NT)  120 North Essa Street, Lake Park, Georgia 31636  City Hall 229-559-7470 Fax 229-559-7499 City ofI Lake Park Regular Council Meeting Minutes July 2, 2024 6:00 pm  Members present werel Mayor Jena Sandlin, Council Member Oscar Griffith, Council Member Michelle Lane, Staff Present: City Clerk Lisa Johnson, Deputy Clerk Christian Crews, Fire Chief Matt Ryan, Police Chief Ed  Council Member Busby Courson, and Council Member Carl Spano Yarbrough, Maintenance supervsor-m-Traming Kaleb Rogers Mayor Jena Sandlin called the meeting to order. Council Member Oscar Griffith led the invocation. Mayor Jena Sandlin led the pledge.  Minutes: Mayor Sandlin called fort the review and approval ofthe Minutes oft the June 4, 20241 Regular Council Meeting and thel May 30, 20241 Public Hearing. Council Member Michelle Lane made aj motion to approve the Minutes oft the June 4, 2024 Regular Meetingl Minutes, and thel May 30, 2024 Public Hearing. Council Member Mayor Sandlin called for Citizens who have concerns they would like to bring to the Council's: attention.  Oscar Griffith seconded the motion. The: motion passed unanimously, 4-0.  Citizen Concerns:  Ronnie Sauls - 1100 W Marion Ave - Stated that he thinks everyone is doing a great job and the Independence Day celebration was great. He stated a concern that the Community Service guys are not working - he sees them riding around on the gator and therei is a loto ofweed-eating tol be done. Dock Wade - 106 Pine Circle - noted improvement in cleanup during the Mayor's term. He is concerned about thel lot across the road from him. Hel hasl killed two snakes from the property and is  asking the Council to address thei issue. REPORISOFOFFICERS/DEPARTMENT HEADS: Fire Department: Matt Ryan  Presented ai monthly call report  Stated thatl hei is planning a CPR course for thel Fire Department and would like to invite Council and  staff to participate; he will need a count by mid-July. Stated that] hel has two: students going ini for volunteer certification. Stated that] he needs pest control for spiders at the Fire Station. Stated that he needs trash pickup at thel Fire Station.  1    Council Member Michelle Lane thanked Chief Ryan for setting off the fireworks for the Mayor Sandlin added that everyone's efforts for the celebration were appreciated, and that  Independence Day celebration everyone had done a good job. Police Department: Chief Ed' Yarbrough Presented al monthly call report.  Reported that new legislation has mandated that the City needs to keep Narcan on-hand, and he is  setting up training and working on getting Narcan for the office.  Maintenance/Public Works Department: Kaleb Rogers  Presented: activity report. Cleaned up at' Tom's Pond  Completed set up: and cleanup from Independence Day celebration roads, especially around the welcome to Lake Parks signs. Have been watering palm trees, noted lack of rain  Have been doing a lot of mowing, weed eating and edging, and picking up trash on the side of the Trimmed al lot of trees off the fence at Sandy Bottom, and have been picking up limbs The tree at the Civic Center has been taken down and the stump ground.  Have been flushing hydrants  Administration: City Clerk Lisa Johnson  Gave an update on software and IT updates  Stated that there are two Ordinances for reading later on the. Agenda; the first is a regular update to the Agreement with our Retirement system, which has to be: adopted by Ordinance, and the: second is a change to the Municipal Insurance License fees, which must change tol be compliant with State Law as the City's 2020 final Census numbers were certified at less than 1,000 people. Reported that Cindyl Mitchell, Court Clerkini the City ofl Nashville had come to Lake Park to work with Melissa Morey to help update our knowledge base for Court, and that Christian Crews will be Reported that ai new bill that passed this year, HB! 581, is expected to go before voters in November. This bill provides an opportunity for a FLOST (Floating Local Option Sales Tax) that would allow cities to decrease their millage rates, which could be a huge help in the face of sharply increasing Reported that the FY23. Audit report had been received, and forwarded to Council, and that she had ar meeting set up with the auditors to go over some questions she had. The auditor will be at the Reported that there are several Public Works projects ongoing that are awaiting engineering information to be able to move: forward. Of particular concern is the Lead Service Line Replacement project, as its deadlines for completion in October, and missing the deadline may result in loss oft the grant that will: fund thej project. The Clerk: and the Mayor have a meeting set up with the Engineer to Reported that shel has been int touch with Municode andl has al meeting upcoming to discuss the City's Reported that Kaleb! has just returned from Water Operator training. Therei is a test that he will need to take and will need to work under the direct supervision of a certified operator for a specified  scheduled for Clerk's Mandated Trainingi in September.  property values.  August meeting to present and answera any questions the Council may have.  discuss these issues.  contract and updates to the online Code. amount of time before hei is fully certified.  