Mayor & Council

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING SMYRNA TOWN COUNCIL January 4, 2021 PUBLIC HEARING The public hearing was opened by Vice Mayor Valerie M. Forbes at 6:46 p.m. The public hearing is to consider an application from Liborio Investments, III, LLC for a Major Subdivision application to abandon a previously recorded 425 lot subdivision known as Graceville and subdivide this 115.42 acres of vacant land into 709 residential lots. The 115.42 acre property is zoned R-2A Residential and is located along Rabbit Chase Lane (1-17-02801-05- 0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-05-9900-0001, 1-17-02801-06-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-06- 9900-0001, 1-17-02801-07-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-07-9900-0001, 1-17-02801-08-0100- 00001 thru 1-17-02801-08-9900-0001, and 1-17-02801-09-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-09- 3800-0001). Vice Mayor Forbes asked if there was anyone to speak in favor of the application. Mr. Rothwell reviewed his staff report with Council. At 7:00 p.m. Vice Mayor Forbes said we are going to pause the public hearing for now and convene the regular meeting and then we will come back to the public hearing. REGULAR MEETING The meeting was called to order by Mayor Robert C. Johnson at 7:02 p.m. Council members present were Michael A. Rasmussen, Tabitha J. Gott, Valerie M. Forbes, William D. Pressley Sr., and Gerald L. Brown. Councilwoman Margaret B. Mann was excused. Also present were Town Manager Andrew S. Haines, Chief Torrie James, Attorney D. Barrett Edwards, and Recording Secretary Valerie L. Heritage. Mayor Johnson asked Chief James to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Johnson asked everyone for moment of silence. ADDITIONS/DELETIONS TO PUBLISHED AGENDA Vice Mayor Forbes made the motion to approve the agenda as presented. Motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Vice Mayor Forbes made the motion to approve the regular minutes of December 21, 2020 as presented. Motion was seconded by Councilwoman Gott and carried unanimously. Mayor and Council Page 2 of 4 January 4, 2021 REPORTS A. Presiding Officer – Mayor Johnson said we visited Laurel and we looked at how their Redevelopment Authority (RDA) is set up, it is set up as a 501c3 and they are doing a good job down there. They are acquiring properties and fixing them up, and that is the direction he would like to see us go, but we would have to fund the RDA and he wants to see how Council feels about that. B. Town Attorney – Mr. Edwards said we were able to close the bond issuance last week. C. Police Chief – Chief James said last week we had about 11 of our employees start the first phase of the vaccination and the second phase will be going on in the next couple of weeks. Hiring is going interesting, we still have three positions that we need to fill for this year, so we are going to open it back up and start the process again. The holidays went well, the computer giveaway went well, he thanked Mr. Haines for letting the police department be a part of the adopt-a-family. D. Town Manager – Mr. Haines said Locust Street may get paved by Thursday or Friday of this week. Finance will be working on rapid training of the software system. We went to close officially on the bonds on the 30th. E. Commissions – Councilman Brown said the Utility Committee will meet virtually on January 12th. Councilman Pressley said the Personnel Committee will meet virtually January 14 th; and the Public Safety Committee will meet virtually January 14th. Councilman Rasmussen said the Economic Development Committee will not be meeting this month. F. District/Council comments – Councilwoman Gott said everything she had has been addressed and wished everyone a Happy New Year. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS Visitors present virtually were Jeremy Rothwell, George DeBenedictis, Scott Lobdell, Lee Ramunno, Danielle Pope, Kelly Willoughby, Benjamin, Michael, Jennie Tacchi, Leslie Jones, Tremond Allen, Mike C. Skate, and Gregg Lambz. Benjamin had a question about the skateboard park. He would like to know if in the future they would be able to host a tournament of sorts to help raise funds to make repairs and improvements to the skateboard park, as the ground at the park is like gravel and people are Mayor and Council Page 3 of 4 January 4, 2021 getting hurt. Mr. Haines said his email will be given in the chat feature of this meeting and to please reach out to him and they will work together on this. Michael said there are holes in some of the ramps and hoped that they could get fixed as well. Mr. Haines asked Michael to give his email in the chat feature and he would work on a Zoom meeting to discuss this. PUBLIC HEARING (CONT.) Mayor Johnson reopened the public hearing at 7:27 p.m. Mr. Rothwell continued with his review of the proposed subdivision and the recommendations from the Planning & Zoning Commission. Councilman Brown asked about the pump station, easements, lighting in the alleyways, and fire truck access. Mr. Rothwell responded to all of the concerns. Mayor Johnson asked if there was anyone else to speak in favor of this project. Scott Lobdell, Van Cleef Engineering, spoke. Mr. Lobdell said all of the recommendations that Mr. Rothwell spoke about have either been incorporated into the plan or are in the process of being incorporated into the plan and they do not have any problem with them. He said the phasing will be determined once they get the utility plan finalized, and the open spaces will be completed as part of the phase they are in. Mayor Johnson asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak in favor of the project. No one spoke. Mayor Johnson asked if there was anyone who wanted to speak in opposition of the project. No one spoke. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing. NEW BUSINESS A. An application from Liborio Investments, III, LLC for a Major Subdivision application to abandon a previously recorded 425 lot subdivision known as Graceville and subdivide this 115.42 acres of vacant land into 709 residential lots. The 115.42 acre property is zoned R-2A Residential and is located along Rabbit Chase Lane (1-17-02801-05-0100-00001 thru 1-17- 02801-05-9900-0001, 1-17-02801-06-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-06-9900-0001, 1-17-02801- 07-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-07-9900-0001, 1-17-02801-08-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-08- 9900-0001, and 1-17-02801-09-0100-00001 thru 1-17-02801-09-3800-0001) – Councilman Pressley made the motion to approve the subdivision application with the five recommendations from staff and the additional recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission. Motion was seconded by Councilman Rasmussen. Motion carried with Mayor Johnson, Councilwoman Gott, and Councilmen Rasmussen, Pressley, and Brown voting for, and Vice Mayor Forbes voting against. Mayor and Council Page 4 of 4 January 4, 2021 OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS Mayor Johnson thanked everyone and hoped everyone stayed safe. ADJOURNMENT Councilman Pressley made the motion to adjourn. Motion was seconded by Councilman Rasmussen. The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. by unanimous vote. vlh