Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council

October 24, 2019

AGENDA

1.  Call Meeting to Order – Mayor Roberts

2.  Pledge of Allegiance

3. Appearances

4. Announcements – City Manager Eric Wilmarth

5. Consider Approval of September 12, 2019 Council Meeting Minutes

6. Old Business

a) Consider Second Reading of Amendment to Retirement Plan Document

7. New Business

a) Consider Resolution of Support for DNR Trails Grant Application
b) Consider Resolution of Support for Long Term Maintenance Commitment of Approved for DNR Trails Grant
c) Consider Sale of 301 Gilmer Ferry Road (Surplus Property Declaration)
d) Consider First Reading of Proposed Changes to Sign Ordinance
e) Proclamation recognizing November 3, 2019 as Retired Educators Day
f) Consider Intergovernmental Agreement for Cherokee Co. to Conduct Elections for City of Ball Ground

8. City Managers Report

9. Mayor Roberts Comments

10.  Council Members Comments

11. Public Comments

12. Executive Session

13. Adjourn

Revised:  Oct. 17, 2019

Prior to the start of this meting a work session will be held at 6:00 PM

Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council
City of Ball Ground, Georgia
Ball Ground City Hall ~ 7:00 P.M.

AGENDA
September 12, 2019

1.  Call Meeting to Order – Mayor Roberts

2.  Pledge of Allegiance

3.  Appearances
Marie Harington – Resolution Supporting the Volunteering Aging Council

4. Announcements – City Manager Eric Wilmarth

5. Consider Approval of August 8, 2019 Council Meeting Minutes

6.  Old Business

7.  New Business
a)  Consider adoption of Service Delivery Area Map with Cherokee County Water and Sewage Authority (CCWSA)

 b)  Consider A RESOLUTION of the City of Ball Ground to authorize the Mayor to establish a Franchise Fee applicable to holders of cable and video franchises issued by the State of Georgia

c) Consider change to Schedule of Fees

d) Consider amendment to Retirement Plan Document

e) Consider granting authority to CCWSA for Industrial Pre-Treatment Inspections and Compliance of City of Ball Ground Sewage System

8.  City Managers Report

9.  Mayor Roberts Comments

10.  Council Members Comments

11.  Public Comments

12.  Executive Session – Discussion of possible land acquisition

13.  Adjourn

A WORK SESSION WILL BE AT 6:00 PM

Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council will begin at 7:00 PM

AGENDA
August 8, 2019

1. Call Meeting to Order – Mayor Roberts

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Appearances
Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather, annual report on fire/EMS services

4. Announcements – City Manager Eric Wilmarth

5. Consider Approval of July 11, 2019 Council Meeting Minutes

6. Old Business
a) Consider Second Reading of Wireless Facilities and Antennas (Small Cell) Ordinance

7. New Business
a) Consider relinquishment of unused sewer easement
b) Consider adoption of Policy regarding bidding by employees on surplus property/equipment
c) Consider adoption of Sewer Capacity Fee Schedule
d) Consider adoption of SDS Agreement
e) Consider adoption of MOU for 800 MHz Radio System
f) Consider adoption of MOU regarding Cherokee Office of Economic Development
g) Consider adoption of Inmate Housing Agreement
h) Consider adoption of Storm Water Fee Schedule
i) Consider InterDev Agreement for GIS Services
j) Consider Annexation Notification and Land Use Dispute Resolution

8. City Managers Report

9. Mayor Roberts Comments

10. Council Members Comments

11. Public Comments

12. Executive Session (If Needed)

13. Adjourn

Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council
City of Ball Ground, Georgia
Ball Ground City Hall ~ 7:00 P.M.

Minutes
July 11, 2019

Meeting called to order by Mayor Rick Roberts

Present for the meeting
John Byrd – Council Member
Mickey O’Malley – Council Member
Lee Prettyman – Council Member
Andrenia Stoner – Council Member
Donna England – Finance Director
Bryon Reeves – Chief of Police
Chris Luly – City Planner
Darrell Caudill, City Attorney
Eric Wilmarth, City Manager
Karen L. Jordan, City Clerk
Donald Campbell – Cherokee Tribune

Absent – Council Member Frank Homiller

Pledge of Allegiance

Appearances
Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather, annual report on fire/EMS services
Mr. Prather’s appearance postponed until August Meeting

