City Council - 14 January 2008 Minutes

WORK SESSION OF THE
MAYOR AND COUNCIL

PRESENT:
Mayor Lasseter, Mayor Elect Harris, Councilmembers Bomar, Dugan, Hall, Mundrick and Whitlock, City Administrator, Department Directors, City Attorney

A work session was held prior to the regular scheduled meeting to allow the elected officials to discuss and ask questions of department directors regarding this evening’s agenda items. Other items discussed are as follows:

1. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS
   Planning Director Cliff Cross discussed a possible change for Planning Commission meetings for 2008. In the past, the Planning Commission meets on the first and third Mondays of every month. For 2007, nine meetings were cancelled throughout the year. On two occasions, meetings were held only to address old agenda items and these meetings were not the result of new applications. The largest agenda consisted of 5 items (2 New Business / 3 Old Business) which took place on 8/20/07. Additionally, Mr. Cross reported that many of the agendas contained items that were submitted by only one applicant. Therefore, he recommended reducing the number of scheduled meetings to one per month. Council recommended leaving the current schedule in place as is for the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month, and to cancel meetings as needed. Staff was directed to further evaluate at mid-year and begin the process of providing notice to the public and developers of a possible change for 2009. The current schedule of the Zoning Board of Appeals will remain fourth Wednesday of each month.
2. SOLICITATION ORDINANCE
   The City Clerk requested that Council consider authorizing the City Attorney to review the City’s Solicitation “Door to Door” Ordinance for stronger penalties for those individuals (companies) who conduct door to door sales without being permitted through the police department. Council directed the City Attorney to review the City Ordinance for possible revisions.

MINUTES OF THE
MAYOR AND COUNCIL
CITY OF DULUTH, GA

1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS
   1. PARTING WORDS – MAYOR SHIRLEY FANNING LASSETER
      Mayor Lasseter extended her appreciation to City Staff for working so diligently and accomplishing so many goals over the last fourteen years she has been in office. She thanked the Police Department for being so conscientious in keeping our citizens safe. She thanked her family for their love, support and strength during her term. She concluded by thanking everyone for the memories.
   2. APPRECIATION FOR SERVICE – MAYOR LASSETER AND COUNCILMEMBER KIROUAC
      Jay Eun, President of the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta (KAAGA) presented "Certificates of Appreciation" to Mayor Shirley Lasseter and Council Member Doris Kirouac in appreciation for their many years of service to our communities.
   3. OATHS OF OFFICE – MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS (POSTS 4 and 5)
      Judge Charles Barrett administered Oaths of Office to Councilmember Mundrick (Post 4), Councilmember Whitlock (Post 5), and Mayor Nancy Harris.
      
      Mayor Lasseter transferred the gavel to Mayor Harris. Mayor Harris took a few moments to thank those who have inspired and supported her and discussed challenges and expectations for her term.
   4. 2007 EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR – JASON BROCK, PUBLIC WORKS DEPUTY DIRECTOR
      Mayor Harris announced that Jason Brock of the Public Works Department was awarded the “Employee of the Year” for 2007 as voted on by his peers. Other nominees included William Petty, Sandy York, Matt Baker, Ken Sakmar, Susan Weber, Charles Teasley, Joseph Bryant, and Rich Atkinson.
   5. APPOINTMENT OF MAYOR PRO TEMPORE - 2008
      The charter of the City of Duluth states that the Council shall elect a Councilmember to serve as the Mayor Pro tempore at the first regular meeting of each year by a majority vote. Mayor Harris announced Councilmember Dugan as her recommendation for the appointment of the Mayor Pro tempore.
      
      A motion was made by Councilmember Bomar, seconded by Councilmember Hall, to appoint Jim Dugan as Mayor Pro tem for 2008.
      
      Those voting for: Councilmembers Bomar, Hall, Mundrick and Whitlock
      Those abstaining: Councilmember Dugan
      Motion carried.
2. ANNOUNCEMENTS
   1. Councilmember Hall spoke about Chattahoochee Elementary student Jarod Mainland, a first grade student recently diagnosed with cancer. He spoke about the outpouring of love and donations and thanked the community for their support of parents Larry and Rhonda in an extraordinarily difficult time of need. A fundraising event was held with the Gwinnett Gladiators in cooperation with Chattahoochee Elementary, and Councilmember Hall expressed gratitude to all involved: the school community and leaders, and for one of the scouts who showed his personal support for Jarrod by shaving his own head.
3. CONSENT AGENDA
   1. APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 3, 10 AND 17, 2007 MINUTES
   2. ORDINANCE SETTING TIME AND PLACE FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND WORK SESSIONS
      [Exhibit “A”]
      Approval of this ordinance sets the City Council Meetings and Work Sessions for 2008.
      
