Town Council Meeting

TYRONE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES February 02, 2023 at 7:00 PM Eric Dial, Mayor Gloria Furr, Mayor Pro Tem, Post 4 Linda Howard, Post 1 Brandon Perkins, Town Manager Melissa Hill, Post 2 Dee Baker, Town Clerk Billy Campbell, Post 3 Dennis Davenport, Town Attorney Council Member Hill was absent. Also present: Randy Mundy, Police Chief Patty Newland, Library Supervisor Lynda Owens, Recreation Manager Sandy Beach, Finance Manager I. CALL TO ORDER II. INVOCATION III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The first public comment period is reserved for non-agenda items. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes. Please state your name & address. Comments that require a response may not be answered during this time. The Council or staff may respond at a later date. Mr. Eric Keller who lives on Farr Lake Drive stated that it was his opinion that the Town needed more outdoor space and recreational activities. He shared that he emailed Council within the last week or two regarding disc golf and a walking trail. He stated that Mr. Perkins met with him. He added that there was space adjacent to Handley Park which was not visible from the park. There were 40 plus acres, a beautiful pond, and a walking trail. He shared his, his family, and his friends’ love for the game. He added that Mr. Kevin McCoy had built several courses and just completed a disc golf course in Sharpsburg. The space near Handley Park would be a great space for the next one. Mayor Dial thanked him and stated that he appreciated Mr. Keller’s very thorough email. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA A motion was made to approve the agenda. Motion made by Council Member Howard, Seconded by Council Member Furr. Voting Yea: Council Member Campbell. Page 1 of 7 VI. PRESENTATIONS VII. CONSENT AGENDA: All matters listed under this item are considered to be routine by the Town Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered separately. 1. Approval of the January 19, 2023 minutes. 2. Approval of New Hire, Krista McClenny as the Parks & Recreation Assistant. 3. Approval of New Hire Ms. Audris Pierce for the Town's Permit & Compliance Specialist position. A motion was made to approve the consent agenda. Motion made by Council Member Campbell, Seconded by Council Member Furr. Voting Yea: Council Member Howard. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS IX. OLD BUSINESS X. NEW BUSINESS 4. Consideration to approve the plans for Project Number PW-2022-01 Pendleton Trail Culverts Replacement. Scott Langford, Town Engineer / Public Works Director Mr. Langford informed Council that the 2017 SPLOST projects included the replacement of 3 corrugated metal pipes that are 36 inches in diameter near 475 Pendleton Trail. He added that the design was complete and the project was ready to bid. He stated that the total land acquisition that was needed was approximately 0.05 acres. The plan approval was needed for staff and legal counsel to move forward with the land acquisition and bids. If within the project funding, the estimated completion would be this summer. The goal was to get the project completed before the grant funding came in. That would allow for the project to be completed before the start of the Pendleton Dam project. There were only two ways to enter the neighborhood, it would be ideal to complete the project before the dam project commenced. He recommended approval of the staff- approved plans. Council Member Furr inquired if the culver was near the bridge. Mr. Langford clarified that it was but would not affect the bridge. Council Member Campbell inquired about the 0.05 acres. Mr. Langford explained that approval of the plans would also allow staff and legal staff to move forward with the land acquisition. A motion was made to approve the plans for project PW-2022-01 Pendleton Trail Culverts Replacement. Page 2 of 7  Motion made by Council Member Campbell, Seconded by Council Member Furr. Voting Yea: Council Member Howard. 5. Consideration to approve a resolution to allow the de-annexation of approximately 11 acres of parcel 0745 005 within the Town of Tyrone's municipal limit via an act of the State of GA Legislature. Phillip Trocquet, Community Development Mr. Trocquet explained that the property was located on the opposite side of the railroad tracks and was not accessible to Tyrone. The owner wished to have the property de-annexed from the Town and annexed into Peachtree City. He added that this type of annexation from one municipality to another would need to be completed through an act of the State Georgia Legislature. The main reason was that the local process would have the property go through the County first which would create an unincorporated island that was not allowed. Council Member Campbell clarified that if Council approved the resolution the State Legislature when then complete the process. Mr. Trocquet stated that yes, and added that by approving the resolution, it would inform the State that Tyrone and Peachtree City approved of the Bill. Mr. Davenport stated that both municipalities were adopting similar resolutions, indicating approval. He explained further that both Tyrone and Peachtree City were adopting the resolutions. It would then be sent to the local legislative delegation, which would draft a bill stating that the property would be removed from Tyrone and placed within Peachtree City. The