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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20100422CCMinutesApproved Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 1 of 16 20100422 City Council Minutes Mayor Buelterman called the Consent Agenda meeting to order at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Council Members present were Mayor pro tem Shirley Sessions, Wanda Doyle, Bill Garbett, Frank Schuman, Sr., Kathryn Williams and Paul Wolff. Also present were City Attorney Bubba Hughes, City Manager Diane Schleicher and Zoning Director Jonathan Lynn. Consideration of draft minutes for the regular meetings of the Tybee Island City Council. Council minutes for 4/08/2010 approval postponed. Mayor Buelterman listed the following items on the Consent Agenda: Proclamation: National Bike Month-May 2010 Proclamation: Bike to work week- May 09-13, 2010 Judy Miller-Appointed to Community Resource Committee Sandy Major- Appointment to Community Resource Committee Don Ernst- Appointment to Community Resource Committee Mallory Pearce-Appointment to Community Resource Committee Extend Deadline for Community Resource Committee applications Resolution to adopt Solid Waste Management Plan Application for Special Event Beer/Wine Alcohol License-June 5, 2010, Location: 10 Van Horne Ave, Applicant: Friends of Tybee Theater July Fireworks Contract with Falcon Fireworks –Cost $19,999.00 budget line item 100-4250-52- 2102 Approval of ETS Application to allow on-line payments for water billing and parking citations Employee of the Quarter procedures City Subcommittee for Parking City Council discussed the action item list with city manager Diane Schleicher. The following items were discussed: Wanda Doyle asked how many parking spaces we had picked up over the last two years and when we look at the ones we’ve gained do we also subtract the ones we’ve lost. Ms. Schleicher said the city is doing a comprehensive count but we’ve gained hundreds of spaces. We added parking by the Shrine Club, Police Station, Medical Center, Methodist Church, behind the shell station and we will be adding additional spaces. We’ve lost a handful of spaces at the IGA , 211 Butler, and due to wider driveways but due to the code change we are not losing as many as we were. Ms. Sessions said it would be helpful to have clear numbers due to the many business people that think the city is doing nothing about parking. They don’t acknowledge that the city is making progress because there are no actual numbers to share with them. Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 2 of 16 Kathryn Williams asked for an update on the enforcement of beach rules and the PR campaign the staff is working on. Ms. Schleicher said they will roll off the PR campaign next week. She said she wants a good photograph of litter that is contained and litter that is illegal to be included with the press release to show people a typical beach scene of what is legal and what is illegal. Ms. Sessions asked if the press release could contain something on cigarette butts. She said they just conducted a beach sweep that included about seventy students from area schools. They filled out the data cards listing the things they collected and in and around the dunes they collected over 5800 cigarette butts. She feels that kind of data should be included in the press release. She said there may be better numbers recorded by Tybee Beautification. Ms. Williams said Beautification has decided to use the data cards anytime there is a group that comes, in order to record specific data on what is being picked up. She asked if all of the officers had been trained in how to approach people and share information with them and ticketing if they were non compliant or belligerent. Ms. Schleicher said yes and there has been a lot of ticket writing. Ms. Williams asked if they were on bikes or on foot. Ms. Schleicher said they’ve been on foot but it depends on what the crowds are. She said some are on mules but a lot are on foot because that is how they are going to be able to write tickets. Ms. Doyle discussed the proposal for employee recognition and said the department heads had recommended recognizing an employee of the quarter. She said they are going to go back and make it retroactive and select two for the first and second quarter. She said in January they will select an employee of the year, choosing from the employees of the quarter. She said the selection committee would consist of Jason Buelterman, Diane Schleicher, Vivian Woods, Janice Elliott and a City Council member. Ms. Doyle requested to be the City Council member sitting on this committee. Ms. Sessions asked if this contained the same selection criteria as the one used several years ago. Ms. Doyle said yes part of it is but Janice did a lot of research on other cities. She said department heads can fill out this form but the committee makes the selection based on the forms submitted. Ms. Sessions stated it seems as if the previous employee of the month recognition was well received and wanted to know if there were a lot . Ms. Williams asked if the city had not been recognizing anyone recently. Ms. Doyle said no but she didn’t know why it had been stopped. Ms. Schleicher said it probably stopped in 2005 before she started working here. Ms. Doyle said in talking with Janice she believes it was because there were no guidelines in place and no committee. It got to the point where there was repetition. Mayor Buelterman asked if anyone on council would like to help him out as his proxy. Ms. Williams volunteered to help him out as needed. Ms. Doyle asked that a subcommittee on parking be selected due to the infrastructure committee being so successful. She said there have been informal meetings being conducted to discuss parking and this is not intended to take anything away from the Better Hometown program, they could continue with what they are doing and have Chantel bring the information to the parking subcommittee for consideration. She said the three council members participating in the informal meetings has been Paul, Bill and she. She said personally she would like to stay on the committee and also have Paul and Bill to stay on it if everyone on council agrees. Ms. Doyle said she met with some businesses this week that are interested and have come up with some solutions for short term parking issues for the season. She plans to discuss Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 3 of 16 them at the council retreat. She asked that a meeting be scheduled next week. Mr. Garbett asked if there would be by-laws and a resolution for this