City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 REGULAR SESSION 4 MARCH 7, 2022 5 6 MINUTES 7 8 Present: Mayor Bianca Motley Broom; Councilmen Ambrose Clay, Joe Carn, Ken Allen, 9 and Roderick Gay; City Manager Darnetta Tyus; City Clerk Shavala Ames; City 10 Attorney Winston Denmark. 11 12 Absent: None. 13 14 1. Opening Ceremonies. 15 16 A. Pledge of allegiance to the flag. 17 18 B. Invocation by Chaplain Alexander. 19 20 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes To The Agenda. 21 22 Mayor Motley Broom said I have 3. Items 4a and 4d are to be removed. The new Item 4c 23 will be Resolution in Opposition to House Bill 1093. 24 25 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any other additions, deletions, amendments, or changes? 26 27 Councilman Clay said I have no changes Mayor, but I have a suggestion. For the last 28 several meetings on the agenda, we have had resolutions that are actually business 29 decisions, as opposed to ceremonial in nature, and that’s something new. It occurred to me 30 as I was reviewing the minutes and the packet in general, was that there are citizens that 31 might like to comment on some of those items, before we have had a chance to vote for 32 them, rather than later. And I’m going to suggest that in the future agendas that we put 33 anything that requires a vote that is a decision be after the public comment, as opposed to 34 pulling up the ceremonial things. 35 36 Mayor Motley Broom said I think that’s a great suggestion. So, I’m happy to remove the 37 Resolution in Opposition to House Bill 1093 to Item 10a. 38 39 Councilman Clay said thank you. 40 41 Councilman Gay said I understand we are removing Item 6g; is that correct? 42 43 Male Speaker said yes. 44 45 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to remove from the agenda: Item 4a., Proclamation to 46 Mercedes Miller; Item 4d., BIDA Issuance of Bonds, Item 6g., Reallocation of Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 1 of 24 47 Fulton County T-SPLOST; to add to the agenda: Item 10a., Resolution in Opposition 48 to House Bill 1093, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted 49 Yes). 50 51 3. Presentation Of Minutes Of City Council. 52 53 A. Regular Session held on February 21, 2022. 54 55 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated February 21, 56 2022, with corrections, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried as 57 follows: (All Voted Yes). 58 59 Packet Page 12, Line 229 - “…past…” s/b “…passed…” 60 Packet Page 18, Line 529 - add “jerk” 61 Packet Page 21, Line 647 - “…bratty…” s/b “…ratty…” 62 Packet Page 34, Line 1254 - s/b “…WK Kellogg Foundation …” “…Annie E. Casey 63 Foundation…” 64 Packet Page 37, Line 1404 - “…reigns…” s/b “…reins…” 65 Packet Page 39, Line 1497 - “…reigns…” s/b “…reins…” 66 Packet Page 44, Line 1712 – s/b … Mrs. Ames took credit for the changed art and 67 graphics. 68 69 B. Workshop Session held on February 21, 2022. 70 71 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Workshop Session Minutes dated February 21, 72 2022, as presented, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted 73 Yes). 74 75 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 76 77 A. Introduction of New Employees by Director of Human Resources & Risk Management 78 Christa Gilbert. 79 80 Director of Human Resources & Risk Management Christa Gilbert introduced the New 81 Employees for February 2022 as follows: 82 83 Mayhar Rolland Land Equipment Operator 84 85 B. Presentation of the Employee of the Month. See memorandum dated March 1, 2022, 86 from Director of Human Resources & Risk Management Christa Gilbert. 87 88 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson, along with Christa Gilbert, came 89 forward and presented to Mr. Gabriel Johnson (Department of Public Works) the City of 90 College Park’s First Employee of the Month Award. 91 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 2 of 24  92 C. Consideration of a resolution to name the alley between Harvard Avenue to Columbia 93 Avenue. 94 95 Main Street Manager Renee Coakley came forward to explain the item. 96 97 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Coakley? 98 99 There were no questions. 100 101 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Economic Development Director 102 Artie Jones, III on a resolution to name the alley between Harvard Avenue to 103 Columbia Avenue “Merchant’s Walk”, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion 104 carried. (All Voted Yes). 105 106 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 107 108 a. Tracey Wyatt, 1802 Temple Avenue, College Park, Ga., – not present. 109 110 b. Robert Bell, 442 New Heritage Drive – not present. 111 112 c. Eric Leach – not present. 113 114 d. William Walker, 2001 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., - yield to Tracey Wyatt. 115 116 e. Anna Kay Walker, 2001 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., yield to Ms. Anna Hodges. 117 118 f. Anna Kathryn Hodges, 1997 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., - yield to Meredith 119 Hodges. 120 121 g. Meredith Hodges, 1997 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., said I’m speaking on behalf 122 of Garland Watkins and myself. Garland is out-of-town. He is the Chair of the United 123 Methodist Church Board of Trustees, and I am the Church Council Chair. 124 125 As concerned citizens, I am here before you about the threat to undo the affordable 126 housing development plan for the property located at Harvard Avenue and East Main 127 Street directly next-door to the College Park MARTA Station. This project has been in 128 the works for over two years and calls for 60 apartments, which would go to individuals 129 who need it the most, mainly those whose annual income is less than $55,000.00 a year. 130 Such individuals can be city employees, artists drawn to the area, or others who work in 131 nearby schools and businesses. 132 133 In addition to rent they can afford, interested individuals would be drawn to this 134 development by its proximity to the MARTA Station. Living in a place where they can 135 step outside their apartment and hop right on the train. In many cases it negates the need 136 for a car. Of course, it doesn’t completely eliminate that need, which is why the 137 developers went before BIDA 2 years ago to purchase roughly ¾ of an acre on Princeton Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 3 of 24 138 Avenue for the limited amount of parking available to the affordable housing unit, to the 139 Methodist Church, and to the general public. 140 141 BIDA agreed to the $25,000.00 purchase price, and the developer proceeded with plans 142 for the project incurring literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for site 143 surveys, civil engineering, architectural renderings, and more. 144 145 In the time since the agreement was struck, the contract has not been signed, and BIDA 146 Chair Jamelle McKenzie refuses to sign it. She has also twice either pulled back or 147 sought to change the terms of our agreement. 148 149 We are now at the 11th hour of the project with the developer facing a deadline of closing 150 the property by May 22, 2022. In order to meet that deadline, they first must prove to 151 the U. S. Department of Community Affairs that parking has been secured, along with 152 submitting the final civil engineering studies. Once that’s done, there are numerous other 153 cascading requirements needed to meet the May deadline, all of which are dependent 154 upon the BIDA signed contract which we do not have. 155 156 If the contract for the parking is not signed soon, investors and lenders will walk away, 157 and the City will have missed out on a rare $30 million opportunity to show the Metro 158 Atlanta Area how College Park has stepped up to the plate by supporting the model for 159 affordable housing. 