CITY OF MORROW, GEORGIA
Regular Council Meeting
September 13, 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
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 - August 23, 2005
Regular Meeting - August 23, 2005
Councilman Sorrow made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Councilman LaPorte. The motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING:
It is the intention of the City of Morrow to annex property (1241 Mt. Zion Road) 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.
Mayor Millirons addresses the audience and asked for comment. There were no comments from the public.
PRESENTATION:
The Mayor turned the floor over to the Department Heads to present information pertaining to the above public hearing. City Manager, John Lampl, began by thanking everyone for coming and for the efforts made by the Department Heads during the process.
John Lampl, City Manager
Presentation
The different departments will make a presentation to explain to our citizens why annexing 1241 Mt Zion Rd is in the best interest of the city and ultimately in the best interests of this County. Currently it is the Last Chance Thrift Store, but Morrow remembers it better as the old Circuit City building. The property is located on Mt Zion Road and around it is an abandoned movie theater at the end of Green Industrial Way. On the corner is Piccadilly. Looking at property values along that corridor and why it is in our interest to get involved, it seems clear. Up the street at the food mart there are serious violations in regards to the City’s sign code and we have to look at what that actually does and how it affects our property and property values.
At the property behind 1241 Mt. Zion, the abandoned movie theater, there is an increasing amount of graffiti and it has decreased the value of the property and allowed activity to take place that no one would appreciate, not only on their property but in their City. We see the broken window theory take effect and have negative impacts in the community.
Looking at the property we just annexed up the street, thinking specifically as a tax payer, we find that valuations have already been modified but are not correct on two adjacent pieces of property. Property which sits right behind the recently annexed 1115 Mt. Zion Rd. is listed for a lesser value of $45,000 and therefore loses $25,000 in tax value. One has to ask why that is happening.
This does not prove to be an anomaly in the area insofar as the decisions which are decreasing the property value along the corridor. Some of the business owners are not conducive to a large retail market. This retail market is what the City of Morrow, the school system and Clayton County itself relies on to pay the bills. The school system is at 18 mils, the County at 4 and the City of Morrow at 4 mils.
We can see the value decreasing, these stores are not National chains, Subway probably will not open next door. There is a better chance of seeing a tattoo parlor or some other similar business at $6 or $5 a foot than the businesses on the other end of Mt. Zion across from the new movie theater who are paying $24 per foot.
There is one building heading toward 1941, where there are two owners. One is a Brake shop and the other owner has a different business and yet one business is valued at less than the other, which costs approximately $4,000 in tax value. Mr. Lampl explained that an important but missing component is stable leadership. The loss of leadership in the County’s political structure has been a catastrophe. To consistently lose both the institutional and intellectual knowledge is not helping this County.
City Manager Lampl turned the presentation over to Public Works Director, Jeff Eady.
Jeff Eady, Public Works Director
Presentation
Mr. Eady reminded the audience that he has been with Morrow since 1982. The Public Works department has done a lot of work around Morrow. Every City has a Public Works department and every City has a different take on how to get the job done. Morrow divides the department into several groups.
First, there is the transportation system where the staff works to maintain, rehabilitate and construct a road network to promote the economy and enhance the quality of life. Public Works does street resurfacing as needed on a valuation basis. We receive funds from both the State government and the Mayor and Council. In Morrow there are between 26 and 27 miles of street that Public Works maintains.
Public Works is also responsible for drainage maintenance, street and right of way beautification, lighting, trees, shrubs, sweeping, patching, street sealing, storm water drainage maintenance and repair. Referring to a slide in the presentation, Mr. Eady pointed out that the street lights used cost around $3,500 and further explained that in the City’s redevelopment guidelines the purchasing of the lights in the responsibility of the developer. Mr. Eady noted that there are roughly 500 of these street lights throughout the City, all the responsibility of Public Works.
Morrow invests in a lot of upgrades and Mr. Eady suggests that in this area, the City separates itself from our neighbors. Most stop sign posts are galvanized posts costing $20, the decorative posts, not the galvanized posts, are what Morrow uses as standard. Also, the decorative mast arms are used for street lighting, rather than the wooden poles with span wires. While decorative, these products are safer and more durable. The Meadowbrook intersection with its signage and lighting cost approximately $75,000 and this really adds value to the City.