2    Council Member Spano stated that he had attended the last Court date and noted that the Probation Officer appeared unprofessional and distracted and stated that the City may want Council Member Spano expressed concern regarding the Lead Line Service Replacement: and made a motion to authorize the City Clerk with the Mayor's consent to determine and take any necessary steps to engage a different engineer, if necessary, in order to complete the project twithin the required time frame. Council Member Michelle Lane seconded the motion.  tor review the contracta and performance.  The motion passed unanimously, 4-0.  Financial Reports: City Clerk Lisa) Johnson  Reported that to date, all departments were operating within their budgets, excepting the $92,000 that has been spent for Hurricane Idalia projects, which is reimbursable from FEMA. Revenues are Reported that reimbursement is expected soon, and that the funds have been obligated. The only project that has not yet been fully through the process is the Category Z, which is Administrative Asked if Council had any questions or concerns regarding the reports presented from the new Mayor Sandlin asked Council Member Spanoi ifk hel had anything to add as Budget Officer:  exceeding their projections.  Costs.  software; there were none: stated.  Council Member Spano reported that he: and the City Clerkl hadi met with all ofthel Department Heads in preparation! for thel FY25 Budget, and thata all requests are reasonable. He would like toa add ina3 3% CostofLiving' Increase for all employees." The Police Chief would like to expand his part-time position to a full-time position; this would bej part of an overall plan to rebuild toa 24/7 department. Therei is a possibility that the remaining ARPA funds can be obligated to Police Department personnel, and the City Clerk will bei investigating this; it does have to be noted that this would only cover thei initial increase, and the City would need tol be able to fund it through other means after that. Thet tentative goal ist to have a draft budget by the end ofthe month, sO that Council can be prepared for setting the millage rate: in August. Council Member Carl Spano made: ai motion to: accept thel Financial Reports as: stated. Councill Member  Michelle! Lane seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, 4-0.  New Business: Ordinance Updates:  Mayor Sandlin presented the update tot the GMEBS: agreement, whichl has tol be: adopted by ordinance. This is the Georgia Municipal Employment Benefits Services, which represents our Employee Retirement Benefits; most of the changes are due to updated legislation and are required by the IRS. Council Member Spano asked ift therel had tol bet two readings to update an existing Ordinance. City Clerk Lisa Johnson stated that it has to be restated twice and available to thej public for Council Member Busby Courson asked if we could put this on the website; Mrs. Johnson affirmed and stated that there would also be copies in the office for residents who wanted to Council Member Busby Courson made a motion to adopt the updated agreement. Council Member Carl Spano seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, 4-0 Mayor Sandlin presented the updated Municipal License Fees Ordinance, explaining that the Ordinance had been updated following the preliminary Census numbers which showed Lake Park's population to be over 1,000, which allowed an increase from! $15 to $25. Final Census numbers show  review.  see them there.  3    the City's population to be just under 1,000; under Georgia Law, this means that the maximum the City can collect for these fees is $15 each, and sO the Ordinance needs to be updated to be in compliance with thatlaw.' This Ordinancer would goi intoe effect/anuary1,2025.Council Member Oscar Griffith made a motion to adopt the Ordinance to revise Insurance License fees in accordance with Georgia law. Council Member Busby Courson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, Mayor Sandlin asked Council for consideration of amending the office hours at City Hall to begin at 8:30, rather than 8:00 to allow staff time to review the day's workflow and any training or instructions necessary without interruptions. Council Member Lane expressed concern that regular traffic between 8:00 and 8:30 am might indicate that this was the best time for residents to be able to come into the office, and that opening later might present difficulties for those residents. The suggestion was made and accepted that Administrative Staff monitor traffic during the proposed Mayor Sandlin stated that the City needs a new flag pole at City Hall and the Cemetery needs a new flag. Council Member Spano noted that the flag pole also needs al light. City Clerk Lisa Johnson stated Mayor Sandlin stated that she would like to replace palm trees that were destroyed in the storm.  4-0.  times tol better evaluate the need.  that there are: new flags at City Hall fort the Cemetery and City Hall. Council Member Oscar Griffith asked for quotes fort the flag pole and the trees.  Council Member Busby Courson asked ift the fountains at the pond are on a schedule; Mayor Sandlin responded that they had been left on for the Independence Day celebration, and that the fountain normally operates on a timer from 7am to 12 noon and from 7 pm to 11 pm. Council Member Carl Spano asked that we remember toj properly retire old flags.  Council Member Busby Courson made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Michelle Lane seconded the  motion. Thei motion passed unanimously, 4-0.  Thei next regular meeting) willl be on August 6, 2024 at 6:00 pm.  dioelloer Lisa Johnson/City Clerk Auguob h2a4  R  Wat Date Seal  Date