A regular meeting of the City Commission of the City of Toccoa was held on Monday, August 11, 2008, five o’clock p. m. with Mayor Andy Pavliscsak presiding.
The invocation was given by Reverend Paul Garrison followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
On roll call the following were present:
Mayor Andy Pavliscsak
Vice Mayor Ron Seib
Commissioner David Austin
Commissioner Janice English
Commissioner Bob Troup
City Manager Billy Morse
City Attorney John Dickerson
Clerk Jo Gleason
A motion was made by Commissioner Troup, seconded by Commissioner Austin and unanimously carried to approve the Agenda as presented, a copy of this Agenda being attached as Exhibit “A”.
Under reports the following reports were heard:
Commissioner Troup reported they received a lot of good telephone calls complimenting their different departments and this really amazed him. He explained this lady heard a knock on her door and it was someone from the Water Department who had come to tell her that apparently she had a leak somewhere and they would check the meter to see if it was on her side or the city’s side. He said they went a step further and told her she must have a leak in the house as it was showing up in the meter so they went into the house together and found the leak was in the basement where she never went. He commented you did not find that kind of service in many places and he would like to thank the Water Department for what they do.
Vice Mayor Seib reported he would like to recognize Representative Jeanette Jamieson who was present and to thank her for coming. He said he would also like to thank Billy Morse as Don Balfour spoke at the GMA Meeting in Savannah and he went up to him after the meeting just to thank him for his remarks and at that time he had expressed an interest in the Currahee Challenge as well as the Band of Brothers and the Museum. He said he would like to thank Billy for sending Don a copy of the information and hopefully they would get more good will and publicity throughout the State. He commented he was sure Jeanette knew how important that was and he appreciated that.
He also said he wanted to thank the City for lighting the flame. He said as they all knew, they had the Olympics in China and given Toccoa’s past with the Olympics coming through Toccoa, he thought it a very nice gesture to share that spirit with the community.
City Manager Morse reported that Envirocycle had expressed an interest in their community to bring in septic tank waste from outside the County into the City Limits to be treated and eventually end up in the city sewer system.
He explained because of the nature of the business, he had asked the Development Authority for some guidance and they in turn asked the Infrastructure Committee. He advised the Infrastructure Committee met last Friday and had determined we should not serve Envirocycle with sewer service. He advised they had told Envirocycle they would not be able to provide them with sewer service at the Swift Street location or any other location for that matter. He mentioned a lot of people had been very concerned about this matter and hopefully this announcement would ease their minds.
Commissioner Austin asked what was the basis for that determination.
Mr. Morse advised basically the odor was the biggest issue they could not resolve. He said there were no guarantees that the odor could not be eliminated.
Mayor Pavliscsak reported he too had something he would like to say about Envirocycle . He said they were approached by Mr. Jess Nix of North Georgia Sewer & Drain regarding request for treatment of commercial and domestic waste, specifically restaurant grease traps, septic tank disposal and portable rest room processing under the name of Envirocycle. He advised they had the sewer capacity to be able to do that but the number one concern that came up and was listed in the company’s information sheet was also a concern and he would quote what they say, “they had gone to great lengths to insure odor was minimal as possible “. He advised there was some discussion at their meeting of the Infrastructure Committee that it might be all right but what it really came down to was the statement of who wanted it next to their house. He said he did not want it next to his house and if it was not good enough for his house, he did not want it next to their house and that was the way he felt about it. He said he was not going to support it. He advised Representative Jamieson was there and he thought she wanted to make a few comments about this.
Ms. Jamieson told the Commission she had additional information that could possibly shed some light on the issue. She said she probably knew a little more about the background of the situation than the gentleman in question. She told how select group of legislators voted against her and others in order to bypass the law and allow Nix to dump waste on land in White County. She noted that land was adjacent to a Mr. Hulsey who filed suit against Mr. Nix. She said the dumpsite was also one and one half miles from the White County School. She said the waste in White County was simply dumped on the ground and the process claimed used to treat the waste was non-existent.
She advised the need for another dumping location came from the despicable situation in White County. She said there was going to be an odor and there was a great risk of germs, diseases and bacteria from human waste. She reminded the Commission that odor as a reason for denying this could be challenged and had been challenged many times. She said there were a lot of elderly citizens in the area and there was not a doctor or biologist who would not tell them of the germs and disease that was disseminated through the air from such an operation.
