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Good evening and welcome to the July Watkinsville City Council meeting. We do have a quorum here with us tonight. We're. 00:00:04
Councilman Garrett will be unable to join us due to a family emergency, and we're hopeful that we'll hear from Councilman Thomas 00:00:11
from Kuwait. But if he does not join us, we have three out of five, so we do have a quorum. At this point, I'd love to do the 00:00:17
pledge. Please stand. 00:00:22
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 00:00:30
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 00:00:36
As this typical, our meeting is being broadcast simultaneously on the Suite 1 webcasting app. Those who are not able to attend our 00:00:47
meetings can always watch them online. There's also recordings posted online afterwards. The full agenda is also aligned with 00:00:52
that, so you can go through the materials at the same time as a citizen. Our agenda and materials are posted the Friday before our 00:00:57
meetings typically, which allows citizens to comment and offer thoughts in advance if they care to do that and can't join us at 00:01:02
the meeting. 00:01:08
We do have a relatively informal public comment process that is guided by the mayor, attorney and council. We will have some 00:01:14
formal moments that will require public hearings, will address those when we come. 00:01:19
Do you have something you want to speak about? Raise your hand. And at Council and attorney's discretion, we may allow that we 00:01:25
would ask that all those comments be respectful and not be negative, and that all comments are addressed to council, not to the 00:01:30
crowd. I do anticipate a pretty short meeting tonight, so we'll move quickly through things. 00:01:36
But obviously if y'all want to unpack or get into something, we will. The first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes 00:01:41
from the June 21st, 2023 regular meeting. I'll entertain a motion. 00:01:46
To approve those unless anyone has any comments or suggestions or edits or corrections. 00:01:52
I make a motion to approve. 00:01:58
2nd, we have a motion. We have a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, Motion carries 30. Next up, we'll have approval of 00:02:00
the agenda under. We do have a. 00:02:05
Items that we need to address there under administration, we need to add an item 3A Downtown Development Authority update under 00:02:11
new business item 16, we'll have some tea spots program. 00:02:16
Amendments and under New Business item 17, a Spouse 3 proposed funding request. Those are both related to the additional parking 00:02:22
that we plan to install. 00:02:27
Downtown. 00:02:32
I also note that on the consent agenda, I'm going to let Mayor Pro Tem Tucker manage that. There is an item related to the city's 00:02:34
banking process there, and I recuse from all banking related matters given my my involvement with the county State Bank. So when 00:02:40
it comes time for that Mayor Pro Tem, I will step out and allow you to administer the consent agenda. As a reminder, if there's 00:02:46
anything that anyone wants to remove from the consent agenda, now would be the time to indicate that. 00:02:52
So I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda with the new items 3816 and 17. 00:02:59
And if anyone wants to remove an item from the consent agenda at this point? 00:03:04
I make a motion to approve the agenda with the additions noted. 00:03:10
Second. All right. We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed motion carries 3O. 00:03:15
We will move on to administration. This is when Sharon Dickerson or Mayor Manager Dickerson, excuse me, reminds us of our, reminds 00:03:23
us of our. 00:03:28
Financial situation and then we also get some updates on downtown Development Authority activities. So with that, I'll turn it 00:03:32
over to our City Manager, Sharon Dickerson. Thank you, Mayor. So everybody should have received the balance sheet as well as the 00:03:38
profit and loss for the revenues and the expenses through the end of June. I will note that I do anticipate that we will be under 00:03:43
budget. 00:03:48
For the fiscal year, however, I can't tell you that for sure until the audits actually done. Auditors did come in this past week 00:03:54
and everything went well with that. They don't plan to come back till October, which is always a good sign, but we are, we still 00:04:00
have some outstanding expenses as well as revenues that have to be reconciled and that will all be done through the audit process. 00:04:05
So are there any questions about any of that? 00:04:10
OK. You may recall I mentioned I think last month that Splice One is closed out. We use the rest of those funds to pay for sewer 00:04:17
line a construction. We still have some funds left. 00:04:22
In this budget to pay for sewer line A that project is completed but we are waiting for the invoices, final invoices to come in 00:04:27
and. 00:04:31
From what I've been told, the county believes they're going to come in under budget, which would be really great, but we'll wait 00:04:35
and see how that looks and hopefully next month we'll be able to report that to you. 00:04:39
On Spice Three, you remember we began this in October of last year. We have quite a few projects going on in that. We have the 00:04:45
work at Hair Shoals Park and Rocket Field and we just purchased some. We just used some of that money to purchase some replacement 00:04:51
vehicles. 00:04:56
For the Police Department and for the public. 00:05:03
We this is one of the projects, it's a six year or 72 month project, so we're not very far along in it but. 00:05:05
So far we are averaging. 00:05:13
You know 83,000 or so this year, I think overall I don't have that average up, but probably around 76 or 77,000 on average since 00:05:17
we began and that's how you have to look at it and I'll talk about that in a minute. About T Spice, we we, we estimate an average 00:05:22
which you know it grows over time. So initially we may not get that much money but by the end we will average that amount. That's 00:05:27
how we look at it so. 00:05:32
Auntie's lost and the difference between just point out again the difference between spots three and T splashes plus three was 00:05:39
under the old percentage that we had under our intergovernmental agreement with Oconee County of 8.63%. Our teaspoons is under a 00:05:46
new one which is 7.77%. But we are dealing with a larger tax base. So there's some differences, not a huge, some challenges but 00:05:54
not as huge of a difference as you might expect. We do have two months of revenues now for for teaspost. 00:06:01
Tonight you guys will be talking about one of the programming requests we have for spending some of that money. And last month you 00:06:09
approved about $200,000 for some connectivity sidewalks and stuff to connect the citizens for our transportation. 00:06:16
Plan Here's what it looks like just on a month to month. Again pointed out that even though we were, we were hoping or the plan 00:06:23
is, is that we will average a. 00:06:26
The estimated average over the life of it will be around 78,000. So right now we're on the lower end, but again. 00:06:32
A lot of things change and that that's how it was. It was designed. 00:06:38
On the American Rescue Plan report, that money is being held right now. Some of it is being has been encumbered for police 00:06:42
incentives for retention to to attract and retain our officers. The rest of the money I believe council will be making a decision 00:06:48
as we move forward with the purchase of the 100 acres, maybe using some of that money to to buy down the cost of that of that 00:06:53
loan. 00:06:59
Any questions on any of those reports? 00:07:05
OK, I'll move to the economic development. 00:07:09
We've got three business licenses that were received and other than that that's pretty quiet, a little bit of insurance payment 00:07:13
there. 00:07:16
And then the excise collection report mentioned that we do now collect alcohol excise taxes as well as short term vacation rental 00:07:20
or hotel motel and that number is we I think we estimated for the budget year, fiscal year 23 around $7000 or so I think for short 00:07:27
term vacation rentals. So we've more than exceeded that what we you know estimated. 00:07:33
And we've identified I think four more that we're fine. So we're learning about they don't tell you you got to find them not 00:07:41
really easy but and we're getting it hopefully going to get them all registered and then those taxes will be coming to us and not 00:07:46
to the county or not back to you know or maybe not going to anybody so. 00:07:51
On the economic development side, we had 22 permits for 15 projects. The mayor will probably mention this a little bit later, but 00:07:58
we have a lot of work going on back at Wire Park, on some residential, on the flats that are being built. 00:08:04
For house, I'm sorry, three houses over at. 00:08:10
And then some sign issues and things like that. 00:08:14
A lot of work going on in the city. Any questions? 00:08:17
Had any of those? 00:08:20
Thank you. 00:08:23
All right. Thank you. Manager Dickerson will now hear an update on the Downtown Development Authority from Mayor Pro Tem Tucker. 00:08:25
OK, so exciting news today, we learned. 00:08:32
Today we learned that we have been accepted into the Georgia Main Street Program and it will be on our agenda next month. Is that 00:08:38
correct? 00:08:44
But that will give new opportunities for our city and Kate. So that our DBA Director has been doing an amazing job. Also a lot of 00:08:52
work going into applying for our rural designation application is a lot of work and that is due August 18th. She is making good 00:09:00
progress on that. That's something that's very competitive. So we may not get it we. 00:09:08
Having lower income as part of that qualification, and we are fortunately in a community that doesn't have a lot of that. But 00:09:18
there are some other factors. A lot of it depends on who all else is applying at the same time. So we might get it, we might not. 00:09:24
And then our creative placemaking committee has continued to work. 00:09:31
We have, I think I announced last month that the event is going to be October 14th at Rocket Field. There's going to be a great 00:09:39
swing band. 00:09:43
That Councilman Campbell helped us procure what the splits That's going to be. Lots of fun. They're going to be local restaurants. 00:09:49
There's also a big public art component. And so we have. 00:09:56
We have a local artist that is creating five pieces of public art that communicates our our kind of our mission and our community. 00:10:05
Our industry, Our hospitality. 00:10:17
Our arts, our sense of community overall, and everyone in the community comes will have an opportunity to actually paint on. 00:10:20
These pieces of art, she's drawn them out and it's kind of like a big paint by members. And then they'll be displayed publicly in 00:10:30
a newly activated little kind of pocket park that we are hoping to have. And then local businesses are sponsoring these pieces of 00:10:36
art too. So it's also a fundraiser for the DDA to help continue to improve our downtown. So lots of exciting things happening with 00:10:41
that. 00:10:47
I. 00:10:54
And if you do not, if you're on social media, make sure that you follow the DBA on Facebook. 00:10:55
Oh, signs. Oh, and also you can see an example. Those of y'all out here can see the example. We have new place wayfinding signs 00:11:01
going in throughout downtown that are really exciting and I was not part of the arrow placement, but bless everyone that was 00:11:08
making sure with because how many there are 11/12/12 different signs. So obviously depending on where they are, the arrows have to 00:11:15
be various places. So those were waiting still on the. 00:11:23
Stakes posts that they're going to be going on, they're going to be nicer than just like a normal stop sign kind of thing. So 00:11:31