House and Senate would most likely pass it, the Governor would then sign it. If it becomes law, Peachtree City would then rezone the property if needed. A motion was made to approve the resolution to allow the de-annexation of approximately 11-acres of parcel 0745 005 within the Town of Tyrone's municipal limit via an act of the State of GA Legislature. Motion made by Council Member Campbell, Seconded by Council Member Howard. Voting Yea: Council Member Furr. 6. A Briefing on AMWaste's Updated Service Delivery Model for Tyrone. Brandon Perkins, Town Manager Mr. Perkins shared a memo that was given to Council regarding the current trash service. The current agreement was approved in 2021 with AMWaste, but it had not been a smooth transition. He stated that he had met with management on multiple occasions regarding citizen complaints about missed pickups, poor customer service, and hydraulic spills. There have been multiple management changes at AmWaste. He recently had another high-level meeting with the owner of the company and the new Vice President, among a few of their staff members. He was impressed with Vice President Jason Zepp, who is local and lives in Sharpsburg. Mr. Perkins shared his concerns with Mr. Zepp and added that if you Google municipal sanitation, there were issues across the board, it was not just our area. Most jurisdictions were having similar issues. He asked Mr. Zepp to provide a plan for the Page 3 of 7  Town. Mr. Zepp recognized several reasons that they were having issues. Mr. Zepp laid out a plan and Mr. Perkins had confidence in him. Mr. Perkins shared the updates with everyone. Currently pickups were Monday through Thursday, split into four quadrants. Yard waste was also picked up on those days, leaving a lot of missed pick-ups. Customers would call in their bulk pickups and it was placed on their routes which were often missed. He added that Currotto- style trucks were being used, which were very large trucks leaving the occasional damaged mailbox and a trail of hydraulic fluid. Mr. Perkins shared that Mr. Zepp proposed to continue with the regular trash pickup days with side-load trucks. Bulk pickup would now be on the second Monday of each month, regardless of your trash pickup day. Citizens would need to schedule their bulk pickups. It would be picked up by one driver in one truck dedicated to bulk pick up. Mr. Perkins stated that yard waste would be picked up by a second truck on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month with no call ahead required. AmWaste would be adding drivers and trucks just for bulk and yard waste. Mr. Perkins shared that the rollout of the new plan would be on March 6th, giving AMWaste and the Town plenty of time to begin informing citizens of this needed change. AmWaste would attach flyers to trash cans and the Town would begin informing citizens on the email blast and various social media pages. Mr. Perkins then shared his staff assessment. He stated that he was not a sanitation professional, but he did see merit in the new model after a lot of review and conversations with the management team at AMWaste. It certainly made sense that having one truck dedicated to curbside pickups and another dedicated to yard and bulk waste would reduce missed pickups and increase efficiency – if properly implemented and managed. Given the current state and the track record over the last two years, He did not see any downside to having AMWaste move forward with the new model in an attempt to provide more reliable service to the citizens. He stated that several citizens had stated extreme frustration with the provider and had suggested that the Town should get out of the current contract and find another vendor. If one were to do even a small amount of objective research into the current state of the sanitation industry as a whole, one would quickly learn that it was rife with similar issues regardless of the provider. In fact, many surrounding jurisdictions have had issues with their sanitation providers – some have even moved to AMWaste due to worse issues with their previous providers. The point was that there was no easy solution and a perfect provide did not exist. Our best course of action for the time being was to continue working with AMWaste to ensure improvements, hold them to the requirements of the contract, and do all that we can to help AMWaste be more successful here in Tyrone. Council Member Campbell shared that he understood that the service for the sanitation industry was poor. He stated that his concern regarding yard waste pickup on the 1st and 3rd of the month, it would mean that the driver would need to drive through the entire Page 4 of 7  Town twice a month, instead of receiving a schedule of pickups. Council Member Campbell also inquired about the hydraulic spills. Mr. Perkins informed Council that Mr. Zepp was also looking into that issue. Of course, some time had passed since the Castlewood Road spill and a portion of the road in Southampton would be paved over. Staff would be concentrating on Strandhill Road. Moving forward AMWaste would introduce new trucks with an enclosed hydraulic system within the hopper. If there were a leak it would remain within the truck and not leak onto the streets. Mayor Dial requested that the HOA Presidents also be informed of the updated AMWaste plan. Mr. Perkins stated that once a week, the Town would be issuing a means to inform the citizens, in addition to the AMWaste methods. 