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 Tammy Grimes – District 5 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES February 24, 2020 7:00 p.m. 3120 Stonecrest Blvd. Suite 190 Stonecrest, Georgia I. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Jason Lary II. ROLL CALL: All members present. III. INVOCATION: Invocation was led by Council Member Rob Turner. IV. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE V. APPROVAL OF THE COUNCIL AGENDA: • Mayor Lary asked to remove the Appointments. • Council Member George Turner asked to add the Code Enforcement Discussion Only under New Business. • Council Member Rob Turner asked to add under new business Resolution for Charter Amendment for Discussion. The Mayor asked if it was for Discussion and Council Member Rob Turner replied yes. Motion 1- was made by Council Member George Turner approve the amended agenda and was seconded by Council Member Rob Turner. Motion passed unanimously. VI. MINUTES: a. January 27, 2020 City Council Minutes Motion 2- was made by Council Member George Turner to approve the minutes with a correction to change to his comments pertaining to Countywide SPLOST and change it to Countywide Census and was seconded by Council Member Tammy Grimes. 1  Motion passed unanimously. b. February 10, 2020 Special Called Meeting Motion 3- was made by Council Member Jazzmin Cobble to defer to the next Council Meeting to clarify “Motion 1 to state that the Mayor instructed Council Member Grimes and Council Member Cobble that they were not eligible to vote and that City Attorney Denmark advised them not to vote” and seconded by Council Member Grimes. Motion passed unanimously. c. February 10, 2020 Council Meeting Motion 4- was made by Council Member Rob Turner to approve the minutes from the City Council Meeting on February 10, 2020 and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. d. February 13, 2020 Special Called Meeting Motion 4- was made by Council Member Rob Turner to approve the minutes from the Special Called Meeting on February 13, 2020 and was seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. VII. PRESENTATIONS: a. Mayor Jason Lary made the following presentations Acknowledged Tiffany Adams’ resignation and wished her well and thanked her for being an employee from the start. Recognized DaKarta Richardson as the new Court Clerk. Recognized Sean Jones, Senator Vernon Jones, Plez Joyner, Attorney Bernard Knight, Attorney Thom Kurrie, and Joel Thibodeaux for their efforts in the creation of Stonecrest. VIII. APPOINTMENTS: Consent Agenda a. Development Authority b. 2020 Complete Count census Committee 2  c. Post Office Committee d. Public Safety Committee e. Parks Committee f. SPLOST Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee g. Film Committee h. Education Committee i. Sports Authority Committee j. Commercial Industrial District Committee (CID) k. Browns Mill-Panola Overlay Committee l. Stonecrest Technology Committee m. Stonecrest Connect Committee IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS 1. Harriet Harris- Asked for Council to settle their personal issues outside of the public eye and disappointed in the walk out on 2/10/2020. 2. Jeremy-Scott- Code Enforcement needs to observe the violations in District Also very disappointed and embarrassed by the walk out because there were 2 High Schools here to present their project that they have worked on for Parks and Recreation 3. Faye Coffield- Stated she believes in protest sometimes. Would like for the City to investigate the study provided for Atlanta Police Department called Midnight Blue. Also stated she was against the construction of a gas station on Turner Hill Road. 4. Dave Marcus- Would like to compliment the Mayor for listening to the Council and removing the Committees from the Agenda. Would like to see measurable goals in the Comprehensive Plan. 5. Bill Bruckner- Disappointed in those members of the Council who walked out on 02/10/2020 Council Meeting. 6. Susan Lee- Disappointed and embarrassed by those members of the Council who walked out on 02/10/2020 Council Meeting. She asked the Council that walked out to invite the High Schoolers back and apologize and see their presentation. 7. Renee Cail- was called up in error and wanted to speak at the Public Hearing. X. PUBLIC HEARING 1. Ordinance for Rezoning Application RZ-19-010/SLUP-19-009 Chris Wheeler, Planning and Zoning Director, advised the Mayor and Council that the applicant has asked for an approval to withdraw the application. Motion 5- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to open the public Hearing for RZ-19-010/SLUP-19-009 and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor called for those in favor of denying the application: 3  Renee Cail, Nichelle Stephens-Smith, Faye Coffield, Dave Marcus all spoke in favor of denial of the Rezoning Application. Mayor called for those in favor of approving the Withdrawal of the application: Bernard Knight and Michelle Battle both spoke in favor of approving the withdrawal of the application. Motion 6- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to close the Public Hearing and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. Motion 7- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to approve the withdrawal of the application