has
to keep access open to all businesses at all times. He said the contract says that the
contractor cannot work on Sunday’s and Holiday’s but the contractor can come to council
and request to work those days if he needs to.
Ms. Doyle said the May 1st deadline does not include the sidewalks on Tybrisa or the
Lifeguard stand and restroom. Ms. Schleicher said that’s right because the sidewalk
project is tied up with the grant. Mr. Lovett said the sidewalk is a minor $75,000 to
$100,000 project. He said he would be surprised if this contractor didn’t get that work
too. He said they would like to give him that contract by change order but because it’s a
TEA Grant they probably can’t but they are going to ask the DOT.
Mr. Lovett said we are working as if we are going to have that Lifeguard Station in
service on May 1st. He said we have a meeting scheduled next Wednesday at 10:00 and
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we will have floor plans, elevations and ideas about how we can move forward with
selecting a contractor based on qualifications; as well as a guaranteed maximum price
based on 60% designed plans so we can get a contractor over there working before we
have the plans finalized. He said that is the only way they can see Tybee getting this job
done in this time frame. Ms. Doyle asked if Mr. Lovett had any idea of the dollar amount
of this project. Mr. Lovett said no but they have a back of the envelope estimate of
$500,000. Ms. Doyle asked if staff had reservations about starting with Tybrisa/Strand
and finishing the sidewalks later and making sure we complete this project. Mayor
Buelterman asked if they were sure they would have the Tybrisa, Strand project with the
sidewalks and lifeguard facility with restrooms completed by May 1st. Ms. Schleicher
said she would have liked to have started this project a month ago. She said if council
wants them to get it done they will work their hardest to get it done. She said if council
wants to wait until next year that’s fine but she thinks the bid is a good price. She said
there are unknowns and she can’t say it won’t rain for a solid month in the middle of
winter. She said they will meet constantly and try to head things off at the pass.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked Mr. Lovett in his experience what is more effective, a
penalty fee or an incentive. Mr. Lovett said a penalty fee is more effective.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked Mr. Lovett to address Change Orders. Mr. Lovett said
Change Orders are not a part of the contract until they are approved by the city. Sessions
said there needs to be one person that change orders are submitted to. Mr. Lovett said
there will be things that come up on site that need immediate attention and council will
have to trust his or Ms. Schleicher’s judgment.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked how much of the contract was for infrastructure. Mr.
Lovett said they are replacing existing old lead joint six inch water line that goes down
Tybrisa from Butler to the alley by the Ice Cream stand. He said there is new line from
there on. He said they are increasing the size of a storm drain line that goes down the
strand from 18 to 24 inches.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said she hopes staff and some of the businesses can come up
with some sort of idea to attract people to shop on Tybrisa.
Mr. Wolff said this whole plan is based on the HDR plan that the city had done almost
three years ago in which they had almost 100% buy in from the businesses on Tybrisa.
He said if we are ever going to get this done we need to move forward and the bid is
excellent.
Mayor Buelterman said he is concerned with having all of this new stuff down there and
having port o lets because the restroom isn’t done as well as the lifeguard stand even
though they have operated out of the mobile unit for a long time. He said his concern is
that part of it is an unknown and if it can be done within that time frame. Mr. Lovett said
it’s a separate project and you have to do that project before you can do this project. He
said we are creating the spot in the parking lot for the lifeguard headquarters. He said he
met with his staff and they will meet with Ms. Schleicher next week and they are all
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planning and saying this is what we have to have done by May 1st but the landscaping
and painting may not be done but you will be in that building and working and using it
May 1st and that’s our goal.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions said this is going to be one of those issues that will not be
popular with some people. She said if we are going to do it then let’s do it. She said it’s
not going to be a popular decision either way.
Ms. Schleicher said not only is this an upgrade to the infrastructure but they are installing
a state of the art catch basin. Mr. Lovett said a normal catch basin is a concrete tube. He
said these catch basins have inserts that catch the dirt and grease and pollutants and you
go in every three to six months and remove that and put a new one in. He said that way
the pollutants go to the landfill instead of to the Marsh or the Ocean.
Ms. Doyle said since the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be affected by this she would like
staff to meet with that committee next month to keep them informed about the parade
route and where it will have to be.
Mr. Lovett said they will ask the contractor for a schedule and they will ask for the
schedule to be updated as often as council would like even at every council meeting.
Ms. Doyle said it will affect the Christmas Parade as well so when the Economic
Development Committee meets in November this needs to be discussed with them also.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions told Mr. Lovett that she would like the same constant
information updates that were given during the Butler Ave. project. Mr. Lovett said they
would do a little tighter project reporting because this will be concise and confined and
they would need to interact a lot more with the business owners.
Mayor Pro Tem Sessions asked Ms. Schleicher if she was comfortable with being the
project manager. Ms. Schleicher said yes.
***
Ms. Schleicher said she asked Georgia Power for a proposal for replacing the spaghetti
wiring on Tybrisa and installing underground services in some areas. She said in doing
Tybrisa we were moving their light poles up into the brick pavers and they were going to
charge us anyway so we just asked them for the price difference to make the upgrades.
She said basically they would be removing the overhead wires as well as cleaning up
some of the overhead wires and switch the wooden light poles to concrete when they are
moved for a total of $62,470. She said the second proposal was for the attractive street
lights that are 15 foot ornamental lights that are turtle friendly. She said they will
alternate going down Tybrisa as well as the Strand and Beachside.
