---
date: 2001-06-11
title: June 11, 2001 Minutes
source: 2001-06/2001-06-11_June 11, 2001_Minutes.pdf
pages: 1
---

June 11, 2001
CITY OF STOCKBRIDGE MINUTES
HENRY COUNTY, GEORGIA JUNE 11, 2001

The Regular Meeting of the Stockbridge City Council was held June 11, 2001 at 6:00 P. M. and
MayorR.G.Kelley presided. Members present were Harold Cochran, Fred Evans, W. A. Gardner, Fletcher
Turner, and Ronnie Simmons.

Harold Cochran made a motion to approve the May 14, 2001 City Council Meeting; Fred Evans seconded,
and passed unanimously.

Mayor Kelley welcomed guests.

PLANNING AND ZONING

GARY HOWELL, 1028 HIGHWAY 138 (STEVE E. BINNS, PREPRESENTING GARY HOWELL) –
Requesting a variance to replace brick with metal panels on the backside of building. Remaining three sides
to be brick.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

KIMBERLY GARDNER, 108 TALON PLACE - Requested a variance for property located in Land Lot 2 of
the 11th District. The property contains approximately .11246 acres and the request is for a variance for a
private swimming pool in RM zoning.

Fred Evans made a motion to approve; W. A. Gardner seconded, and passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

PINEHURST TEA ROOM AND CATERING, CHARLES L. DUBBS, JR. – Requested a license to sell beer
and wine. It was noted that Mr. Dubbs had completed the application and other documents with the exception
of a certified plat showing the distance to nearest church, school and alcohol treatment center. A. J. Welch
advised Council to approve issuance of license, subject to providing a plat from an independent source or
surveyor.
Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve issuing a beer and wine license subject to Mr. Dubbs providing
plat; Fred Evans seconded, and passed unanimously.

P. F. MOON – Requesting resolution and payment of three issues for the well system. Bill White brought the
Council up-to-date on the Groundwater System Project and P. F. Moon & Company, Inc. Pay Request No.
10. Mr. White went through all of the problems the system has been experiencing and they have focused on
three main issues. 1. Electrical problems. 2. SCADA – radio signal. 3. Well pumps on two of the three wells
are not pumping at capacity.

The contractor, Mr. P. F. Moon, feels he has resolved the electrical and the radio signal problems. The
resolution to the well pumps is to change out the pumps with bigger brand new pumps at no charge to the
City. Mr. Moon would like to make a draw from the $69,000 the City has been holding until these problems
have been resolved. Mr. Moon is requesting that once the well pumps have been installed that he be paid
two-thirds of the $69,000.

Bill White reported that there have been no major electrical problems since February 8, 2001. There have
been some minor glitches that are being worked out. He recommends setting July 5 as the completion
date because he would like to see some hot weather with a lot of air conditioning to make sure that we don’t
have any problems with the voltage coming from the utility company.

On the SCADA system, the have upgraded the equipment, put in repeaters, etc. and there have been no
problems since May 8 and if there are no additional problems, he recommends July 17 as the completion
date for the SCADA system.

Mr. White recommendation to the Council that each of the three be valued at $23,000 each to be paid
according the schedule he prepared to determine if they have been fixed or not. That is what the contractor
would be due under the contract and that would be the value of the work. However, Mr. White would like to
advise the City of the liquidated damages clause that is in the contract. He is not making a recommendation
but it’s not an engineering matter, it’s more of a legal matter and financial matter. He is not making a
recommendation but only advising of the clause.

Mayor Kelley stated that the City certainly wants to pay Mr. Moon when the Council feels comfortable that
the work has been done and everything is operating like it’s suppose operate and the City is getting the
amount of water as the system was designed. From a legal standpoint the City has withheld money and it
want be released until the Council is comfortable.
Mr. Welch could not advise at this time. He would like to have a complete report in writing from Bill White.
He will review and get back with Council immediately. If the money should be released, then it should. If
you have a liquidated damage provision and the Council is going to enforce the provision, then he will need
a report from the engineer calculating what the liquid damage is and if the contract calls for that, then the City
needs a report as to what the actual costs are. If the Council is going to enforce liquidated damage the
Council obviously does not want to release that part of it and it sounds like based on Mr. White’s
recommendation Mr. Moon could be getting ahead of the game, if the City plans to enforce liquidated
damages. The Council’s responsibility is to protect the interest of the City. Mr. Welch will be glad to look at
the report and get back very quickly.

