HomeMy Public PortalAbout20081211CCMinutes Prepared 01/05/09vw Page 1 of 14
20081211 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda to order at 6:30pm. Council members present
were Mayor Pro Tem Doyle, Charlie Brewer, Barry Brown, Eddie Crone, Dick Smith and Paul Wolff. Also
present were City Attorney Bubba Hughes, City Manager Diane Schleicher and Planning and Economic
Development Director Brannyn Allen.
Mayor Buelterman listed the following items on the Consent Agenda:
- Special Events Application: Mardi Gras/Tybee Fest, February 21, 2009, Request for waiver of
fees associated with the use of roundabout and Tybrisa Street Closure not to exceed $1,036.
- City Council Minutes for 10/23/08
- City Council Minutes for 11/18/08
- City Council Minutes for 12/04/08
- Bike Friendly Designation for Tybee-Tybee will join City of Savannah in their application for a
partial fee of $400 from Line item 100-1110-52-3501.
- Rejection of Ante Litem Notice: J. Counihan
Mayor Buelterman adjourned the Consent Agenda.
Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting to order at 7:00pm. Those at the consent agenda were
also in attendance for the regular meeting.
Reverend Eddie Adkins gave the invocation and everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Mayor Buelterman expressed gratitude for gifts received for the Mayor’s Christmas Motorcade.
Mayor Buelterman congratulated Friends of Tybee Theater for receiving a $20,000 Grant from the State.
Mayor Buelterman announced completion of the Beach Renourishment.
Mayor Buelterman invited everyone to Lights on for Tybee on December 12th at 6:30 and the Christmas
Parade on the 13th at 3:00.
Mayor pro tem Doyle announced the receipt of a Tybee Island Historical Preservation Award for 2008;
presented to the City of Tybee Island for New Construction on Tybrisa Street and the Strand. She
thanked the Historical Society for the award.
Mayor Buelterman presented a proclamation to Gerald Wells, Sr. in honor of his retirement from the
city on December 7, 2008.
Janice Elliott presented Mr. Wells with a pen set from the city in appreciation for his 22 years of service.
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Chief Sasser presented a gift from the Fire Department in appreciation for Mr. Wells’s dedication and
service in making sure their equipment was repaired and in good working order.
Visitors were:
Dr. Freddie Gilyard, Principle of Sol C. Johnson High School gave an update on progress at the school.
She said they are celebrating their 50th year this year.
Councilman Dick Smith recognized Grady Newton and his father Chris; He said Grady is a star scout from
troop 76 who was attending the city council meeting in order to fulfill some of the qualifications for
earning a badge in Citizenship and Community.
Mr. George Walker requested a waiver of permit fees for the Alcoholic Beverage License for the
American Legion Post 154.
Ms. Lawanna Tsoulos encouraged the council to continue working on a noise ordinance. She requested
that they work on a solution and ordinance that is fair to the people who try to make their homes here
and is fair to the business community.
Dr. Dee Tsoulos requested relief be given to the citizens and residents of this island from the noise and
disturbances violating the rights of citizens for the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their homes. He said
the peaceful paradise of living on Tybee can be destroyed without adequate controls on certain types of
businesses. He requested relief from the disturbance of noise after an appropriate and sensible time at
night.
Ms. Carolyn Jurick of TIRPOA announced a Christmas party for the Savannah Beach Nursing Home on
Thursday, December 18th. She said they will purchase calendars and wall clocks for residents. She said
any money left over will be used to purchase umbrellas for their patio area.
Mr. Edwin Longwater said Tybee’s economy is driven by the Tourist Industry. He said that is one of the
most environmentally friendly industries of all. He said if you take away the music suddenly we will not
be as attractive. He said even though individual rights are important, what is good for the community as
a whole far outweighs that of an individual. He asked Council to please let Tybee continue to be
prosperous, friendly and above all fun. He requested council get rid of the noise ordinance.
Mr. John Cook said as he understands the rates presented tonight there will be a 100% increase by
January 1, 2010. He requested justification as to why the city has to do that. He said the property
owners have no other recourse than to pass the increase onto the people that come down here to rent.
