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20090226 City Council Minutes
Consideration of items for Consent Agenda
Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda to order at 6:30pm. on Thursday, February 26,
2009. Council members present were Mayor Pro Tem Wanda Doyle, Charlie Brewer, Eddie Crone, Dick
Smith and Paul Wolff. Also present were City Attorney Bubba Hughes and City Manager Diane Schleicher.
Councilman Barry Brown joined the meeting shortly after call to order.
Mayor Buelterman listed the following items on the Consent Agenda:
Consideration of appointment of Gavin Murphy to Audit Committee.
Consideration of appointment of the following to the Better Hometown Board.
Alan Fleming
Patricia Miller Wann
Erin Sheldon
Consideration of a Trauma Care Resolution being sent to State Legislature.
Consideration of crosswalks in C2 Resolution
Consideration of the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Moratorium Resolution.
Consideration of Request for the Tybee Island Irish Heritage Celebration Parade (8th Annual).
Requesting the City of Tybee co-sponsor this event as they have in the past. Also requesting
the Special event application fee of $100 and DPW services (cones/barricades) be waived.
Cost is included on the proposed budget page within the application totaling approximately
$1,700.
Consideration of Fort Screven Water Improvements-Change Order # 1 Revised: Upgrade
water lines on Wilson Avenue, Moore Avenue, Meddin Drive, Taylor Street, Rosewood and
Robinson Avenue to the project $126,880. Budget Line item #505-4410-54-2100.
Consideration of Ground Water Withdrawal Permit-Special Conditions Requirement.
Councilman Wolff asked for an updated unaccounted for water report. He recommended
conditional approval in order to continue working on the document.
Action Items List:
o Mayor Buelterman asked for an update on steps taken to diminish the
possibility of having a fire generated by illegal fireworks on 4th of July, New
Years Eve, etc. Ms. Schleicher said we could have paid on call people in the
firehouse, have the tanker on the beach and have mules checking the dunes.
She said a rough cost estimate for salaries is $600 to $700 per event. She said
we will take a proactive approach to educate people. Councilman Wolff agreed
that education is a substantial part but enforcement is key. He recommended
Police Officers be patrolling the beach before and during fireworks with
brochures explaining the dangers along with a citation attached. He said we
should give written warnings with a definite threat of citation for a second
offense. Ms. Schleicher said they will make sure it gets in the budget at least for
the 4th of July.
o Mayor pro tem Doyle asked for an update on the Short Term Rental concerns
because the list reflects the last action date as January 29, 2007. Ms. Schleicher
said a lot of the issues have been resolved as far as some of the activities that
were happening in the rentals. She said a strong management group has
benefited Tybee by getting the information out. She said the Community
Development department educated the short term rental groups as far as what
was allowed or not allowed, just by mass mailings as far as the ordinances were
concerned. Mayor pro tem Doyle requested Ms. Schleicher contact TIARA or
some of the rentals and ask if they feel there are outstanding concerns that
haven’t been resolved. Councilman Brewer said TIARA’s concerns are over
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unmanaged properties. Councilman Wolff said we should work towards getting
something in writing outlining dos and don’ts to distribute to those people who
independently rent their property.
Mayor Buelterman requested Incentives for builders to use Solar Hot Water Systems be
considered by the Infrastructure Committee. Council Wolff requested Ms. Schleicher have
this item on the agenda for the next Infrastructure meeting.
Mayor Buelterman asked for an update on the Police Department moving towards use of
energy efficient vehicles. Ms. Schleicher said she has the chief looking at 6 cylinder vehicles
versus 8 cylinders. She said there is concern about going with hybrid because there isn’t a
hybrid with a police package and a police vehicle demands a lot of electrical use. She said the
Chief is doing research on what is available. She said going to 6 cylinders instead of 8 only
saves about two miles per gallon but that is still a savings. Councilman Brewer asked if we
are at a place where we could do a lot of our policing out of low cost vehicles that are not
involved in police chases. Ms. Schleicher said the remaining question is if the electric vehicles
have the voltage to support the electronic systems that the police cars have. Councilman
Brown asked if putting officers on motorcycles had been discussed since some already have
personal bikes. Ms. Schleicher said the question is if a motorcycle officer makes an arrest
then he has to call another vehicle to transport the other person. Councilman Brown said he
thinks they call for back up before making arrests anyway so why couldn’t a motorcycle
officer call for a patrol car as back up.
Parking for B & B’s in C1: Councilman Brown said this has been done in the past. Councilman
Smith said as long as everyone understands what is being required from the 17th Street Inn,
and only in the C1 district where there is no parking. He said they would get to purchase
parking passes for each room which would then be put on something that could be displayed
in the front windshield for use by the Inn patrons. Mayor Buelterman said he wants to make
sure this is clear to the staff.
