City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 REGULAR SESSION 4 MARCH 21, 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 Mayor Motley Broom said if you have cell phones, we ask that you turn them off, on silent, 19 or on vibrate. 20 21 B. Invocation by Chaplain McKenzie. 22 23 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes To The Agenda. 24 25 Mayor Motley Broom said I would like to remove 4a, Woodward Girls Basketball 26 Proclamation and Item 4b, Tri-Cities Boys Basketball Proclamation; and to add Item 10a, 27 Direction of City Business. 28 29 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to remove from the agenda: Item 4a, Woodward Girls 30 Basketball Proclamation and Item 4b, Tri-Cities Boys Basketball Proclamation; and 31 to add to the agenda Item 10a, Direction of City Business, seconded by Councilman 32 Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 33 34 3. Presentation Of Minutes Of City Council. 35 36 A. Regular Session held on March 7, 2022. 37 38 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated March 7, 2022, 39 as presented, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 40 41 B. Workshop Session held on March 7, 2022, 42 43 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Workshop Session Minutes dated March 7, 44 2022, as presented, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All Voted 45 Yes). 46 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 1 of 27 47 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 48 49 A. Proclamation in Celebration of Woodward Academy Varsity Basketball's 2022 50 Championship Title. 51 52 This item was removed from the agenda. 53 54 B. Proclamation in Celebration of Tri-Cities Varsity Boys Basketball's 2022 Championship 55 Title 56 57 This item was removed from the agenda. 58 59 C. Presentation of a Proclamation to Ms. Mercedes Miller for her outstanding performance 60 during her term as Interim City Manager for the City of College Park. 61 62 Mayor Motley Broom presented the Proclamation to Ms. Mercedes Miller. 63 64 D. Recognition of the College Park Recreation Boys & Girls Georgia Recreational Parks 65 Association (GRPA) State Champions and Runner Up. 66 67 Mayor Motley Broom gave recognition to the College Park Recreation Boys & Girls State 68 Champions and Runner Up. 69 70 E. Presentation of a proclamation designating April 2022 as “Clean Up Month” in the City of 71 College Park. 72 73 Mayor Motley Broom presented the Proclamation to the Public Works Department. 74 75 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 76 77 a. Jolandra Taylor, 2447 Odell Way, College Park, Ga., said I yield my time to Jamelle 78 McKenzie. 79 80 b. Jamelle McKenzie, 2447 Odell Way, College Park, Ga., came forward and said good 81 evening, Mayor & Council, City Manager, and all of the distinguished departments today. 82 I live in the Links Subdivision, and I also run the IGNITE Resources Center. I would 83 like to give an update on some of the things IGNITE has been able to do the first few 84 months of this year. 85 86 Ms. McKenzie said during the month of February, our IGNITE Read to Succeed Family 87 Literacy Project held a Black History Month Book drive. There were hundreds of books 88 that were donated by members of the community, as well as through our partnership with 89 the College Park Skyhawks. We are really excited about this project which will continue 90 through the rest of the year. This project will put books directly into the hands of our 91 youth, adults, and senior citizens. Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 2 of 27  92 Ms. McKenzie said we are working with all 4 Councilmembers to select apartment 93 communities throughout the city where we are going to be holding book festivals again 94 with our partners, The College Park Skyhawks and the police department here in our city. 95 These will be held throughout the spring at different communities throughout the city. 96 97 98 Ms. McKenzie said we are also going to be giving special incentives to encourage adults 99 and children to read. Because as we know, reading is a valuable component of 100 succeeding. That is why we call our program “Read to Succeed”. 101 102 Ms. McKenzie said we were also given the privilege to honor over 100 plus seniors in 103 College Park at the College View Hills and Princeton Court residents on Valentine’s Day. 104 Councilman Allen was with us at Princeton Court, and we will be sharing this love again 105 with approximately 200 seniors during Easter week. 106 107 Ms. McKenzie said a few weeks ago IGNITE received a donation of almost 60,000 masks 108 thanks to our partnerships with Aetna and Project You First. We already distributed over 109 30,000 of these masks throughout the community, schools, organizations, institutions, 110 even at the Arena and the GICC. 111 112 Ms. McKenzie said we have several other exciting programs and partnerships that we 113 will be sharing over the next few weeks, such as Women’s Clothing Closet, our G 114 Wealth, Financial Literacy Project, our Birthright Legacy Academy for teen innovators, 115 leaders, and entrepreneurs, and much, much more. 116 117 Ms. McKenzie said we are excited about the impact that IGNITE Center has been able 118 to make and the support we have received from our Council and from the citizens of 119 College Park. And together we are creating a village where every person can thrive. 120 121 Ms. McKenzie said at this time I would like to introduce the newest addition to our 122 IGNITE Team. She is my executive assistant and her name is Jolandra Taylor. She has 123 been a part of this community for a long time. We are happy to have her on board. Thank 124 you for the opportunity to serve. We’ve got our sleeves rolled up. We are looking 125 forward to more this year. Have a good one. 126 127 c. Mr. Walker, 2001 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., said I yield my time to Tracey 128 Wyatt. 129 130 d. Tracey Wyatt, P.O. Box College Park, Ga., came forward and said good evening, 131 distinguished Mayor & Council. Councilman Gay, I hope that your colleagues give you 132 support. It is high past time that we do something at Camp Truitt. So, I hope they support 133 you in that venture. 134 135 Mr. Wyatt said I received a text from Ms. Merri Sheffield. She wanted you all to know 136 that she is at Emory University Hospital and that she would appreciate prayers from the 137 College Park community as she goes through her physical difficulties. Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 3 of 27 138 139 Mr. Wyatt said City Manager, welcome. Thank you so much for deciding to come and 140 be amongst us. 141 142 Mr. Wyatt asked, do we have a policy that citizens come and ask questions before Council 143 that Council don’t respond? Is that some kind of a policy? 144 145 Mayor Motley Broom said we don’t respond to public comment while people are 146 commenting. But, go right ahead. 147 148 Mr. Wyatt said I would like to know where that came from. I would think that comments, 149 that the Governing Body don’t respond to citizens’ comments I think is relatively 150 disheartened. Where did that come from? I haven’t seen anything in the minutes where 151 there was a policy that Council don’t respond to citizens. I don’t know anywhere in the 152 world that someone don’t respond to their bosses and the people who pay their salary. I 153 don’t get that. I know we adopted a policy that we wouldn’t vote on issues coming before 154 public comment, but we never passed anything that says do not comment. And I hope 155 the person that I voted for and serves me that I paid for would never tell me that he would 156 not respond to my comments at citizens’ comments. And so, I don’t know. Councilman 157 Allen, is that a policy that you adopted? 158 159 Councilman Allen said I’m not aware of a policy, but I think there have been some 160 comments in the past. I know there is no voting. I know Councilman Clay makes 161 comments at the end sometimes. 162 163 Councilman Clay said I did answer one of the comments at the last council meeting in 164 my report later on. I think if there is anything that grew out of it was not wanting to get 165 into a dialogue back and forth. On occasions we have answered somebody and said, 166 well, we will get back to you. I think the Mayor has said that on something. But a simple 167 answer to a question, I don’t have a problem with that. But what we don’t want to do is 168 get into a back and forth, well, I answer you and then you come back to me and then I go 169 back and forth, and I think that is what it drew out of. 170 171 Mayor Motley Broom said you’re absolutely correct, sir. 172 173 Councilman Allen said and then your 3 minutes are gone. 174 175 Mr. Wyatt said I appreciate it. And I am glad that’s not a policy, and that citizens can 176 come in their house in their public meeting can ask a question and get an answer. 