HomeMy Public PortalAbout19741203SCMeeting1
9.
Savannah Beach, Georgia
December 3, 1974
A Special Meeting of Savannah Beach City Council was held
this evening at 7 :00 P.M. for the following purposes:
1. Explaining to the property owners involved the
necessity of obtaining sewer easements from
them in cases where it is proposed to run the
new sewer lines adjacent to their property.
2. To consider a proposal to amend the Town Charter
in regard to the election of Mayor and Councilmen.
The meeting was presided over by Mayor Pro -tem Ernest
Hosti in the absence of Mayor Counihan. A quorum consisting of
the following councilmen was present: Richard DeLoach, John
Wylly, Joseph Agnew and James Bond.
The meeting was opened for business by Mayor Pro -tem
Hosti, who then called upon City Attorney Pinson for his comments
on the necessity of obtaining sewer easements from property owners
adjacent to certain streets down which our new sewers would run.
Mr. Pinson then explained the process we must go through
to get all of these easements signed, put the recording data on
them and take them over to the Court House and get them recorded
before the site certificate can be signed. It was brought out
that we need to secure about five more signed easements.
Council then took up the matter of considering a proposal
to amend the Town Charter in regard to the election of the Mayor
and City Council. Councilman ,Me Agnew informed Council that at the
time he was in Statesboro attending a recent seminar there, he
learned from some councilmen from other municipalities that they
elect their mayors for a four year term, one -half of the Council-
men for four year terms and the other half for two year terms and
by such a method an election was held every two years just to
elect one -half of the councilmen. In this way, he stated, you
didn't have everybody going out of office at one time. Mr. Agnew
stated that he felt such a system would be good for Savannah Beach
because it would give us a little smoother operation here and
probably cut down on some of the friction and fighting that we now
have. Mr. Agnew then requested City Attorney Pinson to explain the
procedure necessary to accomplish this.
City Attorney Pinson stated that first a Resolution was needed
authorizing the preparation of the amendment and the legislation that
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would be required. After that it would be necessary to take it
to the legislative delegation for the preparation and passage of
the necessary bill authorizing the referendum.
Councilman Agnew then made a motion that Savannah Beach
City Council take the necessary action to initiate this change in
our election system to provide for the election of our City
officials for a four year term with half the Council being elected
every two years. The motion was seconded by Councilman Wylly and
the question was then opened for discussion. Councilman Bond felt
like the reaction to this change would be similar to what we have
now or worse. He stated that it could result in a Council split
right down the middle, with the Mayor and three of the councilmen
holding the balance of power. Much discussion followed after which
Councilman Agnew amended his motion to state that for the 1976
election the top three vote getters among the Council would be
elected for a four year term; whereas, the fourth, fifth and sixth
men would be elected for two years. Councilman Wylly seconded the
motion as amended and it was unanimously carried.
Mayor Pro -tem Hosti informed Council that due to the worn -
out condition of most of our pick up trucks, he had gotten about
nine bids on two new ones. Those bids, he stated were in the
vicinity of $3,000.00 to $3,100.00, but he wanted to make a motion
to purchase two of these at a price not to exceed $3200.00, stating
this would give him a little leeway. He stated that he also wante':
the motion to show that this expenditure was to come from Revenue
Sharing Funds. This motion was seconded by Council Jim Bond. At
this point, Attorney Pinson raised a point of order. He stated
that since one Councilman and the Mayor were absent and since this .
was a Special Called Meeting for specific purposes and since the
truck bid was not one of the purposes and not on the agenda for
this Special Meeting, this action could be rescinded by either one
of them. However, Attorney Pinson stated that if Mr. Counihan and
Mr. Fahey are contacted and they ratify this action, this would be
a legal action. Mr. Hosti then called for a vote on the question
and the motion was unanimously carried.
This concluded the business for which the meeting was called
and it was, therefore, adjourned to the next regular or special
called meeting.
Clerk of Council