He requested the city divide the rate out and let everyone absorb the rate increase equally. He feels this
increase is discriminatory against people renting their houses.
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He said the people that rent their homes short term are the people that bring in the tourists and the
revenue.
Ms. Freda Rutherford spoke in support of the water rate increase. She thinks if the increase will promote
conservation than it’s a good thing and appreciates council taking this on.
Ms. Rutherford appealed to council to retain the Ethics Commission. She said when a citizen had a
complaint there was no place to take it. She said when the Audit Committee was newly formed they
started getting complaints from people who had gone everywhere trying to get someone to listen. She
said they determined that would be operating outside of their function and would be inappropriate for
them to address complaints and the Ethics Board spun off from that. She said the cap on campaign
contributions is important and something people have come to understand.
Ms. Jenny Orr requested thirty days for the business owners to review the South End Policies and
Procedures. She said she received her copy of them today and doesn’t think that is an appropriate
amount of time. She said she is not opposed but she hasn’t had a chance to read it.
Ms. Lawanna Tsoulos addressed the alcohol license for Huc-a-poos and said they do not object to the
business being there but they object to the problems associated with the business.
Dr. Tsoulos requested council provide relief to his wife, his neighbors and himself from periodic violent
assaults with noise and other disturbances that they sustain from a business establishment which has
gone out of control. He defined Huc-a-poos as a public nuisance and blight on the established
neighborhood in which it inserted itself. He said from a Deli it has become a late night gathering place
from which loud music awakens its neighbors after 10:30pm and up until 2:00am. He requested a
stipulation of no music outdoors be put on their entertainment license and that a screened porch be
considered outdoors.
Disclosures / Recusals:
Mr. Brewer recused himself from discussion and voting on the Alcohol & Entertainment license for
Eleven06 Restaurant because his son is an owner.
Mr. Brewer recused himself from discussion and voting on the South End Policies and Procedures
because he owns property there.
Mr. Brewer and Mr. Wolff disclosed their business interest and requested recusal appeals in order to
participate in the Short Term Rental Properties discussion regarding the water /sewer rates for short
term rentals.
Mr. Brown moved to allow Mr. Brewer to participate and vote on the w/s rate structure. Ms. Doyle
seconded. The vote was Brown, Doyle, Crone, Smith and Wolff in favor.
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Ms. Doyle moved to allow Mr. Wolff to participate and vote on the w/s rate structure. Mr. Smith
seconded. The vote was Doyle, Smith, Brewer, Brown and Crone in favor.
Mayor Buelterman disclosed friendly relationships with the owners of Huc-a-Poo’s and Stingray’s.
Mr. Crone recused himself from voting on the Beer/Wine License for all of the Chu’s Convenience Marts
because of his employment with that establishment.
Mr. Brown disclosed friendships with all the business owners applying for alcohol licenses.
Business Legally Presented:
Consent Agenda Items:
Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Mr. Brown seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Proposed Water and Sewer Rates:
Mr. Wolff motioned to adopt Option II, Phase I of the rate plan shown for January 1, 2009 and
to monitor and review the rate structure during the budget review for fiscal year 2010 before
implementing steps 2 and 3. Ms. Doyle seconded.
Mr. Wolff said they backed out the waste water treatment plant expansion and also the cell
tower lease revenue which was dedicated for green space by the council before last. He said that is the
only money they have to preserve sensitive areas on the island and is used to improve natural areas
such as bike and nature trails and match grant funding that is available for improvement or acquisition
of those features for the island. He said it doesn’t fit one of the basic reasons we are doing this rate
change being that the water sewer fund needs to be independent of any other funding.
Mr. Brown asked why the increase couldn’t be implemented over more than a two year period
in order to help people during this economic down time. Mr. Lovett said they were trying to get the city
into the black so when the city applies for their GEFA loan for the waste water treatment plant
expansion, they would look favorably on your rates, but council can do anything they want to do. Mr.
Brown asked if it was true the city was not processing the same amount of water that they were several
years ago. Mr. Lovett said that is right and the discharge from the waste water treatment plant over the
summer months was significantly lower than 2007.