177 178 Mr. Wyatt said the second thing I want to talk about is police. I think we have to get 179 creative when it comes to policing. I think the first thing we have to do is retain our 180 police officers. And obviously one of the major issues is pay. And I hear we will never 181 win the pay war, and maybe we won’t. But I think there are some things we can do a 182 little bit better as far as pay raises, as far as bonuses, as far as take-home cars, because it 183 is all about morale. And people want to know they can come and work for this City and Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 4 of 27 184 stay with this City and have an opportunity to advance; be that from Lieutenant to Major, 185 from Major to Deputy Chief, and from Deputy Chief to permanent Chief. 186 187 Mr. Wyatt said I saw there was an item on the agenda about a certain firm. I think we 188 have the finest Deputy Chief that any city can have. It’s disappointing that we don’t 189 recognize and support and give our respect for people who stay here and is qualified to 190 do the job. I think that is atrocious. 191 192 Mr. Wyatt said we have to do something to retain our police officers. I find it difficult 193 to say this because as a union representative for many years, I understand the value of a 194 paycheck. But we have to meet people where they are. And today’s younger generation 195 don’t care about a pension. They want their money up front. There is no longer 20, 30 196 years at a job. So, I would hope that some day you would look at, and most cities do 197 have one, a pension but they are paying their police officers $6.00 or $7.00 more an hour, 198 and that is where the police officers are going. We need to look at that policy and see if 199 we can do something about looking at a 401(k). I would hope there would be something 200 that Council would take a look at. And take-home cars is a very good incentive as well. 201 That’s all. Times up. 202 203 e. Mrs. Johnnie Williams, 2241 Lyle Road, College Park, Ga., came forward to discuss the 204 Homestead Tax for the seniors. They say they are working on that now. 205 206 Mrs. Williams said we are here also about speed breakers in our city. I have been calling 207 the police about how they are speeding down Lyle Road. It is all day and all night, 3:00 208 o’clock in the morning they are speeding. Those fast cars they go about 2 hours every 209 time they come through. We need more speed bumps. We have one and that is it. 210 211 Mr. Robert Wolfe, 2244 Lyle Road, College Park. Ga., came forward and said we have 212 one car that comes all hours of the day going 50-60 miles an hour from Washington all 213 the way through. I just wanted to see why the speed humps were all filled in. And I want 214 to know if we could consider that going down Lyle and Rugby. It is awful. 215 216 Mayor Motley Broom said at 2 meetings ago we approved 2 new speed bumps on Lyle. 217 218 Councilman Clay said the first one with the asphalt speed bumps went in right in front of 219 the house right next to mine at 1996 Lyle. And there are a lot more coming. 220 221 Mr. Wolfe said good. That’s wonderful to hear. 222 223 Mrs. Williams said the police need to ride more in our neighborhood. They can make 224 money writing tickets. So, when will we hear something about the speed bumps? 225 226 Councilman Clay said the first one, we approved a batch of 18 throughout the city. On 227 Lyle, we have one more coming on Lyle down by Delowe Street. And we have some 228 coming on Rugby and several other areas. Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 5 of 27 229 Councilman Allen said there is one coming on Temple, one on Hawthorne, one on 230 Walker, and one on Cambridge in our area. 231 232 Councilman Clay said and we are filling in all the speed bumps as far as I know at this 233 point because they were riding to the center line and cutting through them. The one next 234 to me is the test case, I think. Because it is going to be interesting to see. There are two 235 things that are going to happen. One is to slow the response time down on emergency 236 vehicles. Second thing is you are going to have people who are aggravated by it who 237 want to cut through the city who don’t live here who want to blow through the stop signs 238 at 60 miles an hour, which is what they do, and when they hit that speed bump, they are 239 going to get very upset, and they’re going to gun the engine like all get out. 240 241 Councilman Clay said so, those of us that live near the speed bumps I want to see what 242 it would be like to be next to a speed bump. And it will be potentially noisier for those 243 right near it. We don’t have a choice. We don’t have enough patrol cars on the street. 244 245 Mr. Wolfe said absolutely. 246 247 Councilman Allen said good seeing you again Mrs. Williams. 248 249 f. Trenton Merideth, Sr., 5618 Casa Blanca Lane, Atlanta, Ga., 30331, to speak about the 250 State Basketball Champs. 251 252 Mr. Merideth did not come up to speak. 253 254 g. Meredith Hodges, 1997 Mercer Avenue, College Park, Ga., said I spoke at the last City 255 Council Meeting about the concern that I had related to BIDA and the Affordable 256 Housing Project. I along with the leaders at College Park Methodist Church had been 257 under the impression, for the last couple of years, that the sale of the BIDA lot had been 258 approved. And as such, I could not understand why Jamelle McKenzie had refused to 259 sign the contract that she had been given. It has come to my attention that the sale was 260 not officially voted upon two years ago. And that Jamelle was acting appropriately in not 261 signing the contract. I would like to offer my very sincere apologies to Jamelle for falsely 262 accusing her of holding up the sale. I am most grateful that the BIDA Board unanimously 263 voted to approve the sale and our Affordable Housing Project will close now on May 23, 264 2022. Thanks. 265 266 City Clerk Shavala Ames said there are no others that signed in. I do have 1 by email. 267 268 h. (Read by City Clerk) - Hello Mayor and Council, I am Dennis Adams of Embarcadero 269 Club Apartments located at 2210 Sullivan Rd in Ward 2. 270 271 I am hearing talk around the city that we have or will be getting/hiring a NEW Assistant 272 City Manager. Okay, I guess. But I've been here a little over 10 years and I've NEVER 273 heard of this position and wonder WHY do we need it NOW considering we are POST Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 6 of 27 274 PANDEMIC LOCK DOWN STATUS and we are desperately in need of recovering 275 monies to make our city thrive. 276 277 How does this position TRUMPS getting new Police Equipment or raising salaries so 278 folks can pay for this HIGH RENT we are being faced with? WHEN are the PEOPLE 279 going to get straight forward answers IN REAL TIME vs having to wait and hear it from 280 the grapevine or days after everything has been decided and just thrusted upon us to 281 accept? 282 And another thing, I don't know if this is something you handle, but with all this new 283 development coming, how do WE STOP this market rate from killing our pockets? As 284 I've said, our rents keep going up and the paychecks are NOT! Embarcadero is going to 285 raise my rent $255 on my next lease cycle which starts April 1. What can we do to STOP 286 this or Who do we need to talk to?? 287 288 Thank you for your time. 289 290 Dennis Adams 291 292 City Clerk Shavala Ames said I have no others. 293 294 i. Rex Willis came forward to speak about the officers and the importance of public safety 295 for the city. It is unacceptable that we are not doing better taking care of our officers and 296 not promoting our officers. Public safety is the most important thing in this city. And I 297 hope and pray she works on it. 298 299 Mr. Willis said congratulations to Michelle, Lance, Kirkland, Brian, Chris, and all the 300 people that work in the Recreation Department. As you see, we just celebrated tonight. 301 302 Mr. Willis discussed the trophies that were given out at the track meets. 303 304 Mr. Willis said for Park and Rec Track Youth, thank you Councilmen Clay, Carn, and 305 Allen for coming out on Sunday. We had over 300 athletes that were there. Almost 600 306 family members to come out from all over. It was a big deal. 307 308 Mr. Willis said the Council that I know personally, that have contributed since I have 309 been here, thank you for coming out. We won 5 out of the 8 trophies that were presented. 310 We won top performer of the top teams. I do pray that you continue to support the 311 recreation department. If you take care of the youth coming up and keep them off the 312 street, then they will not be in jail or breaking into someone’s car. Thank you very much. 313 314 Mayor Motley Broom asked, anyone else wish to speak for 1 minute? 