By Cherokee Tribune staff
The Woodstock City Council is continuing its plan to begin charging impact fees, but has delayed when they will be collected.
The council on Monday night voted 3-1, with Councilman Randy Brewer opposing, to collect the fees at the certificate-of-occupancy stage instead of when building permits are issued as originally planned.
A representative from the Council for Quality Growth development industry organization requested the council make the change to assess the fees later in the building process.
The council in April approved charging fees to new residential developments to offset their impact on parks and recreation services, but abandoned plans for a fee to fund transportation improvements.
New residential developments will begin paying the parks impact fee in January. Including administration costs, the fee will be $1,510 per single-family house.
Projects to be funded by the parks fees include ball fields, tracks and trails, playgrounds, pavilions and shelters, swimming pools and a recreational facility.
Council members on Monday night also heard an update on the Advanced Disposal employee who was severely injured on the job last week. The employee will undergo surgery Thursday to repair damage done to his leg, which required a partial amputation after the vehicle crash.
The council also approved an ordinance extending until May 19 the current moratorium on the construction of apartment complexes north of Towne Lake Parkway and west of Interstate 575.
A 1-percent raise, which totals $51,793, for the city's hourly employees was approved by the council to begin in January.
Council members also approved spending $50,000 to compensate employees for services rendered for related duties that aren't specified in job descriptions.
The second reading of the identity theft ordinance was approved, which is federally required and designed to protect the identity of city utility customers.
Council members approved a resolution supporting the city's application to the Department of Natural Resources for a $100,000 grant to construct four miles of mountain bike trails in Olde Rope Mill Park.
Revising the city's sewer tap fees to mirror Cherokee County's was approved, and council members directed city staff to explore the possibility of allowing restaurants to pay the annual alcohol license fee of $5,000 on a quarterly basis instead of a lump sum every January.
A request from Rusk Street Partners to rezone 4.68 acres on Rusk Street east of Rope Mill Road was withdrawn by the applicant.
The applicant sought to rezone the property from downtown central business district and medium-density residential to allow a density of 12 single- or multi-family units per acre for a 155-unit multi-story residential unit. The Woodstock Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denial during its Nov. 5 meeting.
The council also met in executive session to talk about real estate, but took no action upon returning to regular session.
Councilmen Steve Faris and Bud Leonard were not present.
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