---
date: 2020-05-11
title: 05-11-2020 Minutes
source: 2020-05/2020-05-11_05-11-2020_Minutes.pdf
pages: 1
---

Stockbridge
Where Community Connects

SUM ARY M NUTES
COUNCIL EET NG (via Zoom)

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 6:00 P.M.
Mayor & City Council Administration
Mayor Antﬁony S. Fora Ran?! Kni Eton City Manager
M ayor_ Pro Te in Al honso T homas Camilla MiE.iore_ Asst. City M r./
Councilman E Iton lexande r Commiinity Dgv. Direc or
Councilwoman Yolanda Barber Vanegsa l_-lolida City Clerk

Councilman John Blount Ra_ndi Rain_ey, epqty City Clerk
Councilwoman LaKeisha Gantt Michael Williams, City Attorney

Mission: To provide visionary leadership and superior municipal services that enhance the

quality of life for citizens while creating a welcoming business atmosphere focused on
sustainability and expansion of tourism and cultural events.

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ford.

Invocation by Mayor Ford.

Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.

City Clerk, Vanessa Holiday was asked to proceed with a verbal roll call. All members
were present.

Motion to adopt the Agenda

Councilman Blount motioned for approval of the Minutes for the following meetings
Second by Mayor Pro Tem Thomas. The motion passed 5-0.
1. 3/9/2020 2. 4/23/2020

PUBLIC COMMENTS
All persons wishing to speak for public comment must sign in with the City Clerk prior to
the beginning of the meeting. You must sign your name, address, and phone number.
You will be able to address the Mayor and Council for three (3) minutes. Speakers must

respect all members of the elected body, officials, and staff. Defamation, unruliness
and/or swearing will not be tolerated while meetings are in session.
No Public Comments.

CEREMONIAL REVIEW

Mayor Ford read the proclamation to be presented to Henry County Schools in
recognition of the Class of 2020 at the May 22, 2020 virtual graduation ceremony
and asked all to support the GO Purple for the Class of 2020.
NEW BUSINESS
3. Council Consideration to approve Water, Sewer. Sanitation,
and Stormwater Fee Schedule effective June 1, 2020.
Presented by Decius Aaron —
Public Works Director
Mr. Aaron noted staff is asking for approval to adopt a Fee
Schedule with the proposed changes of an increase with
sanitation fees and stormwater fees. Mr. Aaron stated the
City had an ecological planning group conduct a study on
water rates with the stormwater rates being in effect since

August 1, 2004. Mr. Aaron noted since 2017, the City has
use $780,000 of Fund Balance to make up the deficit and to

repair certain infrastructures. Mr. Aaron requested approval
to increase the fees which will start January 2021 from
$12/month to $17.34/month due to GFL (formerly Waste
Industries) charging the city $17.34 and will also go into
effect January 2021. Mr. Aaron noted the City has been
supplementing the cost for the last four (4) years. In 2016,
the City supplemented $24,000, in 2017 the City
supplemented $33,000, in 2018 the City supplemented
$188,000, in 2019 the projection supplementation was
$210,448 and Fund Balance will be used for the FY 2020
budget. Mr. Aaron noted the fees have not been increased
since 2008; and this would have to be submitted to the Henry
County Tax Commissioner by June 1, 2020 to start the billing
process to be effective with the 2021 property taxes.

Mr. Knighton reiterated the increase for sanitation would go
from $12/month to $17.34/month; and the increase for
stormwater would increase from $19.36/year to $37.58/year.

Mr. Aaron added there are three (3) tiers that would be
increased: tier 1, tier 2 and non-single family residential.
Mr. Aaron stated for tier 2 the increase would go from $35.06
to $67.57/year based on the size of the lot; and non—single

family with 20,000 sq. ft. or more would increase from
$166.00 to $307.49/year.

Councilman Blount expressed his sentiments on the timing of
negotiating the new contract.

Mr. Aaron noted his concerns with exhausting the City’s
Fund Balance without the increase.
Mr. Knighton noted there are two options: 1. To keep rates
asthey are; 2. Increase the rates at this meeting or the next
meeting.

Mayor Pro Tern Thomas expressed concerns regarding
much needed improvements in sanitation services and
recommended a meeting the City Manager and GFL
(formerly Waste Industries) to address the issues.

Councilman Blount referenced the City’s current ongoing
negotiations with Waste Industries and proposed additional
services of commercial sanitation where there may be
increase in revenue to the City to offset this potential
increase to citizens and motioned to table item. The motion
failed due to lack of second.

Councilman Alexander motioned to approve with
consideration of the City Manager to meet with GFL
(formerly Waste Industries) to discuss improvements in
services; second by Councilwoman Gantt. The motion
passed 3-1-1 with Councilman Blount opposed and Mayor
Pro Tem Thomas abstained.

Council Consideration to approve Information Technology
Infrastructure in the amount of $142,399.60 (+/- up to 6%)
Presented by Ashley Smith, InterDev Chief Government
Information Officer
Mr. Smith noted the proposal is to replace the current server
and some network infrastructure (IBM Pivot 3) that the City
has been currently using. Mr. Smith stated the issue was a

power outage that shut down all the processes, staff has
been working to stabilize and fix it; however, Novo and IBM
have recommended replacement and deemed this an

emergency. Mr. Smith noted the total cost would be
$142,399.60 and up to %6 buffer.

