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CITY GOVERNMENT
OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF CITY COUNCIL
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
PRESENT: Mayor Eddie W. DeLoach, Presiding
Aldermen Carol Bell, Julian Miller, Brian Foster, Bill Durrence, Van Johnson, II, Tony Thomas, John Hall, and Estella E. Shabazz
Rob Hernandez, City Manager (arrived at 2:16 p.m.)
Bret Bell, Deputy Assistant to the City Manager (served as Acting City Manager in the absence of the City Manager)
Brooks Stillwell, City Attorney
William Shearouse, Assistant City Attorney
The regular meeting of Council was held this date at 2:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison followed by the Invocation by Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Bell.
Upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, unanimous approval was given for the Mayor to sign an affidavit and resolution on Litigation and Real Estate for an Executive Session held today where no votes were taken.
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF SAVANNAH AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AFFIDAVIT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION.
BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah as follows:
At the meeting held on the 24th day of May, 2018 the Council entered into a closed session for the purpose of discussing Litigation and Real Estate. At the close of the discussions upon this subject, the Council reentered into open session and herewith takes the following action in open session:
- The actions of Council and the discussions of the same regarding the matter set forth for the closed session purposes are hereby ratified;
- Each member of this body does hereby confirms that to the best of his or her knowledge, the subject matter of the closed session was devoted to matters within the specific relevant exception(s) as set forth above;
- The presiding officer is hereby authorized and directed to execute an affidavit, with full support of the Council in order to comply with O.C.G.A. §50-14-4(b); 17
- The affidavit shall be included and filed with the official minutes of the meeting and shall be in a form as required by the statute.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED: MAY 24, 2018 upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried.
A public hearing was held. No persons came forward to speak either for or against the item.
Hearing closed upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Foster, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried.
A public hearing was held. No persons came forward to speak either for or against the item.
Hearing closed upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Foster, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried.
A public hearing was held. No persons came forward to speak either for or against the item.
Hearing closed upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Foster, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried.
Continued to the meeting of June 21, 2018, upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Johnson, and unanimously carried per the request of the Thomas Square Neighborhood Associaition.
Marcus Lotson, Metropolitan Planning Commission: Thank you. Mr. Mayor, members of Council. Marcus Lotson for the Metropolitan Planning Commission. The item before you is a result of some collaboration between the Historic Preservation Office and the Cuyler/Brownville Neighborhood Association. The intent of the amendment is to close what they found to be a loophole in the requirements related to demolition and relocation of contributing buildings. That process includes going before the Planning Commission for review and in the event where a demolition is denied by the Planning Commission, the current language allows that demolition or relocation to take place after a stay essentially of six months. That's a loophole that does not exist within other historic districts. The intent of this petition is to essentially close that loophole and allow the normal appeal process to go forward in the event that a demolition and relocation is denied by the Planning Commission. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Alderman Johnson: Mr. Mayor, I think Mr. Lotson adequately described it. It’s an opportunity to fix a problem that was unique to the Cuyler/Brownville Neighborhood. Particularly with some of the transition issues that neighborhood is going through we have to do all we can to ensure that we protect those structures where we can. So, if there's nothing, I move that this hearing be closed.
Hearing closed upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried.
Alderman Durrence: Mr. Mayor, I have a question, this request is for the building that does not include the property, it’s just the parking lot?
Bret Bell: That's correct, this is just the building.
Alderman Durrence: Do we have any interest in selling that parking at the same time?
Bret Bell: For right now, we're continuing to use that parking lot for parking.
Alderman Durrence: Okay. Thank you.
Alderman Thomas: I have a question. What is driving the sale of this? It's a realtor that has reached out and wants us to declare it surplus to sell it?
Alderman Durrence: Yes, it’s a petition from a realtor.
Bret Bell: David, Mr. Keating...
David Keating, Director of Real Estate: David Keating, Director of Real Estate for the City. Yes sir, this matter comes before us as a result of a petition from the public to the Mayor and Aldermen requesting this property be declared surplus. They have a buyer interested in acquiring it. This is a process that is used oftentimes for the public to express interest in encroachments, easements, acquisitions, and other property transactions.
Alderman Thomas: Do we know what the use is for?
David Keating: No sir. We're not directly selling to them. If this is declared surplus, this would be made available for sale to the public. We would issue an RFP and the public would be invited to respond. There's no guarantee the petitioner would be awarded the sale.
Alderman Durrence: Does staff have an opinion one way or the other about disposing of this property?
David Keating: It’s not being used, it was purchased for parking purposes and for our potential parking garage. So, I understand those plans have changed and it’s currently being leased month to month to the pedicab company and the facility is in need of attention. So, if we're going to keep it, we probably need to address those issues or we can dispose of it.
Alderman Thomas: What is the amount of revenue that we're getting out of the lease to the pedicab company?
David Keating: $700 a month.
Alderman Johnson: I think the salient question here is, does the City determine that there might be any possible future use for the property. Maybe not today or anything we can see, but maybe some point in the future, it’s a very strategic location.
Alderman Durrence: Particularly in conjunction with the parking lot that’s there.
