CITY OF MORROW, GEORGIA
Regular Council Meeting
July 12, 2005
PRESENT AT MEETING: ALSO PRESENT:
Jim Millirons, Mayor John Lampl, City Manager
Virlyn Slaton, Mayor Pro Tem
Thomas J. LaPorte, Councilman
Charles O. Sorrow, Councilman
Excused Absence C. R. Huie, Councilman
Mayor Millirons called the regular meeting of the Morrow City Council to order at 7:30 p.m. The meeting took place in the Council Chambers of the Morrow Municipal Complex, 1500 Morrow Road, Morrow, GA 30260. Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Councilman Sorrow gave the invocation.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Work Session - June 28, 2005
Regular Meeting - June 28, 2005
Councilman Sorrow made the motion to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Councilman Slaton. The motion passed unanimously.
PRESENTATION:
Morrow Department Heads for Fire, Police, Public Works, Emergency Communications, City Hall and Economic Development offered service information as it relates to the annexation and zoning of 1115 Mt. Zion Road. The proposed zoning classification of the property for annexation is General Business. The current Clayton County zoning is also General Business.
The Mayor turned the presentation over to the department heads and City Manager; John Lampl began by thanking everyone for coming and for the efforts made by the Department Heads for the process. Mr. Lampl pointed out that the property was listed on Mt Zion Road and explained that the City had a 100% annexation request from the individual property owner. It is a 42,633 square foot shopping center known as Aaron Rents and it is adjacent to the City. Most of the retail space in the center is either $12 or $13 per foot in terms of retail space. By comparison, on the other side of Mt. Zion (the other side of Hwy 54) is probably getting about $24 per square foot. This demonstrates a degree of functional obsolescence taking place.
City Manager Lampl regards the price per square foot as one of the main reasons the owner is seeking annexation into the City Limits. Ultimately the City is also interested for redevelopment purposes. Mr. Lampl explained that each Department Head is prepared to discuss what effect the annexation will have on the City and the City services and in some cases what opportunities we will have as a City and the unincorporated residence will have as well.
A view of the shopping center was displayed (see Annexation Presentation CD). Mr. Lampl pointed out that Mt. Zion was labeled on the map displayed. The property itself, he further discussed, was not the only thing targeted with this annexation. The road structure, the public right of way, will also be taken on both sides of the street. Also the cleared place on the back, the City anticipates picking up this piece as well, which means the City will provide public safety services for the streets and the street lighting and the other items which go along with that including maintenance.
Looking at the interests in terms of why one should be in a City vs. being in a County, for example, Morrow is famous for its code enforcement. Everyone knows the appreciation in property values has come along with that, whether residential or commercial. Traditionally we can state definitively that, whether residentially or commercially, properties in the City of Morrow will have a 20% higher value for resale than properties that are outside the City. It does not take very long to figure out why.
Just looking at a particular convenience store (see Annexation Presentation CD), you see major issues such as sign code violations. However, there are other problems. Mr. Lampl refers to the presentation: Looking at the curb as you are walking into the building you see that it has not been taken care of very well; The ADA handicap access; the garbage containers are in front of the building not screened from view. You have 100% impervious surface with no landscaping requirements. This will not help the property values improve.
Look behind buildings, in particular the old movie theater on Mt. Zion, behind Piccadilly. These are areas that have been forgotten, but they are still there. They are not vibrant from the standpoint of a retail space being used, but someone is obviously there. This is unincorporated Clayton County and the City of Morrow obviously does not patrol this, but somebody is behind the buildings creating a problem. This is definitely devaluing the adjacent properties and ultimately it is devaluing the properties within the City of Morrow. As a result, potential tenants, potential companies and potential businesses will not locate here.
Mr. Lampl goes on to illustrate certain attributes of the surrounding area. Understanding the surrounding area creates a working knowledge of what one has. Clayton County, he argues, allows disparities which cost residents. For example, Aaron Rents Center and the Floor Décor building share the same block. Though, because of the positioning of a bank on the corner of Kelly Avenue, the visibility of the Aaron Center is less valuable, in terms of real estate, than the exposed Floor Décor building. Yet, the County’s 2003 land value assessment has the Aaron Center valued at $886,500 with only 4.07 acres compared to the more visible, larger Floor Décor building valued at $306,000.
