No Bookmarks Exist.
Sorry about that. 00:00:03
All right. Welcome everyone, to the September Watkinsville City Council meeting. Welcome, Miss Hendricks. Welcome former Mayor 00:00:08
Smith. We're glad to have you back tonight. 00:00:13
And with that, we'll get underway. We do have a quorum here tonight. We have a full house, which is great. And I'd love it, Miss 00:00:20
Hendricks, if you could lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 00:00:25
Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 00:00:33
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 00:00:40
All right. Do we have any changes to the minutes from the August 17th meeting? 00:00:55
All right, hearing none, I'll take a motion about the minutes. Please. I make a motion to approve the minutes from the August 17th 00:01:07
meeting. Do we have a second, Second. Any discussion? 00:01:12
All in favor, say aye. Any opposed like sign motion carries 50 All right approval of the agenda. 00:01:20
Under consent, I would like to add job description for DDA Executive Director. If you guys are OK with that, I'd like to put it 00:01:28
under consent. If we need to put it under new business, we could also do that. 00:01:33
If anyone wants to discuss that job position, please let me know what your pleasure is and then, unless there's other changes, we 00:01:40
can move forward with approving the agenda. 00:01:44
I'm fine with consent. 00:01:51
All right. Can someone make a motion to approve the agenda with the? 00:01:55
We addition of Item 6 under consent the job description for the DDA Executive Director. 00:01:59
I make a motion that we approve the agenda with the addition of item number six. 00:02:04
The job description of the downtown Development Director under consent agenda. I'll tell you what, let's call that 5A if we can. 00:02:11
That way we don't have to change all the other numbering conventions through the meetings. 00:02:16
OK, you have a motion. Do we have a second? 00:02:22
All right. We have a second. Any further discussion? 00:02:26
All in favor of approving the agenda with the addition, say aye. Any opposed. 00:02:29
All right. With that, we will move to administration. And the first thing on the list is a proclamation honoring Constitution 00:02:36
Week. 00:02:39
Good. OK, Miss Hendricks, do you want to come up here and stand beside me? 00:02:54
First of all thank you for everything y'all are doing and. 00:02:59
235th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention. 00:03:34
And whereas it is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary 00:03:41
into the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate it. And whereas public on 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each 00:03:47
year by the President of the United States of America, designating September 17th through 23 as Constitution Week, now, therefore 00:03:53
I, Brian Broderick, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Watkinsville, do hereby proclaim the week of 00:03:59
September 17th through 23rd. 00:04:05
As Constitution Week in Watkinsville, GA. 00:04:11
And I urge our citizens to reaffirm the ideals the Framers of the Constitution had in 1787. By vigilantly protecting the freedoms 00:04:12
guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of Watkinsville, Georgia, 00:04:18
to be affixed the 17th day of September, the year of our Lord 2022. 00:04:24
Thank you. 00:04:31
You will not see the seal on there. Do you have an official copy or do we need the seal on there? So I want to be sure we've got 00:04:34
the seal, so. 00:04:37
I have a feeling you got to see it coming your way. 00:04:43
Thank you. 00:04:47
OK. 00:04:50
We will pause for a moment while we wait on the seal. 00:05:08
All right. 00:05:40
We are signed, sealed, delivered and we will move on to the financial reports. Miss Dickerson, if you could give us the monthly 00:05:46
update, please. Absolutely everybody should have received the balance sheet, the revenues and expenditure report. If there are any 00:05:52
questions on that, I'm happy to take those. Now everything's tracking as we expected. 00:05:58
No questions on that. I'll move to spouse One, Spouse one. You may recall, all this money right now is earmarked. 00:06:07
Sewer Line Construction of sewer line A through the industrial park it will be matched with. 00:06:13
Roughly 9 hundred $904,000 from squash 2. 00:06:19
And that's pretty much all that's left. There's a few expenditures related to some of the park in the City Hall sidewalk work that 00:06:25
hasn't cleared, and that's why it's still showing encumbered and not spent. But for the most part, Floss one is Floss 2 will be 00:06:31
mostly be spent on the remaining funds on the sewer line, a project. 00:06:37
It's Boss Three. That's our newest one that began last fall. 00:06:45
There's funds that have been encumbered in there for what is going on right now. Phase one of Parish Hills Park renovation. 00:06:50
There are some other funds with capital and there has been some money spent on the Jaws of Life. I believe it was a battery 00:06:57
powered one that was bought for the fire department. 00:07:02
We're trending about $8000 more a month in revenues. 00:07:07
Which is? 00:07:11
And that sort of shows you our bank balance is at 629,000 and some change. 00:07:13
On the AARP report, we have roughly $827,000 left. There's monies that have been encumbered for the premium pay retention 00:07:21
initiative that was approved. 00:07:27
And there are and then the the grossed up taxes we that hasn't cleared but that that was part of it passed through from the state 00:07:33
for the first responders supplement that was provided. 00:07:39
So that's where we stand on those projects. Any question on any of these finance reports? 00:07:46
If not, I will move on to economic development. 00:07:55
So on economic development, our occupational taxes were mainly what we're showing here, 8 businesses I believe, that have. 00:08:00
Their renewals. 00:08:09
And then a new report that City Clerk Klein has put together is our Alcohol and Hotel Motel. 00:08:11
Excise taxes just for your edification. The whole set, the alcohol. We have two ways that we collect the tax. The wholesale 00:08:18
distributors pay $0.22 a liter for everything they sell to businesses within the city limits. 00:08:25
And $0.05 per 12 ounce can of beer that's sold within the city limits. 00:08:32
And then? 00:08:37
I think it was July or August when you passed the excise tax for liquor by the drink. There's a 3% per drink and that just 00:08:39
started. I think that actually started September one I think. So we haven't seen anything on that yet. On the Hotel Motel, you all 00:08:45
passed a 5% excise tax on that, which also covers short term vacation rentals. 00:08:51
That actually doesn't start again until set. Bedding starts September 4th, so we won't see any of that money until October. And 00:08:57
we'll keep, we'll keep an eye on that. That's a new area we've moved into, so we'll keep you posted on that. 00:09:03
And then the final report under economic development is building permits. We've had 12 permits for 11 projects, a lot of you know 00:09:12
replacement of HVAC's and repairs. 00:09:17
Renovations and then a couple projects lay low. 00:09:22
Tech Takira thought you said techier, how do y'all say that anyway over at a wire park is they've got plumbing, they've got some 00:09:26
plumbing work that's going on over there. So there's a couple of couple projects that are part that show up on there so. 00:09:32
Any questions? 00:09:39
Thank you. 00:09:44
All right, Chief. We'll turn it over to you. All right. Good evening, Mayor. Council. Always a pleasure to be here before you. 00:09:45
I submitted my report last week. I believe you all received it in the package. Are there any questions over in the material? I'll 00:09:51
provide it. 00:09:54
All right. Well, let me highlight some some details from our speed signs. Of the 156,848 cars that traveled through Experiment 00:10:05
Station at 45 miles an hour, 2% of them are traveling at 11 miles an hour or over. 00:10:11
On North Main Street, which is the sign right there in front of the. 00:10:19
SP. 00:10:25
175,433 vehicles. Of those .8% less than 1%, are traveling at 11 mph. 00:10:27
Somerton Bridge Roadway Outgoing speed limit 25 miles an hour of the 72,000. 00:10:35
104 vehicles traveling through there. 12% are traveling at 11 mph and I do have officers that are assigned. 00:10:40
To be attentive to these areas because this is one of my violent, one of my trouble. 00:10:48
Sompton Bridge Rd. Incoming. That's the coming up the bridge from the cemetery. Of the 77,132 vehicles, 18% of those are traveling 00:10:53
at 11 mph over. 00:10:59
Make it Hwy. S Main St. Outgoing speed limit 35 miles an hour of the 56,233 vehicles. Low number in my opinion, I. 00:11:06
.5% Half a percent of those vehicles are traveling at 11 mph over. 00:11:17
And Barnett Scholes of the 59,499. 00:11:23
.6% of those are traveling at 11 miles. 00:11:29
And. 00:11:33
Rest of them are within, you know, the speed range. 00:11:35
Or just a slightly over within a range that we aren't able to really pay attention to. 00:11:38
Any questions? 00:11:44
All right. 00:11:47
What are we talking about? Greensboro? 00:11:51
Oh, I miss Greensboro. 00:11:54
My. 00:11:57
Where to? 00:11:59
It's on the screen if you need to. 00:12:02
There we are. Of the 177 of the 107,666 vehicles, 2% are traveling 11 mph Rd. 00:12:05
Um. 00:12:14
It's one of one of my spots that we initially had trouble with when we started monitoring that behavior and and you know just 00:12:16
through. 00:12:20
Presence and visibility, we've never been able to dial those numbers down. So All in all, our signs are reporting good numbers 00:12:23
with the exception of Simon Bridge of Barnett. 00:12:28
And currently have the variable message sign over on barns. 00:12:33
It. 00:12:38
The 85th percentile on Monday was 41 miles an hour, 6 miles an hour over poses being in the 35. So that's doing good. 00:12:40
I'd like to remind the community that we do have two brand new bikes, or at least a brand new bike. I've seen it out, I've seen it 00:12:49
in. 00:12:54
In action. And so we do have a brand new. 00:12:59
Bicycle or motorcycle, Motorcycle. Motorcycle that is a. 00:13:03
Up and running. 00:13:08
Yes, it is. 00:13:11
I heard it was active this morning. 00:13:12
Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Chief. Any questions for Chief? 00:13:16
OK. Thank you for what you do, Chief. We appreciate y'all. 00:13:20
All right. Next up we have the consent agenda again we. 00:13:24
Typically don't discuss that, so. 00:13:28
I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. 00:13:31
I make that motion. We have a motion from Councilman Tucker. Do we have a second? 00:13:36
2nd For Mr. Thomas, All in favor, say aye. 00:13:41
Any opposed, All right consent agenda passes. 00:13:44
All right, we're now moving into some public hearings we have. 00:13:49
We'll have two public hearings tonight. These will kind of mirror what we did last month. We have a little bit more cleanup to do. 00:13:54
One is on our official zoning map and the other is on amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:13:59
Manager Dickerson will give us an overview of both of those. Just a reminder on public comment, Comment should be directly related 00:14:05
to the agenda item. 00:14:08
Members of the public should come to the podium 4 minutes per person. Refrain from debate, argument personal attacks are 00:14:12
irrelevant. Discussion address only the merits of the pending matter and address remarks directly to the Council. Council cannot 00:14:17
speak to potential litigation, attorney-client or personnel matters. Public input will be allowed after council receives the 00:14:22
reports from staff and or the applicant. 00:14:27
Would you have anything further to add on? No, that covers it. I'll just simply mention that that is expressly per the 00:14:33
requirements of your city code Section 2-260. Thank you Sir. Thank you. So with that, we'll go to item 9, the updated official 00:14:39
zoning map and Manager Dickerson, if you could give us a overview of this please. Absolutely. 00:14:45
Pretty much the only thing that has changed since the last meeting was that we had missed the hatchery, which is located in that 00:14:53
little purple spot at the far left hand side of your screen, bottom of the screen which is on, I believe it's on old Bishop Rd. We 00:15:00
just had not put the correct zoning in there. So we've corrected for that and that's really all that was done different. 00:15:06
And this is simply to reflect all the zoning changes that have occurred since the last map was done and I think 2008 or 2009. 00:15:14
Right. So this is then sent to the Northeast Georgia Regional Center and then they provide us with updated maps back that we can 00:15:22
use and share with the public, so we have more clarity. 00:15:26
If you see our maps right now, we've added a lot of Julie's printed stuff out and we've stuck it on our maps, but it's not nearly 00:15:30
as clean as this one. 00:15:33
And again, a reminder to council, this is a 2 step. So we'll have the hearing now. We'll hear from members of the public and then 00:15:38
we will actually vote on this under old business. So with that, I'll open it up for a public hearing on the updated zoning map. Do 00:15:43
we have any members of the public who want to comment on the zoning map? 00:15:48
Did we receive any comments online court? 00:15:56
Yes, Sir. OK, no one wishes to speak. We have no online comments. With that, we'll close the hearing on the updated official 00:16:00
zoning map and we will move on to the subdivision ordinance amendments. 00:16:05
Manager Dickerson council Again, same process here. We're going to hear the update and then we'll move to the vote, which will not 00:16:11