committee. Mayor Buelterman said they do not do that for the subcommittees on which three council members sit which consists of the Infrastructure Committee, Public safety Committee and this Parking Committee. He said it has worked out with just appointing the three council members to be on those committees. Mr. Paul Wolff proposed charging for parking in Memorial Park in order to help out the budget. He said the majority of people that come and use the park are not Tybee residents and the city has to maintain it. He said it is in the best interest of Tybee residents to get revenue anywhere we can. He suggested putting a pay and display meter in and not put ting in curb stops at the request of parking services personnel. He said he estimates about 100 spaces which would bring in revenue between $60,000 and $80,000 dollars. He would like this done before the season begins because we can use the money. He feels this will not affect anyone on the island because they have decals. Mr. Garbett expressed concern over allowing parking in the grassy areas. Mayor Buelterman said the grassy areas would not be included and only the area in the middle presently used for parking would be affected. Ms. Doyle said she has a hard time with this even though she is supposed to be the parking guru. She sees a lot of grandmothers like herself utilizing the park with their grandchildren and if they are from off the island, they will now have to pay for parking. She asked about people who rent the pavilion having to pay to park. Mayor Buelterman asked council to discuss this during the regular meeting. Mayor Buelterman adjourned the Consent Agenda. Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00pm. Those present at the Consent Agenda were also in attendance for the regular meeting. Susan Hill gave the invocation and everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Department head reports Chief Price-Tybee Police department submitted a written report and asked if there were any questions. Mayor Buelterman commended Chief Price on the good job done last weekend during Orange Crush in order to keep everyone safe. He said Chief Price brought in extra people and traffic was controlled without a lot of congestion. Chief Price said they made an adjustment for the roadblock that reduced the congestion and they have an even better idea for next year. He said on the road check during spring break they issued thirty citations for various offenses. He said there were twenty nine citations written on the beach. Ms. Sessions said she wanted to draw attention to the Chief’s report concerning the increase of vehicle traffic on the island. She said the report stated that they usually have around seven thousand cars on weekdays during the summer but the first week of April they had between ten thousand and thirteen thousand cars come onto the island every day. Mayor Buelterman also thanked the Chief for the department’s good job on issuing crosswalk citations even though they are not popular. Ms. Williams commended the Chief on all the training his staff has received and she asked about his Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 4 of 16 current staffing levels with the huge influx of people. Chief Price responded that they run between six to eight officers on the weekend evenings and beach patrol during the day. He said they have 118 arrests for this month alone. Ms. Sessions said the public safety committee asked Chief Price if he could submit a cost analysis on having two patrol officers on Tybrisa Street on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s to walk that area and be a presence there. George Reese-Water and Sewer department submitted a written report and asked if there were any questions. Mayor Buelterman announced that the reports are on the city’s website for public view. Wanda Doyle said his department was doing a good job. Ms. Williams pointed out how busy they’ve been with replacing the meters. Woody Hemphill-Rivers End Campground submitted a written report and said they had spent the majority of their third quarter getting ready for the fourth quarter. He said they are represented at all of the welcome centers on the interstates in Georgia. They have spent time going over their marketing plan. The pool is ready for another season of Y programming. He said they are working with the vendor to try to improve the return rate on the site evaluations. The season fee structure adopted April 1st is on the website. Ms. Doyle asked if we are any closer to getting the jet pay contract in place. Mr. Hughes said the problem with the contract is that it has Texas as the State in which disputes would be handled and he doesn’t think council has the power to agree to get sued in Texas. He said the problem is they don’t need us as badly as we need them. He said these things get signed all the time and work with no problem. He said he just wants to make sure council is aware that those clauses exist and then council can make the decision. Ms. Doyle asked if this could be put on the agenda soon. Mr. Hughes said yes but pay pal is another option. Mr. Hemphill said pay pal does not work with the software the campground uses. Ms. Sessions said maybe they could look at it and Mr. Hughes could advise them on the worst case scenarios in order to help them determine if they want to take those risks. Ms. Doyle requested it be listed on the agenda for the first meeting in May. Mr. Hemphill gave a summary of the quarterly financial report. Mr. Schuman asked if we were associated with KOA. Mr. Hemphill said no we are what is known as a Good Sam Park. Mr. Wolff commended Woody on increasing revenue while decreasing expenses. Mr. Hemphill attributed the increases to people in Georgia coming several times a year for shorter trips. He said the other component is our online reservations implemented in 2007 and has really begun to catch on. Mr. Wolff asked about the deposit requirements. Mr. Hemphill said basically you pay for one night as your security deposit. Joe Wilson-DPW submitted a written report to council. He stated his way of measuring the increase in people o n this island is by the amount of trash. He said they have finished the 10th Street crossover and will finish 9th Street this week. He said they modified the dune drainage fields at 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th in correlation to the 8th St. drain field permit. He said they have done a lot of stripping and are working to find additional parking spaces. He said there is a contractor on the beach tilling tonight and throughout this weekend as required as part of the beach renourishment and