City Council

CITY OF EUHARLEE REVISED CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA FEBRUARY 16, 2021 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Campground Discussion - Steve Gray NEW BUSINESS 1. Street Evaluations Leeroy Shepherd 2. Egg Hunt/ Food Truck Friday Discussion Katie Gobbi 3. Public Works Equipment Request Seth Gobbi 4. Osborne Park Becky Pruitt 5. Code Enforcement Reactive or Proactive Approach James Stephens 6. School Zone Cameras Chief Jody Matthews 7. Country Store Lease Discussion Greg Free  CITY OF EUHARLEE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 16, 2021 Mayor Steve Worthington called the meeting to order. A prayer was led by Charles Reese and followed with the Pledge of Allegiance. The following were present Mayor Steve Worthington, Council Members Tim Abbott, David Duncan, Greg Free, Joe Turner and City Manager James Stephens. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Campground Discussion- Steve Gray Mayor Steve Worthington stated the campground discussion is something they have been talking about for some time. It is nothing written in stone and they have not decided to go forward with it. Planning and Zoning Commission have been working on it diligently. He invited Steve Gray up to make the presentation. Steve Gray, member of the Planning and Zoning Commission presented information about the campground on the 17-acre city owned property. He stated the Planning and Zoning Commission had been working on it for some time. He provided council with a page with 10-bullets outlining(attached) the steps for the Eric Smithey Campground with a projected date of May 2021.The questions have been asked, what are they going to do and how soon will they open. The presentation was a proposal for what they believe they can do. The objective that he came up with he called ERIC which stands for the following: Enhancement - Bullet #3 & Bullet #5 Mulch campsites, parking area and property perimeter and fallen trees in the parking area and to use Georgia Forestry Commission to install control line and do fuel reduction by fire with local assistance. Recreational - What are they doing recreationally using the river to get people to come to Euharlee? The campground is one thing. Interest - What are they doing interesting for people to stop and stay in the city of Euharlee? By putting the campground in they will have people spending the night in Euharlee and hopefully they will use the vendors. Camping - Everybody loves camping. The reasons above are why they believe the proposal presented will work. He referred to the bullets as he further discussed the proposal and discussed in detail. He stated that he and Eric Smithey met with contractors to see if the items they came up with were durable and the prices were accurate. He also provided council with a map of the property. He pointed out the location of the parking areas, porta potties and fire ranges. The option for the porta potties could be for 6-months or a year. The total projected cost for the information discussed came to $18,000. They continued to discuss the process in detail step by step and did not discuss any other phases of the campground plans. Council Member David Duncan asked if there will be 2 or 3 porta potties. Mr. Gray stated 2 regular and 1 handicapped. Council Member Duncan asked about the ramp with steps and wanted to know if they had spoken with core of engineers. Mr. Gray said the ramps will not be on the river. Council Member Tim Abbott stated there is plenty access up and down the river and the core of engineers knows exactly the requirements. He stated it was a well laid out plan how honorable and respectful Mr. Gray’s heading the Eric Smithey Campground. He said they are not blazing any new trails but trying to establish something in Euharlee that the citizens and the people who come there can enjoy more than they already enjoy. Once the core of engineers is contacted, they have been through this rodeo before, and will know exactly what is right or wrong. He said good job. Council Member Free asked if the poles for the ramp will be concreted. Mr. Gray said as natural as possible. It may have aluminum steps to help get up the bank without a struggle. Council Member Free asked how far is the ramp from the river. Mr. Gray stated 200 to 250 feet from the river. Council Member Turner said the ramp is near the rocks and he doesn't think people will want to drag the canoe across the rocks. The only point he wanted to make by taking a series of pictures and sharing the location on the pictures, because they will have to get in touch with the core of engineer before they even scratch the bank, the river, the creek or anything. He showed the pictures to make the point of the core of engineers. Mr. Stephens asked for confirmation the proposal does nothing within a 100-feet along the river bank. The ramp will be on the Euharlee creek and they will reach out to the core of engineers. Mayor Steve Worthington stated they were there to hear the plan and not act on it. Before he