OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE OXFORD MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
WORK
SESSION
MONDAY,
NOVEMBER 18, 2019 – 6:00 PM
CITY
HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor
Jerry D. Roseberry; Councilmembers: Jim Windham, George Holt, Mike Ready, Jeff
Wearing, Avis Williams, and Sarah Davis.
Honorary Councilmember Rachel Ding was also in attendance.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Matt Pepper, City Manager; Dave Harvey, Police Chief; David Strickland, City
Attorney; Marcia Brooks, City Clerk; Stacey Mullen, Deputy City Clerk; Scottie
Croy, Assistant Public Works Supervisor; Art & Laurie Vinson; Theresa Eady; Mike McQuaide; Cheryl Ready;
Danielle Miller of Oxford College; Lynn Bohanan; Laura McCanless; and David
Eady.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jerry D.
Roseberry.
Agenda (Attachment A)
1.
Mayor’s
Announcements
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Mayor Roseberry
advised that he and Matt Pepper attended MEAG’s Mayor’s Summit earlier this
month and will provide a full report to the Council soon. Many cities are unhappy about the amount they
owe under their power contracts, and he will provide more details in his
report.
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City
Attorney David Strickland swore in Avis Williams, who was appointed to fill the
vacant POST 4 Council member seat on November 4, 2019.
2.
Honorary
Councilmember of the Month
Mayor Roseberry introduced
Rachel Ding, a sophomore at Oxford College, who has been appointed as Honorary
Council Member for the month of December.
Ms. Ding spoke to the Council about her role as the President of the
Student Government Association at Oxford College.
3.
Discussion
on the Match for Community Development Block Grant Funding
Matt Pepper discussed the criteria for awarding Community Development
Block Grants (CDBG). There is a
requirement for the applicant to state a match percentage when applying for a
CDBG, and the applicant can choose the percentage with a minimum of 5%. However, the Northeast Georgia Regional
Commission (NEGRC) has advised that the more the applicant is willing to match,
the more competitive the applicant will be in the grant reward decision. Therefore, to give the City of Oxford some
leverage in the grant decision process for the Water Main Replacement Project,
he recommends that we pledge to match 20% of the funds for this project. We are applying for the maximum amount
allowed of $750,000, so 20% of this amount would be $150,000 that the City
would pledge to pay if the grant is awarded.
Mr. Pepper advised it would be the first quarter of the next fiscal year
before we know if we will receive the grant.
The application is due by April 1, 2020, followed by a review process to
determine which grants are rewarded.
4.
Engineer
Recommendation for Water Main Replacement Project (Attachment B)
Matt Pepper advised that as part of the CBDG application process, each
applicant must issue an RFP for engineering services for the project. The services in the RFP include engineering
design, permitting, project monitoring, and confirmation of work completion
according to specifications in project plans for invoices received. We issued the RFP in September and received
five (5) responses. Mr. Pepper and the Public Works staff reviewed the proposals
based on several criteria, including number of CDBG projects completed, ability
to staff the project, quality of work, our relationship with them, and their
proximity.
The recommendation for the project is Carter & Sloope. We have dealt with this company on two other
projects, the most recent one being the water main replacement on Emory Street
and Asbury Street, and had a positive experience with them. No cost estimates are included at this time
because four of the five bids were based on a percentage of the construction
cost, which we do not know yet since we have not started a bidding process for
the project itself. For an idea of cost,
in the Capital Projects budget right now we have this project planned at $1.1
million dollars based on an estimate from a contractor. This estimate is a bit old and Mr. Pepper is
working to update that estimate.
Carter & Sloope proposed a fee of 9% of total project cost for
engineering services, and 3% of total cost for construction
administration. They charge $6,000 to do
a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER), which is required for the CBDG
application. This report consists of a
review of current existing pipes we have, a project schedule, a cost analysis,
and recommendations for any changes they recommend for the project. Two other vendors have the same cost
structure except that they do not charge for the PER.
Mr. Holt asked for clarification on what we would be voting on at the
next Council meeting, to ensure we are not voting to award the construction
work to Carter & Sloope, just the PER.
Mr. Pepper confirmed that Mr. Holt was correct.