Mr. White stated that Mr. Moon wants some concurrence that his proposed resolution to change out the
pumps would resolve the problem. Mr. Welch pointed out that changing the pumps is Mr. Moon’s
responsibility anyway. Mr. White said it was more complicated than that because there is some controversy
involved and Mr. Moon wants some assurances on the electrical and SCADA about the days of acceptable
run time is considered to be acceptable.

Mr. Welch suggested Mr. White to make a confidential report as a legal matter; Mr. Welch will review and
advise the Council on what to do based on the contract and the engineer’s report.

STANTEC CONSULTING SERVICES, INC. MICHAEL R. REEVES – Mr. Reeves gave an update on the
progress of the aerobic digester. At the last Council Meeting, Kathy Bragg was present and the Council voted
to go with a process from Enviroquip, a process out of Texas. Since then, a letter was written to Enviroquip
and Eco-Tech. Eco-Tech will be the vendor and the representative of the wastewater equipment for the
Atlanta area. This is the contract phase and today Mr. Reeves agreements from Eco-Tech and Enviroquip.
It will be cheaper for the City to have two separate contracts. Eco-Tech will supply the blowers, motors,
pumps and accessories. Enviroquip will supply everything that will go inside the digester tank and
accessories.

Mr. Reeves received the agreement and reviewed it today and pointed out that just a few words in a 20-page
contract can make or break the contract. There area few phrases in the contact that he does not agree with
and they are going to try to get those corrected. They plan to have good contracts for the Council to review.
He will fax Mr. Strickland a copy of the conditions; which is a type of legal contract document that both
companies use. Mr. Welch can look at these documents and make sure the City approves.

Stantec recommends having two separate contracts. The Eco-Tech will be around $80,000. The Enviroquip
will be around $250,000. These amounts are just to supply the equipment. Once the equipment comes in,
the project will be advertised and bid, which will take about four weeks. The lowest qualified bidder will get
the job to install the equipment and build the digester. It will take about six weeks to get the plans from the
company in Texas. They will decide how deep to make the tank, how much air is required, and size the
motor. After everything is put on paper and it looks good, the plans have to be shipped to EPD in Atlanta. It
could take four weeks to get their approval.

Once the City gets EPD approval, the City can give authorization to Enviroquip to fabricate the materials.
They figure about sixteen weeks. After the materials are brought in, it will take about four weeks to construct.
The companies will provide on site representatives to help Dan Dickson and Brad Holtsinger to manage and
learn how to use the system.

No action required

NEW BUSINESS

AMEND ALCOHOL ORDINANCE – A. J. Welch explained that this is an amendment to the existing
ordinance; which will establish that for each violation of the ordinance, the City can assess up to $1,000 civil
penalty for each of the charges.

Harold Cochran made a motion to approve; Fred Evans seconded, passed unanimously.

AMEND ALCOHOL ORDINANCE – To prohibit package sales on Sundays between 12:00 midnight
Saturday and 12:00 midnight Sunday or on Christmas Day.

W. A. Gardner made a motion to approve; Fred Evans seconded, passed unanimously.

PARKING ORDINANCE – Mayor Kelley explained that the Council has been considering this ordinance for
several months to prohibit parking on City streets except under certain circumstances. The City has received
complaints when people are parking on both sides of the street and emergency vehicles and school buses
cannot get through. Mayor Kelley said that he would like to see the ordinance tabled until he and the Council
have more time to review the ordinance.

A.J.Welch confirmed that this is a very complicated situation and the Council should understand how it would
affect City residents.
W. A. Gardner made a motion to table the Parking Ordinance; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed
unanimously.

IMPACT FEES RESOLUTION – Mayor Kelley informed Council that at the present time he did not think the
Council had to worry about impact fees. The Mayors met with the Commissioners and agreed to approve
countywide impact fees but Locust Grove has decided not to do anything until January, 2002.

Mr. Welch advised the Council that you couldn’t just adopt impact fees. The law requires that you go through
a study to establish what is being affected and the impact fees that can be levied based upon an estimate of
what you plan to do to correct the problem. It’s not a simple procedure; and in order for the City to do this
they would have to do an impact study. Each City would have to do a separate impact fee study. Once the
studies are complete, and then each City will have the information that they need to make a determination
as to what the fee would be.