we're still waiting on those and then you'll start seeing those popping up around. 00:11:35
That was a pretty tedious process, so thank you for your leadership on that. And I'm chief Tedderton time for your report. Tell us 00:12:13
about the great efforts of your team. 00:12:17
Make sure. 00:12:23
I think we got it this time. Good evening, Mayor and council. 00:12:24
You should have received. 00:12:28
Report packet and if anyone has any questions. 00:12:30
Go ahead and ask away some of the community events that we've been involved in. 00:12:35
We've been staying pretty busy on July 4th. The Police Department, a lot of the Daughters of American Revolution and. 00:12:40
Councilwoman Massey assisted us in putting out 105 flags on US veterans graves. 00:12:48
We also started our first planning session for our Christmas parade. We have that upcoming and we're continuing our planning for 00:12:54
our Run for Responders and Fall Festival in October at Veterans Park. 00:12:59
And trunk or treat? 00:13:04
We are planning a makeover and cleanup day at Walking Soul Cemetery with assistance for Dollars American Revolution, several local 00:13:10
scout groups that we're going to kick off and we're just going to do some general cleanup and brush removal and things like that 00:13:14
out there. 00:13:17
Under officer training, we've got some guys that are away at training right now and some other training coming up. We did host a 00:13:22
first responder training event here for eighteen officers where they learned CPR and AED and Narcan. 00:13:28
13 were our people and five were sheriff's. 00:13:35
So it's kind of an over wrap of that. For the recap, I want to go over the interesting case of the month. I'll let you take a look 00:13:39
at that. It's pretty funny. 00:13:42
On Officer Activ. 00:13:47
We stayed pretty busy for this month. We had 987 security checks of local businesses and homes. 00:13:49
We handed out 162 traffic citations. We made three arrests with two juvenile warnings for marijuana. We elected not to arrest a 00:13:56
juveniles or start their criminal career. We handle that using alternative plan. 00:14:02
So 5 total there 16113 total calls for. 00:14:09
And on the citations, just to show we're not bad people, we didn't actually write 100 and 6294 of those were for warning. 00:14:15
So 96 of them dealt with speeding cases. 00:14:22
That is talking about speeding. We addressed 2 citizen concerns on speeding. One was on Katie Lane and one was on Jackson. And the 00:14:27
way we did that is we went out there and we put up our traffic warning boards which also record speed as well, as did officer 00:14:34
presence. And we learned a couple things. Both of those areas are 25 mph, so. 00:14:41
If you look at the numbers that I gave you on Katie Lane, there was 137 cars that went by there per week and we had the signs out 00:14:49
for two weeks monitoring both. 00:14:53
The average speed recorder was only 14 mph, where the 85th percentile being 22 1/2, still under the posted limit. 00:14:58
The highest recorded speed was at 3:00 in the morning on Katie Lane at 32 mph, which was 7 over the posted limit. So we didn't 00:15:06
really. 00:15:10
The things that. 00:15:15
Was being brought up. 00:15:17
Then on Jackson St. we responded to another complaint. There they had 101 cars, average for a week, for two. 00:15:19
The average speed recorded was only 12 mph. Jackson Street, if you're not familiar, is. 00:15:26
Pretty narrow and pretty short. 00:15:31
The 85th percentile was again under the posted limit, 21 1/2. 00:15:34
And the highest recorded speed at 2:00 in the morning was 29 or 4 miles over the posted speed limit. 00:15:38
So not a lot happened, but we take those complaints very seriously and we went out there to see what we could find out. 00:15:44
On North Main. But yeah, we can relocate those signs during the school time. 00:16:26
So you're. I'm sorry. So you're running it for a week one way and a week the other? Yes, ma'am. 00:16:31
Without relocating assignment and assign his own city right away, property is mowed by the city we're not encroaching now on. 00:16:36
Jackson St. We had the offer of a local resident. There was number place on Jackson to put it other than in her yard and she was 00:16:43
happy to allow us to do that. 00:16:47
Yeah, just. Anyways, I just want to say, you know, again, these signs are awesome tools. I mean, we get so many complaints about 00:16:52
speeding. 00:16:56
There's always going to be somebody driving crazy, but to understand that, you know. 00:17:01
90% of people are going or 85% of people are going below the speed limit on those roads, and a lot of the other and most of the 00:17:05
others probably aren't even. 00:17:09
10 over is is really where we're Vincent, from making decisions based on anecdotal evidence. So thank you. 00:17:12
If you guys have a breakdown, if you have any questions at all, feel free to call me, reach out to me, I'll be glad to help you at 00:17:20
any time and other than that I think. 00:17:23
One and done. 00:17:27
OK. Thanks. 00:17:32
All right. Thank you, Chief. All right. At this point, I'm going to step out and let Mayor Pro Tem handle the consent agenda. 00:17:33
Just waiting till the mayor Brock. OK, so. 00:17:50
Is there a motion? 00:17:55
Approve the consent agenda. 00:17:58
I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. 00:18:00
Is there a second A? 00:18:05
All in favor. 00:18:08
All right. 00:18:11
30. 00:18:13
And back. 00:18:16
All right, we will move on to a public hearing. Public hearings are one of those areas where we do have very specific requirements 00:18:23
for how. 00:18:27
Common procedures are done. Comments should only be direct related to the agenda items. Speak only from the podium, 4 minutes per 00:18:32
person. Refrain from debate. Argument. Personal attacks are irrelevant. Discussion address only the merits of the pending matter 00:18:38
and address remarks directly to council. Council cannot speak to potential litigation, attorney-client or personnel matters. 00:18:44
Public input will be allowed after council receives the reports from the staff and or the applicant. Tonight I think we have a 00:18:51
public hearing for a variance on 1281 Christian Dr. Parcel B, Mr. Samples. I'm going to let Engineer Campbell give us the staff 00:18:57
report on the variance and then we'll have the applicant come forward to give us their comments as well. So I'll turn it over at 00:19:03
this point to engineer. 00:19:09
Mark Campbell, welcome back. We missed you last month if my memory serves right, not with us. So glad you're here, appreciate it. 00:19:16
So the variance request tonight, as the mayor said it is for 1281 Christian Drive. This is a request for variance to reduce the 00:19:22
side set back at that location that is in with within the Christian Lake subdivision. So the side set back for detached 00:19:28
residential zoning there is 10 feet. By code. The request is to reduce that for five feet and specifically related to the proposed 00:19:34
construction of a detached garage. 00:19:40
So if you don't know exactly where 1281 Christian Drive is located, you can see it highlighted there within the Christian Lake 00:19:46
subdivision and the following slide is a markup of a recent survey that was completed. You can see the the location of the house 00:19:54
is not in the center of the lot. I would say that the existing concrete driveway is approximately in the center of that lot 00:20:02
location and so to access this proposed attached garage, it would utilize the existing concrete driveway access and then. 00:20:09
The rear of that detached garage would be facing the side of the property and that's where that encroachment variance request 00:20:18
would be, again from 10 feet to five feet to allow for the garage to be constructed by utilizing that existing that also allows 00:20:24
the front of that garage to face the existing structure and therefore the front of the garage does not face the the roadway 00:20:30
itself. That would be a completely different variance if that were the case. So you can see that the mark up there, here's a 00:20:36
here's a picture that gives you an idea. 00:20:42
After the sign had been posted for this required public hearing at tonight's meeting, you can see there are some existing trees 00:20:48
that are on what I'll call the southern side of that concrete driveway. The applicants indicated that those trees will will stay 00:20:55
when it had to be removed to to construct this drive. So there's already some vegetation kind of in that area. 00:21:02
Yeah, there's the code section. You can see 5.02 point I2B4A which states decide your set back should be a minimum of 10 feet in 00:21:10
order to. 00:21:15
Seek the request or grant the request, I guess it's been salt is for of reduction to five feet and allow that structure to come in 00:21:21
again based on the final comment there based on information provided to the staff, no portion of that proposed structure will be 00:21:28
closer to the roadway than the existing primary residence. 00:21:35
Be happy to answer any questions you might have. 00:21:42
Council Any questions for Engineer Campbell? 00:21:46
OK, none. I'll invite the applicant up or their representative to add any information that they want to add before we. 00:21:50
Before we invite the public forward, we are in a public hearing. I think I failed to note that earlier. So this is a technically a 00:21:57
public hearing. 00:22:01
Hey, I'm Jay Harrison. I'm the builder representing the Samples family. 00:22:05
Thank you engineer you you covered it perfectly the entire. 00:22:11
Reason that we're applying for this is so that we can face the garage opposite of the existing garage that is attached to the 00:22:16
house. 00:22:20
And the way we have this figured up and laid out, this is more for even just for the cornice that is going to go on the House so 00:22:25
that it matches the existing structure. So that's really going to be the only part that is encroaching. We wanted to give 00:22:32
ourselves just a little bit of wiggle room if need be, but it is. The garage doors will match up and face each other completely. 00:22:39
And it is concealed mostly by the existing Leland cypresses that are on site, so there really won't be that much visibility from 00:22:46
the. 00:22:51
Neighborhood So. 00:22:56
Any other questions? 00:23:00
Questions. 00:23:02
Is the Christian like HOA fine with this? So it's already yes. We've gotten approval from the HOA and and from the neighbor as 00:23:05
well, and the neighbor. 00:23:09
And in in case those Cleveland cypresses. 00:23:15
I shouldn't say in case they when they. 00:23:19
The the the architecture and the look and feel of this structure is matches the home currently correct. So it's it'll have, you 00:23:22
know Hardy plank siding, it'll have the matching roof pitch. Everything about the garage will look exactly to match up with the 00:23:29
existing structure down to the windows and and shutters and all that good stuff so. 00:23:37
OK, I'm curious what why? Why not put it where the? 00:23:47
Realize it's a separate variance, but why not have it where the driveway dead ends into this garage? 00:23:53
Because there's already precedent. The 2nd house on the right in the neighborhood on that street has a detached garage where the 00:23:59
garage faces the street. Sure, we didn't want to remove any more trees, and there's an existing fence on the property as well. 00:24:06
And they there's also also the septic tank, So this is really the the logical place to put it and it creates a sort of motorcade 00:24:14
there. 00:24:19
So that. 00:24:25
That's our reasoning on. 00:24:27
And our code also strongly discourages front facing garages. 00:24:29
Yep. 00:24:34
OK. 00:24:36
Any other comments? 00:24:38
All right, we are in a public hearing. I know we have at least one neighbor here. Any comments you wish to make or questions you 00:24:42
wish to ask? 00:24:45
No, OK. All right. Just want to be sure. Thank you for coming tonight. 00:24:50