require public comment under old business. 00:16:15
Manager Dickerson. 00:16:21
Thank you, Mayor. So at the last meeting we thought we had captured all the comments. Again, the purpose of doing this is to. 00:16:23
Is to ensure that our regulations that we follow actually reflect the process that we go through. 00:16:32
So the last meeting, we actually took care of a lot of that. This meeting, the changes, the strike throughs and underlined 00:16:39
additions were to reflect a request by both Councilman Garrett and Councilman Thomas. 00:16:46
So the final tweaks. 00:16:54
Section 5-85B, which would allow rollback style concrete curbs and gutters within residential streets with approval from the city 00:16:57
engineer. 00:17:01
It also will remove the prohibition of use of recycled asphalt pavement, which is very common now. Wasn't back when this was done. 00:17:08
It also changes the authorized representative mayor and council to city engineer. Again, administratively, we handle these things 00:17:19
differently. They don't have to come before council for these for these decisions. 00:17:25
And then there are 8 locations throughout the rest of the document that we picked up where it previously it said county and now it 00:17:30
should say city because these are all regulations and not the counties again when this wasn't changed prior. 00:17:37
Prior to changing it years ago, the city used to go used to have these items go through the Planning Commission. That doesn't 00:17:44
happen anymore. The city takes took those over because the county does not handle. 00:17:49
The form based code that was approved so, so these eight locations who. 00:17:55
Sorry about that. The eight locations are littered. 00:17:59
Throughout the document. 00:18:03
If there's any questions, I don't know if Councilman Garrett or Councilman Thomas want. 00:18:05
Respond since they looked like looked at it and worked. 00:18:09
We made that change just to match the other subdivisions in town in that way. 00:18:17
Everything mirrors looks the same. 00:18:23
Everything is ran asphalt today's recycle so. 00:18:29
Absolutely correct when that was done. 00:18:33
For whatever reason, it wasn't as common as it is today. 00:18:35
And Councilman Thomas, all your changes, you all your concerns are addressed OK? And sharing all the we got everything on the. 00:18:43
The aggregate and the roll curves that we need in there, Right. OK, all right. All right. With that, I'll now open up a public 00:18:50
hearing. Any comments on the amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:18:55
Court client, did we receive any online? 00:19:01
All right. Hearing none, I'll close. 00:19:05
All right. And we will move on again. These are about to come back to us for a vote in a couple minutes. 00:19:07
All right, appearance is a rare night with no appearances, so we will move on to old business. 00:19:13
And we will come back to the zoning map. So at this point, Council, if you have any discussion of the zoning map, now is the time. 00:19:18
If not, I'll entertain a motion to adopt the updated official zoning map. 00:19:24
And the. 00:19:30
And the associated resolution. 00:19:34
Nice. 00:19:40
I make a motion to adopt the updated zoning map and associated resolution. 00:19:43
We have a motion. I'll second. We have a second. Any further. 00:19:50
Hearing none all in favor, say aye. 00:19:55
We'll move on to subdivision ordinance. Same process. We just went through this. These are the specific changes that are outlined. 00:19:59
Council, Any discussion of? 00:20:08
If not, I'll entertain a motion to approve the amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:20:12
I'd like to make a motion to approve the administered subdivision ordinance. 00:20:16
Do we have a second? 00:20:21
All in favor, Say aye. 00:20:23
Any opposed? 00:20:25
Motion carries 5. 00:20:27
All right, item 13. 00:20:29
We do not have a construction lease to review tonight, but we did get updated plans. These should all be reflective of the 00:20:33
suggestions we made last month. 00:20:38
So I emailed these to you all as well. I just wanted to be sure we surface these. We may have to have a very short called meeting, 00:20:44
but we have not had time to get the construction lease. 00:20:49
Ironed out with Hill Point. At this point, I'm hoping that we have a tighter timeline and a. 00:20:56
And the lease for your review before the next meeting, if we may have to push it to the next meeting, we'll see. So we're working 00:21:03
with them on that. But this does reflect the patent courts in the area. We also had a pre, not a pre com. We did meet with Georgia 00:21:08
Power and the Chamber on site. 00:21:14
That area where the Fatah courts are is littered with a variety of different power poles and utility poles. 00:21:19
You always think, well, it's probably easy just to, you know, remove a few poles, breath, shaking his head and smiling. He knows 00:21:26
he's taught me a long time ago that it's not. 00:21:30
So, but some of them, we do think there's some redundancy on those poles and also on some of the other poles along the road. So 00:21:35
we're working to coordinate all that with utilities. Georgia Power has been a great partner. The Chamber has been great. 00:21:40
So we do have a fair bit of work to do there. So more to come in the next few months as we. 00:21:47
Try to get that project really moving here in October, November, because it's going to be important to get that started quickly. 00:21:51
So the field. 00:21:55
Ideally ready in summer, you know that we've got grass growing there in the summer and ready for the festival. 00:21:59
So. 00:22:03
Yes, figure out a scoreboard location. Because I'm not seeing anything on here. We have not figured out a scoreboard location. I 00:22:06
think it'll probably be right field outside the main fence. That's a good catch that I'll circle back with them on that. I think 00:22:13
it should be on the exterior of the field, not on the temporary fence. I think that would look weird. So, OK, so. 00:22:19
And was there any, I know we had discussed a potential of putting. 00:22:26
Put it maybe down here in the parking lot of Hair so. 00:22:30
Putting what in the parking lot? 00:22:36
I think that was just if they wanted a huge tournament type of thing, but I. 00:22:39
The gist of what I was hearing is that this is good. 00:22:45
Yep. And that's a that area is tremendously underutilized right now. And Potunk is such that as we've discussed you know they they 00:22:50
it's gravel, it's if somebody needs it for the fall festival, if we want to put picnic tables out there, if it's not going to 00:22:54
bother anybody. 00:22:59
When, you know, we'll just have to figure out. With the power poles, it's a trickier area on this, on this, it looks real easy. 00:23:03
When you when you drop 5 power poles in a you know in a 600 square foot space it's gets more complicated. So. 00:23:10
Trees. 00:23:16
So we'll figure we will we'll. 00:23:18
Determine that layout as we get a little further down the. 00:23:21
So no action necessary there tonight. I don't think sharing from council is there. I think you just need to table the item since 00:23:24
it's on the agenda. OK, so can we have a motion to table? 00:23:28
The approval of the construction lease, please? 00:23:34
Table. 00:23:37
And do we have? 00:23:38
I'll second all in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:23:40
Motion carries 5. 00:23:43
All right. New business. We've got the Elmig application manager, Dickerson, if you want to walk us through that please. 00:23:46
All right. I'm not going to bore you with all the past L Meg projects that we've had. You have those in your packet. 00:23:56
Suffice it to say, there's been a lot of activity using the Local Maintenance Improvement Grant money from G dot. 00:24:01
From stormwater improvements on Industrial Blvd. To paving Meadowview Court, 1st 1st St. Bond Court, even up to the Lao Lane 00:24:08
action that was done just a few months ago. 00:24:14
So this money is really important. We are going to recommend that you resurface Buddy Hop Trail School St. and complete some 00:24:20
sidewalk work along Main Street and we'll walk through that a little bit that that that decision. I did have some feedback from a 00:24:25
couple of council members and the mayor on this, so. 00:24:31
Just a reminder that in August of last year, we engaged A consulting firm to help evaluate all of our roads. We have about 23. 00:24:37
Of Central, sorry, 24 center line miles, give or take a half mile or so. 00:24:46
And we wanted to get an inventory that we thought that would be really helpful for us so that we're not just driving up and down 00:24:51
the road trying to figure out what looks like it needs to be paved or not paved. So we have a complete inventory now of all of 00:24:55
our. 00:24:59
Center line miles and that created a debt. We created a database out of this and it shows the pavement condition index. In your 00:25:03
packet, you would have received one of the attachments that show you sort of the the rating and there's zero to zero to 100. So 00:25:09
we've got a fair number that are under 4040 is sort of really bad and we've still got a number that we have to address that We'll 00:25:14
be talking about some of those tonight. 00:25:20
Again, G dot administers this Local Maintenance Improvement Grant. You can use it for roads, drainage, sidewalks, bridges. 00:25:26
Pretty much anything related to that you can use it for. They have to still approve it, so you have to make applications what 00:25:34
we're asking you to do tonight. 00:25:37
We did budget in the SPA 3 projects. For the only match which is required, 30% is required. The state provided us based on our 00:25:43
center lane mileage, $43,000 and 700. 00:25:50
$49.93 in funding. We have to match that 30%, which is 13,000. We had budgeted 17,000 mainly because we weren't really sure what 00:25:58
we were going to get and what we might need. 00:26:03
So right now there's roughly just under $61,000 available for this project. This is just a snapshot of the earmark that was made 00:26:08
in the project list for Spos 3. 00:26:13
So the PMP report that you that you got that you actually got the full report of back when it was done last year and then the 00:26:20
segment you got shows Durham St. is actually being the worst St. however. 00:26:26
We talked about this in December. 00:26:32
Because we estimate the cost of paving Durham St. is going to be at least 1/4 of $1,000,000. 00:26:35
We've got a development that's in the process of coming forward with building plans, Waters Walk right there on Durham St. and 00:26:41
Waters Water St. 00:26:45
And because of the impact that the Highway 53 experiment Station Road project. 00:26:49
The decision at this point is just just holds hold steady and let's wait and see how this all shakes out. Obviously we don't have 00:26:54
$177,000 you know difference for this project. So so that that road although it is obviously the worst Rd. is not going to be one 00:27:00
that we're going to recommend at this point. 00:27:06
The net I would also say very low traffic. 00:27:12
Correct. Yeah, mostly for the businesses that are on that. 00:27:16
So then the next 10 top Rd. segments are listed here. I won't read through them. I'm going to talk a little bit about these. 00:27:21
Several of them are in subdivisions and that's going to dictate some of our recommendation tonight about what we move forward 00:27:25
with. 00:27:30
So. 00:27:35
The first. 00:27:36
Let me go back for a second. The first two calls Creek Circle and calls Creek Dr. You'll notice it's only about 500 feet or so. 00:27:38
Of asphalt that is part of a much larger subdivision that. 00:27:44
Is in the county not in the city and so our recommendation would be to wait and work with the county when they go to maintain that 00:27:49
road and or discuss maybe giving them those segments. So we'll that that has been a discussion with me and the county 00:27:54
administrator already so. 00:28:00
Simonton Way is another Rd. that has that is part of a larger subdivision. 00:28:06
And our recommendation, and I'll, I'll talk a little bit about this and then when I show you the pricing, but our recommendation 00:28:12
would be not to do 1 little segment in the subdivision, but to try to do the whole subdivision at once. I would imagine that that 00:28:16
would be hugely. 00:28:20
Unpopular and and frustrating for somebody to see one little segment get done and the other part not get done. But we'll talk 00:28:25
about that because we'll have to have some discussion about how we can phase that in and get those projects done. Some of them are 00:28:29
quite large. 00:28:33
Buddy hot trails 584 feet. That is one. We're talking about paving Niagara Drive again as part of the. 00:28:38
Bishops Vineyard subdivision again, actually, I think it may be Laura. It's at least as large, maybe not as large as Christian 00:28:46
Lake is as far as paving. I didn't measure out Christian Lake. 00:28:52
It's the larger. It's a really large subdivision, so lots to pave, stone Shoals, terrace. 00:28:57
As well as we're talking about a small segment, there's several other pieces that would need to be done. 00:29:03
Industrial Drive is not going to be on our list as well, partially well, mostly because when they do the sewer line project, we're 00:29:09
going to be cutting right across Industrial Drive. It would be silly to go pave it and then have them tear it up. 00:29:15
Didn't we just repay that a few years ago? Didn't we just repave Industrial that was Industrial Blvd. Industrial Blvd. 00:29:22
Industrial Drive is the one that runs perpendicular to School St. We are recommending doing that segment and we'll talk about that 00:29:29