As an example: Locust Grove impact fees for roads may be $1,000. Stockbridge it may be $2,000. Then
you have to make a determination, do you want to assess Stockbridge for $1,000 or $2,000 and what kind of
economic position would that present for Stockbridge. It is Mr. Welch’s understanding that Locust Grove
wants to go ahead and get the information together but will not make a decision until January, 2002. At a
recent meeting, everyone thought it would take that long to get the studies done and get the information put
together.

Mayor Kelley said the Council knows what is going on with this situation. The County is trying to hold one
hostage to the other with SPLOST. The position he has taken is he doesn’t have any real feelings for the
impact fees one way or the other. It’s certainly an impact every time people move in. The SPLOST really
needs to be approved and the SPLOST funds should not be held hostage to the impact fees. The Cities
should say if the County can get this worked out and the Cities can get it worked out then we will do it, if we
can’t, we want.

Mr. Welch pointed out that an impact fee would be assessed on every new house and added to the cost new
houses. Another thing that was brought up and made very clear by all the Mayors that they wanted to make
sure that the impact fees do not hurt commercial and industrial development because that’s who picks up the
larger portion of the tax bill and we don’t want to discourage that type of growth.

Mayor Kelley said this was discussed very strongly at the first meeting that was held and agreed upon by all
four Cities. Since Locust Grove has said they will not discuss impact fees until January, there is no reason
for the City to adopt a resolution to send to the County.
Mayor Kelley said he felt the City could write the Commissioners and say the Council will meet for further
discussion regarding impact fees. A. J. Welch advised that the City would have to complete the study before
even talking about implementing an impact fee. The studies cost about $40,000 or $50,000 and the City
does not want to spend this money if we’re not going to get into impact fees.

Fred Evans made a motion to draft a letter to the commissioners that the Council will be glad to meet with
them to discuss impact fees; seconded by Harold Cochran, passed unanimously.

BACI ITALIAN CUISINE, 903 HIGHWAY 138, SUITE 14 & 15 – Requesting license to sell beer and wine.
Clerk advised that application was complete and background was clear.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve application to sell beer and wine; Fletcher Turner seconded and
passed unanimously.

A FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE, A HENRY COUNTY STUDY – Kay Pippin, Director, on behalf of the
Steering Committee for this new project requested the City’s support and financial backing in the amount of
$3,000.

Councilman Simmons reported that he is on the Board of Directors and the Steering Committee is trying to
get some support from the Cities to complete study to determine Henry County’s future.
They need funds to get consulting and brochures. They will be able to make some recommendations to
enhance the future of Henry County with the proposed study. Councilman Simmons pointed out that they
are not affiliated with the Henry County Chamber of Commerce.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to appropriate funds in the amount of $3,000 to provide this contract service
for the City of Stockbridge; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

RONNIE CANTRELL - Requested the City provide sewer service for 75 acres that joins Stockbridge High
School property on the north side of Old Conyers Road. Ted Strickland advised that the City’s sewer lift
station is in front of the high school and Mr. Cantrell will have to connect at that point.

Mayor Kelley pointed out that Mr. Cantrell is not in the City limits of Stockbridge and in the past the City has
denied sewer service to residents outside the City. A. J. Welch told Council that it could be handled by a
separate agreement. Mr. Cantrell stated that he was aware of the City wells adjacent to his property and it
would be safer and make a nicer sub-division if he was allowed to connect to City sewerage facility, which is
about seventy-five feet from his property line.

Ted Strickland informed the Council that Mr. Cantrell’s property is very close to the City wells and as a matter
of fact, the City had to go through his property to get to a couple of the wells and they are down hill from the
property he owns. Mr. Strickland pointed out that if this subdivision is on septic tanks and there are problems
with the septic tanks, it would drain toward the creek and possibly cause a problem with our wells. So far,
there is no contiguous route directly to his property to allow annexation.

Mayor Kelley suggested that Ted Strickland and Ronnie Cantrell get with A. J. Welch and see if they can
work out a solution.

Councilman Simmons stated that he knew other people in that area that wanted to come into the City and it
may be advantageous for the City to consider annexation of property in this area. Mayor Kelley agreed that
it would be easier for Mr. Cantrell to get sewerage from the City if he annexes into the City.

Fred Evans made a motion for Ted Strickland, Ronnie Cantrell and A. J. Welch to study this matter; seconded
by W. A. Gardner, and passed unanimously.

