Douglasville City Council Meeting

CITY OF DOUGLASVILLE

CITY COUNCIL

Legislative Work Session

January 31, 2008

7:30 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Call to Order

2. Invocation

3. Pledge of Allegiance

4. Public Safety Committee/Dennis McLain

a. Request for an alcohol beverage license for Sakura Sushi & Grill, LLC, DBA Sakura Sushi & Grill for the on premises sale and consumption of wine and malt beverages at 4900 Stewart Mill Road, Suite J. Application by Laiyu Zheng.

b. Adopt an ordinance to amend Sections 2-132 and 2-133 of the Administration Ordinance to authorize the Municipal Court Solicitor and all City Attorneys to settle pending bond forfeiture matters with bonding companies for not less than five percent of the face bond amount, plus court costs.

c. Adopt an ordinance to amend Subsection 18-78(a) of the Animals Ordinance to prohibit outdoor tethering of certain animals.

d. Adopt a resolution to declare as surplus property the Glock .22 caliber handgun, serial number KHG992, assigned to Deputy Police Chief Don Walker, now retired, and authorize the Police Chief to present it to said former City police officer.

5. Community & Economic Development Committee/John Schildroth

a. Consider an appointment to the Retail Industry, Post 1 position on the City's Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board for a two-year term extending through December 31, 2009.

b. Adopt a resolution supporting the observance of Career and Technical Education Week in Douglasville and Douglas County on February 11 - 15, 2008.

6. Planning & Zoning Committee/Dennis McLain

a. Refer to the City Zoning Board a proposed ordinance to amend various sections of the Zoning Ordinance to provide for stream buffers and related matters.

b. Refer to the City Zoning Board a proposed ordinance to amend Section 3.53.01 of the

Zoning Ordinance to require brick facades on new commercial structures and to revise other requirements for building exterior finishes.

7. Parks & Recreation Committee/Roy Mims

a. Consider a resolution pertaining to the 2008 use of City Parks and Recreation Department facilities by the Douglasville Tiger Cubs Football program.

b. Adopt a resolution to provide for appointment of league representatives and at-large members to the City's Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.

8. Finance Committee/Henry Mitchell III

9. Information Technology Committee/Henry Mitchell III

10. Maintenance & Sanitation Committee/Callye B. Holmes

a. Authorize the City Sanitation Department to conduct the Spring Citywide Cleanup Week on Monday, April 21, through Thursday, April 24, 2008, for residential sanitation service customers at no additional cost to said customers.

11. Transportation Committee/Charles Banks

a. Authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement with Adams Turf Care, Inc., for installation of a buffer adjacent to a section of Chapel Hill Road north of Chapel Crossing at the rear of certain properties fronting on Wellbrook Court.

b. Authorize the City Manager to advertise for and receive bids on the Chapel Hill Road/Timber Ridge Drive intersection improvements and on Chapel Hill Road traffic signal upgrades at the intersections with Timber Ridge Drive, Arbor Place Boulevard, and Stewart Mill Road.

c. Authorize the City Attorney to file condemnation on parcel number 10 of the City's Bright Star Road Connector Project, consisting of 1.85 acres of real property and 74,856.24 square feet of construction easements.

d. Authorize the City Manager to advertise for and receive bids for the construction of the Bright Star Road Connector Project, from Georgia Highway 5 to Bright Star Road.

e. Reappoint George Boulineau and Francis Pelletier as citizen members of the Douglasville - Douglas County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for terms extending through January 31, 2010.

12. Personnel & Organization Committee/Roy Mims

a. Revise the job description for the position in the City Maintenance Department responsible for supervising the City's Sidewalk Crew.

13. Ordinances & Intergovernmental Committee/John Schildroth

14. Education & Training Committee/Terry Miller

15. Other Business

a. Announcement by the Mayor that the annual State of the City address to be presented during the Monday, February 4, City Council meeting.

16. City Attorney/Joel Dodson

17. Chief Assistant City Attorney/Suzan Littlefield

18. City Manager/Bill Osborne

19. Comments from Citizens and Delegates

Write For This Blog!

As you can tell I have had less and less time to work on this blog.  I am a college student and this semester I have three classes and 14 credit hours, which is two hours above full-time.  I also drive to two different campuses four times a week for afternoon classes.

If you can write about local politics (even politics on a national level), local crime, local happenings, post a comment to this blog with your email address.  All you have to do is create a Word Press account (it's free) and then I'll send you an invite to be a contributor.  I'm mainly looking for someone to cover news and crime--I wish I could, but I really don't have the time this semester.  I'm also looking for several people to do police scanner reports like I have done in the past.  That's where the news really comes from, since the Sentinel tends not to report some crimes.  I can't afford to pay anyone--this is on a volunteer basis.

The Sentinel

Today's top news in the Sentinel:  the fact that the county is prepared if the storm hits.  Well, this is putting the cart AFTER the horse, in my opinion.  This should have been in Tuesday's paper, not in the paper the day AFTER the storm has come and gone.  This just shows that they need to extend their deadline time.  I believe, at least last year, it was around 4pm because the next day's articles would be on the website around 5:30pm. 

And the fact that people have to register to read the free articles on their website just shows they don't want people reading them and then making comments.  I made a comment to an article a couple of weeks back and it was never posted.

The Clayton Tribune in Clayton, GA has the same type of website as the Sentinel does, with the pictures on the front page and allows people to comment on each article--and there is no registration required to view articles or to comment.  And people comment on almost every article.