David Keating: Well, the process that we employ when we get a petition from the public, you know be it for an encroachment or for an excess property sale or for any kind of use is we take that petition and we circulate it amongst the City departments to get their feedback. Regarding this particular parcel nobody had any plans for it. Again, it was acquired I believe originally with the adjoining parking lot for a future parking garage. The City has since committed to develop a parking garage nearby at the Savannah River Landing.
Alderman Johnson: Eastern Wharf.
David Keating: I'm sorry.
Alderman Johnson: Eastern Wharf.
David Keating: Yes sir, that's right. So, at this point, staff, you know, has no real need for it and thus we're bringing it to Council for your decision.
Alderman Bell: David, do you know when we bought the property.
David Keating: Yes ma'am, I believe it's in the agenda item. It was 2008 for $245,000.
Alderman Bell: And we bought it specifically for a garage. Yeah, so since we've changed that I'm not sure there's…
Mayor DeLoach: Can I get a motion?
Approved upon motion of Alderman Durrence, seconded by Alderman Miller, and carried per the City Manager's recommendation with the following voting in favor: Mayor DeLoach, Aldermen Bell, Miller, Foster, Durrence, and Hall. Aldermen Johnson, Thomas and Shabazz voted against the motion.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Foster, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Miller, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Ordinance read for the first time in Council May 24, 2018, then by unanimous consent of Council read a second time, placed upon its passage, adopted and approved upon a motion by Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried. Alderman Johnson was not present for the vote.
Alderman Thomas: Question, can we get an explanation and detail about one, two, and three?
Alderman Johnson: Varying cost.
Alderman Thomas: We haven't addressed, is the City Manager going to be here today?
Bret Bell: He will be.
Alderman Thomas: Okay.
Mayor DeLoach: Do you want to come back to this one?
Alderman Thomas: Yes, I want to come back.
Council returned to this item after the completion of all other agenda items.
Alderman Thomas: Actually, I just want to know what this is, an explanation of points one, two, and three.
City Manager Hernandez: Mayor and Council members, you've seen that we've been very aggressive lately in managing our capital projects and bringing back before you adjustments to funding capital projects as necessary. Our goal is to bring you these adjustments on a quarterly basis, but actually we found a need to speed some of these up. So, as we're moving forward with implementing the various capital projects, we know we've got money in holding accounts that we've got money in, specific projects that have been completed or are not progressing so we're merely moving monies around in order to accomplish and complete other capital projects. So, in general that's what that is. To be specific, there's eight transactions that are before you here. Most of them deal with shifting monies from various projects at the current Civic Center into other projects. We also have one project related to Bacon Park. Another one related to the cemetery, there’s one moving monies from within SPLOST funds for park related purposes on the south side and also dealing with sidewalk repairs throughout the City.
Alderman Thomas: Does that answer all one, two, and three?
City Manager Hernandez: When you say one, two, and three, what do you mean by one, two, and three?
Alderman Thomas: Provide funding for immediate needs, is that what that is?
Alderman Durrence: The Bacon Park maintenance shed, sidewalk repairs on cemetery road…
City Manager Hernandez: Yes, there's actually eight you...
Alderman Durrence: But he’s asking about the first three?
City Manager Hernandez: Yes.
Alderman Thomas: No, I'm asking about item number 11, it says number one account for varying costs realized through work, completed toward the City's Capital Improvement Plan.
City Manager Hernandez: Okay, you’re reading from the agenda item itself?
Alderman Thomas: Yeah.
City Manager Hernandez: The answer to that is yes, it does all of that.
Ordinance read for the first time in Council May 24, 2018, then by unanimous consent of Council read a second time, placed upon its passage, adopted and approved upon a motion by Alderman Thomas, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried. Alderman Johnson was not present for the vote.
Alderman Thomas: I would like just a little explanation on what all this is for, please.
Attorney Stillwell: I think that’s Mr. Keating again.
Bret Bell: So, this is a DeLesseps Avenue [inaudible] project we're working in conjunction with GDOT. GDOT has very specific rules that we have to follow in order to qualify for federal funds for this. They have a set list of appraisers that we can use. It's about 115 property, something like that that we need to appraise. They have a set list of appraisers that we could access. We went out to bid on those once and we're contracting with one of those. It’s a bunch of slivers of land basically.