and was seconded by Council member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. XI. NEW BUSINESS a. Code Enforcement Discussion 1. Alcohol Sales Hours for Consumption on Premises Sales 2. Shopping Cart Ordinance 3. Donation Box Ordinance Alejandro Ferrell, Code Enforcement Manager, advised the Mayor and Council that he has concerns about the Hours that the Late Night Establishments are staying open and may be casing criminal activity. Mayor and Council asked for more information and statistics. The other 2 items were not discussed due to time constraints and were asked to be put on to the next Work Session for discussion. b. Resolution for Charter Amendment for Discussion Only There was much discussion as to either approve a resolution to clear up the ambiguity relating the unexcused absences or approve a resolution to add all the charter changes that were sent in earlier. Motion 8- was made by Council Member Jazzmin Cobble to approve the resolution of support for the General Assembly to clear up ambiguity in the Charter. The Mayor said he did not recognize the Motion because it was put on the agenda for discussion only. Council Member Jazzmin Cobble asked Council Member Rob Turner if when he added the item was the intention to vote and Council Member Rob Turner replied yes. Council member Rob Turner seconded the motion. Council Member Jimmy Clanton did not want to vote on a resolution that he hasn’t seen. He said that this should be treated the same was as the committees and the Council needs to be able to have the chance to read and give input on the resolution. 4  The Mayor asked for a copy of the resolution in writing and Council Member Cobble stated she would send him a copy. He asked to see it immediately and she did not respond. Council Member George Turner stated that the Council was invited to the State Capitol for the Senate Meeting and they were given a copy of the draft senate bill entitled An Act to Amend the Articles of Incorporation and it is LC470399 and all five Council Members received it and read it and have a reasonable understanding of the bill. Council Member Jimmy Clanton disagreed that they had the final bill ready and were still making changes to it when he left the meeting. Council Member Jazzmin Cobble then stated that Bill has already dropped. Council Member Jimmy Clanton states that the ambiguity of the “failure to attend 1/3 of the meetings” potion of the Charter is still left in the Bill. He is not satisfied with the draft or sending a resolution of support for the bill. Council Member Cobble reiterated that the bills has been dropped and that the ambiguity that was brought up was to be used against council and to remove them from their seat. Council Member George Turner stated that once the bills are dropped that they can still be amended several times before they will be final. He is ready to move forward and set it into motion with a resolution of support for the bill. Council Member Jimmy Clanton stated that it doesn’t matter if they send a support of a resolution or not as Council Member Cobble stated the bill has already dropped. He also mentioned the he felt the Council would be setting a precedence of how they conduct business. He strongly suggested that this subject should have been discussed at the work session and the resolution should have been made available. Council Member Cobble stated that the litigation did not follow that procedure. Mayor Lary stated that he took extraordinary efforts to make sure the litigation was handled quietly so that it would not be out in the general public and in the news. Council Member Cobble stated that she never received notification of the litigation until it was drafted and given to her by Attorney Denmark. She also reiterated that this is just a resolution to clear up ambiguity in the Charter under the General Assembly and it’s in support of changing the Charter and it’s not earth shattering. Mayor Lary disagreed and said that the bill was more than just the unexcused absences. He also stated that the General Assembly has had very important bills sitting there for 3 years and they didn’t do anything with them, and he doesn’t understand why they decided to pick this? He stated again that he met with Council two on two as to not break the Sunshine Laws and stated that the other Council Members broke the sunshine laws by meeting and discussing this bill. He also stated again that he tried to go about the litigation eloquently to let the Court decide on the ambiguity of the Charter and that once the Court decided if an infraction had taken place there would have been options. Mayor Lary said he didn’t have anything else to say about the topic except that the Senator is 5  bringing forth this bill is mad that the City was created. He agrees with Council Member Jimmy Clanton that they shouldn’t vote on a resolution that isn’t available especially if they can’t vote on Committees for the same reason. Council Member Cobble asked for a call for the question with the motion on the floor. Council Member Clanton stated that inn Robert’s Rules of Order the Chair doesn’t have to recognize the Call for Question. He also stated that the Resolution needs to be clear as to what they are voting on and as of now the bill wasn’t even complete. He believes there needs to be a