Mr. Eady went on to describe the Public Works’ involvement in community development. Many initiatives flow through Public Works for review, inspection and permitting during the construction process. The department also enhances public safety by ensuring that water flows are as good as they can be minimizing environmental impacts, especially in regard to storm water.
Another division within Public Works is Solid Waste Management. Public Works collects, transfers, disposes and recycles all while complying with state laws. There are collections of disposables requested by the customer as well residential collections “twice a week back door” a fairly rare occurrence these days. Most have moved to curb side collection. Commercially there are 4 to 8 yard green boxes plus construction containers. These are all serviced as needed by the customer. Public Works waste collection runs from Monday through Saturday.
Public Works believes it is in the best interest of the City to annex 1241 Mt. Zion, “for all practical purposes, we are there already”, Mr. Eady suggests. The City is up and down Mt. Zion Rd. and maintains Mt. Zion Rd. and the City has between a $450,000 and $500,000 invested in Mt. Zion Rd. including beautification, pavers, maintaining the islands and the first 80 street lights are Georgia Power grade pedestrian fixtures.
Morrow does have strict development guidelines, separating ourselves from other cities. These are dealt with through strict enforcement of our codes. Our sidewalk pedestrian lighting with site upgrades for redevelopment is another reason Morrow has higher standards than those around us. Morrow sweeps the streets monthly to keep streets clean and to keep the storm water system free of debris.
Public Works Director Jeff Eady turned the presentation over to Katherine Capps, Emergency Communications Director.
Katherine Capps, Emergency Communications Director
Presentation
Emergency Communications is a part of the public safety system, Police Fire and EMS and also provide services to Public Works, the Court and GCIC. As Ms. Capps explained, the Emergency Communications Center handles emergency and non emergency calls for both Morrow and Lake City’s public safety networks. We facilitate notifications to Code Enforcement, Public Works, Traffic Engineering, Water Authority and Animal Control if needed.
In the previous year, Morrow’s Emergency Communications Center took 54,877 calls for service. 36,000 of these calls were for the Morrow Police Department. The Center handled 69,938 phone calls last year, 18,846 were calls on 911. The question stands, “How will the annexation affect Emergency Communications?”
Twenty eight calls came in from 1241Mt. Zion last year. Forty seven of these calls were police related. Two alarms, one auto theft, two hit and runs, one armed robbery, four disturbances, one vandalism and 16 general calls for service. The Fire Department handled one EMS call in the previous year at the address 1241 Mt. Zion, a person injured, no further call data is available.
Ms. Capps suggests that Morrow Emergency Communications is prepared to handle to calls generated by this business. All Communication Officers in the Center are POST certified and are all certified as Emergency Medical Dispatchers. The EMD certifications come out of the National Academy which ranks among the highest levels of training. Morrow is one of five centers in the Metro Atlanta area whose entire Communication Officer staff is certified EMD operators.
Morrow’s Center houses some of the industries leading technology. Among these are enhanced 911, which reports the business and telephone numbers as calls come in. There is also the GEO links, which provides telephone numbers to wireless callers and gives location data on where a call is coming from. The Morrow Emergency Communications center recently had the opportunity to utilize their technologies to assist helicopters with landing zones as they responded to medical calls.
The Comet Tracker is also among the technology used by Morrow’s 911 Center. This is mapping technology to track officers in the Police Department. It allows the Center to get the call to the unit faster and cuts down on response time by using a closest available unit model.
Other uses of the technology available to Morrow’s Communication Operators are
1.monitoring traffic flow with 6 Department of Transportation cameras; 2.public education in the schools; and 3.early warning siren for weather and chemical situations.
Emergency Communications Director, Katherine Capps, turned the presentation over to Fire Chief Mark Herendeen.
Mark Herendeen, Fire Department Chief
Presentation
1241 Mt. Zion is 1.4 miles from the Morrow Fire Department and 2.2 miles from the closest Clayton County station. This station in Clayton County does not house an ambulance. This fact alone makes the decision to annex a benefit to the business and it just makes more sense when the neighboring businesses are already a part of the City of Morrow which would help minimize confusion for responders when calls come in.
Chief Herendeen refers to a slide which illustrates Clayton County emergency responders and City of Morrow responders. The City of Morrow Fire response average is 3.45 minutes per call. This average holds up well against the National average, explains Herendeen. Chief Herendeen announced that a new ambulance arrived at the Fire Department this day. “As the new Chief I am pleased to see we have good updated equipment and that the City is very supportive in purchasing this equipment.”