I'm sorry, looking at that picture. 00:24:55
I don't. 00:25:00
Is that the house? I mean, I don't see the garage on that side. 00:25:01
The rest of the door there so the. 00:25:14
Left of the photo or the Leland cypresses that and so the the. 00:25:18
Detached or other proposed detached garages is going to be behind those trees. So now I understand that, but the current garage is 00:25:21
a front. 00:25:25
Oh, it's right. OK, Sorry, I'm just. 00:25:32
Apologies for the photographer skills. 00:25:38
There's good foliage, so you know it's. 00:25:41
So the garage is pushed to the front of the house, but on the side. 00:25:48
Yeah. 00:25:52
I was wondering the same thing in the picture if I was missing something, but OK, great. 00:25:53
All right. Any other comments, questions. 00:25:58
All right, I will close. 00:26:02
I'll close the public hearing at this point. 00:26:05
And then we will move on to appearances. And again, during this appearance, we'll have a 10 minute time limit for appearances per 00:26:09
this guideline of state zoning procedures, laws. I don't think we need that because item 13. 00:26:14
Is simply a vote on the variance we just discussed. 00:26:20
So does anyone care to come forward and make any comments about what we just discussed? 00:26:23
Don't anticipate that, nor do I see it. So at this point I'll entertain. 00:26:29
A motion regarding the variance request at 1281 Christian Drive. 00:26:34
I make a motion to approve the variance request. 00:26:38
We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion? 00:26:46
Hearing none. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:26:49
Motion carries 30. Thanks for being here. 00:26:53
All right. Yep. All right. We'll move on to old business where we have none, we'll move on to new business. And there we're going 00:26:56
to talk about some drainage work on column ferry extension. 00:27:01
And appropriation of some spots for three funds. 00:27:07
To hopefully. 00:27:10
Resolve some of that situation so manager Dickerson is going to walk us through. 00:27:12
Thank you, Mayor. So as the Mayor mentioned, we do have some drainage issues that we've been monitoring for a while and we are 00:27:16
requesting tonight approval to replace the drain pipe on column, ferry extension and Rep. 00:27:23
The affected area, that's the cost of about a little bit more than $3000, which Oconee County's road department is going to help 00:27:30
us with. 00:27:34
We do intend to use those funds to use some sorry L nick funds that are in the Splos 3. 00:27:39
Project to pay for this, just a reminder that we do receive those ELMIG funds from G dot every year for the center lane miles that 00:27:46
we have in the city. We get a certain amount of money, not a lot, roughly just a little bit under $50,000. And this year you guys 00:27:52
approved the money to be spent on repaving Bunny Hop Trail, which is currently trying. We're trying to get that scheduled right 00:27:57
now. 00:28:03
We have about $10,000, eight to $10,000 left in that ELMIG project that we could use funds for, so we're suggesting use 3200 of 00:28:09
that for this project. 00:28:15
And just to reiterate that this is something we've been monitoring for a while. 00:28:22
We did have the county. It was a little bit more expertise in this look at it as well as one of our council members look at it and 00:28:28
and our city engineer and everything that he's had sort of a take that we feel like if we can replace that that pipe to continue 00:28:34
to convey that water away from the road and from the residents that will be helpful. It's a very little expense for I think a big 00:28:41
win. So we are requesting that you approve it. Any questions? 00:28:47
I know we have Mr. McReynolds from Colin Perry extension here tonight. Do you have any thoughts or anything you want to add on the 00:28:59
situation, Mr. McReynolds? 00:29:02
If you do, you need to step up. But if you don't, you can stay where you are. So yeah, thank you. 00:29:08
The new culvert would would. 00:29:18
I don't think that it's going to solve the issue. 00:29:21
Because of the way the water runs over the. 00:29:25
From the park over the street. 00:29:28
It doesn't even go into that culvert, but it will help with the water coming down the street. 00:29:32
But as far as the coming over from the. 00:29:38
It goes on top of that cover. 00:29:41
So. 00:29:45
It will be a it would be great to get a new, bigger culvert in. 00:29:46
And then, hopefully, the railroad will. 00:29:50
Clear out the rest of it, Yeah. I think we're working on that issue on a separate track, pardon the pond, but right with the 00:29:53
railroad. Yep. OK. Alright. Thank you. 00:29:58
Council So you've heard the recommendation of the manager. I think that's a good value for what gets done there. 00:30:03
Any questions for manager Dickerson? 00:30:10
All right, hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:30:13
I make a motion to approve. 00:30:17
Yes. 00:30:21
Option one stated on the screen. 00:30:25
Second. All right. We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion, questions, hearing none. All in favor, say aye, 00:30:30
aye, Any opposed. That motion carries 3 O and we'll move on. 00:30:35
The amendment to Code Ordinance Code Chapter 6 around animals. 00:30:41
Manager Dickerson I'll let you sell as much or as little about this as you want to Well I'm going to I'm actually going to pitch 00:30:48
most of it to our city attorney but so chapter 6 is going to become Chapter 10 I believe is how the it's been written up and 00:30:54
chapter 10 which is only one small little piece of moved 11 and that's how he's written up but generally this is this came to 00:30:59
light because we had one of our employees who got bit by a dog in the in the community and. 00:31:05
Plus pages long around 2020, which was on the heels of a couple state law changes that gave more authority, more more power to the 00:31:47
local animal control officers, Animal Services officers to regulate for the purpose of keeping the public health, safety, welfare, 00:31:55
keep citizens protected from dangerous dogs, vicious dogs, and so forth. All of that and much more is covered in here. You will 00:32:02
know that even after significant cleanup and simplification. 00:32:10
Keeping all the numbering, keeping all the sections and subsections so the county can meaningfully enforce our ordinance or assist 00:32:18
us in doing so. 00:32:22
That nonetheless, it is still 15 pages long. There's a lot to it, but. 00:32:26
Been through it. Manager Dickerson's been through it very carefully. It's a good product. I think the county did overall a good 00:32:32
job of covering the waterfront. Not just dangerous dogs, vicious dogs, but the conditions in which the animals live. Animals 00:32:37
running at large, feral cat colonies. 00:32:42
Traps, spay, neuter and release. I mean, it's got all the bells and whistles. Some of this I recognize from the animal control 00:32:49
person that went from Madison up to Oak County. Gosh, it's probably been seven or eight years ago. I think her name is Crystal and 00:32:55
did a really good job with bringing some of her new information, ideas and ordinance provisions up to Oconee. 00:33:01
So Unicode will take care of getting all that updated online and integrating that correct, And then the one thing we have spent 00:33:50
time on in the past is tethering. 00:33:54
Does. 00:33:58
Did we look at our old code? Is there a substantive difference around tethering in our old code? And what's in this? I don't 00:34:00
remember other than to say I thought I saw something on tethering and on restrictions. It says at page four. In the middle of the 00:34:06
page, tethered means attached to a stationary object or pulley system by chain, rope, cable, or similar device, not including a 00:34:13
leash. I thought I remembered seeing in here a reference to tethering needs to be under supervision for the safety of the dog. Do 00:34:19
you remember the same thing, Sharon? 00:34:25
I just, I keep putting my hands right on it. I might be able to in a minute, but I do believe it's probably, I can't say with 00:34:32
certainty, but I think it's probably consistent with our prior discussions. 00:34:37
All right. Well, I'm comfortable moving this forward tonight, but I know at some point Julie will remember in the in Connie May in 00:34:44
the past six or eight years we have had. 00:34:48
Extensive discussions around tethering and whether it's appropriate or not. And then the other gap sometimes that are in there is 00:34:53
does it account for invisible fences as it relates to animals at all? It talks about under control so restraint on the property 00:35:00
not running at large is a specific clause on running at large at 10 dash 92 middle page 8 and owner will prevent it from running 00:35:07
at large. So assuming argue window that the fence works. 00:35:14
And it keeps the animal under restraint on the property from running at large. Then I would say that would suffice, yeah. And then 00:35:22
on section 10/10/96, item one, it says an animal may not be chained, tied, fastened, or otherwise tethered to dog houses, trees, 00:35:27
fences, vehicles, or other stationary objects, except the animal may be temporarily confined by each other while attended by its 00:35:32
owner. 00:35:37
So that confirms, OK. I think we then cover those bases good questions or any other questions about it. 00:35:44
Thank you, Sir. 00:35:50
OK. Yeah, they're just that may come back. We may have to talk about that later, but I'm comfortable moving it forward tonight as 00:35:52
a practical matter. 00:35:56
And we do have the other practical matter of if we diverge from the county, it'll probably have to be pursuant to a discussion 00:36:00
with them on diverging and make sure we have a comfort level and how do we handle enforcement if we diverge any. Right now we are 00:36:06
tracking 100%. This is in essence again their ordinance would Smith a little bit to take care of a couple minor typos, get rid of 00:36:12
some vats, therefore is wearing after pursuant twos etcetera to make it easier for everybody administer. But this is faithful to 00:36:18
their ordinance. 00:36:24
Thank you. Yes, Sir, questions from council. 00:36:30
All right. Entertain a motion. 00:36:35
Make a Motion to approve item 15. 00:36:40
All right. We have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Any further discussion? 00:36:44
All in favor, Say aye, aye. Any opposed? 00:36:49
Motion carries 30. We'll move on to our new items T spots proposed programming amendments. 00:36:52
Manager Dickerson, I'll let you walk us through. 00:36:59
Thank you, Mayor. 00:37:04
At last month's meeting, the council approved for. 00:37:06
Reprogramming of some funds for some Rd. works and paving and parking work around Rocket Field. It's on 2nd St. and on School St. 00:37:11
And we, you know, I believe the mayor did mention at the time we weren't sure that was going to be enough money and it wasn't. So 00:37:21
we're back asking for the difference. Instead of taking out of spouse three, however, we are recommending it be taken out at 00:37:27
SPLOST fund. We do have resurfacing of school, sorry, resurfacing funds in that, in that. 00:37:34
In that fund and. 00:37:41
Earmark those monies though. We need 51,000 to make up the difference and that is what we're asking, is that you program those 00:37:43
funds and appropriate those funds for that purpose. 00:37:48
Any questions for the manager? 00:37:54
Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:37:58
Make a motion to approve. 00:38:01
Is there a second second? 00:38:03
Any further discussion? 00:38:06
All in favor, Say aye. 00:38:10
Any opposed? 00:38:12
Motion Carries 30. We are going to attempt to work with our work with Value Added Concepts on this under their existing 00:38:14
construction lease to get this work done. 00:38:18
In a cost efficient and timely manner. 00:38:24
Item 17 is a splash funding request, I think also related to work downtown related to stormwater manager Dickerson. Yeah, thank 00:38:26