Called Meeting to discuss this with the Resolution available. Council Member George Turner stated that Robert’s Rules of Order calls for two-thirds of the Council to override the Call for a Question that isn’t recognized by the Mayor. Substitute Motion was made by Mayor Jason Lary to add to the resolution to the things they want for with regards to the council and the citizens and was seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Council member Rob Turner questioned when this would be discussed. Mayor Lary stated that he would be open to a Called Meeting or Regular Meeting or Workshop. Council Member George Turner stated that this was time sensitive matter. Council Member Jimmy Clanton suggested combining two documents for the resolution. There was much discussion about the resolution that was sent in prior years. Substitute Motion Failed- 2-4 with Council Member Rob Turner, Council Member Jazzmin Cobble, Council Member George Turner and Council member Grimes all voting nay. Mayor Lary instructed Council Member George Turner as the Mayor Pro-tem to call for the original Motion. Mayor Pro-Tem George Turner restated the motion to support the charter changes relative to attendance. He asked Council member Cobble if that was accurate and she stated yes. He reaffirmed that their was already a second on the table and that was confirmed. He then called for the vote. Motion 7 passed 4-1 Council Member Jimmy Clanton voted nay. Mayor Jason Lary did not vote. Mayor Lary stated that he would not sign the resolution. XII. OLD BUSINESS a. Tax Anticipation Note- 1st Read 6  Read aloud by Deputy City Manager Plez Joyner. b. Urban Redevelopment Agency 1. Schedule City Attorney Winston Denmark gave the information regarding the schedule. 2. Appointments Motion 8- was made by Council Member George Turner to appoint Mayor Lary at the Chair of the Urban Redevelopment Agency and was seconded by Council member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. Motion 9- was made by Mayor Jason Lary to appoint Council Member Jimmy Clanton as the Vice- Chair of the Urban Redevelopment Agency and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. Motion 10- was made by Mayor Jason Lary to appoint Council Member George Turner as the Secretary of the Urban Redevelopment Agency and was seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. c. Final Plat for Flat Rock Hills Phase 2B Motion 11- was made by Council Member George Turner to approve the Final Plat for Flat Rock Phase 2B and was seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. d. Memorandum of Agreement for Summer Camp Motion 12- was made by Mayor Jason Lary to approve the MOA for Summer Camp and was seconded by Council Member Rob Turner. Motion passed unanimously. e. Parks and Recreation Camera System at Browns Mill Recreation & Aquatic Centers, License Plate Readers at five (5) Parks Motion 13- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to approve the bid for $94,982 out of SPLOST proceeds and was seconded by Council Member Tammy Grimes. Motion passed unanimously. f. SLUP-19-007-3620 Klondike Road Motion 14- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to approve SLUP-19-007 at 3620 Klondike Road with the conditions outlined in the staff report. 7  Motion passed unanimously. XIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion 15- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to go into Executive Session for Real Estate and Personnel Matters and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. Motion 16- was made by Council Member George Turner to go back into Regular Session and was seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. Deputy City Manager gave an update on the city’s basketball team, the GA Kangaroos. Council Member Cobble thanked everyone who came to the District 3 Community Meeting. Council Member Rob Turner invited everyone to a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, February 27. Council Member Jimmy Clanton reminded everyone of the District 1 Community Meetings on the first Saturday of every month at the AEI Start Up Factory. He also gave his condolences to the Kobe Bryant Family. Council Member George Turner was invited to attend Big Miller Grove Church on March 8 to celebrate Bishop Fowler for his 80th Birthday. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is going to become a Census Center and he is trying to get other churches to follow suit. Spreading the word to the schools and even getting the census to be taught in civics. Council Member Tammy Grimes- asked everyone to keep the family of Tesfaye Birru, owner of the Tic Toc Convenience Store who was murdered over the weekend. District 5 has lots of going on , but she has updated her Facebook page for updates. Mayor Jason Lary so glad to be able to promote from within and would like to recognize Iris Settle for her great work on the executive level. XIV. ADJOURNMENT Motion 17- was made by Council Member Jimmy Clanton to adjourn and was seconded by Council Member George Turner. Motion passed unanimously. Signatures on following page 8  Read and adopted in the regular meeting of the City Council held on this _____ day of _______________, 2020. __________________________ Mayor Jason Lary ATTEST: _______________________________ Megan P. Reid, City Clerk 9