Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout20081023CCMinutesPrepared 11/25/08vw Page 1 of 6 20081023City Council Minutes Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda to order at 6:35pm. Attending were Mayor Pro Tem Wanda Doyle and Council Members Charlie Brewer, Barry Brown, Eddie Crone, Dick Smith and Paul Wolff. Also attending were City Attorney Bubba Hughes, City Manager Diane Schleicher and Planning Director Brannyn Allen. Mayor Buelterman listed the Consent Agenda items as follows: - City Council Minutes for 9/25/08 - City Council Minutes for 10/9/08 - City Council Special Meeting Minutes 10/14/08 - Special Event Permit for Tybee Christmas Parade with 40 parking passes. - Special Event Permit for New Years Eve Fireworks with waiver of special event fee and 5 parking passes. - Alcohol License for Sunday Sales for E. C. Burnsed, Inc. dba Scandals, 1518 Butler Ave. - Budget Adjustment of $8,979.36 from contingency 100-9000-61-1000 to Recodification Service 100-1130-52-1110. - Appointment of Stephen Palmer to the Ethics Commission. - Palm Tree Planting in C-2 Zone-Ms. Schleicher will utilize grant funds - Appointment of Dick Smith to the Tourism Committee. - T V Public Broadcasting: Policy dictating any meetings consisting of public input and or council decisions are televised. - GMA Contract for Hotel Motel Tax Audit Mayor Buelterman closed the Consent Agenda. Call to order: Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00pm. Those present during the Consent Agenda were still in attendance. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance: Reverend Andy Lamon of the Trinity Chapel United Methodist Church gave the Invocation and everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Reports: The Honorable Burke Day and his wife Sally presented House Resolutions: House Resolution # 564 to Former Tybee Mayor Charles J. Hosti presented to his widow Faye Hosti. Prepared 11/25/08vw Page 2 of 6 House Resolution #1974 to Former Tybee Mayor Col. James P. Locklear. Bill Lovett and Jennifer Oetgen of Hussey, Gay, Bell & Deyoung, gave a presentation on the proposed Tiered Water Rates for Tybee. Mr. Lovett explained that the Purpose of the Rate Study was to:  Ensure the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund Operates Self Sufficiently.  Comply with Georgia EPD Mandated Conservation Orientated Water Rates.  Promote Conservation of Potable Water.  Continue to Maintain the Quality of Services and Protection of the Environment.  Ensure Funding for the Future Expansion of the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Mr. Wolff suggested that hotels on Tybee implement conservation by only changing the bed sheets for multiple night stays at the customer’s request and installing low flow shower heads. Ms. Pam O’Brien asked about the proposed increase in capacity to the W/S Plant. Mr. Lovett said it will get us to 1 ½ Million gallons a day. Ms. O’Brien said in 2001 council was advised to upgrade the plant and council indebted this city for 2.3 Million dollars under Mr. Lovett’s advise to get them 1.4 Million gallons a day which was the established capacity for build-out on this island. She said they also spent $250,000 to seal manholes to stop infiltration; $450,000 to overhaul the lift stations; several hundred thousand to reline and repair just about all the sewer lines as well as $200,000 for new aerators. She urged council to back out any portion of the water rate increase for the 5 Million dollar plant expansion and seek a second opinion on the need. Mr. Lovett explained that the plant was not expanded and they did not get additional capacity in that plant. He said they only got more operability. He said they were able to get Tybee a seasonal discharge rate allowing more discharge in the summer. Ms. O’Brien said the minutes from January 23, 2001 have Mr. Lovett responding to the question of what capacity our plant will be able to generate with this upgrade and his response was 1.4 Million gallons a day. Captain Mike Taylor and Lt. Hunter Robinson of the Tybee Island Ocean Rescue gave their end of season report on rescue operations during the summer. Ms. Doyle commended the ocean rescue staff for their hard work. Mr. Wolff requested Capt. Taylor and Lt. Robinson attend the County Commission meeting and give the presentation in order to try and gain support from the county. Mr. Brewer requested that Ms. Schleicher have this presentation put on channel 7 for public information. Prepared 11/25/08vw Page 3 of 6 Mayor Buelterman thanked the ocean rescue staff for a job well done. He said the community has been extremely complimentary of their efforts. Visitors: Kathryn Williams gave a short presentation on the beach sweep done by Tybee Beautification. She thanked the beach sweep sponsors for their continued support as well as the volunteers. Sandy Major gave the results of the recent Tybee Neighbors survey. Ed Cawley and Cullen Chambers announced the inclusion of Battery Backus on the 2009 places in peril list of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Mr. Chambers announced a meeting on November 11th at 6:00pm at the Guardhouse that will include members of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. He said hopefully this meeting will generate dialogue leading to some solutions to saving our historic resources before they continue to be added to these lists. Woody Hemphill announced