Minutes City Council Meeting June 12th, 2023 6:30pm  GEORGIR  Baldwin Courtroom, 155 Willingham. Avenue, Baldwin, GA 30511  Acting Mayor Alice Venter, Council Member Larry Lewallen, Council Member Theron Ayers, Council Member Stephanie Almagno, and Council Member Maarten Venter were  all in attendance. Calll Meeting to Order Invocation and Pledge Consent Agenda  Acting Mayor. Alice Venter called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm.  a. Approval of Minutes: Council Meeting 5/30/23 and Work Session 6/6/23. Action: A motion was made by Maarten Venter to approve the consent agenda as presented with a second by Larry Lewallen. Motion Carried. 4-  0. Citizen Comment Public. Hearings Reports  Fire Department - Chief. Joe Roy  Fire ChiefJoe Roy presented Council with a six-month department update of  positives, negatives, and future goals (see attached report).  Old Business  1. Comsideration/Approval of Farag Water Account Adjustment  CAO Emily Woodmaster presented to Council an abnormal water billing situation that requires council consideration on behalf ofHeather Farag. The total amount owed isj just over $30,000, the largest water loss seen on a residential account in Woodmaster's time at Baldwin. The Farag house, a vacation home for the family, isoutside the city and only receives water from Baldwin. In December with the great freeze, many citizens experienced leaks for the first time due to pipe busts. The Farag housed used approximately 130,000 gallons in the days following the Baldwin Utility Billing bills a month after the meter is read. During the bill run process, utility employees look for high usage. After seeing the Farag usage, a black box was run, and it was determined Farag had al leak. In February when Farag got her bill it was almost $2,000. The City notified them they had a leak, and the Farags had it fixed. Utility Billing followed standard process to ensure that the leak was completely fixed since only one adjustment is allowed per year. The leak reoccurred and the next bill was $10,000. Woodmaster encouraged  freeze.  Council Meeting Minutes  June 12th, 2023  Page I1    Farag to turn her meter off after another black box was run. On March 7th, the next bill run indicated almost 800,000 gallons in use. On April 12th, Farag determined the leak was under the driveway. Currently, thel leak is fixed, and the meter remains off whenever the family is not at the house. Woodmaster presented Council with three options, of which she recommended  option #3.  1. Write off the entire balance;  2. Reduce the per-thousand-gallon rate to $10.27 (outside city rate) for the first 4,000 gallons of each month, totaling 16,000 gallons at $164-32. And reduce the per-thousand-galon rate for the remaining 1,507,152 gallons to $2.70 (wholesale rate) for a cost of $4,069.31 and reduce the $200.00 already paid to the City. $4,033.63 would cover all 3. Reduce total gallons by 782,000 gallons as the City failed to turn off water on March 7th when it was apparent there was significant water loss. Charge the remaining 725,152 gallons at $2.70 per thousand gallons. $1,957.91 would cover all four months of water loss.  four months of water loss; or  A policy has been created in-house SO that any oft the public works meter readers have the authority to turn off a meter ift they detect high usage and notify City Hall to notify the customer. This will not only help prevent customers from Farag does understand that she does have to pay for the water that passed through the meter, and her account is not incurring any interest or penalties. Council was in consensus tol bring this forward at the end of the month meeting. 2. Consideration/APprova of 2nd Reading of HCDA Annexation Request Ordinance Council had no additional questions or comments regarding the annexation Action: A motion was made by Stephanie Almagno to approve the 2nd Reading ofHCDA Annexation Request Ordinance #2023-05124Aas presented with a second by Larry Lewallen. Motion Carried 4-0. 3. Consideration/APprova. of 2nd Reading of HCDA Zoning Ordinance #2023- Council had no additional questions or comments regarding the zoning Action: A motion was made by Maarten Venter to approve the 2nd Reading ofHCDA! Zoning Ordinance #2023-051252 as presented with asecond by Stephanie Almagno. Motion Carried 4-0.  receiving high bills, but also to conserve water.  #2023-05124A  request or the ordinance.  05125Z ordinance.  Council Meeting Minutes  June 12th, 2023  Page 2    4. Consideration/Approval of Improvements to Courtroom  Thes sales orders for thej proposed courtroom changes stated that the price was good through May 315t, as long as the vender did not change their prices. John Ayers of Ayers Office Supplies told Woodmaster that while the vendor has the right to change prices, he didn'tthink they would. The improvements will be paid for out of public safety initiatives, which City Attorney Bubba Samuels advised Action: A motion was made by Maarten Venter to approve the courtroom improvements, not to exceed $9,900, as presented with a  that Court Operations do fall under public safety.  second by Larry Lewallen. Motion Carried 4-0. 5. Consideration/APprova. of. Justice One Read-Only Contract  Justice One representative Alec Redwine addressed council and recapped the updated Read-Only Contract and the addition of Azure to Court's software. The City has 30 days to notify Justice One ift they intend to terminate the contract, and the contract duration can be: set for as long as Council decides. Action: A: motion was made by Stephanie Almagno to approve the Justice One and Courtware Solutions Inc. Vendor Network and Data Agreement and the Non-Exclusive License Agreement as presented with a second by Larry Lewallen. Motion Carried4-0. 