Mr. Wolff said his proposal is $3.00 less than the rate proposed at the last meeting based on not
doing the improvements to the water treatment plant which will cost 5 million dollars. He said the only
way it will work and the city will not have to do the upgrade, is if everyone on the island conserves.
Ms. Doyle said her concern is for the short term rentals and the B & B’s being treated as
commercial. She said she would like them treated as residential with us going back and taking another
look after six months.
Mr. Brown said he understands the six month period in order to allow some data to come in on
the new meter reading system but he doesn’t understand why they can’t implement the increases over
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a three or four year period. Mr. Lovett said they can. He said the only thing they must do is implement a
tiered rate structure and submit it to EPD.
Mr. Brewer said based on the amount of data they have now he doesn’t think it is a wise and
prudent decision to put a large burden on the residents. He said having a water tower which is a
structure associated with the water system and not taking the revenue that the structure generates and
putting it against the water costs means we are siphoning money off of the water system for some other
pet project. He said as far as having a rate designed for encouraging conservation, when you have a
customer who is already using so much for twelve weeks and then not using any water in many cases for
the remaining period that already is a water efficient operation. He agreed with putting in a basic tiered
rate structure and reviewing it in six months. He said once they have had six or eight months of data
they will feel more confident.
Ms. Doyle asked if Mr. Wolff would consider amending his motion for the short term rental and
B & B’s to stay the way they are now until May. Mr. Wolff said he owns a B&B and when it is occupied
with six people he still uses less than 3,000 gallons a month because of low flow showerheads and
aerators on faucets as well as having educational material in his rental unit letting people know about
the importance of conserving and what the local issues are.
Mr. Smith said the proposed rate increase does not include the money needed for the plant
expansion. Mayor Buelterman said he requested that amount be removed because of the questions
regarding the necessity of expanding the plant. Mr. Smith said it’s been proposed for a year and he
doesn’t know why it isn’t necessary now.
Mr. Wolff amended his motion to exclude the differential on short term rentals but not B&B’s.
Ms. Doyle seconded the amended motion. The vote was 4 in favor with Wolff, Doyle, Brewer and
Crone voting in favor and Brown and Smith opposed.
Garbage Cart Rate Change based on Waste Pro’s Contract Amendment:
Mr. Wolff said he would rather keep the cost of the second cart higher to encourage recycling
because anyone can do any amount of recycling for $3.02 a month. He said that is the way we are going
to reduce our solid waste stream. He said since Waste Pro bills the city; can’t the city just take that
$48,490.16 and divide it by the number of 1st carts and lower everyone’s bill by that much for their 1st
cart. Mr. Hughes said he believes the city has a legal right to do that but he doesn’t know operationally
how big a task that would be. Ms. Schleicher said the 1st cart numbers stay the same but the 2nd cart
numbers fluctuate.
Mr. Wolff moved to take the monthly savings to the city and divide it by the number of 1st cart’s
on the island and to reduce the rate on the 1st cart by that amount and leave the rate on the 2nd and
additional carts the same. Mr. Brown seconded.
Mr. Wolff amended his motion to ask staff to come back with numbers to reduce the price of
the 1st cart and leave the 2nd and additional carts the same. Mr. Brown accepted the amendment. Ms.
Schleicher explained that Waste Pro’s motivation is to encourage people to get additional carts and she
is not sure she will be able to negotiate a contract under these circumstances. The vote was Wolff,
Brown, Crone and Doyle in favor and Brewer and Smith opposed.
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Employee Survey- Ken Chapman and Associates $1,000:
Ms. Doyle moved to approve. Mr. Wolff seconded. Mr. Smith said he doesn’t see why we are
paying $1,000 for an employee survey to give us the same results we already have. Mr. Crone offered to
pay the fee out of his City Official Travel Budget. Mr. Brown said he volunteered earlier to forfeit a
month of his council pay to pay for this survey.
Ms. Doyle amended her motion to approve the employee survey and pay for it with $1,000 from Mr.
Crone’s travel budget # 100-1110-52-3505. Mr. Wolff seconded the amended motion. The vote was
Doyle, Wolff, Brewer, Brown and Crone in favor and Smith opposed.