In the Morrow Fire Department there are paramedic level rescue squads. This means ACLS life support ambulances. This is very important because the public perception is that every responder is a paramedic and it helps when they actually are. Morrow also responds with ACLS equipped fire engines meaning medical drugs, life packs and qualified personnel to use this equipment is on the engine when responding. Therefore, if there are multiple medical emergencies at one time, an engine can be dispatched. Morrow was one of the first departments in the County to implement the paramedic level engines.
Morrow runs nine person shifts with a seven man minimum. Because of vacations, sick time and training, the shift sometimes runs with only seven people. There are two engines, a 105 foot ladder truck, a command vehicle and the Chief’s car. In Morrow there are mutual aide agreements with the surrounding cities and departments, specifically the City of Forest Park. Morrow has 29 full time employees, nine people a shift, the Chief and the Fire Marshall which equates to 7.2 fire fighters per square mile, something the City can be proud of. Clayton County has 221 full time employees equating to 1 fire fighter per 2.6 square miles. Morrow has 1 fire fighter for every 158 residents; Clayton County has 1 fire fighter for every 1,027 residents. This data is based on the 2000 Census.
The City of Morrow Fire Department is funded 100% by the City’s General Fund. Clayton County is funded by the Cities for whom they provide coverage. That is, Cities pay a fee. The County’s EMS, however, is funded by the County’s General Fund. The County uses the fire department employees to do both fire and EMS. If a fire lieutenant is on the engine he is also required to function as a paramedic on an emergency vehicle.
Chief Herendeen addresses 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. Typically insurance companies do not charge any different between a 3 and 4. An in house survey of nine insurance companies corroborates this finding.
The Morrow Fire Department can move 1700 gallons a minute with one five inch line. The County still uses 3 inch line and can only move 500 gallons a minute. This makes a big difference when you need more water and have to start running multiple lines. It is a lot simpler to use a 5 inch line.
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 to assess hazards and hydrants. The Department offers fire extinguisher training for employees. If a company wants the Department to teach fire extinguisher training, we provide it. In summary, Chief Herendeen notes, it is in the best interest of a business to be a part the City of Morrow which prides itself on being involved with the businesses and owners for a better tomorrow.
Chief Herendeen turned the presentation over to Captain Mance, Morrow Police Department.
Captain Ben Mance, Morrow Police Department
Presentation
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 CERT, 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 their vehicle 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 providing a higher level of service and the Department patrols neighborhoods and commercial areas. Morrow is very visible. In this particular location, we are already there patrolling in front and behind the business, it is not out of the way.
In law enforcement people are always concerned with response times. Morrow’s average response time to emergency calls is 3 minutes for non emergency calls is 7 minutes. Both averages are below the National average for response times. In doing a comparison, there were 27 reports from that area that were law enforcement related. This is not a significant impact at all on the call volume or our ability to respond.
Morrow Police Department also uses radar trailers for speed detection, businesses surveys where we talk to employees and help tighten security and train employees in safety. Morrow escorts business owners and managers to the bank when making deposits and officers present information on topics such as Internet Safety, Identity Fraud and the like.
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 has state of the art tracking for monitoring the officers. The Department’s “closest available unit” style of dispatch enhances response times for both emergency and non emergency calls. Morrow has in car mapping and analysis for major crimes used for assessment and control and identifying areas which need heavier patrol efforts. Also, on laptops in the patrol car, officers can pull up specific data on crimes. Morrow has received awards for their use of technology in public safety. Capt. Mance reiterated the fact that code enforcement is a very important part of what we accomplish. It keeps Morrow’s standards high, maintains property value and minimizes heavy vehicle presence. Capt. Mance believes that Morrow can generally provide a higher level of service making it the best interest of the business to join the City through annexation.
Captain Mance turned the presentation over to Economic Developer Grant Wainscott.
Grant Wainscott, Economic Developer
Presentation
Mr. Wainscott clarified that the City is more than capable of handling the services for this annexation. Mr. Wainscott argues that the reason Morrow is pursuing annexation in the first place are the serious issues that we have in the region. A lot of tax dollars are spent on studying the region and determining what can be done and how we can grow responsibly.