Consideration of Appointment of Denise Woodard as Deputy Clerk.
Mayor Buelterman adjourned the Consent Agenda meeting.
Opening Ceremonies
Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of City Council to order at 7:00pm. Those in attendance
at the Consent Agenda were also in attendance for the regular meeting. The Invocation was given by
Councilman Smith followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Mayor Buelterman presented a framed photo of the renourished beach to Lou Off, Chairman of the
Beach Task Force. He said it was a small token of the many hours of work Mr. Off gives to the City and his
dedication to the Task Force and Beach Renourishment. He also thanked the other members of the Beach
Task Force for their time and dedication.
Mr. Off said it is definitely a team effort between the Federal, State, County, Former and Present City
Council, DNR, GPA and Corps of Engineers. He said his reward is seeing the beach because they have
worked on it since 2002. He said the second meeting he attended former Mayor Parker said “hey you’re
in charge”. He said it has been a growing experience and he has met a lot of people.
Consideration of approval for minutes of the regular meetings of the City Council
The following correction was noted for the minutes of 2/12/09. The Motion by Paul Wolff was read as
follows: Councilman Wolff restated and amended his motion to add: 1) No access on 3rd Street, 2) All
parking areas and spaces must be approved permeable materials, 3) No light intrusion greater than 1 foot
candlelight at property lines on either side, 4) Require vegetation buffer to be extended the length of 3rd
& Lovell Ave. Councilman Brown seconded the amended motion and the motion carried. The vote was
unanimous.
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A Motion to approve the minutes with the noted corrections was made by Councilman Paul Wolff.
Mayor pro tem Wanda Doyle seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Citizens to be heard
Julia Pearce made a presentation to council on her pending medical mission trip to Africa. She
requested council allow her to place a container to collect needed eyeglasses to take to the people of the
village she would be visiting. She expressed gratitude to everyone that has contributed to her mission
trips in the past.
A Motion was made by Councilman Smith to allow Julia Pearce to place a container in City Hall for
eyeglasses as requested. Councilman Wolff seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman gave a status update on the Public Safety Facility location that was discussed by an
Ad Hoc Committee with a recommendation being given to council last year. He acknowledged the
presence of County Commissioner Pat Farrell and said SPLOST money was designated to be spent on this
facility but the location has to be determined in order to move forward with obtaining the funds from
Chatham County. He said this will be the first of two meetings to gain public input. He said the two
locations being considered are: The Old School close to where the Fire House is located and on Van Horne
close to the present location of the Police Department.
Henry Levy said he was on the Public Safety Committee and there were four of them that thought the
facility should go in the back corner of Memorial Park. He said there were several reasons for this with
one being to have fire and police together particularly to allow communication to be used together along
with offices and meetings. He said it would also make the police department more public.
Harvey Ferrelle said personally to him a park is a park and that is what we have here is a beautiful park
in Memorial Park. He said the present location of the Police Department is a perfect location because it
has served us for many years and it is out of the way of the public. He said Memorial Park is Historic and
has a lot of history behind it and disrupting that history might not be something we want to consider.
Mary McCracken agreed with Mr. Ferrelle and said Memorial Park has the children’s playground, the
old school, the gym and the cemetery and she feels we may have it to compact by using every bit of
space. She said the other location has area to expand and they could do a beautiful job.
Mayor Buelterman asked for Ms. Schleicher to put a notice on the cable channel announcing another
public input meeting during the 2nd council meeting in March.
Commissioner Pat Farrell said it is his understanding that they are estimating the first two years of the
current SPLOST period will be dedicated solely to expanding the county jail because of overcrowding and
it has been for years. He said as soon as that is taken care of then the other projects will fall in line.
Consideration of Consent Agenda
A Motion was made by Councilman Wolff to approve the Consent Agenda, Mayor pro tem Doyle
seconded. The vote was unanimous.
Consideration of Department Head Reports
Major Case said the Police Department delivered a single page survey to all sixty three residents
of Lewis Street to determine the need for a speed bump. He said forty six responses were received which
makes 73%. He said out of ninety four drivers surveyed, fifty eight were in favor of one or more speed
bumps and thirty six were against which makes 62% in favor and 38% against. Mayor Buelterman asked if
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the police department had put out speed monitors on Lewis. Major Case said yes they had. He said it was
in place for eleven days in June of 2008 and counted 4, 635 cars passing both directions. He said the
average speed was 19.5mph which is just below the limit but 48% of all the cars were in excess of the
posted speed limit. He said the highest speed recorded was 58.8mph but he thinks that is a false reading
because two cars passing simultaneously can give false readings.
