City Council

Minutes Forsyth City Council Meeting Aldermen Hall @ 6:00pm Call to Order Mayor Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation and Roll Call Mayor Wilson led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Hewett gave the invocation. Present for the meeting in person was Mayor Eric Wilson, Councilmembers Chris Hewett, Greg Goolsby, Mike Dodd, and City Manager, Janice Hall. Present for the meeting by video conferencing was Councilmembers Julius Stroud, John Howard, Melvin Lawrence and City Clerk, Regina Ivie. All members of council were in attendance for the meeting therefore all unanimous votes will be six (6) votes (Stroud, Goolsby, Dodd, Lawrence, Hewett and Howard). Approval of the Agenda Mr. Hewett offered a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Seconded by Mr. Lawrence; the motion carried unanimously. Executive Session Mayor Wilson stated an executive session was needed to discuss potential pending litigation; in attendance also for the executive session is Mr. Carl Hofstadter and Mr. Hayes Hofstadter. Mr. Dodd offered a motion to adjourn into executive session at 6:03 p.m. Seconded by Mr. Howard; the motion carried unanimously. There being no further business to discuss in executive session Mr. Hewett offered a motion to adjourn the executive session at 7:07 p.m. Seconded by Mr. Dodd; the motion carried unanimously. Approval of the Minutes from the August 3, 2020 Council Meeting Mr. Dodd offered a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Mr. Hewett; the motion carried unanimously. Approval of street closure request – Hometown Holidays Parade on December 3, 2020 Mr. Dodd offered a motion to approve the street closure request for December 3, 2020. Seconded by Mr. Hewett; the motion carried unanimously. Approval of Home Energy Supplier Agreement – FY 2021 Mr. Hewett offered a motion to approve the Home Energy Supplier Agreement for fiscal year 2021. Seconded by Mr. Lawrence; the motion carried unanimously. City Manager’s Report Ms. Hall provided the following report: • Water line break last Saturday 8/8; drained River Forest tank and almost Bibb Mill tank due to size of line and break, isolation valve not holding completely, and having to wait 3 hours for emergency locates outside city limits. Line repaired and water samples taken Sunday morning; received results Monday morning. We utilized the new county Red Alert system to put a call out to citizens. Encourage everyone to sign up for the call alerts, monitor The City of Forsyth Facebook page and to make sure we have current contact information in our utility system for city customers. • Several complaints have been received yesterday and today regarding discolored water. The water department reports that this is due to increase manganese and turbidity levels in the water from the reservoir. We are  treating this as much as we can. The water is safe to drink but may stain whites. Please call 478-994-3423 with any questions or concerns. • New doors are in place in Welcome Center and Aldermen Hall. The old doors were falling apart and the one in Aldermen Hall had a large hole where it was rotten that we were trying to cover to keep unwanted pest out. Still working with GDOT on storm drain issue under Lee Street and looking at our side as well to hopefully resolve the water issue once and for all. We replaced the floors in May because we had not had water in the building during several hard rains for close to a year. Once the floors were installed, we have had water in the building 3 times. We moved the CVB to City Hall Annex until we can get the issue resolved as the last flooding made its way into Gilda’s office and damaged several boxes of brochures. • Need council’s thoughts on holding an outdoor movie event with possibly requiring movie-goers to remain in their vehicles. The Main Street Board briefly discussed this at their meeting last week and wanted to get council input before pursuing. • Received email from GDOT requesting information on utilities in the ground at the crossings on Lee and Tift so there is some movement on upgrading those crossings. • Preliminary work has begun on the 2021 budget and as part of that process, I hope to present some changes to the Fee Schedules for services that we already charge for and to add a fee for some that we do not currently charge for. • Received email confirmation that Governor Kemp signed the Bill allowing us to increase the hotel tax. Now is probably not a good time to move forward on that, so we will look at this in the 2021 budget process as well. • Upcoming public hearings – millage rate and sign variance for Forsyth Liquor Store • Reminder that we will soon have a vacancy on P&Z and 2021 appointments should be reviewed prior to end of year so that appointments/reappointments can be made by end of year. • Payment #4 is being processed to Pellicano in amount of $41,158.80; paid to date $247,653.59. Receiving weekly reports from contractor and forwarding those to council City Attorney Report Mr. Melton had no further business to report. Mayor’s Report Mayor Wilson had no further business to report. Additional Business Mr. Stroud inquired about the emergency alert system with regard to the recent storms. Mayor Wilson and Ms. Hall discussed with Mr. Stroud the steps necessary to get the necessary alerts from the County. Mr. Lawrence stated he enjoyed attending the meeting with the City’s Department Heads regarding the updates as to how the City is and has handled the Coronavirus pandemic. Public Comments No one came forward for public comments. Adjourn There being no further business to discuss Mr. Hewett offered a motion to adjourn the Council Meeting. Seconded by Mr. Dodd; the motion carried unanimously.