The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen met Monday night. The meeting lasted an hour and 44 minutes and gavel to gavel video coverage is posted below.
I also posted a play by play of the proceedings as they happened and have posted a copy at the end of this article, or you can see them on Google Plus.
MEDIA ROLL CALL
(presented, in part, to keep the local press accountable, and also because this board no longer records in their minutes which media organizations are present during the meetings)
•Macon Media (me)
•The Franklin Press (two reporters)
•WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
•Macon County News
CANDIDATE FOR ALDERMAN ROLL CALL
•Barbara McRae
•Patti Halyburton Abel
•W.H. Derrick
•Tom Ritter
PRESS KIT (exclusively provided by Macon Media)
MAPS FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS
Map for the re-zoning petition by the Town of Franklin for East Main Street, Gaston Street, Green Street and West Palmer Street.
Map for the re-zoning petition by the residents of Pauline Avenue.
Map for the Town of Franklin Main Street Parallel Parking Study.
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MACON MEDIA GOOGLE PLUS PLAY BY PLAY
MEDIA ROLL CALL
Macon Media (me)
The Franklin Press (2 reporters)
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
Macon County News
Several of the candidates for Aldermen are here at the meeting, as well as a large number of residents from Green and Gaston Streets.
The meeting has been called to order by Mayor Collins.
Mayor Collins is laying down the ground rules for the public hearings tonight, of which...there are three.
Public hearing
For re-zoning petition by the Town of Franklin for East Main Street, Gaston Street, Green Street and West Palmer Street
The Town Planner is not here yet. We'll have to skip the precis.
A property owner __ Parker (who owns a trailer that was burned down on Gaston Street)
He wants to be able to put the equivalent f what was there. Current regulations do not allow that.
Derrick Rowland, the Town Planner, is now here and is giving the Executive Summary of what he expects to accomplish by the re-zoning of East Main Street, Gaston Street and West Palmer Street.
He calls it the "West Palmer Corridor."
He wants to add a secondary commercial classification to the area to open it up for more commercial activity.
Karl Gillespie, property owner and former chairman of the Macon COunty Planning Board, is now speaking. He approves of the re-zoning.
Another property owner, __ Conley, is speaking in favor.
Mark Lathrop, property owner, is expressing concern about what this will do to the volume of traffic on his street.
Derrick Rowland is answering. He doesn't see where there will be a lot in that area that will permit any type of business or dwelling that will lead to a huge in increase in traffic.
The public hearing is now closed.
The board is now taking up the re-zoning request and are discussing it. Alderman Farrell Jamison motions to approve....and John Henning, the Town Attorney, steps in with a bunch of legalese...and Alderman Jamison modifies his motion to comply. It passes 6-0.
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The Mayor calls a short recess so all those gathered can leave. About 3/4 of the room leaves.
The board is back in session.
Late breaking news on the Pauline Street re-zoning request: Town Attorney John Henning says that the board will have to reschedule this hearing until September 3rd at 7:05pm.
The Town of Franklin will have to satisfy the legal requirements by running a public notice in three consecutive meetings and may have to be off until the October meeting of the Town Board. There is now some back and forth on this...
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Mr Brady is very upset and is having forth. He is the one that has been pushing this re-zoning through.
Bruce Kohler, also says that he wasn't served. And Brady is arguing that another one of the owners of his property was.
We are now taking another short break to allow the Pauline Ave "High Society" people to leave.
Public hearing
For the application to amend text only of the Unified Development Ordinance for regulating the location of electronic machines and sweepstakes
Derrick Rowland, the Town Planner, is at bat again providing an Executive Summary of the whyfores and wherefores of this amendment of the Unified Development Ordinance. Basically, they're regulating where electronic gambling machines can be located.
No one has showed up to speak and the Mayor has closed the public hearing.
Alderman Joyce Handley motioned that the board approve the amendment and it passes 6-0.
Public Comment
Dan Williams is back. This time he is complaining about town employees standing around.
Town Manager Warren Cabe and Land Use Administrator Derek Roland are discussing the Street Maintenance Ranking System.
The board has given the go ahead to continue with the project.
Now the Land Use Administrator is presenting a power point on the Growth Zone Analysis Water Model. I'll not do a play by play on that and give my fingers a chance to rest.
ALDERMAN CANDIDATE ROLL CALL
Barbara McRae
Patti Halyburton Abel
W.H. Derrick
Tom Ritter
The presentation is now over.
Town Manager Warren Cabe is now providing an update on the Gazebo improvement process.
The Town does not own the property the Town Gazebo is located upon. Mr Cabe has contacted the county to see if the lease that is running out in five years, can be extended for a significant amount of time.
The Mayor (Joe Collins) is also addressing the issues surrounding the Gazebo.
More discussion is taking place, one issue at a time.
The Mayor wants to move the Picking on the Square back to the Gazebo.
Joyce Handley made a motion to move it back. Verlin Curtiss seconds.
Motion passes. The Picking on the Square will be back at the Town Gazebo as soon as the logistics will support it.
Now, Derek Roland is discussing the Town of Franklin Main Street Parallel Parking Study.
Right now, with diagonal parking, there are 76-77 parking spots on Main Street. With a parallel parking change, there would be 69 parking spots available.
The Mayor says it is a safety issue. Alderman Jamison agrees and goes into specifics.
More discussion is taking place from other board members and Roland answers questions.
Town Attorney John Henning is presenting a Resolution for Town of Franklin Tax Collector, something they need to do periodically. Motion passes 6-0.
Announcements
•All non-profit funding pool applications are due Monday August 26, 2013
•Town Hall will be closed Monday September 2, 2013 in observance of Labor Day
•The next regularly scheduled Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen meeting will be Tuesday September 3, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
This meeting is adjourned. I will work on getting the video out by sometime tomorrow.
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