Memorandum of Understanding between City of Tybee Island and Georgia Department of
Transportation for CSTEE-0008-00(997) Historic Butler Avenue Pedestrian Safety Project-Grant Share
($125,000) and City’s Share ($69,154) Budget line item 100-4210-54-1410:
Ms. Schleicher said it will enhance pedestrian safety and add Palm Trees. Mayor Buelterman
asked when the deadline was. Ms. Schleicher answered now. She said we have already applied and
been awarded the grant but this locks up the funds for Tybee. Mayor Buelterman said we will get public
input before a decision is made. Ms. Schleicher said the plan is conceptual and will come back for public
input and traffic studies.
Mr. Brown said this is the way it used to be years ago and it created a bottleneck. He asked why
the Mayor thought it wouldn’t do that now. Ms. Schleicher said they can have four lanes with a median
or go down to two lanes with a median and angled parking. She said preliminary numbers showed a gain
of over thirty parking spaces but there was no engineering involved with determining those numbers so
they are very rough.
Mr. Brewer moved to approve Grant. Mr. Wolff seconded. The vote was Brewer, Wolff, Crone,
Doyle and Smith in favor and Brown opposed.
Revised South End Business District Policies and Procedures:
Mr. Crone said he just received his copy to review and needs more time to read it. He doesn’t
think they need to do anything with it tonight.
Mr. Brown asked if the Condo owners will used the compactor or will they be allowed to retain
their garbage containers and put them on the Street for pickup. Ms. Schleicher said yes the condo
owners will keep their garbage containers but Fannie’s will be allowed to keep theirs too in order to be
fair and that’s because she has a place to store them off of the street.
Mr. Wolff said he doesn’t agree with requiring the business owners to stack the tables and
chairs at the close of business each day and believes they should be left out for the public to use if they
are out of the line of traffic. He said he personally believes if someone owns the space in front of their
building they should be allowed to have vending machines. He said on page 6 where it says sidewalks
must be washed down and cleaned on a daily basis; he recommended washed down be changed to
swept.
Ms. Schleicher said the vending machine prohibition is in the ordinance so council can direct
staff on how to proceed if they want that changed.
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Ms. Doyle requested they be allowed at least thirty days to review this policy. She said we have
someone that is supposed to be a liaison with the businesses and it may take going door to door and
walking the street to talk to the owners. She said she knows Ms. Morton has been doing this but wants
to allow an additional thirty days to continue. She said she appreciates the job she has been doing. Ms.
Allen said she would appreciate any ideas on how staff can reach businesses. Mr. Brown suggested any
time there are changes being proposed there should be a registered letter sent to the business owners
to notify them of the proposed changes. He said the return receipt would show proof of notification.
Ms. Doyle said she doesn’t know what the answer is but things work a little different on Tybee and we
just have to keep playing along and calling the meetings is great and so are the e-mails. She said going
out and sitting down with business owners is good and we will do what we have to do.
Mr. Smith said he received his package on Tuesday and doesn’t know what everyone else is
talking about. He said he understands some of the business owners don’t have it but they need to nail
down the compactor charge tonight. Mayor Buelterman asked if they needed to nail down the
compactor rate tonight. Ms. Schleicher said she thinks they should because they are using an old Waste
Management rate and the South End Policy basically says who should pay it and who shouldn’t. She said
they have worked really hard on it and listened to the businesses. She said it addresses all the concerns.
Mayor Buelterman asked if they could address the compactor issue separately. Ms. Schleicher said its all
one thing. Mayor Buelterman asked Ms. Schleicher to quantify putting off approval of the policy and
procedures for an additional thirty days with an amount. Ms. Schleicher said about $3,000.
Mr. Smith moved to accept the South End Policy and Procedures as presented tonight including
the rate for the compactor. The motion died for lack of a second.
Mr. Wolff moved to adopt page 10 relating to trash collection and implement as soon as staff
can make it happen and they set the rate at the recommended amount of $22.28/Cart/Month (not
including surcharge) for compactor use. Ms. Doyle seconded.