Not only is the Floor Décor property more visible, but it also has a larger area and a greater potential for versatile use. It is an industrial zoning but it has a retail use. Looking at it as an unincorporated resident or even as the City of Morrow the potential loss could be as much as $25,000 annually. There is greater frontage on the Floor Décor than the Bhole (Aaron) shopping center.
The industrial zoning should not secure less value. Even if land use differs, as you move closer to certain areas, land values increase. Even if the Floor Décor is industrial, it is located next to Southlake Mall, a predominant retail resource in this area. This is a dynamic the County should know, why then are they devaluing the property? This is one of the reasons we think annexing the Aaron Center will be in the owner’s best interest, but there are others.
We do not consider this to be the most vital economic retail use in this County. This is just outside of Morrow. When coming into that area on Mt. Zion, very few people could tell you that the property is not in Morrow’s City Limits. They think it is Morrow. By default that devalues the shopping district and ultimately devalues the property taxes collected and local option sales taxes collected and in the end off sets taxes collected for Clayton County, including those for the education system. That does not include the SPLOST projects for either recreational or educational purposes.
It even gets more interesting. The County is not paying attention to things to the point where even in the same shopping center a great disparity exists. In a building a couple of blocks down Mt. Zion, the left half which used to be the Brake-O, the All Brakes Auto Care sign has been temporarily in place for the better part of nine months. This left half has a property value of $222,000. The business on the right is operating a rim place which he puts out onto the front lawn. He has been summoned to Morrow’s court and arrested because he refused to appear. His land value is only $22,000.
Doing some quick math, it is easy to suggest someone displaced a zero in these values; the numbers are too convenient. The question is, “for how many years?” In this particular case the mistake has been made for several years and they lost $4,000 all in one shopping center. Interestingly, the business on the left is paying $4,884 in taxes the business on the right is paying $484. Again this illustrates that the County does not have a good idea of what is happening throughout the County.
Yet the City believes the main difference between the City of Morrow and Clayton County is leadership. You must have steady quality, knowing sometimes it will not be perfect. One must be willing to stay in for the long haul. Morrow has earned a fair share of awards given by outside agencies. We believe that it is not only in the best interests of Clayton County, but it is also in the best interests of the citizens of Morrow to annex this piece of property.
Mr. Lampl turned the presentation over to Jeff Eady, Public Works Director.
Mr. Eady wanted to review some of the reasons why the property’s best interests are to be located in the City of Morrow. Mr. Eady explained that the County’s Public Works department had a very diverse infrastructure but in Morrow our approach is different from the County.
The Morrow Public Works Department is separated into several categories, transportation, soft waste, parks & recreation, community development, equipment and vehicle maintenance. Insofar as transportation, Morrow strives to maintain rehabilitate and construct a network for public safety. This is done daily; that is the goal of the transportation side. We work to exceed customer expectations and provide high quality customer service. In the annexation area, we did an inspection on the roads. They are in decent shape except for two areas and these are where CTRAN stops.
In those two areas of the road, base failure is apparent. It is definitely going to need repair but a complete resurfacing is not necessary at this time. Also in transportation there is street maintenance, without a complete resurfacing Morrow Public Works takes care of right of way beautification, patch and sealing and regular sweeping. The benefits are two fold. First it is for aesthetics, it helps make a clean City and second it helps keep our drain boxes clean allowing for free water flow, unless 6 to 8 inches of rain fall within 6 hours.
We also provide street lighting for the area. They do have street lighting inside the 1115 area of Mt. Zion. Morrow would look to replace those lights with 400 watts floods to enhance the existing lighting. We would also provide pedestrian lighting; these are 150 watt fixtures and are strictly for the pedestrians that use the sidewalks. There is a bus stop in the area, but no accompanying sidewalks and it is needed desperately. The City pays the utility bill and Georgia Power handles the maintenance.
As mentioned earlier, Morrow does things differently and Mr. Eady offers two examples. One, the City has gotten away from the 11 foot galvanized U posts which cost approximately $17 and we moved to use a decorative traffic control post, or stop sign post. The City also uses these new posts on speed limit signs, regulatory signs, curb signs and any opportunity available to remove the old galvanized posts from the ground. Mr. Eady assured the audience that this replacement will not be found outside of the City of Morrow.
