Minutes from past week's Watkinsville City Council meeting
I did not make this one, but here is the unpassed nor approved minutes of the Watkinsville City Council meeting:
MINUTES OF MEETING
OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL
CITY OF WATKINSVILLE
September 13, 2006
PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Link, Purcell, Brodrick, Walsh and Walter.
VISITORS: See attached sheet.
QUORUM CHECK: Mayor Luken acknowledges a quorum is present. Mayor Luken also asks those with non-emergency cell phones to turn them off or down. All speakers are asked to approach the lectern and address Council.
WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD: Councilwoman Samantha Purcell announced The Thomas’ of Simonton Bridge Road as receiving the Watkinsville Beautiful Yard Award for the month of September. The selection was made by The Big Easy Cafe.
MINUTES: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walsh seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the August 9, 2006 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
JEFF HARGENS: Councilman Walter moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to approve a business license for Pioneer Building at 59 Dooley Street. Motion carried unanimously.
PAMELA PONTENBERG: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve a business license for Ladybug Designs at 239 Concord Drive. Motion carried unanimously.
NATHAN MENDE: Councilman Walsh moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to approve a business license transfer for Matt Richards Motorcycle Parts to Nathan Mende of NPR Ducati / Boxerworks at 1461 Greensboro Highway. Motion carried unanimously. The business will be called NPR Ducati / Boxerworks.
MARTHA HOWARD: Ms. Howard called and requested to be rescheduled for the October Council meeting. No action necessary.
RECONCILIATION REPORT: Julie Sanders announces there will be no election on November 7th due to Joe Walter, Samantha Purcell and Mike Link (all incumbents) had no opposition.
Councilman Walter moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve the July 31, 2006 Reconciliation Report as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
MAYOR’S REPORT: See attached. Thanks to those that helped with Harris Shoals Park cleanup. The council did their best to address about 12 items in regard to the beer and wine ordinance recommendations. The City Charter states the second Wednesday as the regular council meeting day. Several people noted have noted it is difficult to attend our meetings because people have to choose between church and our meeting. I would like to consider changing our meetings to another night of the week. Two LARP projects were finished this week (Marshall Drive and Hight Drive). Looks really good. Trick-or-Treat downtown will be held on October 31st from 4-6 p.m. Congratulations to Councilman Walter, Councilwoman Purcell and Councilman Link. No opposition is a sign of strong endorsement, per Mayor Luken. Mayor Luken also recognizes the Watkinsville Police Department for their perfect score from the Georgia Crime Information Center and acknowledges congratulations from the auditor. The Watkinsville Police Department also received thank you notes from employees of the Oconee County Welcome Center and Krimson Black of Krimson Kafe.
Chief O’Dillon adds that the onsite audit included auditing the municipal court clerk as well with rave reviews. Chief O’Dillon also notes that a portion of School Street will be made one way from Main Street to First Street and asks that everyone begin to watch for that.
Councilman Brodrick asks the status of streetscape regarding downtown business and trick-or-treating. Mayor Luken explains streetscape got off to a slow start, but is picking up and doing fine now. The contractors have guaranteed to keep business flowing. Watkinsville Police Department will make it work, the show will go on, per Chief O’Dillon.
Mayor Luken gives code enforcement update. Well over 70 junk cars have been moved out of the City. Robert has done an extremely fine job, per Mayor Luken.