you Mayor. Absolutely. So as of this morning as they were trying to finalize the work that need to be done on the paving and 00:38:33
parking improvements, it there was an item that was outstanding that was to deal with the drainage in that area as well. And we've 00:38:41
got a estimate about $15,000 to make sure that that area drains appropriately and moves into our conveyance system. 00:38:49
And that is what we're here to ask for is an appropriation of our designation of that 15,000 and appropriation of that those funds 00:38:57
out of our drainage and key key stormwater improvement line item that's in the in the splice 3 budget. 00:39:03
Any questions for the manager? 00:39:12
Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:39:16
I make a motion to approve. Do we have a second? 00:39:20
Second, any further discussion? 00:39:23
Hearing none all in favor, say aye. 00:39:26
All right. Any opposed motion carries 30. I will note we've had some questions about that. That'll hopefully address not just the 00:39:29
area where the additional parking will be. 00:39:33
For the five of you who are here, this is your moment to shine. Public comments, 4 minutes per person. Come on up and tell us 00:40:12
what's on your mind if you want to. 00:40:16
Good, bad, or ugly? 00:40:21
Walking schools? Awesome. OK, let the record show Watkinsville is awesome. 00:40:23
Thank you. 00:40:29
All right. 00:40:31
If only it were always so simple. All right, we'll move on to the mayors report. 00:40:33
I'm not usually directionally challenged, but also some new parking on the east side closer to OCAF. So we'll add striping there. 00:41:42
We're still going to install the patent court. We're going to install a new sidewalk along 2nd St. on that West side. 00:41:47
We'll add the stage and bandstand area. I noticed that the most of the lumber has been delivered today. I think they hope to pour 00:41:53
the concrete foundation for that this week as well. 00:41:58
Which will kind of anchor that. 00:42:02
That our vendors can still get get out there that we have enough parking for OCALAF and things like that. If we the dog park will 00:42:37
be a while just given the sensitivity of the turf and then we've also ordered a net climber to go out there. So that's on its way 00:42:44
and we appropriate it. For those of you who weren't aware last month, I think we appropriated and ordered a new set of St. Lights 00:42:51
that'll connect that to downtown and make it look look unified and together. 00:42:58
You'll also note there's not power lines running around and across the field anymore, so it's really turned out nice and we're 00:43:05
excited to see ongoing use. One of our other big activities coming up is also. 00:43:10
Clarify and define how management of the field is going to work between Little League and other club teams and others who want to 00:43:16
use that travel teams and others and the public. So that's on our agenda for this month as well. 00:43:22
So that's exciting news about Rocket Field. So on a is completed manager Dickerson mentioned that earlier for those of you who 00:43:29
don't follow sewer lines and there's not many probably other than folks who are here, but this is actually really important. You 00:43:35
know I know some of our guests have a background in industry, believe it or not most of our industry was on septic tanks for a 00:43:40
long time including the Southwire facility. 00:43:45
Before it became Wire Park. So the city has funded a long-awaited sewer line. And that sewer line, as frustrating as it has been 00:43:51
for how many years now, Julie, 12 years we've been planning this Sierra line. I think it is almost after shortly after I joined 00:43:56
the council. 00:44:01
Without that sewer line, there would be no wire park, there would not be and then we anticipate in the years ahead a lot of new 00:44:06
opportunities for the businesses in our industrial area to expand and grow because they can get rid of their drain fields and 00:44:11
because they can build new things on those properties. So that was a. 00:44:16
Multi month process Jerry Smith Dr. has been repaved, the project is done, a lot of new sod has been laid and it's going to create 00:44:22
some new opportunities for new taxes and new jobs in Watkinsville and Oconee County. So we're grateful to have that done and have 00:44:28
that behind us and we'll know more about the budget next month as the manager said. 00:44:34
We've also installed some new signs that reflect our new city branding at the industrial area. We've had complaints in the past 00:44:40
from some of those users saying they weren't very proud of how that used to look. 00:44:45
So this is how they look now and then. 00:44:50
City Beautification manager, I will call him Mark Novak, who does a great job of making City Hall beautiful in other places. Once 00:44:53
he gets a hold of whatever is going to go in that stone, I'm sure it's going to look lovely. So, but it looks a lot better than it 00:44:59
did before. So thank you Sharon for getting those signs done. 00:45:05
Also pleased to show that the residential portion of Wire Park is finally underway. I know people have been waiting on that. So 00:45:11
the flats are under construction as well as I think the townhomes will follow shortly behind. Permits have been pulled for the 00:45:16
Flats at Wire Park and construction has begun so. 00:45:21
That'll be an exciting transition to also having people live at Wire Park in addition. 00:45:27
In addition to all the activity that's going on out. 00:45:32
Oconee County Library is also moving to water park. This is a little preview of what's going on inside. They're moving very 00:45:36
quickly. If you go by out there, they are still hoping to be in in January, is that correct? 00:45:41
There is a lot of activity on the inside of that structure. 00:46:21
Studs and with HVAC and electrical and sheetrock and and all those wonderful things getting ready for the new facility. It's very 00:46:24
exciting. 00:46:28
Perfect. And the exterior is going to be a mix of brick and metal, is that correct? 00:46:33
That's correct. It will look very cohesive with what water park already looks like. It's maybe just some very slight changes so 00:46:37
you can tell that it's a different entity there from the library itself, but it it will. 00:46:43
The ideas for it to blend in exactly. 00:46:50
Perfect. And for all the moms watching online, I got to remind them, thanks to Councilwoman Tucker, Mayor Pro Tem, for advocating 00:46:52
for restrooms in the children's area. And those were added to the budget, correct? All right, Very good. Very good. All right. And 00:46:58
you guys were able to do all your add-ons. So I also want to congratulate our friends at the county. They are cutting a ribbon 00:47:03
next Tuesday for their new administrative building, which has turned out really nice on North Main Street at the intersection with 00:47:08
441. 00:47:13
So I would. 00:47:19
And they haven't told me this, but if I were looking to get my tag renewed or go do an administrative function in the county, you 00:47:21
might want to wait till at some point next week. I got my tags renewed today. 00:47:26
Because. And so I asked all the things, so Friday they will be closed, but they have marked it as a holiday. So if your tags 00:47:32
expire on Friday, Monday is a day of grace. So it sounds like there's going to be a lot of a lot of vehicles moving up and down N 00:47:39
Main St. on Friday and through the weekend to move. Basically all the county administrative functions will move to this new 00:47:46
structure and then the judicial system of the county will take over. The former, well, the courthouse will remain the courthouse. 00:47:53
And so, so we will benefit from that and that new structure is done. Oh gosh, somebody happy anniversary 25th to Susan and Brian 00:48:01
Broderick. So thank you. We had a my wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday and this group tends to have. 00:48:10
Notifying the public of those things for somebody else. Thank you for thank you for that and not to be too morbid, coming after my 00:48:20
25th anniversary, but this was not on the list. But I was reminded of it. We do, we are working with. I've seen a little bit of 00:48:25
public comment on this. We are working with. 00:48:30
County commissioner, although he's not in that role, but citizen Amory Harden on some thinking around the Watkinsville cemetery 00:48:37
and how to best take care of that moving forward. 00:48:41
We do a lot of the maintenance over there. We're not legally required to, but we take good care of that. 00:48:46
Interim Chief Tetterton was explaining about the flags and things, but there is a lot of Gray area on what's happening at the 00:48:52
cemetery, how it's to be taken care of and what's going to happen there in the future. So we're really taking a hard look at 00:48:56
what's the right way to structure. 00:49:01
The governance of the cemetery and the organization that to make sure that it's properly maintained, but also that it doesn't put 00:49:05
a burden back on the city so. 00:49:09
That's a lengthy mayor's update for you all, and I will now turn it over to Council for their reports. Councilman Garrett is not 00:49:12
here. So, Connie, that means you get to lead us off with anything you want to share. 00:49:17
All right. Nothing from Councilwoman Massey. And don't take Brett ever joined. Correct. OK, That leaves it to Mayor Pro Tem. 00:49:22
Anything from you? 00:49:28
All right. And Councilman Campbell, just one thing. 00:49:33
Chief Territon brought up the first responders training. 00:49:37
And as someone who benefited greatly from that three weeks ago. 00:49:41
I had a little accident and severed my artery in my left wrist at work and the Oconee County Sheriff's Department were the first 00:49:46
people there and they knew exactly what to do. They got a tourniquet on my arm right away, beat the ambulance by several minutes, 00:49:51
so. 00:49:56
You gave that report and had I heard it last month, I wanted to have given. 00:50:02
Much thought, but I'm very thankful that our officers, both with the city and the county have that training and I realize how 00:50:06
important it is because when you're losing a lot of blood, you every minute counts so. 00:50:13
I haven't trained people. I'm very thankful. 00:50:20
And I will say I came in here that Friday morning having forgotten that was going on, and had a meeting with some citizens. 00:50:22
And some some people wanting to evaluate some property and the energy level in here was just outrageous. I mean that was really 00:50:28
great what you guys were doing and the excitement. 00:50:33
It's hard to kind of get excited around. I don't know, you know, if a million mannequins and all kinds of stuff in here, but the 00:50:38
Spree decor. 00:50:42
Chief around you guys and the work with Oconee and everybody, and I think we even had our public works guys in here in case there 00:50:46
was an emergency. So it wasn't just our law enforcement first responders. I feel like a lot of our team was getting trained. 00:50:53
And that's great because you never know when one of these situations is going to arise. So thanks for your leadership on that. And 00:50:59
for those who don't know, Chief, arrange to get several of those devices donated so that there was enough for everybody to train 00:51:04
and practice on and including on. 00:51:08
Youth and babies, I think, if I remember right, which is a big deal, so we know how to take care of them as well, which is 00:51:14
important. 00:51:17
OK, awesome updates, Jeff. Glad you're better and feeling better. Let's all keep Councilman Garrett and his family in our prayers. 00:51:20
We'll let Brett know that we miss him. And unless there's anything else, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 00:51:25
All right. I make a motion to adjourn. Second, all in favor, say aye. We are done. 00:51:32