Announcements – City Manager Eric Wilmarth
Upcoming Events: July 20 Stage Fright Band Performing in City Park at 7 PM
July 26 Open Mic

Consider Approval of June 13, 2019 Council Meeting Minutes

Council Member Stoner put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member O’Malley to approve the minutes of the June 13, 2019 Council Meeting as submitted in writing by City Clerk.
Motion Unanimously Approved

Old Business
Consider Second Reading of Application for New Alcoholic Beverage License
Applicant: Ryan Turnage Business: Barrel House Coffee Co., LLC
Location 275 Gilmer Ferry Road

Council Member Byrd put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member O’Malley to approve the second reading of the application for new alcoholic beverage license submitted by Ryan Turnage.
Motion Unanimously Approved

New Business
Consider Establishment of 2019 Operational Property Tax Millage Rate of 4.707 mills (revenue neutral).

Council Member Prettyman put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member Byrd to approve the levy of 4.707 mill for the 2019 Property Tax.
Motion Unanimously Approved

Consider Establishment of 2019 Special Tax District (Fire Tax)

Council Member O’Malley put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member Stoner to approve the levy of 2019 Fire Tax.
Motion Unanimously Approved

Consider Memorandum of Understanding for Participation in the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad

Council Member Prettyman put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member Byrd to approve entering into a Memorandum of Understanding for participation in the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad between the Sheriff of Cherokee of Cherokee County, Georgia and the City of Ball Ground, Georgia.
Motion Unanimously Approved

Consider First Reading of Wireless Facilities and Antennas (Small Cell) Ordinance

An Ordinance designed to implement the Georgia Streamlining Wireless Facilities and Antennas Act., O.C.G.A. Title 36, Chapter 66C was introduced to the City Council for consideration. The Ordinance further establishes reasonable regulations for the installation, construction, maintenance, renewal, removal, and relocation of pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, poles, towers, traffic and other signals, and other equipment, facilities, or appliances in, on, along, over, or under the public roads of the City.

Council Member Stoner put forth a motion, Seconded by Council Member O’Malley to approve the first reading of this Ordinance.
Motion Unanimously Approved

City Managers Report

City Manager Wilmarth provided Mayor Roberts and Council Members with an unaudited report of account balances, statement of revenue and expenditures for the month ended June 30, 2019. The report showed cash on deposit totaled $758,154.49.

The Roberts Lake Park Project: All five parcels of property related to the project are under contract to purchase. It is anticipated the closing of the properties will take place in August.

The Valley Street Scape Project is nearing completion. The landscaping of the project in October will complete the project.

The GIS portal has been added to the City’s website and is now ready for public access.

Mayor Roberts Comments

Mayor Roberts stated a draft of a revised sign ordinance will be sent to council members next week for review.

The Historic Preservation Committee will hold their first meeting in August stated Mayor Roberts.

Mayor Roberts also commented on the Georgia Municipal Association Annual Training Conference. He stated he along with Council Members John Byrd, Mickey O’Malley, Lee Prettyman, City Manager Eric Wilmarth and City Clerk Karen Jordan attended the four-day training event.

While at the conference Council Member O’Malley received his Certificate of Achievement for completing 72 hours of training. The Municipal Training Institute is operated through a partnership between the Georgia Municipal Association and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Elected officials attend a series of training programs designed to help city officials enhance their knowledge and skills in municipal related matters.

Council Members Comments
Council Member O’Malley commended Mayor Roberts and Council Members on the progress the City has made. While attending the GMA Conference Council Member O’Malley stated he heard how many Georgia Cities our size was not as fortunate as Ball Ground has been.

Council Members Byrd, Stoner and Prettyman commended the city staff on the work they do for the City. Each expressed appreciation for the success of the annual fireworks display.

Council Member Stoner stated it was exciting to drive thru downtown and see how it is prospering. She said wherever she goes people are talking about the downtown and sharing their experience of visiting Ball Ground.

Public Comments

Larry Cavender invited everyone to attend the monthly meeting of the Ball Ground Historical Society on Tuesday, July 23 at 7:00 PM. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing Ball Ground resident Billy Childers will be speaking about his years working for NASA.

