City Council Work Session Agenda and Town Hall Notes

The agenda for the City Council of Stone Mountain’s committee/work session tonight, which starts at 6 p.m. includes the following:

• Public hearing -- application for a beer/wine license, consumption on the premises, , 5377 Manor Drive, Karen Patton, owner and applicant;

• Planning & Zoning - Emory Morsberger, ;

• Community Affairs: presentation by Corey Simmons, Georgia Falcons Football, use of for football, 2012 season; presentation by Garick Ennis, international master soccer league, use of Medlock Park, October through December 2011, Sundays only; dog park discussion;

• Finance - presentation of 2012 fiscal budget and schedule;
• Community Outreach - the issuance of an occupation tax certificate prior to receiving a certificate of occupancy; allowing 18-wheeler cabs to park overnight within the city limits;
• Public safety - repeal of ‘no thru traffic’ on Lucille Avenue;
• Historic Preservation Commission - Commission vacancies.
• New business: Application for beer/wine license, consumption on premises, Sweet Potato Cafe; Proposal for tower development at McCurdy Park, ground lease agreement with options agreement between Municipal Communications,  LLC and the City of Stone Mountain.

• New ordinances: Ordinance 2011-11 - Amend Chapter 19, Article 1, Section 19-1, defining hours for a dog park (first reading, Oct. 18, second reading, Nov.1).

Town Hall Meeting

During the City of Stone Mountain’s town hall meeting Monday night, three people came to the microphone for comments and questions, and the rest of the evening was spent discussing upcoming projects for the city, its current challenges, the needs of various organizations that support the city and Stone Mountain Village, progress reports on recent initiatives, and giving praise for the police department’s year-round investigative and patrol work.

Some of the topics covered included:

• Plans that include attractive entryway markers, pedestrian signage, additional public art, another “Movies on Main” series next year (this year’s series was a success, and ended last Saturday), and festivals. “Our goal is to have something going on every weekend during the summer,” said Main Street Stone Mountain executive director Kim Delaney.
• The recent, first annual 5K Granite Grasshopper raised nearly $3,000 for Stone Mountain Stone Mountain High School, Champion Middle School and Stone Mountain Elementary.
• Christmas in the Village starts the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25
• is growing and wants to help interested students find the means to attend, said City Council member Richard Mailman: “They’re trying get you in there but they’re also employing our citizens. I think the way we help them is to enroll,” he said. “If you’ll go up there they have the backing of thousands of people to get you the money to get you to go to school.”
• The Downtown Development Authority is looking for two more members; to qualify, you have to own a business or residence within the city.
• Having part of the City Hall building become a museum about the history of Stone Mountain Village, and creating a community meeting room, perhaps a temporary senior citizen center, said Mayor Patricia Wheeler;
• Chief Chancey Troutman talked about his department’s work in taking several suspects into custody for robberies of local businesses since the beginning of the year, and catching suspects coming through the city;
• The community garden at VFW Park has “just done phenomenal growing,” said city council member Susan Coletti. The garden has also donated more than 600 pounds of fresh vegetables to a local ecumenical food bank. The garden will have an open house Oct. 23.