City Council Regular Meeting

CITY OF STONECREST, GEORGIA Honorable Mayor Jason Lary, Sr. Council Member Jimmy Clanton, Jr. – District 1 Council Member Rob Turner- District 2 Council Member Jazzmin Cobble – District 3 Council Member George Turner- District 4 Council Member Diane Adoma – District 5 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES October 2, 2017 10:00a.m. Stonecrest Library 3123 Klondike Road, Lithonia, Georgia I. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Jason Lary II. ROLL CALL: All Present III. INVOCATION: Council Member Rob Turner IV. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: V. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Harold Smith spoke on the Special Land Use Permit in the city. Dr. Barbara Lee spoke on the Special Land Use Permit. Joel Thibodeaux spoke against the Amazon Project. Teresa Hardy spoke in regarding to the moving of Confederate Monuments in the City of Stonecrest. VI. MINUTES: Approval of Minutes of the September 18th and Special Called Meeting Minutes of December 21st. City Attorney Kurrie noted Attorney Destiny Washington’s name was misspelled and should be corrected. Council Member George Turner made a motion to approve the minutes of September 18th with the one correction and Council Member Clanton provided the second. The motion carried unanimously.  Council Member Rob Turner made a motion to approve the Special Called Minutes of September 21st with Council Member Adoma providing the second. The motion carried unanimously. VII. ADOPTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA: Mayor Lary said he would like to add to the agenda an Ordinance levying an Excise Tax for the Wholesale of Alcoholic Beverages for a first reading. Council Member George Turner made a motion to add the Ordinance levying an Excise Tax for Wholesale of Alcoholic Beverage to the agenda as #7 with Council Member Adoma providing the second. The motion carried unanimously. Council Member Adoma made a motion to adopt the agenda with the one addition. Council Member George Turner provided the second. The motion carried unanimously. VIII. PRESENTATIONS: There were no presentations. IX. AGENDA ITEMS: 1. Adoption of the Ordinance Adopting Article X, Code of Ethics, in Chapter 2, Administration of the City Code. Attorney Destiny Washington gave an overview of the Ordinance. Council Member Adoma made a motion to approve the Ordinance to Adopt Article X, Code of Ethics in Chapter 2, Administration with Council Member Rob Turner providing the second. The motion carried unanimously. 2. Resolution to address the Removal of Divisive Memorial Monuments in the City of Stonecrest Attorney Tom Kurrie gave an overview of the Resolution. Council Member Rob Turner made a motion to approve the Resolution to address the Removal of Divisive Memorial Monument in the City of Stonecrest with Council Member Clanton providing the second. Council Member Adoma presented information regarding both people connected to the memorials and said she had spoken with many of her constituents. She said she wants unity and coming together with all races working together and therefore she will vote for what is best for the people of District 5. The motion passed with Council Members Clanton, Cobble, Rob Turner, George Turner and Mayor Lary voting “yes”. Council Member Adoma voted “no”. 3. First Read of an Ordinance to Amend Section 4.5.3 Section 4.5.14 and Section 4.5.20 of Chapter 4-Alcoholic Beverage in the City of Stonecrest. Attorney Janelle Alleyne gave an overview of Chapter 4. She explained the difference in the alcohol and non-alcoholic permits for workers under 18 and older. She explained a youth does not have to be 18 years of age to work in a grocery store or movie theater and do not need a permit or background check. This was the First Reading Only. 4. First Read of an Ordinance to Amend the Soil, Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Ordinance Attorney Janelle Alleyne gave an overview of the amendment. She said these changes were a result of the EPD review. This was the First Reading Only. 5. First Read of the Ordinance for Film and Entertainment in the City of Stonecrest Attorney Tom Kurrie gave an overview. He spoke on permits on city property and filming on public property. He said this ordinance is a model of the City of Atlanta. This was the First Reading Only. 6. Resolution for Amazon Project Attorney Tom Kurrie gave an overview of the resolution for the Amazon Project. He explained the options of 1) create city within the city, 2) change the name of the City of Stonecrest to Amazon or 3) Do nothing. He also explained the affects Amazon would have on the City of Stonecrest. The resolution was read into the record. A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A REQUEST TO THE GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO DEANNEX A PORTION OF THE CITY OF STONECREST TO BE