160 161 The larger loss, of course, would be for those people who would like to call College Park 162 home. They’re currently caught in a situation, which according to the March 3, 2022 163 AJC, the average price of the homes sold in our 11-county area has increased by 164 $82,000.00 since 2017. The same article states that according to the Atlanta Regional 165 Commission, Metro Atlanta has lost nearly 60,000 affordable housing units renting for 166 less than $1,250 a month in the 5-year span before COVID hit. 167 168 The bottom line is: People need help. Tangential to what could potentially be a very sad 169 outcome for this project. We as citizens and long-time residents have to ask ourselves 170 what kind of message it sends to others who want to invest in College Park, specifically 171 on the east side of the tracks. The tracts behind the church have languished for decades 172 dating back to the time when they were raised for the airport. As long as anybody can 173 remember, it’s been an overgrown jungle waiting for the right developer to come along 174 and build something that would produce revenue for this city. 175 176 To be certain, developers and investors have choices. And as history shows, they are 177 going to be thwarted over issues like this 2-year agreement over a ¾ of an acre lot. Who 178 can blame them if they choose to go elsewhere? Further, the multitude of residents who 179 want to see community development will be mindful of a BIDA Board who is not willing 180 to support those striving to create something beneficial in our community. 181 Not long ago, a prominent developer who lived in College Park had ideas about doing 182 something great for this city. He was instrumental in developing the Senoia, Georgia 183 Downtown location. And he said, Senoia doesn’t have anything on College Park with Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 4 of 24 184 the strategic advantages of Woodward, the GICC, and MARTA. And in spite of those 185 advantages and his efforts, this developer and investors found it was too difficult to deal 186 with BIDA and ultimately left. 187 188 Like the rest of the world, we are finally emerging from a global pandemic that’s 189 darkened our spirits and brought suffering and loss. We pray that the worst is behind us, 190 and we’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel. And what better time for College 191 Park to take advantage of this genuine opportunity to shine. 192 193 Our church has been diligently working to try to create equitable and diverse offering, 194 including ministry, arts, outreach, and affordable housing. On our campus now we have 195 theater performances and workshops. We are renting studios to artists. We have two 196 outreach nonprofits; Marty’s Kitchen, the Community Restoration Project, and the 197 Atlanta Aircraft Dispatch Academy, which is one of the handfuls of FAA approved 198 training facilities in the country. 199 200 In addition, we have plans for a retail coffee house, 16 condo units that will be among 201 the lowest price in a 22-mile radius, Push Push Arts Theater, and plans for townhomes 202 and lots to follow. 203 204 I implore all concerned to bring your inclements to bear to get the contract executed and 205 support economic development in College Park and this affordable housing project that 206 will benefit so many people in our wonderful city. If the BIDA contract isn’t urgently 207 executed, deadlines will pass. A $30 million project will not happen. And what will be 208 the epitaph, that the internal development authority struggles held that progress, and all 209 that is left is a vacant lot. Thank you. 210 211 h. (Read by City Clerk) Demetris Taylor, Embarcadero Apartments in Ward 2, said I have 212 a big concern about the Diamond Project that I believe has been renamed which is the 213 United Methodist Church Project. I want some clarity, and hopefully this will be 214 provided. 215 216 It was stated at the beginning of the project that the AFORDABLE/MIXED INCOME 217 UNIT that was to be built on the grounds adjacent to MARTA. Currently there was an 218 open house and the parts being developed are the ART projects that were supposed to 219 have been slated for Condos, Market Rate and Premium Rate development. If I am 220 mistaken, please have someone clarify what is to come because I am concerned about the 221 MARKET RATES that will increase and cause Embarcadero Club to RAISE its rent and 222 force many of us out into a world where NO ONE CAN AFFORD RENT THESE 223 DAYS!! 224 225 It is my understanding that the AFFORDABLE portions of this development with all of 226 the financial incentives ARE NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY. According to the video that 227 was posted on YouTube, they are only offering STUDIO and 1-BEDROOM units at the 228 AFFORDABLE RATES. What about families? This was NOT what we had in mind 229 when we said AFFORDABLE HOMES. We’ve already had a snafu when we thought Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 5 of 24 230 single-family homes were going to be built but were told MORE apartment style 231 structures were coming. 232 233 Again, WE NEED CLARITY on what is coming, and I believe the people need to be told 234 EXACTLY what the church is doing without the SMOKESCREEN of saying “the church 235 is doing something” because this sounds like we are being DUPED into something that 236 was NOT the original plan. Thank you for your time and careful consideration. 237 238 i. (Read by City Clerk) Mr. Dennis Adams said I am a resident at Embarcadero Apartments 239 in Ward 2, under the leadership of Mr. Joe Carn. I’m inquiring about all the noise I’m 240 hearing about the Business Industrial Development Board. 241 242 Why is there so much discrepancy within a board that is supposed to be the FACE of the 243 Council? Whenever I tune into a meeting, the animosity between those who don’t like 244 the Chairlady, Ms. McKenzie is absolutely horrible. And what is the current mess about 245 possible ethics violation? I don’t understand all that is going on, but if I have to write in 246 and say something about it, then that means there is a REAL problem going on 247 somewhere and it must be investigated. Doesn’t the City Lawyers make sure that 248 everything is done to the utmost highest degree of the law so that we won’t have any 249 ethical mishaps? What are the consequences if such alleged violation is proven to be 250 true? How can we as citizens trust who we put in leadership? 251 252 I recommend that each Councilman and their appointee reach out to and talk to the 253 citizens of their ward to explain what BIDA’s role is and what is going on, so we can 254 know who to hold accountable. Thank you. Dennis Adams. 255 256 City Clerk Shavala Ames said those are all the comments that were submitted on time. I 257 did have 1 person to sign in after 7:00 p.m., Ms. Jamelle McKenzie, so she will get 1 258 minute. 259 260 j. Ms. Jamelle McKenzie said good evening everyone. I just wanted to give a report on 261 IGNITE. During the month of February, we had a lot of exciting things going on. We 262 were able to honor over 100 of our senior citizens living in the College View Apartments, 263 as well as Princeton Court. 264 265 Ms. McKenzie said we also had a wonderful Black History Book Drive, which is part of 266 our Read to Succeed Program. We want to thank the community for over 300 books that 267 were donated at this time. 268 269 Ms. McKenzie said we also have some other projects that we are excited about that we 270 will be rolling out to you. 271 272 Ms. McKenzie said we received 60,000 masks that we have distributed throughout the 273 community to all schools and the GICC/Arena. We continue to support our community. 