Mr. Eady further explained that Public Works has started using a mast arm doing away with wooden poles and concrete poles and wires and going with decorative mast arms lighted street name signs and matching ped heads for the pedestrian crossings. Again, he explained, not something seen outside our City Limits. Mr. Eady suggested that these efforts make a big difference in maintaining and in some cases raising property value.
On the Community Development side, this is where Public Works becomes involved in the development of new and the redevelopment of existing property. The word grandfathered has virtually been eliminated from the code and the City requires businesses to come into code when they meet given criteria, rental property with tenant change over and property ownership change over.
We work to make sure that the traffic flows as freely as possible. We can not cure the traffic problem, we have a lot of visitors, and we prepare for as many as 80,000 visitors daily. And that is how we have to start everyday. This amount of traffic keeps us on our toes.
Another point Mr. Eady highlighted is the construction inside the right of way, is first class. We will not take any short cuts or allow for any short cuts inside our right of way because it always comes back to haunt the City and we end up paying the bill.
As far as the solid waste management for 1115 Mt. Zion, the Public Works department will provide all solid waste management for each tenant space. One thing we will do, if tenants are in a current contract, as long as it does not exceed three years, we will let that contract expire. At the end of the contract we Morrow Public Works will take over the sanitation. Currently we handle about 99% of the City. Mr. Eady is sure the Morrow Public Works will do a much better job managing it. The will be offered green boxes anywhere from 2 yard to 8 yard containers.
Mr. Eady explained that the areas he reviewed show that it is in the best interest to 1115 Mt. Zion to be a part of our City. For example, there will not be multiple haulers going in and out of the property all the time. The Morrow Public Works will set up a schedule anywhere from 1 to 6 pickups. Our development guidelines and our Code Enforcement procedures are somewhat strict but it keeps are property values high.
Again, Morrow Public Works will install sidewalks and pedestrian lighting. They will make sure that the site receives upgrades and maintenance and the property will be included in the City’s beautification plan. Mr. Eady pointed out again that traffic mast arms are utilized and that particular intersection at Kelly Avenue and Mt. Zion was designed for that specific style of mast arm, as have all the intersections along Mt. Zion. It is a part of the SPLOST project which Jeff Metarko and Mr. Eady have been working on.
Mr. Eady said that monthly street sweeping in that area will be scheduled for aesthetics and drainage. Mr. Eady thinks this annexation is in the best interests because Morrow’s Public Works can take care of that corner. There are sections in that area down Kelly Avenue where Morrow has no jurisdiction and Morrow can, with out a doubt, do a better job.
Mayor Millirons asked Mr. Eady about the spots where CTRAN is tearing up the surface. Mr. Eady responded that they are approximately 50 yards past the driveway and curb cut. There is one on the right and the left side of the road and they can be attributed to CTRAN, they are right in front of the bus stops. Mr. Eady noted that those areas are something Public Works will make repairs on.
Mayor Millirons turned the presentation over to Katherine Capps, Director of Emergency Communications. Ms. Capps explained that the 911 Center, along with the rest of the City feels that the annexation is in the best interests of 1115 Mt. Zion because the Communications Center has been afforded cutting edge technology to stay ahead of the Clayton County 911 Center. The Morrow Emergency Communications Center provides services for GCIC, the Municipal Court, the work along side Public Works, Fire Department, EMS and the Police Department.
The Morrow 911 Center handles both the non emergency and emergency calls for service for both Morrow and Lake City. Contacts are also negotiated through Morrow for calls regarding animal control, water authority, traffic engineering and local code enforcement.
In 2004 Morrow’s 911 Center handles 54,877 calls for service. This is Police calls only. 14,000 of those calls were for the City of Lake City. There are only 38 calls for service at 1115 Mt. Zion Road. Ms. Capps assures that audience that the Morrow Emergency Communications Center can handle the additional 38 calls. Last year the Center handled 69,938 calls 18,000 were 911 emergency calls. There were only 2 emergency 911 calls from 1115 Mt. Zion Road in 2004.