Mr. Brown said it is his understanding that if approved this will mean the city is no longer
subsidizing the compactors. Ms. Schleicher said she believes this will make us breakeven but she wants
to go through a full season and do an analysis and bring it back to council.
The vote was Wolff, Doyle, Brown and Crone in favor and Smith opposed. Brewer recused
himself.
Mayor Buelterman said it is his understanding the rest of the policy and procedures will come
back at the 1st or 2nd meeting in January based on how they want to handle it.
GMA Lease Program: Emergency Sirens ($123,078 @ 3.22% for a three year lease) and
Datamatic Water Meters project ($627,456 @ 3.05% for a 5 year lease) Budget line items 100-3920-54-
2505 and 505-4401-54-2501:
Mr. Smith moved to approve. Mr. Wolff seconded.
Mr. Brown asked if the Sirens were paid for. Ms. Schleicher said yes. Mr. Brown asked if we
were going to hock them for money and if so what would the money be spent on. Ms. Schleicher said
they had always planned to lease the Sirens and you cannot put them on a GMA lease until you have
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paid for them outright. Mr. Brown said he felt there would be items coming up that would be more
important than Sirens and would require leases. He asked if they could wait and use the leases to
purchase Grit Removal Equipment and other stuff. Ms. Schleicher said generally you would not put
drainage or infrastructure items on a lease because those are not capital items. She said you would get a
GEFA loan for that because those are not tangible items they can take with them.
Mr. Wolff asked if increasing our indebtedness by the amount of both the Sirens and Datamatic
Meters would reduce our ability to borrow money from GEFA for Water and Sewer projects, because we
can get a lower rate on W/S projects, because of our Water First certification, than we are getting on
these. Ms. Schleicher said the Sirens do not qualify for a GEFA loan. Mr. Wolff said he wants to insure
we are not going into a level of indebtedness that will preclude our getting more loans to fund needed
drainage projects. Ms. Schleicher said no.
Ms. Schleicher said the reason to do the leases is to increase cash flow. She reminded them the
Grit Separator and Odor Control is scheduled to be done on a GMA lease and is coming next month. Mr.
Smith asked if they had planned to lease both items during the budget discussions. Ms. Schleicher said
they actually planned to only do one, but they decided to do the Datamatic Meters because they
bundled a lot of small items like trucks and vehicles; and instead of having a whole bunch of vehicles
packaged on GMA leases it seemed smarter to have one big item on it. She said Ms. Kline recommended
they take one big lump sum capital item that is easier to track.
Mr. Smith said and this won’t cost us anything and this is pretty much a wash according to what
Ms. Schleicher said. Mayor Buelterman said considering interest you could get, by just having the money
in the bank. Ms. Schleicher agreed.
Mr. Wolff asked why both leases couldn’t be combined to get a lower interest rate. Ms.
Schleicher said the GMA has different rates for different items and this is the amount they were willing
to do on the sirens. Mr. Wolff asked Ms. Schleicher to find out if the rate is based on items or the dollar
value.
Mayor Buelterman asked if there was an early payment penalty. Ms. Schleicher said she didn’t
know but would find out.
Mr. Brown asked if Ms. Schleicher was going to get this money and put it into an interest
bearing account and lock the key on it, because according to Ms. Schleicher it will be helping cash flow
and that means they will get the money and spend it on other things.
Mayor Buelterman asked Mr. Smith to withdraw the motion and withdraw the second and come
back and deal with this the 1st or 2nd meeting in January.
Mr. Smith asked Ms. Schleicher if the money to pay for these came out of the General Fund and
if the money from the leases will go back into the General Fund. Ms. Schleicher said yes. Mr. Smith
withdrew his motion. Mr. Wolff withdrew his second.
Mr. Wolff asked if we could work the cost of the datamatic meters into the Water Sewer budget
based on the new rates rather than borrowing money. Mayor Buelterman said that is another thing Ms.
Schleicher can report back to them on next month.
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Removal of Derelict Structures on the North End:
Mayor Buelterman said initially they were told by Eric Olsen who is our consultant on beach
related issues that the removal would cost in the neighborhood of $250,000. He said the bid results
were all over $650,000 which is obviously over what we planned on.