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Good evening and welcome to the July Watkinsville City Council meeting. We do have a quorum here with us tonight. We're. 00:00:04
Councilman Garrett will be unable to join us due to a family emergency, and we're hopeful that we'll hear from Councilman Thomas 00:00:11
from Kuwait. But if he does not join us, we have three out of five, so we do have a quorum. At this point, I'd love to do the 00:00:17
pledge. Please stand. 00:00:22
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 00:00:30
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 00:00:36
As this typical, our meeting is being broadcast simultaneously on the Suite 1 webcasting app. Those who are not able to attend our 00:00:47
meetings can always watch them online. There's also recordings posted online afterwards. The full agenda is also aligned with 00:00:52
that, so you can go through the materials at the same time as a citizen. Our agenda and materials are posted the Friday before our 00:00:57
meetings typically, which allows citizens to comment and offer thoughts in advance if they care to do that and can't join us at 00:01:02
the meeting. 00:01:08
We do have a relatively informal public comment process that is guided by the mayor, attorney and council. We will have some 00:01:14
formal moments that will require public hearings, will address those when we come. 00:01:19
Do you have something you want to speak about? Raise your hand. And at Council and attorney's discretion, we may allow that we 00:01:25
would ask that all those comments be respectful and not be negative, and that all comments are addressed to council, not to the 00:01:30
crowd. I do anticipate a pretty short meeting tonight, so we'll move quickly through things. 00:01:36
But obviously if y'all want to unpack or get into something, we will. The first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes 00:01:41
from the June 21st, 2023 regular meeting. I'll entertain a motion. 00:01:46
To approve those unless anyone has any comments or suggestions or edits or corrections. 00:01:52
I make a motion to approve. 00:01:58
2nd, we have a motion. We have a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, Motion carries 30. Next up, we'll have approval of 00:02:00
the agenda under. We do have a. 00:02:05
Items that we need to address there under administration, we need to add an item 3A Downtown Development Authority update under 00:02:11
new business item 16, we'll have some tea spots program. 00:02:16
Amendments and under New Business item 17, a Spouse 3 proposed funding request. Those are both related to the additional parking 00:02:22
that we plan to install. 00:02:27
Downtown. 00:02:32
I also note that on the consent agenda, I'm going to let Mayor Pro Tem Tucker manage that. There is an item related to the city's 00:02:34
banking process there, and I recuse from all banking related matters given my my involvement with the county State Bank. So when 00:02:40
it comes time for that Mayor Pro Tem, I will step out and allow you to administer the consent agenda. As a reminder, if there's 00:02:46
anything that anyone wants to remove from the consent agenda, now would be the time to indicate that. 00:02:52
So I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda with the new items 3816 and 17. 00:02:59
And if anyone wants to remove an item from the consent agenda at this point? 00:03:04
I make a motion to approve the agenda with the additions noted. 00:03:10
Second. All right. We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed motion carries 3O. 00:03:15
We will move on to administration. This is when Sharon Dickerson or Mayor Manager Dickerson, excuse me, reminds us of our, reminds 00:03:23
us of our. 00:03:28
Financial situation and then we also get some updates on downtown Development Authority activities. So with that, I'll turn it 00:03:32
over to our City Manager, Sharon Dickerson. Thank you, Mayor. So everybody should have received the balance sheet as well as the 00:03:38
profit and loss for the revenues and the expenses through the end of June. I will note that I do anticipate that we will be under 00:03:43
budget. 00:03:48
For the fiscal year, however, I can't tell you that for sure until the audits actually done. Auditors did come in this past week 00:03:54
and everything went well with that. They don't plan to come back till October, which is always a good sign, but we are, we still 00:04:00
have some outstanding expenses as well as revenues that have to be reconciled and that will all be done through the audit process. 00:04:05
So are there any questions about any of that? 00:04:10
OK. You may recall I mentioned I think last month that Splice One is closed out. We use the rest of those funds to pay for sewer 00:04:17
line a construction. We still have some funds left. 00:04:22
In this budget to pay for sewer line A that project is completed but we are waiting for the invoices, final invoices to come in 00:04:27
and. 00:04:31
From what I've been told, the county believes they're going to come in under budget, which would be really great, but we'll wait 00:04:35
and see how that looks and hopefully next month we'll be able to report that to you. 00:04:39
On Spice Three, you remember we began this in October of last year. We have quite a few projects going on in that. We have the 00:04:45
work at Hair Shoals Park and Rocket Field and we just purchased some. We just used some of that money to purchase some replacement 00:04:51
vehicles. 00:04:56
For the Police Department and for the public. 00:05:03
We this is one of the projects, it's a six year or 72 month project, so we're not very far along in it but. 00:05:05
So far we are averaging. 00:05:13
You know 83,000 or so this year, I think overall I don't have that average up, but probably around 76 or 77,000 on average since 00:05:17
we began and that's how you have to look at it and I'll talk about that in a minute. About T Spice, we we, we estimate an average 00:05:22
which you know it grows over time. So initially we may not get that much money but by the end we will average that amount. That's 00:05:27
how we look at it so. 00:05:32
Auntie's lost and the difference between just point out again the difference between spots three and T splashes plus three was 00:05:39
under the old percentage that we had under our intergovernmental agreement with Oconee County of 8.63%. Our teaspoons is under a 00:05:46
new one which is 7.77%. But we are dealing with a larger tax base. So there's some differences, not a huge, some challenges but 00:05:54
not as huge of a difference as you might expect. We do have two months of revenues now for for teaspost. 00:06:01
Tonight you guys will be talking about one of the programming requests we have for spending some of that money. And last month you 00:06:09
approved about $200,000 for some connectivity sidewalks and stuff to connect the citizens for our transportation. 00:06:16
Plan Here's what it looks like just on a month to month. Again pointed out that even though we were, we were hoping or the plan 00:06:23
is, is that we will average a. 00:06:26
The estimated average over the life of it will be around 78,000. So right now we're on the lower end, but again. 00:06:32
A lot of things change and that that's how it was. It was designed. 00:06:38
On the American Rescue Plan report, that money is being held right now. Some of it is being has been encumbered for police 00:06:42
incentives for retention to to attract and retain our officers. The rest of the money I believe council will be making a decision 00:06:48
as we move forward with the purchase of the 100 acres, maybe using some of that money to to buy down the cost of that of that 00:06:53
loan. 00:06:59
Any questions on any of those reports? 00:07:05
OK, I'll move to the economic development. 00:07:09
We've got three business licenses that were received and other than that that's pretty quiet, a little bit of insurance payment 00:07:13
there. 00:07:16
And then the excise collection report mentioned that we do now collect alcohol excise taxes as well as short term vacation rental 00:07:20
or hotel motel and that number is we I think we estimated for the budget year, fiscal year 23 around $7000 or so I think for short 00:07:27
term vacation rentals. So we've more than exceeded that what we you know estimated. 00:07:33
And we've identified I think four more that we're fine. So we're learning about they don't tell you you got to find them not 00:07:41
really easy but and we're getting it hopefully going to get them all registered and then those taxes will be coming to us and not 00:07:46
to the county or not back to you know or maybe not going to anybody so. 00:07:51
On the economic development side, we had 22 permits for 15 projects. The mayor will probably mention this a little bit later, but 00:07:58
we have a lot of work going on back at Wire Park, on some residential, on the flats that are being built. 00:08:04
For house, I'm sorry, three houses over at. 00:08:10
And then some sign issues and things like that. 00:08:14
A lot of work going on in the city. Any questions? 00:08:17
Had any of those? 00:08:20
Thank you. 00:08:23
All right. Thank you. Manager Dickerson will now hear an update on the Downtown Development Authority from Mayor Pro Tem Tucker. 00:08:25
OK, so exciting news today, we learned. 00:08:32
Today we learned that we have been accepted into the Georgia Main Street Program and it will be on our agenda next month. Is that 00:08:38
correct? 00:08:44
But that will give new opportunities for our city and Kate. So that our DBA Director has been doing an amazing job. Also a lot of 00:08:52
work going into applying for our rural designation application is a lot of work and that is due August 18th. She is making good 00:09:00
progress on that. That's something that's very competitive. So we may not get it we. 00:09:08
Having lower income as part of that qualification, and we are fortunately in a community that doesn't have a lot of that. But 00:09:18
there are some other factors. A lot of it depends on who all else is applying at the same time. So we might get it, we might not. 00:09:24
And then our creative placemaking committee has continued to work. 00:09:31
We have, I think I announced last month that the event is going to be October 14th at Rocket Field. There's going to be a great 00:09:39
swing band. 00:09:43
That Councilman Campbell helped us procure what the splits That's going to be. Lots of fun. They're going to be local restaurants. 00:09:49
There's also a big public art component. And so we have. 00:09:56
We have a local artist that is creating five pieces of public art that communicates our our kind of our mission and our community. 00:10:05
Our industry, Our hospitality. 00:10:17
Our arts, our sense of community overall, and everyone in the community comes will have an opportunity to actually paint on. 00:10:20
These pieces of art, she's drawn them out and it's kind of like a big paint by members. And then they'll be displayed publicly in 00:10:30
a newly activated little kind of pocket park that we are hoping to have. And then local businesses are sponsoring these pieces of 00:10:36
art too. So it's also a fundraiser for the DDA to help continue to improve our downtown. So lots of exciting things happening with 00:10:41
that. 00:10:47
I. 00:10:54
And if you do not, if you're on social media, make sure that you follow the DBA on Facebook. 00:10:55
Oh, signs. Oh, and also you can see an example. Those of y'all out here can see the example. We have new place wayfinding signs 00:11:01
going in throughout downtown that are really exciting and I was not part of the arrow placement, but bless everyone that was 00:11:08
making sure with because how many there are 11/12/12 different signs. So obviously depending on where they are, the arrows have to 00:11:15
be various places. So those were waiting still on the. 00:11:23
Stakes posts that they're going to be going on, they're going to be nicer than just like a normal stop sign kind of thing. So 00:11:31
