120 North Essa Street, Lake Park, Georgia 31636 City Hall 229-559-7470 Fax 229-559-7499 City of Lake Park Budget Public Hearing Minutes December 19, 2024 6:00 pm Members present were Mayor Jena Sandlin, Council Member Michelle Lane, Council Member Carl Spano and Council Member Busby Courson Staff Present: City Clerk Lisa Johnson Mayor Jena Sandlin called the meeting to order. Mayor) Jena Sandlin led the invocation. Mayor Jena Sandlin led the pledge. Mayor Sandlin opened the meeting and asked Budget Officer Carl Spano if] he wanted to say anything about Budget Officer Carl Spano gave a summary of the Proposed Budgets; the General Fund budget has increases for the Police Department that includes increasing hours for the part-time position, for the Maintenance Department to include a third position, and pay increases for all employees, as well as an increase for Christmas Bonuses in 2025. Most of TSPLOST and SPLOST 8 Streets and Roads is allocated for drainage issues. For Administration, an amount to install a payment window on the Court side of the hall and demolition oft the' "Blue! Building" and a storage building to replace it. The Blue Building has been discovered to have black mold, which presents a health hazard for staff and volunteers who need to go in there. Also discussed is enclosing and paving aj portion oft thel block for an employee parking lot. Currently, there areno specific projects for Parks and Recreation, but there are: some possible projects which have been requested via letter from volunteers, which will be presented later. Council Member Lane noted that in previous meetings Council has discussed digitizing records, and asked if that is not still a consideration. Council Member Spano responded that this was aj possibility, but a question for down the road; the immediate need is that it is a health concern. Council Member Busby Courson asked if we had a balanced budget; Council Member Spano responded that we dol have al balanced budget in every! budget. City Clerk Lisa Johnson noted that on the Capital Budgets SPLOST/ISPLOST) there is a linei item in revenues for Fund Balance transferred in, and in expenditures for Fund Balance transferred; since the entirety of these Capital Revenues and expenditures span several years, these amounts are: shown as transferred from previous or to next year's sO the monies are available in thel budget. Council Member Spano commended City Clerk Lisa Johnson for the hours and hours spent developing and fine-tuning the budget numbers; Mrs. Johnson expressed her the Budgets before the floor was opened for comment. appreciation for Mr. Spano's help. 1 Citizen Concerns: Mayor Sandlin introduced al letter from Linda Hogan and Justin Sandlin, the volunteers who work every. year on the 4th of July and Christmas events, which was distributed to Council and isi included as an integral part of the Minutes. Council discussed the requests for budget increases; Council Member Spano noted that itis tool late to add the amount requested into the FY25 budget, but depending on itemized pricing, some things may be possible; he suggested requesting a Budget Plan for the events in question. He further expressed concern that the implication ofthe letter is that if the increases are not approved, the volunteer group will disband. Mayor Sandlin asked the City Clerk to research Hahira's and other area cities' special events and their budgets for those. Council Member Lane noted that the City ofl Hahira alsol has employees who organize these events, rather than volunteers, going on to say that the Council's job is to make the best use of the money available fort thel benefitofthe people. Council Member Courson: asked for clarification ont the number offull-time employees budgeted: for Maintenance; Council Member Spano answered that three are budgeted, with the existing employees receiving a 3% raise, and the third budgeted at $17/hour. Council had decided to advertise for a Maintenance position in the hopes that we could find someone who would subsequently be ablet to advance tol Maintenance Supervisor. City Clerk Lisa Johnson clarified that thei range advertised was $15-$17 per hour, but thel budgetisf for $17,asi iti is the "top end" of thei range. Council Member Courson noted that if the new employee could be certified for Water License, that would add more money back into the budget. Council discussed thej productivity ofthe contract laborers andi the potential for getting prison labor tol help with mowing and weed eating, and the percentage of time needed by full-time employees to handle mowingand weed eating. Councill Member Spano noted that there are: a number ofthingst that should be done on a regular schedule that currently are not. City Clerk Lisa Johnson stated that she and Council Member Spanol had calculatedi thel hours the Cityi is currently paying forl between the full-time employees and contract laborers to handle the Maintenance department, and came up to 450 hours per month, without the community service people, which fluctuates. The current need is not for mowing and weed eating, but tasks which typically fall under "Public Works" that have not been getting done: cleaning out pipes and ditches, a regular schedule for hydrants, etc., and coordinating the processes and tasks. She noted that the biggest project is Sheavette and Broadway and along Broadway, as everything appears to be designed to drain towards the drainage easement in dispute. At 4-H Club Rd, the question is which set of plans is correct, and where the drainage is supposed to go, whether down Sevilla Springs Circle to the canals, or down 4-H Club Rd to Marion Ave. The plans also show there are two easements coming off oft the cul-de-sac to carry water from Sevilla Springs Circle to the canals, but there arei no As-Builts or easement documents that confirm that. She stated that Mike Killeen had located the water line on Railroad Avenue, and when she talked tol him, he told her that hel had dug the canals originally and the easements were agreed on and later retracted. There being no other public comments, Council Member Spano made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Mayor Sandlin adjourned the meeting; the Budget Adoption meeting will be held on December 27, 2024 at Courson seconded the motion, and thei meeting was adjourned. 1:00 pm. Addendum: Following the close of the meeting, the City Clerk asked a question regarding Agenda items for January, as second interviews for applicants for the Maintenance position had been discussed for that night. Council discussed the timeline for second interviews and whether there was a need to hold otherinterviews before that stage. Council asked thata all resumes/appitcations thatl had been received fort thej position be forwarded to! Members, and agreed toj postpone second interviews until January 13. 2 Cgncn Lisa) Johnson,fity Clerk agfaae Ahs 17-25 Date Seal 3