Special Called Meeting of the Ball Ground City Council
And Cherokee County Board of Commissioners
Cherokee County Admin Complex,
1130 Bluffs Parkway, Canton, GA30114
6:00 P.M.
MINUTES
May 2, 2017
The City of Ball Ground Mayor and City Council met in joint session with the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to discuss the renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan.
Council Members Present: John Byrd, Frank Homiller, Mickey O’Malley and Andrenia Stoner
Council Member Lee Prettyman was absent
City Manager Eric Wilmarth and City Clerk Karen Jordan were present.
Chairman Ahrens recognized from City of Ball Ground, Mayor Rick Roberts; Councilman John Byrd; Councilman Frank Homiller, Councilman Mickey O’Malley; Councilwoman Andrenia Stoner; City Manager, Eric Wilmarth; and City Clerk, Karen Jordan
Margaret Stallings presented an outline of the new Comprehensive Plan. She covered four topics in her presentation which included: what is a comprehensive plan, what does the update process look like, different avenues and opportunities for public engagement and what are the next steps. She stated that the Comprehensive Plan is a document that includes the vision and elements that address critical issues in the jurisdiction. She gave a list of elements on the plan and stated that the top four elements listed were required as part of the state planning regulations, and they included: population & housing; transportation; land use; and economic development. She stated that there were other elements of the plan that would be addressed as well. She stated that under the “how does the plan work” section of the outline, the plan identifies strategies and steps for implementation and includes a short-term work plan, which is a five year prioritized list, and a capital improvement element, which is tied to the impact fee program. She stated that the capital improvement element covers items that would be purchased or billed that will last at least ten years and how those would be funded. Ms. Stallings reviewed the “update process” section of the outline which contained three phases. The first phase, public engagement, she described as an intense public engagement that would last for the six months. She stated that in the public engagement there would be critical issues forums in Canton and Woodstock, six target area workshops led by a consultant, and would be geographically focused. The areas would include the City of Ball Ground, City of Waleska, State Route 20 East, Hickory Flat, Southwest Cherokee and the Airport area. She stated that an advisory committee would meet several times during the process and provide feedback regarding the progression of the document. She stated that the second phase would be unveiling of a draft plan and two more public meetings would be held to get input on the draft, and the last phase being the transmittal to the State for their review and the final adoption of the plan.
Ms. Stallings reviewed key dates and the timeline for 2017 and 2018 and stated that May 2, 2017, is the kickoff date and October 31, 2018, would be the adoption deadline. She covered the “public engagement” section of the outline, stating that the purpose of the public engagement would be to target people who are in the county for a variety of reasons, and that the public engagement obtains feedback on issues facing the county in the next 20 years, and provides clear and concise information to the public throughout the process. She stated that the public would have opportunities for engagement in-person and online through the advisory committee meetings, critical issues forums, target area workshops, draft plan reviews and HQ website which would be available 24/7. Ms. Stallings reviewed the “next steps” as being finalizing the advisory committee, which needs to include members of the Planning Commission, one elected official, and a Development Authority representative; unveiling the engagement HQ website in Mid-May; preparing for critical issues forums in June; and the market study development.
Following the presentation of the new Comprehensive Plan made by Margaret Stallings, Ball Ground Mayor Roberts came forth to speak. He thanked the Board of Commissioners for hosting the Public Hearing and stated that he appreciated the partnership of the County and working with the Comprehensive Plan. He stated that the joint process that the City of Ball Ground and City of Waleska participates in is the most efficient for the taxpayers.
Mayor Roberts then called to order the special meeting for the City of Ball Ground for the purpose of initiating the update for the 2018 Comprehensive Plan. He stated that there were four council members present and requested a motion to approve the Resolution to initiate the Plan.
Frank Homiller made a motion to update the plan; Andrenia Stoner seconded.
Motion Unanimously Approved
There being no further business for council consideration a motion was duly made and seconded to adjourn.
The minutes of this May 2, 2017, City Council Meeting approved this 11th Day of May 2017.