315 316 j. Ms. Erica Evans came forward and said I am a native of College Park and currently reside 317 in College Park. I am a graduate of Woodward Academy. I am a school record holder in 318 track and field and at Coastal Carolina University. I come before you this evening to 319 thank and acknowledge and to celebrate the work of Coach Rex Willis and Subrenia Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 7 of 27 320 Willis and the entire Georgia Favor Organization for instilling in foundational values of 321 hard work, character development and accomplishment in myself and the youth in the 322 City of College Park. For reminding us that it does not matter where we come from, nor 323 where we start, it is about the journey and the hard work that is takes to get to where we 324 ultimately want to go. And having been touched by their purposeful and passionate hands 325 myself, I am extraordinarily thankful to the entire Georgia Favor Organization for 326 transforming the lives of the youth of the City of College Park to become extraordinary 327 leaders that serve in a multitude of great capacities across the nation. Thank you very 328 much. 329 330 k. Mr. Larry Evans, 2112 West Princeton Avenue, College Park, Ga., came forward and 331 said some of you all know me, and some of you all don’t. Some of you all will, and some 332 of you all won’t. I have been a citizen of College Park since 1959. I have seen the good, 333 the bad, and the ugly. I see a new spirit coming into the city, and I applaud that. I applaud 334 the City, Mayor and City Council. Times up. 335 336 Mr. Evans said I will come back next time. Brother Gay, I want to thank you, 337 Councilman. You have been one of the brightest lights of African American Councilmen 338 to serve in the City of College Park. That’s where I stand from where you sit. Thank 339 you. 340 341 l. Ms. Subrenia Willis brought her granddaughter up to the podium to speak. My name is 342 Aria Subrenia Willis and I love to run track and run fast. I like to make friends at the 343 track meet. And at the track meet I like to do everything that God wants me to do. Thank 344 you. 345 346 m. Ms. Kim Jackson introduced herself and her daughter Ashley Jackson. My daughter 347 would like to express her feelings about the track team. 348 349 n. Ashley Jackson came forward and said I live in the Links neighborhood. I love the Favor 350 Track Team, too, because they put all the teammates through work and they help us get 351 better. And in my opinion, they structure our personalities as a person and our team treat 352 us the same no matter the age, our race, or our gender. And to me, Favor is a hard 353 working supportative track team, and I love to run for them. 354 355 Mayor Motley Broom asked if there was anyone else that wishes to speak for 1 minute. 356 357 There were no further comments. 358 359 6. Other Business. 360 361 A. Consideration of and action on a request to approve an Intergovernmental Agreement with 362 the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration for provisions of Election Services 363 for the May 24, 2022, Special Election. 364 365 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Moore (Later corrected to Mrs. Ames). Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 8 of 27 366 367 Councilman Carn said I checked with Fulton County Elections. Their precinct, the Fulton 368 County Poll Locator Directory is still outdated. The polls have changed over. I hope they 369 have changed it. I assume they have the early voting sites together where they are going to 370 be for this upcoming primary. I don’t know how soon they come up with that, if they have 371 not already. We didn’t get the library last time, and we didn’t get East Point, but maybe we 372 will get College Park this time. Thank you. 373 374 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from City Clerk Shavala Ames on an 375 Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fulton County Board of Elections and 376 Registration for provisions of Election Services for the May 24, 2022, Special 377 Election, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 378 379 B. Consideration of and action on a request by College Park Recreation & Cultural Arts 380 Department in partnership with the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association (MGBA) for a 381 food truck at Richard D. Zupp Park, Saturday, April 16, 2022, for a "Fun Day" for the 382 baseball players and families in the park. 383 384 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Johnson? 385 386 Councilman Allen said Mr. Grissom not only works with the kids in baseball, but he also helps 387 in furthering their education. It’s a great program, and thank you for bringing it to College 388 Park. 389 390 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson said they asked if I would pitch it 391 for them. There are 100 people registered, and they would like to you [Mayor] to throw the 392 first pitch. We hope to see everybody out there, and it will be a great time. 393 394 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any other questions for Ms. Johnson? 395 396 There were no further questions for Ms. Johnson. 397 398 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from City Clerk Shavala Ames 399 through College Park Recreation & Cultural Arts Department in partnership with 400 the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association (MGBA) for a food truck at Richard D. 401 Zupp Park, Saturday, April 16, 2022, for a "Fun Day" for the baseball players and 402 families in the park, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted 403 Yes). 404 405 C. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent utility customer accounts. 406 407 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Philord-Bradley? 408 409 Councilman Clay said I got mine answered previous to the meeting, so, I’m good. 410 411 Councilman Carn said big property tax numbers. I assume we are reeling them in, hopefully. Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 9 of 27 412 413 Director of Finance & Accounting Althea Philord-Bradley said yes, there have been some 414 updates and I can forward that information to you. 415 416 Councilman Clay said things are being cleared up, both in utility and property tax. 417 418 Director of Finance & Accounting Althea Philord-Bradley said the deadline is April 1, 2022, 419 so we will start filing the liens for those. 420 421 Councilman Carn asked, regardless of the amount? 422 423 Director of Finance & Accounting Althea Philord-Bradley said yes, sir. 424 425 Councilman Gay said no questions. 426 427 D. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent property taxpayers. 428 429 This item was referenced to under Item 6C. 430 431 E. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to allow Main Street Selfie Mural 432 Project (Harry Norman Sponsorship). 433 434 Main Street Manager Renee Coakley came forward to explain the request. 435 436 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Coakley? 437 438 Councilman Clay said some time ago we had made a decision on Council that we would not 439 have advertising on murals. I think a small logo on there in the corner is an indication of 440 sponsorship. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t think what we intended before when 441 we said we didn’t want advertising on it, but I think it is an issue that Council ought to decide 442 whether they want to allow it or not allow it. And if so, whether we should say how big it 443 should be or what have you. 444 445 Councilman Carn said I don’t see an issue with it, as long as it is small. 446 447 Main Street Manager Renee Coakley said I will, and it will be. The proximity of the logo and 448 the size of the mural, there is no comparison. It will be very small. 449 450 Councilman Allen said you got permission from the owner, if we can get that in writing. 451 Main Street Manager Renee Coakley said yes. We included the entire wall. 452 453 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Economic Development 454 Director Artie Jones, III to allow Main Street Selfie Mural Project (Harry Norman 455 Sponsorship), seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 456 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 10 of 27 457 F. Mayor and City Council’s consideration and approval to pay BIDA legal fees in the amount 458 of $18,164.00 for the dates of January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2022. 459 460 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones came forward to explain the item. We are 461 seeking authorization to pay an invoice in the amount of $18,164.00 for BIDA’s legal fees. 462 This particular month of January was a very, very busy month, and we had several closings 463 going on. A lot of legal paperwork going back and forth. At this time I need the authorization 464 to pay this as it falls over the threshold that staff can approve. 465 466 Councilman Clay said I think this is a very positive thing. There is a tremendous amount of 467 activity going on to gradually become closed. I see this as a good thing. I’m happy with it. 468 469 Councilman Carn said good. I guess we are getting stuff done over there. Is this above or 470 beyond this - - Does this outstretch the budget? 471 472 Director of Economic Development Artie Jones said this in within the budget. 473 474 Councilman Carn said at one point City Attorney had BIDA, and then we decided to add a 475 BIDA Attorney on top of that. I can’t remember the reason why we did that. At some point 476 I just want to look at all the expenditures to look and see if there is any savings we can find 477 in different places. It is money well spent, obviously. But if it is something we can get done, 478 I don’t want us to have to overlap something. We have a lot of institutional knowledge with 479 Winston’s firm. I don’t know at some point who would like to look at that stuff. During the 480 budget process, we can talk about it. 481 482 Councilman Allen said that is fine. 483 484 Councilman Gay said we need to start dealing with this budget to see where there may be 485 some savings. 