From 1115 Mt. Zion Road, there were 35 police calls in 2004. Nineteen of those calls were alarms, 6 thefts, 2 disturbances, 1 auto accident, 3 stolen cars and 4 misc. calls for service. There were 3 EMS calls and no Fire calls. Ms. Capps explained that she could not determine whether or not these calls for service took place inside a business, in the parking lot or near the CTRAN stops.
Ms. Capps announced that all the call takers in Morrow’s 911 Center are EMD certified. There are only 5 Centers in the Metro Atlanta area that have 100% EMD certified call takers, Clayton County is not one of the 5. Morrow 911 Center has complied with Phase II wireless, down to only two carriers who are not compliant. With Phase II technology, a dispatcher can pin point where the caller is coming from. This enables faster response times.
The Comet Tracker is yet another feature installed in Morrow’s 911 Center which is not used at Clayton County. At any given moment the location of every police officer is illustrated on a Comet Tracker screen. This is advantageous to the officer if he/she is ever in need of help. This system also enables dispatchers to send the closest available unit to a service call. With this technology, response time for the Police Department has decreased.
The Morrow 911 center also provides public education. In 2004 these efforts were increased and hope to continue such enhancements working with the other Departments in Morrow. The Morrow 911 Center monitors GDOT traffic cameras in and around the City of Morrow. In addition, this center manages the early warning siren system for the City.
Katherine Capps turned the presentation over to the Fire Department, Chief Mark Herendeen.
Chief Herendeen pointed out that the Morrow Fire Department is only 1.6 miles from the property at 1115 Mt. Zion Road. The closest Clayton County Fire Department is 2.4 miles, located on Battle Creek. This station on Battle Creek is not equipped with EMS services. To offer full service to 1115 Mt. Zion, a paramedic engine would have to then dispatch an ambulance from a different location.
The City of Morrow’s average response time to emergency calls is 3.45 minutes. And 96% of the time we are on the scene within 7 minutes, this is for both non emergency and emergency calls. This is well below the National average. Our Emergency Medical Services in Morrow provides advanced cardio life support ambulance which is ACLS. We also response with ACLS certified engines. In 1996, Morrow was the first jurisdiction in the County to implement the use of Paramedics on Fire Engines.
The Fire Department staffing includes 9 person shifts with a seven man minimum. There are 2 engines, a 105 foot ladder truck, and a Command and Chief vehicle. Chief Herendeen lives inside the City Limits and will respond to all major incidents. The Morrow Fire Department has mutual aide agreements with City of Forest Park and surrounding area departments.
Morrow’s Fire Department has 29 full time employees which equates to 7.25 firefighters per square mile. That is a significant and good number. Clayton County, on the other hand has 221 full time employees which translates to 1 firefighter per 2.26 square miles. This just gives an idea of what we have to offer here in the City of Morrow. Morrow’s 29 firefighters translate to 1 firefighter for every 168 residents, an impressive number, explains Chief Herendeen. Clayton County has 221 full time employees which translate to 1 firefighter for every 1,027 residents. These numbers are taken from the 2000 Census data and since the numbers have increased in Morrow’s favor.
The City of Morrow Fire Department is funded 100% by the City’s General Fund. Clayton County if funded by the Cities for whom the provide coverage. That is, Cities pay a fee. The County’s EMS, however, is funded by the County’s General Fund. The County’s staff, like Morrow’s is cross trained.
Insurance ratings and ISO ratings, in the City of Morrow the Department has a rating of 4 and in Clayton County they have a rating of 3. Most insurance companies bracket 3 and 4 together. ISO ratings are what determines the amount of money a business and/or resident pays for home insurance and business insurance. Chief Herendeen poled 9 insurance companies who reported no difference in premium costs in a 3 and 4 rating.
The Morrow Fire Department can move 1700 gallons a minute. Morrow uses 100 gallon lines whereas Clayton County can only move 500 gallons minute. While Chief Herendeen can not explain why Clayton County uses such small lines, he points out that three of their lines will not carry has much water as one of Morrow’s. Chief Herendeen explains that this faster approach requires fewer people, less equipment and running so many lines requires more than one engine to get the job done.