the Annual Campground Celebration on November 21st. Beth Smith requested that council allow the Garden Club to erect a Blue Star Memorial somewhere in Memorial Park to honor veterans of WWII. She said the marker would only be twelve inches high by twenty inches wide and could be mounted on wood or something like a boulder. Mr. Wolff suggested placing the monument in the area of the garden the Garden Club is planning. Ms. Doyle asked to be part of the planning meetings for this memorial. Disclosures: Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith disclosed that Mr. Yellin acted as their Attorney regarding another piece of property outside of the district over a year ago and they stated that relationship would not influence their judgments regarding Mr. Godbee’s petition. Mr. Brewer asked Mr. Hughes if he could participate in the discussions regarding the Ethics Ordinance since there was an unresolved issue going on. Mr. Hughes advised Mr. Brewer that he was able to participate in the discussions and should the subject become uncomfortable for either of them, Mr. Hughes will address it at that time. Public Hearings: Mayor Buelterman opened the Public Hearing on a Zoning Variance (Section 5-090) from Section 5-010.K, Prohibit Placing Materials in the Marshlands, Michael Godbee/ Bridge Wetland in unopened Prepared 11/25/08vw Page 4 of 6 right of way. Lot 121 Miller Ave. PIN 4-0005-16-007A Zone R-2. Ms. Allen said the petitioner is requesting a variance to conduct construction activity within jurisdictional wetlands in order to gain access to his lot. She said this is currently unopened city right of way. Mr. Yellin said this is just the first step and if we are granted a variance we will come back before council with detailed drawings. He said at this point they don’t know how they will cross this wetland. He said they believe there are three options; Culverting the ditch; putting in a bridge or pipe the area. He said in 2007 when Mr. Godbee previously came before council there was not a piping system like there is now. The property standing at the corner of Seventh and Miller now has an inlet that was not there in 2007. He said where the ditch used to be has all been filled and has a storm drain on it. He said to the best of his information this was done by the City of Tybee Island. He believes this creates the third option which did not exist in 2007. He said 300 linear feet of pipe has been installed by the city. He said this provides them with an opportunity that was not there before. He said they have three agencies in play and feel that there is a logical order with the first item being approval of the variance by Tybee allowing them to proceed with getting the approvals and permits from the DNR and Corps and the third step being to bring the approvals back to Tybee. He said that way they do not run the risk of getting one approval and losing another one. He said they are aware there may be other variances they will need to come back for in the future. Mr. Hughes asked for the record to reflect clearly that the access issue and if the city were to permit it would not be claimed to be any indication that they were justified or led to believe that they would be granted any additional variance. Mr. Yellin said they absolutely agree to that. Mr. Hughes said people that buy land on an unopened right of way generally have rights if they bought in connection with a deed that makes reference to the right of way. He said most Tybee deeds do. He said in that situation a Municipality gets in a position where they are not going to open the street; they have to consider abandoning it so that it can be offered to the abutting owners and become their property. He said generally the law favors access. He said he feels the city will eventually have to do one or the other. Mr. Brown asked if Mr. Godbee’s deed contained reference to the unopened right of way. Mr. Yellin said yes and he believes he is entitled to access. He said the Georgia cases he is familiar with strongly disfavor any property being landlocked. Mr. Hughes said the deed does not make reference to the right of way but it does make a reference to a plat which would show the right of way. Mr. Garbett spoke in opposition to the petition. Mayor Buelterman closed the Public Hearing. Ms. Doyle moved to approve, Mr. Brewer seconded. Mr. Wolff said he couldn’t see any council in their right mind granting a variance to fill a healthy tidal marsh so that they could build a house on top of those eco systems. He said it would be counterproductive to approve access other than pedestrian access. Mr. Brewer said what they are allowing is the due process for a person to have the opportunity to explore how he can use his property. He said he sees a road bed where others see marsh and it was constructed and built to be a road that probably was cut with a ditch that is visible now and was probably there when the person bought the property. He said he doesn’t believe this is a surprise that there was an intention that Tybee had a roadbed to allow someone to get to their property. He said council decided last week with the Shore Protection Line that they are going to allow these decisions to be put in the hands of people at the DNR and Corps that understand these issues. Mr. Crone said he has been watching the Green Channel and he has seen people build a 10 foot by 10 foot structure to live in. The vote was Doyle, Brewer, Brown, Crone and Smith in favor and Wolff opposed. Prepared 11/25/08vw Page 5 of 6 Zoning Variance (Section 5-090) from Section 5-010. J, Shore Protection with Variance Clause. Howard Reeve/variance from Tybee Shore Protection Line for new duplex. 