in a minute. Jerry Smith, Dr. For the same reason that we're talking about Industrial Drive not doing it, we're going to have a 00:29:33
huge 20 foot. 00:29:36
Gap in there to in order for them to lay the pipe for the sewer line. So again recommend pushing that until after and then Jackson 00:29:42
St. which really is it's it's a really long street but it's not heavily traveled. Maybe more by foot than than potentially 00:29:49
drivable traffic. But again there's others above it that we feel like need to be addressed beforehand. 00:29:56
So try to walk you through this a little bit. So. 00:30:03
This chart shows you the cost or the estimated cost based on what we know of construction. 00:30:08
Of just an overlay on all these and that's assuming that's all we need to do and. 00:30:15
Fortunately we have a Councilman on on stat on the on council that that can advise us on this and has recommended that these that 00:30:19
this is all that would need to be required to do so. Simonson way was one of the ones that you know is on the list. 00:30:26
By itself, it's 25,000. However, if you want to do the entire subdivision, which you know, I would recommend you try to do the 00:30:34
whole thing at once for mobilization costs and whatnot. 00:30:38
You're looking at about 175,000. 00:30:42
So you don't have that kind of money right now. Niagara Drive is about 37,036 thousand and I apologize I should have added the 00:30:45
two, but Bishop's Vineyard all, all of the roads is actually 460 not so you don't add those two together. I should have made them 00:30:51
similar and I didn't, but but basically you're looking at about half $1,000,000 to do that, maybe a good reason to pass a 00:30:56
teaspoon. 00:31:02
Bunny Hop Trail we talked about, it's about 34,000 Stone Shoals. Again, Stone Shoals is in the subdivision to do that area. We're 00:31:09
looking at about 200,000 for the whole area. 00:31:14
School streets right around 17 or 18, and then Jackson Street is about 87. So Jackson St. although it may be a candidate, is more 00:31:19
more than what we have available. 00:31:23
Show you a couple slides or exhibits that Carter Engineering did for us, our City Engineer Bunny Hop Trail. 00:31:29
So roughly he figures it in units and I figured it in length. So but basically we're looking at. 00:31:37
Bunny hops about 584 feet and on the on the chart. I don't know that works out to in miles but it's on your chart works out. 00:31:44
.11 miles roughly. 00:31:51
That's funny, Hop. There's about 5-5 or six houses that front that road that's right off North Main. 00:31:53
And then School Straight the segment from from Main Street to Court Street. 00:31:59
And that is .056. 00:32:04
Miles, again, not not a lot. Collectively, they add up to a lot. 00:32:07
And then the remainder of the money we're recommending to be used to remove and pour concrete. There's a fair number of sidewalk 00:32:11
repairs. The mayor and I walked downtown a couple weeks ago with G dot official and there's a fair amount of work that can be done 00:32:16
just on Main Street. There may be some other spaces, you know, that part shoulder, etcetera that we can touch up, but Main Street 00:32:22
making this busy enough so. 00:32:27
So the recommendation is that we resurface Bunny Hop Trail. We submit an application to El Meg to G dot for this grant to 00:32:32
resurface Bunny Hop Trail Spill St. and some about 50 linear feet or so if sidewalk along Main St. 00:32:40
If there's any questions, happy to answer them. I don't know if any of the, especially Councilman Garrett who works in this area, 00:32:48
might have something to say. 00:32:52
No. 00:32:57
You've done a good job explaining it all in why we Covered the roads that we did. 00:32:59
The other Rd. because of the third maintenance I. 00:33:05
Hopefully the taste box. 00:33:10
And we can give you the money in and work. 00:33:13
As we go home, you know. 00:33:16
This is a good start. 00:33:19
But as you can see, you've got, we do have a, we do have a train coming down the track at us and you know as you talk in the 00:33:24
community, you know there's a lot of development that happened in Watkinsville in the 70s and 80s and even the 90s and those 00:33:29
roads. 00:33:33
You know, deteriorating, yeah. And showing their age. 00:33:39
You know, whether it's next year, the year after or the year after, we've got to start, we got to get on that so. 00:33:43
Yep. 00:33:49
I learned a lot from riding around the city and looking at all these streets. And I learned a lot from, you know, and there 00:33:51
there's other things we can do. Like I said, instead of complete, complete removal and starting over, I mean, you can resurface. 00:33:58
You know you fill the cracks. I don't know the technical term for it, but fill all the cracks in. 00:34:06
All of that little bit of stuff prolongs the life of the asphalt. 00:34:10
Chuck, we're thankful to have you working with working on this, yeah. 00:34:18
All right. Any further discussion? 00:34:22
Here, none. I'll take a motion on the ELMIG application. 00:34:26
I'll make a motion that we approve the L Meg application. 00:34:32
Do we have a second any further? 00:34:35
Hearing none. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:34:39
Motion carries. 00:34:42
All right. 00:34:46
Manager Dickerson We're going to go on to item 15, the Watkinsville Downtown Development Authority. 00:34:48
I'll let you give us a briefing on that or Councilwoman Tucker and Councilman Campbell, if you want to give us a briefing on that 00:34:54
would be great. 00:34:58
Well, I may be deferring to the attorney on the because of the biggest thing is the resolution to activate it so the Downtown 00:35:05
Development Authority can be activated locally. This is something that's that simply requires a resolution by the council to 00:35:12
establish. You'll identify members, there are rules about who can, who can serve, and then defining your downtown development area 00:35:19
pretty straightforward. I know this is part of the Economic Development committees. 00:35:25
Director. 00:36:03
That person will be a city employee that was already planned ahead of time. In the future it might change, you know, if there 00:36:04
becomes some funding source for the DDA. 00:36:08
Where they can stand alone. But unlike Athens Park County and some of the surrounding communities, there's not like parking on 00:36:12
street parking, paid parking or parking decks that can fund those those efforts. So I think it'll work out really well. That'll 00:36:18
give us a really close connection with that DDA director access to that person. That person will also serve as the director of the 00:36:24
DDA as far as the the development authority and they'll have their own funds that may come through through grants and whatnot for 00:36:30
like facade grants or. 00:36:36
Improvements to businesses interior, exterior that are available through Main Street and through other programs that are supported 00:36:42
that are supported through DCA. 00:36:46
So. 00:36:50
I don't know, Joe, do you want to talk a little more about the legal aspect and then we can talk about The Who the members are in 00:36:53
the development area? 00:36:56
Very briefly, you'll see a resolution in front of you. The first long paragraph sites the Georgia law and states all the public 00:37:00
purposes and the benefits. And if we skip down 1/2 to the third, whereas below that it says mayor and council determine it's 00:37:08
desirable, necessary the DDA be activated immediately and then we go down from there 1 to the third whereas. 00:37:15
Talks about a need for revitalization and redevelopment the next, whereas references the benefits of developing and promoting 00:37:23
current and new trade, commerce and employment opportunities. Then flipping to the next page, just three paragraphs I think are 00:37:31
important to highlight. The third one down on the second page says you. The DDA will also serve as Urban Redevelopment Agency 00:37:39
under Urban Redevelopment Law that provides more tools in the toolbox. It's important to do that on the front end. 00:37:47
The very next paragraph, as you alluded to, Manager Dickerson references the appointments of these named individuals for the named 00:37:55
terms and I believe those were carefully selected based on their qualifications and meeting the criteria. Then jumping down 123 00:38:03
more paragraphs, the very important the DDA area shall be that geographical area described in Exhibit A and I believe we have that 00:38:11
set forth here on the zoning map with an overlay. 00:38:18
And it's this kind of hashed area that surrounds the downtown development area. So that is part and parcel of this resolution. And 00:38:27
then finally just a little bit of housekeeping, we will give a copy of this to Secretary of State and DCA should it pass. So those 00:38:33
are my remarks. 00:38:40
Thank you, Joe. 00:38:49
Yes, Sir. Christine and Jeff, do you all have anything you want to add? 00:38:51
I would just say we're excited that this is getting started. We're really pleased at the level of enthusiasm that all of the Board 00:38:57
of Directors had and the excitement to serve. 00:39:02
Here and then also. 00:39:08
I spoke to several retailers in downtown Watkins the other day and I think Jeff did as well, just to let them know. 00:39:11
That we're doing this and that one of office, I won't speak for council. One of my personal goals is to help see the that corridor 00:39:18
really thrive, especially in retail potentially. We are thrilled that water park is coming to town and other opportunities, but we 00:39:25
are committed to our downtown core and this is a way to really show that. 00:39:32
To our community. And so, yeah, excited to be part of it. 00:39:39
Perfect, Jeff, anything you want? 00:39:44
She summed it up pretty well, but I think I'm able to turn on your microphone. 00:39:47
Yeah, she summed it up well. What we tried to do with the board of directors here was target people who have specific skills that 00:39:51
can help our downtown retailers grow. 00:39:57
You know, for example, there's a lawyer on there. 00:40:03
Which is a good resource for your small business own. 00:40:05
Worked at. 00:40:08
Robert Griffith Golden Pantry He's been doing big things with Golden Pantry rebranding. 00:40:11
That's been exciting. So we really try to get a list of resources for our downtown retailers so that they can thrive. 00:40:18
So that was kind of the goal with who we targeted. 00:40:25
Like Christine. 00:40:28
So we were calling. 00:40:30
We didn't. 00:40:32
It was very surprising. I was. I was expecting like come on, I need someone, but no, very positive. They're all excited about it. 00:40:35
Dan Elder, for example. 00:40:43
He. He even. 00:40:45
The the funding through the Downtown Development agency to redo the loft apartments upstairs above Rizzo's hair salon there. So he 00:40:47
had to go through the county years ago. 00:40:53
To get that done, because we didn't have a DDA, but he was able to somehow do it that way and he's actually just about to make his 00:40:59
last payment on that loan. 00:41:03
And he said he could not. 00:41:07
Fixed up those lost apartments upstairs without that loan because it was 4 percentage points lower than the regular rates. 00:41:11
So he's a really very good resource for other people that want to get it done. Then he knows the process. So that's just one 00:41:21
example from one of the people we targeted. 00:41:25
And you know, we. 00:41:30
As Christine. 00:41:32
Spoke to retailers. 00:41:33
They were all excited. 00:41:36
Well, this has been one of our priorities for a while. Thank you to the committee for your hard work to get this stood up. We've 00:41:40
been talking about it. We had Monica Callahan come in from Madison, I think nearly two years ago and speak to us about what their 00:41:45
DDA has done for their community and how important that's been. There's a lot of other small towns around Georgia that have. 00:41:50
Use them to great effect, so it's great to have another tool in the toolbox. So thanks to you guys for doing this, assuming this 00:41:55
passes. 00:41:58
Council, do we have? 00:42:02
Any questions for manager Dickerson, Mr. Reitman or the committee? 00:42:04
Any comments? 00:42:11
Right hearing none that I'll entertain a motion to. 00:42:13
What's to activate the Watkinsville Downtown Development Authority? 00:42:17
Is that what the motion needs to say, Joe? Or do we need to approve the resolution with Exhibit A there too, and to approve the 00:42:23
resolution with Exhibit A? 00:42:27
So motion to activate. 00:42:32
And then to approve the resolution with Exhibit A. 00:42:34
And to approve the resolution with Exhibit A, we have a motion. Do we have a second? We have a motion. We have a second. Any 00:42:39
further discussion? 00:42:43
All in further all in favor excuse. 00:42:48
Say aye, Any opposed? 00:42:50
And then the city will go ahead and start searching for downtown development director, the positions been budgeted to start in 00:43:32
January. 00:43:36
So we're not sure we're going to put that person yet, but work on that too. So, but those are the next steps. Great. Well, thanks. 00:43:39
We want to have somebody by January. I think the board had. 00:43:44
Get going. So, all right, Next up we have public comments. Just a reminder on those procedures, comments should be only directly 00:43:49
relating to. 00:43:53
I don't think they have to relate to agenda items, actually speak from the podium, 4 minutes per person, Refrain from debate, 00:43:59
argument, personal attacks or irrelevant discussion. 00:44:04
If it's related to something that's on the agenda, please address the merits of the pending matter. 00:44:10
And address your remarks directly to council. We cannot speak to potential litigation attorney-client or personnel matters. Do we 00:44:14