Glenn Braselton, resident of the Sage Hill Subdivision asked when the sidewalk damaged by a recent water leak repair would be repaired. Mr. Braselton also thanked Mayor and Council Member for the assistance provided to remedy a storm water issue.
Executive Session (If Needed)

Adjourn

There being no further business for Mayor and Council Members consideration a motion was duly made and seconded to adjourn at 7:50 PM.

The minutes of this July 11, 2019 City Council Meeting approved this 8th Day of August 2019.

_____________________________ ____________________________
Mayor A. R. Roberts, III Mayor Pro Tem John Byrd

______________________________ _____________________________
Council Member Frank Homiller Council Member Mickey O’Malley

______________________________ _____________________________
Council Member Lee Prettyman Council Member Andrenia Stoner

Attest: _____________________________
Karen L. Jordan, City Clerk

System Wide Leak Detection Evaluation: (114)

This is the highest ranked project among all projects on the CIP with an estimated cost of $25,000. We are consistently losing about one million gallons of water per month that we do not know where it is going. This is after adjusting an estimated loss for leaks that we find and repair. A loss of this magnitude represents a unaccounted for water loss of 23 gallons per minute, every minute, every day of the year. On a monthly assessment, this loss represents 25% of our total water sales.

Operating a well costs only pennies. If we were to reduce our unaccounted for water loss from 33% down to an acceptable
8%, we would not realize more than $200.00 per month in savings. However; in the long term, recapturing this water could generate tens of thousands of dollars in revenue, because as the City grows this water would be available for sale rather than forcing us into a buy/sell relationship with the CCWSA which is costly.

Additionally, it must be anticipated that by the time we are required to renew our operating permit in 2015 that we will be required to show a realistic plan for reducing our water loss, and that ultimately we are very likely to be required to show meaningful progress and results by the time our withdrawal permit is up for renewal in 2020.

There are several courses of action the City can take on this project. One is to hire an outside firm with high tech equipment to come in and monitor the system, “listening” for leaks. Many systems have had great results with this approach. We have had two companies provide us with a one day sampling of their capabilities. Neither achieved results.

Another approach would be to install insertion meters in our lines outside the core city and match those readings with meter readings from customers downstream. This could only be done on segregated lines, as readings in the core city would be skewed by the fact that almost all of our lines are now looped.  ONGOING

Mapping of Storm Water System (94)

Accomplishment of this task is a mandate of the North Metro District. We have no existing maps of our system. Initially it is our intent to develop a base map that simply overlays our existing infrastructure onto a road map. Items such as cross drains, catch basins, drop inlets and detention ponds could be shown on map as a geographical location.

Phase II of the project could be to improve the base map by using GIS technology to actually shoot the location of each piece of the system and pinpoint it precisely on a map so that the items are shown with an exact location. 
Estimated cost of phase 1 should be approximately $5,000.
Estimated cost of phase 2 should be approximately $50,000.
SCHEDULED FOR 2017

Mapping of Water System (94)

Accomplishment of this projected is mandated by the North Metro District. This is a 3 phase project. Phase 1 consists of base map creation, phase 2 would be adding valves and fire hydrants to the phase 1 map, and phase 3 would add water meters to the phase 2 map. Total cost of all 3 phases would be estimated at $15,000.

We currently have a base map that is approximately 75% complete for phase 1. Anticipated cost of finishing phase 1 will be approximately $3,000.

Phase 2 will consist of in house employees physically marking the locations of valves and hydrants on the base map, and then having our engineer import that data into the mapping software. Again the cost should be minimal and should not exceed $5,000.

Phase 3 would be for the engineer to send crews to obtain the actual GIS data from every sing valve, hydrant and meter and then redrawing the water lines on the base map to match precisely with the GIS pinpointed valves. Phase 3, although very beneficial will not have to be accomplished to achieve district compliance.
COMPLETED

Mapping of Sewer System (94)

Accomplishment of this project is mandated by the North Metro District. This is a 2 phase project. Total estimated cost of the project is $10,000. 

Phase 1 would be to have our engineer construct a system wide map by taking the initial system construction map and updating it to include the infrastructure shown on plans for all of the new developments and contributed assets. This can be accomplished for approximately $2,500. 

Phase 2 would be for the engineer to send crews to obtain the actual GIS data from every single manhole, air relief valve and lift station, and to pinpoint it precisely on a mapping document. Estimated costs for completion of phase 2 will be $7,500.
COMPLETED

Replacement of Public Works Vehicles (92)

All four vehicles in public works have in excess of 100,000 miles. Three of the four vehicles were purchased through state surplus, meaning that another agency believe the vehicles had reach their life expectancy. With the type of use our vehicles see, and with the nature of our system that sees limited driving distances, the purchasing of used vehicles is considered to be prudent.