INCORPORATED AS THE CITY OF AMAZON, GEORGIA. WHEREAS, Amazon.com, Inc is a publicly traded U.S. Corporation and a leading internet retailer and technology company guided by the principles of customer obsession, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking; WHEREAS, On or about September 7, 2017, Amazon.com, Inc announced its plan to build and operate Amazon HQ2, the company’s second headquarters, and has requested various states within the United States to submit proposals for sites for the Amazon HQ2 development; WHEREAS, Amazon is expected to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow Amazon HQ2 to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs with an average annual total compensation exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) over the ten to fifteen-year period following commencement of operations; WHEREAS, the City Council is charged in its Charter to undertake such actions which promote the peace, good order, protection of life and property, health, welfare, sanitation, comfort, convenience, prosperity, or well-being of the citizens of the City of Stonecrest; WHEREAS, the City Council, having reviewed the Georgia Department of Economic Development request to qualified Georgia municipalities to submit to it a proposal for the site and development of the Amazon HQ2 in competition with other Georgia municipalities, believes responding to the proposal request is in the best interest of the citizens of Stonecrest, Georgia; and WHEREAS, in connection with the City of Stonecrest’s response to the proposal intends to propose a local act, for consideration by the Georgia General Assembly, to de-annex a portion of the City of Stonecrest, Georgia to be the city limits of a new city to be known as Amazon, Georgia. WHEREAS, in connection with the City of Stonecrest’s response to the proposal, it also intends to propose a local act, for consideration by the Georgia General Assembly to incorporate and provide for a charter for a new city to be known as Amazon, Georgia having the de-annexed area as the limits of said city. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, and it is hereby resolved, by the Mayor and Council of the City of Stonecrest, Georgia, that:  1) The Mayor is authorized to proceed in taking such action necessary to request the Georgia General Assembly to pass local legislation that de-annexes a portion of property situated within the City of Stonecrest as the site of the development of the Amazon HQ2 in the City’s proposal to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, but only to be effective if Stonecrest is selected as the site for Amazon HQ2. 2) The Mayor is authorized to proceed in taking such action necessary to request the Georgia General Assembly to pass local legislation to incorporate and approve a charter for a new city to be known as Amazon, Georgia having as its city limits, the property to be de-annexed by local act of the Georgia General Assembly but to be effective only if Stonecrest is selected as the site for Amazon HQ2. SO, RESOLVED, this 2nd day of October, 2017. Council Member Clanton made a motion to approve the resolution authorizing a request to the Georgia General Assembly to de-annex a portion of the City of Stonecrest to be incorporated as the City of Amazon, Georgia with Council Member George Turner providing the second. The motion passed with Council Members Clanton, Rob Turner, George Turner and Mayor Lary voting yes. Council Members Adoma and Cobble voted no. 7. First Read of Ordinance levying an Excise Tax for the Wholesale of Alcoholic Beverages in the City of Stonecrest. Attorney Janelle Allylene gave an overview of the Excise Tax. This was the First Read Only. X. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: No Comments XI. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS: No Comments XII. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS: Council Member Cobble and Rob Turner left at 12:45 p.m. Council Member George Turner announced the Stonecrest Fest was this week and you could go to stonecrestfest.com for more information. Council Member Adoma said to continue to pray for Puerto Rico. She announced her Townhall meeting on October 10th and Smart City Meeting on October 12th. She spoke  on a nonprofit who would cut your grass for free, a new veterans village and Job fair during Smart City meeting. Council Member Clanton spoke on the Stonecrest Fest and Dekalb NAACP. Mayor Lary thanked the council for the opportunity to compete for the Amazon Project. . XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Council Member Adoma made a motion to adjourn at 12:55 p.m. with Council Member Clanton providing the second. The motion carried unanimously. XIV. EXECUTIVE SESSION: WHEN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION IS REQUIRED, ONE WILL BE CALLED FOR THE FOLLOWING ISSUES: 1) PERSONNEL, 2) LITIGATION, 3) REAL ESTATE