REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MONDAY, APRIL 3, :30 P.M.

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1 REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MONDAY, APRIL 3, :30 P.M. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Elberton convened at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 3, 2006, in Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 203 Elbert Street with Mayor Guest presiding. Present were: Council Members Butler, Colquitt, Hunt, Paul and Seymour; City Attorney Phelps; Interim City Manager Berry and City Clerk Churney. Mayor Guest called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro tempore Butler led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance and Council Member Hunt let the assembly in prayer. Council Member Paul motioned to approve the minutes of the March meeting, seconded by Council Member Hunt and the vote was unanimous (Exhibit No ). Mr. Lanier Dunn, Accountant, presented the financial report through February 28, 2006 with the following net assets (Exhibit No ): General Fund, $2.5 million; SPLOST projects, $282,154; Combined Utilities, $17.2 million; Broadband TV, negative balance of $1.2 million; Solid Waste, $307,323; and Industrial Park, $715,593. The operations report had been submitted in writing (Exhibit No A). Mr. D. Scott Wilson, Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia Board Member, updated Council on the activities of the MGAG Board (Exhibit No ). Mrs. Cindy Churney, City Clerk/Human Resources, presented the Excellence in Service awards to Mr. Johnny Goolsby, Mr. Glenn Parham, Mr. Danny Hall, Mr. Keith Willis, Mr. Leslie Edwards and Mr. Henry McCalla (Exhibit No ). Mr. James Adams, Public Works Director, presented the building expansion report (Exhibit No ). The project was divided into three phases as follows: 1) move the drive thru window to the customer service center; 2) move the police administrative personnel to the particularly vacant city hall; (3) refurbish the police building to accommodate the uniform patrol division. Mrs. Anna Grant Jones, Economic Developer for Elbert County, Elberton and Bowman, updated Council on the activities of Economic Development (Exhibit No ). As privilege of the Chair, Mayor Guest asked Mr. Gary White and Mr. Mark Wiles of the Georgia Forestry to discuss the Tree City USA designation with Council. Mr. White stated that Elberton meets the requirements of the designation with the exception of establishing a tree board, which can be done by Ordinance. Council Member Colquitt introduced the following Resolution (Exhibit No ): RESOLUTION BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the City of Elberton that Larry Guest is hereby appointed to serve as this City s voting delegate on the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia s Election Committee, with authority to cast all votes to which this City is entitled. Lanier Dunn is appointed as alternate voting delegate. This 3 rd day of April City Clerk Churney read the Resolution in its entirety. Council Member Colquitt motioned to adopt the resolution as read, seconded by Council Member Paul and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Pro tempore Butler introduced the following Resolution (Exhibit No ): RESOLUTION

2 BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the City of Elberton that Troy Colquitt is hereby appointed to serve as this City s voting delegate on the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia s Election Committee, with authority to cast all votes to which this City is entitled. Charles Truitt is appointed as alternate voting delegate. This 3 rd day of April City Clerk Churney read the Resolution in its entirety. Mayor Pro tempore Butler motioned to adopt the resolution as read, seconded by Council Member Hunt and the motion passed unanimously. As privilege of the Chair, Mayor Guest moved the discussion of the Cities of Ethics designation to Ordinances and Resolutions. Council Member Seymour placed Ordinance 2136 on First Reading with a heading as follows (Exhibit No ): ORDINANCE 2136 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF ELBERTON TO ESTABLISH A CODE OF ETHICS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Council Member Seymour motioned to waive the first reading of the ordinance, seconded by Council Member Paul and the vote was unanimous. Council discussed the natural gas system expansion. Interim City Manager Berry recommended Council obtaining an engineering report on the natural gas system in order to determine the best means of expanding the current system. Mayor Pro tempore Butler motioned to authorize expenditures up to $5,000 to obtain an engineering report as described above, seconded by Council Member Hunt and the motion passed unanimously. Council discussed traffic concerns at the intersection of McIntosh Street and Church Street. Interim City Manager Berry informed Council that the traffic signal was in a state of disrepair and costs to replace it would be estimated at $15,000. Council Member Seymour motioned to authorize staff to designate the intersection a 4 way stop and to complete an assessment and drawing of the parking area that will be affected, seconded by Council Member Paul and the motion passed with Mayor Pro tempore Butler voting against the motion. Council discussed the appointment to the SPLOST oversight committee. Mayor Guest informed Council that Mr. Bill Lester had been appointed to the committee. Council Member Hunt expressed concerns as to Council s prior approval in making appointments to city committees. Council Member Paul motioned to adopt the Consent Agenda as presented: 1. Approved expenditures that exceed the City Manager s purchasing authority. Utilities billing equipment (BUDGETED) Replace billing printer (5 years old & deteriorating quality) TBS $3, IBM On-Line $3, Insight $3, Global Government Recommended $3, (low bidder) Utilities Electric equipment (BUDGETED) Transformer for Northside Baptist Church Southeastern Transformer Recommended $2, Equity $4, Capstone $4, (low bidder) 2. Approved dues, travel and training for all city departments.