With the strain on budgets state wide, surplus vehicles are rare, or are at least in very poor condition by the time they reach the surplus yard. Although our intent is to acquire used vehicles to replace our vehicles in the worst condition, it may be through local dealerships.

The need is to obtain a utility truck that could be pre-loaded with leak repair materials and equipment, and also to
obtain one small pick-up truck in good condition to replace our two oldest vehicles. Total Cost at $15,000.  SCHEDULED FOR 2015

Replacement of Asbestos Concrete Water Lines (87)

Once mapping of the water system is complete, we will then be able to determine exactly how much asbestos concrete pipe is in our system and also be able to develop a replacement plan and cost estimate. 

We believe some grant dollars may be available to assist with this project. 

Although we have experienced absolutely no difficulty with our lines, we are aware of some older systems where the line is beginning to deteriorate and sending particles and fibers to the customer. This could be a result of various chemical contents in the water in those locations, however, long term we need to plan for the eventual abandonment of these lines. 

Estimated Cost at this time would be $250,000 to replace 10,000 linear feet of 6” line.  SEEKING GRANTS

Drill Test Well (80)

These estimated cost of this project is currently $40,000. This includes the cost of the driller and the geologist. 

The test location would be in the northeast corner of the six acre tract of property owned by the City, directly behind the Community Building and Softball  field. A test by a previous company results in water, but because of the size of the drill rig, and the depth of the well, they were unable to complete the job. 

If the adequate water is found the well could be developed, for an estimated $150,000 in cost, or the well could be tested an capped, and developed at a future date when the demand for new water was on the system. SCHEDULED FOR 2015

Water Line Replacement on Commerce Lane (76)

In the early years of the Ball Ground Water System, a one inch line was installed on the south side of Commerce Line, but was run behind the houses instead of next to the road. 

Over the years several of the residents along Commerce Lane brought in large quantities of fill dirt to establish back yards in an area that was previously a steep drop off. In doing this, the water line servicing these homes became deeper and deeper. In places we now estimate the depth to be at or near ten feet deep. This is a depth beyond our ability to repair. In addition to the depth, the line is galvanized, which is now proven to be a substandard material for water lines. 

This project would require the accomplishing of four separate bores underneath Commerce Lane and the installation of new services lines to 7 customers. Meters would be moved from behind the houses to the right of way on Commerce Lane. Estimated cost of the project is $10,000.  SCHEDULED FOR 2016

Construct Water Tank (71)

At current customer levels our water storage is adequate. However; by the time each of our platted subdivisions is built out, we will not have sufficient storage room for water. Ideally we should have the ability to store a 24 hour supply of water. Currently we have 1.4 days storage (on average). At times, during peak demand we only have 1.1 days worth of storage, but this is on our highest consumption day of the year.

The most cost effective way to add additional storage would be to construct a 250,000 gallon ground storage tank on property that would need to be acquired from the Roberts family, right next to the existing 110,000 standpipe tank behind Ball Ground Baptist Church.

The existing clear well and pumps from the standpipe tank could be modified to also accept water flow from the new tank, ultimately increasing our storage capacity. We may also want to consider installing a 300,000 tank and simply take the standpipe tank out of service. Estimated cost would be in the vicinity of $300,000. SEEKING GRANT FUNDING

Install Sanitary Sewer North on Canton Highway (42)

This project is the lowest in priority according to our scoring method, however; it could also rise up the list very quickly in the event the possibility of a public/private partnership were to develop.

In order to accomplish this project we would need to acquire land from the Ball Ground United Methodist Church for the construction of a lift station. A force main would then run south along Canton Highway to the vicinity of Densmore Street. A gravity line would be installed north towards Holcomb Crossing on the east side of Canton Highway following the lowest terrain. Estimated cost is $750,000.

An alternative, if desired by private entities would be to install a small grinder pump station at the Holcomb Crossing shopping center and install a force main along Canton Highway back south to Densmore Street. Estimated cost would be approximately $250,000. This would need to be a private project since it would only serve one property.  
SCHEDULED FOR 2015

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