Community involvement from the Morrow Fire Department includes company fire inspections, pre planning for businesses, business walk-throughs, giving fire fighters a lay out of the land and the ability of assessing hazards and hydrants. The Department offers fire extinguisher training for employees. If a company calls the Department and requests training, Morrow Fire Department goes to that business to administer training. The City of Morrow’s public safety prides itself on being involved with business concerns and working with the owners for a better tomorrow.
Chief Herendeen turned the presentation over to the Police Department.
The Morrow Police Department feels that it is in the best interest of any new business to move into the City. The Morrow Police Department had the first deployable CERT team in the state of Georgia. The CET, VIP and Citizens Corp volunteers serve as extra eyes and ears, supporting our public safety network.
Morrow Police Department is full service. Each officer in the Department has the skills to process a crime scene, no outside agencies are necessary. This Department does not take reports over the telephone, instead they respond personally to every call that comes in to the station or through emergency communications. Average response time to emergency calls is 3 minutes for non emergency calls is 7 minutes.
Based on the historical data for 1115 Mt. Zion Rd, the Police Department does not believe that the annexation of this property would significantly impact our services. In fact, this area is already incorporated in patrol routes as it is situated so close to the City Limits.
As a community service initiative upon request, officers conduct security and safety surveys of businesses, they will escort business owners and managers to the bank when making deposits and officers speak on topics such as Internet Safety, Identity Fraud, and Personal Safety to business and civic groups.
Morrow’s full time police force consists of 31 sworn officers. This represents 7.75 officers for every square mile in the City. Clayton County’s 221 sworn officers represent 1.85 officers per square mile throughout the county. Based on 2000 census data, our force represents 1 officer for every 158 residents. In Clayton County the officer resident ratio is 1 officer for every 873 residents.
The Department offers state of the art mobile data with GPS tracking for officer safety and business enforcement management. Officers are dispatched based on the unit that is closest to the call or incident location. The extensive use of technology in the Department and throughout the City led to receiving the TRENDSETTER award from Atlanta’s own Georgia Trend.
The Police Department turned the presentation over to Grant Wainscott.
An impressive study was completed by the Urban Land Institute in 2000. Tens of thousands of dollars were compiled by businesses throughout the region to put together summit, companies such as Delta, the Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Power, Universities, Counties and Cities. This effort was put together to compile and present information to the Nation’s premiere land development and redevelopment institute.
Mr. Wainscott pointed out that from this study, when they specifically addressed the Southern Crescent and the I-75 corridor; they said that we have dramatically underdeveloped and not taken advantage of the world’s busiest passenger airport. The airport is absolutely at our back door. And the North of I-20, South of I-20 disparities can really be changed with responsible development geared toward several attributes, including an increase in responsible warehouse traffic and some wholesale components.
Mr. Wainscott pointed out two items in particular. The study stated that local jurisdictions should seek out ways to use the airport market as an economic generator and then went on to say that likely tenants are airport related businesses; possibly import export and international firms. Mr. Wainscott explains that this information is important,
as Morrow needs to be able to justify long term redevelopment strategies. Mr. Wainscott submitted for the record a copy of the referenced ULI study, entitled Metro Atlanta Southern Crescent.
From this study Morrow developed several concepts which were addressed in Morrow’s Comprehensive Plan. In mid 2004, the Comprehensive Plan was adopted and in that plan the Land Use plan discusses the City’s intent for annexation. This illustrates that these annexations are not new information. This information has been shared with the County and the incoming Chairman. The Comprehensive Plan was exposed through several Public Hearings, all recorded in minutes.
In the Comprehensive Plan, Mr. Wainscott noted, the City of Morrow stated that there would be a balance of development patterns, annexation of commercial and industrial property planned along the north, east and south City Limits. This exemplifies a history of planning for this type of progress and this is really a proactive step. It takes time to devise a complete annexation plan and redevelopment plans. Mr. Wainscott submitted the City’s Land Use Element from the Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Wainscott also introduced an Economic Development Plan entitled, Morrow: The Time is Now. This document took into account the goals set forth in the Comprehensive Plan what to do in terms of economic development, specifically in regards to redevelopment opportunities. This document takes into account new concepts and new study areas, the Gateway Village and other sections which are well underway. These current projects represent a couple millions dollars in economic development, planning which began 6 years ago, now we need to plan for the future.