6. onsderation/Approva. of Ratification ofValvoline Decision  Samuels had no concerns regarding the contract.  Council had no questions or concerns regarding the Valvoline decision. Action: Amotion was made by' Theron Ayers to approve the ratification ofthe Valvoline decision with a second by Maarten  Venter. Motion Carried 4-0.  New Business  7. Consideration/Approal of MOU for Fire' Truck  Council had no questions or concerns regarding the MOU.  Acion: A motion was made by Stephanie Almagno to approve the MOU for the Fire' Truck as presented with a second by Theron Ayers.  Motion Carried 4-0.  8. onsieraton/APprova. of FY24 Budget  Based on conversations had at the May town hall meeting regarding the FY24 budget, Woodmaster went through the budget and made the discussed changes. At the town hall, Woodmaster called out all the positions proposed to add in FY24 to see what impacted thel budget. There are eight positions proposed, including City Clerk, the Court Clerk Assistant moving toi fulltime, two additional  Council Meeting Minutes  June 12th, 2023  Page I3    patrol officers, a GCICoperator, a firefighter (in tandem with applying for the After the town hall, Woodmaster had a follow-up meeting with department heads, who decided they wanted to each dot their part to reduce their budgets sO thej proposed 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment would not be affected by reconciling the deficit. Department heads agreed to freeze additional positions until December, preserving the 8.7% COLA for all general fund employees, whol have not had an adjustment during Woodmaster's time with the City. An operating transfer is also proposed in the amount of $260,000 to serve asa a balancing mechanism. Additionally, Woodmaster recommended a $483,065.67 enterprise fund balance direct transfer toi the general fund if needed, along with $150,000 from the general fund unassigned fund balance. Iti is commonly recommended to maintain two to three months of cash on hand. After the proposed balancing mechanism, Baldwin will still have two months of cash on hand for both the enterprise. and the general fund. Part oft the balancing mechanism in the enterprise fund is a proposed 2% increase in water rates in order to properly maintain the City's debt coverage ratio. Samuels advised Council that a public hearing for the budget will need tol be held a week before the vote ist taken, sO a special called meeting will be necessary for  SAFER Grant), a street technician, and code enforcement.  adoption oft the budget.  Action was taken following discussion ofitem #9. 9. Consideration/Approval of CAO Contract  Acting Mayor Venter addressed Council regarding Woodmaster's proposed contract as CAO. Woodmaster has been doing the work of five positions for nearly three years at a salary of $65,000. While the general fund wage study is underway, a preliminary study was done for the CAO, City Clerk, Finance Director, and Head of HR positions at cities similar to Baldwin in population, services, and size. For the CAO, the minimum salary was found to be $85,000, the mid-point $106,250, and the: maximum $130,000. Council desires to properly pay Woodmaster for the work she does for the city and also memorialize this in a contract to protect both Woodmaster: and the city of] Baldwin. The contract will have a one-year duration and willl be reviewed and renewed annually, with work pertormance reviews from Council and Mayor. The proposed salary for Woodmaster is $104,000 with a supplement pay from March (when shea approached Council regarding her] pay) to. June 30th in the amount of $12,283.83. Both Woodmaster and Samuels have reviewed the contract and are Council will review the contract prior to the end of month meeting.  satisfied with how iti is presented.  Council Meeting Minutes  June 12th, 2023  Pagel 14    Action: A motion was made by Stephanie Almagno to authorize the presentation oft the FY24 budget as presented today for a public hearing at! Monday's meeting with a second by Maarten Venter.  Motion Carried 4-0. Executive Session Ammouneements  a. The Piedmont Library System Pop Up Rolling Library will be set up at the Farmers' Market in Baldwin from 11 am - 12:00 pm every Friday through the end ofJuly. We encourage all our residents to come and check out or return books. This is available to anyone with a PINES library card. Cards can be issued on site for those that do not currently have one. Additionally, those attending the Pop Up Rolling Library with children will also receive food bags courtesy oft the Food b. City offices willl be closed Monday, June 19th, in observance of Juneteenth. The Baldwin City "Pit'nic will be Saturday, July 1st starting at 5:00 pm. We invite our residents toj join us at the Farmers' Market for a free cookout withl lawn games to show our appreciation. Bring. your picnic blankets and lawn chairs and d. Stephanie congratulated Emily for becoming a certified city manager, completing 300 hours oft training and a capstone. And thanked Emily for doing that to  Bank of Northeast Georgia.  make sure you stay for the fireworks finale!  benefit the city. Adjournment  Action: A motion was made by Theron Ayers to adjourn the meeting with a second by Maarten Venter. Motion Carried at 8:24 pm.  Mayor  4W  Emily Woodmaster, CAO  Approved by Council  &  O  Council Meeting Minutes  June 12th, 2023  Pagel 15