7. Consideration of a bid from Bliss Products to replace five (5) baseball scoreboards at Handley Park at a cost of $31,290.00. Brandon Perkins, Town Manager Mr. Perkins stated that the current baseball scoreboards at Handley Park were original to the park twenty-plus years ago and were now mostly inoperable. The Town solicited bids to replace all five scoreboards measuring 3’ x 6.’ This size was much smaller than what was currently on the market. Out of four bids, the low bidder was Bliss Products. The recommended cost was $31,290.00. Bliss suggested a larger scoreboard for 4’ x 10’. They were willing to honor the bid at the same price. The updated cost increase was due to the pole location on three of the scoreboards. There would be a small gap between the poles and the board. He added that Bliss Products’ added cost was still lower than the next bidder and reminded Council that they were honoring the original bid for the larger scoreboards. Mr. Perkins stated that each scoreboard came with a tablet and they would be run through an app. He reached out to Tyrone Youth Baseball Association and confirmed that they would secure them and train their staff. The boards could also be run from the bleachers. Council Member Campbell asked if the tablets were interchangeable. Mr. Perkins stated that it was his opinion that they were. He would make sure that they were properly labeled. Council Member Campbell asked if TYBA was taking financial responsibility. Mr. Perkins reminded Council that TYBA was assisting the Town by funding half of the turfplanner. He added that the scoreboards would be funded through ARPA funds. Council Member Campbell shared that he was confident that the turf and the boards would look great. Mayor Dial asked if everything would be ready by springtime. Mr. Perkins stated that he would order the boards tomorrow and that they usually took 6-8 weeks. A motion was made to approve Bliss Products' bid to replace five (5) baseball scoreboards at Handley Park at a cost of $31,290.00. Page 5 of 7  Motion made by Council Member Furr, Seconded by Council Member Howard. Voting Yea: Council Member Campbell. XI. PUBLIC COMMENTS: The second public comment period is for any issue. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes. Please state your name & address. Comments that require a response may not be answered during this time. The Council or staff may respond at a later date. XII. STAFF COMMENTS Mr. Perkins thanked Council Members Howard and Campbell for joining him earlier that day to place eyes on Town projects. The time spent was productive. He invited the other Council Members to do the same and added that if they wanted more than one ride- along, they certainly could. Mr. Perkins gave thanks to Mr. Scott Langford for the hard work that he puts in. Most of the Town’s larger projects were of Public Works. He recognized that sometimes Mr. Langford needed to work from home. Mr. Perkins informed everyone that earlier that week staff held a preconstruction meeting at Dorthea Redwine Park for the Pickleball courts. The demolition would begin on February 20th and construction should be completed according to the contractor, 75- 80 days after the demolition. Ms. Beach asked Ms. Owens to introduce her new staff member who was just approved. Ms. Owens (from the audience) introduced Ms. Krista McClenny and welcomed her to the Town and the Recreation Department. Ms. McClenny introduced her daughter and Finance’ and added that her daughter and sons have or are attending Sandy Creek High School at that she was very excited about the opportunity to work for the Town. Mr. Langford stated that the Pendleton Trail culverts bid would be on February 16th, then appear on the March 2nd agenda for the bid approval. XIII. COUNCIL COMMENTS Council Member Campbell gave a shout-out to Patty Newland for being awarded the Fox in a Box award from Flint River. Ms. Newland (from the audience) explained that the Fox in a Box was a traveling exhibit on the history of the Fox Theatre located in downtown Atlanta. She welcomed all ages to come out in March. She thanked Ms. Kate Chambers for applying for the Grant. Tyrone was the only Flint River branch to be awarded and the only branch in the area for the display. She invited everyone to come to see it for two weeks in March. Mayor Dial encouraged everyone to apply for the Town email blast from the Town’s website. He gave a shout out to Ms. Newland for the Library and Ms. Owens for the Recreation Department. Page 6 of 7  Mayor Dial announced that a new performing arts school located at the former Tyrone Elementary School, along with Compass Dance Academy. Heart Encounters was hosting their one-act musical stage play, Start the Heartbeat on February 3-5 at 876 Senoia Rd. XIV. EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made to move into Executive Session for two (2) items of real estate. Motion made by Council Member Howard, Seconded by Council Member Furr. Voting Yea: Council Member Campbell. A motion was made to reconvene. Motion made by Council Member Furr, Seconded by Council Member Howard. Voting Yea: Council Member Campbell. XV. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made to adjourn. Motion made by Council Member Furr. Voting Yea: Council Member Howard, Council Member Campbell. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 pm. By: Attest: Eric Dial, Mayor Dee Baker, Town Clerk Page 7 of 7