we're still waiting on those and then you'll start seeing those popping up around. 00:11:35
That was a pretty tedious process, so thank you for your leadership on that. And I'm chief Tedderton time for your report. Tell us 00:12:13
about the great efforts of your team. 00:12:17
Make sure. 00:12:23
I think we got it this time. Good evening, Mayor and council. 00:12:24
You should have received. 00:12:28
Report packet and if anyone has any questions. 00:12:30
Go ahead and ask away some of the community events that we've been involved in. 00:12:35
We've been staying pretty busy on July 4th. The Police Department, a lot of the Daughters of American Revolution and. 00:12:40
Councilwoman Massey assisted us in putting out 105 flags on US veterans graves. 00:12:48
We also started our first planning session for our Christmas parade. We have that upcoming and we're continuing our planning for 00:12:54
our Run for Responders and Fall Festival in October at Veterans Park. 00:12:59
And trunk or treat? 00:13:04
We are planning a makeover and cleanup day at Walking Soul Cemetery with assistance for Dollars American Revolution, several local 00:13:10
scout groups that we're going to kick off and we're just going to do some general cleanup and brush removal and things like that 00:13:14
out there. 00:13:17
Under officer training, we've got some guys that are away at training right now and some other training coming up. We did host a 00:13:22
first responder training event here for eighteen officers where they learned CPR and AED and Narcan. 00:13:28
13 were our people and five were sheriff's. 00:13:35
So it's kind of an over wrap of that. For the recap, I want to go over the interesting case of the month. I'll let you take a look 00:13:39
at that. It's pretty funny. 00:13:42
On Officer Activ. 00:13:47
We stayed pretty busy for this month. We had 987 security checks of local businesses and homes. 00:13:49
We handed out 162 traffic citations. We made three arrests with two juvenile warnings for marijuana. We elected not to arrest a 00:13:56
juveniles or start their criminal career. We handle that using alternative plan. 00:14:02
So 5 total there 16113 total calls for. 00:14:09
And on the citations, just to show we're not bad people, we didn't actually write 100 and 6294 of those were for warning. 00:14:15
So 96 of them dealt with speeding cases. 00:14:22
That is talking about speeding. We addressed 2 citizen concerns on speeding. One was on Katie Lane and one was on Jackson. And the 00:14:27
way we did that is we went out there and we put up our traffic warning boards which also record speed as well, as did officer 00:14:34
presence. And we learned a couple things. Both of those areas are 25 mph, so. 00:14:41
If you look at the numbers that I gave you on Katie Lane, there was 137 cars that went by there per week and we had the signs out 00:14:49
for two weeks monitoring both. 00:14:53
The average speed recorder was only 14 mph, where the 85th percentile being 22 1/2, still under the posted limit. 00:14:58
The highest recorded speed was at 3:00 in the morning on Katie Lane at 32 mph, which was 7 over the posted limit. So we didn't 00:15:06
really. 00:15:10
The things that. 00:15:15
Was being brought up. 00:15:17
Then on Jackson St. we responded to another complaint. There they had 101 cars, average for a week, for two. 00:15:19
The average speed recorded was only 12 mph. Jackson Street, if you're not familiar, is. 00:15:26
Pretty narrow and pretty short. 00:15:31
The 85th percentile was again under the posted limit, 21 1/2. 00:15:34
And the highest recorded speed at 2:00 in the morning was 29 or 4 miles over the posted speed limit. 00:15:38
So not a lot happened, but we take those complaints very seriously and we went out there to see what we could find out. 00:15:44
On North Main. But yeah, we can relocate those signs during the school time. 00:16:26
So you're. I'm sorry. So you're running it for a week one way and a week the other? Yes, ma'am. 00:16:31
Without relocating assignment and assign his own city right away, property is mowed by the city we're not encroaching now on. 00:16:36
Jackson St. We had the offer of a local resident. There was number place on Jackson to put it other than in her yard and she was 00:16:43
happy to allow us to do that. 00:16:47
Yeah, just. Anyways, I just want to say, you know, again, these signs are awesome tools. I mean, we get so many complaints about 00:16:52
speeding. 00:16:56
There's always going to be somebody driving crazy, but to understand that, you know. 00:17:01
90% of people are going or 85% of people are going below the speed limit on those roads, and a lot of the other and most of the 00:17:05
others probably aren't even. 00:17:09
10 over is is really where we're Vincent, from making decisions based on anecdotal evidence. So thank you. 00:17:12
If you guys have a breakdown, if you have any questions at all, feel free to call me, reach out to me, I'll be glad to help you at 00:17:20
any time and other than that I think. 00:17:23
One and done. 00:17:27
OK. Thanks. 00:17:32
All right. Thank you, Chief. All right. At this point, I'm going to step out and let Mayor Pro Tem handle the consent agenda. 00:17:33
Just waiting till the mayor Brock. OK, so. 00:17:50
Is there a motion? 00:17:55
Approve the consent agenda. 00:17:58
I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. 00:18:00
Is there a second A? 00:18:05
All in favor. 00:18:08
All right. 00:18:11
30. 00:18:13
And back. 00:18:16
All right, we will move on to a public hearing. Public hearings are one of those areas where we do have very specific requirements 00:18:23
for how. 00:18:27
Common procedures are done. Comments should only be direct related to the agenda items. Speak only from the podium, 4 minutes per 00:18:32
person. Refrain from debate. Argument. Personal attacks are irrelevant. Discussion address only the merits of the pending matter 00:18:38
and address remarks directly to council. Council cannot speak to potential litigation, attorney-client or personnel matters. 00:18:44
Public input will be allowed after council receives the reports from the staff and or the applicant. Tonight I think we have a 00:18:51
public hearing for a variance on 1281 Christian Dr. Parcel B, Mr. Samples. I'm going to let Engineer Campbell give us the staff 00:18:57
report on the variance and then we'll have the applicant come forward to give us their comments as well. So I'll turn it over at 00:19:03
this point to engineer. 00:19:09
Mark Campbell, welcome back. We missed you last month if my memory serves right, not with us. So glad you're here, appreciate it. 00:19:16
So the variance request tonight, as the mayor said it is for 1281 Christian Drive. This is a request for variance to reduce the 00:19:22
side set back at that location that is in with within the Christian Lake subdivision. So the side set back for detached 00:19:28
residential zoning there is 10 feet. By code. The request is to reduce that for five feet and specifically related to the proposed 00:19:34
construction of a detached garage. 00:19:40
So if you don't know exactly where 1281 Christian Drive is located, you can see it highlighted there within the Christian Lake 00:19:46
subdivision and the following slide is a markup of a recent survey that was completed. You can see the the location of the house 00:19:54
is not in the center of the lot. I would say that the existing concrete driveway is approximately in the center of that lot 00:20:02
location and so to access this proposed attached garage, it would utilize the existing concrete driveway access and then. 00:20:09
The rear of that detached garage would be facing the side of the property and that's where that encroachment variance request 00:20:18
would be, again from 10 feet to five feet to allow for the garage to be constructed by utilizing that existing that also allows 00:20:24
the front of that garage to face the existing structure and therefore the front of the garage does not face the the roadway 00:20:30
itself. That would be a completely different variance if that were the case. So you can see that the mark up there, here's a 00:20:36
here's a picture that gives you an idea. 00:20:42
After the sign had been posted for this required public hearing at tonight's meeting, you can see there are some existing trees 00:20:48
that are on what I'll call the southern side of that concrete driveway. The applicants indicated that those trees will will stay 00:20:55
when it had to be removed to to construct this drive. So there's already some vegetation kind of in that area. 00:21:02
Yeah, there's the code section. You can see 5.02 point I2B4A which states decide your set back should be a minimum of 10 feet in 00:21:10
order to. 00:21:15
Seek the request or grant the request, I guess it's been salt is for of reduction to five feet and allow that structure to come in 00:21:21
again based on the final comment there based on information provided to the staff, no portion of that proposed structure will be 00:21:28
closer to the roadway than the existing primary residence. 00:21:35
Be happy to answer any questions you might have. 00:21:42
Council Any questions for Engineer Campbell? 00:21:46
OK, none. I'll invite the applicant up or their representative to add any information that they want to add before we. 00:21:50
Before we invite the public forward, we are in a public hearing. I think I failed to note that earlier. So this is a technically a 00:21:57
public hearing. 00:22:01
Hey, I'm Jay Harrison. I'm the builder representing the Samples family. 00:22:05
Thank you engineer you you covered it perfectly the entire. 00:22:11
Reason that we're applying for this is so that we can face the garage opposite of the existing garage that is attached to the 00:22:16
house. 00:22:20
And the way we have this figured up and laid out, this is more for even just for the cornice that is going to go on the House so 00:22:25
that it matches the existing structure. So that's really going to be the only part that is encroaching. We wanted to give 00:22:32
ourselves just a little bit of wiggle room if need be, but it is. The garage doors will match up and face each other completely. 00:22:39
And it is concealed mostly by the existing Leland cypresses that are on site, so there really won't be that much visibility from 00:22:46
the. 00:22:51
Neighborhood So. 00:22:56
Any other questions? 00:23:00
Questions. 00:23:02
Is the Christian like HOA fine with this? So it's already yes. We've gotten approval from the HOA and and from the neighbor as 00:23:05
well, and the neighbor. 00:23:09
And in in case those Cleveland cypresses. 00:23:15
I shouldn't say in case they when they. 00:23:19
The the the architecture and the look and feel of this structure is matches the home currently correct. So it's it'll have, you 00:23:22
know Hardy plank siding, it'll have the matching roof pitch. Everything about the garage will look exactly to match up with the 00:23:29
existing structure down to the windows and and shutters and all that good stuff so. 00:23:37
OK, I'm curious what why? Why not put it where the? 00:23:47
Realize it's a separate variance, but why not have it where the driveway dead ends into this garage? 00:23:53
Because there's already precedent. The 2nd house on the right in the neighborhood on that street has a detached garage where the 00:23:59
garage faces the street. Sure, we didn't want to remove any more trees, and there's an existing fence on the property as well. 00:24:06
And they there's also also the septic tank, So this is really the the logical place to put it and it creates a sort of motorcade 00:24:14
there. 00:24:19
So that. 00:24:25
That's our reasoning on. 00:24:27
And our code also strongly discourages front facing garages. 00:24:29
Yep. 00:24:34
OK. 00:24:36
Any other comments? 00:24:38
All right, we are in a public hearing. I know we have at least one neighbor here. Any comments you wish to make or questions you 00:24:42
wish to ask? 00:24:45
No, OK. All right. Just want to be sure. Thank you for coming tonight. 00:24:50