3 Utilities: Administrative: David Hudson 2006 Annual Meeting Electric Cities May 3-5 Savannah, GA Registration: $ Lodging: $ Water: Tyron Yeargin 2006 Spring Water Conference April 3-5 Pine Mountain, GA Registration: $ Lodging: $ Wayne Smith Georgia Rural Water Conference May Jekyll Island, GA Registration: $ Lodging: $ GAS: Charles Truitt & Michael Sheppard Pipeline Safety Seminar April Macon, GA Registration: $ Lodging: $ Sewer: Branon Young Basic Water School March Gainesville, GA Registration: $ Lodging: $ Accepted the Monthly Investment Report for February 28, 2006 (Exhibit No ). 4. Accepted the Trial Balance and Budget Report for the month ending February 28, 2006 (Exhibit No ). Council Member Hunt seconded the motion to adopt the consent agenda and it passed unanimously. Finance: Interim City Manager Berry informed Council of the following items: 1. The policies and procedures manual was being reviewed by a labor attorney and planned to have a draft for the June meeting. 2. ElbertonNET will be sponsoring a concert on McIntosh Street on April 21, 2006 as part of the Georgia Cities Month activities. Mayor Pro tempore Butler motioned to close McIntosh Street to vehicle traffic beginning at Time Square to Richards Restaurant for the event, seconded by Council Member Seymour and the motion was unanimous. 3. The Comcast Franchise Agreement has not been finalized to-date. 4. The Department of Corrections asked if the city would be utilizing both detainee crews for the FY07 budget, Council concurred. 5. The squirrel eradication program is nearing completion. Council recommended continuing the program but to limit the weekly visits to extend the program for a longer period of time. The monthly departmental report was submitted as follows: 1. There were two (2) occupational licenses issued during the month of March, 2006: Brunson Soul Food and Grille, located at 219 Lee Street, owner Mr. Eric Brunson and Mary Puppins, located at 13 South McIntosh Street, owner Ms. Jennifer Wehkins. 2. I facilitated the annual planning session for the department heads and supervisors at Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course on Wednesday, March 22, Mayor Guest joined the department heads briefly to welcome the attendees. The day consisted of an open discussion of thoughts, ideas and priorities for the upcoming year. The SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) was used to help with ideas. It was decided that a monthly department head meeting, beginning in April, 2006, would be held to keep communications open between departments Committees will be established to review the City s benefit package, wage and salary schedule and policies.