Mr. Wolff said he did some quick math and the 1st option shows $170,600 up front with a
monthly lease of $370 which comes to a total of $192,800. He said by leasing them at
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$2969.25 a month for 60 months instead the total comes to $178,200 which is $14,000
less to lease them then to buy them and at that point we own them and all we pay is the
utility bill
Ms. Williams asked if there was any way to provide for future underground services in
case at a future time we could go to completely underground services. Ms. Schleicher
said they are putting in quite a bit of conduit. She said one of the biggest problems with
getting the utilities underground on the Southside is the easements. She said when she
asked them about finding the conduit at a future date they said the chances would be slim
to none. She said they didn’t recommend the extra conduit for the future.
***
Mr. Joe Wilson said he wanted to buy a new sweeper. He said the one they have is a
mechanical sweeper in that it picks up floatables. He said in order to be compliant with
the EPA and with MPC regulations you have to be able to pick up the fines called the
MP10’s. He said these are the ones all of the heavy metals adhere too. He said he is
recommending we get a vacuum or regenerative air sweeper. He said it does a lot better
job picking up all the fines as well as having a catch basin cleaner on the back so he can
start a catch basin cleaner program which will also make them MPC compliant because it
is required once a year. He said he would like to be pro active and clean the catch basins
two or three times a year. He said it meets the EPA requirements of Southern California
which are very stringent. He said it has a high pressure wand and a dust suppression
system on it. He said he spent $35,000 on the machine they have in trying to keep it
running and it’s only running with one broom which would cost another $4500 to fix the
other side. He said he doesn’t see that as cost effective. He said they can use some
SPLOST money to purchase this sweeper because it is for drainage and it does keep the
catch basins clean. He said they have $52,000 in the budget and they can take $25,000
from SPLOST money and the balance can be put on a lease purchase. He said these
machines on a normal cycle last 9 or 10 years. He said at a cost of $133,000 you’re
looking at an annual cost of $13,000 prorated over a 10 year period. Mr. Wolff said this is
going to have a major impact on improving water quality because it is getting out the
hydrocarbons and heavy metals and that is something we need to be addressing every
chance we get.
***
Mayor Buelterman opened the meeting for business legally presented and called for a
motion on the Consent Agenda.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the one item as listed earlier on the Consent Agenda,
Ms. Williams seconded and the vote was unanimous.
***
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Ms. Schleicher said she feels they need to do a speed bump analysis because otherwise
they will have speed bumps all over the place. She said speed is perception. She said
there are stop signs at almost every intersection on 2nd and it’s fairly narrow but there are
definitely stop signs at the 1100 block. Mr. Wolff asked that we check to make sure there
are stop signs at every intersection and that should slow traffic down but if it didn’t work
they could revisit the speed bump idea.
Mr. Pearce moved to approve installing a speed bump on the 1100 block of 2nd
Avenue, Sessions seconded. Ms. Doyle asked if we have speed bumps laying over at
DPW to install or where does the money come from to purchase them. Ms. Schleicher
said they would have to budget for three speed bumps because they already have a
pending speed bump to be installed on Cedarwood and one for North Campbell.
Mayor Buelterman asked how much each speed bump cost. Mr. Redmond said anywhere
from $700 to $2500 depending on the width of the road. Ms. Schleicher said you have the
signage also. Mr. Wolff said the speed bumps he recommended to Ms. Schleicher were
$300 a piece.
Ms. Williams said this is the last speed bump council could pass before a plan is
developed by staff. She said the people on North Campbell were hoping the city could
divert some of the traffic headed to the North Beach by way of some of the other roads
that go that way.
And the vote was unanimous.
***
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the contract for Coastal Grading and Rental for
Tybrisa and the Strand as recommended for $1,341,655.50. Ms. Doyle seconded, and
the vote was unanimous.
***
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the lighting contract for lease purchase with Georgia
Power as recommended for $2,969.25 for 60 months, Ms. Sessions seconded, and the
vote was unanimous.
***
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the contract with Georgia Power as recommended for
the Utility work for $62,470, Ms. Sessions seconded and the vote was unanimous.
***
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Ms. Williams moved to approve the Resolution to transmit the Community Agenda
portion of the Master Plan to the DCA, Ms. Doyle seconded, and the vote was
unanimous.
***
Ms. Williams moved to accept the staff recommendation to purchase the street
sweeper from Adams Equipment Company for $133, 875 and Mr. Crone seconded,
the vote was unanimous.
***
Mayor Buelterman said the Ethics Commission will come back under New Business for
the November 8th Council meeting.
***
Ms. Tiffany Desautels of the Police Department told council that only the people that
have voice over internet service will be taxed the $1.50. She said basically this is internet
telephone like Vonage. She said she has no idea how many service Georgia, out of the
258 companies that provide that service because there is no list. Mr. Hughes said the
public hearing was held last meeting and the effective date will be today.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Resolution imposing a 9-1-1 Charge on voice over
internet protocol, Ms. Sessions seconded. And the vote was unanimous.
***
Mr. Wolff said the Water Resolution that he is proposing will ask the General Assembly
to insure fair apportionment of water resources state wide and provide full funding for
water planning moving forward. He said they are also asking to prohibit inter-basin
transfers that have a detrimental effect on downstream economies and natural systems.
He said since Tybee is downstream from pretty much everyone it would be in our best
interest to support this resolution.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the water resolution, Ms. Williams seconded.
Mayor Buelterman asked that if there was Salt Water intrusion because of the water plan
we would not have to pay for it and if it was included in this resolution. Mr. Wolff said
no. Mayor Buelterman said he thinks at some point it might be a good idea to put that in
writing because we will be the first ones affected by that.
And the vote was unanimous.
***
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Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn, Mr. Pearce seconded and the vote was unanimous.
_________________________________
Mayor Jason Buelterman
_______________________________
Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council