486 487 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Director of Economic 488 Development Artie Jones, III to pay BIDA legal fees in the amount of $18,164.00 489 for the dates of January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2022, seconded by Councilman Carn 490 and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 491 492 7. Public Hearings. None. 493 494 8. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 495 496 A. Consideration of and action on request for approval to utilize GovHRUSA Consultants for 497 a Police Chief national search and to authorize the Human Resources Director to extend 498 contract with GovHRUSA Consultants with the same terms as the City's former services 499 agreement. 500 501 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any question for City Manager ? 502 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 11 of 27 503 Councilman Clay said I’m good. 504 505 Councilman Carn said this is to not to exceed twenty-two five. What is your guesstimation 506 for this? City Manager, twenty-two five; that is the actual amount? 507 508 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said yes, sir. 509 510 Councilman Carn said I know we are posting this out. I hope we are giving some indifference 511 to any internal members of staff now that want to apply for this. I have always been an 512 advocate from looking on the inside for new department heads. I hope we have some good 513 qualified folk that want to step up to the plate. I would like to see someone that has paid into 514 the system and dedicated years to this city to have the first opportunity when openings come 515 up like this for department heads. I just wanted to say that for the record. 516 517 Councilman Allen agreed. We can take a close look at people in-house as well. 518 519 Councilman Gay said no comment. 520 521 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to utilize GovHRUSA Consultants for a Police Chief 522 national search and to authorize the Human Resources Director to extend the 523 contract with GovHRUSA Consultants with the same terms as the City's former 524 services agreement, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All Voted 525 Yes). 526 527 B. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of a proposal from Aquatic 528 Management for Lifeguard services in the amount of $129,160.00. 529 530 Mayor Motley Broom said Ms. Johnson is here to answer any questions on this item. 531 532 Councilman Clay said I had a bunch. I got them all answered. I like the answers, I’m good. 533 534 Councilman Carn said I’m fine. 535 536 Councilman Allen said I as well. How much is the liability insurance? Did we find out how 537 much? 538 539 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson said it will not change our liability 540 insurance. We still have to insure it. 541 542 Councilman Gay asked, will that also cover Phillips Park? 543 544 Director of Recreation & Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson said yes. 545 546 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Department of Recreation and 547 Cultural Arts Director Michelle Johnson on a proposal from Aquatic Management Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 12 of 27 548 for Lifeguard services in the amount of $129,160.00, seconded by Councilman Carn 549 and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 550 551 C. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to renew the existing golf carts lease 552 agreement with Yamaha Motor Finance Corporation. Yamaha is presenting a 48-month 553 agreement @ $244/month. 554 555 Mayor Motley Broom asked, any questions for Ms. Miller? 556 557 Councilman Clay said I’m good. 558 559 Councilman Carn said I’m fine. 560 561 Councilman Allen asked, do we have any idea how much money we make off the carts per 562 year? 563 564 Executive Director of the GICC Mercedes Miller said I do not. This is just an extension of a 565 lease that we already had in place. 566 567 Councilman Gay said no questions. I would like to know if the golf carts can be available for 568 non-golf program opportunities where we can use them when we have events for our seniors 569 and things of that nature. 570 571 Executive Director of the GICC Mercedes Miller said we have to check on the insurance. If 572 you take them off the golf course, they are not insurable. 573 574 Councilman Clay said when we were first talking about that a year or two ago, that was the 575 question that I brought up because the contract, I think it said they could only be used on the 576 golf course. 577 578 Executive Director of the GICC Mercedes Miller said correct. 579 580 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Executive Director Mercedes 581 Miller to renew the existing golf carts lease agreement with Yamaha Motor Finance 582 Corporation with a 48-month agreement @ $244/month, seconded by Councilman 583 Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 584 585 D. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of bids received to perform street 586 resurfacing work under the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) 2022 Local 587 Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Program. Recommending HEH Paving Inc. 588 As the lower bidder in the amount of $203,468.06. 589 590 Mayor Motley Broom said Ms. Echevarria is here to answer any questions. 591 592 Councilman Clay said I’m good. 593 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 13 of 27 594 Councilman Carn asked, is this HEH Paving Inc. outfit here? 595 596 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said no. 597 598 Councilman Carn asked, do we invite them? I know we used to ask these companies to come 599 here, if we are approving their bids or not. This is a significant amount of money. I would 600 like to see these folks. I think a lot of times we ask them questions and we see them, we end 601 up getting a better accountability from these outfits. Seems like they know what they are 602 doing. 603 604 Councilman Carn said one of my questions I had was: Is this going to be able to coincide 605 with the speed humps? And when are we planning on doing those? 606 607 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said we started today. We are waiting now on 608 the signs. I believe we have a street that we have a speed bump scheduled for, and we are 609 going to wait until it is resurfaced. 610 611 Councilman Carn said as these outfits would start 30 days from the signing of the contract. 612 613 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said with COVID we got behind with the LMIG, 614 but we are catching up. We will do a public information campaign when we know we have 615 everything on schedule to start. We are catching up from last year and this year. 616 617 Councilman Clay said I know the one we have on Cambridge does not have any speed humps 618 scheduled for it. 619 620 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said no. 621 622 Councilman Carn said so, we sign this thing and by the end of April, they are getting done. 623 624 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said that’s the goal. I will give you a follow up. 625 We are waiting for good weather. It can’t be raining. 626 627 Councilman Carn said sounds good. 628 629 Councilman Carn said City Manager, I want to hear from these organizations when we are 630 looking at voting on them. The idea behind that is this: I have seen companies that get pretty 631 significant bids from the City of College Park. The problem is they didn’t even bother to 632 come here when their bid was being deliberated on. Past a certain dollar amount, if it is not 633 important enough for you to come here, in case we have some questions, how important is it 634 for me to vote on you, if you don’t take the time to come up here and see if there are any 635 questions. This is important to me. It may not be a lot of money for these outfits, but I want 636 to see them here, and I want to hear from them, and I want to make sure they understand the 637 type of job we expect. And I think, again, that it really allows for them to be more accountable 638 seeing us face to face, and they know our expectations. So, thank you so much. I appreciate 639 it. Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 14 of 27 640 641 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said we want to have the Council give some guidance on sensible 642 thresholds. 643 644 Councilman Carn said I know I talked about a number before. Anything that is north of 645 $200,000.00, I think it is worth coming in here. If you can’t take the time to come in here, 646 then it may not mean that much to me. 647 648 Councilman Allen asked, was Hawthorne on the list at some time? 649 650 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said yes. This is the list of the 3 streets that we 651 can get for the $167,000.00 that was granted to us on the grant program. 