CITIZEN’S COMMENTS: Johnny Lay comments: Town meetings are where people should be able to come together and share their thoughts and concerns. It’s good for the town and good for the people. It’s the American way and more people should come, but people should not be made to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed and this has happened. Y’all have a lot of good things going. I think you all are working hard to promote Watkinsville and cope with all the changes that are taking place. I think, however, that you may have too many things going on and may be pushing your own personal agendas and wants for the welfare of a selective few, not necessarily something that the town must have or that the majority of people want. All the trees that have been planted will someday change the looks of Watkinsville and I think it will look much better. I think the way the ordinance was presented overshadowed what it could do. Over and over I have people telling me they don’t want somebody telling them “I can’t cut a tree or what I can do with my own property”. Code enforcement – of course a lot of people don’t like that, but I think that’s done a lot to clean up the city. The sign ordinance doesn’t affect people’s personal property a lot so they don’t comment on it, but yet I think that’s one of the best things that you’ve done because you can consolidate and get all the signs looking orderly and neat. Sometimes I think you’re sending mixed signals when you talk about personal property rights. On one hand, you say “we don’t need minimum lot sizes, you don’t care what size house or type someone builds because the more variety we have, the more character it gives the town, so what is the big deal with tearing down a house as long as the removal doesn’t present a safety hazard or some kind of threat to people and nothing is built back that will lower property value”? If the beer and wine issue did nothing else, it got people to talking, asking questions, but the moratorium caused more talk and discussions than anything you’ve done here. When someone who stands to gain the most with beer and wine comes before you wanting a moratorium to stop construction until new guidelines or ordinances are put in place, it probably makes it harder for other businesses to come in here. It wasn’t right. It didn’t look right and a lot of people commented on that. “We got what he want, now we don’t want nobody else in here.” That is the way it was perceived by a lot of people. I hope when the new ordinances are completed, it will be presented to the public for comments and changes if needed. You say you want to being in new business. It seems like someone wants to place certain restrictions so we will not have to worry about any large franchises moving into the city. If a Red Lobster wants to come in here, are we going to say they can’t have their Red Lobster logo on the outside of their building? We are not an Alpine village such as in Helen. Don’t try to make Watkinsville something that it’s not. People knew what was here before they came here. Many of the people who signed that petition that was presented to y’all are not residents of the City of Watkinsville. This same group of people wants to have a say so on expanding the historical district that would affect someone else’s property rights. Do we have a historical district? Are we creating a historical district? I think I have asked everybody that has ever been in office here and nobody can ever remember there being a historical district. We have a historical society and a historical preservation group and I think we got put on the historical register. Downtown Athens doesn’t even have a historic district. One has been in the making for about three years. After all that work, the property owners downtown Athens don’t want it because it does restrict what you can do with your own property severely. If you plan on creating one, this is going to be a much bigger issue than the beer and wine or the tree ordinance because you are affecting what a person can do with his property. Speaking of property rights, Town Center is a very good example. I think Town Center is a very attractive building. They built it the way they wanted, without guidelines. I think Town Center has probably done more to bring new businesses into this town than anything or anybody. In closing, I would like to say I think all of your intentions are good. Jim, I think you are doing a good job. You seem to be working very hard with all that’s going on and right now we need somebody with your energy and drive. The last mayor who had this much going on, Mr. White, during the sewer installation, poor man caught hell. We were lucky to have someone like him there at the time because he was able to handle it. When streetscape, bicentennial and the signal light are all over, you ought to take a close look at what you’re doing. The paper says that changes are happening with lightening speed. You do not have to make changes for the sake of making them. Ask yourself, “are they really needed for all the people, not just the ones who are organized, vocal and come to town meetings?” Just be careful not to put your own agendas and wants on to the people. I appreciate your time and patience.
Mayor Luken: On the last ordinance (beer and wine) we had four public meetings. 70-90 people attended each of those meetings. The signalization and streetscape started a year ago. South Main Street is on the National Register of Historic Places. Councilman Brodrick is shepherding the project and will cover those momentarily. The tree ordinance doesn’t involve personal property. Frankly, I am happy things are slowing down a good bit. Keep coming and keep talking.
OLD BUSINESS: (1) Bicentennial Reports: Mayor Luken notes the Oconee County Rotary Club has provided the trophy case, the Oconee County Pilot Club giving $1500.00 toward bathroom upgrades and 200+ trees have been planted. Maridee Williams gives Bicentennial Birthday Party update, which is scheduled on November 24, 2006. The party will start at 9:30 a.m. and will include announcements, reenactments, history booklet (commemorative edition) to be given out by girl scouts, cake, commemorative stamp, wagon rides, and much more.
Mayor Luken: Maridee is intimately involved in the Christmas Parade as well. We have about 1700 in the treasury to support what we need.
(2) Storm Water Consultant Selection: We received bids from one company in Atlanta, one in Augusta, one in Athens and one in Watkinsville. After discussion, Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walsh seconded the motion to approve Carter Engineering as our Storm Water Consultant. Motion carried unanimously.