      Council Meetings will be held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month (with the exception of May 26th-Memorial Day, and June 23rd for the GMA Annual Conference) at 7:00 p.m. in the Duluth City Hall Council Chambers located at 3167 Main Street, Duluth, Georgia.
      
      Work sessions will be held at 6:30 p.m. before each regularly scheduled Council meeting in the Main Floor conference room at City Hall. Additional work sessions may be held once every five weeks at the same location and will be noticed accordingly. All meetings are open to the public, and the Mayor and Council welcome and encourage attendance at these meetings.
      
      The annual Strategic Planning session will be held February 16 and 17, 2008 at Lake Lanier Emerald Point resort in Gainesville, GA.
   3. RESOLUTION - APPOINTMENT OF THE LEGAL ORGAN (NEWSPAPER) [Exhibit “B”]
      Approval of this item appoints the “Gwinnett Daily Post” as the City’s Legal Organ for 2008. This resolution shall not be construed to prevent the City from utilizing a newspaper of general circulation within the City of Duluth or Gwinnett County when authorized to do so by state or local law.
   4. APPOINTMENT OF LAW FIRM FOR 2008
      Approval of this item appoints the law firm of Thompson and Sweeny as the City’s legal counsel for 2008.
   5. APPOINTMENT OF 2008 ENGINEERING FIRMS OF RECORD
      Approval of this item appoints Keck & Wood, Jordan, Jones & Goulding, Pond & Company, Clark Patterson & Associates, Bron Cleveland, Mattern & Craig, Rosser International, United Consulting, Wolverton & Associates and Precision Planning as the City’s Engineering Firms of Record for 2008.
      
      A motion was made by Councilmember Bomar, seconded by Councilmember Dugan, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented.
      
      Those voting for: Councilmembers Bomar, Dugan, Hall, Mundrick and Whitlock
      Motion carried.
4. NEW BUSINESS
   1. RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE ADMINISTRATIVE CLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE/PAY PLAN
      [Exhibit “C”]
      The 2006 annual salary survey was approved by Council on February 26, 2007 with the understanding that the position of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Manager was currently under review. A one-grade increase was budgeted but was not approved, pending the results of a classification review being brought back to Council at a later date. That study has now been completed with the assistance and concurrence of Clifford Cross, the new Planning and Development Director. The study of the GIS Manager shows that this position should have been re-graded from Grade 23 to Grade 24 effective July 1, 2007. Passage of this resolution authorizes this re-grade and approximately $250 in retroactive back-pay to July 1, 2007.
      
      A motion was made by Councilmember Whitlock, seconded by Councilmember Hall, to approve the resolution to amend the administrative classification/pay plan as presented.
      
      Those voting for: Councilmembers Bomar, Dugan, Hall, Mundrick and Whitlock
      Motion carried.
5. MATTERS FROM COUNCIL/DEPT HEADS/CITY ATTORNEY
   1. CONTINGENCY REQUEST - $27,538 – SOFTWARE SYSTEM UPGRADE, CONSULTING
      The goal of this project is to hire a consulting firm to assess and formulate an RFP to upgrade the city's current software system.
      
      A motion was made and duly passed by Council on November 12, 2007 authorizing $10,862 be placed in the budget for the purpose of hiring a consultant to assess and draft a city-wide software request for proposal document (RFP) to meet the current needs of all city operations; including but not limited to; financials, accounting, records, automatic police reporting, ticketing, inventory, vehicle maintenance, purchasing, code enforcement, permitting, payroll, events management, parks and recreation programming, taxes, payment of fees, issuance of dumpster cards and GIS. Staff interviewed three companies and of those interviewed, two chose not to submit. Therefore, Staff recommended awarding the bid to Mimsware "GMA Technology Services" and to further authorize additional funds in the amount of $27,538 be transferred from contingency to line item 106-906-153552136, GG-06-08. Mimsware operates through the Georgia Municipal Technology Services and currently services several cities.
      
      Councilmember Bomar asked if total amt budgeted was going to be a lump sum contract with a well defined scope of service
      
      City Clerk Teresa Lynn responded that once the consultants are selected, they will prepare an RFP. The software companies will in turn submit bids that will include the scope of work which will be included in the FY09 budget. Earliest projections have ranged from $1M to $1,800,000.
      
      Councilmember Bomar noted that a phased approach to implementation of the software could be helpful both in terms of demand on staff time in terms of cost/funds available as well.
      
      A motion was made by Councilmember Bomar, seconded by Councilmember Dugan, to approve the contingency request as presented.
      
      Those voting for: Councilmembers Bomar, Dugan, Hall, Mundrick and Whitlock
      Motion carried.
6. ADJOURNMENT
   1. A motion was made by Councilmember Mundrick, seconded by Councilmember Hall, to adjourn at 7:45 p.m.
      
      All for. Motion carried unanimously.