Monday, August 24, 2009

Audio of the Monday Night Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Start of meeting and Proclamation for Bailiffs

Dunwoody Village Overlay District (First read - no action)

Discussion of Dunwoody CVB funding (How much $$$ does the DCVB need to start? Should we save some for City Branding?)

Building permit fees (Deferred - are the commercial fees too high also?)

Alcohol Beverages to change various distance requirements. (Approved to increase the distance which limits the future number of hard alcohol package stores.)

Auditing Services - (Approved)

District Two DCVB Rep - Mr. Michael Menis (Approved)

Discussion - Sign Ordinance text amendment to Community Council

Break for Executive Session

3 comments:

joggerdavew said...

JOHN: how does a regular person get an issue on the agenda for a council work session? I noticed Bill Grant, the developer, was able to have his proposal to lower housing permit fees on the discussion line-up. And why would the City Manager immediately jump in to his defense? Isn't the City Manager supposed to be objective, or is he/she allowed to make proposals carte blanche like that? This just seems like a red flag to me. Thanks for clarifying.

John Heneghan said...

Joggerdavew, glad that you asked because we do have procedures for the public adding agenda items as I will point out below. As far as the actions of the City Manager, he listens carefully at the meetings and work sessions and then works with the legal team to place items in front of us which he believes is the will of the Council and is best for the City. In my opinion, Warren has done a wonderful job of this and we couldn't ask for better.

Below is from the City Council Rules and Procedures ratified in January.

Section 14. Agenda. The City Manager shall prepare an agenda of subjects to be acted on for each meeting. Work session topics and Council agenda items shall be submitted consistent with the process established by the City Manager.

An agenda approval meeting shall be held by the City Manager and the Mayor to finalize the agenda. The agenda shall be made available to the City Council at least one (1) day before every City Council meeting.

(a) Requests For Agenda Items. Members of the public may request that a particular subject be placed on the agenda for a meeting. To be considered, this request shall be submitted in writing to the City Manager.

(b) Changing The Agenda. The order of the agenda may be changed during a meeting by a majority vote of the City Council. A new item, other than a zoning decision, may be added to the agenda by a majority vote of the City Council only if it becomes necessary to address the item during the meeting. An existing item may be removed from the agenda by the majority vote of the City Council.

(c) Agenda Must Be Made Public. The agenda of all matters to come before the City Council shall be made available to the public upon request and shall be posted at the meeting site as far in advance as reasonably possible, but not less than 24 hours prior to the start of the meeting. Notice of the agenda for emergency meetings will be handled in accordance with State law.

Our Charter also mentions agenda items under the powers and duties of the Mayor.

(a) The mayor shall:
(1) Preside over all meetings of the city council;
(2) Set the agenda for meetings of the city council after receiving input from members
of the city council, the city manager, and the public; provided, however that an additional
item shall be added to the agenda upon the written request of any member of the city
council.

I hope that helps.

joggerdavew said...

Yep. Thanks.