I'm sorry, looking at that picture. 00:24:55
I don't. 00:25:00
Is that the house? I mean, I don't see the garage on that side. 00:25:01
The rest of the door there so the. 00:25:14
Left of the photo or the Leland cypresses that and so the the. 00:25:18
Detached or other proposed detached garages is going to be behind those trees. So now I understand that, but the current garage is 00:25:21
a front. 00:25:25
Oh, it's right. OK, Sorry, I'm just. 00:25:32
Apologies for the photographer skills. 00:25:38
There's good foliage, so you know it's. 00:25:41
So the garage is pushed to the front of the house, but on the side. 00:25:48
Yeah. 00:25:52
I was wondering the same thing in the picture if I was missing something, but OK, great. 00:25:53
All right. Any other comments, questions. 00:25:58
All right, I will close. 00:26:02
I'll close the public hearing at this point. 00:26:05
And then we will move on to appearances. And again, during this appearance, we'll have a 10 minute time limit for appearances per 00:26:09
this guideline of state zoning procedures, laws. I don't think we need that because item 13. 00:26:14
Is simply a vote on the variance we just discussed. 00:26:20
So does anyone care to come forward and make any comments about what we just discussed? 00:26:23
Don't anticipate that, nor do I see it. So at this point I'll entertain. 00:26:29
A motion regarding the variance request at 1281 Christian Drive. 00:26:34
I make a motion to approve the variance request. 00:26:38
We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion? 00:26:46
Hearing none. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? 00:26:49
Motion carries 30. Thanks for being here. 00:26:53
All right. Yep. All right. We'll move on to old business where we have none, we'll move on to new business. And there we're going 00:26:56
to talk about some drainage work on column ferry extension. 00:27:01
And appropriation of some spots for three funds. 00:27:07
To hopefully. 00:27:10
Resolve some of that situation so manager Dickerson is going to walk us through. 00:27:12
Thank you, Mayor. So as the Mayor mentioned, we do have some drainage issues that we've been monitoring for a while and we are 00:27:16
requesting tonight approval to replace the drain pipe on column, ferry extension and Rep. 00:27:23
The affected area, that's the cost of about a little bit more than $3000, which Oconee County's road department is going to help 00:27:30
us with. 00:27:34
We do intend to use those funds to use some sorry L nick funds that are in the Splos 3. 00:27:39
Project to pay for this, just a reminder that we do receive those ELMIG funds from G dot every year for the center lane miles that 00:27:46
we have in the city. We get a certain amount of money, not a lot, roughly just a little bit under $50,000. And this year you guys 00:27:52
approved the money to be spent on repaving Bunny Hop Trail, which is currently trying. We're trying to get that scheduled right 00:27:57
now. 00:28:03
We have about $10,000, eight to $10,000 left in that ELMIG project that we could use funds for, so we're suggesting use 3200 of 00:28:09
that for this project. 00:28:15
And just to reiterate that this is something we've been monitoring for a while. 00:28:22
We did have the county. It was a little bit more expertise in this look at it as well as one of our council members look at it and 00:28:28
and our city engineer and everything that he's had sort of a take that we feel like if we can replace that that pipe to continue 00:28:34
to convey that water away from the road and from the residents that will be helpful. It's a very little expense for I think a big 00:28:41
win. So we are requesting that you approve it. Any questions? 00:28:47
I know we have Mr. McReynolds from Colin Perry extension here tonight. Do you have any thoughts or anything you want to add on the 00:28:59
situation, Mr. McReynolds? 00:29:02
If you do, you need to step up. But if you don't, you can stay where you are. So yeah, thank you. 00:29:08
The new culvert would would. 00:29:18
I don't think that it's going to solve the issue. 00:29:21
Because of the way the water runs over the. 00:29:25
From the park over the street. 00:29:28
It doesn't even go into that culvert, but it will help with the water coming down the street. 00:29:32
But as far as the coming over from the. 00:29:38
It goes on top of that cover. 00:29:41
So. 00:29:45
It will be a it would be great to get a new, bigger culvert in. 00:29:46
And then, hopefully, the railroad will. 00:29:50
Clear out the rest of it, Yeah. I think we're working on that issue on a separate track, pardon the pond, but right with the 00:29:53
railroad. Yep. OK. Alright. Thank you. 00:29:58
Council So you've heard the recommendation of the manager. I think that's a good value for what gets done there. 00:30:03
Any questions for manager Dickerson? 00:30:10
All right, hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:30:13
I make a motion to approve. 00:30:17
Yes. 00:30:21
Option one stated on the screen. 00:30:25
Second. All right. We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion, questions, hearing none. All in favor, say aye, 00:30:30
aye, Any opposed. That motion carries 3 O and we'll move on. 00:30:35
The amendment to Code Ordinance Code Chapter 6 around animals. 00:30:41
Manager Dickerson I'll let you sell as much or as little about this as you want to Well I'm going to I'm actually going to pitch 00:30:48
most of it to our city attorney but so chapter 6 is going to become Chapter 10 I believe is how the it's been written up and 00:30:54
chapter 10 which is only one small little piece of moved 11 and that's how he's written up but generally this is this came to 00:30:59
light because we had one of our employees who got bit by a dog in the in the community and. 00:31:05
Plus pages long around 2020, which was on the heels of a couple state law changes that gave more authority, more more power to the 00:31:47
local animal control officers, Animal Services officers to regulate for the purpose of keeping the public health, safety, welfare, 00:31:55
keep citizens protected from dangerous dogs, vicious dogs, and so forth. All of that and much more is covered in here. You will 00:32:02
know that even after significant cleanup and simplification. 00:32:10
Keeping all the numbering, keeping all the sections and subsections so the county can meaningfully enforce our ordinance or assist 00:32:18
us in doing so. 00:32:22
That nonetheless, it is still 15 pages long. There's a lot to it, but. 00:32:26
Been through it. Manager Dickerson's been through it very carefully. It's a good product. I think the county did overall a good 00:32:32
job of covering the waterfront. Not just dangerous dogs, vicious dogs, but the conditions in which the animals live. Animals 00:32:37
running at large, feral cat colonies. 00:32:42
Traps, spay, neuter and release. I mean, it's got all the bells and whistles. Some of this I recognize from the animal control 00:32:49
person that went from Madison up to Oak County. Gosh, it's probably been seven or eight years ago. I think her name is Crystal and 00:32:55
did a really good job with bringing some of her new information, ideas and ordinance provisions up to Oconee. 00:33:01
So Unicode will take care of getting all that updated online and integrating that correct, And then the one thing we have spent 00:33:50
time on in the past is tethering. 00:33:54
Does. 00:33:58
Did we look at our old code? Is there a substantive difference around tethering in our old code? And what's in this? I don't 00:34:00
remember other than to say I thought I saw something on tethering and on restrictions. It says at page four. In the middle of the 00:34:06
page, tethered means attached to a stationary object or pulley system by chain, rope, cable, or similar device, not including a 00:34:13
leash. I thought I remembered seeing in here a reference to tethering needs to be under supervision for the safety of the dog. Do 00:34:19
you remember the same thing, Sharon? 00:34:25
I just, I keep putting my hands right on it. I might be able to in a minute, but I do believe it's probably, I can't say with 00:34:32
certainty, but I think it's probably consistent with our prior discussions. 00:34:37
All right. Well, I'm comfortable moving this forward tonight, but I know at some point Julie will remember in the in Connie May in 00:34:44
the past six or eight years we have had. 00:34:48
Extensive discussions around tethering and whether it's appropriate or not. And then the other gap sometimes that are in there is 00:34:53
does it account for invisible fences as it relates to animals at all? It talks about under control so restraint on the property 00:35:00
not running at large is a specific clause on running at large at 10 dash 92 middle page 8 and owner will prevent it from running 00:35:07
at large. So assuming argue window that the fence works. 00:35:14
And it keeps the animal under restraint on the property from running at large. Then I would say that would suffice, yeah. And then 00:35:22
on section 10/10/96, item one, it says an animal may not be chained, tied, fastened, or otherwise tethered to dog houses, trees, 00:35:27
fences, vehicles, or other stationary objects, except the animal may be temporarily confined by each other while attended by its 00:35:32
owner. 00:35:37
So that confirms, OK. I think we then cover those bases good questions or any other questions about it. 00:35:44
Thank you, Sir. 00:35:50
OK. Yeah, they're just that may come back. We may have to talk about that later, but I'm comfortable moving it forward tonight as 00:35:52
a practical matter. 00:35:56
And we do have the other practical matter of if we diverge from the county, it'll probably have to be pursuant to a discussion 00:36:00
with them on diverging and make sure we have a comfort level and how do we handle enforcement if we diverge any. Right now we are 00:36:06
tracking 100%. This is in essence again their ordinance would Smith a little bit to take care of a couple minor typos, get rid of 00:36:12
some vats, therefore is wearing after pursuant twos etcetera to make it easier for everybody administer. But this is faithful to 00:36:18
their ordinance. 00:36:24
Thank you. Yes, Sir, questions from council. 00:36:30
All right. Entertain a motion. 00:36:35
Make a Motion to approve item 15. 00:36:40
All right. We have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Any further discussion? 00:36:44
All in favor, Say aye, aye. Any opposed? 00:36:49
Motion carries 30. We'll move on to our new items T spots proposed programming amendments. 00:36:52
Manager Dickerson, I'll let you walk us through. 00:36:59
Thank you, Mayor. 00:37:04
At last month's meeting, the council approved for. 00:37:06
Reprogramming of some funds for some Rd. works and paving and parking work around Rocket Field. It's on 2nd St. and on School St. 00:37:11
And we, you know, I believe the mayor did mention at the time we weren't sure that was going to be enough money and it wasn't. So 00:37:21
we're back asking for the difference. Instead of taking out of spouse three, however, we are recommending it be taken out at 00:37:27
SPLOST fund. We do have resurfacing of school, sorry, resurfacing funds in that, in that. 00:37:34
In that fund and. 00:37:41
Earmark those monies though. We need 51,000 to make up the difference and that is what we're asking, is that you program those 00:37:43
funds and appropriate those funds for that purpose. 00:37:48
Any questions for the manager? 00:37:54
Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:37:58
Make a motion to approve. 00:38:01
Is there a second second? 00:38:03
Any further discussion? 00:38:06
All in favor, Say aye. 00:38:10
Any opposed? 00:38:12
Motion Carries 30. We are going to attempt to work with our work with Value Added Concepts on this under their existing 00:38:14
construction lease to get this work done. 00:38:18
In a cost efficient and timely manner. 00:38:24
Item 17 is a splash funding request, I think also related to work downtown related to stormwater manager Dickerson. Yeah, thank 00:38:26