have anyone who wants to make a public comment tonight? 00:44:18
That actually is part. 00:44:32
Yeah. 00:44:37
Yeah. 00:44:37
Mr. Mayor Brian Broderick and members of the City Council. 00:44:46
And more importantly, the good people of Watkinsville, Georgia. 00:44:52
The people of Georgia. 00:44:57
The people of Watkinsville need to. 00:44:59
That the city of Watkins, who participated in an unconstitutional taking of private property. 00:45:06
Without due. 00:45:13
Of. 00:45:15
Or. 00:45:17
Just compensation under the 5th Amendment. 00:45:18
Of the United States Constitution. 00:45:21
The purpose of this illegal taking was for the installation of a forced sewer main that serves the South side of the railroad 00:45:24
tracks. 00:45:30
Which included all. 00:45:36
Major city develop. 00:45:38
And the industrial? 00:45:40
Whose property is this? 00:45:43
It was my personal property on MCC. 00:45:46
My Constitutional. 00:45:49
As. 00:45:52
Were. 00:45:54
The. 00:45:56
Mayor Broderick and the city have ignored this very serious matter. 00:45:58
A copy of one of the letters regarding this matter, which is addressed to the Mayor, Brian Broderick, City Council. 00:46:03
City Attor. 00:46:11
And others is available. 00:46:12
The fact the people of Watkinsville need to know the facts. 00:46:15
The mayor and City Council have made multiple unlawful. 00:46:19
And or inconsistent zoning decisions in recent times. 00:46:24
Just tonight, the City Council passed the updated official zoning map. I sent a letter to Mayor Broderick, the City Council, City 00:46:29
Attorney, and others this past Monday 2 days ago stating that two parcels were incorrectly identified. 00:46:38
This letter is available. 00:46:48
Further, in that letter, I once again stated that city. 00:46:51
Unlawfully voted to approve a standalone stormwater containment facility on South Main St. 00:46:56
Which were clearly and absolutely inconsistent with South Main Street Scenic Cargo Zoning Ordinance. 00:47:04
That zoning law was very. 00:47:12
The mayor and council violated. 00:47:15
Zoning, laws, multiple letters and communications from me over the last few years regarding this matter. 00:47:19
Were ignored, I received. 00:47:27
Responses. 00:47:31
The people of Watkinsville need to. 00:47:32
The facts to Property to private property owners, one at 117 S Main St. Mayor Broderick residents and another at South Main Street 00:47:35
address. 00:47:41
Were allowed by the city to construct additional buildings upon their property. 00:47:48
Without proper storm water plants and or without receiving approval by the city for additional sanitary sewer capacity. 00:47:54
Mayor Broderick was fined $500 by the city for not applying for and receiving a demolition permit and for not applying for and 00:48:06
receiving a building permit prior to a new construction project at his residence at 117 S Main St. 00:48:16
Mayor 20 seconds left, 30 seconds. 00:48:26
These are serious matters that the good people of Watkinsville need to be aware of. 00:48:29
Are the laws meant to be suggestions or do they really matter? 00:48:35
A zoning ordinance meant to be just suggestions for. 00:48:40
Or would they be consistent for all the people behind himself? 00:48:46
To the people of Watkinsville, thank you, Mr. Smith, thank you. 00:48:50
This could happen to you. Thank you Sir. The City Council 4 minutes is a law ordinances and regulations. Let's cut the mic. 4 00:48:56
minutes is up the people of Watkinsville Unless. 00:49:01
Thank you, Mayor Smith. Appreciate your comments. 00:49:09
I will note for public consumption, it was my contractor who was fined, not me. He paid the fine. 00:49:12
And that the city of Watkinsville has not in Stewart installed, nor managed sewer And how many decades? 00:49:18
2-3 decades so anyway. 00:49:24
I won't dignify the rest of that. We'll let the comments stand any further public comments tonight. 00:49:29
Have we received any online? 00:49:35
Yes, Sir. All right. No further comments. We'll move on to the mayor. 00:49:37
This guy. 00:49:44
Umm. 00:49:47
Councilman Thomas. 00:49:49
We understand you're going to begin your deployment heading to Fort Benning on October 3rd. 00:49:51
And then to Kuwait on December 6th. So we're not sure how much we'll see you in the next few months, but we wanted to be sure 00:49:56
before you went that. 00:50:00
We gave you a big thank you. 00:50:05
From the citizens of Watkinsville for your service. 00:50:08
For all that you're doing. 00:50:11
We're grateful and we know it's going to be a long. 00:50:14
Better part of a year for you? 00:50:17
But we just want you to know how much We're grateful for your service and we'll carry on without you. But we appreciate you. 00:50:20
Thank you very much. It really means a lot. I enjoy doing what I'm doing in uniform and here and I'm I'm glad that we have found a 00:50:25
way for me to be able to continue to serve the citizens of Watkinsville while I'm gone. So. 00:50:32
Well, thank you for your service. 00:50:40
It's it's the. 00:50:43
Seems like a crazy place right now, and we don't take it lightly that you're headed into harm's way and we appreciate. 00:50:46
Thank you. 00:50:52
Branding update we have. 00:50:56
Rolled out the new logo. It seems like a long time ago, but it was in fact just after our last meeting, week after that meeting. 00:50:59
So we're all getting used to this. It looks great on the slides tonight. It's starting to pop up in other places. I saw my first. 00:51:04
Instagram post with the logo being used on a mural that someone had done for a piece of art for someone's house. 00:51:11
It is out in the wild and is getting good responses, so thank you Sharon for. 00:51:46
Working on that and getting that implemented and getting everything on the website so our partners can use it as well. 00:51:52
Mayor when those when the magnets and the hats come in we'll do some fun stuff on social media. You know some drawings and things 00:51:57
like that. We'll we'll try. If they get in before, I think we'll have the magnets before Fall festival, we may pop up over there 00:52:01
and do some fun giveaways. 00:52:05
The signs, she said. Three to four weeks. 00:52:10
Installed, but I'm not, you know, it just depends what it's really going to cut it close if we get it in before a fall festival. 00:52:13
But exciting to see all that getting underway. 00:52:20
Update on the ESP Miracle League. ESP put out a press release that kind of blew my mind, but if you spend much time at City Hall, 00:52:25
it won't blow your mind how much use the playground is getting. 00:52:29
Their calculations say 15 people per hour. That equals 150 people per day, 13,500 people in 90 days. And again, outside my window, 00:52:34
outside Sharon's window, it is almost nonstop. I mean, you know, it is really impressive, especially as the weather's cooled off. 00:52:40
How many people are out there? How many people are making that their kind of destination after school or in the evenings stopping 00:52:46
on their way home? It's really been great to see. 00:52:51
And on Saturday, ESP had their opening day and had their first big baseball tournament out there and that was absolutely amazing 00:52:57
to see that hear the music. They had three out of the park home runs. So it sounds like not only will that be a storm water 00:53:04
detention area down there, but it's going to be detaining and retaining some some some softballs and baseballs down there too. So 00:53:11
that's been great to see and and really is one of those projects that I think has been transformative for Watkinsville. 00:53:17
And as I've mentioned to some of you earlier, seeing the families utilize the sidewalk in front of City Hall and how the new 00:53:25
handicap parking works for them. 00:53:29
That expense was totally worth it. Y'all on Saturday. You know, knowing. 00:53:34
You know our former handicap parking would have been tougher for them to navigate and the sidewalks didn't connect and all of a 00:53:37
sudden when you see that family pull up and then seamlessly get out of their vehicle, get their child out of the vehicle and 00:53:42
navigate their way over there without a hiccup, it was awesome. So anyway, I appreciate y'all making that investment. Sharon, 00:53:47
thanks to you and Mark for coordinating that and getting it done and really cost efficient manner. 00:53:53
Fall Festival is coming up. This is our last meeting before the Fall Festival. Hard to believe October 15th. That's always a big 00:54:00
weekend for Watkinsville, so be sure it's on your calendar if it's not already. 00:54:05
That's coming your way. 00:54:11
And then again then I think we also have some congratulations are in order for Mr. Campbell Young. Sydney arrived shortly after 00:54:13
our last meeting I think and so. 00:54:17
I hope all is well at home and everything is going well. So congratulations on that, so. 00:54:22
And in order to get Sydney around what was mentioned earlier, but I do want to say, and I'll say it every month until November, T 00:54:26
Spice is really important. Y'all and you see those paving numbers. 00:54:32
When people ask me about it, I make it really simple. I'm. 00:54:39
We're going to. The county is going to reduce your property taxes, and we're going to have citizens from outside of Oconee County 00:54:42
bear a greater burden of the cost for paying for. 00:54:46
Sidewalks, roads and transportation infrastructure. That includes things in Watkinsville, More sidewalks. Intersection 00:54:51
improvements. That also includes things like. 00:54:55
Traffic lights that we all know are desperately needed. The corner of Union Church and Hog Mountain Rd. As our kids go back to 00:54:59
school around about at New High Shoals Rd. And Union Church Rd. 00:55:03
Significant additional pedestrian infrastructure outside of Watkinsville that will connect us to the rest of the county. So 00:55:09
please, the county has put up a website with some more information, but please talk to folks, educate folks about that, it is you 00:55:14
know. 00:55:19
It is a great opportunity for us to leverage the visitors to our community who are using our roads and help them help us pay for 00:55:24
some really needed. 00:55:28
Transportation infrastructure that otherwise will have to come out of property taxes and other revenue sources that all come from 00:55:31
just property owners in Oconee County. So please educate people about that. With that we'll go to council reports. 00:55:37
Councilman. 00:55:44
Thank you said it all. I've been trying to communicate that to people I've been talking to and I've had a lot of good comments, so 00:55:46
I. 00:55:50
Good about it, you know, And just let them know, you know. 00:55:54
What the money is going to be used for and. 00:55:58
Look at the county stuff, called the county commissioners and you know, so I've had a lot of positive into. 00:56:02
Yeah, I think that's the other thing on the county website, you can actually submit projects you'd like to see be involved in 00:56:09
that, you know, which is kind of nice. I think they're wanting to understand what people's priorities are and there's a lot of 00:56:14
things that are on the docket for the county that could be accelerated with those additional revenues. Costco alone is going to 00:56:19
add, I think 6 or 7% to the sales tax take for the county potentially. So that's a pretty significant, pretty significant increase 00:56:25
and that's opening in NN. 00:56:30
All right, Councilwoman Massey. 00:56:36
Really have much to report. I just want to say I think I said this before, I've been attempting to attend one or two of the 00:56:40
department head meetings a month and it's good to see that they all work well together. They're all doing a good job, they're all 00:56:47
keeping each other informed on things that are happening and that's good to see. Thank you all. 00:56:54
Thank you for saying that Connie. A lot of times it does go unnoticed how important that that not just Sharon, but the group that 00:57:02
your team that works for you and how important the high functioning team is and how much they get done. So Chief Sharon, thank you 00:57:06
all. 00:57:10
Shepherding she. 00:57:15
The team here at Watkins and. 00:57:16
Taking care of the. 00:57:18
All those basics that so we don't have to roll up our sleeves and get involved in that. All right, Councilman Thomas. 00:57:20
Nothing to report this evening, all right? 00:57:26
Councilwoman Tucker. 00:57:29
Work has started on dismantling the portions of the old playground that are going to go away and been in discussions with the 00:57:33
director Wendy at VO. 00:57:37
About some partnerships to have some kind of kid friendly art in there, so I have another meeting with her this week. So we are we 00:57:43
are moving along with ideas. 00:57:48
And I think what we end up with will be a great addition to our community. 00:57:54
Right. 00:58:00
Councilman. 00:58:01
We covered most everything that would have been in my report with the Downtown Development Authority, also I guess in between. 00:58:03
Last meeting in this one, I attended the Downtown Development Authority training, so I'm good to go. Christine's good to go, so. 00:58:10
All right. Again, thanks to you guys. That was a big lift. 00:58:17
All right. Anything further? 00:58:20
All right. With that, we will entertain a motion for a brief executive session to discuss real estate and threatened litigation, 00:58:22
please. 00:58:27
To go to executive. 00:58:32
To discuss real estate and potential medications. 00:58:36
All right. There's your motion. Do we have a second? All in favor? Say aye. 00:58:39
Any opposed? All right. We're in executive session. 00:58:44
Link
Start video at
Social
Embed

* you need to log in to manage your favorites

My Favorites List
You haven't added any favorites yet. Click the "Add Favorite" button on any media page, and they'll show up here.