is for the sea turtles. He said they are renovating the Marine Science Center bathrooms and hope to be finished soon. He said putting a new Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 5 of 16 roof on the cafeteria added an extra twenty thousand dollar expense that he wasn’t expecting. He said his department is conducting more in house training through the public works association. Ms. Sessions asked if Joe could provide an estimate on what it cost to pick up people’s trash when they leave it. Mr. Wilson said in running some numbers this morning his estimate came to five hundred thousand dollars a year. Ms. Sessions asked if most of that money comes from our parking department. She said if people would help by picking up their trash then maybe the city could eventually consider reducing parking fees. Mr. Wilson said they pick up about thirty seven tons of debris after the July 5th celebration. Ms. Sessions noted the story about the whale that died and what was found in its stomach was largely beach debris. She thanked Joe for his departments work on picking up this debris. Ms. Williams said the estimate is probably low considering the amount of trash that has to be picked up off of Hwy 80. She said she appreciates what DPW is doing and hopes our PR campaign is going to get the word out and people will act more responsibly. Mr. Wilson said he appreciates the help and noted that after orange crush the city manager along with other department heads came out and helped pick up trash. Hillary Brodofsky-YMCA submitted a written report to council. She said they have summer camp coming up along with a kite boarding camp that they are able to offer this year. She said they will have surfing, swimming lessons and kayak camps along with aerobics. She said the seniors have been very busy and they have taken a lot of field trips to places like Keller’s Flea Market along with going to dinner and out to the movies. She said they went to see the last song. She said they are in the middle of softball and t- ball season. She said skate nights are done once a month and are doing very well. Water aerobics will start after Memorial Day and they are grateful for Woody’s staff being able to accommodate them again. They do thirty two aerobics classes weekly and have added kickboxing and palates. Teen Cuisine is going strong and they are in week three of the eight week sessions and they are doing a lot of things based around the food network challenges. In March of 2009 they had 803 members and right now they have 881 members. She said on May 1st they will be conducting a healthy kids day where there will be a free open house all weekend and half off the joiners fee. Mayor Buelterman thanked Hillary for everything the Y is doing. Chief Sasser-Fire Department submitted a written report and noted they have 41 members and 2 master firefighters filling the part time positions. During the first quarter they had a total of 36 calls. He said for the second quarter they’ve responded to 16 calls for the south end sandbar and the season has not begun. Captain Malone has received her certification qualifying her to teach first responders and she can do this on Tybee so it will be a big help. Ms. Sessions asked if Tybee’s fire department worked with CEMA’s CERT program. Chief Sasser said they work with the National CERT program. He said emergency management is working with the cert program. Ms. Sessions asked how it’s going. Chief Sasser said fairly well and the last meeting they had about 22 people attend. He said Jimmy attended the emergency crisis leadership for local officials hosted by the National League of Cities. He attended the GEMA training on preliminary assessment on damage and at the Mayor’s request contact public and private agencies about the table top exercise scheduled for July. Jimmy and Chief Sasser met with the director of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Reed. Mr. Reed was very impressed with Tybee’s storm surge indicators. He took pictures of the signs and was intending to add them to his power point presentation Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 6 of 16 for a conference scheduled for the Bahamas, using Tybee as an example of how serious it is to get information out to the public. Mayor Buelterman said he heard today that after seeing the signs at that conference, Tampa decided to put up 20 of them. Chief Sasser said Ocean Rescue started early this year and has recued two with one of them being a possible double drowning and they have pulled ten people off of the sandbar. Mayor Buelterman said it would be great if the local paper would do an article about the sandbar before the summer season begins. Chief Sasser said they read the signs and go right past them. Mr. Garbett suggested pictures posted out there with actual people that were rescued would be effective. Chief Sasser said they are doing everything they can think of to get people to listen. Ms. Williams suggested the City dredging a channel that would have water at all times and would deter people from crossing it to get to the sand bar. Chief Sasser outlined their procedures for monitoring the situations that occur. Ms. Sessions asked if Tybee could prohibit people going out there when the tide is low. Mr. Hughes said he thinks they would need permission from the DNR. Mr. Schuman said he makes a habit of going by the sandbar when he is in his boat because in just looking you can’t tell if there are people or seagulls out there. He said locals rescued seventeen people out there last year. Mary Hogan-Finance Department submitted a written report. She went through and highlighted the new items. In the accounting area we did the RFP for the bank. We have been preparing and submitting tax refunds to get refunded for any sales tax paid by our contractors. She said this quarter they have submitted $46,500 worth of refunds. They Prepared spreadsheets for past years’ water use in conjunction with Paul’s grant. She discovered the way finance charged the departments for energy was outdated and incorrect. She said council would see the changes in numbers in the proposed budget because the utility numbers will be changed. They are working on getting the Hotel/Motel taxes paid on time and are way ahead of last year. They have just finished the senior homestead exemption process that is done before April 1st of every year. She said Human Resources processed approximately 19 new hires, executed the spaghetti dinner; Janice is currently working on a prescription drug program at the request of the National League of Cities. She said the cards will be available to all citizens