652 653 Councilman Allen asked, so, if Hawthorne isn’t on here this year, maybe we can get it on for 654 next year. 655 656 Director of Public Works Melissa Echevarria said correct. The list doesn’t go away. We may 657 can put it on the list for next year. 658 659 Councilman Allen said that would be great. 660 661 Councilman Gay said I don’t have any questions. 662 663 Mayor Motley Broom asked, is it the will of this Body for all contracts over $200,000.00 to 664 have the recommended contractor to come in here? 665 666 Councilman Clay said I think it’s a very good idea. Let’s them know that we are serious. And 667 I agree with Joe on the accountability aspects of it. 668 669 Councilman Carn said in the other cities in Fulton County when they have a recommended 670 street list, a lot of times there is a lot of jostling between council members and wards and 671 districts. Everybody is fighting to get as many of their streets paved as possible within the 672 notice. One thing I did notice from a municipality in terms of fairness, in addition to the 673 streets, they had the linear feet of that street. It is another good metric to have if we had that. 674 So, just FYI. 675 676 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from bids received to perform street 677 resurfacing work under the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) 2022 678 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Program, recommending HEH 679 Paving Inc. in the amount of $203,468.06, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion 680 carried. (All Voted Yes). 681 682 9. Unfinished (Old) Business. None. 683 684 10. New Business. 685 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 15 of 27 686 A. Direction of City Business. 687 688 Councilman Carn said I want to take a minute just to talk about some things I see going on 689 in this city. For the most part, we are doing a good job. But, I have been away for a while 690 and I come back and I see some changes. Some of these changes are pretty slight and pretty 691 subtle. A lot of these changes I have some issues with. I believe some of us up on this 692 Council may also have some issues with. 693 694 Councilman Carn said looking at the City of College Park it’s a government entity. A lot of 695 people consider it a paramilitary organization. And we have a lot of dedicated soldiers 696 out here working hard for us. And they are accomplishing plenty of jobs in all the different 697 divisions and departments. And by that ranking, you could consider us leadership or 698 generals or what have you. 699 700 Councilman Carn said but, you know, unlike our federal counter parts, nobody up here 701 outranks anybody else. And I say this because I’ve been seeing some things that are going 702 on here, in terms of the City structure and leadership. Some of y’all weren’t aware of this, 703 but one of the reasons I wanted to have this in public is because I want our staff to hear this. 704 705 Councilman Carn said this is a council management form of government. That means unlike 706 the City of Atlanta, this Body does the deliberation and legislation and makes a decision. 707 Now, in other cities you have a legislative body or you have a strong mayor system. And at 708 the end of the day, the Mayor sets the tone. The Mayor sets the guidance. And the Mayor 709 up or downs Council decisions. That’s not in this city. 710 711 Councilman Carn said the bottom line is: What I have seen since I have been back, and before 712 I returned, is there has been an ongoing effort to silence this City Council in many, many, 713 many ways. It’s been a continuing effort to reduce the voice of this elected body, and it has 714 been very subtle, very gradual, and an attempt to reduce access to this City Council for 715 information circumventing the concept of the College Park City Council itself. And some of 716 us may not have a clue about what we are talking about here, but I believe that everyone up 717 here is well aware of it. 718 719 Councilman Carn said the only question is: What should we do about it? Because I have 720 seen the game played for years with municipalities throughout Georgia and throughout the 721 southeastern United States. I guess I just took it for granted that it could never happen here. 722 But folks, it is happening here, and it is plain enough to see. 723 724 Councilman Carn said my last thing is about access. Information and communication. We 725 have a very strange communication issue in this city. The department heads are afraid to 726 talk to each other. The Police Department today and one staff member said that the climate 727 we have right now, the Police Department is afraid to go over the HR to talk about 728 something. And they coined it a great term. This person said “family fracture” is what she 729 described it as. This is a family in that sense. 730 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 16 of 27 731 Councilman Carn said speaking for myself, no staff member of any department head should 732 be afraid to speak with a city councilmember. Because we are just citizens. And from our 733 purview, we are the citizens that care the most about our area and our district. I am one the 734 citizens that cares the most about my ward. And if you can bring someone up here that cares 735 more, bring them on up here. But I know I care. And any time there is an issue that a staff 736 member has, I want to hear about it. I’m open-minded to it, and it serves a few advantages 737 for this city. 738 739 Councilman Carn said number 1, a lot of times department heads are afraid to come to 740 administration for stuff. But when I communicate with these department heads, I tell you the 741 best thing that happens is you get the unvarnished truth, and sometimes it’s scary to have to 742 say that and to be able to do that in certain settings. That is why I wanted to do this in this 743 setting. This is something not for executive session at all. And I want you all to not get this 744 twisted in a sense. 745 746 Councilman Carn said contrary to popular belief, speaking to us does not cause confusion. 747 We are not trying to run the city. Day-to-day operations is a purview of the City Manager 748 we have hired on to do that job. But any department head or employee who wants to speak to 749 us about an issue, you can reach out to us as you have always been able to. I want y’all to 750 know that. And you can do that without any threats of retaliation from anybody in this city. 751 752 Councilman Carn said communication is one of the most important things we have to make it 753 happen here. We have a lot of problems in this city, and only through communication can we 754 solve it. The solution to this problem, to all of these city problems and issues that we have - 755 - and we do better than most - - but that solution is not going to come from one person, Joe 756 Carn, or Ambrose Clay, or one department. It’s going to come from a combination of 757 communication. 758 759 Councilman Carn said our big solution will come from a combination of the Police 760 Department, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and they will come up with a holy cow idea. 761 Why? Because they have enough freedom and comfortable feelings to be able to sit down 762 and brainstorm up something where they talk to each other without restrictions. I don’t have 763 an interest in restrictions at all. Our Former Mayor, he would tell me how he would sit and 764 meet every week with whatever City Manager we had, and I have been through quite a few; 765 Scott to William Johnson, to Terrence, and about 4 Interim City Managers. 766 767 Councilman Carn said he said 100 percent of the time all of them would at some point 768 approach the Mayor with major decisions and would suggest to Jack, well, this is something 769 that really doesn’t need to come before the Council. Jack would always tell them, or which 770 ever city manager it was, that’s not up to me, that is going to have to be brought to this 771 Council for them to make a decision on it. And Ms. Tyus, I hope that that is exactly what is 772 going on when you have your weekly meetings. But from what I witnessed, it has not been 773 going on. 774 775 Councilman Carn said I am saying this because I want us to do a better job with this. I 776 truly care for this city, and I want the best for my city. And we want the employees to feel Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 17 of 27 777 comfortable here. But we need to do things a certain way, and that means this is not a one- 778 man show by any stretch of the imagination. 