* use Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) to search in document
Loading...
Unable to preview the file.
Sorry about that. 00:00:03
All right. Welcome everyone, to the September Watkinsville City Council meeting. Welcome, Miss Hendricks. Welcome former Mayor 00:00:08
Smith. We're glad to have you back tonight. 00:00:13
And with that, we'll get underway. We do have a quorum here tonight. We have a full house, which is great. And I'd love it, Miss 00:00:20
Hendricks, if you could lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 00:00:25
Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 00:00:33
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 00:00:40
All right. Do we have any changes to the minutes from the August 17th meeting? 00:00:55
All right, hearing none, I'll take a motion about the minutes. Please. I make a motion to approve the minutes from the August 17th 00:01:07
meeting. Do we have a second, Second. Any discussion? 00:01:12
All in favor, say aye. Any opposed like sign motion carries 50 All right approval of the agenda. 00:01:20
Under consent, I would like to add job description for DDA Executive Director. If you guys are OK with that, I'd like to put it 00:01:28
under consent. If we need to put it under new business, we could also do that. 00:01:33
If anyone wants to discuss that job position, please let me know what your pleasure is and then, unless there's other changes, we 00:01:40
can move forward with approving the agenda. 00:01:44
I'm fine with consent. 00:01:51
All right. Can someone make a motion to approve the agenda with the? 00:01:55
We addition of Item 6 under consent the job description for the DDA Executive Director. 00:01:59
I make a motion that we approve the agenda with the addition of item number six. 00:02:04
The job description of the downtown Development Director under consent agenda. I'll tell you what, let's call that 5A if we can. 00:02:11
That way we don't have to change all the other numbering conventions through the meetings. 00:02:16
OK, you have a motion. Do we have a second? 00:02:22
All right. We have a second. Any further discussion? 00:02:26
All in favor of approving the agenda with the addition, say aye. Any opposed. 00:02:29
All right. With that, we will move to administration. And the first thing on the list is a proclamation honoring Constitution 00:02:36
Week. 00:02:39
Good. OK, Miss Hendricks, do you want to come up here and stand beside me? 00:02:54
First of all thank you for everything y'all are doing and. 00:02:59
235th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention. 00:03:34
And whereas it is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary 00:03:41
into the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate it. And whereas public on 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each 00:03:47
year by the President of the United States of America, designating September 17th through 23 as Constitution Week, now, therefore 00:03:53
I, Brian Broderick, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Watkinsville, do hereby proclaim the week of 00:03:59
September 17th through 23rd. 00:04:05
As Constitution Week in Watkinsville, GA. 00:04:11
And I urge our citizens to reaffirm the ideals the Framers of the Constitution had in 1787. By vigilantly protecting the freedoms 00:04:12
guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of Watkinsville, Georgia, 00:04:18
to be affixed the 17th day of September, the year of our Lord 2022. 00:04:24
Thank you. 00:04:31
You will not see the seal on there. Do you have an official copy or do we need the seal on there? So I want to be sure we've got 00:04:34
the seal, so. 00:04:37
I have a feeling you got to see it coming your way. 00:04:43
Thank you. 00:04:47
OK. 00:04:50
We will pause for a moment while we wait on the seal. 00:05:08
All right. 00:05:40
We are signed, sealed, delivered and we will move on to the financial reports. Miss Dickerson, if you could give us the monthly 00:05:46
update, please. Absolutely everybody should have received the balance sheet, the revenues and expenditure report. If there are any 00:05:52
questions on that, I'm happy to take those. Now everything's tracking as we expected. 00:05:58
No questions on that. I'll move to spouse One, Spouse one. You may recall, all this money right now is earmarked. 00:06:07
Sewer Line Construction of sewer line A through the industrial park it will be matched with. 00:06:13
Roughly 9 hundred $904,000 from squash 2. 00:06:19
And that's pretty much all that's left. There's a few expenditures related to some of the park in the City Hall sidewalk work that 00:06:25
hasn't cleared, and that's why it's still showing encumbered and not spent. But for the most part, Floss one is Floss 2 will be 00:06:31
mostly be spent on the remaining funds on the sewer line, a project. 00:06:37
It's Boss Three. That's our newest one that began last fall. 00:06:45
There's funds that have been encumbered in there for what is going on right now. Phase one of Parish Hills Park renovation. 00:06:50
There are some other funds with capital and there has been some money spent on the Jaws of Life. I believe it was a battery 00:06:57
powered one that was bought for the fire department. 00:07:02
We're trending about $8000 more a month in revenues. 00:07:07
Which is? 00:07:11
And that sort of shows you our bank balance is at 629,000 and some change. 00:07:13
On the AARP report, we have roughly $827,000 left. There's monies that have been encumbered for the premium pay retention 00:07:21
initiative that was approved. 00:07:27
And there are and then the the grossed up taxes we that hasn't cleared but that that was part of it passed through from the state 00:07:33
for the first responders supplement that was provided. 00:07:39
So that's where we stand on those projects. Any question on any of these finance reports? 00:07:46
If not, I will move on to economic development. 00:07:55
So on economic development, our occupational taxes were mainly what we're showing here, 8 businesses I believe, that have. 00:08:00
Their renewals. 00:08:09
And then a new report that City Clerk Klein has put together is our Alcohol and Hotel Motel. 00:08:11
Excise taxes just for your edification. The whole set, the alcohol. We have two ways that we collect the tax. The wholesale 00:08:18
distributors pay $0.22 a liter for everything they sell to businesses within the city limits. 00:08:25
And $0.05 per 12 ounce can of beer that's sold within the city limits. 00:08:32
And then? 00:08:37
I think it was July or August when you passed the excise tax for liquor by the drink. There's a 3% per drink and that just 00:08:39
started. I think that actually started September one I think. So we haven't seen anything on that yet. On the Hotel Motel, you all 00:08:45
passed a 5% excise tax on that, which also covers short term vacation rentals. 00:08:51
That actually doesn't start again until set. Bedding starts September 4th, so we won't see any of that money until October. And 00:08:57
we'll keep, we'll keep an eye on that. That's a new area we've moved into, so we'll keep you posted on that. 00:09:03
And then the final report under economic development is building permits. We've had 12 permits for 11 projects, a lot of you know 00:09:12
replacement of HVAC's and repairs. 00:09:17
Renovations and then a couple projects lay low. 00:09:22
Tech Takira thought you said techier, how do y'all say that anyway over at a wire park is they've got plumbing, they've got some 00:09:26
plumbing work that's going on over there. So there's a couple of couple projects that are part that show up on there so. 00:09:32
Any questions? 00:09:39
Thank you. 00:09:44
All right, Chief. We'll turn it over to you. All right. Good evening, Mayor. Council. Always a pleasure to be here before you. 00:09:45
I submitted my report last week. I believe you all received it in the package. Are there any questions over in the material? I'll 00:09:51
provide it. 00:09:54
All right. Well, let me highlight some some details from our speed signs. Of the 156,848 cars that traveled through Experiment 00:10:05
Station at 45 miles an hour, 2% of them are traveling at 11 miles an hour or over. 00:10:11
On North Main Street, which is the sign right there in front of the. 00:10:19
SP. 00:10:25
175,433 vehicles. Of those .8% less than 1%, are traveling at 11 mph. 00:10:27
Somerton Bridge Roadway Outgoing speed limit 25 miles an hour of the 72,000. 00:10:35
104 vehicles traveling through there. 12% are traveling at 11 mph and I do have officers that are assigned. 00:10:40
To be attentive to these areas because this is one of my violent, one of my trouble. 00:10:48
Sompton Bridge Rd. Incoming. That's the coming up the bridge from the cemetery. Of the 77,132 vehicles, 18% of those are traveling 00:10:53
at 11 mph over. 00:10:59
Make it Hwy. S Main St. Outgoing speed limit 35 miles an hour of the 56,233 vehicles. Low number in my opinion, I. 00:11:06
.5% Half a percent of those vehicles are traveling at 11 mph over. 00:11:17
And Barnett Scholes of the 59,499. 00:11:23
.6% of those are traveling at 11 miles. 00:11:29
And. 00:11:33
Rest of them are within, you know, the speed range. 00:11:35
Or just a slightly over within a range that we aren't able to really pay attention to. 00:11:38
Any questions? 00:11:44
All right. 00:11:47
What are we talking about? Greensboro? 00:11:51
Oh, I miss Greensboro. 00:11:54
My. 00:11:57
Where to? 00:11:59
It's on the screen if you need to. 00:12:02
There we are. Of the 177 of the 107,666 vehicles, 2% are traveling 11 mph Rd. 00:12:05
Um. 00:12:14
It's one of one of my spots that we initially had trouble with when we started monitoring that behavior and and you know just 00:12:16
through. 00:12:20
Presence and visibility, we've never been able to dial those numbers down. So All in all, our signs are reporting good numbers 00:12:23
with the exception of Simon Bridge of Barnett. 00:12:28
And currently have the variable message sign over on barns. 00:12:33
It. 00:12:38
The 85th percentile on Monday was 41 miles an hour, 6 miles an hour over poses being in the 35. So that's doing good. 00:12:40
I'd like to remind the community that we do have two brand new bikes, or at least a brand new bike. I've seen it out, I've seen it 00:12:49
in. 00:12:54
In action. And so we do have a brand new. 00:12:59
Bicycle or motorcycle, Motorcycle. Motorcycle that is a. 00:13:03
Up and running. 00:13:08
Yes, it is. 00:13:11
I heard it was active this morning. 00:13:12
Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Chief. Any questions for Chief? 00:13:16
OK. Thank you for what you do, Chief. We appreciate y'all. 00:13:20
All right. Next up we have the consent agenda again we. 00:13:24
Typically don't discuss that, so. 00:13:28
I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. 00:13:31
I make that motion. We have a motion from Councilman Tucker. Do we have a second? 00:13:36
2nd For Mr. Thomas, All in favor, say aye. 00:13:41
Any opposed, All right consent agenda passes. 00:13:44
All right, we're now moving into some public hearings we have. 00:13:49
We'll have two public hearings tonight. These will kind of mirror what we did last month. We have a little bit more cleanup to do. 00:13:54
One is on our official zoning map and the other is on amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:13:59
Manager Dickerson will give us an overview of both of those. Just a reminder on public comment, Comment should be directly related 00:14:05
to the agenda item. 00:14:08
Members of the public should come to the podium 4 minutes per person. Refrain from debate, argument personal attacks are 00:14:12
irrelevant. Discussion address only the merits of the pending matter and address remarks directly to the Council. Council cannot 00:14:17
speak to potential litigation, attorney-client or personnel matters. Public input will be allowed after council receives the 00:14:22
reports from staff and or the applicant. 00:14:27
Would you have anything further to add on? No, that covers it. I'll just simply mention that that is expressly per the 00:14:33
requirements of your city code Section 2-260. Thank you Sir. Thank you. So with that, we'll go to item 9, the updated official 00:14:39
zoning map and Manager Dickerson, if you could give us a overview of this please. Absolutely. 00:14:45
Pretty much the only thing that has changed since the last meeting was that we had missed the hatchery, which is located in that 00:14:53
little purple spot at the far left hand side of your screen, bottom of the screen which is on, I believe it's on old Bishop Rd. We 00:15:00
just had not put the correct zoning in there. So we've corrected for that and that's really all that was done different. 00:15:06
And this is simply to reflect all the zoning changes that have occurred since the last map was done and I think 2008 or 2009. 00:15:14
Right. So this is then sent to the Northeast Georgia Regional Center and then they provide us with updated maps back that we can 00:15:22
use and share with the public, so we have more clarity. 00:15:26
If you see our maps right now, we've added a lot of Julie's printed stuff out and we've stuck it on our maps, but it's not nearly 00:15:30
as clean as this one. 00:15:33
And again, a reminder to council, this is a 2 step. So we'll have the hearing now. We'll hear from members of the public and then 00:15:38
we will actually vote on this under old business. So with that, I'll open it up for a public hearing on the updated zoning map. Do 00:15:43
we have any members of the public who want to comment on the zoning map? 00:15:48
Did we receive any comments online court? 00:15:56
Yes, Sir. OK, no one wishes to speak. We have no online comments. With that, we'll close the hearing on the updated official 00:16:00
zoning map and we will move on to the subdivision ordinance amendments. 00:16:05