you Mayor. Absolutely. So as of this morning as they were trying to finalize the work that need to be done on the paving and 00:38:33
parking improvements, it there was an item that was outstanding that was to deal with the drainage in that area as well. And we've 00:38:41
got a estimate about $15,000 to make sure that that area drains appropriately and moves into our conveyance system. 00:38:49
And that is what we're here to ask for is an appropriation of our designation of that 15,000 and appropriation of that those funds 00:38:57
out of our drainage and key key stormwater improvement line item that's in the in the splice 3 budget. 00:39:03
Any questions for the manager? 00:39:12
Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. 00:39:16
I make a motion to approve. Do we have a second? 00:39:20
Second, any further discussion? 00:39:23
Hearing none all in favor, say aye. 00:39:26
All right. Any opposed motion carries 30. I will note we've had some questions about that. That'll hopefully address not just the 00:39:29
area where the additional parking will be. 00:39:33
For the five of you who are here, this is your moment to shine. Public comments, 4 minutes per person. Come on up and tell us 00:40:12
what's on your mind if you want to. 00:40:16
Good, bad, or ugly? 00:40:21
Walking schools? Awesome. OK, let the record show Watkinsville is awesome. 00:40:23
Thank you. 00:40:29
All right. 00:40:31
If only it were always so simple. All right, we'll move on to the mayors report. 00:40:33
I'm not usually directionally challenged, but also some new parking on the east side closer to OCAF. So we'll add striping there. 00:41:42
We're still going to install the patent court. We're going to install a new sidewalk along 2nd St. on that West side. 00:41:47
We'll add the stage and bandstand area. I noticed that the most of the lumber has been delivered today. I think they hope to pour 00:41:53
the concrete foundation for that this week as well. 00:41:58
Which will kind of anchor that. 00:42:02
That our vendors can still get get out there that we have enough parking for OCALAF and things like that. If we the dog park will 00:42:37
be a while just given the sensitivity of the turf and then we've also ordered a net climber to go out there. So that's on its way 00:42:44
and we appropriate it. For those of you who weren't aware last month, I think we appropriated and ordered a new set of St. Lights 00:42:51
that'll connect that to downtown and make it look look unified and together. 00:42:58
You'll also note there's not power lines running around and across the field anymore, so it's really turned out nice and we're 00:43:05
excited to see ongoing use. One of our other big activities coming up is also. 00:43:10
Clarify and define how management of the field is going to work between Little League and other club teams and others who want to 00:43:16
use that travel teams and others and the public. So that's on our agenda for this month as well. 00:43:22
So that's exciting news about Rocket Field. So on a is completed manager Dickerson mentioned that earlier for those of you who 00:43:29
don't follow sewer lines and there's not many probably other than folks who are here, but this is actually really important. You 00:43:35
know I know some of our guests have a background in industry, believe it or not most of our industry was on septic tanks for a 00:43:40
long time including the Southwire facility. 00:43:45
Before it became Wire Park. So the city has funded a long-awaited sewer line. And that sewer line, as frustrating as it has been 00:43:51
for how many years now, Julie, 12 years we've been planning this Sierra line. I think it is almost after shortly after I joined 00:43:56
the council. 00:44:01
Without that sewer line, there would be no wire park, there would not be and then we anticipate in the years ahead a lot of new 00:44:06
opportunities for the businesses in our industrial area to expand and grow because they can get rid of their drain fields and 00:44:11
because they can build new things on those properties. So that was a. 00:44:16
Multi month process Jerry Smith Dr. has been repaved, the project is done, a lot of new sod has been laid and it's going to create 00:44:22
some new opportunities for new taxes and new jobs in Watkinsville and Oconee County. So we're grateful to have that done and have 00:44:28
that behind us and we'll know more about the budget next month as the manager said. 00:44:34
We've also installed some new signs that reflect our new city branding at the industrial area. We've had complaints in the past 00:44:40
from some of those users saying they weren't very proud of how that used to look. 00:44:45
So this is how they look now and then. 00:44:50
City Beautification manager, I will call him Mark Novak, who does a great job of making City Hall beautiful in other places. Once 00:44:53
he gets a hold of whatever is going to go in that stone, I'm sure it's going to look lovely. So, but it looks a lot better than it 00:44:59
did before. So thank you Sharon for getting those signs done. 00:45:05
Also pleased to show that the residential portion of Wire Park is finally underway. I know people have been waiting on that. So 00:45:11
the flats are under construction as well as I think the townhomes will follow shortly behind. Permits have been pulled for the 00:45:16
Flats at Wire Park and construction has begun so. 00:45:21
That'll be an exciting transition to also having people live at Wire Park in addition. 00:45:27
In addition to all the activity that's going on out. 00:45:32
Oconee County Library is also moving to water park. This is a little preview of what's going on inside. They're moving very 00:45:36
quickly. If you go by out there, they are still hoping to be in in January, is that correct? 00:45:41
There is a lot of activity on the inside of that structure. 00:46:21
Studs and with HVAC and electrical and sheetrock and and all those wonderful things getting ready for the new facility. It's very 00:46:24
exciting. 00:46:28
Perfect. And the exterior is going to be a mix of brick and metal, is that correct? 00:46:33
That's correct. It will look very cohesive with what water park already looks like. It's maybe just some very slight changes so 00:46:37
you can tell that it's a different entity there from the library itself, but it it will. 00:46:43
The ideas for it to blend in exactly. 00:46:50
Perfect. And for all the moms watching online, I got to remind them, thanks to Councilwoman Tucker, Mayor Pro Tem, for advocating 00:46:52
for restrooms in the children's area. And those were added to the budget, correct? All right, Very good. Very good. All right. And 00:46:58
you guys were able to do all your add-ons. So I also want to congratulate our friends at the county. They are cutting a ribbon 00:47:03
next Tuesday for their new administrative building, which has turned out really nice on North Main Street at the intersection with 00:47:08
441. 00:47:13
So I would. 00:47:19
And they haven't told me this, but if I were looking to get my tag renewed or go do an administrative function in the county, you 00:47:21
might want to wait till at some point next week. I got my tags renewed today. 00:47:26
Because. And so I asked all the things, so Friday they will be closed, but they have marked it as a holiday. So if your tags 00:47:32
expire on Friday, Monday is a day of grace. So it sounds like there's going to be a lot of a lot of vehicles moving up and down N 00:47:39
Main St. on Friday and through the weekend to move. Basically all the county administrative functions will move to this new 00:47:46
structure and then the judicial system of the county will take over. The former, well, the courthouse will remain the courthouse. 00:47:53
And so, so we will benefit from that and that new structure is done. Oh gosh, somebody happy anniversary 25th to Susan and Brian 00:48:01
Broderick. So thank you. We had a my wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary yesterday and this group tends to have. 00:48:10
Notifying the public of those things for somebody else. Thank you for thank you for that and not to be too morbid, coming after my 00:48:20
25th anniversary, but this was not on the list. But I was reminded of it. We do, we are working with. I've seen a little bit of 00:48:25
public comment on this. We are working with. 00:48:30
County commissioner, although he's not in that role, but citizen Amory Harden on some thinking around the Watkinsville cemetery 00:48:37
and how to best take care of that moving forward. 00:48:41
We do a lot of the maintenance over there. We're not legally required to, but we take good care of that. 00:48:46
Interim Chief Tetterton was explaining about the flags and things, but there is a lot of Gray area on what's happening at the 00:48:52
cemetery, how it's to be taken care of and what's going to happen there in the future. So we're really taking a hard look at 00:48:56
what's the right way to structure. 00:49:01
The governance of the cemetery and the organization that to make sure that it's properly maintained, but also that it doesn't put 00:49:05
a burden back on the city so. 00:49:09
That's a lengthy mayor's update for you all, and I will now turn it over to Council for their reports. Councilman Garrett is not 00:49:12
here. So, Connie, that means you get to lead us off with anything you want to share. 00:49:17
All right. Nothing from Councilwoman Massey. And don't take Brett ever joined. Correct. OK, That leaves it to Mayor Pro Tem. 00:49:22
Anything from you? 00:49:28
All right. And Councilman Campbell, just one thing. 00:49:33
Chief Territon brought up the first responders training. 00:49:37
And as someone who benefited greatly from that three weeks ago. 00:49:41
I had a little accident and severed my artery in my left wrist at work and the Oconee County Sheriff's Department were the first 00:49:46
people there and they knew exactly what to do. They got a tourniquet on my arm right away, beat the ambulance by several minutes, 00:49:51
so. 00:49:56
You gave that report and had I heard it last month, I wanted to have given. 00:50:02
Much thought, but I'm very thankful that our officers, both with the city and the county have that training and I realize how 00:50:06
important it is because when you're losing a lot of blood, you every minute counts so. 00:50:13
I haven't trained people. I'm very thankful. 00:50:20
And I will say I came in here that Friday morning having forgotten that was going on, and had a meeting with some citizens. 00:50:22
And some some people wanting to evaluate some property and the energy level in here was just outrageous. I mean that was really 00:50:28
great what you guys were doing and the excitement. 00:50:33
It's hard to kind of get excited around. I don't know, you know, if a million mannequins and all kinds of stuff in here, but the 00:50:38
Spree decor. 00:50:42
Chief around you guys and the work with Oconee and everybody, and I think we even had our public works guys in here in case there 00:50:46
was an emergency. So it wasn't just our law enforcement first responders. I feel like a lot of our team was getting trained. 00:50:53
And that's great because you never know when one of these situations is going to arise. So thanks for your leadership on that. And 00:50:59
for those who don't know, Chief, arrange to get several of those devices donated so that there was enough for everybody to train 00:51:04
and practice on and including on. 00:51:08
Youth and babies, I think, if I remember right, which is a big deal, so we know how to take care of them as well, which is 00:51:14
important. 00:51:17
OK, awesome updates, Jeff. Glad you're better and feeling better. Let's all keep Councilman Garrett and his family in our prayers. 00:51:20
We'll let Brett know that we miss him. And unless there's anything else, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 00:51:25
All right. I make a motion to adjourn. Second, all in favor, say aye. We are done. 00:51:32
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