779 780 Councilman Carn said there are ways to lead employees in certain directions. You either 781 communicate until it is crystal clear, or you can just close off options. I want to talk to 782 everybody, and I want to hear from everybody, whether it is good news or bad news. Let us 783 know, because if we know about it, we can do something about it to fix it. But if we are 784 restricted from access to you all and you all are restricted access from us, we can’t know 785 what’s coming down the pipe. If we know about it, we can do something about it. I just 786 want to make that clear, so we understand the right direction that we are going in. This 787 direction has been marginalizing this Council, slowly but surely, bit by bit, and it has been 788 pretty obvious to everybody up here. So, that’s all I have to say about that. 789 790 Councilman Clay said I guess what I’d like to say to address Councilman Carn’s comment 791 is, in the past we have had occasions where individual council members would make 792 demands upon direct members of the heads of a department. And I believe that we, at one 793 time, we actually interviewed and hired the heads of departments. I never thought that was 794 a good idea for the council to hire a head of a department because I thought it would 795 undercut the authority of the City Manager. 796 797 Councilman Clay said on the other hand, I do feel that it is perfectly reasonable, I should say, 798 to ask a department head a question. And I know when I ran my R&D Organization, I always 799 had the policy if a board member of whoever the President of the company was to come and 800 ask you a question, you say, yes, sir, and answer the question. And then the very next thing 801 you do is you pick up the phone or get on your computer and tell me, yes, so and so came and 802 asked me this question, and this is what I answered. 803 804 Councilman Clay said the City Manager needs to know what interchanges are going on. 805 That is where I am with the issue. I didn’t hear Councilman Carn say that he was looking to 806 think that we should be directing department heads, but rather we should be open for them to 807 voice concerns. And I know when I conduct business with the City Manager, sometimes, I 808 say to her, I think it affects several department heads and copy those department heads so 809 they can get working on it. Because I know she has a ton of things going on, but I expect 810 the answer to come back from her because she is coordinating across department heads. 811 812 Councilman Clay said now we are getting a New Assistant City Manager that will assist the 813 City Manager. We had this discussions in the interview, I look upon their job as to coordinate 814 certain things that needs to be coordinated amongst department heads. But I don’t want to 815 have them in the way of being communicating with the department heads. Nor do I want the 816 department head to feel, if they have a burning issue, that they can’t pass it on. What I 817 shouldn’t do is say that I can positively do something. I do not have the authority to do that. 818 First off, the City Manager should be doing that, and if it is a Council issue, it should be 819 coming to Council for a vote. 820 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 18 of 27 821 Councilman Clay said so, I have a responsibility to my citizens that they can communicate 822 freely with me. I don’t go out of my way to solicit comments from department heads. But if 823 a department head wants to communicate something, then that’s fine with me. 824 825 Councilman Allen said I’ve always communicated straight with the departments or officers 826 or truck drivers or anybody else. And I’ll continue to do that. I do think that sometimes we 827 can muddy the waters a little bit if the departments take what we say, and they have to do it 828 right then. If I were to go to - - and I’m just picking out somebody - - Michelle, and asked for 829 something, and say, can you look into this, I don’t want her to have a feeling that she has to 830 do it right then. But at the same time, if Councilman Gay goes to Michelle and asks her to 831 look into something, and Councilmen Clay and Carn, we all go and ask Michelle to look into 832 something, that muddies the water a little bit. It makes it hard for the City Manager to manage 833 sometimes. 834 835 Councilman Allen said so, the City Manager needs to be aware when we go and talk to 836 somebody, we need to be working with the City Manager letting her know. Maybe she is 837 already working on the same problem. So, we need to do our part in communications with 838 the City Manager as well as departments, as well as each other when we talk about things. I 839 don’t have any problems going to anybody and talking to them. 840 841 Councilman Gay said what a difference a day can make. There was a time I couldn’t even 842 have a comment without getting cut off. I am just sitting back and enjoying this life. The 843 relationship I have had with our city directors has been very positive. I have real good 844 conversations with the city directors. They have been spirited conversations and never been 845 considered to be that we are harassing them. They teach me and we share exchange. I always 846 try to copy the City Manager. And sometimes I will copy Council when the City is not doing 847 it fast enough. I will say respectfully that the City Manager works at the pleasure of the 848 Council. And that is real serious. But to that point, I thank Councilman Carn for his leadership 849 in bringing that out so we can have that conversation. And I also thank Tracey Wyatt for his 850 kind words this evening. And to Larry, thank you. That’s it. 851 852 Mayor Motley Broom read the Charter State Law pertaining to the responsibilities of a City 853 Manager into the record: 854 855 (a) To see that all laws and ordinances are enforced. 856 (b) To see that the business and affairs of the city are efficiently organized and handled. 857 (c) To exercise administrative control over all regular departments and divisions of the City 858 of College Park, including the appointment, removal and disciplining of department 859 heads; provided, however, that the city manager shall not have or exercise any control 860 over the College Park planning commission, board of zoning appeals, recreation 861 commission or other special board, commission, committee, authority or body set up 862 under any general law or any ordinance or agreement of the mayor and council. 863 (d) To appoint, as required, department heads for departments authorized by the mayor and 864 council. Department heads with the approval of the city manager shall appoint and remove 865 all subordinate officers and employees in their respective offices and departments; 866 provided however, they shall be guided in their actions by the City of College Park civil Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 19 of 27 867 service laws and regulations. Upon failure of such department heads and/or the city 868 manager to act in making such appointments and recommendations, the mayor and council 869 shall have full authority and power to act. Nothing herein shall prevent the mayor and 870 council from creating, abolishing, consolidating, altering or modifying departments. 871 (e) To attend the meetings of the mayor and council, with the right to take part in all 872 discussions, but having no vote. 873 (f) To recommend to the mayor and council for adoption such measures as he may deem 874 necessary or expedient. 875 (g) To prepare and submit to the mayor and council an annual budget. 876 (h) To keep the mayor and council fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the 877 city. 878 (i) To make and execute all lawful contracts on behalf of the City of College Park as to 879 matters within his jurisdiction, except such as may be otherwise provided by law or by 880 ordinance or resolution of the mayor and council; provided that no contract, purchase or 881 obligation involving more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) shall be valid or binding 882 until provided by the mayor and council; and provided further that without approval of 883 the mayor and council neither the city manager nor other officer or employee shall in any 884 calendar month expend or obligate for any purpose any sum or sums in excess of the 885 monthly budget, or one-twelfth ( 1/12 ) of the annual budget therefor, as fixed by the 886 mayor and council. 887 (j) To make to the mayor and council monthly written reports showing his acts and doings, 888 the operations of the city, and all city disbursements, purchases, contracts and obligations. 889 (k) To perform such other duties as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution of the mayor 890 and council. 891 (l) To give bond in the penal sum fixed by the mayor and council with surety approved by 892 the mayor and council, payable to the City of College Park, and its successors and assigns, 893 for the benefits of the said City of College Park and for the use and benefit of the public 894 to secure and indemnify the City of College Park and each and all of the public, by reason 895 of his default, misfeasance, malfeasance and/or nonfeasance in the performance of his 896 duties. The premium of such bond shall be paid by the City of College Park. 897 898 Mayor Motley Broom said that is the job description of our City Manager. And all of us 899 should be here to support her. It’s a big job. I don’t think anyone needs six bosses. The 900 Charter is clear about how the city should operate and who is in charge of the day-to-day 901 operations of it. And for the last 30 days, I think we are close to 30, Happy Anniversary! 902 903 Councilman Carn said Happy Anniversary! 