MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES

JULY 9, 2002

7:30 PM Regular Meeting

Mayor Pro Tem Clark called the meeting to order with the following Council members present: Jacqueline Bell, Adam McGinnis, Scott Sauls and Bryan Standifer. Also present were City Manager Walter Smith, City Attorney R. R. Kelly, III and City Clerk Susan Roper.

Guests present were John Harvey, Lucy Harvey, Betsy Moore, John Moore, William Gibson, Chuck Forsythe, Susan Forsythe, Mable Mathis, Gene Mathis, John Bruno, Bill Hughes and Barbara Goolsby.

Rev. William Gibson led the invocation.

Councilor Sauls made a motion, seconded by Councilor Bell to approve the agenda as amended to ad item 13A. Temporary Gas Personnel. All were in favor.

Councilor Standifer made a motion, seconded by Councilor Bell to approve the Minutes for June 2002. All were in favor.

Councilor Bell made a motion, seconded by Councilor Sauls to approve the Payables as presented. All were in favor.

Mr. John Harvey brought Mayor and Council a moment in Monticello History. Mr. Harvey spoke about childhood memories growing up in Monticello. He even shared the day his family listened to the radio when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Mr. Mathis explained the present position on the Zoning Map Amendment Request from John Bruno. Council asked questions and after much discussion Councilor Sauls made a motion, seconded by Councilor McGinnis to uphold the recommendation of the Zoning Commission and deny the zoning amendment. Councilor McGinnis and Councilor Sauls voted in favor; Councilor Bell, Mayor Pro Tem Clark and Councilor Standifer voted against. Motion did not pass. After more discussion and conference with Attorney Kelly, Councilor Bell made a motion, seconded by Councilor Standifer to approve the

Zoning Map Amendment. Councilor Bell, Mayor Pro Tem Clark and Councilor Standifer voted in favor; Councilor McGinnis and Councilor Sauls voted against. Motion passed.

City Attorney R. R. Kelly, III reminded Mayor and Council that the Garden Club had attended last months meeting and asked that the streets in Westview Cemetery be deeded back to the Garden Club. He stated that it had not been the practice of the City of Monticello to deed back streets in Monticello that were currently used by the public. After some discussion Councilor Bell made a motion, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Clark to accept the recommendation from the City Manager and City Attorney and keep the streets in Westview Cemetery as public streets. Councilor Bell, Mayor Pro Tem Clark and Councilor Sauls voted in favor. Councilor McGinnis and Councilor Standifer voted against. Motion passed.

DOT Mast Arm Project – in City Managers Report.

Streetscape Project Update Phase I & II – in City Managers Report.

Monticello Multipurpose Center Update – in City Managers Report.

NEW BUSINESS

Councilor Bell spoke with Mayor and Council about the Affordable Housing Initiative. She reminded them that she was working with Phyllis Cunard, Tracy Trovillo, Melanie and that a work session needed to be scheduled before August 1 to discuss with Council.

City Manager Walter Smith reported that he and Williams Russell and Johnson had negotiated with Carlton for Phase 1 of the work for $4,600.

City Manager Walter Smith presented a Property Annexation Request from David Born for property on Highway 16W next to Covington Ford. He stated that this item would come up for vote at the next meeting.

City Clerk Susan Roper request that the following items be declared surplus property:

1984 Ford Digger Truck (Electric)

1996 Dodge (Police)

1996 Buick (Police)

Councilor Sauls made a motion, seconded by Councilor Standifer to approve Surplus Property List. All were in favor.

Citizens Input –

John Moore asked Mayor and Council to be sure that Mr. Bruno is not allowed to put as many units as he can now that the property has been rezoned. Please keep the request to the amount he initially asked for.

City Manager’s Report – attached.

Mr. Smith also reassured Mr. Moore and the residents that tonight was just the rezoning phase of Mr. Bruno’s request. His job now is to coordinate with Mr. Mathis and be sure that good plans are submitted, that the requirements placed by Council were adhered to and that the project is monitored throughout.

Council Comments –

Councilor Standifer – none

Councilor Sauls asked City Manager if we had heard from the County regarding Recycling. Mr. Smith told him that he responded that Recycling was being handled correctly. Mr. Sauls said that he would be contacting the vendor himself.

Councilor McGinnis thanked City Clerk and staff for their work in getting everyone to the GMA Convention. He thought it was very informative and he would be continuing to get all the training he could so he could be better for Monticello. He also thanked the citizens for their input on the Zoning issue and asked them to please understand that Mayor and Council do their best to make informed decisions.

Councilor Bell agreed that the GMA Convention was great and informative. Funderburg Park is moving along. Affordable Housing is important and she would be getting more information to them for the work session.

Mayor Pro Tem Clark reported to Council that he, the Mayor and City Manager attended the first LOST negotiation last week. He thanked Mr. Hughes for the media coverage. The next meeting is scheduled for July 22 at 3:30 in Conference Room upstairs. He said that the County would like to base negotiation and population which means the City would give up money. He said that Monticello will agree to population but it must be daytime population which includes all the people in the City during the day (up about 50%). All involved in the first meeting agreed to meet the negotiation deadlines. Mayor Pro Tem Clark also reiterated good reports for GMA Convention and stated that good training is the reason Monticello has good growth.

City Manager Walter Smith reported that Mayor Holmes is GMA 1st Vice President, Councilor Bell is President of our District and Attorney Kelly is president of the City Attorney’s Section.

Meeting adjourned 9PM.