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 Tammy Grimes – District 5 CITY COUNCIL MEETING ACTION MINUTES November 9, 2020 7:00 p.m. Citizen Access: URL I. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Jason Lary II. ROLL CALL: Sonya Isom, Deputy City Clerk III. INVOCATION IV. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. Approval of the October 23, 2020 FY21 Budget Public Hearing Minutes b. Approval of the October 26, 2020 FY21 Budget Public Hearing Minutes c. Approval of the October 26, 2020 City Council Meeting Minutes d. Approval of the October 28, 2020 FY21 Budget Workshop Minutes Motion 1 – made by Council Member Rob Turner to defer a, b, c, and d until next council meeting. Seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. e. Approval of the November 2, 2020 FY21 Budget Approval Minutes Motion 2 – made by Council Member George Turner to not approve the November 2, 2020 FY21 Budget Workshop Minutes. Seconded by Council Member Rob Turner. Motion passed 4-2. With Mayor Jason Lary and Council Member Jimmy Clanton opposing. VI. PRESENTATIONS: *Request from Mayor Jason Lary publicly asking for motion to be excused by Council to seek medical treatment, now thru March 2021. Motion 3- made by Council Member Rob Turner for Mayor Lary to have leave from council meetings for health reasons, healing and restoration of his body until March 2021. Seconded by Council Member Jimmy Clanton. Motion passed unanimously. Per Mayor Lary, Plez Joyner will continue to be in charge and Mayor Lary will continue his duties at city hall. a. Stonecrest Public Safety Feasibility Study Presented by Malik Watkins b. The Collaborative Firm Zoning Updates Presented by Michael Hightower VII. APPOINTMENTS: a. Acting City Manager – N/A VIII. PUBLIC COMMENTS (this meeting will be conducted virtually, the public comments received via email in advance of the meeting will be read into the minutes by the City Clerk) Please read this at the City Council Meeting: The past city council meeting discussing the city budget is one way to measure the commitment Council members have to the citizens of Stonecrest. Unfortunately, there was only one topic discussed: The money to be spent on assisting the council members themselves. There was no discussion of increasing road repairs. No discussion about making the new city hall an exciting place to show potential businesses and residents the quality of the city. No discussion around moving the police precinct to the mall. No discussion around improving our parks. The only discussion was around not acquiring Arabia Mountain (a suggestion made by the representative of District 5 where Arabia Mountain is located) so the money ($440,000) could be used to give each council person a dedicated assistant (later they changed the title to constituent contact). Wow. I thought my district council person was my constituent contact. They can justify paying each of their five assistants a full-time salary but do not want to pay the mayor a full-time salary. They offered no job description for the five new employees. They offered no list of responsibilities for the five new employees. The job of City council is to introduce legislation, help make the city attractive to builders who  want to increase our population, to attract businesses who will both employ and serve our city, to develop solutions to the needs of their districts through legislative action, to work together to improve the city, and to improve the city for its’ constituents. Somehow our council people think their job is to criticize everything the city staff and mayor attempt to do. No critic has ever created or built anything. Critics only slow progress. Please, please be a vote for yes to growth. Please, please be a vote for yes to the next step. Stop standing in the way and finding every small fault with new initiatives. Move the city ahead. Serve your constituents by improving what the city has to offer. City Council members, make a legislative motion. Do something, other than stop things. Please buy and improve the purchase of Arabia Mountain and stop waiting for Dekalb to do what it hasn’t done for years. Regards, Suzanne Frick, District 5 resident IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS: a. N/A (since this meeting will be conducted virtually, only those public hearing comments received via email in advance of the meeting will be read by the City Clerk) X. OLD BUSINESS: a. N/A XI. NEW BUSINESS: a. Set City Council Meeting and Work Session Calendar for FY2021 Motion 4 – made by Council Member Jazzmin Cobble to adopt the FY2021 City Council Meeting dates with the three changes proposed. Change the meeting scheduled for Monday, October 11 th to Tuesday, October 12 th and the description for the meeting will be FY2022 Budget Workshop. In regards to Monday, October 18th, proposal to change the description to FY2022 Budget Public Hearing. Seconded by Council Member Tammy Grimes. Motion passed unanimously. All FY2021 virtual meetings will begin at 6pm. b. Set Planning Commission Calendar for FY2021 Motion 5 – made by Council Member Jazzmin Cobble to adopt the FY2021 Planning Commission Calendar as presented. Seconded by Council Member Rob Turner. Motion passed unanimously .  XII. EXECUTIVE SESSION: N/A (when an executive session is required, one will be called for the following issues: 1) Personnel, 2) Litigation, 3) Real Estate) XIII. DEPUTY CITY MANAGER COMMENTS Plez Joyner – Stonecrest Cares Initiative is hosting its 1st of 4 feeding weekends, this Saturday beginning at 10am. Together with Kings Table at New Birth, Stonecrest will feed over 1000 families. With a total of 4000 boxes of food by the end of the event. XIV. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS – N/A XV. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS Council Member Jimmy Clanton/District 1 – Proud of voting efforts in the City of Stonecrest. This contributed to the voting outcome in Georgia. Encourage everyone to turn out again for the upcoming special elections. Council Member Rob Turner/District 2 – Thanks for exercising your right to vote and turning Georgia a different color. Congratulations to our new President Elect, Joe Biden and our new Vice President Elect, Kamala Harris. Council Member Jazzmin Cobble/District 3 – Join Council Member Cobble on November 21st between 10am-12pm at Ousley United Methodist Church, along with church members and the soccer club that plays at Fairington Park, for a collaborative turkey giveaway. Council Member George Turner/District 4 – The census doesn’t really end. This should be a part of our culture. Get everyone involved in the process. Council Member Tammy Grimes/District 5 – Be registered and ready to vote January 5th. Thanks to Ms Porter and Mr Riley for the things they’re doing on behalf of educators in the city. XVI. ADJOURNMENT Motion 6 – made by Council Member Rob Turner to adjourn the City Council Meeting. Seconded by Council Member Tammy Grimes. Motion passed unanimously. Americans with Disabilities Act The City of Stonecrest does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, activities and employment practices. If you need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (such as a sign language interpreter, an assistive listening device or print material in digital format) or reasonable modification to programs, services or activities contact the ADA Coordinator, Megan Reid, as soon as possible, preferably 2 days before the activity or event.