and will discount prescription drugs for people who have no other prescription coverage. She said out local pharmacy is participating and will accept the cards. This program cost nothing for the city or citizens to participate. Ms. Hogan said IT and Parking Services has been working very hard on getting the credit card issues resolved with the pay and display machines. She said in the meantime they integrated parking services software into the encode software that the city uses. She said finance has taken over a lot of the administrative duties that were once done by the parking department. IT has installed video cameras at the pavilion and South beach Sandbar. She said our website has 650 face book fans and 213 followers on twitter. They have four forums on the website. She said lost and found has been working well but is mostly being used for lost dogs. She said IT has been working on their budget along with cooperating in the Hurricane Exercise in which they play an integral part. Michael designed a bike map that is going to be given to the visitors’ center next month. Ms. Hogan said Frankie has retired from parking services after eighteen years of service and it has left everyone doing double time and overtime. They have hired seven part time seasonal folks to help with the leg work. Ms. Sessions asked what the process is for people who have lost or found a pet. Ms. Hogan said the lost and found is a part of our Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 7 of 16 website and is not on face book. Mr. Bodine said if you post a lost animal on our website it is automatically pushed to twitter and face book. He said our Animal Control officer is very good about posting found animals on the website. Mayor Buelterman requested that when time allows that Ms. Hogan review the campground financials because the March figures show where it actually made $15,000. Jonathan Lynn-Community Development Department submitted a written report and highlighted some of the accomplishments. He said Chantel attended training in the Capital and St. Mary’s as well as in Savannah. She hosted workshops here and the Third Thursday’s program that has been really successful. He said they had ten items for the Planning Commission done last quarter. Ms. Otto attended a GAZA Conference and also several flood proofing seminars’ along with achieving her Level 1-A Certification for Soil Erosion Inspector. They have generated $91,083 in business license fees for the first three quarters of this fiscal year and building permits is at almost $100,000. Mayor Buelterman thanked Mr. Lynn. Citizens to Be Heard (Please limit comments to 3 minutes, Maximum allowable time is 5 minutes) Bill Cannon-Tybee Beautification Association announced the Beach Sweep May 1, 2010. He said volunteers should meet at the pavilion at 9:00am for directions and supplies. The first 150 volunteers will receive t-shirts. Students are reminded to bring their community service forms. Drinks and snacks will be provided and free parking is available for all volunteers. He thanked Mayor, Council and City Staff for their continued support. Vicky Buck-Tybee Tourism Council thanked Chief Price and the Tybee Island Police Department for the great job they’ve done since our season has started way early. She said they are up about 500 visitors from this time last year. She thanked Mary Hogan and the finance department for being very diligent in collecting the Hotel/Motel taxes. Janice Rossiter, Manager of the Silver Shores Condominiums said she understands that on the agenda tonight is an application for a private parking lot across the street from that property. She shared the property owners concerns with council. She noted trash as one of the biggest concerns as well as additional vehicle traffic, possible tailgating and noise issues, risks of parking on the wrong side of the street and blocking access to their designated parking area. She requested that consideration be given for major problems that may arise before the annual review. She asked what recourse they have for resolving those issues. Anne Estes of Cedarwood spoke in favor of the GEFA Grant. She requested council hire someone to be the secretary of the Community Resource Committee. Consideration for the Consent Agenda Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 8 of 16 A Motion by Paul Wolff to approve the consent agenda was seconded by Kathryn Williams. The vote was unanimous. Consideration of Local Requests & Applications-Funding, Special Events, Alcohol License 1. Application for Private Parking Lot Permit: Address-11A Lovell Avenue Applicant: E.C. Burnsed. Mr. Wolff said when council simplified the process for private parking lots we said they didn’t have to get a formal survey but we needed a scaled drawing showing parking spaces and how traffic was going to get in and out and that isn’t included with this petition. I don’t think we can consider this application. Ms. Doyle asked how this petition could get to council without something more specific. I can’t tell where the parking spaces are and they are definitely not drawn to scale. Mayor Buelterman asked Ms. Schleicher what the process is going to be for reviewing these petitions to make sure they are compliant before coming to council. Mr. Lynn said this was confusion on his part because his understanding was that all they had to show was a survey and where the parking was going to go. Mr. Hughes said the ordinance that was finally adopted does not make reference to scale, but it does make reference to a survey or lot corner demonstration with a site plan of the locations showing the parking spaces and any structure. Mayor Buelterman suggested delaying this until they receive a more detailed drawing. Ms. Sessions asked who would be enforcing this ordinance. Mr. Lynn said City staff be it himself or the City Marshal or DPW could call them if someone is parked in the right of way. A Motion to continue until May 13, 2010 by Paul Wolff was seconded by Bill Garbett. The vote was unanimous. 