1 Shirley Road PIN 4-0006- 06-001 Zone R-2. This public hearing was not heard as a result of the approval of the Repeal of the Shore Protection Ordinance on October 9, 2008 which eliminated the need for a variance. Mr. Hughes said there are other issues concerning lot lines and they are trying to figure out how those can be addressed. Business Legally Presented: Consent Agenda: Mr. Wolff moved to approve the Consent Agenda, Mr. Brown seconded. The vote was unanimous. 2nd Reading: Amendment Sec. 4-050 for District Use Regulations, Memorial Park Development PC public parks-conservation district with survey. Mr. Brown moved to approve, Mr. Crone seconded. Mr. Hughes asked for the record to reflect that the survey will have amended notes consisting of a fence around the playground and A Blue Star Marker donated by the Garden Club, the location of which will come back to council for final approval. The vote was Brown, Crone, Brewer, Doyle and Smith in favor and Wolff opposed. 2nd Reading: FACT Ordinance on identity theft requirements & change of address procedures. Mr. Brewer moved to approve. Ms. Doyle seconded. The vote was unanimous. 2nd Reading: Amendment to Retirement Plan/Pension Committee. Mr. Smith moved to approve. Mr. Brewer seconded. The vote was unanimous. 2nd Reading: Amendment to Sec. 70-38, Billing of Water Services Ordinance. Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Ms. Doyle seconded. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Doyle asked Mr. Hughes to explain the advantages or disadvantages of having a Commission. Mr. Hughes said it creates a checks and balance system. He said there is the argument of having too many committees but the theory behind having them is to be independent of council to make recommendations. Ms. Doyle asked if it would behoove them to have a process in place for someone qualified to provide training in Ethics, give training to the commission members. Mr. Hughes said the more education you have the better off you are and Ethics is not a simple topic. Mr. Brown asked if it were true that the current commission was not following proper procedure in posting their agenda. Mr. Hughes said yes the agenda’s were not being posted 24 hours in advance as required. Mr. Crone said the city was established in 1887 and has gone through until now without having a commission and he isn’t aware of any problems that were had while there wasn’t a commission. Mr. Smith asked if most cities’ Tybee’s size have Ethics Commissions. Mr. Hughes said he didn’t know but GMA probably would. He said Tybee’s Charter has always had a provision prohibiting participation in matters if you’ve got a financial interest and that was the law even before it was in Tybee’s Charter. He said in 96 or 97 is when the program to become a certified city of ethics was initiated and Tybee was one of the first to get into that program. He said the ordinance used as a model did not include a commission. Mayor Buelterman said we were a certified city of ethics before we had the commission. Prepared 11/25/08vw Page 6 of 6 Mr. Wolff said he believes they would have inherent conflicts hearing complaints against themselves. He thinks the more layers we have the more separation of government that deals with this type of issue the better off we will be. Mr. Hughes said the council cannot delegate their authority and therefore are ultimately responsible for determining ethics violations. Mr. Smith asked if Tybee had an Ethics Commission prior to the 42 page Ethics ordinance that is in place now. Mr. Hughes said no. Mr. Brown asked why complaints cannot go to the State Ethics Board. Mr. Hughes said that depends on the nature of the violation because their jurisdiction is limited to certain kinds of conduct. Ms. Doyle asked if the Commission determines a complaint is unsubstantiated would it still have to come to council. Mr. Hughes said while it could still come before council it is not required to. Mr. Smith said he understands what Mr. Wolff is saying concerning them having to judge each other but it comes down to that anyway. Mr. Hughes said the question of whether to have a commission or not is a new issue that has not been previously discussed. Mr. Brewer asked if the Commission or City Council has been trained on this ordinance. Mr. Hughes said the answer would be no. Mr. Brewer said there hasn’t been any time invested in training anyone on this ethics ordinance. Mayor Buelterman said the city should stop spending money on this ordinance because it has already cost a lot. He suggested approval of the Revised Ethics Ordinance with the recommendations made by the Ethics Commission and to put it on the next meeting agenda for 1st Reading. Mr. Wolff moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel and Litigation. Mr. Crone seconded. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to end Executive Session. Mr. Brewer seconded. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn. Mr. Brewer seconded. The vote was unanimous. __________________________________________ Mayor Jason Buelterman _____________________________________ Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council