Mayor Buelterman requested the Bids received for the Removal of Derelict Structures on the North End
of the beach be reviewed by the Beach Task Force for a recommendation.
Mayor Buelterman said the beach renourishment cost less than expected and he has asked the
Corp how much the city should expect to get back. He said he thinks it will be $800,000 but he doesn’t
know.
14th Street Drainage Improvements-Proposed Bid Approval and Contract Award:
Mr. Crone said the Infrastructure Committee recommended approval of the bid and contract for
the 14th Street Drainage Improvements-Proposed Bid Approval and Contract Award to BRW
Construction Group, LLC. $809,271.50 Line item 100-4210-54-1100 & 320-4210-54-1400:
Mayor Buelterman asked how much was budgeted. Mr. Crone said the amount of the bid was
budgeted and nothing would come from contingency.
Mr. Wolff moved to accept the bid and request Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung do cost value
engineering and try to reduce the amount. Mr. Brown seconded. Ms. Schleicher said it also needs to
be contingent on us receiving some of our permits we have to get and an easement we are waiting for.
The vote was unanimous.
2009 Alcohol License Applications- Beer/Wine, Liquor, Sunday Sales, and Entertainment:
Mr. Hughes recommended license applications with particular issues should be handled
separately such as The American Legion because of their request for fee waiver; 1106 Restaurant
because of Mr. Brewer’s Recusal; All the Chu’s Convenience Marts because of Mr. Crone’s employment;
The Tybee Supper Club because of their request for a fee waiver.
2009 Alcohol License Applications- Beer/Wine, Liquor, Sunday Sales, and Entertainment:
Mr. Smith asked if all the businesses were current on their liquor taxes. Ms. Schleicher said yes.
A.J.'s Dockside/Alan & Jacqualand Burn/315 Chatham Ave
Benny's Tavern & Restaurant/Rose Brown, Alvin Ward, Sr/1517 Butler Ave
Bernie's Tybee Island/Bernie, Margaret & Vance Reyes/13 Tybrisa St
Cafe Loco/Joel Soloman/1-A Old Hwy 80
Doc's Bar/Rob Parker/10 Tybrisa St
Fannie's On the Beach/Jennifer Orr/1613 Strand Ave
Gayna's Pub & Outback Cafe/Gayna Bernstein/725 B First St
Huc-a-Poo's Bites & Booze/Eric Thomas, John Shep Dunn/1213 Hwy 80 Ste 2
Macelwee's Seafood Restaurant/Agnes Lynn Zeigler, Ardrea, Mobley/101 Lovell Ave
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North Beach Grill/George Spriggs, George Jackson/41-A Meddin Dr
Resort Inns Inc-Dolphin Reef/Eugenia, Harry & Frances Spirides/1401 Strand Ave
Scandals/Edmond Burnsed/1518 Butler Ave
StingRay's/Raymond J Rogers Jr, Raymond J Rogers III/1403 Butler Ave
Surfside Restaurant DBA Marlin Monroe's/Jennifer Orr/404 Butler Ave
Sweet Dreams/Myrtice Morrison/Tybee Pier
Tybee Time/Steven Kellam/1603 Strand Ave
WindRose Cafe/Mary & Mark Klein/19 Tybrisa St
Beer/Wine, Liquor, Sunday Sales:
Charly's/Charles J Vonashek/106 South Campbell Ave
Cousin Vinnie's Pizza/George Paul Jackson Jr, Kevin King/1311 Butler Ave
Grace(Formerly Georges')/George Spriggs, George Jackson/1105 Hwy 80
Hunter House/John Hunter/1701 Butler Ave
Spanky's Beachside/David Silverman, Tommy Greber, Paul, John Alben Yarbrough/1605 Strand
The Quarter Sports Bar/Wayne Barlow/601 First St
Beer/Wine, Liquor:
ABC Beverage/Myrtice Morrison/1515 Butler Ave
Sundae Cafe/Kevin Carpenter/304 First St
The Sand Bar/Ana Olsen/1512 Butler Ave
XYZ Liquors/Terese Jung/302 First St
Beer/Wine, Sunday Sales:
Lighthouse Pizza/Richard Hammons/15 A & B Tybrisa St
Beer/Wine:
JayDeep LLC DBA Shell Food Mart/ Jatin Desai, Rajendra & Jaimini Patel/1315 Butlet Ave
Sundae Cafe/Kevin Carpenter, Anthony Baker/304 First St
Tybee Island Bait and Tackle/Thomas & Amy Golden/4-F Old Hwy 80
Tybee Market INC/Michael J Hosti/1111 Butler Ave
Ms. Doyle moved to approve. Mr. Wolff seconded. The vote was unanimous.