Manager Dickerson council Again, same process here. We're going to hear the update and then we'll move to the vote, which will not 00:16:11
require public comment under old business. 00:16:15
Manager Dickerson. 00:16:21
Thank you, Mayor. So at the last meeting we thought we had captured all the comments. Again, the purpose of doing this is to. 00:16:23
Is to ensure that our regulations that we follow actually reflect the process that we go through. 00:16:32
So the last meeting, we actually took care of a lot of that. This meeting, the changes, the strike throughs and underlined 00:16:39
additions were to reflect a request by both Councilman Garrett and Councilman Thomas. 00:16:46
So the final tweaks. 00:16:54
Section 5-85B, which would allow rollback style concrete curbs and gutters within residential streets with approval from the city 00:16:57
engineer. 00:17:01
It also will remove the prohibition of use of recycled asphalt pavement, which is very common now. Wasn't back when this was done. 00:17:08
It also changes the authorized representative mayor and council to city engineer. Again, administratively, we handle these things 00:17:19
differently. They don't have to come before council for these for these decisions. 00:17:25
And then there are 8 locations throughout the rest of the document that we picked up where it previously it said county and now it 00:17:30
should say city because these are all regulations and not the counties again when this wasn't changed prior. 00:17:37
Prior to changing it years ago, the city used to go used to have these items go through the Planning Commission. That doesn't 00:17:44
happen anymore. The city takes took those over because the county does not handle. 00:17:49
The form based code that was approved so, so these eight locations who. 00:17:55
Sorry about that. The eight locations are littered. 00:17:59
Throughout the document. 00:18:03
If there's any questions, I don't know if Councilman Garrett or Councilman Thomas want. 00:18:05
Respond since they looked like looked at it and worked. 00:18:09
We made that change just to match the other subdivisions in town in that way. 00:18:17
Everything mirrors looks the same. 00:18:23
Everything is ran asphalt today's recycle so. 00:18:29
Absolutely correct when that was done. 00:18:33
For whatever reason, it wasn't as common as it is today. 00:18:35
And Councilman Thomas, all your changes, you all your concerns are addressed OK? And sharing all the we got everything on the. 00:18:43
The aggregate and the roll curves that we need in there, Right. OK, all right. All right. With that, I'll now open up a public 00:18:50
hearing. Any comments on the amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:18:55
Court client, did we receive any online? 00:19:01
All right. Hearing none, I'll close. 00:19:05
All right. And we will move on again. These are about to come back to us for a vote in a couple minutes. 00:19:07
All right, appearance is a rare night with no appearances, so we will move on to old business. 00:19:13
And we will come back to the zoning map. So at this point, Council, if you have any discussion of the zoning map, now is the time. 00:19:18
If not, I'll entertain a motion to adopt the updated official zoning map. 00:19:24
And the. 00:19:30
And the associated resolution. 00:19:34
Nice. 00:19:40
I make a motion to adopt the updated zoning map and associated resolution. 00:19:43
We have a motion. I'll second. We have a second. Any further. 00:19:50
Hearing none all in favor, say aye. 00:19:55
We'll move on to subdivision ordinance. Same process. We just went through this. These are the specific changes that are outlined. 00:19:59
Council, Any discussion of? 00:20:08
If not, I'll entertain a motion to approve the amendments to the subdivision ordinance. 00:20:12
I'd like to make a motion to approve the administered subdivision ordinance. 00:20:16
Do we have a second? 00:20:21
All in favor, Say aye. 00:20:23
Any opposed? 00:20:25
Motion carries 5. 00:20:27
All right, item 13. 00:20:29
We do not have a construction lease to review tonight, but we did get updated plans. These should all be reflective of the 00:20:33
suggestions we made last month. 00:20:38
So I emailed these to you all as well. I just wanted to be sure we surface these. We may have to have a very short called meeting, 00:20:44
but we have not had time to get the construction lease. 00:20:49
Ironed out with Hill Point. At this point, I'm hoping that we have a tighter timeline and a. 00:20:56
And the lease for your review before the next meeting, if we may have to push it to the next meeting, we'll see. So we're working 00:21:03
with them on that. But this does reflect the patent courts in the area. We also had a pre, not a pre com. We did meet with Georgia 00:21:08
Power and the Chamber on site. 00:21:14
That area where the Fatah courts are is littered with a variety of different power poles and utility poles. 00:21:19
You always think, well, it's probably easy just to, you know, remove a few poles, breath, shaking his head and smiling. He knows 00:21:26
he's taught me a long time ago that it's not. 00:21:30
So, but some of them, we do think there's some redundancy on those poles and also on some of the other poles along the road. So 00:21:35
we're working to coordinate all that with utilities. Georgia Power has been a great partner. The Chamber has been great. 00:21:40
So we do have a fair bit of work to do there. So more to come in the next few months as we. 00:21:47
Try to get that project really moving here in October, November, because it's going to be important to get that started quickly. 00:21:51
So the field. 00:21:55
Ideally ready in summer, you know that we've got grass growing there in the summer and ready for the festival. 00:21:59
So. 00:22:03
Yes, figure out a scoreboard location. Because I'm not seeing anything on here. We have not figured out a scoreboard location. I 00:22:06
think it'll probably be right field outside the main fence. That's a good catch that I'll circle back with them on that. I think 00:22:13
it should be on the exterior of the field, not on the temporary fence. I think that would look weird. So, OK, so. 00:22:19
And was there any, I know we had discussed a potential of putting. 00:22:26
Put it maybe down here in the parking lot of Hair so. 00:22:30
Putting what in the parking lot? 00:22:36
I think that was just if they wanted a huge tournament type of thing, but I. 00:22:39
The gist of what I was hearing is that this is good. 00:22:45
Yep. And that's a that area is tremendously underutilized right now. And Potunk is such that as we've discussed you know they they 00:22:50
it's gravel, it's if somebody needs it for the fall festival, if we want to put picnic tables out there, if it's not going to 00:22:54
bother anybody. 00:22:59
When, you know, we'll just have to figure out. With the power poles, it's a trickier area on this, on this, it looks real easy. 00:23:03
When you when you drop 5 power poles in a you know in a 600 square foot space it's gets more complicated. So. 00:23:10
Trees. 00:23:16
So we'll figure we will we'll. 00:23:18
Determine that layout as we get a little further down the. 00:23:21
So no action necessary there tonight. I don't think sharing from council is there. I think you just need to table the item since 00:23:24
it's on the agenda. OK, so can we have a motion to table? 00:23:28
The approval of the construction lease, please? 00:23:34
Table. 00:23:37
And do we have? 00:23:38
I'll second all in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:23:40
Motion carries 5. 00:23:43
All right. New business. We've got the Elmig application manager, Dickerson, if you want to walk us through that please. 00:23:46
All right. I'm not going to bore you with all the past L Meg projects that we've had. You have those in your packet. 00:23:56
Suffice it to say, there's been a lot of activity using the Local Maintenance Improvement Grant money from G dot. 00:24:01
From stormwater improvements on Industrial Blvd. To paving Meadowview Court, 1st 1st St. Bond Court, even up to the Lao Lane 00:24:08
action that was done just a few months ago. 00:24:14
So this money is really important. We are going to recommend that you resurface Buddy Hop Trail School St. and complete some 00:24:20
sidewalk work along Main Street and we'll walk through that a little bit that that that decision. I did have some feedback from a 00:24:25
couple of council members and the mayor on this, so. 00:24:31
Just a reminder that in August of last year, we engaged A consulting firm to help evaluate all of our roads. We have about 23. 00:24:37
Of Central, sorry, 24 center line miles, give or take a half mile or so. 00:24:46
And we wanted to get an inventory that we thought that would be really helpful for us so that we're not just driving up and down 00:24:51
the road trying to figure out what looks like it needs to be paved or not paved. So we have a complete inventory now of all of 00:24:55
our. 00:24:59
Center line miles and that created a debt. We created a database out of this and it shows the pavement condition index. In your 00:25:03
packet, you would have received one of the attachments that show you sort of the the rating and there's zero to zero to 100. So 00:25:09
we've got a fair number that are under 4040 is sort of really bad and we've still got a number that we have to address that We'll 00:25:14
be talking about some of those tonight. 00:25:20
Again, G dot administers this Local Maintenance Improvement Grant. You can use it for roads, drainage, sidewalks, bridges. 00:25:26
Pretty much anything related to that you can use it for. They have to still approve it, so you have to make applications what 00:25:34
we're asking you to do tonight. 00:25:37
We did budget in the SPA 3 projects. For the only match which is required, 30% is required. The state provided us based on our 00:25:43
center lane mileage, $43,000 and 700. 00:25:50
$49.93 in funding. We have to match that 30%, which is 13,000. We had budgeted 17,000 mainly because we weren't really sure what 00:25:58
we were going to get and what we might need. 00:26:03
So right now there's roughly just under $61,000 available for this project. This is just a snapshot of the earmark that was made 00:26:08
in the project list for Spos 3. 00:26:13
So the PMP report that you that you got that you actually got the full report of back when it was done last year and then the 00:26:20
segment you got shows Durham St. is actually being the worst St. however. 00:26:26
We talked about this in December. 00:26:32
Because we estimate the cost of paving Durham St. is going to be at least 1/4 of $1,000,000. 00:26:35
We've got a development that's in the process of coming forward with building plans, Waters Walk right there on Durham St. and 00:26:41
Waters Water St. 00:26:45
And because of the impact that the Highway 53 experiment Station Road project. 00:26:49
The decision at this point is just just holds hold steady and let's wait and see how this all shakes out. Obviously we don't have 00:26:54
$177,000 you know difference for this project. So so that that road although it is obviously the worst Rd. is not going to be one 00:27:00
that we're going to recommend at this point. 00:27:06
The net I would also say very low traffic. 00:27:12
Correct. Yeah, mostly for the businesses that are on that. 00:27:16
So then the next 10 top Rd. segments are listed here. I won't read through them. I'm going to talk a little bit about these. 00:27:21
Several of them are in subdivisions and that's going to dictate some of our recommendation tonight about what we move forward 00:27:25
with. 00:27:30
So. 00:27:35
The first. 00:27:36
Let me go back for a second. The first two calls Creek Circle and calls Creek Dr. You'll notice it's only about 500 feet or so. 00:27:38
Of asphalt that is part of a much larger subdivision that. 00:27:44
Is in the county not in the city and so our recommendation would be to wait and work with the county when they go to maintain that 00:27:49
road and or discuss maybe giving them those segments. So we'll that that has been a discussion with me and the county 00:27:54
administrator already so. 00:28:00
Simonton Way is another Rd. that has that is part of a larger subdivision. 00:28:06
And our recommendation, and I'll, I'll talk a little bit about this and then when I show you the pricing, but our recommendation 00:28:12
would be not to do 1 little segment in the subdivision, but to try to do the whole subdivision at once. I would imagine that that 00:28:16
would be hugely. 00:28:20
Unpopular and and frustrating for somebody to see one little segment get done and the other part not get done. But we'll talk 00:28:25
about that because we'll have to have some discussion about how we can phase that in and get those projects done. Some of them are 00:28:29
quite large. 00:28:33
Buddy hot trails 584 feet. That is one. We're talking about paving Niagara Drive again as part of the. 00:28:38
Bishops Vineyard subdivision again, actually, I think it may be Laura. It's at least as large, maybe not as large as Christian 00:28:46
Lake is as far as paving. I didn't measure out Christian Lake. 00:28:52
It's the larger. It's a really large subdivision, so lots to pave, stone Shoals, terrace. 00:28:57
As well as we're talking about a small segment, there's several other pieces that would need to be done. 00:29:03
Industrial Drive is not going to be on our list as well, partially well, mostly because when they do the sewer line project, we're 00:29:09
going to be cutting right across Industrial Drive. It would be silly to go pave it and then have them tear it up. 00:29:15
Didn't we just repay that a few years ago? Didn't we just repave Industrial that was Industrial Blvd. Industrial Blvd. 00:29:22