(3) Concept Plan & Future Land Use Map: Councilman Brodrick gives an update on the status of the Concept Plan and Future Land Use Maps. An extensive report is available for public. There will be a Monday night meeting to address these items. This is a culmination of what citizens want Watkinsville to look like. Once the future land use map is adopted then the zoning codes will be adopted. Councilman Brodrick states Mr. Lay makes good points. What we have now is a use based code and the new code will be more form based. Town Center is a great example. These are based on the input we received from citizens to protect the older buildings. The codes have not been updated since 1983. We had to move fast. Best communities have high standards and high expectations. Things are built to stand the test of time. Encourage all to try to come Monday night, especially the key people being impacted.
NEW BUSINESS: Councilman Link questions progress of streetscape. How quick will they put in the crosswalks/sidewalks? Mayor Luken explains they have a special methodology to install brick on a state route. Don’t have the answer as to when the sidewalks and crosswalks will be complete. Their plan has fallen back a month. Plan to finish by October 21st before the fall festival. They do not plan to stop anything from occurring.
Councilman Link questions the status of the traffic signal. Mayor Luken explains they have been working on it. These are masts and they will pop up one day. This intersection stops traffic. D.O.T. had put a plan together that would have cut three businesses out/killed them and still not address the problem.
Councilman Brodrick asks status of Philip Bernardi working on updating human resource policies. Mayor Luken notes that he has been working on them, but hasn’t reported back to us as of yet.
Councilman Link notes we have a problem about people parking on the shoulder and in roads during special functions (concerts at Athens Manor). People are parking in the road & curve on both sides of Harden Hill Road. This could be a liability issue if we let this continue to happen, per Councilman Link. We need to put up signage or work with Ashford Manor to work out a safer situation. Mayor Luken suggests Councilman Link work with his committee and Chief O’Dillon to address this issue. Councilman Brodrick suggests we educate people a little more at Ashford Manor about other parking areas in the City.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walter seconded to go into executive session. Motion carried unanimously.
Councilman Link moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to exit executive session. Motion carried unanimously.
(1) Potential litigation: Councilman Link moved and Councilman Walter seconded the motion to approve Mayor Luken to work with Peter Olson, Attorney, regarding the agreement with Georgia Outdoor Advertising. Motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to adjourn the September 13, 2006 Council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
JULIE A. SANDERS
CITY CLERK
MINUTES OF MEETING
OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL
CITY OF WATKINSVILLE
September 13, 2006
PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Link, Purcell, Brodrick, Walsh and Walter.
VISITORS: See attached sheet.
QUORUM CHECK: Mayor Luken acknowledges a quorum is present. Mayor Luken also asks those with non-emergency cell phones to turn them off or down. All speakers are asked to approach the lectern and address Council.
WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD: Councilwoman Samantha Purcell announced The Thomas’ of Simonton Bridge Road as receiving the Watkinsville Beautiful Yard Award for the month of September. The selection was made by The Big Easy Cafe.
MINUTES: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walsh seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the August 9, 2006 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
JEFF HARGENS: Councilman Walter moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to approve a business license for Pioneer Building at 59 Dooley Street. Motion carried unanimously.
PAMELA PONTENBERG: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve a business license for Ladybug Designs at 239 Concord Drive. Motion carried unanimously.
NATHAN MENDE: Councilman Walsh moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to approve a business license transfer for Matt Richards Motorcycle Parts to Nathan Mende of NPR Ducati / Boxerworks at 1461 Greensboro Highway. Motion carried unanimously. The business will be called NPR Ducati / Boxerworks.
MARTHA HOWARD: Ms. Howard called and requested to be rescheduled for the October Council meeting. No action necessary.
RECONCILIATION REPORT: Julie Sanders announces there will be no election on November 7th due to Joe Walter, Samantha Purcell and Mike Link (all incumbents) had no opposition.
Councilman Walter moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve the July 31, 2006 Reconciliation Report as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
MAYOR’S REPORT: See attached. Thanks to those that helped with Harris Shoals Park cleanup. The council did their best to address about 12 items in regard to the beer and wine ordinance recommendations. The City Charter states the second Wednesday as the regular council meeting day. Several people noted have noted it is difficult to attend our meetings because people have to choose between church and our meeting. I would like to consider changing our meetings to another night of the week. Two LARP projects were finished this week (Marshall Drive and Hight Drive). Looks really good. Trick-or-Treat downtown will be held on October 31st from 4-6 p.m. Congratulations to Councilman Walter, Councilwoman Purcell and Councilman Link. No opposition is a sign of strong endorsement, per Mayor Luken. Mayor Luken also recognizes the Watkinsville Police Department for their perfect score from the Georgia Crime Information Center and acknowledges congratulations from the auditor. The Watkinsville Police Department also received thank you notes from employees of the Oconee County Welcome Center and Krimson Black of Krimson Kafe.