274 We thank you for the opportunity to serve because together we are creating a village 275 where every person can thrive. Thank you. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 6 of 24 276 277 Mayor Motley Broom asked, does anyone else wish to speak for 1 minute, if you haven’t 278 signed in? 279 280 There were no other comments. 281 282 6. Other Business. 283 284 A. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent utility customer accounts. 285 286 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Philord-Bradley on these 2 issues? 287 288 Ms. Keels said Ms. Philord-Bradley is not here today. 289 290 Councilman Carn said this thing is getting pretty hard to read. Packet page 79, just try to 291 make that a little bit larger next time. 292 293 Ms. Keels said okay. 294 295 B. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent property taxpayers. 296 297 Councilman Carn said on packet page 89, just overall, a lot of money. So, what are we going 298 to do about that? 299 300 Mr. Latona said if you want to go account by account, I have information. 301 302 Councilman Clay said I have already requested some. 303 304 Mr. Latona said the first account, 1419 Virginia Avenue, the customer sent me a copy of a 305 payment that was submitted or cut on February 18, 2022. Looking at the check that was sent 306 to our lockbox operation for utilities, typically, they send it over to us, if they can’t process 307 it. As of this morning when I spoke to the representative at Truist, they do not have that 308 payment. So, I went back to the customer to try to get information. The customer is calling 309 me from out of the U.S. The only way of contacting them is way of email. 310 311 Councilman Clay said so, he says it went there. And they say they received it, but they 312 don’t have it. 313 314 Mr. Latona said no. The bank told me that they do not have it. So, it’s a question of 315 whether the check was released. My question to the client was: Was the check cashed? 316 And then try to find information that way. 317 318 Councilman Clay said this is not the first time we’ve had something like that happen with a 319 customer - - 320 321 Mr. Latona said correct. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 7 of 24 322 323 Councilman Clay said - - where the check has been mailed, but it never came in. 324 325 Mr. Latona said, or it takes much longer than normal. 326 327 Mr. Latona said Customer No. 2, 2079 Hospitality Way, I spoke to them last Friday. They 328 are planning on making payment within the next 2 weeks. They also own 4130 SkyTrain 329 Way, just another business entity. So, those 2 accounts within the next 2 weeks, I expect to 330 receive payment. 331 332 Mr. Latona said KSG Georgia, LLC, it pays well into the tax year. He told me that he 333 expects to make payment in May. 334 335 Councilman Clay asked, when they do that, do they pay fees? 336 337 Mr. Latona said it just depends on when they make the payment. 338 339 Councilman Clay said they do it, but they pay extra to do it. 340 341 Mr. Latona said uh-huh. 342 343 Mayor Motley Broom asked Mr. Latona, is there information that you have that is different 344 than the comments? 345 346 Mr. Latona said I do have something internally. This is dated the 23rd. Unfortunately, I 347 was looking at the wrong schedule. So, I have an updated which is dated March 4, 2022, 348 which has more current comments which you guys don’t have. That is why I’m making 349 these verbal comments. 350 351 Mayor Motley Broom said okay. 352 353 Mr. Latona said U.S. Anchor Hospitals, speaking to the tax consulting firm, they told me to 354 send them a new statement as of tomorrow. They are working with the client. 355 356 Mr. Latona said Capital Funding, fax statements. Left a message at the business. Have not 357 heard back. 358 359 Mr. Latona said Krishna Q made a payment today of $28,000.00. So, there is a 360 $2,000.00 payment remaining on personal property. 361 362 Mr. Latona said Godby DC 4 and 5, Virtual Citadel, I guess now known as ATL Data 363 Centers, was acquired in May of 2021 by Clean Spark, Inc. I spoke with them today. They 364 are headquartered in Nevada. I spoke to that AP manager, and I sent her copies of all 365 statements. They are going to be expediting those payments as well. 366 367 Mr. Latona said, and 2900 Camp Creek paid last week in full. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 8 of 24 368 369 Councilman Carn asked, how long before we are able to be in a position to put liens on those 370 properties? 371 372 Mr. Latona said a week and a half ago, we sent out our letter of intent to file a lien. So, at the 373 end of this month, after that 30-day window has expired, the City of College Park can file 374 liens. 375 376 Councilman Carn said okay. I see on the other matrix they have a number of days overdue. 377 I guess this varies here, or does it apply here? 378 379 Mr. Latona said I’m not sure what matrix you’re looking at. Is it tax or utilities? 380 381 Councilman Carn said well, this is utility. 382 383 Mr. Latona said that would be Ms. Keels. 384 385 Councilman Carn asked, but in terms of tax, the day overdue isn’t applicable? 386 387 Mr. Latona said the due date was January 1, 2022 for everybody. 388 389 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any other questions for Mr. Latona? 390 391 Councilman Gay said I have one. On packet page 90, Hydro Generation, they are no 392 longer there. They have been gone for a while. 393 394 Mr. Latona said correct. So, I’m working now with the customer to work with the county 395 assessor’s office, because we have to get that account closed. Businesses move out, and 396 they don’t notify the tax assessor’s office. The tax assessor just rebills at the same value 397 because they feel that the customer didn’t file their personal property return. But, yes, they 398 are not located at that location anymore. There was another client Mr. Jones on Lee Street or 399 Lee Avenue, their payment came in today for $1,900.00 and change. 400 401 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any further questions for Mr. Latona or Ms. Keels? 402 403 There were no further questions. 404 405 C. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of a proposed date, venue, and a 406 facilitator for a leadership strategic planning retreat for Mayor and City Council. 407 408 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said this is to acknowledge that we are solidifying the facilitator 409 for the retreat. They were not able to commit to the first date. We are now negotiating with 410 another facilitator, and we will get back to you when we have it. 411 412 Mayor Motley Broom said all right. 413 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 9 of 24 414 D. Consideration of and approval on a request to allow Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, 415 Councilman Ambrose Clay, City Manager Darnetta Tyus and Jackson Myers, Engineering 416 to represent the city for the Fulton Transportation Study. 417 418 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve a request from City Manager Darnetta Tyus to 419 allow Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, Councilman Ambrose Clay, City Manager 420 Darnetta Tyus and Jackson Myers, Engineering to represent the city for the Fulton 421 Transportation Study, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All 422 Voted Yes). 423 424 E. Consideration of and action on a request from the Atlanta Airport District for approval to 425 host a cycling race event, Spin the District, and related festivities on Sunday, May 1, 2022, 426 from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. 