Industrial Drive is the one that runs perpendicular to School St. We are recommending doing that segment and we'll talk about that 00:29:29
in a minute. Jerry Smith, Dr. For the same reason that we're talking about Industrial Drive not doing it, we're going to have a 00:29:33
huge 20 foot. 00:29:36
Gap in there to in order for them to lay the pipe for the sewer line. So again recommend pushing that until after and then Jackson 00:29:42
St. which really is it's it's a really long street but it's not heavily traveled. Maybe more by foot than than potentially 00:29:49
drivable traffic. But again there's others above it that we feel like need to be addressed beforehand. 00:29:56
So try to walk you through this a little bit. So. 00:30:03
This chart shows you the cost or the estimated cost based on what we know of construction. 00:30:08
Of just an overlay on all these and that's assuming that's all we need to do and. 00:30:15
Fortunately we have a Councilman on on stat on the on council that that can advise us on this and has recommended that these that 00:30:19
this is all that would need to be required to do so. Simonson way was one of the ones that you know is on the list. 00:30:26
By itself, it's 25,000. However, if you want to do the entire subdivision, which you know, I would recommend you try to do the 00:30:34
whole thing at once for mobilization costs and whatnot. 00:30:38
You're looking at about 175,000. 00:30:42
So you don't have that kind of money right now. Niagara Drive is about 37,036 thousand and I apologize I should have added the 00:30:45
two, but Bishop's Vineyard all, all of the roads is actually 460 not so you don't add those two together. I should have made them 00:30:51
similar and I didn't, but but basically you're looking at about half $1,000,000 to do that, maybe a good reason to pass a 00:30:56
teaspoon. 00:31:02
Bunny Hop Trail we talked about, it's about 34,000 Stone Shoals. Again, Stone Shoals is in the subdivision to do that area. We're 00:31:09
looking at about 200,000 for the whole area. 00:31:14
School streets right around 17 or 18, and then Jackson Street is about 87. So Jackson St. although it may be a candidate, is more 00:31:19
more than what we have available. 00:31:23
Show you a couple slides or exhibits that Carter Engineering did for us, our City Engineer Bunny Hop Trail. 00:31:29
So roughly he figures it in units and I figured it in length. So but basically we're looking at. 00:31:37
Bunny hops about 584 feet and on the on the chart. I don't know that works out to in miles but it's on your chart works out. 00:31:44
.11 miles roughly. 00:31:51
That's funny, Hop. There's about 5-5 or six houses that front that road that's right off North Main. 00:31:53
And then School Straight the segment from from Main Street to Court Street. 00:31:59
And that is .056. 00:32:04
Miles, again, not not a lot. Collectively, they add up to a lot. 00:32:07
And then the remainder of the money we're recommending to be used to remove and pour concrete. There's a fair number of sidewalk 00:32:11
repairs. The mayor and I walked downtown a couple weeks ago with G dot official and there's a fair amount of work that can be done 00:32:16
just on Main Street. There may be some other spaces, you know, that part shoulder, etcetera that we can touch up, but Main Street 00:32:22
making this busy enough so. 00:32:27
So the recommendation is that we resurface Bunny Hop Trail. We submit an application to El Meg to G dot for this grant to 00:32:32
resurface Bunny Hop Trail Spill St. and some about 50 linear feet or so if sidewalk along Main St. 00:32:40
If there's any questions, happy to answer them. I don't know if any of the, especially Councilman Garrett who works in this area, 00:32:48
might have something to say. 00:32:52
No. 00:32:57
You've done a good job explaining it all in why we Covered the roads that we did. 00:32:59
The other Rd. because of the third maintenance I. 00:33:05
Hopefully the taste box. 00:33:10
And we can give you the money in and work. 00:33:13
As we go home, you know. 00:33:16
This is a good start. 00:33:19
But as you can see, you've got, we do have a, we do have a train coming down the track at us and you know as you talk in the 00:33:24
community, you know there's a lot of development that happened in Watkinsville in the 70s and 80s and even the 90s and those 00:33:29
roads. 00:33:33
You know, deteriorating, yeah. And showing their age. 00:33:39
You know, whether it's next year, the year after or the year after, we've got to start, we got to get on that so. 00:33:43
Yep. 00:33:49
I learned a lot from riding around the city and looking at all these streets. And I learned a lot from, you know, and there 00:33:51
there's other things we can do. Like I said, instead of complete, complete removal and starting over, I mean, you can resurface. 00:33:58
You know you fill the cracks. I don't know the technical term for it, but fill all the cracks in. 00:34:06
All of that little bit of stuff prolongs the life of the asphalt. 00:34:10
Chuck, we're thankful to have you working with working on this, yeah. 00:34:18
All right. Any further discussion? 00:34:22
Here, none. I'll take a motion on the ELMIG application. 00:34:26
I'll make a motion that we approve the L Meg application. 00:34:32
Do we have a second any further? 00:34:35
Hearing none. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:34:39
Motion carries. 00:34:42
All right. 00:34:46
Manager Dickerson We're going to go on to item 15, the Watkinsville Downtown Development Authority. 00:34:48
I'll let you give us a briefing on that or Councilwoman Tucker and Councilman Campbell, if you want to give us a briefing on that 00:34:54
would be great. 00:34:58
Well, I may be deferring to the attorney on the because of the biggest thing is the resolution to activate it so the Downtown 00:35:05
Development Authority can be activated locally. This is something that's that simply requires a resolution by the council to 00:35:12
establish. You'll identify members, there are rules about who can, who can serve, and then defining your downtown development area 00:35:19
pretty straightforward. I know this is part of the Economic Development committees. 00:35:25
Director. 00:36:03
That person will be a city employee that was already planned ahead of time. In the future it might change, you know, if there 00:36:04
becomes some funding source for the DDA. 00:36:08
Where they can stand alone. But unlike Athens Park County and some of the surrounding communities, there's not like parking on 00:36:12
street parking, paid parking or parking decks that can fund those those efforts. So I think it'll work out really well. That'll 00:36:18
give us a really close connection with that DDA director access to that person. That person will also serve as the director of the 00:36:24
DDA as far as the the development authority and they'll have their own funds that may come through through grants and whatnot for 00:36:30
like facade grants or. 00:36:36
Improvements to businesses interior, exterior that are available through Main Street and through other programs that are supported 00:36:42
that are supported through DCA. 00:36:46
So. 00:36:50
I don't know, Joe, do you want to talk a little more about the legal aspect and then we can talk about The Who the members are in 00:36:53
the development area? 00:36:56
Very briefly, you'll see a resolution in front of you. The first long paragraph sites the Georgia law and states all the public 00:37:00
purposes and the benefits. And if we skip down 1/2 to the third, whereas below that it says mayor and council determine it's 00:37:08
desirable, necessary the DDA be activated immediately and then we go down from there 1 to the third whereas. 00:37:15
Talks about a need for revitalization and redevelopment the next, whereas references the benefits of developing and promoting 00:37:23
current and new trade, commerce and employment opportunities. Then flipping to the next page, just three paragraphs I think are 00:37:31
important to highlight. The third one down on the second page says you. The DDA will also serve as Urban Redevelopment Agency 00:37:39
under Urban Redevelopment Law that provides more tools in the toolbox. It's important to do that on the front end. 00:37:47
The very next paragraph, as you alluded to, Manager Dickerson references the appointments of these named individuals for the named 00:37:55
terms and I believe those were carefully selected based on their qualifications and meeting the criteria. Then jumping down 123 00:38:03
more paragraphs, the very important the DDA area shall be that geographical area described in Exhibit A and I believe we have that 00:38:11
set forth here on the zoning map with an overlay. 00:38:18
And it's this kind of hashed area that surrounds the downtown development area. So that is part and parcel of this resolution. And 00:38:27
then finally just a little bit of housekeeping, we will give a copy of this to Secretary of State and DCA should it pass. So those 00:38:33
are my remarks. 00:38:40
Thank you, Joe. 00:38:49
Yes, Sir. Christine and Jeff, do you all have anything you want to add? 00:38:51
I would just say we're excited that this is getting started. We're really pleased at the level of enthusiasm that all of the Board 00:38:57
of Directors had and the excitement to serve. 00:39:02
Here and then also. 00:39:08
I spoke to several retailers in downtown Watkins the other day and I think Jeff did as well, just to let them know. 00:39:11
That we're doing this and that one of office, I won't speak for council. One of my personal goals is to help see the that corridor 00:39:18
really thrive, especially in retail potentially. We are thrilled that water park is coming to town and other opportunities, but we 00:39:25
are committed to our downtown core and this is a way to really show that. 00:39:32
To our community. And so, yeah, excited to be part of it. 00:39:39
Perfect, Jeff, anything you want? 00:39:44
She summed it up pretty well, but I think I'm able to turn on your microphone. 00:39:47
Yeah, she summed it up well. What we tried to do with the board of directors here was target people who have specific skills that 00:39:51
can help our downtown retailers grow. 00:39:57
You know, for example, there's a lawyer on there. 00:40:03
Which is a good resource for your small business own. 00:40:05
Worked at. 00:40:08
Robert Griffith Golden Pantry He's been doing big things with Golden Pantry rebranding. 00:40:11
That's been exciting. So we really try to get a list of resources for our downtown retailers so that they can thrive. 00:40:18
So that was kind of the goal with who we targeted. 00:40:25
Like Christine. 00:40:28
So we were calling. 00:40:30
We didn't. 00:40:32
It was very surprising. I was. I was expecting like come on, I need someone, but no, very positive. They're all excited about it. 00:40:35
Dan Elder, for example. 00:40:43
He. He even. 00:40:45
The the funding through the Downtown Development agency to redo the loft apartments upstairs above Rizzo's hair salon there. So he 00:40:47
had to go through the county years ago. 00:40:53
To get that done, because we didn't have a DDA, but he was able to somehow do it that way and he's actually just about to make his 00:40:59
last payment on that loan. 00:41:03
And he said he could not. 00:41:07
Fixed up those lost apartments upstairs without that loan because it was 4 percentage points lower than the regular rates. 00:41:11
So he's a really very good resource for other people that want to get it done. Then he knows the process. So that's just one 00:41:21
example from one of the people we targeted. 00:41:25
And you know, we. 00:41:30
As Christine. 00:41:32
Spoke to retailers. 00:41:33
They were all excited. 00:41:36
Well, this has been one of our priorities for a while. Thank you to the committee for your hard work to get this stood up. We've 00:41:40
been talking about it. We had Monica Callahan come in from Madison, I think nearly two years ago and speak to us about what their 00:41:45
DDA has done for their community and how important that's been. There's a lot of other small towns around Georgia that have. 00:41:50
Use them to great effect, so it's great to have another tool in the toolbox. So thanks to you guys for doing this, assuming this 00:41:55
passes. 00:41:58
Council, do we have? 00:42:02
Any questions for manager Dickerson, Mr. Reitman or the committee? 00:42:04
Any comments? 00:42:11
Right hearing none that I'll entertain a motion to. 00:42:13
What's to activate the Watkinsville Downtown Development Authority? 00:42:17
Is that what the motion needs to say, Joe? Or do we need to approve the resolution with Exhibit A there too, and to approve the 00:42:23
resolution with Exhibit A? 00:42:27
So motion to activate. 00:42:32
And then to approve the resolution with Exhibit A. 00:42:34
And to approve the resolution with Exhibit A, we have a motion. Do we have a second? We have a motion. We have a second. Any 00:42:39
further discussion? 00:42:43
All in further all in favor excuse. 00:42:48
Say aye, Any opposed? 00:42:50
And then the city will go ahead and start searching for downtown development director, the positions been budgeted to start in 00:43:32
January. 00:43:36
So we're not sure we're going to put that person yet, but work on that too. So, but those are the next steps. Great. Well, thanks. 00:43:39
We want to have somebody by January. I think the board had. 00:43:44
Get going. So, all right, Next up we have public comments. Just a reminder on those procedures, comments should be only directly 00:43:49
relating to. 00:43:53
I don't think they have to relate to agenda items, actually speak from the podium, 4 minutes per person, Refrain from debate, 00:43:59
argument, personal attacks or irrelevant discussion. 00:44:04
If it's related to something that's on the agenda, please address the merits of the pending matter. 00:44:10