904 905 Mayor Motley Broom said the best thing we can do as a Body is to support Ms. Tyus in her 906 work, because she has a heavy lift. And anything we can do to further those goals is 907 something that we, as a Body, should do. 908 909 Mayor Motley Broom said we have 1 additional item that we failed to add. 910 911 Councilman Clay said would you read the motion. 912 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 20 of 27 913 City Attorney Winston Denmark said you have a motion to amend the FY2022 budget to 914 affect a salary increase for the Police Department and Public Works in the following 915 amounts: $306,000.00 for the Police Department and $14,000.00 for Public Works. Such 916 sums to be effective immediately. 917 918 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from City Manager Darnetta Tyus to 919 amend the FY2022 budget for salary increases in the amounts of $306,000.00 for 920 Police and $14,000.00 for Public Works, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion 921 carried. (All Voted Yes). 922 923 11. City Attorney’s Report. None. 924 925 12. City Manager’s Report. 926 927 City Manager Darnetta Tyus said I will reach out to you to confirm the new dates for the 928 Council’s Retreat. We have confirmed the facilities, and we have a facilitator. 929 930 Mayor Motley Broom said thank you Ms. Tyus. 931 932 13. Report Of Mayor And Council. 933 934 Councilman Clay – said I only have a general comment tonight. I attended the Favor Track 935 Meet over the weekend on Sunday. I attended the Wine Stroll. And I saw a lot of things 936 happening in CPMSA. There is a whole new spirit in the city. I think that was brought up a 937 little bit during public comment today. It’s really great to be a part of it. 938 939 Councilman Clay said I think we have some real challenges. We have double digit inflation 940 in the Atlanta Metro Area. It may not be quite there yet in the country in general, but it sure 941 is happening here. Double digit inflation hits hardest with people that are in the economic 942 pay area, the lowest economic pay area. It’s a much better percentage of their income that 943 has to go to housing and gasoline and food, than it is in the higher wage areas, and I think 944 we need to take that into account. 945 946 Councilman Clay said and I am very encouraged listening to the Flint River commentary 947 and the Willingham Corridor on the Flint River and seeing all the innovation that is going 948 on. We have a lot of challenges. And to that point, I think my email probably has 949 quadrupled in the last several years. We have multiple housing developments going on, art 950 development, and workforce housing development going on at the Methodist Church. There 951 is a tremendous amount of activity. 952 953 Councilman Clay said and I’m very appreciative that our City Manager Darnetta has joined 954 us. I’ve had a number of conversations with her, and I love her attention to process. I’m 955 kind of a process nut myself for my history in industry. So, I think we are going to become 956 a well-oiled machine. 957 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 21 of 27  958 Councilman Clay said I had a neighbor over the weekend that decided they wanted to have 959 their own clean-up on Lyle. And I went to that clean-up. We had a bunch more trash, so we 960 had a city-wide one. But now we had somebody on their own sponsoring one. We have a 961 whole new spirit in the city going on right now and a lot of development. And, we just have 962 to be careful when there is a lot of activity that we carefully look at everybody coming to us 963 that wants to buy our land or help us out with this or help us out with that. And I think we 964 are in a good position to do that. It’s a good problem to have. I guess what I’m trying to 965 communicate is that I’m very optimistic for the future of our city. But we also have to be 966 very much in attention to detail. That’s all I have. 967 968 Councilman Carn – said I want to thank Melissa in Public Works and Randy, in particular, 969 for freshening up the park at 2900 Camp Creek. These folks came in over the weekend and 970 did a great job. 971 972 Councilman Carn said there is a special resident of mine, and some of y’all are aware of the 973 incident that occurred with Mr. Anderson’s daughter. 974 975 Councilman Carn said but Melissa, thank you so much. I know there are some drainage 976 issues out there that you guys are going to get into, but that is the way I want to see our 977 residents treated. That was first class all the way. You brought in your team, and they were 978 very, very impressed by your department. I will also say that Public Works dollar for dollar, 979 you know, with no slight to any other department, but dollar for dollar, in terms of sweat 980 equity, it would be hard pressed that any other department is putting in more sweat equity, 981 muscle and work and labor into this city than Public Works. So, I did want to thank you for 982 that. 983 984 Councilman Carn said Ms. Tyus, we mentioned yard signs. Not yard signs, campaign signs, 985 We Buy Ugly House signs, signs on telephone poles and signs in the right-of-way. I know 986 its campaign season, and a lot of people are out campaigning. But a while ago, we set an 987 ordinance that said we were not going to litter our city with campaign signs. We also said 988 that we would allow campaign signs on the right-of-way 30 days prior to the election. 989 990 Councilman Carn said the election is May 24, 2022, I believe. So, there are a lot of politics 991 and play in every city, and everybody has their favorites. Some signs are up and some are 992 down. Ms. Tyus, we have to be fair across the board. And I want them all gone. I want to 993 see that taken care of. This entire city, every sign and every right-of-way needs to be taken 994 down in a day and a half. I want to make sure that is done. We want to follow the ordinances 995 that we have. 996 997 Councilman Carn said great events this weekend. I was at the Wine Stroll and the stadium 998 for the track team. Great events. Great turnout. It was very exciting. Councilman Clay, 999 you were right. There is something good in the air in this city. Ms. Tyus, I think you are a 1000 big part of that. 1001 1002 Councilman Carn said and folks, I don’t want you to take my comments out of context. She 1003 is in charge of the city employees and departments. Do not feel like because you didn’t like Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 22 of 27 1004 something that she said, and if she is doing her job, there are some things y’all are not going 1005 to like. So, don’t think that you can come to us and we are going to say, don’t do that, do 1006 this. That is not what I’m getting at. We hired her for her expertise in this city and for her 1007 to use her judgment for that. So, I want to make that clear. 1008 1009 Councilman Carn said I know that we are going to talk about this at one of our upcoming 1010 meetings. I asked about apartment ordinances and tightening things up in regards to owners. 1011 I’m hoping that’s upcoming on the workshop or something. I think it is important to get things 1012 together here. 1013 1014 Councilman Carn said I would like to make sure we have a vendor out there for food. There 1015 were a lot of folks that wanted food out there. I understand we use Proof of the Pudding. 1016 People we asking, can we get a drink somewhere? Some snacks? The closest place to go 1017 was the convenience store. That was not a good look. It still was a great event. 1018 1019 Councilman Carn said the other issue is parking. Parking in this city is one of our biggest 1020 issues, and we have to figure out something. Ambrose, you remember when Barbara Coffee 1021 was here and I told her, I said, we need to build a city parking deck somewhere between City 1022 Hall for Main Street for the sports complex baseball field and track. And she said it is pretty 1023 cost prohibitive to build a deck. My idea was to put a parking deck on the Public Safety 1024 parking lot and put three stories on that thing. She said it would be a pretty huge amount. As 1025 I look back now, we could have got that thing built for a third of the price it would cost to 1026 build that thing now. At some point we need to figure out something about this parking. It 1027 would only benefit all of us in general. 1028 1029 Councilman Carn said last thing I have is communication in this public comment. Folks 1030 continuing to speak, there has never been nor never will be a resident that I will cutoff for 1031 speaking, regardless of the time, the limit. And here is the reason why. Folks, before I got 1032 elected I was a resident that came up here and spoke my mind a lot of the time. To me, the 1033 most important part of this meeting is public comment. I’m going to say it again, there is no 1034 agenda item more important than to hear what you all have to say and hear every word of it. 1035 1036 Councilman Carn said when I was at Fulton, we had issues that were controversial, and we 1037 knew we were going to catch it. We had one issue that came up and the meeting started, and 1038 the clerk said, do we have any public comments? Commissioners, we have 1,100 1039 comments. This commission sat for 5 ½ hours, before we got to the agenda items. 