Chief O’Dillon adds that the onsite audit included auditing the municipal court clerk as well with rave reviews. Chief O’Dillon also notes that a portion of School Street will be made one way from Main Street to First Street and asks that everyone begin to watch for that.
Councilman Brodrick asks the status of streetscape regarding downtown business and trick-or-treating. Mayor Luken explains streetscape got off to a slow start, but is picking up and doing fine now. The contractors have guaranteed to keep business flowing. Watkinsville Police Department will make it work, the show will go on, per Chief O’Dillon.
Mayor Luken gives code enforcement update. Well over 70 junk cars have been moved out of the City. Robert has done an extremely fine job, per Mayor Luken.
CITIZEN’S COMMENTS: Johnny Lay comments: Town meetings are where people should be able to come together and share their thoughts and concerns. It’s good for the town and good for the people. It’s the American way and more people should come, but people should not be made to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed and this has happened. Y’all have a lot of good things going. I think you all are working hard to promote Watkinsville and cope with all the changes that are taking place. I think, however, that you may have too many things going on and may be pushing your own personal agendas and wants for the welfare of a selective few, not necessarily something that the town must have or that the majority of people want. All the trees that have been planted will someday change the looks of Watkinsville and I think it will look much better. I think the way the ordinance was presented overshadowed what it could do. Over and over I have people telling me they don’t want somebody telling them “I can’t cut a tree or what I can do with my own property”. Code enforcement – of course a lot of people don’t like that, but I think that’s done a lot to clean up the city. The sign ordinance doesn’t affect people’s personal property a lot so they don’t comment on it, but yet I think that’s one of the best things that you’ve done because you can consolidate and get all the signs looking orderly and neat. Sometimes I think you’re sending mixed signals when you talk about personal property rights. On one hand, you say “we don’t need minimum lot sizes, you don’t care what size house or type someone builds because the more variety we have, the more character it gives the town, so what is the big deal with tearing down a house as long as the removal doesn’t present a safety hazard or some kind of threat to people and nothing is built back that will lower property value”? If the beer and wine issue did nothing else, it got people to talking, asking questions, but the moratorium caused more talk and discussions than anything you’ve done here. When someone who stands to gain the most with beer and wine comes before you wanting a moratorium to stop construction until new guidelines or ordinances are put in place, it probably makes it harder for other businesses to come in here. It wasn’t right. It didn’t look right and a lot of people commented on that. “We got what he want, now we don’t want nobody else in here.” That is the way it was perceived by a lot of people. I hope when the new ordinances are completed, it will be presented to the public for comments and changes if needed. You say you want to being in new business. It seems like someone wants to place certain restrictions so we will not have to worry about any large franchises moving into the city. If a Red Lobster wants to come in here, are we going to say they can’t have their Red Lobster logo on the outside of their building? We are not an Alpine village such as in Helen. Don’t try to make Watkinsville something that it’s not. People knew what was here before they came here. Many of the people who signed that petition that was presented to y’all are not residents of the City of Watkinsville. This same group of people wants to have a say so on expanding the historical district that would affect someone else’s property rights. Do we have a historical district? Are we creating a historical district? I think I have asked everybody that has ever been in office here and nobody can ever remember there being a historical district. We have a historical society and a historical preservation group and I think we got put on the historical register. Downtown Athens doesn’t even have a historic district. One has been in the making for about three years. After all that work, the property owners downtown Athens don’t want it because it does restrict what you can do with your own property severely. If you plan on creating one, this is going to be a much bigger issue than the beer and wine or the tree ordinance because you are affecting what a person can do with his property. Speaking of property rights, Town Center is a very good example. I think Town Center is a very attractive building. They built it the way they wanted, without guidelines. I think Town Center has probably done more to bring new businesses into this town than anything or anybody. In closing, I would like to say I think all of your intentions are good. Jim, I think you are doing a good job. You seem to be working very hard with all that’s going on and right now we need somebody with your energy and drive. The last mayor who had this much going on, Mr. White, during the sewer installation, poor man caught hell. We were lucky to have someone like him there at the time because he was able to handle it. When streetscape, bicentennial and the signal light are all over, you ought to take a close look at what you’re doing. The paper says that changes are happening with lightening speed. You do not have to make changes for the sake of making them. Ask yourself, “are they really needed for all the people, not just the ones who are organized, vocal and come to town meetings?” Just be careful not to put your own agendas and wants on to the people. I appreciate your time and patience.
