InTucker Magazine

City Council Update – August 2017

Tucker’s City Council put in some long hours in the month of July holding two called meetings, as well as a day-long planning retreat to discuss future priorities.

At the meeting on July 10, an independent auditor from the firm Mauldin & Jenkins presented the City with a “clean audit” for the Fiscal Year ’16 budget. Mauldin & Jenkins is poised to begin work on an audit for the six-month Fiscal Year ’17 budget this summer. Council also voted unanimously to make changes to Chapter 16 of the City Code, tightening revocation procedures for “massage therapy licensing”.

Two big development projects that were supposed to be heard at that July 10 meeting were postponed. An attorney representing the developer for “The Rise” asked for a deferral on his petition. The 88-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Hugh Howell Road and Mountain Industrial Boulevard will now come up for a first read before City Council on August 14. A proposed self-storage facility on Northlake Center Drive was supposed to come up for a vote on July 10, but because of major changes to the plans it will go back before the Planning Commission at its August meeting.

No official vote or action was taken at the Council’s planning retreat on July 11. The Mayor and Councilmembers discussed a number of topics including negotiation of intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with DeKalb County, composition of a Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board and ideas for other potential citizen boards.

At the July 24 meeting, Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution complying with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) statement No. 54. This statement sets standards for fund balance reporting. They also held a first read on an ordinance to adopt a Model Building Code and Building Regulations. This is a streamlined set of standards that have been adopted by cities like Milton, Chamblee and Johns Creek to provide a more user-friendly process for contractors and developers.