In 2000, the Urban Land Institute, one of the finest development institutes, came into Atlanta and did a major survey with participation from Metro Chamber, Georgia Power, Universities and all different groups. This effort was put together to compile and present data and make recommendations for how to leverage what we have in this region including the airport, international trade and the farmer’s market. There is no other community in this entire region that has the interstate and transportation rail capacity that you find in Clayton County. There are many resources the County has to be thrilled about and these resources need to be used wisely.
Morrow has taken these recommendations set forth by the study, which other communities have ignored, and decided to incorporate the recommendations in order to maximize its resources. The public is starting to see some of the fruits from those labors already.
From this study Morrow updated its Comprehensive Plan, focusing on land use. This focus specifically addressed an annexation plan in order to develop a balance of development patterns. Along Mt. Zion, one can practically draw a line between the irresponsible and responsible management and what it will do for your property. There are business owners coming to Morrow asking to be annex so their property will no longer be ignored. They ask, “Why is my neighbor’s property more valuable than mine?” Taxes are everything to a business, Mr. Wainscott says.
From the efforts surrounding the Comprehensive Plan, the City’s Economic Development plan, entitled, Morrow the Time is Now emerged. This document clearly outlines the economic development strategy, in particular the International Wholesale District. Mr. Wainscott also discussed Aaron Rents Shopping Center: Morrow’s Next Strategic Move which deals in particular with the warehouse district and its challenges. The ULI study suggested a strong opportunity to develop the international district by utilizing Morrow’s close proximity to the airport and the world’s largest vegetable and fruit stand, the State Farmer’s Market. We took those ideas and put them into a plan. In that plan we addressed the importance of controlling signage, marketing and development.
In Morrow there are 1.4 million square feet of warehouse space across the street and behind the 1241 Mt. Zion area. In the redevelopment plan for this are, the City has to be creative. The City does not need anymore traditional retail space, there are currently 3 million square feet. We have to be creative in the reuse of our land and create some international opportunities.
Mr. Wainscott submitted updated economic impact figures for the Southlake Mall twin creeks entertainment district. He referred to a map in his presentation illustrating economic efforts. He pointed out an area across the road from 1241 Mt. Zion where there is a great deal of development scheduled in the near future. He goes on to explain, this extensive redevelopment must be bordered by quality, nothing can detract from the redevelopment. This is another big reason to stabilize the Mt. Zion corridor.
Morrow is proving there is still an active and vibrant market for land in this area. The Lewis Welch property that was recently acquired, a property which was on the market for eight years, within 38 days of the building being taken down, the City had verbal commitments on all 6 acres at approximately 700,000 per acre. People are anxious to get an acre or two. The vitality is back, people are interested. Morrow will continue to do well.
The City has ideas and we are being proactive, but is the County paying attention? Our plans are not listed on the County’s economic layouts even though Morrow will have an enormous impact on the County’s overall economy. The County needs to pay attention and since they are not, Morrow is stepping up.
City Manager, John Lampl, addresses the audience once again to note that the Planning and Zoning Board would meet the following week for recommendations on the zoning of the property. After that, on September the 27, the Council will have the Second Reading of the Ordinance for annexation.
PRESENTATION:
The Mayor presented Officer Stacey Moore with his 10 year service pin and thanked him for his dedication to the City.
NEW BUSINESS:
Item 1: First Reading of Ordinance 2005-08 to annex the aforementioned property at 1241 Mt. Zion Road.
Item 2: Mayor presented an Intergovernmental Agreement written and executed by the Morrow Downtown Development Authority along with requesting approval from the Council granting him, the Mayor, authority to sign all documents related to the Agreement.
Mayor Millirons motioned for the approval of the agreements, seconded by Councilman Slaton. Councilman Slaton and Councilman Sorrow voted “Yes”, Councilman Huie voted “No” and Councilman LaPorte abstained. The Mayor voted “Yes” to break any tie.
Mayor Millirons adjourned the meeting at 8:15 pm.
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JIM MILLIRONS, MAYOR
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VIRLYN SLATON, MAYOR PRO TEM
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C. R. HUIE, COUNCILMAN
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THOMAS J. LaPORTE, COUNCILMAN
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CHARLES O. SORROW, COUNCILMAN
ATTEST:
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Sylvia Redic, City Clerk