SALARY STRUCTURE FOR MAYOR AND COUNCIL – Councilman Ronnie Simmons had intended to
discuss salary increases for the Mayor and City Council but asked that this matter be tabled until a later date.

Fletcher Turned made a motion to table; Fred Evans seconded, and passed unanimously.

REQUEST FOR HOME OCCUPATION BUSINESS LICENSE

SHERRI EAGLE AND KATHLEEN BARBER, 115 MANN BOULEVARD – Requesting a home occupation
license for installing vending machines and office support.

Fail to appear. Ronnie Simmons made a motion to table; seconded by Fred Evans, and passed unanimously.

TRECIA L. LIBURD 101 THOMPSON BOULEVARD – Requesting a home occupation license to sell wearing
apparel and lingerie for Juz Creations.
Failed to appear. Ronnie Simmons made a motion to table; seconded by Fletcher Turner, and passed
unanimously.

ERNEST FRIMPONG, 526 HALLEY WAY – Requesting a home occupation license to provide 24-hour
private home care to 2 or 3 individuals with disability.

Failed to appear. Ronnie Simmons made a motion to table; seconded by Fletcher Turner, and passed
unanimously.

SUSAN AND PAUL HORTON, 141 ROCK QUARRY ROAD – Requested a hearing regarding her property
and the Council’s decision to table a request by Carl Roscoe to operate a towing and storing of vehicles at
this site. Susan Horton asked if this property could be used for a storage area for utility trailers and utility
vehicles with no parking for passenger cars and with no buildings for retail sales. There will be no in an out
traffic, just mainly for storage. The area around her property is being used for that purpose and she is not
asking for anything unusual.

Mr. Welch brought Mayor Kelley up-to-date on what Mr. Carl Roscoe was instructed to do by the Council at
the May, 2001 Council Meeting. Mr. Roscoe was to get Mr. Welch a copy of the plat of the property and write
out what the uses they wanted to make of the property and Mr. Welch was going to look it up in the zoning
book to see what kind of zoning it presently had in order to perform those uses. The Council would then tell
Mr. Roscoe what he would have to do to the property to conform to the zoning requirements. Mrs. Horton
advised that Mr. Roscoe was not here and the Council needs to address her regarding this matter. Mr. Welch
told Mrs. Horton to write down the planned use of the property, exactly what she plans to store. Mrs. Horton
argued that the Council should tell her what she could store on her property. Mr. Welch responded that if
she takes the existing zoning, M-1 of the Henry County Zoning Code, there is a list of uses for M-1 and as
long as she is in compliance with the zoning regulations, then the City does not have anything to say about
it. If you have storage, the code requires a portion has to be paved. The regulations will say what you have
to do based on what you want to do.

Councilman Evans pointed out that Mr. Roscoe presented to the Council last month that he plans to use the
property as an impound yard. Mrs. Horton stated that an impound yard is still considered storage even for a
few little trucks. Mr. Welch stated that it’s different. Mrs. Horton said sometime she has calls from people
who want to park their trucks on her lot while they are in town. She’s not here for Carl Roscoe but for herself
so she will know what to tell people who call to rent her property.

Council Simmons informed Mrs. Horton that to answer her questions is real simple. She is having a number
of people who are asking to rent the location and each one has a different request. Each one of the requests
is going to be a big question and she needs to understand the M-1 zoning requirements. You cannot have
a wrecker yard because it will become a junkyard real quick.

Mayor Kelley advised Mrs. Horton that the Council is not going to give a blanket approval. She needs to get
the information the Council has requested and get with Mr. Strickland. Otherwise she will have to go through
the zoning process to rezoning to meet what she wants to do.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to table; seconded by Fletcher Turner, and passed unanimously.

FREDRICK GARDINER, HENRY COUNTY PLANNER, introduced Dale Hall, the new Planning Director for
the Henry County Planning and Development. Mr. Hall told the Council that he is glad to be aboard and he
looks forward to helping out the City however he may be of service to the City.

SPECIAL MEETING – A. J. Welch advised the Council that a Special Call Meeting has been set for July 28,
2001 at 5:00 to adopt the environmental ordinances, the Groundwater Recharge Ordinance and the Wetland
Ordinance to keep the City’s DCA approval and authorization. Mr. Hall is handling the notice procedure for
the City.

Motion to adjourn was made by Harold Cochran; seconded by Fred Evans, and passed unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 7:30 P. M.

Respectfully submitted,

Merle Manders, CMC R. G. Kelley
City Clerk Mayor