Mayor Ford inquired on a time frame to be completed. Mr.
Smith noted staff will try to get the equipment as soon as in
3-4 weeks, with a timeline of completion around July 4’ 2020

Mayor Ford inquired about funding and where it would come
from. Mr. Knighton noted it was proposed to come from Fund
Balance.
Councilwoman Barber motioned to approve the Information
Technology Infrastructure in the amount of $142,399.60 (+/-
up to 6%); second by Mayor Pro Tem Thomas. The motion
passed 5-0.

Council Consideration to approve the 2020-2021 renewal of
the City’s Liability Insurance Policy.
Presented by Randy Knighton -

City Manager & Chris
Walker, Broker of J. Smith Lanier Insurance
Mr. Knighton noted the City’s Liability Insurance Policy is up
for renewal with a slight increase. Mr. Walker noted the
increase of 4% and covers city property, equipment, crime,
social engineering, general liability, commercial auto and
includes an umbrella policy.

Councilwoman Gantt motioned to approve the 2020-2021
renewal of the City’s Liability Insurance Policy: second by
Councilwoman Barber. The motion passed 5-0.

DISCUSSION
6. Council Discussion of the remaining 2020 Events Calendar.
Presented by Randy Knighton -

City Manager
Mr. Knighton noted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff has

suggested cancelling the remainder of the 2020 Event
Calendar. Mr. Knighton noted such events includes the
month of July, Centennial and Bridgefest, which could be
celebrated next year; and hopes there could be an
opportunity to host events soon. Mr. Knighton also noted
there would have been limited space to host Bridgefest due
to the construction surrounding the Amphitheater.

Mr. Knighton noted the events have been approved for the
FY2020 budget and will remain in the budget and
recommended revisiting the events calendar in November.

Councilman Alexander motioned to suspend all events until
further notice; second by Mayor Pro Tem Thomas. The
motion passed 5-0.

Update on Towing/Parking Services
Presented by Camilla Moore Assistant. City

Manager/Community Development Director
Mr. Knighton noted one of the concerns regarding parking on

the street is staff wanted to meet with the HOA’s and citizens

regarding the details. However, due to the COVID-19
pandemic there has not been an opportunity to hold
meetings and the City wants to reassure citizens the issue
has not been forgotten. Mr. Knighton stated staff will provide
additional information to Council on this item in the upcoming
weeks.

Councilwoman Barber noted her concern was for the
neighborhoods needing the enforcement and those
neighborhoods who would like opt-out (if that is an option)

Mayor Ford noted the Ordinance was passed with a plan to
engage with citizens informing them signs would be placed
throughout neighborhoods with a 90-day trial period, noting
every subdivision would be subjected to the ordinance, not
just certain ones.

Councilman Blount noted he is not in favor of the towing
company to policing the City and would rather see the police
instead be responsible for towing.

Councilman Alexander noted the Town Halls for parking had
already happened with HOA’s being invited, with notification
of signage going out for a 60-day period. Councilman
Alexander further noted Ms. Moore confirmed there were
Town Hall meetings to inform citizens of the roll-out process
to make sure everyone was on board to see how it would be
administered and she noted some subdivisions have their
own towing services.

Mayor Pro Tem Thomas asked who would be responsible for
the enforcement of the Ordinance.

Ms. Moore noted there is a possibility to pay off-duty police
officers who currently patrol city parks to patrol the
subdivisions to enforce the ordinance. Ms. Moore further
noted the infractions typically occur after 5:00 p.m.

There was a consensus of the Council for the City Manager
to meet with Henry County Police to discuss the enforcement
and use of off-duty officers.
Councilman Alexander motioned to approve off-duty

officers/post-certified officers to enforce the City’s parking
ordinance with a 60-day warning notice period and

contingent upon the City Manager’s meeting and agreement
with Henry County; second by Mayor Pro Tem Thomas. The
motion passed 3-1-1 Councilman Blount opposed and
Councilwoman Gantt abstained.

COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR
Mayor Ford extended happy belated Mother’s Day wishes to all the mothers;
informed the public of the contact number for the Department of Health to call for
an appointment for testing: 800-847-4262 and the location is the Heritage Senior

Center located at 1050 Florence McGarity in McDonough, GA and noted testing is
available Monday —

Friday from 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00

a.m. to noon; noted Henry County has 605 conﬁrmed cases and 14 deaths and

that number has remained at 14 for several days; Stockbridge has 141 confirmed
cases in the 30281 zip code; noted confirmed cases are subject to contract tracing

and that there is no fee for testing; noted Henry County government and District 4
Department of Health are working to get mobile testing sites in Henry County; and
noted the District 4 headquarters in located in LaGrange and Henry County leads
the number of confirmed cases in District 4; noted the Department of Health’s
website address: www.district4hea|th.org ; noted the Henry County Tag ofﬁce in
Stockbridge will re-open on Thursday, May 14”‘; asked everyone to be smart, be
safe, wear masks, continue social distancing, wash your hands and stand 6 feet
apart; and wished everyone a great Memorial Day.

UPCOMING MEETINGS
Meeting will be held at City Hall unless otherwise noted. Meeting dates and times are
subject to change. Please visit the city’s website www.cityofstockbridge.com, Facebook
page or contact City Hall offices at 770-389-7900 for updates and detailed information.

Downtown Development Authority Meeting, Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. (via Zoom)

Work Session Meeting Tuesday May 26, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. (via Zoom)

ALL EVENTS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Mayor Pro Tem motioned to Adjourn; Second by Councilman Alexander. The
motion passed 5-0.

R submitted by

Vanessa Holiday, City Clerk C ony S. Fo , Mayor
