A recent practice of the City Council in Peachtree City to ensure majority votes on various issues is now law.

The council voted Feb. 3 to adopt an amendment to its ethics ordinance requiring an affirmative vote of three members to pass any motion.

City manager Jim Basinger said that Councilwoman Carol Fritz sponsored the amendment, after she looked at the revised ethics ordinance and became concerned about the possibility of two council members making policy if the entire five-member body were not present at a meeting.

The recent traffic impact ordinance passed 3-0, as councilman Robert Brooks was absent and former Councilman Jim Pace abstained. That vote was cited as an example of what could have happened.

“Fortunately, the three council members who voted on the issue were in agreement,” said city clerk Nancy Faulkner in a memo to the council. “However, if the vote had been 2-1, there is some question as to whether the action would have passed with the majority of those voting on the issue, or if the vote would have required a majority of council.”

“That's why you have five in the first place,” said Fritz, emphasizing the need for a true majority of three.

The procedure of requiring three votes for passage has been followed as a general policy in the past, but Fritz wanted it set in stone. Her peers agreed, and her motion passed 4-0 (Brooks was absent).

In other business, an amendment to the city's ordinance governing paving standards was presented. It had been requested by the council after a variance request concerning Line Creek Parkway.

Based on standards in other jurisdictions as well as the state, and with help from an outside consultant, some slight changes were suggested. The final recommendation increased the binder for major collector roads and residential streets, eliminated an asphalt base requirement while adding an aggregate base requirement for major collectors, and increased the aggregate base for minor collectors and residential streets.

Mayor Bob Lenox said the changes increased the requirements for minor collector roads and residential streets, and provide a good standard.

Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin agreed, saying that the changes would extend the life of the streets. She moved to adopt the amendment, and it passed 4-0.

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