427 428 Ms. Cookie Smoak said we are excited to be before you again asking for permission to do our 429 Fourth Annual Spin The District Event. It is going to be Sunday, May 1, 2022 starting load 430 at 6:00 a.m. until load out at 9:30 p.m. The race times will be from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 431 This is Criterium Racing. Hopefully, you all have been a part of it before. And we’re excited 432 that we’re going to be able to bring it back with your approval. 433 434 Ms. Smoak said we are asking the City to please help us with road closures and removable 435 barriers. We will, again, hire College Park Police Officers to assist us. There will be alcohol 436 sales. We are asking for approval to host the event on city streets and in the requested parking 437 areas. Inclusion in the city marketing outlets available for special events. There is going to 438 be banner placements three weeks prior to the event; through the event. 439 440 Ms. Smoak said the locations include Main Street over Virginia Avenue, Virginia Avenue 441 Bridge in front of City Hall (digital signage), and then yard signs throughout the city and other 442 approved outdoor locations. Street pole banner placement, use of the City’s parking lot from 443 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday May 1, 2022 for the festival activities. The City would 444 block off the lot on Saturday night, April 30, 2022 to prevent any vehicles from parking 445 overnight. 446 447 Ms. Smoak said there will be placement of restrooms in the lot on Friday April 29, 2022. 448 Dumpster and trashcans for the event. Two 60-amp power services, one by the car charging 449 station and one by the main power panel. A barricade for Public Safety lot beginning on 450 Saturday evening April 30, 2022. Fire hydrant water tie-in on hydrant located closest to the 451 Princeton Avenue/College Street in the festival area with the water meter provided. Approval 452 for alcohol sales via the restaurant partner, The Corner Grille. And assistance with 453 communicating roadblocks with MARTA, in order to ensure that they reroute their busses. 454 Any questions? 455 456 Councilman Clay said I have a question for our New City Manager, which is unfair, so 457 you’re gonna have to spin up on this. I think this is a fantastic event. It’s really putting 458 College Park on the map. And I applaud Cookie and all those who have worked on it. 459 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 10 of 24 460 Ms. Smoak said thank you. 461 462 Councilman Clay said this is not intended to be a negative. However, every year I have 463 asked the question; How do we accommodate the people in the Lindsay Building and the 464 Longino Building who need to get in and out? And every year I get, rightly or wrongly, 465 complaints from my constituents in those buildings. These are senior citizens who pretty 466 much all day long are impacted by this. 467 468 Councilman Clay said so, I’m going to ask our New City Manager to see if she can work 469 with staff to somehow accommodate these senior citizens. Because I go to the Criterion, 470 and it’s a race pretty much all day long. These guys tend to clump in groups, but they 471 are spread out. And to time a car getting in or out is somewhat problematic. 472 473 Councilman Clay said so, I’m going to make a suggestion that this year, if we could, maybe 474 have a golf cart available that could carry the senior citizens to a location where the City 475 would pay for Lyft or Uber or something, if they need to go to the store. Or, obviously, if it 476 was an emergency, then we have always had the agreement; that if an ambulance has to 477 come in, it’s going to come in. That’s never been a question. It’s more been an issue of that 478 and some issues with the Housing Authority for maintenance and staff. One is a market rate 479 place, and one is a housing organization rate of what the Housing Authority pays. 480 481 Councilman Clay said so, I’m just suggesting that we do something different this year. 482 Because every year it’s been like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football, if anybody 483 remembers that Comic Strip. 484 485 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said we will take a look at it. 486 487 Councilman Carn said first of all, I think it’s a great event. I’m very excited about it. I am 488 an avid bicyclist. 489 490 Ms. Smoak said we’re going to put you in a race then. 491 492 Councilman Carn said I used to do the Atlanta deal. It was on Sundays. I did the whole 18 493 miles from the High Museum of Arts all the way down here. Darn near killed me, but I 494 made it. So, I’m really excited about it. I’m glad to see we are doing this, but like Ambrose 495 said, you can’t have an event that is going to hold some of our residents hostage. We have 496 to come up with something. The golf cart sounds like a good idea. So, make sure you work 497 that out with everybody. 498 499 Ms. Smoak said yes. 500 501 Councilman Allen said it’s a great event. And I did ride one time. I will ride in the kid’s 502 event. You had people from how many states and how many countries? 503 504 Ms. Smoak said last year we had people from 14 countries and 22 states that participated. 505 So, when you can get that kind of a draw into our communities and let them experience it, Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 11 of 24 506 it’s great. We’re putting together hotel packages. We work very closely with College Park 507 PD and the folks. We are going to be canvassing the area and letting them know the race 508 will be going on. We can stop the race at any time if anyone needs in or out, emergency 509 vehicles, anything like that, we stop the race. We try to be as flexible as possible so that it 510 does not cause a problem for the residents. 511 512 Councilman Allen said it is a great event when people can get outside, and people can enjoy 513 the race. If they have a kid’s race, it’s fun to see them out there racing 1 lap or a half of a 514 lap and enjoying that they have. Thank you very much. 515 516 Mayor Motley Broom asked Councilman Gay, did you want to add anything? 517 518 Councilman Gay said no. 519 520 Mayor Motley Broom said in Hapeville, there was a young lady that wiped out on her first 5 521 or 6, and she got back up and finished the race. She was outstanding. Tears and all. But 522 they get to see World Class Cyclists doing this. It’s just a fantastic event. 523 524 Councilman Allen said thank you very much for bringing it to College Park. 525 526 Ms. Smoak said thank you for letting us bring it to College Park. 527 528 Councilman Allen said it is very, very good for College Park. 529 530 Ms. Smoak said it is. 531 532 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from City Clerk Shavala Ames for 533 the Atlanta Airport District to host a cycling race event, Spin the District, and related 534 festivities on Sunday, May 1, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., seconded by 535 Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 536 537 F. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of the acceptance grant from the U.S. 538 Soccer Foundation grant for a Mini Pitch System at Richard D. Zupp Park. 539 540 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson came forward to explain the request. 541 Councilman Gay said I have no questions. 542 543 Councilman Allen said I think it’s great, and I will move to approve it on next year’s budget. 544 But if we can find some sponsors that would sponsor, that will come onboard and help 545 sponsor that, we could get it absolutely free. So, if we could work on that that might be 546 even better. 547 548 Councilman Carn said great project. Keep bringing them in here. 549 550 Councilman Clay said I got all my questions answered before the meeting. I’m good. 551 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 12 of 24 552 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from the Director of Recreation & 553 Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson on the acceptance grant from the U.S. Soccer 554 Foundation grant for a Mini Pitch System at Richard D. Zupp Park seconded by 555 Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 556 557 G. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to place a four (4) way stop sign at 558 the intersection of Hawthorne Ave and Madison Drive to reduce speeding and make the 559 area safer for the community while walking. 560 561 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Interim Chief McCrary? 562 563 Councilman Allen said I brought this up last time. When I was over at Princeton Court, the 564 seniors, this is one of the things they mentioned. They have trouble getting out of their 565 driveway. And if we had a 3-way, 4-way stop there, it would slow traffic down. The speed 566 bump coming further down on Hawthorne right across from Zupp Park and one on the other 567 side of the park hoping to slow people down. But this was one of the requests from the 568 seniors living in Princeton Court. I think it’s an easy fix to put that up. Make sure the lines 569 are there and make sure that everybody gets a warning, and the seniors can get in and out of 570 their parking lot. 571 572 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Interim Police Chief Sharis 573 McCrary to place a four (4) way stop sign at the intersection of Hawthorne Ave and 574 Madison Drive to reduce speeding and make the area safer for the community while 575 walking, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 576 577 7. Public Hearings. None. 578 579 8. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 580 581 A. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of a bid for Barrett Park Playground. 582 583 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson came forward to explain the request. 584 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Johnson? 585 586 Councilman Clay said first off, I discussed this with Michelle over the weekend. And several 587 years ago, during the recession, we talked about hoping to refurbish that playground. And 588 with the recession, I just couldn’t justify it in my mind, and we repainted the fixtures there. 589 We went and replaced parts on some of them and so forth. And I’m sure the residents will 590 be very appreciative to have that upgrade to the park. 591 Councilman Clay said the only concerns I had, and I discussed it with Michelle, was that 592 it’s a whole different look, which looks really neat and very parky, if you will. It’s a wood 593 facility. And I Just had 2 concerns that I commented on with her. One was how durable was 594 it? And she assured me that it was quite durable. And we would make sure that the various 595 components of it were maintained. And what is exciting about it in one sense is that it is 596 theme driven, more of a learning experience kind of driven thing. It will help young children 597 learn to role play and do various things. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 13 of 24 598 599 Councilman Clay said the only thing that bothered me about it besides the durability was 600 the fact that the community hadn’t commented. Usually when we do something on the 601 playgrounds, like we did at Badgett Field, for example, we actually had the community to 602 participate in designing some of the things that were on the playground. 603 604 Councilman Clay said and while I am very appreciative that we received the grant to do it 605 and the various aspects of it, and finally getting the playground refurbished, I would like to 606 have a neighborhood meeting. Perhaps we can do it at my next ward meeting, since I am 607 thinking I’d like to do a ward meeting in person. We’ve been doing them by Zoom 608 haphazardly over the last couple of years. And perhaps we could give the neighborhood 609 some input into commenting on things. Maybe they’d rather have this rather than that. So, I 610 will move to approve it, but I’d like to get some input from the neighborhood, before we 611 actually order all the parts. 612 613 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson asked, can I comment on the 614 Ravinia, which is a wood of teak like, so it is a hard wood. And he mentioned my vision. I 615 do have a vision on redoing all the playgrounds and it being a destination playground. So, 616 like for this park that we are looking at, we are looking at a boat feature. And hopefully at 617 Zupp we might have a castle feature. Wherever those kids would want to go to, not just 618 their closest park, but would want to go to a different park based on a destination. That’s 619 what I see visually and the goal for the parks. 620 621 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson said the design and for some 622 swings, that could be something the community could give, if you want 2 regular swings or 623 2 toddler swings. 624 625 Councilman Clay said the last time we talked about redoing the park, some parents asked if 626 we could have a double swing. 627 628 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson said I’d be delighted to talk to the 629 community about that. 630 631 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Director of Recreation & 632 Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson for a bid for Barrett Park Playground, 633 recommending acceptance of Fulton County CDBG $102,500.00 grant award, 634 seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 635 636 B. Consideration of and action on a request for a Change Order to the Cooling Tower 637 renovation project approved by Mayor & Council February 7, 2022, to include the 638 installation by Legacy Mechanical of a new heat exchanger at the Arena. 639 640 Councilman Clay said I thought that was deleted. 641 642 Mayor Motley Broom said okay. 643 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 14 of 24 644 Councilman Clay said we got an email on two items that was deleted from the agenda and that 645 was one of them. 646 647 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve to remove from the agenda a request from 648 Executive Director of the GICC Mercedes Miller for a Change Order to the Cooling 649 Tower renovation project approved by Mayor & Council February 7, 2022, to include 650 the installation by Legacy Mechanical of a new heat exchanger at the Arena, 651 seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 652 653 C. Mayor and City Council’s consideration and authorization of a contract to cap and 654 demolish a water-well located off Roosevelt Avenue in the Six West Development. 655 656 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Mr. Jones? 657 658 Councilman Carn said I have a comment. I hated to see those wells go. We spent a lot of 659 money on those things. I hated to see that happen. But I guess that is something you guys 660 arranged with this outfit. Were they still pumping out? Some of these were like 100,000 661 gallons. 662 663 Councilman Clay said it was our worse producer. It is for the greater good. 664 665 Councilman Carn said if the wells water is running dry, what can you do? I guess. 666 667 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Director of Economic 668 Development Artie Jones, III on the authorization of a contract to cap and demolish 669 a water-well located off Roosevelt Avenue in the Six West Development, seconded 670 by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 671 672 D. Mayor and City Council’s consideration in executing a contract with Willmer Engineering 673 for inspections and material testing of the Rhodes Street project at a cost of $121,035.00. 674 675 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Mr. Jones on this one? 676 677 Mayor Motley Broom said we had a low bidder, but there was an explanation in the matrix as 678 to why that lower bidder was not quite in line with the other bids. 679 680 Councilman Gay asked, what budget does this come out of? 681 682 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones said the TSPLOST. 