I am predicting that not many people have registered for the Sentinel's service.  I did, but cancelled my free subscription as soon as they emailed me an offer to subscribe.  I think they're doing this because people are cancelling their paper subscriptions and just reading the online articles.

Any comments?

Tomorrow's BOC Meeting Agenda

Note the county is not giving up on a library in the Fairplay community--good for them.  I say they should convert the former Bill Arp Elementary School into a library.

WORK SESSION AGENDA

JANUARY 14, 2008

10:00 A.M. – BOARD ROOM

CITIZENS’ INPUT

PRESENTATIONS/DEPARTMENT UPDATES

1. Georgia Flag Project (Charles Kraulter, Atlanta Regional Commission)

(Commission Meeting Only)

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2. Regular Commission Meeting of January 3, 2008

RESOLUTIONS

3. Supporting the Creation of a Second State Court Judge for Douglas County

4. Supporting Redevelopment Powers for Douglas County

5. Supporting a Statewide Sales Tax for Transportation

6. Supporting Funding for a New Library in the Fairplay/Bill Arp Community

7. Supporting a Regional Water Solution

8. Supporting a Study Committee to Consider Tax Reform

9. Supporting Funding for Sweetwater Creek State Park

10. Supporting the Parent Protection Act

11. Setting Qualification Fees for the 2008 Primary and General Election

PUBLIC HEARING

12. To consider changes to Chapter 5 (Animals and Fowl), Article I - Section 5-2

(Definitions), and Article IV (Restraint) - Section 5-42 (Confinement of

Animals) of the Douglas County Code of Ordinances. (Legal)

BUSINESS

13. Approval of agreement for legal non-conforming status for a used car lot.

(Legal)

14. Reappointment of Evindi, Inc. as the trainer for It’s the Law Alcohol Compliance Training and Responsible Alcohol Sales & Service Workshops (RASS) for Douglas County. (Beverly)

15. The Juvenile Services Department has been awarded an additional $7,500 from the Council of Juvenile Court to purchase psychological evaluation services and drug screening kits for the grant cycle year of October 1, 2007– September 30, 2008. No matching funds are required. Authorize Chairman to sign contract and approve budget amendments. (Jenny)

DISCUSSION ITEMS – BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

16. Appointment to Library Board.

17. Appointments to Tourism and History Commission.

18. Appointments to Development Authority Board of Directors.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS

New Restaurants Coming To Douglas County

A possible Chinese or Japanese restaurant at 4040 Chapel Hill Road
Tony's Mexican Grill at 4040 Chapel Hill Road (this is also for  Beer and Wine License)
New Orleans Po-Boys at 2355 Skint Chestnut Drive in Lithia Springs
Also the Irish Bred Pub will be opening at the beginning of March--they're hiring now.

Anyone know any others?  Post a comment!

Police Scanner

8:40pm Zone Patrol for loud party/music.
8:49pm Accident with injuries Bankhead and Thornton Road.  Car in road.  EMS enroute.
8:55pm Officer asking dispatcher to notify Cobb police that traffic light at Six Flags and Riverside Drive is out.
8:56pm Accident at Six Flags I-20 on ramp.
8:59pm Two by name & DOB.
9:21pm Assault reported.  Suspect has fled scene.
9:23pm Business alarm.  Keyholder will be notified.
9:34pm Residential alarm.
9:36pm Be on the lookout for intoxicated driver on I-20 eastbound passing Post Road.
9:38pm Intoxicated driver approaching Hwy 5 exit.
9:44pm Person can't get out of car because large dog is right outside.
9:46pm 10-28
9:49pm 10-27
9:51pm Someone threw a beer bottle at someone's car in a gas station on Chapel Hill Road.
9:52pm Business alarm.

Carjacking Incident Article In Sentinel

I was a little surprised to see this article was not included in the online version of the paper--but as all of the online paper was positive news, maybe they didn't want to put a negative story online for all to see.  But I think they should have.  Here's the article in its entirety:

Teen carjacking suspect arrested
By Bobby Moore
Staff Writer

An armed carjacking Sunday night near Fairburn Road resulted in the arrest of one juvenile suspect following a car chase down Interstate 20, according to Maj. Oliver Fladrich of the Douglasville Police Department.

Fladrich said around 7 p.m. a 64 year-old man arrived at Flagview Mobile Home Park to feed some cats.

While at the mobile home park, he was carjacked by four meen Fladrich described as young black males.

More than one of the suspects was described as wearing a long coat, officials said, and they allegedly had an automatic pistol in their possession. (Editor's Note: Why say allegedly when officers say themselves on the scanner that they DO have a gun??)

After taking the victim's 1994 Buick Park Avenue, the suspects got on I-20 East, where they were spotted by units from the police department and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Fladrich said.  The chase continued down the interstate until the suspects were apprehended near Six Flags in Cobb County.  (Editor's Note: This sentence is incorrect.  Only ONE was apprehended.)

When the stolen vehicle was stopped, three of the suspects fled (Editor's note: Actually ALL of them fled, because the officer that caught the suspect that was arrested was out of breath and was chasing him through the woods, from what I can decipher from the scanner.), but one 16-year-old suspect was arrested.  Fladrich said.  (Editor's note: This must have been written in a hurry, because that was how it was written.)

No one was hurt during the carjacking, and Fladrich said no cars were sideswiped during the chase.

Editor's Note: Most newspaper articles are about 500 words.  This one was a little more than 320 words.