In the document, Morrow clearly laid out an economic development strategy and identified various components including an international wholesale district. Morrow has over a million and a half feet of warehouse space between Mt. Zion and Hwy 54, toward Commerce Drive and onto Tara Boulevard. A significant portion of this space predates other development areas along Mt. Zion. Morrow has really seen a shift in shopping and employment patterns and residential patterns. The warehouse district is half empty and are difficult to fill because the use for the space is longer relevant.
Morrow wants to find a way to redevelop this area. With more than 3 million square feet of retail in our district already, building additional standard retail does not make sense. We need to protect our existing business and come up creative ways to diversify our economy. Morrow will take that creative approach and capitalize on the ULI study and other studies to redevelop that warehouse space. We identified an international wholesale retail district that could target the more than 60,000 shoppers a day who come into this district. This would really be unique to the Southside of town, even in Atlanta. Most global cities have some type of international wholesale district.
A key piece to developing the wholesale retail district is the Aaron Rents Center. This was identified approximately 75 days ago. Mr. Wainscott submitted a booklet entitled Aaron Rents Shopping Center, Morrow’s Next Strategic Move. The booklet analyzes the facility which could easily turn from what is not a particularly high and best use to even a worse use. Mr. Lampl showed slides of shopping centers just down the road from Aaron Rents and these pictures show poor conditions which 1115 Mt. Zion will face if we are not careful.
Mr. Wainscott explained that the Center has 20,000 square feet of underutilized space. The City is not interested in having neighboring businesses which detract from the region. 1115 Mt. Zion was identified, with the owner’s help, as needing support and to do that we need to bring in under the authority of the City and work on code enforcement issues and work on cleaning it up.
Referring to a slide (see Annexation Presentation CD), Mr. Wainscott pointed out the tell-tale signs that what was once a vibrant shopping center has become a low end office center; the pavement cracking, no trees, no shrubs, dead grass and poor lighting. The owner is asking for our assistance to help bring the value of his center back up to where it needs to be.
The CTRAN stop is merely a hole in the ground. There are no seats, there is no cover. On any given day one can see turned over shopping carts, beer bottles and it is difficult to determine what the people are waiting for at the bus stop. Mr. Wainscott has observed buses come and go and several people at the stop never get on, they are just congregating.
This proposed annexation is all a part of a broader redevelopment move launched by the City a year ago. This movement is designed to bring new life into the Southlake Mall district. Inside the mall there is 1.1 million square feet and another half a million square feet outside the mall. There have been grander days for this district and the City wants to get back there again. Things are still strong but they could be a whole lot stronger. Businesses such as the thrift store, Title Max and pawn shops, these are the things which are detracting from our ability to attract quality clients. No matter whom the shopper is. Demographics do not factor into these decisions, socioeconomics factor in and what your community looks like. This is not about race, it is about economics.
Mr. Wainscott is sure that everyone agrees we can do a better job highlighting our positives. In order to do that, the Southlake Mall redevelopment plan is a vital plan which represents about 25,000,000 of redevelopment around the mall itself. Entertainment districts, museums, sporting complexes, board walks and lake redevelopment, this is an impressive plan to help bring visitors, residents and shoppers back to the district. We are planning something that no one else in the region will offer. Even in Henry County, if they are building a mall, they will not build an entertainment, maybe a small movie theater.
We can do better than that, within 18 to 24 months we can build a phenomenal entertainment district. This district will draw hundreds of thousands of people into our area. This is not just theory, this is real progress. As of this morning, the former Lewis Welch Oldsmobile dealership has been taken down. The Development Authority acquired this property approximately 90 days ago, or even 60 days ago. And within 60 days the City put together a plan, knocked the building down and is now remarketing the property. The City already has hotel and restaurant interest. Mr. Wainscott explained that these were not extended stay hotels and wing houses but vibrant real businesses bringing economic opportunities and jobs back to the area.
The City of Morrow has worked well with the Clayton Development Authority in the past and last year they highlighted the 7 major projects they are working on. The Southside Hartsfield revitalization and stabilization plan, Mountain View, Forest Park LCI, Gateway Village, Jonesboro LCI, Upper Riverdale Road Corridor or River Walk and Hidden Lakes which was an apartment complex. This demonstrates that the Southlake Mall area is not a priority area when they established their priority districts. That means the City has got to take care of this. This is a critical issue.