She said with that in mind she hoped they would continue to oppose that location in this community.
Commissioner Troup remarked they did not need this in Toccoa or Stephens County. He said he had many calls from concerned citizens about this.
I. CONSENT AGENDA:
Motion by Commissioner Troup, seconded by Commissioner Austin and unanimously carried to approve the following Consent Agenda item as submitted:
A. Approval of Minutes of July 23, 2008 City Commission Meeting
II. OLD BUSINESS:
None.
III. NEW BUSINESS:
B. Consideration of Alcohol Beverage Control License for Beverage World at 521 Big A Road; New Owner /Manager, Atulkumar B. Patel.
Mr. Morse explained Mr. Patel was the new manager/owner of Beverage World on Big A Road. He advised his application had been reviewed and recommended by the ABC Board.
Commissioner Austin offered a motion to approve the application. Motion seconded by Vice Mayor Seib and unanimously carried.
C. Monthly Financial Report by the Finance Director.
Finance Director Emory Stephens gave the following financial report for the month ending July 31, 2008; copy report being attached as Exhibit “B”.
D. Consideration of the Georgia Department of Transportation Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) List of City Streets to be resurfaced.
Mr. Morse explained it was time to submit the LARP List of streets needing resurfacing to DOT. He advised in their packets they had a list proposed by the staff. He advised they were looking for the Commission’s input, before they submitted the list to DOT.
After consideration, the Commission unanimously approved the Georgia Department of Transportation Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) list of city streets to be resurfaced as proposed by the staff, a list of these streets being attached as Exhibit “C”.
E. Consideration of Nomination to the Savannah - Upper Ogeechee Regional Water Planning Council.
City Manager Morse told the Commission the State of Georgia was accepting nominations for the Regional Water Planning Council. He advised Toccoa and Stephens County were located in the Savannah-Upper Ogeechee River Basin that ran from Rabon County to just north of the Statesboro area. He advised the Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House would make appointments. He advised the Regional Council would be instrumental in developing a comprehensive statewide water management plan for Georgia.
Commissioner Austin made a motion that Water Utility Director Don Dye be nominated to be appointed to the Savannah-Upper Ogeechee Regional Water Planning Council. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Troup and unanimously carried.
F. Consideration of Repairs to the James A. Neal Public Safety Training Center.
City Manager Morse told the Commission that the heating and air conditioning systems at the Public Safety Training Center Building needed to be replaced. He gave the cost at $6,800. He advised this was not a budgeted item, but the Police Department had $1,400 to put towards the project, if the City Commission was willing to take $5,400 from the Emergency Fund. He advised those funds would be replaced over time as revenues were generated at the facility.
A motion was made by Commissioner English to approve the repairs to the James A. Neal Public Safety Training Center. Motion seconded by Commissioner Troup and unanimously carried.
G. Consideration of Consent Agreement to Assign the Ground Lease Agreement Currently Held by Media General to UGARF Media Holdings, LLC.
City Manager Morse told the Commission that with the sale of TV32 to the University of Georgia, Media General was requesting:
(1) Ground lease for the TV Tower be assigned to UGA, and
(2) That Media General be released from any responsibility for liability and obligations once assumed by UGA.
He advised the City Attorney had reviewed the Consent Agreement and was all right with Section 1, but did not recommend releasing Media General from any liability.
Vice Mayor Seib moved that they heed the City Attorney’s advice and accept Section 1 of the agreement as recommended by Attorney Dickerson, and that they reject Section 2 relating to liability. Commissioner English seconded the motion. Commissioner Austin advised he would abstain from voting on the motion since he worked for Media General.
H. Recognition of Visitors Wishing to Speak On General Items.
There were no persons present who wished to be heard.
Mayor Pavliscsak adjourned the Regular Meeting in order for the Commission to go into Executive Session regarding Employee/Public Official Performance.
The Executive Session was adjourned on motion by Commissioner Troup and second by Commissioner English.
Upon returning to the Commission Room, the regular meeting was reconvened on motion by Commissioner Troup and seconded by Commissioner Austin.
The Commission briefly discussed their request for additional SPLOST funds from the Stephens County Commission, but no action was taken.
The regular meeting was adjourned on motion by Commissioner Austin and seconded by Vice Mayor Seib.