American Legion Post 154/George Walker/10 Veterans Dr
Mr. Crone moved to approve and waive the fees for the American Legion Post 154 License.
Mr. Brown seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Tybee Supper Club/Michael Scarbrough/35 Meddin Dr
Mr. Crone moved to approve and waive the fees for the Tybee Supper Club License. Mr. Brown
seconded. The vote was unanimous.
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Eleven 06 Restaurant/Clay Brewer, Vinnie Cusanelli/1106 Hwy 80
Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Ms. Doyle seconded. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Brewer
recused.
Chu's Convenience Mart/Aimi chu-Pruden, Richard Pruden, James Soles, Mola Jung/725 First St
Chu's Convenience Mart #101/Mola & Terese Jung/306 First St
Chu's Convenience Mart #102/Terese & Mola Jung/1603 Inlet Ave
Ms. Doyle moved to approve. Mr. Wolff seconded. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Crone
recused.
1st Reading Text Amendment and Map Amendment-North End Cultural Overlay:
Mr. Hughes asked that the record reflect the city zoning map being in the room with the overlay
district depicted on it.
Mr. Smith moved to approve the North End Overlay Text Amendment for 1st Reading. Mr.
Wolff seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Mr. Smith moved to approve the North End Overlay District Map Amendment for 1st Reading. Mr.
Wolff seconded. The vote was unanimous.
2nd Reading Text Amendment (Section 50110) to Section 3-060.A {Bed and Breakfast (residential)}
w/following conditions: 1) Expansion from five rooms to seven rooms subject to administrative site
plan approval by staff; 2) Afternoon snacks allowed; 3) Hosting of special events for up to twenty
people subject to one-time special review by Planning Commission and approval by Mayor/City
Council.
Mr. Wolff asked for Mr. Hughes to clarify if he needed to recues himself because of being an
owner of a B & B. Mr. Hughes said he hasn’t changed his mind and sees no reason for a recusal.
Ms. Doyle moved to approve for 2nd Reading. Mr. Smith seconded.
Mr. Brewer asked how the special events would be handled for the B & B locations. Ms. Allen
said special reviews will be handled just like they handle special review for all other events facilities and
parking is always a consideration as well as noise and lighting. She said with other events facilities they
have restricted the hours, conducted a pretty strict review of the parking plans, so strict in fact the
businesses are required to come back every six months to revisit their parking issue. She said she is
comfortable with all of the other conditions of this however the special events use concerns her greatly.
Mayor Buelterman said those will have to come back to Planning Commission and City Council. Ms. Allen
said yes. Mr. Brewer said he would vote in favor of the motion but he is very concerned about what it
could lead to.
The vote was unanimous.
2nd Reading Ethics Ordinance:
Mr. Smith moved to accept the Ethics Ordinance Section A and B with Section B relating to the
Commission specifically Article 4 that speaks of the duties, powers, limitations and administrative
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support-only striking the reference to Section 3.06 in limitations section 2 number 2. Ms. Doyle
seconded.
Mr. Wolff said this is a huge step backwards compared to what we already have on the books.
He said they absolutely need an ethics commission to provide oversight.
Mr. Brewer said he thinks they will need to create some type of legal budget to deal with
attorney fees for ethics concerns. He said there have been two complaints so far and both required
attorneys.
Mr. Brewer said he thinks there should be no former elected officials or community activists
allowed on the commission. He said they need to be uninvolved with the political process. He said he is
very concerned about the amount of time it takes for the resolution of a complaint.
