CITY OF MORROW, GEORGIA
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
March 9, 2004
PRESENT AT MEETING: ALSO PRESENT:
Jim Millirons, Mayor John J. Lampl, II, City Manager
Thomas
J. LaPorte, Mayor pPro tTem
C. R. Huie, Councilman
Virlyn Slaton, Councilman
Charles O. Sorrow, Councilman
Mayor Jim 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 - February 24, 2004
Regular Meeting - February 24, 2004
Councilman Slaton made the motion to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Councilman Huie. The motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
None.
NEW BUSINESS:
Item 1: Recognition of Firefighter/Paramedic Patrick Kelly who has returned to the Morrow Fire Department after serving one year active duty in the National Guard as a flight medic on medical helicopters in Texas[RA1]
City of Morrow
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting
March 9, 2004
Page 2
Mayor
Millirons introduced Mr. Kelly and told him how proud
everyone isexpressed the City’s pride for
of his dedication to the country.,
and that wWe
are glad to have him home and back with our Fire Department.
Item 2: Parking deck RFQ candidates presented by Sylvia Redic
Ms. Redic
explained that the acronym RFQ means Request for
Qualifications. Five RFQ’s were submitted The
process for the design phase of the parking deck located on
the Living Center Initiative property on Jonesboro along
Highway 54 within the LCI propertyRoad. was
initiated in early February. Five proposals were
submitted. The major concerns criteria considered
in the selection process were the firm’s experience
of the firm, the design time-line, the cost of the design, and being
able to meeting the qualifications offrom
the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Ms.
Redic gave a powerpoint
presentation detailing the five firms who
submitted RFQs with
Pond & Company being the one
chosen.
Transportation, Ms. Redic presented PowerPoint slides detailing each submission and explaining why Pond & Company was the staff’s recommendation.
Councilman Huie made a motion to approve the contract with Pond & Company, seconded by Councilman Sorrow. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 3: Sylvia Redic update on the Comprehensive Plan’s progress
Ms. Redic defined the Comprehensive Plan as a document mandated
by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs which providesing
a concise statement of objectives, policies, and guidelines for implementing
the cCity’s
goals. It is the foundation for the cCity’s
planning and will serve as a general guide for the Mayor and Council, Planning and Zoning Board, City
staff, and the citizens of Morrow. It is comprised of eight general elements: pPopulation,
eEconomic
dDevelopment,
nNatural
and cCultural
rResources,
cCommunity
Ffacilities
and sServices,
hHousing,
lLand uUse,
iIntergovernmental
cCoordination,
and tTransportation.
Four of the eight sections are complete, two are near completion, and two are in
the developmental stages. Ms. Redic is confident the June deadline of
for submission to the Atlanta Regional
Commission will be met. One arm of the Plan is the Short Term Work Program
which discusses the City’s goals of the next five
years along with major actions,
time frames,
City of Morrow
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting
March 9, 2004
Page 3
estimated
costs, and responsible
parties for the
next five years. Major actions,
their time frames, estimated costs and responsible party. Each department
has completed their portion and 90 % of
it has been entered into Plan Builder which is the Department
of Community Affair’s
tool for the cComprehensive
pPlan
document. This portion is expected to be completed Bby
the end of March 100%.
Item 4:
Update on Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Ggrant
presented by Sylvia Redic
In dec
December, 2003,
Morrow received $16,000 award
from the Governor’s office in
the amount of $16,000 targeted for the purchase of a radar
trailer. While displaying a picture of the trailer, Ms. Redic
explained intentions to place
the trailer throughout the City,The
trailer has been received. Showed a picture. collecting
and storing It
speaks to a growing and continuous concern for the public speeding through
residential areas. We intend to place it throughout the neighborhoods
periodically. Ddata
which willcan be
collectedanalyzed
to help reduce through
sophisticated instrumentation to show if it has
effect on speeding, especially in
residential areas.
Mayor
Millirons said Ms. Redic is a very capable and relentless
worker. She has been a
- Sylvia great addition to the staff of
the City of Morrow, and we.
Relentless worker, are
very capable and glad to have her.
Item 5: Approval of Memorandum of Understanding between Clayton College and State University Board of Regents and the City of Morrow Pursuant to the Georgia Mutual Aid Act
Councilman Huie
made a motion to accept the memorandum,
and was seconded
by Councilman Slaton. The motion passed vote
to approve was unanimously.
Item 6:
Resolution 2004-01 to enter into and
Intergovernmental Contract with Clayton County
and the Clayton County Development Authority for the
construction of the hotel conference center
Councilman Sorrow made a motion to accept the resolution, seconded by Councilman Slaton. The vote was unanimous for approval.
City of Morrow
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting
March 9, 2004
Page 4
Item 7: Resolution 2004-02 pledging the City of Morrow to participate in the cost of operating and maintaining the rail line scheduled to operate between Macon and Atlanta, starting in 2009 on an incremental basis and beginning in full in 2011
Mayor Millirons
statedexplained
that this pledge
sayings the
City we will help if needed in
the event . Aa
short fall occurs in
funds to cover operation and maintenance of
the rail line. is expected but he
predicts the City will not have to contribute funds after
state legislation is completed.
The motion
to approve the resolution was made by Councilman Sorrow and seconded by
Councilman Huie. The vote tomotion passed
approve was unanimously.
Mayor
Millirons stated that Tthe
governor Governor has
asked for an audience this week with the Mayors’s
of the cities and counties involved involved
in the rail line.on
Thursday of this week. Morrow has been designated as the
coordinator of a detailed
booklet which will include and
letter with bearing each
Mayor’s signature pledging their respective city’s support
for their share. for
the operation and maintenance of the future
commuter rail. He gave his appreciation to the City Hall staff
for putting together the presentation.
Item 8:
Resolution 2004-03 imposing a Moratorium on the issuance of sign permits for freestanding
signs and billboards within the incorporated city limits of Morrow, Georgia, for four (4) months; to provide
for exceptions; to establish and
effective date; and for other purposes
The motion
to adopt approve
the resolution was made by Council Huie and seconded by Councilman Sorrow. The
votemotion passed
to approve was unanimously.
Item 9: Announcement: Due to no agenda items, the Planning and Zoning meeting of March 16, has been cancelled
COMMENTS:
Citizens - None
City of Morrow
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting
March 9, 2004
Page 5
City Manager – John Lampl expressed his appreciation to Sylvia Redic, Joyce Bean, and Renee Abernathy for their long hours of work over the past few weeks on the various vital projects in which the City is now involved.
COMMENTS:
Citizens - None
City Manager – John Lampl
expressed his appreciation to Sylvia Redic, Joyce Bean, and Renee Abernathy for
their long hours of work over the past few weeks
Mayor and Council – No comments.None
There was no further business; Mayor Jim Millirons adjourned the meeting at 7:56 p.m.
_______________________________________________
JIM MILLIRONS, MAYOR
_______________________________________________
THOMAS J. LaPORTE, MAYOR PRO TEM
_______________________________________________
C. R. HUIE, COUNCILMAN
_______________________________________________
VIRLYN SLATON, COUNCILMAN
________________________________________________
CHARLES O. SORROW, COUNCILMAN
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Renee Abernathy, City Clerk