Council Meeting

City Council Minutes, December 12, 2024 Mayor West called the meeting to order at 6:30PM, October 24, 2024. Those in attendance were Nick Sears, Monty Parks, Spec Hosti, Kathryn Williams, Tony Ploughe and Bill Garbett. Also attending were Bret Bell, City Manager; Bubba Hughes, City Attorney, and Tracy O’Connell, City Attorney. Opening Ceremonies Call to Order Invocation: Pledge of Allegiance Mayor West recognized the winners of the Christmas Parade. First place going to Department of Public Works; Second Place to the Crab Shack; and third place to River’s End Campground. Mr. Gulbronson gave a report on the food collected along the parade route, which will be donated to the Rising Tyde Pantry. Consideration of Items for Consent Agenda  Appointment of Justin McMillian, Tybee Island Fire Chief Consideration of Board and Committee Appointments:  2025 Main Street/DDA Board: o Voting Member Recommendation: Ansley Howze o Ex-officio Member Recommendations:  Joy Horn  Jane Hall  Brett Loehr Bill Garbett made a motion to approve. Tony Ploughe seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Mark Reed approached Mayor and Council to introduce the new YMCA New Director, Paige Lauri who is transferring from Effingham Branch. Ms. Lauri stated her passion is Summer Camps and is looking forward to carrying on Tybee’s vision with helping childcare and families. Citizens to be Heard Jim Arntz, 363 Chimney Road, Rincon approached Mayor and Council. Mr. Arntz stated his recent bid for the WWTP Maintenance Building was rejected due to a technicality. He asked Mayor and Council to accept his bid as the lowest bidder and reject the recommendation from Mr. Gulbronson. Jenny Rutherford approached Mayor and Council to speak to the 2025 State Legislative question regarding STR’s. She stated the City has hired a lobbyist to represent Tybee Island in the upcoming legislative session. Ms. Rutherford stated all property owners should have property rights and with that comes the ability to rent their RTR’s. Mayor West thanked Ms. Rutherford. Spec Hosti made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Monty Parks seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Public Hearings Approval of site plan extend the bar operations onto the roofed wooden deck. The deck has existing railing, but no enclosures are proposed as part of this application. The proposed area is a side entrance to the kitchen and access to the interior of the establishment as well as additional seating for guests. North Beach Bar and Grill. Patricia Sinel approached Mayor and Council. Ms. Sinel stated what is before them tonight is a Site Plan Amendment for 33 Meddin Drive. The petitioner is asking to expand their bar operations to the existing deck. Zoning is R-1 single-family district but also in the north-end Cultural Overlay District, which promotes the arts, education, etc. This is City owned property and the Comprehensive Plan is in the Fort Screven Historic District, which does not have much impact on the location. As the seating will be reduced, the number of parking spaces required will also be reduced. Staff recommends approval. Jenny Rutherford approached Mayor and Council. She stated the property is zoned R-1 which is residential and she continued to list her concerns. Ms. Rutherford asked Ms. Williams to recuse, as she was the former owner. Mayor West thanked Ms. Rutherford. Ms. Sinel further explained what zoning is allowed in the District. Mayor West disagreed with Ms. Rutherford that there is a conflict of interest with Ms. Williams. Ms. Williams stated North Beach Grill was at that same location many years prior to her becoming a co-owner and she retired two years ago. Everything that has been done at the property has been fully approved and paid for by the owners and not the City. Monty Parks made a motion to approve. Nick Sears seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Consideration of Local Requests and Applications Approval of the Renewal of 2025 Entertainment Licenses. Bret Bell stated there has been an additional layer of review since the packet has been published. This included review from Code Enforcement and the Tybee Island Police Department. Three (3) of the applicants received noise complaints and two (2) of those receive citations. After further review, it was determined there is not enough cause to recommend denial of those renewals. Nicolas Oswald approached Mayor and Council. He is the District Manager for Zunzibar’s and discussed the settings for the music at the location on Hwy 80. He hopes to have the new settings in place by the end of January 2025. Mr. Oswald further stated they have not received any citation/violations for music. He also stated the music has always been within the guideline. Mayor West thanked Mr. Oswald. Mr. Bell stated for future renewals there would be an additional layer of review. Kathryn Williams made a motion to approve the 2025 Entertainment Licenses with the contingency that Zunzibar’s provide documentation of the agreement. Bill Garbett seconded. Discussion: Mr. Ploughe asked to amend the motion to include an end date of six (6) months to the changes. Ms. Williams agreed to define a time limit, but countered with suggestion of sixty 60 days for Zunzibar to complete noise abatements. Bill Garbett accepted the amendment in discussion by all and restated as a primary motion. . Mr. Hughes stated the contingency only applies to Zunzibar and no other establishments on the Island. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Approval of the Renewal of the 2025 Alcohol Licenses. Mr. Bell explained the agenda item. Monty Parks made am motion to approve the 2025 Alcohol Licenses to include the correction of the categorization of XYZ/Dizzy Deans Liquor. Nick Sears seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Approval of 2025 State Legislative Agenda. Mayor West stated on October 10, 2024, Mayor and Council approved a contract with Civic Forward Strategies which is a firm that lobby’s our State Legislators for passion items which the City would like to see at the State level. The contract is for $4,500 per month. At a recent workshop, Mayor and Council determined there are three (3) items: (1) Opposing the STR preemptions; (2) Municipal Option Sales Tax; and (3) the City to create a Public Facilities Authority. He asked Mayor and Council to approve. Ms. Williams stated the City employed this group previously and supports. Mr. Hosti stated he agrees and supports moving forward. Kathryn Williams made a motion to approve. Monty Parks seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Approval of the ITB 2024-782: WWTP Maintenance Building Award. Mr. Gulbronson stated the memorandum in the packet is for the approval of the ITB and will be funded by a grant with no cost to the City. The low bidder was United Ground Maintenance Services, $680,345, from Glenville. Ms. O’Connell explained the omissions from one of the proposals that was received. Mr. Gulbronson stated the contract must be finalized by December 31, 2024 in order to use the grant for construction. Spec Hosti made a motion to approve contingent upon the receipt of a Performance Bond from United Ground Maintenance Services and approved by the legal team. Bill Garbett seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Bubba Hughes, Anti Litem: Jennifer Rutherford, stated this is more of a ligation issue rather than Anti Litem. No action taken. Spec Hosti made a motion to adjourn to executive sessions to discuss real estate, personnel and litigation. Kathryn Williams seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Spec Hosti made a motion to return to regular session. Monty Parks seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Monty Parks made a motion to adjourn. Spec Hosti seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve, 6-0. Meeting was adjourned at 8:35PM. __________________ Jan LeViner, MMC