2. Application for Private Parking Lot Permit: Address-17 Silver Avenue Applicant: Sondra Mills Ms. Sessions said her understanding is that the people who are going to be manning this will actually be at that location at all times and will be cognoscente of problems. Mr. Lynn said he assumes that there will be someone there because they could not collect the money otherwise. Ms. Schleicher said the council can always amend the ordinance to say that someone has to be present. Mr. Lynn suggested that staff go out and measure to determine a maximum number of parking spaces. Ms. Doyle said that is an excellent idea. Mayor Buelterman asked if council wanted to continue this one too. Ms. Sessions said she doesn’t believe that is fair just because council is deciding new rules. Mr. Garbett said these people did their homework and he recognizes the potential for a nuisance but he would motion to approve. Ms. Williams said going back to the potential for a nuisance, concerns stressed by the property manager and not just specific to this permit; but if a permit is granted for parking and there are problems that are not rectified by the permit holder. Can the city revoke the license or does it have to go through a whole year’s cycle? Mr. Hughes said if the license privilege is being abused, it can be revoked and they can be given notice of a hearing. He gave the example of cookouts and tailgating in Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 9 of 16 the parking lot which goes beyond the license and the city would give them a warning that it is not permissible under the permit. But if the violation continued then they could be given notice to show cause of why the license shouldn’t be revoked. Mr. Wolff asked that when the ordinance is rewritten that it include a scaled drawing delineating the parking spaces and show that they are 8 X 19 or up to code. Mayor Buelterman asked who the people would call on the weekends if there is a disturbance. Mr. Lynn said in all disturbance cases the Police Department should be called in order to file a report. Ms. Sessions recommended the neighbors and parking lot owners develop a relationship to begin with and that would take the city out of it. A Motion to approve by Bill Garbett was seconded by Shirley Sessions. The vote was Garbett, Sessions, Doyle, Williams and Wolff in favor and Schuman opposed. Consideration of Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures Soil Stabilization Specialists Amended Contract for drainage pipe at 1501 Chatham Ave. with Cost at $19,000(lump sum) and One year Labor and Material Warranty. Budget Line Item #100-4250-52-2102. Kathryn Williams recused herself due to being the owner of the property. Mr. Wolff said the infrastructure committee reviewed this and requested a warranty on materials and workmanship as well as reducing the price by eight hundred bucks. We have received the warranty which is as much as we can hope for. He said the contract is for a total lump sum of nineteen thousand dollars and it will hopefully do what is needed on that property to stabilize the effects of that drainpipe going through Kathryn’s yard. Ms. Doyle said what if it doesn’t work and there is no guarantee on it. Mr. Hughes said the best opinions we can get say that this should resolve the issues related to the pipe but there could be issues related to the seawall that this has nothing to do with, that would continue to cause problems but those would not be anything that we are responsible for. Mr. Wolff said we can’t exempt ourselves from future liability because it is something the city has done but this contract that we signed with Kathryn exempts us from past liability. Mr. Hughes said if you want the easement you’re going to be responsible for any damage caused by the easement. He said this has been going on for a number of years with claims that it was damaging the yard. There are disputed issues about that and the seawall allowing sand to migrate through when the water goes through. He said it would be expensive to find out and nobody would really know for sure. He said the best information we have from our engineer, the infrastructure committee and the contractor that is prepared to do it is; this should stabilize any problems related to the pipe. It won’t stop anything that is occurring due to lack of a filter on the seawall. He pointed out the agreement on soil stabilization is slightly different than the one that was approved previously. This does not have a phase four, which the other one had and is one reason the price dropped eight hundred dollars. He said that involved grouting along the seawall and that is no longer in it and the easement has to be changed to adapt to this so the vote should be contingent on the Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 10 of 16 easement as revised being executed. He doesn’t think that presents a problem. Mr. Wolff said Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung has reengineered phase three of the Fourteenth Street drainage project so that rather than going through the easement, it is going to bypass it completely and at that point they are just going to fill it and hopefully that will solve the problem for good because there won’t be anymore water going through Kathryn’s yard. Mr. Hughes said that will solve our problem. Mr. Wolff said yes that will take our liability away. A Motion by Paul Wolff to approve contingent on council’s approval of the revised easement was seconded by Frank Schuman. The vote was unanimous. City Manager’s Report - Diane Schleicher Review of proposed fee schedule revisions for Community Development Mr. Lynn said that after the last meeting they took the comments of council into consideration and reviewed their fee recommendations; for example having a tiered variance system and one of the changes would be for a residential house to have a $200 fee for any sort of variance. He said we would have to deal with a lot more details for a commercial variance. And the fees would be $200 for residential and $500 for Commercial variances. Mayor Buelterman asked what the present charges are. Mr. Lynn said $125 whether it is commercial or residential. He proposed a $2,000 fee for a cell tower which would be the cheapest fee in Chatham County. He recommended a $200 permit fee for an electrical permit where they now charge $25.00. He recommended a $150 fee for a residential pool because they do require drainage and soil erosion plans. Ms. Doyle asked if this is still necessary considering the increase in money from permit fees. Mr. Lynn said this is not a revenue generator but is a recovery of staff time. Ms. Doyle stated there is a lot of difference between a driveway and a patio but you propose to charge the same fee. Mr. Lynn said they did not have an existing established fee for driveways and patios so right now they are just charging a normal building permit fee. Mr. Lynn said separating them would be beneficial. Someone doing a minor patio for a residential home and the value didn’t exceed $500, there would be no charge. The charges would apply to larger scale patios and driveways. Ms. Doyle asked if Infrastructure was a new permit because it wasn’t on the previous list. Mr. Lynn said it is a new permit