Council Overturns Historic Preservation Decision

The Monticello City Council, at its regular meeting Tuesday with two council members absent, overturned a recent decision by the Historic Preservation Commission.

Nancy Baeder of Persons Street filed an application in April to replace several windows and doors of her home in the historical district. The Historical Preservation Commission (HPC) approved the replacement of the back door and the seven windows on the back of the house and one on the side of the house, however, the commission rejected the others because they were “too historical.” The commission maintained the windows and doors they rejected needed to be preserved and could be repaired and not replaced.

Ms. Baeder had an architectural presentation of the changes she desired to make showing the rejected windows and doors to look the same as before, and a claim that they would be much more energy efficient. She told the Council she also had secured an estimate of $5,500 to $4,000 to repair and re-glaze each of the rejected windows, and an estimate of $700 each to replace each.

After a discussion and several questions by the Council, Mayor Pro Tem Russell Gross made a motion that the HPC had erred in its decision, which was seconded by Councilperson Katherine Alexander. Mayor Glenn Newsome called for a vote and the Council voted 3-0 to overturn the HPC’s decision.
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The Council also voted 3-0 to appoint Edward Ford to the vacancy on the HPC, and approved the reappointment of Cynthia Miller.
City Manager Bob Schwartz presented the Council with a draft of the 2012 budget (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012). The draft, including capital requests, came to a total of $7,936,295 versus the 2011 budget of $7,932,767. A meeting of the finance and budget committee was scheduled for Friday, May 20. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for June 7, with adoption scheduled for the regular Council meeting on June 14.

Mr. Schwartz also presented an update on the Community Development Block Grant for sewer repairs. An evaluation has been completed by the contractor with a final bill of $34,289, which was $6,647 less than anticipated. City Engineer Robert Jordan will begin designing the repairs when he receives the full data package from the contractor, which is expected to be delivered on May 6.

Roberta Anderson was on hand to represent the Get Ahead House, which has requested an additional $13,285 from the 2011 budget to cover an overage in payroll. Ms. Anderson, and others, contended there was money to cover this overage within other budgets, however, Mr. Schwartz was unable to verify this. The item was tabled and placed on the agenda of a called meeting next Tuesday, May 17, at 6 p.m. However, Mayor Newsome scheduled a meeting at city hall for yesterday to potentially take some kind of immediate action to pay unpaid salaries.

Monticello Police Chief Bobby Norris reported $2,925 in fines and citations from the month of April, and that the department had responded to 176 calls for service during this period. He also reported that two of the department’s vehicles were down, and he indicated that more manpower was needed to deal with criminals.
Consideration of a lease program for two new police vehicles and the necessary equipment at a cost of $52,888 with interest of 3.38 percent, was tabled due to the absence of Councilpersons Bobby Jacobs and Bryan Standifer. However, due to the urgency of the matter, this item was placed on the agenda of the called meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 17.

Also, due to Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Standifer’s absence, a review of the draft of the revised Personnel Policies, and consideration of a resolution to authorize the city manager to adjust the Power Cost Adjustment over the next several months were tabled until the monthly regular meeting in June.
The Council also took action on the following issues before adjournment:

•Voted 3-0 to authorize two separate referendums for the November election. The first would be similar to the referendum passed by Jasper County and would authorize the sale of liquor by the drink on Sunday. The second referendum was just authorized by the Georgia General Assembly this session and would permit the package sale of beer and wine on Sunday.

•Appointed Annie Mary Clark to serve as the Honorary Councilperson of the month.

•Under the Consent Agenda (items previously approved), approval of the payables was tabled at the request of Councilperson Molly Pompey, who requested an explanation for various charges.

•Voted 3-0 to accept the 2011 SPLOST committee recommendation for the adoption of the budget.