Mayor Buelterman asked if a speed bump is justified. Major Case said it would slow people down
but they don’t like speed bumps on public streets because they are very annoying and force people
obeying the speed limit to slow down as well along with being a problem for emergency vehicles. He said
there are four existing speed bumps at various places on the island and council should pay close attention
to the results of the survey because he thinks the people want them. He said he thinks more than one will
be needed because the Street is about a third of a mile long. Mayor Buelterman said the issue is always
the exact location of the speed bump.
Councilman Brown suggested posting children at play signs because of the reduced cost. Major
Case said they use their portable radar sign out there regularly and that tends to slow people down. Ms.
Schleicher said $5,000 cost per bump is a combination of signs and labor costs. She suggested if council
wants to consider this that it should be included in the budget for next year because there is no money in
the budget now.
Mayor Buelterman asked that the portable radar be placed up to show people how fast they are
going and then do another survey to determine if it helps and let council know the results. He said when
June rolls around they can consider it in the budget if the results show it is needed.
Consideration of Ordinances, Resolutions and Zoning Variances
Consideration of 1st Reading for Amendment to Code Section 58-107 (1) Hotel Motel Tax.
Mr. Hughes explained that once council implements the hotel motel tax they have to use it in
accordance with the permissible limits of state law. He said in order to get the ordinance consistent with
what the state law is now this needs to be on the books.
A Motion to approve was made by Councilman Wolff and seconded by Councilman Smith. The vote
was unanimous.
Consideration of 2nd Reading for Replacement of Land Development Code Article 16,
Stormwater Management.
A Motion to approve was made by Councilman Wolff and seconded by Mayor pro tem Doyle. The vote
was unanimous.
Consideration of 1st Reading to amend Code section 5-2-23, So as to permit the
discontinuance of Solid Waste Services to units that are unoccupied due to foreclosure.
Ms. Schleicher requested to have flexibility to discontinue garbage services for houses that are in
foreclosure and are empty. She said most likely we won’t be able to collect on that garbage service
anyway. She said they would coordinate this step with wastepro to be able to remove the container and
get credit on our invoices.
A Motion to approve was made by Councilman Wolff and seconded by Councilman Brown.
Councilman Brown asked if there was a way to police this to make sure the properties going into
foreclosure were not being rented. Ms. Schleicher said she would work with Mr. Hughes to tweak the
language to require the house to be unoccupied and they will police this. Councilman Brewer asked why
we would want to help the bank’s out that would be holding the mortgage on a foreclosed property. Ms.
Schleicher said most often we are unable to collect this money and she was approached by a property
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owner struggling with the foreclosure process and the property could not be rented because of being in
the process with the bank. Mr. Brown explained that under foreclosure the water and sewer bill would
still be under the owners name and does not change to the banks name until foreclosure is executed. He
said Ms. Schleicher would have to create a policy for policing these properties to make sure they are not
being rented short term during this process. Ms. Schleicher said they would create an SOP.
Mr. Wolff suggested that Ms. Schleicher have staff prepare the documents outlining the
procedures for council’s review when this comes back for second reading.
The vote was unanimous.
Consideration of Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures
Consideration of Proposals for Federal Lobbying Services for the City of Tybee Island. RFP
2009-601 Budget Line Item #100-6125-52-1250.
Mayor Buelterman asked that this item be postponed until the 1st meeting in March in order to
allow further review.
City Managers Report
Consideration of Action Plan for Bicycle Friendly Communities. Also recommendation the city
proclaim May 11-15, 2009 as “Bicycle to Work on Tybee Island Week” encouraging the use of
bicycles by those who work on Tybee to use a bicycle for transportation to work that week.
Mayor pro tem Doyle asked if Ms. Schleicher was planning on distributing the maps to vacation
rental managers to give to visitors. Ms. Schleicher said they are considering making the brochure
available online so that vacation rentals could download it and add their own information to it. She said
the city could look for sponsorships but she was initially looking at only printing about 200 and then
making it available to be downloaded.
Councilman Wolff complimented Ms. Schleicher and staff on getting this moving forward.
A Motion to approve authorizing Ms. Schleicher to move forward with the action plan was made by
Councilman Wolff and seconded by Mayor pro tem Doyle.
Councilman Wolff amended his motion to include Bike Week. The vote was unanimous.
Councilman Smith expressed appreciation to Frank Drudi for his design work on the stencil.
Council, Officials and City Attorney Considerations & Comments
Mayor Buelterman said he received a lot of calls over the holidays from Tybee citizens upset
because of the amount of damage done to trees due to trimming by Georgia Power. Mr. Hughes
explained that Georgia Power has a franchise agreement that allows them pretty broad rights. He said this
happens every three or four years and we are not the only community that complains but they have firm
ground to stand on. He said other than trying to coax them through the political process there is little we
can do. He said they have legitimate concerns about storm damage taking out power creating more
trouble for them along with potential fires and that sort of thing.