would act on it, and the four of them could override him, there will be at least 2 Public Hearings. He will ask Planning and Zoning to have at least 1 or 2 if needed. After the hearings they will present to Council based on the Public Hearings. Then the Council will have a Public Hearing. It will not start tomorrow. They are correct, you will have the core of engineers, EPA and several more entities involved. There will need to be a total price projection. All they have is an estimate for information. There will be a lot of planning to go into this. They are spending taxpayers' money and he will make sure they get the most bangs for the buck. Don't let the cart come before the horse. He appreciated all the conversation. Council Member Tim Abbott stated it was a great presentation and all the things mentioned were not new. He suggested the council had not moved fast and it is not the first time it has been before the council and the city. The plan has been in place since 2017 and 2018 when developed and it is probably the closest, they have been. It's incumbent for the council to do something. They can vote no when it is time. He would ask the council to show something for the land they own, the 2 million dollars spent for the sewer system and to move a little faster than they are. He thinks it is a good plan. Eric started and Steve is bringing it home. NEW BUSINESS Street Evaluations - Leeroy Shepherd Leeroy Shepherd, Public Works Streets and Roads, gave a presentation on the streets and roads in the city of Euharlee. With the number of streets in Euharlee they are in good shape. They do have a few that need some attention. He and Mr. Stephens, City Manager went out and looked at them and have plans to move forward to repair them. Most of the streets are in subdivisions. Other than some minor repairs that need to be made the roads and streets are in pretty good shape. Council Member Joe Turner asked about re- striping the streets. Mr. Stephens said they have a price to re-mark Five Forks that was recently re- surfaced. They have received the 2021 LMIG funding just over $40,000. Mr. Shepherd have completed street evaluation forms and any of the council can call and make an appointment to review them or receive a copy. They were not asking them to do their work. The council might receive calls and get information from citizens that do not call the office directly. They do have streets that need striping. After the decision is made on what they will use the current LMIG funds they will look at doing additional striping. He thinks Mr. Shepherd's recommendation would be to re-surface Covered Bridge Road. He did not recommend the ultra-static paint for striping that was used previously. It has already worn. Mr. Stephens asked if they receive any calls from citizens please share the information with city hall. Egg Hunt & Food Truck Friday Discussion- Katie Gobbi Katie Gobbi, Museum Director presented recommendations for public events held annually in the city of Euharlee. She provided council with a document with information about the Euharlee Egg Hunt and Food Truck Friday event. She shared the history of the egg hunt in Euharlee and the recommendations to cancel the event for 2021. The event was cancelled in 2019 due to rain and in 2020 due to COVID. The Special Events Committee worked hard last 2-years on the egg hunt and the event was not able to take place. The Special Events Committee made the recommendation to cancel the event for 2021 due to COVID. The event is hands-on and difficult to distance and increased school age transmission. Mitch Tripp, who is part of the Masonic Lodge and a large contributor to the egg hunt, said they would not participate this year. A representative from the school system suggested due to progress made, not to scale back protocols too fast. Bartow County still has a higher rate compared to some of the other school systems in the state. Mayor Steve Worthington concurred with the recommendation and appreciated it. Council Members Joe Turner and David Duncan also agreed with the recommendation. Council Member Greg Free said there is a lot data that gets thrown around from million different sources and one can believe about 10% of it. He said his wife is a school teacher in one of the largest school districts and they still send kids to class. There have been some exposed, even personally, so they need to be objective to the data. They can't take it to heart. It has been said that Cartersville Medical was at full capacity and he went to the ER a week ago and it was empty. COVID is a serious issue and is never going away. His viewpoint, they can't disappear with it and people will go somewhere else. They need to be careful and cautious. He works for a large company and they have protocols to keep everyone safe. It comes down to how you manage the event. Council Member Tim Abbott asked about the history of the Egg Hunt. He also shared does it always have to be an all or nothing; it made sense in the first year of COVID. Council Member David Duncan stated the