Review of June 5 Peachtree Corners City Council Meeting

The Peachtree Corners City Council met Tuesday night, sans Post 1 councilman Phil Sadd. This is the third or fourth meeting he has missed, and we're not even a city yet...Doesn't bode well for District 1.

There were about 30 residents in attendance.  Also present were city clerk Joan Jones, consultant John Kachmar and city attorney Bill Riley and his assistant.

No residents made any public comments, although there was an opportunity to do so. The mayor introduced the city's new 'comment card' which the public will fill out beforehand and then the mayor will call on you...the card includes your name and address and the purpose/ subject of your comment. He explained this is for keeping track of comments for 'open records' purposes.

Next item - the council accepted the invitation to join the Georgia Municipal Association free of charge. Normally, membership would cost approximately $10,000 for a city our size but the GMA offered to waive the first year dues.  Jay Lowe stipulated that they would agree to first year free, but any subsequent years would need to be voted on before committing monies to join. The rest of the council agreed with Jay.

The first and main agenda item was a presentation on call centers from Kirsten, a '311' expert from CH2MHill...The presentation lasted about 40 minutes and it was obvious from the reactions of the council and the residents that it was overkill. She made the presentation based upon her experience running the call centers for Sandy Springs and Johns Creek (big surprise there!) and didn't seem to grasp the concept of 'limited services city'.  During the discussion after the presentation, under pressure from Alex Wright and Jay Lowe, consultant Kachmar finally conceded that CH2MHill's solution would likely cost the city about $150,000/ yr.  Even the mayor seemed a little taken aback at the size of the number.  It also pretty much killed the call center discussion for now.

Next item - consultant  Kachmar updated the council on the search for a city manager, saying they had received 48 resumes so far, many from out of state candidates.

Next item - city hall...the council have visited several sites and had basically narrowed it down to two locations, both in Tech Park.  One site has approx 5000 sq ft of space, and would need a bit of 'build out' to accommodate the council, staff and meeting areas...because of that, the 'rent' would be approx $20/ sq ft.  Site 2 has approx 8000 sq ft of space, but is already configured in a manner such that it requires little build out to meet needs, has better access and infrastructure and is available for $14/ sq ft.  The Council decided on site 2, even though it is a little larger than needed.  The attorney and consultant suggested that the council give the okay for them to negotiate the best deal and authorize the mayor to sign what they present.  Alex Wright and Jeanne Aulbach objected, and the council agreed that they should review any lease proposal prior to the mayor signing it.  Good call on their part.

Next item - The council adopted a fiscal yr to run from July 1st thru June 30.

Last item - The council adopted a set schedule for council meetings, effective June 19th, which will announce the schedule for the next few months...the reasons for this were:

• cheaper to put out one announcement now, instead of a new one every week,
• can always cancel a meeting if not needed,
• eliminates the 'problem' they ran into last week where they couldn’t amend the agenda to allow public comment. 

Meeting adjourned approx 9:15.

May 22 City Council Meeting: A Bait and Switch?

The City Council met Tuesday night to receive updates from the two consultants the council has hired to help set up the city.  John McDonough, current Sandy Springs city manager, and John Kachmar, current Johns Creek city manager, took the council through the agenda: 

• Search for City Hall Office Space 
• Request for Proposal (RFP) for Banking Services
• Review of Legal Requirements and Timeline for Ad Valorem Tax Billing and Collection
• Organizational Structure of the City
• Neighborhood and Business Response Center Services 

The most enlightening and alarming item discussed  was the Organizational Structure agenda item.  The consultants provided a draft/sample budget for what it will cost to run the city.  Given the size of the staff and the services expected, they are estimating $2,869,225 to run the city.  This is nearly FOUR times the cost estimate in the Carl Vinson study touted by the Vote Yes group and State Senator and city sponsor Tom Rice during the cityhood campaign.  Alex Wright, Post 3, was visibly baffled by the idea that the two estimates were not even on the same planet.  Mayor Mason, a major player in the Vote Yes campaign, dismissed the study just short of rolling his eyes at the idea that anyone would believe it.  He said that The Carl Vinson study is not a budget it is just a feasibility study.  It was for Tom Rice and the legislature and not meant to determine the cost to run the city. 