Mayor Luken: On the last ordinance (beer and wine) we had four public meetings. 70-90 people attended each of those meetings. The signalization and streetscape started a year ago. South Main Street is on the National Register of Historic Places. Councilman Brodrick is shepherding the project and will cover those momentarily. The tree ordinance doesn’t involve personal property. Frankly, I am happy things are slowing down a good bit. Keep coming and keep talking.
OLD BUSINESS: (1) Bicentennial Reports: Mayor Luken notes the Oconee County Rotary Club has provided the trophy case, the Oconee County Pilot Club giving $1500.00 toward bathroom upgrades and 200+ trees have been planted. Maridee Williams gives Bicentennial Birthday Party update, which is scheduled on November 24, 2006. The party will start at 9:30 a.m. and will include announcements, reenactments, history booklet (commemorative edition) to be given out by girl scouts, cake, commemorative stamp, wagon rides, and much more.
Mayor Luken: Maridee is intimately involved in the Christmas Parade as well. We have about 1700 in the treasury to support what we need.
(2) Storm Water Consultant Selection: We received bids from one company in Atlanta, one in Augusta, one in Athens and one in Watkinsville. After discussion, Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walsh seconded the motion to approve Carter Engineering as our Storm Water Consultant. Motion carried unanimously.
(3) Concept Plan & Future Land Use Map: Councilman Brodrick gives an update on the status of the Concept Plan and Future Land Use Maps. An extensive report is available for public. There will be a Monday night meeting to address these items. This is a culmination of what citizens want Watkinsville to look like. Once the future land use map is adopted then the zoning codes will be adopted. Councilman Brodrick states Mr. Lay makes good points. What we have now is a use based code and the new code will be more form based. Town Center is a great example. These are based on the input we received from citizens to protect the older buildings. The codes have not been updated since 1983. We had to move fast. Best communities have high standards and high expectations. Things are built to stand the test of time. Encourage all to try to come Monday night, especially the key people being impacted.
NEW BUSINESS: Councilman Link questions progress of streetscape. How quick will they put in the crosswalks/sidewalks? Mayor Luken explains they have a special methodology to install brick on a state route. Don’t have the answer as to when the sidewalks and crosswalks will be complete. Their plan has fallen back a month. Plan to finish by October 21st before the fall festival. They do not plan to stop anything from occurring.
Councilman Link questions the status of the traffic signal. Mayor Luken explains they have been working on it. These are masts and they will pop up one day. This intersection stops traffic. D.O.T. had put a plan together that would have cut three businesses out/killed them and still not address the problem.
Councilman Brodrick asks status of Philip Bernardi working on updating human resource policies. Mayor Luken notes that he has been working on them, but hasn’t reported back to us as of yet.
Councilman Link notes we have a problem about people parking on the shoulder and in roads during special functions (concerts at Athens Manor). People are parking in the road & curve on both sides of Harden Hill Road. This could be a liability issue if we let this continue to happen, per Councilman Link. We need to put up signage or work with Ashford Manor to work out a safer situation. Mayor Luken suggests Councilman Link work with his committee and Chief O’Dillon to address this issue. Councilman Brodrick suggests we educate people a little more at Ashford Manor about other parking areas in the City.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Walter seconded to go into executive session. Motion carried unanimously.
Councilman Link moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to exit executive session. Motion carried unanimously.
(1) Potential litigation: Councilman Link moved and Councilman Walter seconded the motion to approve Mayor Luken to work with Peter Olson, Attorney, regarding the agreement with Georgia Outdoor Advertising. Motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to adjourn the September 13, 2006 Council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
JULIE A. SANDERS
CITY CLERK
Comments