Mr. Smith said he believes that if Mr. Hughes advises us that what we do is correct then there is
no ethical violation on our part. Mr. Hughes explained that there has to be a buffer. He doesn’t think it is
appropriate because he has an immediate conflict of interest if the council is the people he works for
and he knows one of them has a significant interest in something but would really like to participate in it
that puts him in a very bad position. He said he would be in violation of the ethics ordinance giving an
opinion about that due to the conflict of interest. He said he will do his best to make the call objectively
in regards to those issues. He recommended the commission be allowed as a buffer to make those
decisions along with council.
Mr. Smith amended his motion to strike that part of it. Ms. Doyle seconded the amended
motion.
Mr. Wolff said anyone that is not involved on Tybee politically has not been paying attention
and they do not need to be on a committee that has oversight and is as important as the ethics
commission.
Mr. Brewer said there was a statement made earlier by Ms. Rutherford that prior to this ethics
commission there was no process for people to go through, but I don’t believe that this government
operated in that form or fashion. He asked what would be the process if they didn’t have a commission.
Mr. Smith said the Ethics Commission is charged with looking at the complaint and deciding if it is a
legitimate complaint or not and if they decide it is not a legitimate complaint they can dismiss it at that
time. Mr. Hughes said that is correct.
Mr. Hughes said to his knowledge there was never an ethics complaint filed against an official
before recently under the existing ordinance. He said there was an ethics ordinance at Tybee that
provided for penalties but he is not sure that is what Ms. Rutherford was referring to. He said there
would have been a procedure had an ethics complaint been filed. Mr. Hughes said the existing
commission, in spite of the repeal of the prior ordinance, should that happen; would continue to serve
out their term with the commission established in the new ordinance.
The vote was Smith, Doyle, Brown and Wolff in favor and Brewer and Crone opposed. Mr.
Hughes said that is second reading and articles A & B are included.
2nd Reading Charter Amendment to Section 4:15 regarding the rules of the Municipal Court of the City:
Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Ms. Doyle seconded. The vote was unanimous.
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2nd Reading Charter Amendment to Section 6:29 relating to the timing of adoption of the operating
budget in relation to the end of the fiscal year:
Ms. Doyle moved to approve. Mr. Smith seconded. The vote was unanimous.
2nd Reading Charter Amendment to Section 6:32 relating to the capital budget and the adoption
requirement prior to the end of the ensuing fiscal year:
Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Mr. Smith seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Marine Science Center Lease:
Mr. Wolff moved to approve. Ms. Doyle seconded.
Mr. Hughes said the lease has been revised since council received their agenda packets. He said
the changes are as follows: They requested subsequent renewals for three years because they think it
may take that long to generate the money and there was some clarification of language that the
insurance requirement is not triggered until construction work begins.
The vote was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman asked for Ms. Schleicher and Ms. Kline to come back the second meeting in
January and let council know how much they have left in the 2003 SPLOST and let them know how to
designate the $600,000 originally intended for the Marine Science Center.
Parental Control Ordinance:
Mr. Hughes said there had been a lot of communication about whether or not they needed a
parental control ordinance. He said he was looking for legal guidance on what council wants him to do.
Mr. Brewer said the Chief of Police said he was watching and monitoring the group of kids that
are causing problems. He said he thinks this is a non issue and we don’t need to create more restrictive
ordinances on being parents. He said the Police are doing a fine job and the courts are there. He said let
them handle it.
Council members requested Mr. Hughes e-mail them the Savannah ordinance to review.
Conservation Easement for 19th Street:
Mr. Hughes explained that he would change the language in the description at Mr. Wolff’s
suggestion.
Mr. Wolff moved to accept the conservation easement, striking under number 3 on page 2;
facilities including but not limited to signs, benches and platforms. Mr. Smith seconded. The vote
was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel and Litigation. Mr. Brewer
seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Mr. Wolff moved to return to regular session. Mr. Smith seconded. The vote was unanimous.
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Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn. Mr. Smith seconded. The vote was unanimous.
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Mayor Jason Buelterman
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Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council