1040 1041 Councilman Carn said but we listened to every word that everybody had to say. Why? 1042 Because at the end of the day, we are elected by the people. The department heads are 1043 elected by the people. The City Manager. Everything you see was paid for by you, the 1044 taxpayers. There is nobody more important than that. That is just me. We do 3 minutes and 1045 we have this 1 minute thing for people that want to speak up. 1046 1047 Councilman Carn said I will never cut anybody off. If the rest of you want to, that is your 1048 prerogative. Now we are not going to be in here for 9 hours, but everybody has a word to say 1049 sometimes. There is nothing more important than one that wants to speak their peace. That Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 23 of 27 1050 is true in any relationship. And I want us to be cognizant of that. I think that will make for a 1051 better community. We need more communication in the city, not less.. 1052 1053 Councilman Allen – said first of all, let me echo what you said. I think citizens’ comments 1054 are very, very important. And anybody should have the ability to get up and say something, 1055 and we will listen to every single word you have to say. 1056 1057 Councilman Allen said let me congratulate Woodward, Tri-Cities, and all the work programs. 1058 I think it was great to see all the little kids here. The Favor Track Team, I was out there the 1059 other day, and they said, okay, 5 and 6 year olds, line up, we are going to do 1,600 meters. 1060 And all those kids were dedicated. Parents were freezing. But there were about 600 or 700 1061 parents there with blankets cheering and watching all their kids. It was a good thing to see. 1062 1063 Councilman Allen said the Wine Stroll and the Jazz Concert, Renee and Main Street did such 1064 a fabulous program. We had another program with the Pollinators put on by PBS. The Jazz 1065 Concert, if you missed it, you missed a great program. So, thank you very much. 1066 1067 Councilman Allen said the Rec Programs, we heard them talk a little bit about the basketball, 1068 swimming pools, baseball, and the track meet. A lot of things are happening that are very, 1069 very good here in College Park, and I have gotten a little thing that says “Things Are Good”. 1070 1071 Councilman Allen said the Police Department, we have heard everybody. We responded. I 1072 heard from several policemen that I didn’t even know until the last few days, just talking and 1073 asking how things were. I was in the park the other day and one of the policemen, I wanted 1074 to give him a pat on the back. Officer Parrot came over to me and said, are you looking for 1075 something? Are you okay? Then he said oh, I didn’t know you were a Councilman. But the 1076 fact that he came up and stepped out of his car and said hello, and those are good things 1077 happening in College Park. So, thank him for that. And that has happened 2 or 3 times here 1078 in College Park recently. So, people are getting out, talking to folks. And I will do my police 1079 comment right now. 1080 1081 Councilman Allen said it is getting warmer weather. Crimes are picking up. People are 1082 getting out. So, lock your cars, take your telephone, laptops, and iPads with you. Make sure 1083 you are not making it easier for criminals to get in your cars. That’s all I have. 1084 1085 Councilman Gay – asked, is there an update on the Homestead Taxes from the attorney or 1086 clerk? 1087 1088 City Attorney Winston Denmark said I don’t have an update beyond what Mr. Bolia said. He 1089 remains confident that we are going to get it done this session. 1090 1091 Councilman Carn said I spoke to William Boddie. He said they are working through that. It 1092 looks good. It has bi-partisan support. So, I think it is going to go. 1093 1094 Councilman Gay said that is good to know. 1095 Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 24 of 27 1096 Councilman Gay said we have saw the Finding the Flint presentation tonight and at BIDA 1097 twice and I noticed there was a study. 1098 1099 Councilman Gay said when I came out of 15 years of healthcare, I started doing studies for 1100 county and city governments to show how to save funds. I got one study in two years. Once I 1101 stopped by my mom’s house to show her my study, I was so proud of. My mom said it looks 1102 great, now all you got to do is paint yourself white. That is my lead way about Finding the 1103 Flint. 1104 1105 Councilman Gay said Camp Truitt has been in my ward since 1998. They bought their own 1106 camp called Rock Eagle. And then the leaders of Fulton County at the time, John Eaves and 1107 Emma Darnell, and William Bill Douglas, and then there as this Body. Since 1998, I have 1108 spent every year with trying to do something with Camp Truitt. 1109 1110 Councilman Gay said the Atlanta Botanical Garden is 19 acres, but has a endowment of $200 1111 million. Camp Truitt is a jewel that has never been taken advantage of by anyone. And it is 1112 just a shame. So, lately it just happened upon me that there was a conversation that someone 1113 wanted to do a project that was similarly suited to Camp Truitt. So, I introduced them to us. 1114 It went on the BIDA agenda and it never came back. So, I took it to Fulton County. And 1115 certain leaders in Fulton County thought that it was a great project. Now we are talking about 1116 Finding the Flint – they had 4 presentations, and this Body said we are going to get behind 1117 you. And they are going to ask for some money. But Camp Truitt, which I took Woodward, 1118 Dr. Gulley out there. I took Boy Scouts of America out there. So, we finally get some interest, 1119 and we get a whole day of somebody checking out our criminal background. Are we thugs? 1120 Are we corrupt? That’s what we got. 1121 1122 Councilman Gay said then Jimmy Carter has the Habitat for Humanity. This man is 90 years 1123 old and has built over 20,000 houses. I get one house and spend 2 years with the DA. I guess 1124 I am trying to say that we have to start coming together. We got to use these directors jobs 1125 that are making hundreds of thousand of dollars. These directors have to use your intellectual 1126 knowledge. You have to make all of College Park come up. Because 27, 28, 2900 Camp 1127 Creek is black people at or below poverty. And Title I schools. People are walking around 1128 with less than $20.00 in their pockets. Scared money don’t make money. All these contracts: 1129 $9,000,000 to pave a road, $2,000,000 to lower a pipeline. Then you have people on Camp 1130 Creek who can’t come up and people like me went and find things to develop, you don’t want 1131 to support us. That’s all I got to say tonight. 1132 1133 Mayor Motley Broom – said a lot of us got the opportunity to go to the National League of 1134 Cities Conference in Washington D.C. Had a great opportunity to connect with our elected 1135 officials, with Congressman Scott and a friend of the National League of Cities, who is also 1136 our neighbor in Union City. And Congressman Williams. And I also had a chance to connect 1137 with Senators Warnock and Ossoff as well. My message was consistent that we need help on 1138 this level. That we are going to be asking for certain things from our elected representatives, 1139 including asking for Water & Sewer and Public Safety. Also for the Six West project that is 1140 so integral to our growth as a community. I have had the opportunity learn about the 1141 Infrastructure Act itself and to connect with others leaders in the country. Ms. Tyus and I have Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 25 of 27 1142 had some conversations about some of the things I have learned. Things are good and we are 1143 trying to make them better. 1144 1145 Mayor Motley Broom said I want to thank the folks from National Church of Residences who 1146 sat down with Councilman Allen and I this morning to talk a little bit more about Princeton 1147 Court and the plans for Princeton Court. They have some exciting plans over there. And I 1148 think that they are moving in the right direction, as well, to benefit the residents of Princeton 1149 Court. 1150 1151 Mayor Motley Broom said echoing the comments about the Wine Stroll and the Pollinators 1152 events. Great things that are happening in our city. Special thanks to Eldred Sims. It has been 1153 a great relationship with our community. I look forward to Mr. Sims contributing more. 1154 That’s all I have. 1155 1156 14. Executive Session. 1157 1158 15. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 1159 1160 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve the March 21, 2022 Executive Session Minutes, 1161 as presented, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All Voted Yes). 1162 1163 16. Adjournment. 1164 1165 Mayor Motley Broom declared the Regular Session adjourned at 9:36 p.m. 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 1176 1177 1178 ________________________ 1179 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 ATTEST: 1185 1186 1187 ________________________ Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 26 of 27 1188 Shavala Ames, City Clerk Regular Session 03/21/2022 Page 27 of 27