And address your remarks directly to council. We cannot speak to potential litigation attorney-client or personnel matters. Do we 00:44:14
have anyone who wants to make a public comment tonight? 00:44:18
That actually is part. 00:44:32
Yeah. 00:44:37
Yeah. 00:44:37
Mr. Mayor Brian Broderick and members of the City Council. 00:44:46
And more importantly, the good people of Watkinsville, Georgia. 00:44:52
The people of Georgia. 00:44:57
The people of Watkinsville need to. 00:44:59
That the city of Watkins, who participated in an unconstitutional taking of private property. 00:45:06
Without due. 00:45:13
Of. 00:45:15
Or. 00:45:17
Just compensation under the 5th Amendment. 00:45:18
Of the United States Constitution. 00:45:21
The purpose of this illegal taking was for the installation of a forced sewer main that serves the South side of the railroad 00:45:24
tracks. 00:45:30
Which included all. 00:45:36
Major city develop. 00:45:38
And the industrial? 00:45:40
Whose property is this? 00:45:43
It was my personal property on MCC. 00:45:46
My Constitutional. 00:45:49
As. 00:45:52
Were. 00:45:54
The. 00:45:56
Mayor Broderick and the city have ignored this very serious matter. 00:45:58
A copy of one of the letters regarding this matter, which is addressed to the Mayor, Brian Broderick, City Council. 00:46:03
City Attor. 00:46:11
And others is available. 00:46:12
The fact the people of Watkinsville need to know the facts. 00:46:15
The mayor and City Council have made multiple unlawful. 00:46:19
And or inconsistent zoning decisions in recent times. 00:46:24
Just tonight, the City Council passed the updated official zoning map. I sent a letter to Mayor Broderick, the City Council, City 00:46:29
Attorney, and others this past Monday 2 days ago stating that two parcels were incorrectly identified. 00:46:38
This letter is available. 00:46:48
Further, in that letter, I once again stated that city. 00:46:51
Unlawfully voted to approve a standalone stormwater containment facility on South Main St. 00:46:56
Which were clearly and absolutely inconsistent with South Main Street Scenic Cargo Zoning Ordinance. 00:47:04
That zoning law was very. 00:47:12
The mayor and council violated. 00:47:15
Zoning, laws, multiple letters and communications from me over the last few years regarding this matter. 00:47:19
Were ignored, I received. 00:47:27
Responses. 00:47:31
The people of Watkinsville need to. 00:47:32
The facts to Property to private property owners, one at 117 S Main St. Mayor Broderick residents and another at South Main Street 00:47:35
address. 00:47:41
Were allowed by the city to construct additional buildings upon their property. 00:47:48
Without proper storm water plants and or without receiving approval by the city for additional sanitary sewer capacity. 00:47:54
Mayor Broderick was fined $500 by the city for not applying for and receiving a demolition permit and for not applying for and 00:48:06
receiving a building permit prior to a new construction project at his residence at 117 S Main St. 00:48:16
Mayor 20 seconds left, 30 seconds. 00:48:26
These are serious matters that the good people of Watkinsville need to be aware of. 00:48:29
Are the laws meant to be suggestions or do they really matter? 00:48:35
A zoning ordinance meant to be just suggestions for. 00:48:40
Or would they be consistent for all the people behind himself? 00:48:46
To the people of Watkinsville, thank you, Mr. Smith, thank you. 00:48:50
This could happen to you. Thank you Sir. The City Council 4 minutes is a law ordinances and regulations. Let's cut the mic. 4 00:48:56
minutes is up the people of Watkinsville Unless. 00:49:01
Thank you, Mayor Smith. Appreciate your comments. 00:49:09
I will note for public consumption, it was my contractor who was fined, not me. He paid the fine. 00:49:12
And that the city of Watkinsville has not in Stewart installed, nor managed sewer And how many decades? 00:49:18
2-3 decades so anyway. 00:49:24
I won't dignify the rest of that. We'll let the comments stand any further public comments tonight. 00:49:29
Have we received any online? 00:49:35
Yes, Sir. All right. No further comments. We'll move on to the mayor. 00:49:37
This guy. 00:49:44
Umm. 00:49:47
Councilman Thomas. 00:49:49
We understand you're going to begin your deployment heading to Fort Benning on October 3rd. 00:49:51
And then to Kuwait on December 6th. So we're not sure how much we'll see you in the next few months, but we wanted to be sure 00:49:56
before you went that. 00:50:00
We gave you a big thank you. 00:50:05
From the citizens of Watkinsville for your service. 00:50:08
For all that you're doing. 00:50:11
We're grateful and we know it's going to be a long. 00:50:14
Better part of a year for you? 00:50:17
But we just want you to know how much We're grateful for your service and we'll carry on without you. But we appreciate you. 00:50:20
Thank you very much. It really means a lot. I enjoy doing what I'm doing in uniform and here and I'm I'm glad that we have found a 00:50:25
way for me to be able to continue to serve the citizens of Watkinsville while I'm gone. So. 00:50:32
Well, thank you for your service. 00:50:40
It's it's the. 00:50:43
Seems like a crazy place right now, and we don't take it lightly that you're headed into harm's way and we appreciate. 00:50:46
Thank you. 00:50:52
Branding update we have. 00:50:56
Rolled out the new logo. It seems like a long time ago, but it was in fact just after our last meeting, week after that meeting. 00:50:59
So we're all getting used to this. It looks great on the slides tonight. It's starting to pop up in other places. I saw my first. 00:51:04
Instagram post with the logo being used on a mural that someone had done for a piece of art for someone's house. 00:51:11
It is out in the wild and is getting good responses, so thank you Sharon for. 00:51:46
Working on that and getting that implemented and getting everything on the website so our partners can use it as well. 00:51:52
Mayor when those when the magnets and the hats come in we'll do some fun stuff on social media. You know some drawings and things 00:51:57
like that. We'll we'll try. If they get in before, I think we'll have the magnets before Fall festival, we may pop up over there 00:52:01
and do some fun giveaways. 00:52:05
The signs, she said. Three to four weeks. 00:52:10
Installed, but I'm not, you know, it just depends what it's really going to cut it close if we get it in before a fall festival. 00:52:13
But exciting to see all that getting underway. 00:52:20
Update on the ESP Miracle League. ESP put out a press release that kind of blew my mind, but if you spend much time at City Hall, 00:52:25
it won't blow your mind how much use the playground is getting. 00:52:29
Their calculations say 15 people per hour. That equals 150 people per day, 13,500 people in 90 days. And again, outside my window, 00:52:34
outside Sharon's window, it is almost nonstop. I mean, you know, it is really impressive, especially as the weather's cooled off. 00:52:40
How many people are out there? How many people are making that their kind of destination after school or in the evenings stopping 00:52:46
on their way home? It's really been great to see. 00:52:51
And on Saturday, ESP had their opening day and had their first big baseball tournament out there and that was absolutely amazing 00:52:57
to see that hear the music. They had three out of the park home runs. So it sounds like not only will that be a storm water 00:53:04
detention area down there, but it's going to be detaining and retaining some some some softballs and baseballs down there too. So 00:53:11
that's been great to see and and really is one of those projects that I think has been transformative for Watkinsville. 00:53:17
And as I've mentioned to some of you earlier, seeing the families utilize the sidewalk in front of City Hall and how the new 00:53:25
handicap parking works for them. 00:53:29
That expense was totally worth it. Y'all on Saturday. You know, knowing. 00:53:34
You know our former handicap parking would have been tougher for them to navigate and the sidewalks didn't connect and all of a 00:53:37
sudden when you see that family pull up and then seamlessly get out of their vehicle, get their child out of the vehicle and 00:53:42
navigate their way over there without a hiccup, it was awesome. So anyway, I appreciate y'all making that investment. Sharon, 00:53:47
thanks to you and Mark for coordinating that and getting it done and really cost efficient manner. 00:53:53
Fall Festival is coming up. This is our last meeting before the Fall Festival. Hard to believe October 15th. That's always a big 00:54:00
weekend for Watkinsville, so be sure it's on your calendar if it's not already. 00:54:05
That's coming your way. 00:54:11
And then again then I think we also have some congratulations are in order for Mr. Campbell Young. Sydney arrived shortly after 00:54:13
our last meeting I think and so. 00:54:17
I hope all is well at home and everything is going well. So congratulations on that, so. 00:54:22
And in order to get Sydney around what was mentioned earlier, but I do want to say, and I'll say it every month until November, T 00:54:26
Spice is really important. Y'all and you see those paving numbers. 00:54:32
When people ask me about it, I make it really simple. I'm. 00:54:39
We're going to. The county is going to reduce your property taxes, and we're going to have citizens from outside of Oconee County 00:54:42
bear a greater burden of the cost for paying for. 00:54:46
Sidewalks, roads and transportation infrastructure. That includes things in Watkinsville, More sidewalks. Intersection 00:54:51
improvements. That also includes things like. 00:54:55
Traffic lights that we all know are desperately needed. The corner of Union Church and Hog Mountain Rd. As our kids go back to 00:54:59
school around about at New High Shoals Rd. And Union Church Rd. 00:55:03
Significant additional pedestrian infrastructure outside of Watkinsville that will connect us to the rest of the county. So 00:55:09
please, the county has put up a website with some more information, but please talk to folks, educate folks about that, it is you 00:55:14
know. 00:55:19
It is a great opportunity for us to leverage the visitors to our community who are using our roads and help them help us pay for 00:55:24
some really needed. 00:55:28
Transportation infrastructure that otherwise will have to come out of property taxes and other revenue sources that all come from 00:55:31
just property owners in Oconee County. So please educate people about that. With that we'll go to council reports. 00:55:37
Councilman. 00:55:44
Thank you said it all. I've been trying to communicate that to people I've been talking to and I've had a lot of good comments, so 00:55:46
I. 00:55:50
Good about it, you know, And just let them know, you know. 00:55:54
What the money is going to be used for and. 00:55:58
Look at the county stuff, called the county commissioners and you know, so I've had a lot of positive into. 00:56:02
Yeah, I think that's the other thing on the county website, you can actually submit projects you'd like to see be involved in 00:56:09
that, you know, which is kind of nice. I think they're wanting to understand what people's priorities are and there's a lot of 00:56:14
things that are on the docket for the county that could be accelerated with those additional revenues. Costco alone is going to 00:56:19
add, I think 6 or 7% to the sales tax take for the county potentially. So that's a pretty significant, pretty significant increase 00:56:25
and that's opening in NN. 00:56:30
All right, Councilwoman Massey. 00:56:36
Really have much to report. I just want to say I think I said this before, I've been attempting to attend one or two of the 00:56:40
department head meetings a month and it's good to see that they all work well together. They're all doing a good job, they're all 00:56:47
keeping each other informed on things that are happening and that's good to see. Thank you all. 00:56:54
Thank you for saying that Connie. A lot of times it does go unnoticed how important that that not just Sharon, but the group that 00:57:02
your team that works for you and how important the high functioning team is and how much they get done. So Chief Sharon, thank you 00:57:06
all. 00:57:10
Shepherding she. 00:57:15
The team here at Watkins and. 00:57:16
Taking care of the. 00:57:18
All those basics that so we don't have to roll up our sleeves and get involved in that. All right, Councilman Thomas. 00:57:20
Nothing to report this evening, all right? 00:57:26
Councilwoman Tucker. 00:57:29
Work has started on dismantling the portions of the old playground that are going to go away and been in discussions with the 00:57:33
director Wendy at VO. 00:57:37
About some partnerships to have some kind of kid friendly art in there, so I have another meeting with her this week. So we are we 00:57:43
are moving along with ideas. 00:57:48
And I think what we end up with will be a great addition to our community. 00:57:54
Right. 00:58:00
Councilman. 00:58:01
We covered most everything that would have been in my report with the Downtown Development Authority, also I guess in between. 00:58:03
Last meeting in this one, I attended the Downtown Development Authority training, so I'm good to go. Christine's good to go, so. 00:58:10
All right. Again, thanks to you guys. That was a big lift. 00:58:17
All right. Anything further? 00:58:20
All right. With that, we will entertain a motion for a brief executive session to discuss real estate and threatened litigation, 00:58:22
please. 00:58:27
To go to executive. 00:58:32
To discuss real estate and potential medications. 00:58:36
All right. There's your motion. Do we have a second? All in favor? Say aye. 00:58:39
Any opposed? All right. We're in executive session. 00:58:44
scroll up