4 The reviews should be completed by the end of May, 2006 with recommendations to the Mayor and Council in the budget proposal. Human Resources: 1. The deadline for the City Manager s position was January 16, Council selected four candidates to interview (Mr. David Hudson, Mr. Lanier Dunn, Mr. Barry Atkison and Mr. Skip Nalley). Council has scheduled a called meeting for Monday, March 27 th to discuss the candidates. 2. The city met with the Theatre Foundation Personnel Committee this month to discuss the vacant position of Executive Director for the Elbert Theatre. The employee will be a city employee just like the Main Street Manager. Interviews for the position will begin on April 5 th. 3. This month, Mr. Ben Brinson of Saville & Associates conducted another defensive driver s safety course. 4. The department hosted a Dutch-treat luncheon for the City of Elberton retirees. The luncheon gave the retirees a chance to catch up with their fellow co-workers and to consider volunteering at the Elbert Theatre, downtown, police, parks and cemetery, etc. The retirees have planned to meet again in June. 5. The department continues to work on updating the city s pay scale. 6. The city will be taking bids for property, casualty, life, dental, prescription and health coverage over the next several months. The current policies will expire June 1, 2006, and a committee has been formed to study the bids. The bid opening has been scheduled for April 14, City Clerk: 1. Mrs. Lee Carmon, Planning Director with the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center (NEGRDC), anticipates submitting a draft update of the City s Zoning Ordinance within the next several weeks for staff to review. 2. The Historic Preservation Commission members anticipate holding a work session this month to discuss the Design Guidelines which have not been updated since A date has not been scheduled at this time. 3. The Leadership Elberton class will graduate on Tuesday, April 4 th at 6:30 p. m. at the McIntosh Coffee Shoppe. Council is invited to attend. Major Edward Lovin will be the guest speaker. The Elbert County Chamber of Commerce has designed a granite plaque to be presented to each participant. (The date was re-scheduled from March 30th due to conflict with spring break). 4. The Sister City Executive Committee met this month to select this year s exchange student participants. The following were selected:. Mr. Gary Jones was selected chaperone, Emily Miller, Thomas Evans III, Aaron Payton, Jayce Seymour, Nicholas Wiles, and Chris Carlton. The Elberton Group will depart from Elberton on July 11 th and return to Elberton with the Mure group on July 25 th,and the Mure group will depart Elberton on August 8 th. 5. The Elbert County Middle School sixth grade classes participated in the If I Were Mayor, I would Essay Contest. Locally, a committee will be selecting fifteen (15) winners to have lunch with Elberton Mayor Guest and School Superintendent Sam Light on Friday, April 7 th at McIntosh Coffee Shoppe. 6. The Georgia Cities Month planning committee has finalized the activities calendar for April as follows:

5 7. A committee has been established to complete a feasibility study on utilizing existing facilities and/or expanding the current facility in order to provide adequate space for the police department. The committee consists of Mark Welsh, Lynn Saxon, Butch Lewis, Jason Isbell and James Adams. The committee anticipates presenting a proposal to council soon. Main Street: 1. The Downtown Development Authority met for their monthly meeting March 8, Main Street Elberton s annual assessment was reviewed by Jo Childers & Candice Gunn from The Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Reviewers met in Elberton with board members, the City Manager and Mayor Guest. Main Street Elberton qualified to become a National Main Street City. 3. The Downtown Development Authority was awarded the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce s award for Distinguished Service for their work on the Elbert Theatre, the Samuel Elbert Hotel and McIntosh Street. 4. Mrs. LeNeave is attending Leadership Elberton classes every Thursday evening in February and March. Building Inspection: 1. There were fifteen (15) permits issued during the month of March 2006: eight (8) building permits; four (4) electrical permits; one (1) plumbing permit; and two (2) mechanical permits. 2. There were eighteen (18) construction inspections made during the month: two (2) mechanical; four (4) electrical ; (1) plumbing (final); one (1) sign; (8) construction; and four (4) Certificates of Occupancy. 3. Two (2) property owners were notified of their property being in a dilapidated condition and in violation of the city ordinance. Fire: 1. The Fire Department responded to sixteen (16) emergency calls during the period of February 24, 2006, through March 22, The calls consisted of five (5) vehicle fires or accidents, four (4) emergency medical calls, one (1) hazard-material response, one (1) false alarm, two (2) utility calls, one (1) fire drill and two (2) stand by alarms. 2. The Fire Department assisted with four (4) fire inspections during the month of March Five (5) burn permits were issued during this period. The department logged eighty (80) inservice training hours during this period. 3. The Fire Department pulled maintenance and greased outlet caps on two hundred fifty (250) hydrants during the month.

