Politics & Government

Tune Into City Council Meeting

Follow along at home with live updates from the Woodstock City Council meeting.

The  is holding its regular meeting tonight, and Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch editor Lindsey Davidson is there to cover all the action live. Feel free to add comments and questions here. The meetings have moved to Downtown Woodstock at the Chambers at City Center. While you are waiting, read through the .

9:27 p.m. The council approves the item and the meeting is adjourned.

9:25 p.m. The city manager presents a purchase contract of New Tract "B". It’s a commercial building and property adjacent to the amphitheatre for $230,000. It will be used for concessions, bathrooms and a few parking spots.

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9:23 p.m. The mayor adds a purchase of real estate item to the agenda.

9:22 p.m. The council has returned from executive session.

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8:12 p.m. The council moves into executive session.

8:09 p.m. A council member asked about all the construction between Ridgewalk exit and the Sixes Road exit. 

It's the Sixes Road construction. The mayor said the construction past the Ridgewalk exit is for sound walls.

8:07 p.m. The council tabled the Georgia Municipal Association Lease Agreement item till Aug. 15 per the city manager's request.

8:06 p.m. Lost Internet connect for a moment. The council went back and forth about the Sign Ordinance Revisions, but decided to adopt it as a first reading.

7:57 p.m. The mayor asked if this ordinance would affect North Georgia Total Care. The attorney said tonight was the first he had heard of it, so he would have to review the material.

The council approves the first reading.

7:55 p.m. Woodstock Police Chief David Bores presents the first reading of the drug dispensation control ordinance. Bores said there is a new business that is in the process of opening their facility that falls under this umbrella, North Georgia Total Care.

“The best approach is the simplest approach. Don’t allow these establishments to dispense drugs onsite. They can’t do that unless they qualify for one of these exceptions,” Bores said. (See the attached PDF for the exceptions.)

7:52 p.m. The council approves the LARP funding. See the list of .

7:50 p.m. Pat Flood is requesting the City take some road projects instead of the Department of Transporation. With the Local Assitance Road Program, the City can have more control over repaving the needed roads and make changes during the repaving process. 

7:49 p.m. The council approved the bid.

7:48 p.m. Council member also said the Smartcode will not resemble the Downtown area. He was speaking to Butler.

7:47 p.m. McLeod said there will be a team of designers and architects breaking this project down on a basic level for everyone.

7:45 p.m. Richard McLeod said for some of the other companies sought out for this project, this was just too small of a project for them. One company just finished working on the City of Miami for several million dollars, so the Ridgewalk project was small in comparison.

7:43 p.m. The City is requesting to award a bid to PlaceMakers, LLC for the Smartcode calibration and planning services for $100,000. This company was the only one out of five to accept the bid.

7:35 p.m. The council is discussing purchasing a one-year contract of an online data site for $25,000 to compare salaries and wages from metro Atlanta agencies. The council said using the database to measure information will enable the City to determine if the salaries and/or wages lag, meet or exceed the market for our positions.

"Comp Analyst Professional Edition is requesting the City’s business," said Tracie Barnes.

There are not for-profit companies in this data. The age of the data is one year or less.

Council members raised concerns. "The price of this raises a red flag for me. Have they purchased this data from the City of Woodstock in the past? I’m curious about where this data is coming from."

They do not know if police and fire positions are covered. The council said the positions make up more than half of the city positions.

"This looks way too good to be true," said council member.

The item is tabled till the next meeting.

7:26 p.m. The first reading of the amendment was approved in the consent agenda.

7:25 p.m. Frieght Kitchen and Tap's alcohol license is approved. This is the new restuarant going where the Right Wing Tavern was. The owner's said they want to use local produce. They hope to open in September.

7:23 p.m. "It appears the language states that it is binding on Ridgewalk. We are not opposed to it, but at the same time we want to be on record that we do not want to be bound...We would like to work with you. It is very, very important to us...We want to be grandfathered in and work with the City," Butler said. 

The council nodded and thanked him.

7:21 p.m. Resident Bill Butler is signed up to speak during public comment on the SmartCode item on the agenda. He has five minutes to speak.

7:20 p.m. Reminder that the outdoor burn ban is in effect till Sept. 30.

7:17 p.m. There are only two summer concerts left: Wet Willie and The Return.

7:10 p.m. The Volunteer Aging Council conducts annual fundraising events. For the 11th Annual Major Fundraiser on Aug. 20, the City will offer Honorary Mayor for a Day with a formal proclamation and private tour of City Hall, a Ride Along with the Woodstock Police Department and tickets for two to the Dixie Speedway. This is the major source of funds for the Meals on Wheels.

7:07 p.m. Mayor Donnie Henriques proclaims Saturday, Aug. 20 Support Our Seniors Day. (The proclamation can be found in the attached PDF.)

7 p.m. Before the meeting started, everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to City Manager Jeff Moon.


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