Mr. Wainscott submitted the Lewis Welch Property flyer and the Redevelopment Plan for Southlake Mall for the record.
The Mayor thanked Grant and then asked for public comments regarding the presentation and the intention of the City.
There was no comment.
The Mayor went on the state some of the differences between Municipalities and County governments.
Some three years ago a non profit organization and volunteer experts from around the country traveled at their expense to draft an assessment of the local government and the travel corridor from the airport to the Morrow area. The County Economic Development got nervous and started calling the ULI people to say we weren’t interested in the study and expressed some anxiety that they were instead trying to take over the county. The conduct was very unprofessional and in the end we never saw a final report on the area.
If the County had gotten the report and come together with its municipalities to seek out the best of the report, who knows where we could be today? Those experts could have taught us some important information. This just shows how uncertainty can cost you. The Mayor believed these actions hurt the County and Morrow was disappointed that it happened. Even the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce had given $75,000 seed money to initiate the project. Morrow thought such a project showed that we were on the move.
Morrow has been proceeding on its own, well before and ever since the corridor study was put to an end. The Mayor explained that Morrow will make it alone if that is what it takes.
The Mayor thanked the Department Heads for their presentations.
City Manager John Lampl spoke again adding, for the public record, property details for an acre of property on Personal Boulevard, 1019 Mt. Zion Rd., 1115 Mt. Zion Road and 1056 Personal Place, all located in Clayton County, Georgia. Also for the record a full listed of the warehouse district which lists every single piece of property as it is listed by the County Tax Assessor’s Office in 2003, who the owner was and how those comparables actually stack up. The Clayton County 2005 annual budget was also submitted as well as the Clayton County June 30, 2004 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report detailing certain points, specifically as it refers the County Fire Funds, highlighting salaried wages. In their original budget, the County budgeted $10,608,982. Lampl noted, in the district for EMS, which all municipalities pay for, the amount is $3,369,870 representing anywhere between 20% and 30% of their employee base. So the theory that the City does not pay its fair share is not warranted; we pay for and expect services.
The Mayor commented that if you look you see that all of us [cities] contribute to the County’s general fund.
The Mayor asked for comments from the Council on the presentation. City Manager Lampl noted that the Power Point presentation would be submitted for the public record as well. There were no comments from the Council.
PUBLIC HEARING:
Morrow held a Public Hearing for the tax rate for calendar year 2005, establishing the gross millage for maintenance and operation at Nine (9) mils, less the rollback of Five (5) mils for Local Option Sales Tax, leaving a net millage for maintenance and operation purposes set at Four (4) mils.
The Mayor explained the millage rate and asked for public comment. There was no comment.
OLD BUSINESS:
Item 1: Second Reading of Ordinance 2005-05 regulating the use of shopping carts in the City of Morrow.
Councilman Sorrow made a motion to approve the ordinance, seconded by Councilman Slaton. The motion passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
Item 1: First Reading of Ordinance 2005-06, establishing the gross millage for maintenance and operation at Nine (9) mils, less the rollback of Five (5) mils for Local Option Sales Tax, leaving a net millage for maintenance and operation purposes set at Four (4) mils.
The Mayor explained that this is the first reading of Ordinance 2005-06 and therefore no action is required.
Item 2: First Reading of Ordinance 2005-07, indicating the intention of the City of Morrow to annex property pursuant to Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The proposed zoning classification of the property upon annexation is General Business. The current Clayton County zoning is General Business.
The Mayor explained that this is the first reading of Ordinance 2005-06 and therefore no action is required. The Mayor further explained that there were copies of each ordiance available.
COMMENTS:
City Manager -
Announced that the Planning and Zoning Board would meet Tuesday July 19 to hear the zoning issues which were addressed during tonight’s presentation.
Mayor Millirons adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm.
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JIM MILLIRONS, MAYOR
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VIRLYN SLATON, MAYOR PRO TEM
________________EXCUSED ABSENCE_______________
C. R. HUIE, COUNCILMAN
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THOMAS J. LaPORTE, COUNCILMAN
__________________________________ _____________
CHARLES O. SORROW, COUNCILMAN
ATTEST:
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Sylvia Redic, City Clerk