683 684 Councilman Allen said that’s the same question I had. 685 686 Councilman Carn asked, Artie, can you give me - - This is just for all the roads? 687 688 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones said just Rhodes Street. 689 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 15 of 24 690 Councilman Carn asked, is there a weakness or a chance for some issues? 691 692 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones said as the development happens, we have 693 to ensure that the roads are being built to the standards of the City of College Park. And this 694 particular outfit actually goes out and does those tests as the development happens. 695 696 Councilman Carn said I assume we did the same thing with Global Gateway that was right 697 before I got here. All right. 698 699 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Director of Economic 700 Development Artie Jones, III on executing a contract with Willmer Engineering for 701 inspections and material testing of the Rhodes Street project at a cost of $121,035.00, 702 seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 703 704 E. Mayor and City Council’s consideration in authorizing the Mayor to execute a quit claim 705 deed for land received from the City of Atlanta to the College Park Business and Industrial 706 Development Authority. 707 708 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Mr. Jones on this particular issue? 709 710 Councilman Carn said these are the fixes, right? 711 712 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones said yes, sir. 713 714 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Director of Economic 715 Development Artie Jones, III in authorizing the Mayor to execute a quit claim deed 716 for land received from the City of Atlanta to the College Park Business and Industrial 717 Development Authority, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All 718 Voted Yes). 719 720 F. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of the acceptance of a bid for 721 Electrical material for upcoming projects. 722 723 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Mr. Richardson? 724 725 Councilman Clay said no questions. 726 727 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Director of Power Hugh 728 Richardson of the acceptance of a bid for Electrical material for upcoming projects, 729 seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 730 731 G. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to pay outstanding invoices of a 732 Service Agreement between the City of College Park and Motorola Solutions, Inc. for 733 maintenance, support, or other services for the Police Public Safety radio system in the 734 amount of $225,101.04. 735 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 16 of 24 736 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Interim Police Chief Sharis 737 McCrary to pay outstanding invoices of a Service Agreement between the City of 738 College Park and Motorola Solutions, Inc. for maintenance, support, or other services 739 for the Police Public Safety radio system in the amount of $225,101.04, seconded by 740 Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 741 742 9. Unfinished (Old) Business. None. 743 744 10. New Business. 745 746 A. Resolution in Opposition to House Bill 1093. 747 748 Mayor Motley Broom said gentlemen, I brought this to you because this is something that a 749 number of cities, not only in the Metro Area but across the state, are considering because of 750 concerns specifically for our ability to properly zone our city and our public policy interests, 751 in trying to create more homeownership in our city. And Councilman Carn, I know you 752 always talk about the fact that we are one of the highest proportioned rental communities in 753 the state. 754 755 Mayor Motley Broom said this House Bill 1093 and Senate Bill 494 would restrict our ability 756 to ban built-to-rent subdivisions in our community. Now, I agree with the Georgia Municipal 757 Association how they have come out in opposition to this Bill, because this really does need 758 to be a community-by-community determination. There is an opportunity that might present 759 itself in other communities that might not be right for us. 760 761 Mayor Motley Broom said so, communities like Holly Springs and others have these types 762 of subdivisions, but I don’t think it is in College Park’s interest for us to have our hands tied, 763 if a developer comes in and buys a swap of land and then decides to build 200, 300 houses 764 in it and make them all only for rent. So, we want to keep that option for us. 765 766 Mayor Motley Broom said I had an opportunity to testify in front of the House Judiciary 767 Committee in opposition to House Bill 1093 with Mayor Paul in Sandy Springs. They are 768 facing a similar situation, in that they have about 65 percent of their residents that are 769 renters, and they are also trying to promote homeownership in Sandy Springs. He noted that 770 they worked on a project for 2 years, and then at the last minute a developer came in and 771 made it all rentals, when people were getting up their down payments for it. 772 773 Mayor Motley Broom said so, we certainly want the flexibility within our community to 774 determine what is right. I am happy to answer any questions about the resolution itself. But 775 as I said, Sandy Springs has passed it. Alpharetta has passed it. Forsyth County has passed 776 it. I believe Woodstock has passed it. Augusta is considering it tomorrow night at a Special 777 Called Meeting. And a number of other communities are taking it up as well. 778 779 Councilman Clay said I think it is critical that we support this. I will move to approve it. 780 But the State Legislature seems to keep working on taking more control away from the 781 frontline communities that are in the best position to decide what is good for themselves. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 17 of 24 782 And College Park is at least 70 percent rental. And that just makes no sense at all. These 783 are done by large corporations. They are packaged together from my understanding in 784 REIT’s and return a great investment to the people that invest in this REIT, which has no 785 skin in the game with the City of College Park. 786 787 Councilman Carn said nationwide it is an ongoing effort to strip homeownership away from 788 the grasp of most working-class folks. They are running a strange program out here rich to 789 poor. It’s not a good thing. I hope it doesn’t get any real traction out there. 790 791 Mayor Motley Broom said I will say that the Legislative Policy Council for GMA met this 792 morning, and they are encouraged with what is happening on the House side, but there is 793 still work to go on the Senate side. They don’t think it is going away. So, it is something 794 we have to be vigilant about. Because we want to be sure we build a community that we 795 deserve. And a path to homeownership is real important because that is how you generate 796 wealth that goes beyond you and allows those future generations to thrive. 797 798 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any other questions or comments? 799 800 There were no other questions or comments. 801 802 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve the Resolution in Opposition to House Bill 1093, 803 seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 804 805 11. City Attorney’s Report. None. 806 807 12. City Manager’s Report. 808 809 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said I am happy to be here and will have a report next time. 810 811 13. Report Of Mayor And Council. 