Covered Bridge Players were the first to start the egg hunt and years later the Euharlee police department hosted the event. Currently the special events committee plans for the egg hunt. City Manager James Stephens stated it is a great event but is not a city budgeted event. He received guidance from council to cancel the event. Ms. Gobbi shared information on Food Truck Friday. The events are held the 2nd Friday of each month starting in April - September. The event was cancelled one year due to the sewer project and last year due to COVID-19. It is a great event. They have discussed the only way to prevent COVID-19 is to not hold events. However, due to Food Truck Friday being an outdoor event and less active as the egg hunt the recommendation was to postpone until June 2021, implement social distancing and other mitigation efforts. They will continue to monitor community transmission; school will be out of session and there will be a higher vaccination rate specifically for the typical audience 65 and under. It will be overall safer. In the month of April, Food Truck Friday would be held on the last day of spring break which can mean less or more people, plus people have been traveling which could create a higher risk for transmission. In May, there is graduation, end of year celebrations and gatherings which also is a risk for higher transmission. With the new variance, it will give time to monitor if the right mitigation is in place. They continued the discussion about the event’s activities, food vendors, mitigation and protocols. Council Member Tim Abbott said thank you for all the extra thoughts, efforts and extra work in order to try to get back to some of the normalcy Council Member Greg Free talked about. He was glad to see Food Truck Friday, the recommendation to start in June but he would like to go a month earlier. He thinks people are ready to go if they cancelled the egg hunt. He is not about putting rules in place that can't be enforced and you legally can’t force people to do; put rules in place but not something that can't be enforced. Mr. Stephens stated they were trying to comply with the Governor's executive orders, which may not be legally enforceable. By the Georgia code, the city is an extension of the state government as a local government. It's complicated. He originally did not keep the boat ramp opened because of the items provided by the Governor's Executive Orders. Council Member Greg Free said he had 17 responses on Facebook if people would support Food Truck Friday. There was not one that said no. He thinks they all agree that it is something the town needs. If people are not comfortable going, they shouldn't go. He appreciated the hard work. Mr. Stephens needed a consensus from council on when to start the Food Truck Friday events. Mayor Steve Worthington said he thinks they should stick with the recommendation for the month of June. They cancelled the Mardi gras, $100 million due to COVID. Council Member Abbott recommended May. Council Member Free recommended May and said if the ball tournaments are not cancelled, they can't cancel Food Truck Friday and he felt strongly about it. Council Member Joe Turner stated Food Truck Friday’s have been schedule on that 2nd Friday for the last 7 to 8 years. Changing the date will make it harder on Mrs. Gobbi to get stuff out. Ms. Gobbi stated the only reservation with that; all of the branding on the signs has the 2nd Friday. It was cheaper than getting them printer every month. They continued the discussion about the cost of the event, the date to start, as well as, where the people travel from to attend the event. Mr. Stephens told Ms. Gobbi to prepare for a May - September season unless there is an objection. Mayor Steve Worthington stated he was not for May. Council Member Duncan said he did not have a problem going in May, but he trusted the recommendation for June. Mr. Stephens said the June recommendation was based on time for the vaccine to get throughout the community and school season come to a conclusion. The May 14th date is so close to the end of the school year, he was not overly uncomfortable with May. They will not have an April event and it will be back on the March agenda for a vote. Public Works Equipment Request Seth Gobbi, Public Works Supervisor presented council with documentation of equipment he wanted to purchase for the department. The following was submitted: • 725K Grasshopper 61 " - $9,850. This is the exact same model they use now that has blown a hydraulic pump which will cost $1,350 to replace. The current mower is 5-years old and has 1,152 hours on it. The drive shaft was replaced last year and hydraulic pump has just gone out. They are looking at a significant overhaul for the equipment. • Prowler - Heavy Duty Swing Arm Mower - $7,345. - This mower will fit on the front of the skid steer. They will be able to go around the trail and trim high areas. They can use this to open up visibility at Frankie Harris Park. It was not the original piece of equipment desired. The skid steer had 530 hours in June 2019 and currently has 732 hours on it. They have replaced a lot of pieces on the equipment. They went with the other piece of equipment because of multiple attachments and to aid the wear on the skid steer. • John Deere - Martatch Attachments - $800 - This heavy piece of equipment will fit on the skid steer or the tractor.  • Harper DB3600 - $5,800 - Blower will fit on any tractor they have. It is a large debris blower. They can use this blower down Euharlee, routinely blow the debris at the Pioneer Cemetery and also increase the curb appeal to name a few. • Bush Hog - $2,900 - Tiller - Heavy Duty tiller they can use on side of the roads and at Joe Cowan Park. Mayor Steve Worthington asked for additional quotes for each piece of equipment. Mr. Gobbi said he would get additional quotes. Council Member Tim Abbott said he didn't know a lot about the equipment but he was trying to track if Mr. Gobbi was settling or this equipment does the job. He wanted to make sure they were not getting the bare minimum and two years later and have to do something again. Osborne Park - Becky Pruitt Becky Pruitt, Park & Recreation Assistant presented information about Osborne Park and the upgrades that are currently needed. She presented council with a document that included park information and improvements needed listed below: • Basketball Court; 2 Tennis Courts, Restroom Building; Electrical Box Building; large Baseball Field and Small Softball Field; Playground Area; 2 Swing Areas; 2 Slides Areas; Merry-go-round. • Woodland Middle uses Tennis Courts in the spring, large field for Baseball in spring and small field for softball in the fall. • The city uses baseball fields for rental for practice, overflow for tournaments. Generated about $8000 last year with tournaments and practices and trying to use the fields more. Upgrades Needed • Tennis Courts resurfaced $8,000-$10,000. • Playground Equipment Replace and Ground Re-leveled - $150,000. • Scoreboards - Donated by Coke and ordered. • Lighting at Both Baseball and Softball Fields - Currently no quote. • Scorekeepers Box- Seeking Donation - $7,000. • Fencing around both fields - $119,565. • Bathrooms & Concession need updating- Immediate Fix Replace Toilets - $800. • The Electrical Box Building need updated - Repair - $300. Council Member Greg Free asked if they got additional quotes for the fencing. Ms. Pruitt stated Bartow Fence was the only to come out and bid. Mayor Steve Worthington said the school requested to use the tennis courts at Osborne so they didn't have to cross the street to Joe Cowan Park. Council Member Free asked for an average of the overflow concession funds for the last 5 years. Ms. Pruitt estimated $8,000 based on her 3-year tenure. Council Member Tim Abbott asked the distance between Joe Cowan and Osborne Park. Ms. Pruitt said ¼ a mile. Council Member Abbott asked why a city their size would maintain 2 parks within ¼ a mile of each other. If the usage was so high, they could serve the number of people that come through, then they have a case, but to continue to maintain 2 parks and pour money in and they have prime property that could be perfect. It is a beautiful picture and they should pay attention to what the vision is for the future. James Stephens, City Manager asked Ms. Pruitt, in addition to the $8,000 made at Osborne if the middle school activity moved to Joe Cowan Park, would they lose capability to host current tournaments and she answered and said no. Council Member Abbott stated he pays attention to Bartow County School Board and they re-negotiate agreements all the time. Th council needs to sit down and discuss the concerns with the school board. Mr. Stephens stated the middle school has been offered to use the tennis courts at the Joe Cowan Park and declined. Council Member Free stated it comes to approximately $300,000 and where does that come from. Mr. Stephens said with SPLOST funds. Council Member Free said that about tops it with the figure mentioned last meeting. Mr. Stephens said if they do it all at one time. They did pay for the roofs out of the budget. Council Member Joe Turner said they need to keep their word with the school system. He asked if they could re-surface the tennis courts and do the rest later. Mr. Stephens thinks they need to approach the school system and definitely continue to be a government of integrity. He would professionally hate to see the money put in the tennis court without having a delegation to approach the school or the school system. Council Member Free asked if they could approach the school board with the city's plan to upgrade and ask for assistance with the upgrade if they continue to use the facility. Code Enforcement Reactive or Proactive Approach - James Stephens James Stephens, City Manager said the Planning and Zoning Director has one line of a 2-page job description that states he will open investigation on code violations. The police department has assisted with code enforcement. The police department staff numbers were down at one time