and it goes along with street cuts and the permit would essentially bond them from hurting any city property. Ms. Doyle asked if sign and banner permits were for someone putting one up on their building and not on the city’s banner poles. Mr. Lynn said the permit would be for private banners and use of the city banner poles would still be free of charge. Mayor Buelterman asked if the aid to construction fees were going into the zoning budget. Mr. Lynn said no those fees go into Water/Sewer budget. Mayor Buelterman said philosophically we are trying to balance out the amount of time that staff takes to oversee these permits and what it cost the city and we are trying to make the fees equal to the cost of the city. Mayor Buelterman asked if these proposed fees were intended to get us closer to what other Municipalities charge for similar services because we are so low. Mr. Lynn said that was correct. Ms. Williams said going back to what Ms. Doyle said about the Driveways and Patios, she doesn’t have the original proposed increases with her but she asked if the Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 11 of 16 permit fees had been dropped based on the fact that using the pervious materials is required by code in order to assist with storm water management. Mr. Lynn answered yes. Mr. Garbett said the fact that we do require the use of pervious materials has nothing to do with acquiring the permit which is what we are trying to cover. We are not trying to gouge people but we are trying to keep this office running efficiently. Ms. Williams said that was a good point but she thinks on a barrier island storm water management is critical. She said she would rather cut people slack in this one area for using pervious pavers. A Motion to approve as proposed by Paul Wolff was seconded by Kathryn Williams. The vote was Wolff, Williams, Doyle, Garbett and Schuman voting in favor and Sessions opposed. Council, Officials and City Attorney Considerations & Comments Wanda Doyle Guardhouse Dedication In Memory of Eddie Crone Ms. Doyle proposed that with all of Eddie’s hard work and everything that he put into the guardhouse such as keeping Cullen straight on a day to day basis as well as making demands and giving orders, that a plaque be placed preferably on the outside of the guard house saying “In honor of Ralph Eddie Crone, Tybee City Councilman from 2004 to 2009. Whose dedicated leadership made the rehabilitation of the Historic Fort Screven Guardhouse possible”. She said she would like to have a small reception once the plaque is done to dedicate it to him and place it on the building. She said she is considering having it on May 23rd which is a Sunday afternoon from 3 until 5. She said Mayor pro tem Shirley Sessions will be out of town but May is Historic Preservation Month so she thinks it would be fitting to try to get this plaque done during May. She said Eddie is missed greatly by many people across this island and his hard work and dedication does not need to go unnoticed. Mr. Wolff asked where the money will come from for this. Ms. Doyle said she meant to cover that and she has talked to Vivian about the small reception and will talk again in order to determine if there is money in the budget. Mr. Wolff said he doesn’t mind if they all have to pitch in but it would be nice if there is budget money somewhere to cover the expense. Ms. Doyle said she and Vivian would look at travel budgets in order to determine if there are leftover funds there and she will send an e-mail out to council to let them know. Mayor Buelterman said he was sure they could find the money somewhere and if not they could adjust the budget. Ms. Sessions said she has plans that can’t be changed but regarding the money she feels that everyone would be willing to contribute and the money won’t be a problem. She said this is a great opportunity to recognize a councilman and a lot of people don’t know that Eddie worked with Paul, Kathryn, Jason, Wanda and herself and he was at the guard house everyday and reported progress back to council constantly. She said at the time he was working really hard as well as driving Jan Fox crazy with the finance piece in order to make sure the money was there. She said it is a great occasion to say thank you and raise awareness to people who don’t know everything Eddie did. She said she supports this and will help with the effort to get the money if we do not have it in the budget. Mr. Cullen Chambers thanked Ms. Doyle for pursuing this and making sure that it happened. He said Eddie’s involvement with the Guard House Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 12 of 16 started long before the actual restoration. He met with us constantly to review the architectural selection. He met with the architect numerous times to insure that the community needs were met in the design work. He didn’t come here once a day but he came several times a day. He and Eddie had this competition going because no matter how early Cullen got there in the morning, Eddie was already there. He said without fail he always heard Eddie’s voice say “It’s about time you got here”. He said very often before the crew left for the day, Eddie was back to inspect the work. In fact he caught a couple of the workers goofing off and he let Cullen and the contractors know and those guys were gone. Eddie’s participation continued long after the guard house was finished. He said Eddie like Kathryn Williams went there on a daily basis to insure that DPW was doing what they needed to do to protect the city’s investment. This is a fitting tribute for Eddie Crone and this says a lot about our community because we set aside past differences and recognize citizens and elected officials alike that make Tybee Island, Tybee Island. Mayor Buelterman suggested a small photo of Eddie with a smile on his face be placed nearby so that tourist can see who he is. Ms. Sessions suggested one of the upright signs of Eddie waving would be appropriate. A Motion to approve by Wanda Doyle was seconded by Shirley Sessions. The vote was unanimous. Paul Wolff Installing pay and display meters and implementing parking fees for parking in Memorial Park Mayor Buelterman asked if Mr. Wolff would be willing to allow the parking committee to review this plan before council considers it. Mr. Wolff said if that is the will of council but the Better Hometown parking committee has talked about it at length and the general consensus was the sooner the better because we need to give a little notice before this goes into effect. He said conservatively if one hundred people use this parking lot in Memorial Park over