Alderman Thomas: Yeah, that's fine.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Thomas, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Thomas: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to make a note that this was part of the Capital Improvement Plan for the Tribble Park and these fountains, and I understand there will be two, they will float around in the park and jet up water 40 to 45 feet in the air. I'm glad to see this coming. This is a part of the $410,000 that we're doing as a part of the improvements to the Joseph J. Tribble Park in Windsor Forest.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Thomas, seconded by Alderman Bell, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Hall: Mayor and Council, this is for a Neighborhood Resource Center for Pennsylvania Avenue, which has been a long time coming and I would like to motion that we approve the contract.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Hall, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Hall: The Board of Education has been so kind to let us use a portion of their property on Pennsylvania Avenue near Savannah High School, for the erection of Pine Gardens Neighborhood Association sign.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Hall, seconded by Alderman Bell, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Shabazz: Thank you Mr. Mayor. This item is also similar to item number 27, but the only difference is some of the purposes that these funds will be used for. Item number 26 is the Coastal Workforce Development Board recommends approval for this item which will begin in June of this year, and will continue on for a year until June 30, 2019. The Coastal Workforce Development Board recommends approval for this Workforce Initiative and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for adult dislocated workers providing contracts. These funds will cover support in the coastal region. It's not all of these funds will be going into Chatham County, but I just wanted to make note of it because some of these funds will be used in the City of Savannah and Chatham County as a one stop delivery system for job training and preparation and placement for services. This particular contract has a grand total of $837,000.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Shabazz, seconded by Alderman Bell, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Shabazz: Yes, Mr. Mayor, but if you don't mind, I'd like to ask the City Manager if he could with both of these have one of his staff persons to come forward so that our public will be aware of these funds that are coming forward. So, that they can take an active role with job placement and economic development as a strategy for our Council.
Bret Bell: Dr. Shabazz, I would like to ask Sheron Morgan, she's the current head of WorkSource Coastal to come and address.
Alderman Shabazz: Thank you, Mr. Bell.
Sheron Morgan: Good afternoon, I would like to bring some clarity to the action items that are before you. As for our adult dislocated worker, WorkSource Coastal is in the business of workforce development. We have several businesses that we have worked very closely with in the City of Savannah. The program that we have been focusing on through our contractors as of late is on the job training, and what we call incumbent worker training. Our on the job training focuses on the individuals that are unemployed or underemployed. So, day one when they are asked to be a part of the company, they are an employee of that company. So, it's not like a work experience where you're trying to prove yourself, you're vetted by your resume as well as our office as a qualified worker. So, I would like to share some of those businesses with you that we have worked with in this last program year just to make it relevant as to the work that we are doing. Several of those companies are AirTherm, fulfillment.com, Henry Plumbing, Coastal Logistics, Snyder Logistics, and Thunderbolt Marine. Two of which, well we are proud of all of them, but we have been doing a whole lot of work with Nine Line Apparel, which is one of our companies that focuses on working with our vet population and also the Byrd Cookie Company Expansion. So, those are two that we have been focusing on as of late within the city limits. And as for our youth services, it’s just that, we're working with them to develop them and make sure that they are career ready so that the individuals that are retiring, they are able to take their places in the workforce. So that's the gist of what we do at WorkSource Coastal in Chatham County.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Shabazz, seconded by Alderman Johnson, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation. Alderman Johnson recused himself from the vote as an employee of Chatham County.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Bell, seconded by Alderman Miller, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Johnson: Mr. Mayor, the purpose of this is to, as we move forward with the arena project, we have to be able to finish the City Lot. So, this is to acquire land to provide us an entry way into what will ultimately become the new City Lot, move for approval.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Shabazz, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Alderman Miller: Since it’s posted we need to take some kind of action on it.
Luciana Spracher, Acting Clerk of Council: It’s already scheduled for July 5th, but it was marked that Council might potentially reschedule it. So, we put this on the agenda for you to consider today.
No Action Necessary. Council will have the meeting as previously scheduled.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Approved upon motion of Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Durrence, and unanimously carried per the City Manager's recommendation.
Announcements
Alderman Durrence announced that members of Leadership Savannah’s current class were present today for the City Council meeting. He also announced that the District 2 Town Hall meeting will be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Civic Center.
Alderman Bell announced on behalf of the men of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity that they will be having a Teacher Appreciation day for all teachers throughout the district. The event will be held Saturday, May 26, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Tom Triplett Park on Highway 80. She stated there will be special giveaways to include Visa gift cards and a television.
Alderman Bell also announced the women of Gamma Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority are celebrating their 75th anniversary this week. She stated they have donated $20,075 to the agency they birthed into the community, Greenbriar Children’s Center.
Alderman Hall invited everyone to attend Park Day on June 1st at Sunset Park. The event will be from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. The park is located next to Johnson High School, there will be food and fun.
Alderman Johnson congratulated all the high school graduates and recognized the efforts of their parents, teachers, administrators, custodians, school crossing guards, school bus drivers, and everyone that works hard during the course of the year. He wished them all an enjoyable summer.
Alderman Durrence recognized the 40th anniversary of Savannah’s Safe Shelter.
Alderman Bell invited Council to attend the orientation for Summer 500 on June 1st at 8:30 at Savannah Arts Academy.
Alderman Miller thanked City staff for their hard work and recognized that City Council has put them through the ringer lately with so many meetings. He stated they all worked late into the night and did a marvelous job. He informed the City Manager that his crew really came through for Council and that it did not go unnoticed considering the amount of pressure and expertise in which they responded.
City Manager Hernandez thanked him on behalf of the entire staff.
Alderman Hall recognized Ms. Andrea Burkiett, principal of Largo-Tibet Elementary School, present at today’s meeting.
There being no further business, Mayor DeLoach declared this meeting of Council adjourned.
The video recording of the Council meeting can be found by copying and pasting the below link in your url:
https://savannahgovtv.viebit.com/player.php?hash=Rd5lDlhY7dY7