812 813 Councilman Clay – said I have a couple items. First off, I wanted to comment on one of the 814 items from the public comment section. Just to make the record clear, there was nothing 815 approved by BIDA, as far as open session approval goes, with regard to the Methodist 816 Church to do an arrangement. That was not approved by BIDA. Therefore, the Chairperson 817 of BIDA cannot sign anything until BIDA approves it. And BIDA, I believe, will probably 818 be approving that or at least be on the agenda. Whether they approve it or not is another 819 issue. I think it’s a fantastic project. But the Chairperson cannot legally sign anything that 820 has not been voted and approved on by BIDA. Just like the Mayor cannot sign something 821 that has not been voted and approved on by Council. So, having said that, I just wanted to 822 clear that up. 823 824 Councilman Clay said the second item is that we were approached, Councilman Carn and I 825 were approached by Mr. Rob Pitts, and there’s an opportunity for College Park in 826 connection with a very impressive transportation idea that we tried several years ago with 827 something called “PODS”, and it didn’t work out. It was actually somewhat of a sham. But Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 18 of 24 828 this is a solid proposal, I think, and they are going to have a gentleman here on April 11, 829 2022, which is the same night that we have a Budget Meeting at 6:30 p.m. 830 831 Councilman Clay said they wanted to bring it before Council to get everybody’s input on it. 832 And I suggested that since we have a Budget Meeting that night, that we could have a 833 Special Called Meeting at 5:30 p.m., preceding the Budget Session over at the GICC, then 834 we could have the opportunity to hear the presentation. I can’t believe it would take more 835 than an hour. And that way Council would not be scheduling another meeting night and 836 plenty of adequate notice for the public, if the public wants to attend. So, I’m 837 recommending that we have a Special Called Meeting for April 11, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. to 838 6:30 p.m., prior to the Budget Meeting. Do we need a motion on that Mayor? 839 840 City Attorney Winston Denmark said you don’t need a vote, but you have to direct the staff 841 to advertise the meeting. 842 843 It was the consensus of Mayor & Council to direct staff to advertise a Special Called 844 Meeting for April 11, 2022 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the GICC, prior to the Budget 845 Meeting. 846 847 Councilman Clay said I have one thing that I am going to add to the executive session on 848 Cybersecurity. 849 850 Councilman Carn – said a couple of things. Is Public Works here? We have some trucks 851 and paving equipment there parked at Paul D. West at the Kathleen Mitchell site. I wanted 852 to know what that was about. I’m assuming GDOT is going to do some work on Camp 853 Creek. Have you heard anything? It’s not ours. 854 855 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said no. 856 857 Councilman Carn said I know GDOT used to give us notice. 858 859 Councilman Carn said when we went out, myself and Ken, that plumbing stub at the Wally 860 Park parcel directly across the street from Paul D. West, it is still up there over 10 feet up in 861 the air. It has to be some kind of a violation of some sort. 862 863 Councilman Carn said at some point Artie, I want to get an update on the whole Wally Park 864 thing. From when I left and went to the county commission, it is pretty much in the same 865 shape as when I left. So, I want to know what the story is on that. 866 867 Councilman Carn said I want to send some condolences out to a good friend of mine, Fulton 868 County Judge Harry Bowden. Condolences on his loss, to him and his family. He flew into 869 town last night to an unspeakable tragedy. He gave me a call because he needed some 870 help over in DeKalb County. I was able to make a couple of calls. And one of our DeKalb 871 County Commissioners came to his aid and literally waited for him in the parking lot of the 872 DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, so that he could take care of what needed to be 873 done on behalf of his family. So, I want to publicly thank Commissioner Patrick of Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 19 of 24 874 DeKalb County for taking his time out, putting on his clothes, getting in his car, and taking 875 care of that for Judge Bowden, who is a friend to College Park and Fulton County as well. 876 877 Councilman Carn said these apartment regulations, I have talked about that over and over 878 again. We have to tighten them up. There are some big holes in them. Apartments are a big 879 part of our problem in this community. 880 881 Councilman Carn said City Manager, I want to setup at some point in the next couple of 882 sessions of the workshop session to look at some of these possibilities. Winston, we talked 883 about some of the issues in terms of legalities. I want you guys to start to do some 884 homework on that. Boundaries of constraint and State Law of what we can and cannot do. 885 But we’ve got to really tighten things up there. 886 887 Councilman Carn said a couple of other things. These crime issues. Y’all, the other week, I 888 had a weekend in my district that I have never seen before. Some of y’all are aware, 889 February 25, 2022, homicide at one of the Camp Creek apartments. Less than a day and a 890 half later, a person shot on Godby Road. That same night, another homicide at Lakemont. 891 Six hours later, a third homicide on Old National Highway. 892 893 Councilman Carn said I know we are in transition with some things, but I’m really surprised 894 at the shape we are in, in terms of our Police Department, in particular Public Safety. With 895 no fault to the Chief, I know you can only work with what you are given. It’s obvious 896 we’ve got to do something. 897 898 Councilman Carn said I know we are looking at budgets City Manager, I know it’s coming 899 up, but we can’t wait that long because they need staff they have to have to cover these 900 streets as spring and summer pops up. Councilman Clay or Councilman Gay, if that had 901 happened in your district in a row like that, you guys would be standing on top of this table 902 demanding some action. And we can’t wait until July to get the budget in. We have to do 903 something here as soon as possible. 904 905 Councilman Carn said so, I suggest we have a workshop and sit down and talk about this. 906 We are far below salaries, and we cannot cover this city and we cannot manage Public 907 Safety on the cheap in this city and expect the city to survive. So, that’s something we need 908 to do now. It cannot wait until July when we get the new budget in here. We have to do 909 something now. 910 911 Councilman Carn said my BIDA Member Ms. Bojang is not going to be able to serve. She 912 has a double shift that she is working hard at the airport. She is saving up for a home, and I 913 certainly do appreciate that. So, she is not going to be able to make those meetings like we 914 need her to be. So, she, a couple of weeks ago, informed me that she was going to resign 915 and step down from BIDA. She did a great job the minute she was there. I am going to 916 make an appointment tonight because I would like to make sure that Ward 2 is represented 917 at the very next meeting. Something is coming up this week or next week. I would like to 918 appoint Ms. Lisa Parker, a long-term resident over on Sullivan Road. So, I guess that has 919 to take a vote. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 20 of 24 920 921 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to appoint Lisa Parker as the Ward 2 BIDA Board 922 Member, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 923 924 Councilman Carn said our Fulton County maps, I want to make sure that somebody reaches 925 out to them and informs them that Ardell Road is no longer Ardell Road. It is Jessie A. Dent, 926 Jr. Drive. I just want to make sure that we have it on our state maps with the reapportion that 927 I saw. I don’t know who would be responsible for checking that City Manager, but we want 928 to make sure that that is corrected. 929 930 Councilman Carn said Ms. Linda, good to see you. Like I told her, she has not aged a day 931 since I was up here the last 5 years ago. So, it’s just amazing to see her again. I asked her 932 about how her little girl was doing, and she told me the little girl is 25 years old now. Oh, 933 geez. It’s good to see you. That’s all I got. 934 935 Councilman Allen – said I’d like to welcome everybody back to City Hall. I think it’s great 936 to be back to City Hall. 937 938 Councilman Allen said I’d like to congratulate our First Employee of the Month. I know he 939 is not here. But to all the people that are involved, thanks for the job you did. I think it’s a 940 great program. 941 942 Councilman Allen said I’d like to talk a little bit about another wreck this past week on 943 Virginia Avenue and Lee. And I know the police did a survey on the speed on Virginia 944 Avenue. The slowest was 14; the highest was 91 on Virginia Avenue about a year ago. 945 There seems to be a wreck every 4 or 5 months at Lee and Virginia Avenue. So, if we can 946 take another look at either looking at putting a stop light up there or making it a 4-way stop 947 where everybody knows to stop, I think it would be a good idea. I don’t want somebody to 948 get killed there because somebody flies underneath that and doesn’t slow down. 949 950 Councilman Allen said Hugh, thank you very much for lighting up the city mural. It looks 951 great. So, thank you very much. I appreciate what your folks did. 952 953 Councilman Allen said the last thing, there are a lot of good events coming up in the City of 954 College Park. It’s time to get out and go see what’s happening. It’s time to go to the Wine 955 Stroll. It’s time to do a lot of other things in this City of College Park. So, get out and enjoy 956 your city, have fun, and come to some of these events and support the City in what they do. 957 That’s all I have. 958 959 Councilman Gay – said for the Clerk, could you help us out. There has been a lot of 960 changes to the districts that I’m not clear what is going on. Our County Commissioners 961 have changed, as well as our Congressional Maps, and that affects how we vote. 962 963 Councilman Gay said there is a FAA Study that is being mailed out. I noticed it is 964 circulating in Ward 4 for $160.00 that you get if you participate. I thought Gary Young Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 21 of 24  965 could take a look at it and see if it is legit. It actually has some money in the envelope. I 966 will give him a copy of that. 967 968 Councilman Gay said and the other thing is: Is there any way we could in Customer Service 969 get calls back to the people? I’m getting some emails that they would like to be called back 970 on some of their concerns. If there is any way you could get the people called back, we 971 would really appreciate it. That’s all I have. 972 973 Mayor Motley Broom – said we need to put all of our good energy and all of our best wishes 974 and send them to the Woodward Ladies who are going down for the State Championship in 975 Macon on Thursday at 5:30. They are playing Forest Park. This could be the second State 976 Championship in a row for them. So, let’s send all the good vibes to the Woodward Girls 977 Basketball Team. 978 979 Mayor Motley Broom said I happen to be dropping off a library book today, and the 980 librarian was saying, do you need COVID Test Kits? They are handing them out. So, they 981 are readily available, both at our library and our health center. So, please go ahead and take 982 advantage of that. 983 984 Mayor Motley Broom said COVID vaccines are still being administered at the South Fulton 985 Service Center and our College Park Health Center. The hours and locations are available 986 at fultoncountyga.gov. 987 988 Councilman Carn said and the $100.00 gift cards are still available there too. They have 989 about 200 left at our health department right now. I have been passing out flyers in my 990 community like crazy. Free money. 991 992 Mayor Motley Broom said I want to thank all faith leaders who came to our breakfast on 993 Friday at the GICC. I want to thank Councilman Carn for coming and our new City 994 Manager Ms. Tyus as well. It was a great event and a great opportunity to connect with our 995 faith leaders. I look forward to having another event in the fall and just working together to 996 build the community that we deserve. 997 998 Mayor Motley Broom said let’s go back to the Wine Stroll. On March 17, 2022 mark your 999 calendars. We are having the Wine Stroll and the Jazz Concert. It’s going to be a great day 1000 to be on Main Street. And we look forward to seeing everyone there. 1001 1002 Mayor Motley Broom said I want to thank Parklane Elementary School where we have 1003 students at College Park attend Parklane, even though it is in East Point, for the invitation 1004 for the Read Across America Event last week. It was a delight. There are literally a few 1005 things that I love more than reading to kids. Appreciate the opportunity to do so. And I 1006 want to thank our staff for going over to College Park Elementary and doing the same at 1007 College Park Elementary for Read Across America. I can’t say enough about the staff of this 1008 City and how hard they work and how dedicated they are to this community. They didn’t 1009 have to go read, but they did, because they know that everything they do makes this 1010 community better. So, thank you so much for that. Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 22 of 24 1011 1012 Mayor Motley Broom said the other event I want to talk about is the Georgia Pollinators. 1013 We had this on our agenda probably about 4 or 5 meetings ago. That is on March 19, 2022 1014 at 9:00 a.m. right out front of City Hall. We will learn more about all the important 1015 pollinators that go into our ecosystem. This is an event in conjunction with Georgia Public 1016 Broadcasting, and we are very excited to host them. That’s all that I have. 1017 1018 Mayor Motley Broom said we do have some additional business to handle in Executive 1019 Session. So, at this time I will take a motion to enter into Executive Session. 1020 1021 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to recess Regular Session to take up Executive Session to 1022 discuss personnel, pending litigation, the potential purchase of real estate, and 1023 Cybersecurity, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 1024 1025 Mayor Motley Broom declared the Regular Session recessed at 9:09 p.m. 1026 1027 14. Executive Session. 1028 1029 Executive Session adjourned at 9:23 p.m. and Regular Session reconvened at 9:26 p.m. 1030 1031 15. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 1032 1033 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve the Executive Session Minutes dated March 7, 1034 2022, as presented, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted 1035 Yes). 1036 1037 16. Adjournment. 1038 1039 Mayor Motley Broom declared the Regular Session adjourned at 9:27 p.m. 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 1051 1052 1053 _________________________ 1054 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 1055 ATTEST: 1056 Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 23 of 24 1057 1058 ________________________ 1059 Shavala Ames, City Clerk Regular Session 03/07/22 Page 24 of 24