ninety days for six hours a day it would be $81,000 in the city budget that we could sorely use. Ms. Williams said putting up the pay and display is not like we are putting up a lot of meters or doing the parking delineation so any necessary adjustment in the future could be easily accomplished. Mayor Buelterman asked if this wasn’t opening a … box because JC Park doesn’t have meters and there is the little lot next to his house that doesn’t have meters. He said the lot on cedarwood adjacent to the black box theater will be metered. Mayor Buelterman said he likes the idea of a van with ten people being able to pull in Memorial Park and not having to pay there. It is like the one little area of the island where you don’t have to worry about getting a ticket. Mr. Garbett said he thinks when someone reserves the pavilion they should have parking fees waived for that day or event but it seems perfectly valid to meter that space. Mr. Wolff said he doesn’t see people parking in JC Park and going to the beach all day as they do here. He said people using the pavilion would be encouraged to carpool if they are charged to park. It will help traffic and reduce our carbon footprint overall. We should encourage people to carpool when they come to the community development department to make their reservations. Ms. Sessions asked who utilized the parking area adjacent to the Fire Depart and YMCA. Ms. Schleicher said it is the lifeguards. Mr. Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 13 of 16 Schuman suggested temporary parking permits or a discount for people that rent the pavilion. Ms. Schleicher said they could do that if it is the will of council. Mayor Buelterman said logistically it would be hard to enforce and getting the passes to all the people showing up would be difficult and some would get tickets because they forgot. Ms. Williams suggested it could be done like the beach sweeps and when people come up they get their parking pass and are told to go put it on their dashboard. She said even with hundreds of people she rarely has someone come back with a parking ticket. She asked what it cost to rent the pavilion. Ms. Schleicher said its one hundred or one hundred and fifty for a non Tybee resident but it is free for Tybee residents. She said we could have a policy that you receive so many free passes if you rent the pavilion. If council would establish the number Karen could handle that. Ms. Sessions asked if this included the small parking area by the veterans’ monument. Mr. Wolff said that lot already says decal parking only. Ms. Doyle said there is no way to quantify the number of passes if there is an oyster roast that brings a hundred people from Savannah and Wilmington Island. She said this will be another headline about parking fines and us taking the one little quiet spot on the island. She said no matter who uses the parking at the park she is against charging them to park there. Ms. Sessions asked how many spaces are there. Mr. Wolff said he conservatively estimated 100. Ms. Williams said we charge people to use a public space and go to the beach and she doesn’t see the difference between those spaces and park spaces. She said it has been pointed out that parking is being used by people who are not using the park. She said there is a great deal of expenses to the city for maintaining the park during the summer. She said the grass has to be cut once a week and DPW empties trash all the time. Parking fees would help offset some of our cost and could conceivably open up more spaces for the people coming to the events in the park if we can eliminate beach goers from using it. A Motion to approve by Kathryn Williams was seconded by Paul Wolff. The vote was Williams, Wolff, Garbett and Schuman voting in favor and Sessions and Doyle opposed. Approval to Accept GEFA Grant Mr. Wolff said the contract template submitted last Friday is pretty flexible about what is going to be and whether it will be wind or solar power. He said Wayne Hildreath is going to give a presentation during the consent agenda on May 13th if it is okay with council. Specifically he will talk about what a wind turbine in the park would look like and how much power it would generate as well as addressing all the issues that have been brought up. He said a representative from GEFA called after the last meeting in order to comfort him and said it doesn’t have to be exactly as written as long as you are fulfilling the requirements of the grant. He said the essence will be weatherizing the buildings, retrofitting the lighting and putting motion controls on the lighting, occupancy sensors in the big rooms and installing a combination of Geo Thermal, solar and or wind to essentially do as much as we can to supply the buildings in the park with renewable energy and creating a loan fund. A Motion by Paul Wolff to accept the GEFA Grant contingent on Council’s approval of final contract which should be written by May 28, 2010 was seconded by Bill Garbett. Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 14 of 16 Mayor Buelterman said this will not cost Tybee anything. Mr. Wolff said it does require staff time but that can be paid from the grant up to a certain percentage. Mayor Buelterman asked if this locked us into a wind turbine over 35 feet high. Mr. Wolff said it does not. Ms. Sessions asked if staff involved in implementing and managing the grant understand what they are committing to and do they think they can do it. Ms. Schleicher said the webinar was very helpful and they feel better now and Bubba, Mary, Jonathan and she feel they have a better understanding of their roles and how to develop the RFPs and what kind of requirements they need to do in the RFPs with the contractor because of the Davis, Bacon Act as well as the recording requirements. Ms. Sessions said the people that issue the grants have people on staff that audit the grants long after the deadlines have passed and if the money isn’t spent according to the grant, the city or whoever the grantee is has to reimburse those expenses. She wants to make sure their staff understands those implications and consequences of not being aware of managing that grant. Ms. Doyle said she was not sure the city should be in the home improvement loan business because that is what this sounds like. How many cities are in the home improvement loan business? Mr. Wolff said there are seventeen states that adopted programs similar to this whereby a city or county will lend residents or businesses money to do energy efficiency upgrades or installations on their property and allow them to pay it back through their property taxes