6 4. The Fire Department received forty (40) outside training hours. Incident Report By Type Of Incident City of Elberton Fire Department Incident Date in 3/01/2006 to 3/22/ s Rescue & EMS 400s Hazardous Conditions(No fire) 700s False Alarm & False Call Graphed Items are sorted by Incident Type 300 Series-Rescue & EMS % 400 Series-Hazardous Conditions(No fire) % 700 Series-False Alarm & False Call % Total for the month: 16 Most Frequent Type of Incident: 300 Series-Rescue & EMS Police: 1. On Thursday, March 2, 2006, staff participated in the Read Across America Program by reading to children in local schools. Started in 1998 as a way to get kids excited about reading, Read across America has become the nation's largest reading event. The yearround program culminates each year on or near Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2nd). 2. On Saturday, March 11, 2006 the East Side Neighborhood Watch s monthly meeting was held at the Blackwell Cultural Center. The membership voiced concerns over squirrel infestation around Lofton Grove Church, the need for road checks on Mill Street between the Hawes Complex and Fountain Street, noise from the Burke Street Gym, some disorderly houses on Burke Street. Some traffic concerns on Campbell were also addressed. The group also expressed an interest in forming an initiative to fight littering and support for a community cleanup campaign. 3. On Saturday, March 18, 2006 the monthly meeting of the West Side Neighborhood Watch was held. Chief Welsh took a delegation of approximately twelve (12) members to Athens, Georgia to visit the East Athens Development Corporation, and the new East Side Police Precinct. The east side of Athens had been a blighted area with an extremely high crime rate. Recent activities through Weed and Seed and a cooperative neighborhood revitalization effort have reversed that trend creating a vibrant community that is showing marked improvement. City Marshal/Code Enforcement: 1. During the month of March, the city collected $7, in fines and $5, in fees for a fiscal year to date accumulation of $79, These funds were collected by the Northern Judicial Circuit Probation Office. 2. Eight (8) probationers were supervised during the month providing sixty four (64) community service work hours. In addition to collecting waste from the Elberton Housing Authority units and providing yard work around the City of Elberton Municipal Building, Police Department, Fire Department, Elbert Theater, and Salvation Army, probationers provided approximately two (2) miles of maintenance on South Oliver Street, Campbell Street, Sutton Square, Auld Avenue, and Mineral Springs Road.

7 3. Five (5) individuals were advised to remove uncollectible trash from the side of the street and all complied within the allotted time. 4. Eleven (11) letters were sent to individuals in reference to junk vehicles. 5. Two (2) letters were sent to individuals in reference to junk and trash in their yards. 6. Two (2) vehicles were towed due to owners failure to remove vehicles. 7. One (1) citation was issued for conducting business without a license. 8. On March 9, 2006, the City Marshal assisted the Police Detectives in the recovery of stolen property from Mayberry Tire. This led to the apprehension of a suspect for the theft. Public Works: 1. In addition to routine operations and maintenance activities, the Public Works crew widened two (2) driveways on Sherwood Drive, repaired a hole on the Heard Drive ball field, installed one hundred fifty feet (150 ) of French drain, repaired two (2) storm drains, completed installing one hundred twenty feet (120 ) of eighteen inch (18 ) pipe and two (2) catch basins on North McIntosh Street to keep the side of the road from caving in, cut out the old sewer pipe on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Gordon Street which stopped the problem with debris being caught in the pipe, and is in the process of installing two (2) fifty foot (50 ) driveways on Mahoney Drive for the 911 and EMS center. 2. The Whitworth Detention Center crew has started the removal of underbrush and debris from the Old Lake Bed on Forest Hill Road. Electric: 1. In addition to routine operations and maintenance activities, the electric division crew installed new poles on the system, replacing older and rotting poles found during our pole survey, installed new Town and County lighting at the Elberton- Elbert County Library, completed new services at Dixie Granite and Mark Clamp s new granite shed on Railroad Street, and removed all primary and secondary lines in the construction area of the Clark s Junction DOT Project. 