but are now back up to full staff. Code enforcement has been about complaints that they received, rather than patrolling or going out and initiated code enforcement circumstances. If they become more proactive is the council prepared for the complaints they may receive. Since the overlay is in place it is a good time to make more of a proactive approach rather than reactive. He asked council to consider authorizing him to hire a code enforcement officer for 3-days a week which is over and above what the zoning director does. He believes it will be a vast improvement of the appearance of the city. He would like to structure it as an economic development function rather than a law enforcement officer. He would like for the enforcement officer to report to him and not the police chief. There is an ordinance in place to get more active with the resources they have put forth since his tenure at Euharlee. He asked if they wanted to be more proactive on code violations or just continue to respond to complaints. If proactive, he has an experienced individual that will be available 3-days a week and would make a drastic improvement in the appearance of the city. It will require a budget amendment. There will be some personnel changes forth coming that he is not at liberty to speak about and he can accommodate the position without an overall increase in salary. Council Member Tim Abbott would like to bring it back to a work session for further details. School Zone Cameras Police Chief Jody Matthews recognized and shared the news the uncertified officer, Taylor McDonald had graduated from the Police Academy and recognized as a Distinguished Student with the 2nd highest average in the class. He was welcomed to Euharlee. Chief Matthews passed out booklets to council that supported the school zone speed cameras. He said some of them had received a similar presentation in 2019 before he started. The company since then has expanded and changed since that presentation. They have added a lot of agencies in Georgia and Tennessee to the program. Chief Matthews pointed out the 3-step process. They educate for 30 days. They will send information out through the schools, radio and internet. The company will offer 30 days of warning citations. Before the March meeting they will present statistics from the reader that is currently installed. During 2019, the study showed over 4,450 vehicles passed through the school zone and over 2,000 were over the speed limit at 40 and over which was 46% speeding. The goal is to bring numbers down. Fulton County using the system in one school zone lowered speeding by 82%. There have been several serious accidents on Euharlee Road not necessarily during the school hours but they were speeding. The goal is safety for the children and families, and motorized vehicles passing through Euharlee. There is no cost to the city and they provide all the equipment and signage. The package also comes with (2) standardized license plate readers. The benefit is the officer automatically receives the alert. Council Member Joe Turner asked how much the company would receive. Chief Matthews said 35%. It is an administration citation a $100 for the first ticket and no points on license. Council Member Abbott stated it will get people to thinking whether you know them or not. He also asked if the school system was in agreement. Chief Matthews said for the first 30 days the schools will be educated. Council Member Joe Turner said the speed limit is 25 and what is the speed limit the camera picks up. Chief Matthew said state law requires 10 miles over the speed limit, but is currently set at 15 miles over the speed limit for 40 and higher. Council Member David Duncan said the largest number of speeding is from parents trying to get their kids to school. Country Store Lease Discussion- Greg Free Council Member Greg Free stated he wanted to see the Country Store lease. He believed Mr. Stephens mentioned the lady that operates the business is still concerned about COVID so her in person operations are not going at this time. He asked if she was conducting business remotely. Mr. Stephens said she takes orders online and via-phone once a week. She would like to renew the lease and is waiting for the vaccination to become more prominent. Council Member Free just wanted to know her plans and he would not want to disrupt a regular paying tenant. Council Member Tim Abbott said it is not about one person running one place and COVID does make things wildly different, but it is about the store fronts that are open to the public. He thinks forward about businesses they have and they are good citizens of that business but do not open to the public. He doesn’t know how to wrangle that but it is an important matter for the future. Council Member David Duncan motioned to adjourn the meeting. Council Member Joe Turner seconded the meeting. The motioned carried with Mayor Worthington, Council Members Abbott, Duncan, Free and Turner all voting in favor. With no further discussion the meeting adjourned at 9:17 pm.