or a more conventional structure over a period of time at a low interest rate. He said Savannah is looking at something similar to this right now. It is not uncommon; it just hasn’t been around that long. City’s and Counties are realizing the more they can do to help reduce the carbon footprints of their communities is a good thing and if they can help the residents do improvements by giving them the upfront money and advertising what they save on electric bills, it is a win, win. Ms. Doyle asked if California was one of the states because they are in bankruptcy right now. Mr. Wolff said California is one of the states but that is not why they are in bankruptcy. Mayor Buelterman said in 2014 if the city realizes a savings of $50,000 as a result of some of these things is that the money they use for a loan. Mr. Wolff said they have five years to roll over all the money they save on electricity on the seven buildings in the park, into a revolving loan fund that remains internal for up to five years. At the end of five years we roll that money into a fund that we open up to residents and businesses. If we take the park completely off the grid based on our 2008 electricity savings it will be in excess of sixty three thousand dollars a year for the first several years. He said he scaled it up over several years with a 30, 40 and 60% reduction over five years and how much that will save when we are done and the renewable systems are in place. Mayor Buelterman said the money budgeted now for utilities would still have to be budgeted in order to create the loan fund. Mr. Wolff said that would just be the money we are saving on electricity because we are doing the improvement with GEFA money. Mr. Wolff said he proposed charging one to three percent interest or enough interest to cover the cost of the loan fund. Mayor Buelterman asked how long the revolving loan fund would stay open. Mr. Wolff said twenty years from the five years if that is the will of council. He said if a future council decides they don’t want to do this then we cap the revolving loan fund at the original three hundred thousand dollars and transfer the savings into a separate fund that won’t be subject to the requirements. Mayor Buelterman asked if all of these details will be in the contract. Mr. Wolff said absolutely. Ms. Sessions asked who would be accountable for this loan in ten years. She said it would be the City Manager or Mr. Lynn. Mr. Lynn said he believes any lawsuit goes after the highest Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 15 of 16 elected official. Ms. Schleicher said she would forward the webinar to council when it is available. Mr. Wolff said the legislation that he helped author has just passed the house and the senate and is going to the governor and will authorize city and counties to use authorities to do weatherization loans and hopefully there will be a constitutional amendment that will allow them to put it under the property tax bills. He said the advantage is the homeowner gets the money up front because everyone cannot afford thirty thousand dollars to put solar panels on their house, completely redo doors and windows or insulate their house so they may not do it because maybe they are going to sell the home in six or seven years. The city is taking the guess work out by saying as long as you’re in the house your paying an amortized cost that is based on what you are saving in electricity. He said the loan goes to the property and not the property owner and is paid back with a voluntary milage increase. If the legislation passes next session we will be able to declare Tybee an energy enterprise zone and say everyone on the island qualifies for this program on a voluntary basis and it will not affect anyone’s taxes except the ones that use it. He said the zoning department will do energy audits before loans are made and they will inspect the work to make sure it is done properly to accomplish the goals. The property owner is going to sign an agreement saying he is going to reduce his energy use by a fixed percentage such as twenty or thirty percent, whatever works. There will be continued monitoring of the electric bills for the prior twelve months and the next twelve months to insure that goal is met. There will be staff time involved but it will be covered in the grant. Ms. Williams said the grant paperwork that Paul sent did say that there were fifty seven of these grants and they are going to governmental agencies. She said this is not a totally unique situation and is a good opportunity. She asked if the state selling off GEFA will impact this. Mr. Wolff said just as we will have a commitment to conform to the ARRA guidelines, the state has a commitment to conform to those guidelines and this money is federal money in a state fund. He said the total is $13,300,000 and he has confirmation in writing from GEFA that it can’t be touched and is secure and we will be reimbursed within thirty days of submission of documentation of how we spent the money and proof that we spent it according to the terms of the grant. He said electricity is going no where but up and if we put the park on as much renewable energy as possible we will actually stabilize the expenses of running all of these buildings. Ms. Williams suggested allowing the audit committee to get involved so that we have two sets of eyes looking at it to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. She suggested that Bill could address that with council’s approval as the audit committee liaison. Mr. Garbett said he has expressed concerns with certain details of this grant and has questions about what we would actually spend the money on but on the other hand this is a large piece of money that will go to directly benefit the city by upgrading the infrastructure and improving the utilities. He said our return on this is infinite because we are not spending anything. We need to accept it and make it clear this grant is with the city and not with Paul. The vote was Wolff, Garbett, Sessions, Schuman and Williams in favor and Doyle opposed. Executive Session A Motion by Paul Wolff to go into Executive Session to discuss, Personnel, Litigation and Real Estate Acquisition, was seconded by Frank Schuman. The vote was unanimous. Minutes prepared 05/9/10vw Page 16 of 16 A Motion by Paul Wolff to end Executive Session was seconded by Kathryn Williams. The vote was unanimous. Adjournment A Motion by Paul Wolff to adjourn was seconded by Frank Schuman. The vote was unanimous. ________________________________ Jason Buelterman, Mayor ________________________________ Vivian O. Woods, Clerk of Council