2. Crews also completed landscaping work at the Athens Tech Campus where underground wiring and switching has been installed. The contract tree trimmers are back and will be cutting power line rights of way on our system. Water/Sewer: 1. In addition to routine operations and maintenance activities, the crew continued the system wide rodding of the sewer system. The crews have completed the rodding in the Pine Knoll and Country Manor Trailer Park areas. 2. The Highway 17 to Goss Water Line Extension Project nears completion, and the booster pump station has been put into service. Adjustments have been made on the station so that the water in the tank will turn-over (fill and drain) properly with the small number of customers on that system at start up. 3. The crew made a six inch (6 ) water tap for Northside Baptist Church and a new residential tap on Lexington Highway, made a sewer tap on Mercer Drive and a granite business located on Railroad and McDonough Street, and replaced an old service on Church Street at Brown and Norman s Garage. Water taps from the new water line are being scheduled and installed in the Goss area. 4. The crews aided by personnel from the Fire Department and Natural Gas Department conducted the annual system flush on March 11 th and 12 th. The flushing went well with few complaints reported to Elberton Utilities. All fire hydrants found in need of repair or maintenance are being addressed. 5. Elberton Utilities has received EPD approval for the Northwood Hills Water Project. DOT and Soil Erosion Plan approvals are expected within the week.

8 6. Staff is currently studying the results of Southeast Pipe Survey s TV inspection of the Falling Creek sewer collection basin. The results of this survey will be used to prioritize and then repair or replace sewer lines as part of our Inflow and Infiltration (I & I) Program. ElbertonNET Technology Services: 1. ElbertonNET customer counts as of March 21, 2006, were: Basic-only television 308 Expanded basic 1,214 Digital basic 283 Total TV customers 1,805 High Speed Internet 764 Dial-up Internet, , and web hosting 226 Total Internet customers 969 (Please note that these numbers are mid-month and generated earlier than normal.) 2. The new circuit with Georgia Public Web became active on March 21st. ElbertonNET has obtained its new IP addresses from ARIN. The next step is to install these new addresses in the servers and routers within the system. The cutover from our existing provider to Georgia Public Web should take place within the next two weeks by April 7th. The cutover conversion will begin at 6:00 a.m., and customers will be out of service for about one (1) hour. 3. During the month of March, eight hundred (800) potential customers within the City Limits received a brochure in the mail describing the 2006 Discount Program. There remains about one hundred forty (140) additional residences inside the City Limits to which brochures will be mailed soon. Also, brochures will be mailed to potential customers outside the City limits. A follow up letter which will include a channel lineup card will be mailed about two weeks after the brochures are mailed. 4. The Real Savings Discount Program began March 1st and will continue through December 31st. As of March 21st, there are about seven hundred eighty (780) customers inside the city limits and about one hundred twenty-five (125) customers outside the city limits who are enrolled in the discount program. 5. ElbertonNET continues to receive requests for service outside our existing service area. On March 17th, surveys were mailed to eight (8) residences at the end of Mill Street to determine how many of the homes in that community would sign up for service. To date, four (4) surveys have been received, and all residents who responded said they would sign up with ElbertonNET. This would require about an additional ½ mile of plant to be built, and we are evaluating the cost of this project. Natural Gas: 1. Natural Gas Division crews continued the cutting of rights of way on the system, painted meters, inspected above ground piping on the system; and began the valve turning exercise that is part of our annual system inspection. 2. The crew also continued work with Ingram & Associates, making repairs and modifications to the cathodic protection system. These areas were discovered by the recent system-wide corrosion survey. 3. Marie Company, Inc. installed new regulators at station #1. Included in this project was new flow and pressure data read outs. The crew also tested all regulators and relief valves. There being no further business to come before Council, upon proper motion and second the meeting was adjourned.