5.
Proposed
Resolution - FY2020 Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) (Attachment C)
Matt Pepper stated that the city has selected Stone Street for paving in
FY2020. We just completed our FY2019
work about a month ago due to scheduling issues with Newton County. The grant for FY2020 is about $27,000. The grant is based on population and center
line mileage as a percentage of the state’s totals. Mayor
Roseberry asked Mr. Croy how we determine which street(s) to work on each
year. Mr. Croy advised it is based on
condition and how much patching has been done in the past.
6.
Environmental Study
Committee Report (Attachment D)
George Holt reported that the
committee had divided the list of proposed actions out into several phases,
which he has provided to Council. They
would like to get buy-in from the Council that they are on the right
track. They plan to add some of the items
to a short-term work plan once the Council approves their phased list. Mr. Holt requested input from Council.
7.
Proposed Ordinance (FIRST DRAFT) - Shared Active Transportation
Devices Discussion (Attachment E)
Mayor Roseberry stated the City is trying to come up with an
ordinance to regulate e-scooters and other similar transportation devices. Matt Pepper advised that the sample ordinance
provided is based on the City of Decatur’s recently adopted ordinance. Mr. Pepper discussed the elements of the
draft ordinance. Mayor Roseberry
suggested that the maximum speed limit these vehicles can be operated in should
be 25 mph, which would discourage use in Oxford, since they cannot be used on
sidewalks. Jeff Wearing commented that
the operation of these devices is like that of golf carts, in that they cannot
be operated on any major highway. Jeff
Wearing recommended that we check with the City of Covington to find out if
they are considering a similar ordinance.
Ms. Ding stated that the speed, where it is parked, etc. is controlled
by the app on a mobile phone, which is required to rent a device. Emory does not allow students to go off
campus with the devices.
Jeff Wearing asked for confirmation that these devices would not be
allowed on the trails, which Mr. Pepper confirmed would be true implicitly
since motorized vehicles are not allowed on the trails.
8.
107 W. Clark Street Renovation Project
Jeff Wearing stated that this project is progressing. They are finalizing the drawings for a
Welcome Center/Community Center. They
are about to enter another phase. Carter
& Watkins will continue to make final drawings for the house itself. They will be putting out a Request For Qualifications
(RFQ) to find someone who can restore the house. When the drawings are complete, they will be
able to share a lot more information and hope they will be able to start soon
on the work.
9.
Whatcoat Street Project
Mike Ready stated that in 2014 plans were put together for improving
Whatcoat Street. Since then some changes
were made to the plans. Then a couple of
years ago Oxford College decided to make some changes to the intersection of Pierce
and Haygood streets, so the City backed off on its plans for Whatcoat
Street. Now that the park is complete
and Yarbrough House is moving forward, the City would like to proceed with
plans to beautify Whatcoat Street, which historically is a main
thoroughfare. The engineer is updating
the records to reflect the work Oxford College completed. The intent is to build out Whatcoat Street,
adding a sidewalk to the south side and adding pedestrian lighting as
appropriate.
Mr. Holt asked if we are going to continue what the college
started in terms of lighting and parking on the same side of the street. Mr. Ready stated they have not discussed
doing that, but the plan can be changed.
Mr. Holt and Mayor Roseberry stated they thought the work would continue
what the college had started, down to George Street. Mr. Ready stated the plan can easily be
changed.
The
work session was adjourned at 6:31 p.m.
Special
Called Meeting was called to order at 6:31 p.m. by the Honorable Jerry D.
Roseberry. The purpose of the Special
Called Meeting was to vote on the appointment of Marcia Brooks as the City
Clerk of Oxford.
Motion
was made by Wearing – Second – Davis to appoint Marcia Brooks as the City Clerk
of Oxford, approved unanimous 6/0.
Motion to
enter Executive Session at 6:33 p.m. Ready – Second – Holt, approved unanimous
6/0.
Motion to
adjourn Executive Session at 6:37 p.m. Ready – Second – Holt, approved
unanimous 6/0.
Motion to
adjourn the Special Called Meeting at 6:40 p.m. Wearing – Second – Davis,
approved unanimous 6/0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Marcia Brooks
City Clerk