Mr. Wright questioned the consultants throughout the tax and budget presentation.  The consultants recommended building up large reserves and contingency funds to which Mr. Wright responded, “It is against my personal philosophy to build up large reserves. I want to prevent government waste.”  The consultants scoffed at the idea that any waste would occur in government.  

At the current $2.8 million cost estimate, the city will need the full 1 mil in taxes allowed by the Charter.  All the Vote Yes promises that property taxes probably would not be needed at all to cover the expenses of the city are so quickly up in political campaign smoke.  The city council must vote on the exact level of millage that property owners will pay.  Before the vote, the council must advertise the millage rate under consideration and hold 3 meetings for the public to comment before the vote.  The consultants recommend advertising the full millage allowed by the Charter.  Councilman Wright seemed to bristle at the idea that so much would be needed given the Carl Vinson study.  The consultants assured him that it was the conservative and responsible way to go about it and their later budget discussion showed why.  The advertisement will occur on June 21.  The first hearing will be the morning of July 2, the second at 6:30 PM July 2^nd, and the final meeting and vote on July 9^th at 7:30 PM.

During this discussion, Mr. Kachmar let it be known that the councilpersons and mayor are not required to attend the hearings on the 2^nd.  They may assign staff to take down public comments.  The PCBC is greatly disturbed by the suggestion that our elected officials would delegate listening to their constituents to hired staff and consultants rather than be present themselves and hope that they all reject this suggestion.

We also hope Mr. Wright sticks to his guns on expenses and taxes.  We hope he recruits some other council-members to stand firm against the mayor and the consultants on dismissing the Carl Vinson study, absorbing the full one mil in available taxes, and on stockpiling massive amounts of money for “rainy days” and nebulous “community investment projects”.  

Other items covered in the meeting:

The consultants presented a list of properties for the council to consider renting.  They reviewed their evaluation criteria.  4 of the 5 properties are in Tech Park.  They expect to make a final recommendation at next week’s meeting.

The RFP for city banking services was provided.  Councilman Weare Gratwick, At Large Post 6, excused himself and left the room during the discussion.  Mr. Gratwick works for a bank and wanted to avoid any accusation of impropriety or undue influence on the council discussions.  The RFP will be released in the coming days.  Ms. Jeanne Aulbach, Councilperson At Large Post 4, will serve on the RFP evaluation team with the consultants and lawyer.

They ended the session with a rushed discussion of a call center to respond to citizen inquiries.  The YMCA was shutting its doors so the council was instructed to think about the kind of services they want to provide and what a call center might do for a later discussion.

Councilpersons in attendance: Jay Lowe - Post 2; Alex Wright – Post 3; Jeanne Aulbach – Post 4; Lorri Christopher – Post 5; Weare Gratwick – Post 6; Mike Mason – Mayor.  Phil Sadd – Post 1 was not in attendance.

Should Peachtree Corners Build a City Hall?

As soon as government purchases land that land is removed from private use.  The land ceases to be available for income-creating ventures and is instead dedicated to the income-taking venture that is government.   For this reason, it is the PCBC’s belief that government should almost never own land or buildings.  There are some exceptions – military bases and schools for example - but for most government activities, rented space works best.  

When government builds, it builds for future growth.  Why purchase land, hire architects and contractors, and issue bonds to create a space exactly big enough for the people and functions of today’s government?  Armed with this logic, many Taj Mahal city halls have arisen in nearby cities.  It can be controversial to have too many empty offices and meeting rooms in that giant new building.  This can prompt a race to fill the space up with more city employees working on projects that cost ever more tax payer money.  Allowing government to build a large building almost guarantees that the government will become larger itself.   

Many of the reasons cited for creating the new city were to support the growth of businesses and to help the blighted and under-used parts of the city thrive.  What better way for the city government to support downtrodden areas than to locate its offices in those areas?  What better way to set the example of how to work with landlords to bring properties up to code than to be a customer not just a dictatorial enforcement authority?

The PCBC appreciates the candidates that have come out against building a city hall in Peachtree Corners for now and ever more.  We need a city council that will take a strong stance against government spending and government growth that will ensure that the new city of Peachtree Corners is and stays city-lite. 

Click Here to read what the candidates have to say about city hall on our Facebook Page.