Lilburn City Council April Meeting Notes

Want to have a hand in shaping the city of Lilburn's future? The council on Monday night approved an online application form for residents who want to sit on a board, commission or task force.

There are about 50 people out of the city's 12,000 residents whom the council uses "again and again and again" for such positions, Mayor Johnny Crist said in explaining the move, approved by a vote of 4-0. In the future, Lilburn city council members will have access to much wider range of candidates when making appointments.

The online application will be modeled after one used by the city of Norcross (See the pdf included in the photos of this article to view Norcross' application form). The form is eight pages long and for that reason is basically "self-vetting," Councilman Tim Dunn and Crist noted.

The application form will be helpful in filling four new boards and/or committees that Crist plans to form: One for the community garden (planned for the lot between city hall and the railroad track), a code enforcement committee, a park committee and an ethics board.

Here's what else the council voted on at Monday night's meeting:

- Mayor Crist was authorized, by a vote of 4-0, to extend a for six months. The previous agreement ended in March, and Big League Dreams agreed to the extension with no penalties.

- The council tabled, by a vote of 4-0, consideration of a protocol manual and a code of conduct. A called meeting probably will be held before the next council meeting to go over the manual and code, which are intended to "formalize and memorialize" Lilburn's move, made several years ago, to a city manager-council form of government. The manual and code will stipulate interaction between the council and city staff, for example, but it will also include the council's vision for the city and a multi-year plan. City Manager Bill Johnsa noted in the work session that similar manuals are common in other cities that have a city manager-council arrangement. One advantage of the manual is that the public will have access to it and will be better able to understand the council's actions, Dunn noted.

- The council approved, by a vote of 4-0, a memorandum of agreement between the city of Lilburn and Business Watch International (USA), Inc. Business Watch will be responsible for monitoring pawn shops and precious metals commerce. This is something the company had done for the county before the Gwinnett commission's Service Delivery Strategy agreement with Lilburn and other Gwinnett cities, reached recently, handed the responsibility back to the cities.

- The council unanimously approved signage for the City Park that lets residents know that dogs and bikes are allowed only on the Greenway Trail and not in the park proper.