Town Council Regular Meeting

Town of Tyrone Council Meeting Minutes February 16, 2012 Present: Mayor Eric Dial Mayor Pro Tem Gloria Furr Council Member Ken Matthews Council Member Linda Howard Council Member Ryan Housley Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Brandon Perkins Town Attorney Dennis Davenport Finance/HR Manager Penny Hunter Planning & Zoning Coordinator, Dina Rimi Town Clerk, Dee Baker Call to Order, Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Dial called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The invocation was given by Pastor Beard of Hopewell United Methodist Church. The invocation was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comments Scott Harris of 2060 Castle Lake Drive and treasurer of the Tyrone Youth Soccer Association approached Council and asked for time to discuss the soccer field’s condition and upkeep per section 23 of the contract with the Town. He stated the association has pledged $45,000 to repair one field and asked for more help with the other fields. Mr. Perkins stated he would arrange a meeting. Council Member Furr made a motion to move item 3 to 4, removing it from the consent agenda for discussion. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Approval of Agenda Council Member Matthews made a motion to approve the agenda with changes. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Council Member Furr made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. 1|Page 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. Approval of Minutes: February 2, 2012 1. Record retention update for Police and Court. Kathy Bright, Court Clerk 2. Approval to hire applicant Diane Johnson for the Library Assistant position. Julie Digby, Library Supervisor 3. Approval to hire applicant Anthony Hill as a Police Officer. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Moved from Consent Agenda for discussion: 4. Approval to accept a donation of 9 yards of concrete from Argo Concrete on behalf of TYBA. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Mr. Perkins stated that Argo Concrete initially donated 9 yards of concrete for concrete slabs under the bleachers at the T-Ball field and at the batting cage. The donation was for 9 yards in the amount of $747. Currently Arco Concrete is offering 5 yards, a $435 donation, and cutting the price for the remaining yardage. Mr. Perkins stated that leaves $312 remaining for the Town or TYBA to replace. Council Member Housley made a motion to accept the $435 donation of 5 yards of concrete from Arco Concrete. Council Member Matthews seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Council Member Furr made a motion that the Town spend $312 out of the parks maintenance budget to finish the project. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. PROCLAMATION/RECOGNITION: None. REPORTS: 5. Fayette County Fire and EMS Department Annual Report. Allen McCullough, Fire Chief/Director of Public Safety Chief Allen McCullough, Fire Chief/Director of Public Safety thanked Mayor and Council and introduced four presenting members of Fayette County Public Safety for their annual reports. 2|Page Sergeant Travis Caldwell with the Fayette County Marshals office spoke first. He stated the Marshal’s office was established in 1983 by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. He stated the four main purposes of the Marshal’s office is 1) Enforcement, 2) Investigations, 3) Risk management, 4) Security. He stated 23,688 activities were logged last year. Lieutenant Peggy Glaze, Assistant Director for Fayette County 911 spoke next. She stated in 2006 the department was consolidated and updated, at that time 1/3 of the employees did not stay with the agency. Ms. Glaze stated currently among the employed at the center is a Firefighter, 2 Police officers and volunteers. The response times are within 100th of a second, well within the required 3 ring minimum. Last years 911 and administrative phone calls totaled to 137,000. Ms. Glaze stated the department is installing a computer automated dispatch system on April 16, 2012. Fred Sisson, Director of Fayette County Animal Control then spoke. Mr. Sisson stated last year the center took in around 2,100 animals, most being feral cats. He stated feral cats attract coyotes, fox and raccoons. He urged the citizens to keep their cats inside. He ended by making sure everyone spays and neuters their pets. Tom Bartlett, Deputy Chief Fire and Emergency Services reported to Council. Mr. Bartlett stated last year saw a 4 % increase in their call volume. The total was 7,879, of which 644 calls came from Tyrone. The response time for Tyrone is an average of 4 minutes 47 seconds. The Town had 292 inspections reported. Chief McCullough ended by giving an update on Fire Station #3. He stated the land purchased is at the corner of Hwy 74 and Jenkins Road. The goal is to start construction by summer. PUBLIC HEARING: 6. Consideration of Petition No. V 2012-001, the applicant requests a variance to be approved to extend a non-conforming structure. Dina Rimi, Planning & Zoning Coordinator Ms. Rimi gave Mayor and Council an update on the request. She stated the property is located on the corner of Palmetto Road and Senoia Road. She stated the property is located next to the gas station and convenience store at 1014 Senoia Road. She stated the applicant is requesting an extension to the setbacks. Ms. Rimi stated the building was constructed prior to the Town having an ordinance in place. Mr. Davenport stated the structure is currently in the setback, the request is to enlarge the setback to accommodate the non-conforming structure, which would include a cooler/freezer and storage. Council Member Housley made a motion approve the request for a variance to extend the non conforming structure. Council Member Matthews seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. 3|Page OLD BUSINESS: 7. Discussion regarding Castle Lake Dam. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Guy Wilcox, who resides at 2270 Castle Lake Drive, recapped the issue. He stated the state reclassified the Castle Lake Dam to reflect the two houses built at the bottom of the dam. In order to complete the project the Home Owners Association is looking for assistance from the Town. Virgil Fludd of 2065 Castle Lake Drive stated that he is a recent Castle Lake resident. He stated that the Town approved construction of two homes below the dam, resulting in the dam being reclassified. There needs to be a review and studies with an undetermined cost to the homeowners. He stated that the homeowners are asking the Town to participate in the cost of the engineering study and potential work. Mr. Jack Tiernan asked Council to delay the communication a little while longer due to newly acquired information. Council Member Matthews made a motion to table the item to the March 15, 2012 Council meeting. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. NEW BUSINESS: 8. Consideration and approval of the employee evaluation process. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Mr. Perkins stated that he modified the Police employee evaluation policy to fit administration and other departments. He further stated that he added subsection A under section III regarding probationary employees. The second addition is section B, subsection 5, regarding any employee with a below standard rating will be re-evaluated in 6 months. Mr. Perkins stated the reason for the new 1 to 3 rating system form as apposed to the current 1 to 10 is the large scale leaves too much room for subjectivity. The form is Excel based with a percentage rating system incorporated. A discussion took place regarding the 6 month re-evaluation period. Ms. Hunter stated the employee should be informed of their substandard performance prior to the re-evaluation. Council Member Matthews made a motion to approve the Employee Evaluation Policy and adding the change for the re-evaluation for regular and probationary employees take place within 60 days on substandard evaluations. 4|Page Council Member Howard seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. 9. Consideration and approval of the agenda preparation policy. Brandon Perkins, Police Chief, Interim Town Manager Mr. Perkins stated the reason for this policy is to eliminate any confusion regarding omissions and other issues that could arise during a meeting preparation. Mr. Perkins briefed Council on the time-line when items for the agenda are due. Council Member Housley stated H needs to be changed to G. Mayor Dial stated his concern regarding III- B; any submittal is subject to the Town Manager’s discretion. The statement included Mayor and Council. Mr. Perkins stated the Mayor and Council of course would have the final word in the matter. Council Member Furr made a motion to approve the agenda preparation policy with letter H being changed to G. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. FINANCE REPORT: 10. Financial Report for the month of January, 2012. Penny Hunter, HR/Finance Manager Revenue: $2,019,196 has been collected in revenue against a budget of $3,506,255 at the end of January, 2012. The fiscal year is 58.33% complete and 57.59% of total revenue has been realized. Real Property Tax collections are behind one year ago by $40,826. As a side note, Fayette County is predicting an 8% decrease in Property Values for next tax year. Franchise taxes are also behind last year’s figure by $19,520. Local Option Sales taxes came in strong for November sales received in January at $88,011. L.O.S.T. is now ahead of budget by 3% and ahead of last year by $16,736. Business Tax collections are strong this year at $419,650, 11.52% ahead of total budget for the year and $109,936 ahead of one year ago. Municipal Fines are at 39.85% of budget and $33,751 behind last year’s figure. Other Revenue is up due to the lighting reimbursement from the baseball association . Expenditures: Total expenditures to date for the General Fund are $1,661,528 which is 47.39% of the annual budget. Expenditures are ahead of last year at this time by $52,068. The majority of this overage is due to the Professional Services line item in General Government. This line item is currently at 79.17% of budget. The other area of concern is Repairs and Maintenance, Grounds Maintenance 5|Page and Demolition under Public Works, which are all over budget. Overall, both departments are still within budget. Available Cash: The Town currently has 13 months of operation revenue for the General Fund in Reserves. Public Comments: Hank Sanak who lives at 2035 Castle Lake Drive stated the Castle Lake Homeowners Association has been communicating with the Corps. Of Engineers and Fayette County regarding the dam situation. He stated he has a concern regarding the placement of the Fayette County Fire station next to a school with the sirens disturbing the students. Staff Comments: Mr. Perkins asked the approval of the Council to revisit the Sign Ordinance. He stated that there are areas that need to be reviewed. Mayor Dial stated Ms. Rimi is keeping a list of issues that arise. Council Member Furr made a motion to authorize staff and Planning Commission to revisit the Sign Ordinance. Council Member Matthews seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Mr. Perkins stated that the CSX Intergovernmental Agreement was passed at the last meeting. It was discovered that the Fayette County Intergovernmental Agreement for the labor and paving of Valleywood Road will expire next week. He stated Attorney Davenport drafted an amendment to the agreement extending the deadline for 12 months on the project. Mayor Dial stated the 12 months is unacceptable, the initial agreement was for completion in the fall of 2011 or early spring 2012. Mr. Dial stated the County has moved their portion of the project for a later date. Mayor Dial stated the Town is asking the County to work with us on the timing for completion. Mr. Perkins stated he will contact Fayette County Engineer, Mr. Phil Mallon to discuss the timeframe. Council Member Matthews made a motion to approve the amendment for the Intergovernmental Agreement with Fayette County. Council Member Housley seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. Council Comments: None. 6|Page Adjournment Council Member Furr made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Matthews seconded the motion. Motion was approved 4-0. The Town Council Meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m. By:________________________ Attest:______________________ Eric Dial, Mayor Dee Baker, Town Clerk 7|Page