Mayor pro tem Doyle said it looks as if they do not consider the form of the tree and they just
start hacking on it with a chainsaw. She asked if we had talked to them about how much we love our
trees and wanting them to look better than that.
Mayor Buelterman said he will contact Georgia Power and request a representative attend the
next council work shop to answer questions and concerns.
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Consideration of Opening Fifth Ave- Wyman Sharpe
Mr. Hughes said we are talking about lots 4, 5 and 6 and how to access those. He said the
portion of Fifth Avenue that is presently owned by the city is what he is asking to intrude on. He said he
would like for the city to get quit claims for any further interest in Fifth Ave. for road purposes from that
side to at least avoid this coming back in this area again.
Councilman Wolff said lot 6 is obviously tidally impacted and as far as lots 4 and 5 are concerned,
by the time you take the twenty five foot buffer it looks as though a good 50 % of those lots are inside
that buffer. He said he doesn’t think they are buildable and lot 6 is definitely not buildable because of its
elevation.
Councilman Brown said these lots are developable. He said if you have 900 feet to build on that’s
a 900 square foot footprint. He said lots 4 and 5 have setbacks marked and it leaves a good portion of
those lots to built on. He said if he is asking to get a road east of the big oak tree it’s probably marsh.
Mr. Hughes said he is not certain but since it will be in the buffer on the eastern side, Mr. Sharpe
will probably have to get a DNR permit after he gets permission here.
Mayor pro tem Doyle said the request right now is to put rocks on the existing driveway. Mr.
Hughes said yes and because the lower portion of it gets into what is still city owned right of way, he has
to request it.
A Motion to approve as requested, white rock on what is depicted as an existing road and the City quit
claim any future access to that road. Mayor pro tem Doyle seconded.
Mr. Hughes restated the motion was to approve the request for opening that portion of Fifth Ave. that
is City Property as depicted on the plat and to obtain a quit claim deed for any interest of those properties
in further request to open or obtain Fifth Ave.
Mayor Buelterman requested Councilman Brown and Mayor pro tem Doyle withdraw their
motions in order to allow a citizen to speak to this.
Councilman Brown withdrew his motion, Mayor pro tem Doyle withdrew her second.
The speaker asked why this was being done piece meal instead of all at once.
A Motion by Councilman Brown was made to approve the request for opening that portion of Fifth
Ave. that is City Property as depicted on the plat and to obtain a quit claim deed for any interest of those
properties in further request to open or obtain Fifth Ave and seconded by Mayor pro tem Doyle. The vote
was Brown, Doyle, Brewer, Crone and Smith in favor and Wolff opposed.
Consideration of Ethics Training
Mr. Hughes said council expressed desire to get ethics training on our ordinance for Elected
Officials and the various bodies appointed by council. He said the training was to be provided by either
GMA or the Chapman group but the consensus seemed to want him to do it. He said he doesn’t think that
is a good idea for several reasons. He said it is always better to get independent advice on something like
that and he could probably participate and get the training as well. He explained that Ms. Schleicher had
contacted GMA and their proposal for $1,400 would allow participants to get credit for the training
received. He said Chapman and Associates proposal was for $1,200.
Councilman Wolff asked if there would be credit given if an Ethics training class has already been
taken with GMA. Ms. Schleicher said no credit would be given but they will incorporate our ordinance into
the curriculum.
A Motion by Councilman Smith to direct staff to bring back a proposal from GMA to do Ethics training
was seconded by Mayor pro tem Doyle.
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Councilman Crone asked if this training was for all employees of the city. Mr. Hughes responded
no but would only train 20 people and would cost $70 for each additional person. He said he thought
they were talking about Elected Officials and appointed committee and commission members.
Councilman Brewer said he was keen to get different types of input from different directions and
using Chapman coming out of the business ethics was a plus in his opinion. He said keeping it pure and
with a non-governmental approach was important to him.
Councilman Smith said this does not cover employees of the city because employees of the city
are not covered under our ethics ordinance. Mr. Hughes said correct they are covered under personnel
policies.
Councilman Brown expressed concern over continuing with this considering the cost involved.
Mayor Buelterman said why don’t we get the cost back and then make that decision once we figured out
what the cost will be.
Mayor pro tem Doyle asked if we could get an outline of what each one will do in order to
establish the difference in proposals and make a comparison.
The motion failed with Smith and Wolff voting in favor and Brewer, Brown, Crone and Doyle voting in
opposition.
A Motion by Councilman Brewer to get proposals from both GMA and The Chapman Group to provide
an Ethics Training Program for Tybee Island was seconded by Councilman Brown. The vote was
unanimous.
Adjournment
A Motion to adjourn was made by Councilman Wolff and seconded by Mayor pro tem Doyle. The vote
was unanimous.
_____________________________________________________
Mayor Jason Buelterman
______________________________________________________
Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council
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